 |
Politics & the Occult: The Left, the Right and the
Radically Unseen by Gary Lachman ISBN: 9780835608572 Paperback, $40 More books on the OCCULT are HERE |
We don’t usually associate the gritty
business of politics with the occult, but esoteric beliefs have
influenced the “destiny of nations” since the time of ancient Egypt and
China, when decisions of state were based on portents and astrology.
Gary Lachman shows how occult ideas continue to shape modern political
philosophy. He also asks whether the separation of church and state
characterizing modern political philosophy should be maintained. Other
topics include: • The occult roots of America and the French Revolution in Freemasonry. • How nineteenth-century spiritualism empowered the women’s rights movement by giving women a voice. • The influence of early Theosophists H. P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant, and Henry Steel Olcott on the rise of Indian nationalism; how Theosophy helped stop the spread of communism. • The watershed of World War I, which brought about the rise of right-wing occult streams that led to Germany’s National Socialism; the truth about Hitler’s belief in the occult; Gurdjieff and the swastika. • Soviet interest in UFOs; ESP in the Kremlin; the CIA and LSD. • The dawning of the Age of Aquarius; levitating the Pentagon in the 1960’s. The millenarian politics that seem to inform the US struggle with Islamic terrorists; fundamentalism and the fear of uncertainty. From the first Queen Elizabeth’s Dr. Dee to Ronald Reagan’s astrologer, Lachman’s view is fresh and conscientious, avoiding wild speculation, proving him of the best and most intelligent writers on these matters in the English-speaking world. |
 |
Payback: Debt & the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood Hardback $29.95 |
Payback is an intelligent, wide-ranging book that examines the metaphor of debt and the role it takes in our lives. "Debt" is like air - something we take for granted and never think about until things go wrong. This is not a book about debt management or high finance, but about debt as a very old, central motif in religion and literature and also in the structuring of human societies. She looks at the language of debt in the Old Testament - what was 'owed' to God, and why. She then turns to investigate debt as sin in medieval and Elizabethan literature, before it develops into a plot-driving concept in nineteenth and twentieth century novels. The debts to society and to nature are discussed in the final essay in this book as Atwood explores how debt as a metaphor affects our understanding of the environment and death. Topical, enlightening and probing, this is the work of one of the most gifted writers of our generation. |