Out of this World Otherworldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein

by COULIANO, I.P.

• ISBN13: 9781570626500
• ISBN10: 1570626502
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

This book takes the reader on a fantastic journey through a wide range of cultures and traditions to examine the phenomenon of ecstatic visionary experiences-from Sumerian Gilgamesh and the Taoist Immortals to the imaginative fiction of Jorge Luis Borges. The author provides a comprehensive tour of otherworldly journeys common from immemorial times among shamans, magicians, and witches, and illustrates their connection with such modern phenomena as altered states of consciousness, out-of-body experiences, and near-death experiences.

Author Biography

I. P. Couliano (1950-1991) taught History of Religions and History of Christianity at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books and many articles in six languages.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. i
A Historian's Kit for the Fourth Dimension	p. 12
Free Spirit Seeks Free Spirit: An Outline of Shamanism	p. 33
Dark Treasures: Otherwordly Journey in Mesopotamian Religion	p. 50
Puppets, Playhouses, and Gods: Journeys through Other Worlds in Ancient Egypt	p. 60
Crane Riding, Soul Raising, and Ghost Brides in Taoist China	p. 71
Journeys through the Mind: Buddhism and Otherworldly Journeys	p. 87
From Furor to Spiritual Vision: Ancient Iranian Ecstatics	p. 104
Greek Medicine Men	p. 114
The Seven Palaces and the Chariot of God: Jewish Mysticism from Merkabah to Kabbalah	p. 154
Interplanetary Tours: The Platonic Space Shuttle, from Plotinus to Marsilio Ficino	p. 188
The Apogee of Otherworldly Journeys: From Muhammad to Dante	p. 212
Conclusion	p. 232
Notes	p. 236
Index	p. 267
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