The Dictionary of the Esoteric.The Dictionary of the Esoteric Nevill Drury Simon & Schuster (Australia) Pty Ltd PO Box 33, PYMBLE NSW 2073 ISBN: 1842930419 $AUD 29.95 344 pages The author, Nevill Drury is the author of more than forty books on subjects including shamanism shamanism /sha·man·ism/ (shah´-) (sha´mah-nizm?) a traditional system, occurring in tribal societies, in which certain individuals (shamans) are believed to be gifted with access to an invisible spiritual world and are able to mediate between it and the physical world to heal, divine, and affect events in the latter., magic, contemporary art and holistic health. Some of these books have been published in fifteen languages. Nevill was born in England but has lived most of his life in Australia. He holds a Master of Arts (Honours) degree in anthropology from Macquarie University in Sydney and has worked in the book industry since 1976. Nevill Drury is also well known for his workshops and lectures on magical visualisation (graphics) visualisation - Making a visible presentation of numerical data, particularly a graphical one. This might include anything from a simple X-Y graph of one dependent variable against one independent variable to a virtual reality which allows you to fly around the data. Gnuplot is the Free Software Foundation's utility for producing various kinds of graphs. Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.graphics. and shamanic drumming. Some of the places the author has been involved in include: working as a managing editor for Harper & Row and for Doubleday in Australia, and as the Manager of Adyar Bookshop in Sydney. Adyar Bookshop is owned by the Theosophical Society and is the largest metaphysical bookshop in the southern hemisphere. Given his extensive and varied involvement in the publishing and 'new age' areas Nevill seems perfect for putting this title together. The Dictionary of the Esoteric (Over 3,000 articles on the Mystical and Occult Traditions) is a fabulous reference book for the student of occult or metaphysical subjects. Not only will you find things you would expect such as Aries, or Loch Ness Monster, you are also likely to learn about a few things you've never heard about! A couple of the entries I found interesting, for example, were: Alomancy Divination divination, practice of foreseeing future events or obtaining secret knowledge through communication with divine sources and through omens, oracles, signs, and portents. It is based on the belief in revelations offered to humans by the gods and in extrarational forms of knowledge; it attempts to make known those things that neither reason nor science can discover. by sprinkling salt. The diviner interprets future events by analysing the patters made by this action. Alomancy has probably given rise to the superstition that spilling salt is unlucky. Misfortune is averted by casting a small amount of the salt over the left shoulder. Hesper The name given to the planet Venus after sunset. It is also known as the Evening Star evening star or morning star, planet that becomes visible in the western sky shortly after sunset or in the eastern sky shortly before sunrise. It can usually be seen in twilight, when it is too light for the true stars to be seen. Venus and Mercury are often seen as evening or morning stars. Other planets, especially Mars and Jupiter, may appear as evening or morning stars at certain points in their orbits.. This book is comprehensive in its coverage of astrology, tarot, and important figures in the history of metaphysical development. It is also cross-referenced fabulously so you will have the chance to explore topics related to your interests as well as what you first wanted to look up! I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the occult, but particularly for students of any topics that come under this umbrella. It is easy to read and navigate and has an extensive list of suggestions for further reading. |
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