It is a widespread prejudice of modern, scientific society that "magic" is merely a ludicrous amalgam of recipes and methods derived from primitive and erroneous notions about nature. Eros and Magic in the Renaissance challenges this view, providing an in-depth scholarly explanation of the workings of magic and showing that magic continues to exist in an altered form even today. Renaissance magic, according to Ioan Couliano, was a scientifically plausible attempt to manipulate individuals and groups based on a knowledge of motivations, particularly erotic motivations. Its key principle was that everyone (and in a sense everything) could be influenced by appeal to sexual desire. In addition, the magician relied on a profound knowledge of the art of memory to manipulate the imaginations of his subjects. In these respects, Couliano suggests, magic is the precursor of the modern psychological and sociological sciences, and the magician is the distant ancestor of the psychoanalyst and the advertising and publicity agent. In the course of his study, Couliano examines in detail the ideas of such writers as Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola and illuminates many aspects of Renaissance culture, including heresy, medicine, astrology, alchemy, courtly love, the influence of classical mythology, and even the role of fashion in clothing. Just as science gives the present age its ruling myth, so magic gave a ruling myth to the Renaissance. Because magic relied upon the use of images, and images were repressed and banned in the Reformation and subsequent history, magic was replaced by exact science and modern technology and eventually forgotten. Couliano's remarkable scholarship helps us to recover much of its original significance and will interest a wide audience in the humanities and social sciences.

Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago Original Paperback)

History

Ioan P. Culianu

Margaret Cook

Ioan P. Couliano

Europe

University of Chicago Press

Queenie's Diary. A Schoolgirl's Life 1914-1915

'Queenie' Elsie Llewella Jones

Helen Pullar

Agneau Press

Margaret Cook had first-hand experience of how power affects a man s behaviour specifically sexual behaviour when her high-profile husband, then Foreign Secretary, left her publicly for his secretary. In this controversial book, she explores the remarkable stereotypical behavioural patterns of men (and women) who get in to power: egocentrism, autocracy and potentially tyranny. The behaviour of a broad spectrum of men is scrutinised here including Oliver Cromwell, Pope Alexander VI, Napoleon, William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, Abraham Lincoln, Josif Stalin, Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, the Kennedys, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. The author then goes on to discuss how much of this behaviour is inherited and how much is a consequence of nurture. This controversial book uncovers fascinating and sometimes shocking truths about the nature of power, sexuality and government. About the Author Margaret Cook was born in Pretoria, South Africa. She was educated in England and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. She was, until recently, Consultant Haematologist at St John s Hospital, Livingston, and Honorary Senior Lecturer in the faculty of medicine at Edinburgh University. Margaret's first book, her ironically titled memoirs, 'A Slight and Delicate Creature', spurred her interest in writing. She has regular agony aunt and moral muse columns in the 'Woman s Journal' and 'Observer Review' respectively and is often called upon to comment on social issues. Margaret lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Lords Of Creation: The demented world of men in power

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Robson Books

Perspectives in the Teaching and Learning of Phonics

United Kingdom Literacy Association

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Books by Margaret Cook