An illustrated reference book on a seminal figure of occult philosophy and Renaissance thought • Explains Fludd’s thoughts on cosmic harmonies, divination, the kabbalah, astrology, geomancy, alchemy, the Rosicrucians, and multiple levels of existence • Includes more than 200 of Fludd’s illustrations, representing the whole corpus of Fludd’s iconography, each one accompanied by Godwin’s expert commentary • Explores Fludd’s medical work as an esoteric Paracelsian physician and his theories on the macrocosm of elements, planets, stars, and subtle and divine beings and the microcosm of the human being and its creative activities, including material never before translated One of the last Renaissance men, Robert Fludd (1574-1637) was one of the great minds of the early modern period. A physician by profession, he was also a Christian Hermetist, a Rosicrucian, an alchemist, astrologer, musician, and inventor. His drive to encompass the whole of human knowledge--from music to alchemy, from palmistry to fortification--resulted in a series of books remarkable for their hundreds of engravings, a body of work recognized as the first example of a fully-illustrated encyclopedia. In this in-depth, highly illustrated reference, scholar and linguist Joscelyn Godwin explains Fludd’s theories on the correspondence between the macrocosm of elements, planets, stars, and subtle and divine beings and the microcosm of the human being and its creative activities. He shows how Fludd’s two worlds--the macrocosm and the microcosm--along with Paracelsus’s medical principles and the works of Hermes Trismegistus provided the foundation for his search for the cause and cure of all diseases. The more than 200 illustrations in the book represent the whole corpus of Fludd’s iconography, each one accompanied by Godwin’s expert commentary and explanation. Sharing many passages translated for the first time from Fludd’s Latin, allowing him to speak for himself, Godwin explores Fludd’s thoughts on cosmic harmonies, divination, the kabbalah, astrology, geomancy, and the rapport between the multiple levels of existence. He also analyzes Fludd’s writings in defense of alchemy and the Rosicrucians. An essential reference for scholars of Renaissance thinkers, traditional cosmology, metaphysics, and the Western esoteric tradition, this book offers intimate access to Fludd’s worlds and gives one a feel for an epoch in which magic, science, philosophy, spirituality, and imagination could still cohabit and harmonize within a single mind.

Renaissance man, Elizabethan philsopher, and scholar Robert Fludd sought to integrate the whole of human knowledge within a divine and hierarchically ordered cosmology. After completing his education at Oxford University, he journeyed throughout Europe seeking the knowledge of mystics, scientists, musicians, physicians, and alchemists, leading to the publication of many historically influential works on science, medicine, and philosophy.

Robert Fludd was one of the last true 'Renaissance men' who took all learning as their preserve and tried to encompass the whole of human knowledge. His voluminous writings were devoted to defending the philosophy of the alchemists and Rosicrucians, and applying their doctrines to a vast description of man and the universe. Expounding the ideas of cosmic harmony, the multiple levels of existence and the correlations between them, Fludd summarizes esoteric teachings common to all ages and peoples. Fludd had a genius for expressing his philosophy and cosmology in graphic form, and his works were copiously illustrated by some of the best engravers of his day. All of Fludd's important plates are collected here for the first time, annotated and explained, together with an introduction to his life and thought.

Robert Fludd (1574-1637) is well known among historians of science and philosophy for his intriguing work. 'The Temple of Music' (1617-18) is one section of his work, and deals with music theory, practice and organology. Many musicologists today have dismissed his musical ideas as conservative and outmoded or mainly based on fantasy; only the chapt

How can we understand the infinite variety of cities? Darran Anderson seems to exhaust all possibilities in this work of creative nonfiction. Drawing inspiration from Marco Polo and Italo Calvino, Anderson shows that we have much to learn about ourselves by looking not only at the cities we have built, but also at the cities we have imagined. Anderson draws on literature (Gustav Meyrink, Franz Kafka, Jaroslav Hasek, and James Joyce), but he also looks at architectural writings and works by the likes of Bruno Taut and Walter Gropius, Medieval travel memoirs from the Middle East, mid-twentieth-century comic books, Star Trek, mythical lands such as Cockaigne, and the works of Claude Debussy. Anderson sees the visionary architecture dreamed up by architects, artists, philosophers, writers, and citizens as wedded to the egalitarian sense that cities are for everyone. He proves that we must not be locked into the structures that exclude ordinary citizens--that cities evolve and that we can have input. As he says: "If a city can be imagined into being, it can be re-imagined as well.”

One dark and stormy night in 1956, a stranger named Fludd mysteriously turns up in the dismal village of Fetherhoughton. He is the curate sent by the bishop to assist Father Angwin-or is he? In the most unlikely of places, a superstitious town that understands little of romance or sentimentality, where bad blood between neighbors is ancient and impenetrable, miracles begin to bloom. No matter how copiously Father Angwin drinks while he confesses his broken faith, the level of the bottle does not drop. Although Fludd does not appear to be eating, the food on his plate disappears. Fludd becomes lover, gravedigger, and savior, transforming his dull office into a golden regency of decision, unashamed sensation, and unprecedented action. Knitting together the miraculous and the mundane, the dreadful and the ludicrous, Fludd is a tale of alchemy and transformation told with astonishing art, insight, humor, and wit.

• Explores Kremmerz’s life, his teachings, his work as a hermetic physician, and the metaphysical and hermetic principles that guided his activities • Offers a detailed account of the distance healing practices, diagnostic methods, and rituals of the Fraternity of Myriam • Includes texts written by Kremmerz on the inner workings and magical operations of the fraternity, intended for its practicing members Giuliano Kremmerz (1861-1930), born Ciro Formisano, was one of the most influential Italian occultists, alchemists, and Hermetic masters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, though he remains almost unknown to English readers. In 1896, Kremmerz began writing about natural and divine magic, healing, and alchemy through the journal Il Mondo Secreto (The Secret World). At the same time, he founded a school known as the Schola Philosophica Hermetica Classica Italica as well as a magical group, the Therapeutic and Magical Fraternity of Myriam. Within the Myriam, he sought to use Hermetic, magical, and Pythagorean principles to harness the power of the psyche and convey collective energies for therapeutic purposes and distance healing. His initiatic order would become the principal esoteric society in Italy--comparable to its British counterpart, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn--but forced to be a carefully guarded secret as Mussolini’s government rose to power. In this unique compilation of essays, David Pantano presents an in-depth study of Kremmerz’s life and work by his student and initiate, Italian esotericist Marco Daffi. Without holding back criticism, Daffi provides a detailed account of the history and practices of the Myriam as well as the metaphysical and Hermetic principles that guided their activities. Revealing Kremmerz’s rediscovery of the occult healing of ancient mystery schools, Daffi also shows how Kremmerz laid the foundation for passing this initiatory tradition on to the new millennium. He explores the means by which Kremmerz said miracles can be performed and the way Hermetic forces affect both bodily health and mystical eroticism. Throughout this collection, David Pantano provides extensive annotations, offering the English reader essential historical and mystical context for Daffi’s work. Connecting to untranslated Italian texts and elucidating Daffi’s poetic style, Pantano’s commentary reveals the particular tradition of Italian esoterism. Pantano also includes rare and unpublished texts written by Kremmerz and intended for the Myriam’s practicing members. Combined, these papers offer a picture of the inner workings and magical operations of this fraternity, available for the first time in English.