Considered radical at the time, Breton's ideas today seem almost prescient, yet breathtaking in their passionate underlying belief in the indestructibility of life and the freedom of the human spirit. Breton wrote Arcanum 17 during a trip to the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec in the months after D-Day in 1944, when the allied troops were liberating Occupied Europe. Using the huge Perce Rock - its impermanence, its slow-motion crumbling, its singular beauty - as his central metaphor, Breton considers issues of love, loss, aggression, war, pacifism and feminism.

Surrealism and the Gothic is the first book-length analysis of the role played by the gothic in both the initial emergence of surrealism and at key moments in its subsequent development as an art and literary movement. The book argues the strong and sustained influence, not only of the classic gothic novel itself – Ann Radcliffe, Charles Maturin, Matthew Lewis, etc. – but also the determinative impact of closely related phenomena, as with the influence of mediumism, alchemy and magic. The book also traces the later development of the gothic novel, as with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and its mutation into such works of popular fiction as the Fantômas series of Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, enthusiastically taken up by writers such as Apollinaire and subsequently feeding into the development of surrealism. More broadly, the book considers a range of motifs strongly associated with gothic writing, as with insanity, incarceration and the ‘accursed outsider’, explored in relation to the personal experience and electroshock treatment of Antonin Artaud. A recurring motif of the analysis is that of the gothic castle, developed in the writings of André Breton, Artaud, Sade, Julien Gracq and other writers, as well as in the work of visual artists such as Magritte.

Completely revised and updated to include the most up-to-date selections, this is a bold and bright reference book to the novels and the writers that have excited the world's imagination. This authoritative selection of novels, reviewed by an international team of writers, critics, academics, and journalists, provides a new take on world classics and a reliable guide to what's hot in contemporary fiction. Featuring more than 700 illustrations and photographs, presenting quotes from individual novels and authors, and completely revised for 2012, this is the ideal book for everybody who loves reading.

1951 a study in sacred numbers & symbols. a detailed study of the Tarot. Contents: Acknowledgment; Introduction; Arcanum 0-22 - illustrated & explained; Conclusion; Appendix a - What is Man; Appendix B - Bible Numbers; Appendix C - The Two Numbe.

Often regarded as an artistic movement of interwar Paris, Surrealism comprised an international community of artists, writers, and intellectuals who have aspired to change the conditions of life itself over the course of the past century. Consisting of a wide range of dedicated case studies from the 1920s to the 1970s, this book highlights the international dimensions of the Surrealist Movement, and the radical chains of thought that linked its followers across the globe: from France to Romania, and from Canada to the former Czechoslovakia. From very early on, the surrealists approached magic as a means of bypassing, discrediting, and combatting rationalism, capitalism, and other institutionalized systems and values that they saw to be constraining influences upon modern life. Surrealist Sorcery maps out how this interest in magic developed into a major area of surrealist research that led not only to theoretical but also practical explorations of the subject. Taking an international perspective, Atkin surveys this important quality of the movement and how it's remained an important element in the surrealist project and its ongoing legacy.

An elegant consideration of the Surrealist movement as a global phenomenon and why it continues to resonate Why does Surrealism continue to fascinate us a century after André Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism? How do we encounter Surrealism today? Mark Polizzotti vibrantly reframes the Surrealist movement in contemporary terms and offers insight into why it continues to inspire makers and consumers of art, literature, and culture. Polizzotti shows how many forms of popular media can thank Surrealism for their existence, including Monty Python, Theatre of the Absurd, and trends in fashion, film, and literature. While discussing the movement’s iconic figures—including André Breton, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Man Ray, and Dorothea Tanning—he also broadens the traditionally French and male-focused narrative, constructing a more diverse and global representation. And he addresses how the Surrealists grappled with ideas that mirror current concerns, including racial and economic injustice, sexual politics, issues of identity, labor unrest, and political activism. Why Surrealism Matters provides a concise, engaging exploration of how, a century later, the “Surrealist revolution” remains as dynamic as ever.

The most ancient sciences in the world are Alchemy and Kabbalah, which constitute the practical, spiritual knowledge hidden in the depths of every great religion and mystical tradition. Modern scientists are only recently discovering what these ancient teachings have always known: that we are a part of a multidimensional universe, and that our consciousness, our awareness, can expand to perceive matter and energy that are invisible to the flesh. Just as physics and chemistry illuminate our understanding of the physical world, Alchemy and Kabbalah constitute a scientific method to awaken the consciousness and fully develop the human being, opening the doors to vast worlds that are hidden from the physical senses. This awakening or alchemical birth requires a precise scientific method, for everything that exists depends upon causes and conditions. Hidden in centuries of mystical texts and obscure drawings are the specific instructions that lead towards the opening of their inner senses and the entrance into a higher life. The Philosopher's Stone, the secret of transmuting lead into gold, and many other sacred mysteries long restricted to initiates who had proven their trustworthiness were publicly revealed for the first time by the author Samael Aun Weor. These mystical sciences are hidden in the twenty-two primary Tarot cards, whose origins and precise meanings have never before now been publicly revealed. Now, see for yourself how these ancient traditions are all truly one science. Discover the keys to unlock the mysteries hidden in scriptures, mystical texts, and enigmatic images, and most importantly the mysteries hidden within us.