ABZU PRESS2012
|
| 2000/2009 | £5.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: La Quête de la Perle
French translation of The Quest of the Pearl. Translated by C. and C. Contant.
32 pages. 8 colour illustrations.
| 2000 | 7 Euro/£5.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: The Struggle for a Human Future
Traditionally, philosophers have argued that what makes human beings distinct from other animals is the possession of reason. With the development of computer technologies, which function strictly in accordance with the rules of logic, we now need to ask what makes humans distinct from machines. This essay revisits the traditional conception of reason as a faculty that extends beyond logical thinking and embraces not only the ability to perceive meanings and values, but also ultimately to contemplate the divine. By developing this innate capacity, we equip ourselves to meet the ever-growing menace of the inhuman in the modern world.
48 pages with 11 black and white illustrations.
| 2009 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: TECHNOLOGY AND THE SOUL (PART ONE)
Living in the Shadow of the Machine
Along with the benefits that digital technology has brought us, it has also brought certain hazards to the human soul and spirit. This essay considers four of these hazards: addiction, psychic fragmentation, abandoning the real for the virtual, and the merging of mind and machine. It concludes by suggesting ways in which, by strengthening those qualities and values that are truly human, we can both maintain our freedom in relation to the new technologies, and at the same time bring about some kind of redemption for them. 31 pages.
| 2008 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: TECHNOLOGY AND THE SOUL (PART TWO)
The Inhuman in our Midst
The origins of the computer can be traced back as to the advent of formal logic in ancient Greece. At that time it was noticed that it was not quite human, and needed to be enfolded by human values and goals, and steered by a deeper contemplative thinking. From the 17th century onwards, logic became increasingly separated from the human pursuit of wisdom, and the early calculating machines of that period showed that it was only a question of time before logic itself would be automated. Thus wrested free of the human being, it was destined to become the medium of a purely mechanical intelligence that would present new and radical challenges to the human soul.
26 pages, with 5 black and white illustrations.
| 2010 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: TECHNOLOGY AND NATURE (PART ONE)
The Unquenchable Thirst to Live in Gratitude: Digital Technology and the Afflicted Soul of the Earth
Industrialisation and the massive growth of urban living have given rise to the illusion that nature is a peripheral factor of life, now superseded by our increasingly technologised environment and lifestyles. In the twentieth century, novel industrial and synthetic products, such as aluminium and thermoplastics, contributed to this illusion. The digital revolution, literally encasing itself in aluminium and plastic, has nevertheless occurred at a phenomenal cost to the earth, not least because of the many precious metals that are inside modern digital devices. This poses a dilemma for everyone of good conscience who feels the need to be aware of, and to live in gratitude towards, the natural worlds on which our technologies are in reality dependent.
16 pages with one black and white and two colour illustrations.
| 2011 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: TECHNOLOGY AND NATURE (PART TWO)
Synthetic Biology: The Assault on the Realm of Life
Synthetic biology is a technology dedicated to the creation of novel living organisms, on the assumption that the essence of life is nothing more than digital information. Notably, synthetic biologists regard living organisms as self-replicating machines or "bio-computers" that can be approached with the same mentality as one approaches the world of computer programming. As it is a mentality that tends towards a purely utilitarian relationship with the world, not only does it constitute an assault on the realm of life but also an assault on fundamental human values.
27 pages
| 2011 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: The Regeneration of Realism and the Recovery of a Science of Qualities
In the Middle Ages, science was essentially qualitative and conducted within a worldview that regarded nature as sacred. This essay considers the metaphysical principles underlying medieval science and philosophy of nature and argues for the recovery of a science of qualities, based on the pioneering work of Goethe and Rudolf Steiner. The essay is an unedited offprint of an article first published in The International Philosophical Quarterly, in 1983.
| 2007 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: Furiously Missing the Point: Reflections on Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion divides its readers into those who either love it or hate it, but one of its great merits is that it encourages us to work out what we really think about science and rationality, God and the world of spirit. This short essay critically analyses Dawkins's arguments and the assumptions on which they rest.
| 2007 | £1.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: Plato, Aristotle and the Union of Opposites
The philosophies of Plato or Aristotle need not be seen as irreconcilably opposed to each other, yet Platonists and Aristotelians have often regarded each other with antagonism. Today, it is important that these streams of thought be united, not only for the sake of the greater truth that their reconciliation allows us to embrace, but also because their union empowers us to meet the challenge of a materialism that threatens to sweep us all up in its wake. 35 pages with 5 line drawings and 2 colour illustrations.
| 2007 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: Plato, Shamanism and Ancient Egypt
Were Plato and other early Greek scholars influenced by shamanism, and, if so, did this influence stem from the north as E.R. Dodds famously suggested? This essay explores the possibility of a southern influence emanating from ancient Egypt, and the implication that key aspects of the Egyptian priestly wisdom are transmitted in Plato's philosophy. 46 pages with 12 black and white illustrations.
| 2005 | £3.00 |
Jeremy Naydler: Gardening as a Sacred Art (2009)
This title is no longer available from Abzu Press, as it has now been published in a revised and expanded version by Floris Books (2011).
Now available from
www.amazon.co.uk
Jeremy Naydler: In Defence of the Flower Garden
When Monet tore out the kitchen garden at Giverny, his friends stood aghast. Had he gone mad? No! Monet understood that useless but beautiful flowers are worth more in the greater scheme of things than all the extremely useful vegetables and fruits he could grow. And so the wonderful flower garden at Giverny was born.
Today, we live at a time when utilitarian values everywhere predominate, and any reasonably sized garden is regarded as a potential building plot, never mind a vegetable plot. Just as Shelley, in an age of rationalism and literalism, felt the need to write A Defence of Poetry, so today in an age of secularism and utilitarianism we all need to rise up in defence of the flower garden.
16 pages
| 2011 | £2.50 |
Jeremy Naydler: How Caterpillars Acquire Wings
An exploration of the many parallels between insect metamorphosis and esoteric teachings on spiritual transformation in the human being, drawing on ancient mystery religions, alchemy and mythology.
52 pages with 12 colour and 23 black and white illustrations
| 1995 | £7.50 |
Jeremy Naydler: The Education of Hermes
Wishing to know the secret of how to find the pathways through heaven and all the universe, Hermes descends from his home amongst the stars and comes down to the Earth. Here he journeys through the elements, taking on different forms and learning profound truths from gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders.
| 1994 | £1.00 |
The following booklets by Jeremy Naydler are no longer available from Abzu Press, as they are now published in one volume by Inner Traditions under the title The Future of the Ancient World: Essays on the History of Consciousness.
Click here to see the book on Amazon
1) The Restitution of the Ear
2) Perceptions of the Divine in Nature, Part One: The Heart of the Lily
3) Perceptions of the Divine in Nature, Part Two: Baal Hadad at Bracknell
4) The Future of the Ancient World
5) Christ and the Gods
6) On the Divinity of the Gods
7) Pathways into the Future from the Deep Past
8) Ancient Egypt and the Soul of the West
9) The Reality That is Not There: Reflections on Non-Locational Space
10) Ancient Egypt and Modern Esotericism
11) The Artist as Priest: Reflections on the Sacred Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt
12) Being Ancient In A Modern Way: Divination in the Light of the History of Consciousness
Emilios Bouratinos: Homeopathy of the Mind: How the Greeks Defeated Rationality
In both ancient Egyptian and early Greek religion, open religious explication was avoided in favour of the use of symbol, myth and ritual to cure the objectifying mind of its tendency to view the world in a fragmentary way. Although he used different methods, Socrates' aim was identical: to lead people towards an unrestricted awareness of reality. Through his philosophy, Socrates links us to the ancient homeopathic religious practices which we so badly need to recover today, if we are to successfully meet the crisis our civilization is now facing.
| 1993 | £2.00 |
Barry Cottrell: Thresholds Between Worlds
This lucid introduction to the key ideas and practices of shamanism considers themes such as the shamanic journey, the power animal, reality for the shaman, the shamanic concept of illness and soul retrieval in relation to psychotherapy. Above all Thresholds Between Worlds examines the question “What role can shamanism play in our daily lives?” Since shamanism lies at the very roots of human spirituality, this is an important question for anyone concerned with the spiritual death and rebirth of our civilization.
| 1994 | £2.00 |
Barry Cottrell: The Quest for Power: Shamanism and The New Age
In this sequel to Thresholds Between Worlds, Barry Cottrell continues his exploration of contemporary shamanism, questioning whether shamanic practices, imported from ancient times and from indigenous peoples, are appropriate for our non-shamanic modern world. In particular, he draws attention to the moral dimension in the practice of neo-shamanism, and advocates the 'search for freedom' rather than the 'quest for power'.
| 1995 | £3.00 |
Louanne Richards: Journey into Nagaland
A moving account of the author's journey to visit her father's grave in Nagaland, weaving her own story of loss with the tragic story of the loss of autonomy and cultural identity of the Naga people. Nagaland today is a country under occupation by the Indian army.
| 1995 | £3.50 |
Anne Baring: C.G. Jung's Seven Sermons to the Dead
An incisive and passionate introduction to the Seven Sermons, which Jung wrote in three evenings during the summer of 1916. Jung risked insanity to open the door to a normally ignored dimension of the soul, and his Seven Sermons are testimony to his determination to devote himself to the exploration of the psyche - to listen to its voice, decipher its language and to be receptive to its attempts to communicate with the conscious mind. 17 pages.
| 2001 | £2.00 |
Angela Voss: Father Time and Orpheus
An exploration of Marsilio Ficino's astrological invocations in 15th century Florence. Influenced by ancient Egyptian magic, Platonic philosophy and contemporary music, Ficino developed a theory and method of ritual performance which drew on the imagination and the desire of the human being for union with the divine powers of the cosmos.
| 2003 | £3.00 |
Prue Conradi: The Hare's Bride
This deceptively simple yet compelling Grimm's fairy tale yields a surprising number of central themes that arise in the individuation process: the relationship between spirit and instinct, the meaning of redemption, the encounter with the Trickster and the centrality and significance of sacrifice. It contains many clues about the possible transformation of unredeemed instinct into spiritual value. 41 pages with 12 illustrations.
| 2009 | £5.00 |