“At the age of thirty-four Culianu was fulfilling his goal to move beyond purely academic writing by offering a new theory of how and why world events occur. Historical change occurs by mutation, not evolution, and often through forces hidden to the actors themselves, he suggested in Eros et magie [Eros and Magic in the Renaissance]. He proposed a quantum vision of history in which cultural stresses build and build without expression until suddenly an entire culture explodes. During such periods of crises political leaders confuse effects with causes, old definitions such as ‘right’ and ‘left’ flip into their opposites, and institutions act in completely uncharacteristic ways.
His main purpose, however, was to propose a new way of looking at the Renaissance, by suggesting that the origins of modern technology, political institutions, and many neuroses lay in the Reformation, when censorship of the imaginary and separation of consciousness from unconsciousness because church doctrine. …
…In it [Eros et magie] Culianu focused on three philosopher-magicians: the misshapen, pedantic Marsilio Ficino (1433-99), his sauve, wealthy disciple Pico della Mirandola (1463-94), and the enigmatic, tortured Giordano Bruno (1548-1600). He examined their their nearly forgotten tests to uncover their command of unconscious and erotic, imaginative powers. Magic to them did not mean hocus-pocus, but rather a deep, thoroughly documented world of the imagination connecting conscious and unconscious, individual and cosmos, in a way lost to modern man. However imperfect their ‘sciences’ were, they seriously attempted to understand the metaphysical operations of the mind. “Culianu made to key contributions,” said Smith College professor Carol Zaleski of Eros et magie after it was translated into English. “One was in the sheer mass of erudition. But his main interest was in understanding how the mind invents worlds and makes them so real they, in effect, become real.”
To Culianu these philosopher-magicians were early masters of cyberspace – the infinite realm of thoughts that the Renaissance called phantasms.” (p. 107-108) Eros, Magic, and the Murder of Professor Culianu by Ted Anton.
Many of you have heard me refer to the book “Magic and Eros in the Renaissance” by the genius scholar-practitioner of magic Prof. Culianu. To help you better understand what we have been referring to – the role of magic in current events, as well as to improve your personal Work on the Path of Return, we encourage to enroll in and practice the methods in the following courses.
An overview of the ‘what’ and related history:
Pluto In Aquarius: 2025 and Beyond
https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.com/p/pluto-in-aquarius-2025-and-beyond
The Unknown Magus: An Introduction to the Life and Works of Julius Evola
https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.com/p/the-unknown-magus-an-introduction-to-the-life-and-work-of-julius-evola
A detailed look at the ‘how’:
Brauche: Gateway to Magic
https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.c…
Three Books of Occult Philosophy
https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.com/p/the-three-books-of-occult-philosophy-the-foundation-of-western-esotericism-explored
New Thought and Modern Esotericism
https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.c…
Wishing you the best on your journey.
