The Secret Life of Genius

What role did the esoteric thought of Swedenborg play in the creative output of Honore de Balzac? Did a supernatural encounter prompt Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley to focus her work on the theme of immortality? Building on his earlier research on communications with the spirit world that Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, experienced while in exile on the isle of Jersey, John Chambers now looks at the role occult knowledge and supernatural experiences played in the lives of 24 geniuses. His investigation spans the life and work of William Blake, Helena Blavatsky and W. B. Yeats, whose esoteric interests are well known, as well as those little suspected of such encounters with worlds beyond ours, including Doris Lessing, Leo Tolstoy, Norman Mailer, Yukio Mishima and Winston Churchill. Chambers presents more than a collection of anecdotes and newly revealed secrets. His research provides insightful historical context of the decisive turning point that took place with the collapse of Prague, the occult capital of Europe, in 1620, which resulted in the victory of Cartesian reality and Newton's scientific paradigm over the esoteric traditions that flourished until that time. The magical and occult world shown in the lives of these 24 great men and women offers us a glimpse of what could still be ours - a world that though it is now overshadowed by modern scientific and technological principles is yet still visible on the horizon through the visions and paranormal experiences of these geniuses. Chronicles the changing relationship with God, nature and spirituality from the 16th century to the 20th century Includes encounters with the paranormal of Ben Johnson, Isaac Newton, Mary Shelley, Leo Tolstoy, Doris Lessing and Winston Churchill

ISBN 159477272X   Pages 336 ISBN13 9781594772726 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Inner Traditions Bear and Company   Weight (grammes) 550 Imprint Destiny Books,U.S.   Published in Rochester, VT Format Paperback   Height (mm) 230 Publication date 30 Jul 2009   Width (mm) 153 Library of Congress 2009016854   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 204   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

Introduction		Prague's Other Universe		1
1		Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571): The Goldsmith and the Guardian Angel		8
2		Michel de Nostradamus (1503-1566): The Art of Astral Medicine		18
3		Ben Jonson (1572-1637): The Occult as Confidence Game		32
4		Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727): In Search of the Historical Noah		41
5		Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832): The Battle Over Light		60
6		William Blake (1757-1827): The Horse's Mouth		68
7		Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869): The Fall of an Angel		78
8		Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851): The Last Man		94
9		Honore de Balzac (1799-1850): Triumph and Tragedy of the Inner Self		104
10		Victor Hugo (1802-1885): What the Shadow's Mouth Says		116
11		Jules Verne (1828-1905): The Prophet as Peter Pan		131
12		Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910): The Fruits of Enlightenment		141
13		Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891): Mistress of Hidden Wisdom		151
14		William Butler Yeats (1865-1939): Metaphors for Poetry		164
15		H. G. Wells (1866-1946): Did the Father of Science Fiction Have a Near-Death Experience?		179
6		Thomas Mann (1871-1950): "It Was Not Possible - But It Happened"		187
17		Harry Houdini (1874-1926): Ultimate Escape		197
18		Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965): Encounter in the Transvaal		207
19		Carl G. Jung (1875-1961): Speaker for the Dead		215
20		Sri Yashoda Ma (1882-1944): A Guest in the House of Krishna		226
21		Doris Lessing (1919-): Canopus in Argos: Archives		240
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