Wooden Books |
Recommended Reading this week are the beautifully illustrated titles by the Wooden Books imprint, of which there are currently over 60. They publish a wide range of short taster books on sacred geometry topics and related subjects. Plus the beefier 'Quadruvium' and 'Sciencia' pictured here. Wooden Books specialises in 'age-old' topics. It won Best Non-Fiction Series at the 2007 New York Book Fair. It's series of titles continues to grow. Most of the books are written by John Martineau, founder of Wooden Books. His MA project focussed on geometry and harmony in the solar systems. It was then the basis of his 'Book of Coincidence'. |
Watkins Publishing
978-1-78028-008-0
Recommended Read this week is 'The Secret Language of Astrology' by Roy Gillett, published by Watkins Publishing. Lavishly illustrated primer for anyone who wants to start their journey into astrology. It even includes links to an AstrolableA' website created exclusively for the book, enabling you to create a detailed birth chart for yourself, or for family or friends, with advice on interpretation. |
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John Blake Publishing (Metro Books)
978-1-86066-112-9
The author, William R Harston, is a journalist who writes the Beachcomber column in the British newspaper the Daily Express and is an accomplished chess player. He played chess competitively from 1962 to 1987, with a highest Elo rating of 2485. Randomly, during his time as a PhD student at Cambridge, Hartston became the first person to stack the pieces from an entire chess set on top of a single white rook.
For many years Harston has been a TV commentator for chess tournaments, such as the BBC Play Chess, and other TV credits. He is involved in a number of creative areas, running competitions in creative thinking for The Independent newspaper and the Mind Sports Olympiad. Harston has numerous book titles to his name, a large number of which are about chess. | |
Watkins Publishing Ltd
978-1-78028-386-9
Recommended Read this week is 'Celestial Geometry: Understanding the Meanings of Astronomical Sites' by Ken Taylor, Watkins Publishing Ltd, 2019. Ken Taylor's extensive research explores over 60 archeological sites, some well known and others less so. Each site 'enshrines remarkable achievements' of ancient astronomers around the world. A fascinating book linking the Earth to the Heavens using mathematics and sacred geometry. There is the occasional mention of the various sites' uses, rites and ceremonies. More detailed specifics about the sites, such as materials used, is not really covered. Nevertheless the book is excellent! |
He has written 6 books and has co-authored a further 6 in partnership with his wife Joules. Titles include:
Early Heaven Oracle (Rider,2002 )
Tarot for Today (London House, 2000)
Werewolves (2009) and Ghosts ( 2010) for Spruce.
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Thames and Hudson
978-80500-810347
Francs Huxley (1923 - 2016) was an anthropologist and botanist with diverse interests and a lifelong interest in shamanism and the altered states of consciousness often experienced by sacred 'healers'. In the 1950's his pioneering fieldwork among the Urubu people of the Amazon basin and his book 'Affable Savages' (1956) resulted in new personal reflective approach to the study of culture, rather than objective. He was also an activist for indigenous peoples, founding Survival International with fellow anthropologists. Survival International provides a platform for exposing genocide, violence, slavery and exploitation.
Works of interest The Invisibles: Voodoo Gods in Haiti (1969), he describes his encounter with possession, magic and psychic healing. The Way of the Sacred (1974) he expands this personal perspective on healing to include the study of myths, religious rites and sacred symbolism. With his fellow anthropologist, Jeremy Narby, he co-edited Shamans Through Time (2001), a collection of five centuries of writing on the subject. Tribes of the Amazon Basin in Brazil (1973), identified groups threatened by Brazilian economic expansion and described the sad impact on their religious, spiritual and psychological health and wellbeing. | |
Harper Perennial
978-0-06092-671-7
Another book that is a readable and informative introduction to sacred geometry. Schnieder focuses on the drawing/construction of the geometric principles created by 0, 1 to 10, sequentially. He includes relevant quotes, examples in nature, the human body, myths, art and architecture. Plenty of interesting material about each of the numbers but he does not draw any conclusions.
Calling himself 'an educator and writer who encourages a love of learning' on his website Schnieder provides numerous workbooks and CDs about 'the intersections of mathematics, nature, art, science and culture'.
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Recommended Read this week is Malcolm Stewart's (1939-) 'Patterns of Eternity - Sacred Geometry and the Starcut Diagram', published by Floris Books.
This is a classic sacred geometry text, well researched, insightful, covers a lot of ground, includes plenty of examples from many cultures. If you are serious about understanding the mathematics of sacred geometry then this needs to be in your library.
Stewart proposes that the Starcut Diagram has very interesting mathematical properties and that it could possibly be the source of the ancient number system used to build ancient sites.
Malcolm Stewart's varied career includes - priest, singer-songwriter, editor and book jacket designer, UN project co-ordinator, NGO relief-aid and refugee organiser, freelance artist and stained glass designer, lecturer and author.
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MACROmedia Press
978-1-88813-807-8
Recommended Read this week is 'Cymatics' by Hans Jenny (1904 - 1972). It is a primer for understanding the history of the field of cymatics (physics of sound), the geometry within sound waves and their creative influence. Probably best to read this first before last week's Recommended Read 'Interference Theory'.
Even our early ancestors knew that sound and its impact on us at a cellular level were highly important. Our depth of our understanding of the science of cymatics grows every day. The significance of sound in the creative process and its influence on us is becoming more mainstream since Jenny's early work. John Stuart Reid's cymascope has contributed significantly to this field.
I have included a couple of YouTube videos at the end of this blog for those of you who are new to the subject. These stunning geometric patterns are like animated mandalas.
This original hardcover edition now seems to be a collectible item and secondhand copies are quite expensive. It is currently reprinting and is due out March 2022 - Floris Books.
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published by Richard Merrick
978-0-615-20599-1
Recommended Read this week is Richard Merrick's book "Interference Theory", which falls into the field physic's cymatics, the science of sound. He analyses how our auditory system recognises sound as simple shapes. His Harmonic Interference Theory supports the view that sound and its geometry are the creative force; that matter is essentially crystallised harmonics, founded on geometry. A fairly technical read. Reminds me of John Stuart Reid's research into how dolphins communicate using sonic sound bubbles using his cymascope. Sound and silence in general (natural sound, musical, harmony, etc) is a fascinating subject area, notably its link to geometry. |
Publisher keeps changing
0-613-92267-0
Another Recommended Read if you are keen on symbolism. In fact this is probably the first book I would suggest you get. 'Man and His Symbols' by Carl G Yung (1875 - 1971) - Yung covers a wide range of subjects from early times to modern. Naturally I like the numerous examples of symbolism in art. Importantly, it covers archetypes, accessing the common consciousness and synchronicity, which are fundamental to the vital essence and purpose of symbols. Also read his collection - Archetypes and the Collective Unconsciousness |
The great psychologist dreamed that his work was understood by a wide public, rather than just by psychiatrists, and therefore he agreed to write and edit this fascinating book. Here, Jung examines the full world of the unconscious, whose language he believed to be the symbols constantly revealed in dreams. Convinced that dreams offer practical advice, sent from the unconscious to the conscious self, Jung felt that self-understanding would lead to a full and productive life.
GOOD READS
AuthorSharing my passion for archetypal symbolism, especially sacred geometry, in nature, the Arts, sciences, philosophy and society. |
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