Reading
A list of books or articles that I have read or am reading in descending chronological order of completion. Does not include chapters read while researching or articles skimmed. The intention is to give a guide to what’s motivating the home page entries.
Annemarie Schimmel (1975) Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: UNCP
C. Rowland (1982) The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity, London: SPCK
Dan Merkur (1993) Gnosis: An Esoteric Tradition of Mystical Visions and Unions Albany: SUNY Press
- The first part is about Jung and the Gnostic-Alchemical imagination. That’s of no interest to anyone.
- Second part is about the Ogdoad tradition, Merkabah mysticism, and the Islamic tradition related to the mi’raj story.
Watkins, T. ‘The neolithic revolution and the emergence of humanity: a cognitive approach to the first comprehensive world-view’ pp. 1-7
Peter, J. & K. Schmidt (2004) ‘Animals in the symbolic world of Pre-Pottery Neolithic Gobekli Tepe, south-eastern Turkey: a preliminary assessment’ Anthropozoologica 39(1) pp. 179-218.
- Conclusion is that they display mortuary concerns and are probably not shamanistic
T. Watkins (2001) ‘The beginning of religion at the beginning of the neolithic.’ Text of paper given at Liverpool conference of British Association of Near Eastern Archaeology, Jan 2001, pp. 1-9 [16/3/2012]
- Brief mention of Renfrew’s ’sapient behaviour Paradox’ (humans became genetically modern long before they became culturally modern: why the long delay?)
- Renfrew, C. & C. Scarre (eds) (1998) Cognition and Material Culture: the Archaeology of Symbolic Storage.
- Cauvin, J. (tr. T. Watkins) (2000) The Birth of the Gods and the Beginnings of Agriculture, Cambridge:CUP.
M. Lings (1993) What is Sufism? Cambridge: CUP . [-/2/2012]
- A new ‘classic’. Vague and pointless. Little real information. Seems to be proselytising.
R. A. Nicholson (1914) The Mystics of Islam London: RKP . [16/2/2012]
- An old classic. Rather too many long quotes and repetitive passages.