MAGICAL AND MYSTICAL SITES: Europe and the British Isles

by Elizabeth & John Wilcox Pepper ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 5, 1976

A steady, well-documented journey to magical and sacred sites from Ephesus in Turkey to the British Isles in search of the origin of Western man's primitive beliefs. The murky history of the pre-Christian temples of Malta and the megalithic stones of Carnac and Stonehenge is retold through the myths and legends of ancient historians and reexamined in the light of recent archaeological findings and radio-carbon dating. Modern Christian beliefs and rituals seem to be a curious mixture of superstitions and cosmologies first espoused by the hierophants of Eleusis and the Celtic Druids. The itinerary includes an objective view of the sites that possibly gave birth to the legends of Atlantis as well as the Arthurian romances of the Knights of the Round Table and the quest of the Holy Grail. A visit to Faust's home, recently identified, and to libraries holding the writings of medieval alchemists attest to man's desire to master the forces of nature and his own subconscious. For inquisitive travelers, art historians, and the supernaturally inclined.

Pub Date: Jan. 5, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION