The Secret Language Of Churches Cathedrals

Author : Richard Stemp
Publisher : Watkins Media Limited
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2016-07-19
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781780289618

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The Secret Language of Churches & Cathedrals by Richard Stemp Pdf

Who is depicted in that stained glass window? What is the significance of those geometric figures? Why are there fierce-looking beasts carved amidst all that beauty? Is there a deeper purpose behind the play of light and space in the nave? Why is there a pelican on the lectern and ornate foliage on the pillars? The largely illiterate medieval audience could read the symbols of churches and cathedrals and recognise the meanings and stories deliberately encoded into them. For worshippers these were places of religious education and an awe-inspiring feast that satisfied both the senses and the soul. Today, in an age less attuned to iconography, such places of worship are often seen merely as magnificent works of architecture. This book restores the lost spiritual meaning of these fine and fascinating buildings. The Secret Language of Churches & Cathedrals provides a three-part illustrated key by which modern visitors can understand the layout, fabric and decorative symbolism of Christian sacred structures - thereby bringing back to life their original atmosphere of awe and sanctity. Part One is an analysis of structural features, outside and in, from spires and domes to clerestories and brasses. Part Two is a theme-by-theme guide, which identifies significant figures, scenes, stories, animals, flowers, and the use of numbers, letters and patterns in paintings, carvings and sculpture. Part Three is a historical decoder, revealing the evolution of styles - from basilicas through Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic and beyond. For all those who seek to know more about Christian art and architecture, this richly illustrated book will instruct and delight in equal measure.

Author : Richard Stemp
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Church architecture
ISBN : 1844839222

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The Secret Language of Churches & Cathedrals by Richard Stemp Pdf

This carefully researched guide takes the reader into some of the world's most famous churches, decoding messages that are hidden in plain sight-in stained-glass windows, statuary, patterned flooring, ornamentation, and even the buildings' architectural design: Why do fierce beasts and grotesque faces peer from the walls? Who chose to depict one particular saint and not another? What's the significance of an eagle? A dragon? A pelican? No one who reads this book will ever again experience a visit to a cathedral in quite the same way.

Author : Jon Canon
Publisher : National Geographic Books
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2013-10-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781848991118

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The Secret Language of Sacred Spaces by Jon Canon Pdf

A fascinating exploration of the codes and meanings encrypted in our places of daily worship - covering all major faiths of the world from antiquity to modern times. Across the globe, pilgrims and tourists, locals and foreigners flock to sacred sites and houses of worship. Why? Because throughout time, humans have directed extraordinary amounts of energy toward the creation of architecture that expresses their religious beliefs. From Stonehenge to the Sagrada Família; from the Acropolis to Angkor Wat, The Secret Language of Sacred Spaces offers fascinating insights into some of the most impressive man-made structures in the world. By revealing how these historical places of worship were used and how tenets of a faith were encoded in their structures, the book enhances our understanding and appreciation of the human mind and spirit. The superb full-color photographs that can be found on every page are supplemented by ingenious 'decoder' sections. These zero in on the most important design elements, combining close-up detail with fascinating explanatory detail. The book emphasizes the key living faiths (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism), but early chapters also look at the great sites of prehistory and antiquity, including the stone circle at Avebury in southwest England and the Pyramids at Giza.

Author : Diane Apostolos-Cappadona
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2020-05-14
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780567685148

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A Guide to Christian Art by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona Pdf

A one-volume introduction to and overview of Christian art, from its earliest history to the present day. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona begins by examining how art and Christianity have intersected throughout history, and charts this tumultuous relationship that has yielded some of the greatest outpourings of human creativity. To introduce readers to the way a painting can be read Apostolos-Cappadona begins with an analysis of a painting of the Adoration of the Magi, helping readers to see how they can interpret for themselves the signs, symbols and figures that the book covers. In the more-than 1000 entries that follow Apostolos-Cappadona gives readers an expert overview of all the frequently used symbols and motifs in Christian art as well as the various saints, historical figures, religious events, and biblical scenes most frequently depicted. Readers are introduced to the ways in which religious paintings are often "coded'" such as what a lily means in a picture of Mary, how a goldfinch can be "Christological", or how the presence of an Eagle means it is likely to be a picture of St John. The entries are organized by topic, so that students and beginners can easily find their way to discussion of the themes and motifs they see before them when looking at a painting.

Author : Richard Stemp
Publisher : Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Art, Renaissance
ISBN : 1844833224

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The Secret Language of the Renaissance by Richard Stemp Pdf

Magnificently illustrated throughout, and with a six-color gold-foil cover, this remarkable book provides an all-encompassing survey of the literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, and decorative arts of the Renaissance.

Author : András Kovács-Magyar
Publisher : Matrix Drops Kft.
Page : 708 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2015-01-29
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9789633972496

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The biggest secret: The Truth by András Kovács-Magyar Pdf

History holds countless mysteries for the descendants of humankind. The first part of this book examines religious and historic facts based on tireless research and teachings by the Spirit World. The reader will be introduced to the concealed and modified stories and the true acts of “blue blood” ascendants, the creators of European history. Did you know that Attila, the Hun, liberated his brother nations from the ruthless control of the Roman Empire? In the second part of the book, the structure of the spirit world is described and select spiritual phenomena are recounted from the accumulated thousands of cases. Did you know there are two creators? In the last section, quantum physics is set out to provide scientific explanation for the spiritual world. The Matrix Drops invention is capable of pointing out self-destructive codes, thoughts, delusions as well as virtues at a deeply personalized level. With the help of the Matrix Drops Quintessences, individuals can recognize adverse forces and be inspired to find a way out of negative thoughts, emotional blocks and relational whirlpools affecting them.

Author : Richard Taylor
Publisher : Hidden Spring
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 1587680300

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How to Read a Church by Richard Taylor Pdf

Explores the principal features of a church or cathedral and what each represents, such as the significance of church layout, the importance of such details as the use of colors or letters, the identity of people and scenes, and the symbolism of animals and plants. Original.

Author : Barra Boydell
Publisher : Boydell Press
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Music
ISBN : 1843830442

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A History of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin by Barra Boydell Pdf

Christ Church cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in a catholic country. Musical and archival sources (the most extensive for any Irish cathedral) provide a unique perspective on the history of music in Ireland. Christ Church has had a complex and varied history as the cathedral church of Dublin, one of two Anglican cathedrals in the capital of a predominantly Catholic country and the church of the British administration in Ireland before1922. An Irish cathedral within the English tradition, yet through much of its history it was essentially an English cathedral in a foreign land. With close musical links to cathedrals in England, to St Patrick's cathedral in Dublin, and to the city's wider political and cultural life, Christ Church has the longest documented music history of any Irish institution, providing a unique perspective on the history of music in Ireland. Barra Boydell, a leading authority on Irish music history, has written a detailed study drawing on the most extensive musical and archival sources existing for any Irish cathedral. The choir, its composers and musicians, repertoire and organs are discussed within the wider context of city and state, and of the religious and political dynamics which have shaped Anglo-Irish relationships since medieval times. More than just a history of music at one cathedral, this book makesan important contribution to English cathedral music studies as well as to Irish musical and cultural history. BARRA BOYDELL is Senior Lecturer in Music, National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Author : Ken Follett
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 1009 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2010-06-29
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781101442197

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The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Pdf

#1 New York Times Bestseller Oprah's Book Club Selection The “extraordinary . . . monumental masterpiece” (Booklist) that changed the course of Ken Follett’s already phenomenal career—and begins where its prequel, The Evening and the Morning, ended. “Follett risks all and comes out a clear winner,” extolled Publishers Weekly on the release of The Pillars of the Earth. A departure for the bestselling thriller writer, the historical epic stunned readers and critics alike with its ambitious scope and gripping humanity. Today, it stands as a testament to Follett’s unassailable command of the written word and to his universal appeal. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul . . . of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother. A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.

Author : Gary Lachman
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 528 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2015-12-08
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780698137226

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The Secret Teachers of the Western World by Gary Lachman Pdf

This epic study unveils the esoteric masters who have covertly impacted the intellectual development of the West, from Pythagoras and Zoroaster to the little-known modern icons Jean Gebser and Schwaller de Lubicz. Running alongside the mainstream of Western intellectual history there is another current which, in a very real sense, should take pride of place, but which for the last few centuries has occupied a shadowy, inferior position, somewhere underground. This "other" stream forms the subject of Gary Lachman’s epic history and analysis, The Secret Teachers of the Western World. In this clarifying, accessible, and fascinating study, the acclaimed historian explores the Western esoteric tradition – a thought movement with ancient roots and modern expressions, which, in a broad sense, regards the cosmos as a living, spiritual, meaningful being and humankind as having a unique obligation and responsibility in it. The historical roots of our “counter tradition,” as Lachman explores, have their beginning in Alexandria around the time of Christ. It was then that we find the first written accounts of the ancient tradition, which had earlier been passed on orally. Here, in this remarkable city, filled with teachers, philosophers, and mystics from Egypt, Greece, Asia, and other parts of the world, in a multi-cultural, multi-faith, and pluralistic society, a synthesis took place, a creative blending of different ideas and visions, which gave the hidden tradition the eclectic character it retains today. The history of our esoteric tradition roughly forms three parts: Part One: After looking back at the earliest roots of the esoteric tradition in ancient Egypt and Greece, the historical narrative opens in Alexandria in the first centuries of the Christian era. Over the following centuries, it traces our “other” tradition through such agents as the Hermeticists; Kabbalists; Gnostics; Neoplatonists; and early Church fathers, among many others. We examine the reemergence of the lost Hermetic books in the Renaissance and their influence on the emerging modern mind. Part Two begins with the fall of Hermeticism in the late Renaissance and the beginning of “the esoteric counterculture.” In 1614, the same year that the Hermetic teachings fell from grace, a strange document appeared in Kassel, Germany announcing the existence of a mysterious fraternity: the Rosicrucians. Part two charts the impact of the Rosicrucians and the esoteric currents that followed, such as the Romance movement and the European occult revival of the late nineteenth century, including Madame Blavatsky and the opening of the western mind to the wisdom of the East, and the fin-de-siècle occultism of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Part Three chronicles the rise of “modern esotericism,” as seen in the influence of Rudolf Steiner, Gurdjieff, Annie Besant, Krishnamurti, Aleister Crowley, R. A Schwaller de Lubicz, and many others. Central is the life and work of C.G. Jung, perhaps the most important figure in the development of modern spirituality. The book looks at the occult revival of the “mystic sixties” and our own New Age, and how this itself has given birth to a more critical, rigorous investigation of the ancient wisdom. With many detours and dead ends, we now seem to be slowly moving into a watershed. It has become clear that the dominant, left-brain, reductionist view, once so liberating and exciting, has run out of steam, and the promise of that much-sought-after “paradigm change” seems possible. We may be on the brink of a culminating moment of the esoteric intellectual tradition of the West.

Author : John Ogilvie
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 762 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 1883
Category : English language
ISBN : BML:37001103888090

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The Imperial Dictionary of the English Language by John Ogilvie Pdf

Author : Isaac Williams
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 1839
Category : Pastoral theology
ISBN : NLI:3211901-10

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The Cathedral; Or, The Catholic and Apostolic Church in England by Isaac Williams Pdf

Author : Isaac Williams
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 1889
Category : Cathedrals
ISBN : UCAL:$B684891

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The Cathedral by Isaac Williams Pdf

Author : William Monck Mason
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 634 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 1820
Category : Electronic
ISBN : UIUC:30112062393951

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The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St. Patrick by William Monck Mason Pdf

Author : William Monck Mason
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 614 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 1820
Category : Electronic
ISBN : IND:30000104711977

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The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St. Patrick, Near Dublin by William Monck Mason Pdf