God And The Gothic

God and the Gothic: Romance and Reality in the English Literary Tradition provides a complete reimagining of the Gothic literary canon to examine its engagement with theological ideas, tracing its origins to the apocalyptic critique of the Reformation female martyrs, and to the Dissolution of the monasteries, now seen as usurping authorities. A double gesture of repudiation and regret is evident in the consequent search for political, aesthetic, and religious mediation, which characterizes the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution and Whig Providential discourse. Part one interprets eighteenth-century Gothic novels in terms of this Whig debate about the true heir, culminating in Ann Radcliffe's melancholic theology which uses distance and loss to enable a new mediation. Part two traces the origins of the doppelgänger in Calvinist anthropology and establishes that its employment by a range of Scottish writers offers a productive mode of subjectivity, necessary in a culture equally concerned with historical continuity. In part three, Irish Gothic is shown to be seeking ways to mediate between Catholic and Protestant identities through models of sacrifice and ecumenism, while in part four nineteenth-century Gothic is read as increasingly theological, responding to materialism by a project of re-enchantment. Ghost story writers assert the metaphysical priority of the supernatural to establish the material world. Arthur Machen and other Order of the Golden Dawn members explore the double and other Gothic tropes as modes of mystical ascent, while raising the physical to the spiritual through magical control, and the M. R. James circle restore the sacramental and psychical efficacy of objects.

"God and the Gothic: Romance and Reality in the English Literary Tradition provides a complete reimagining of the Gothic literary canon to examine its engagement with theological ideas, tracing its origins to the apocalyptic critique of the Reformation female martyrs, and to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, now seen as usurption of power by the authorities. A double gesture of repudiation and regret is evident in the consequent search for political, aesthetic, and religious mediation, which characterizes the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution and Whig Providential discourse. Part I interprets eighteenth-century Gothic novels in terms of this Whig debate about the true heir, culminating in Ann Radcliffe's melancholic theology which uses distance and loss to enable a new mediation. Part II traces the origins of the doppelgänger in Calvinist anthropology and establishes that its employment by a range of Scottish writers offers a productive mode of subjectivity, necessary in a culture equally concerned with historical continuity. In Part III, Irish Gothic is shown to be seeking ways to mediate between Catholic and Protestant identities through models of sacrifice and ecumenism, while in Part IV nineteenth-century Gothic is read as increasingly theological, responding to materialism by a project of re-enchantment. Ghost story writers assert the metaphysical priority of the supernatural to establish the material world. Arthur Machen and other Order of the Golden Dawn members explore the double and other Gothic tropes as modes of mystical ascent, while raising the physical to the spiritual through magical control, and the M.R. James circle restores the sacramental and psychical efficacy of objects"--

Alison Milbank provides a complete reimagining of the Gothic literary canon to examine its engagement with theological ideas, tracing its origins to the apocalyptic critique of the Reformation female martyrs, and to the Dissolution of the monasteries, now seen as usurping authorities.

A young man with tattoos and piercings, wearing all black, is kneeling down in church praying the Rosary. Is this truly a Goth showing reverence for God? Isn't "Catholic Goth" a contradiction? Within these pages the author discusses his entrance into the Gothic and Catholic communities, and attempts to clear up many of the misconceptions that people have about both groups.

Gaut's Descendants: Gothic Religion and Culture in Germania explores the religion and culture of the Goths and the Gothic influence on other Germanic tribes. Some of the topics examined include: the gods and goddesses of the Goths; the rituals and magic of the Goths; Gaut, the founding father god of the Goths, his surviving myths and his cult of sacral kingship; the various influences that contributed to the synthesis of Gothic religion and culture; the nature of Gothic Christianity and survivals of Gothic heathenry in Christian times; how the Migration Age layer of Germanic mythology differed from the more well-known Viking Age layer of Germanic mythology; how the Goths contributed to Germanic mystical and religious concepts preserved in the Eddas such as the differences between the Aesir and Vanir gods; the substantial influence of the Goths on the legend and poetry of the rest of the Germanic world, especially in Viking Age Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon England.

A comprehensive, innovative study of how medieval people envisioned heaven, hell, and purgatory - images and imaginings that endure today.

The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. “A spellbinding fairy tale rooted in Mexican mythology . . . Gods of Jade and Shadow is a magical fairy tale about identity, freedom, and love, and it's like nothing you've read before.”—Bustle NEBULA AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Tordotcom • The New York Public Library • BookRiot The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true. In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld. Praise for Gods of Jade and Shadow “A dark, dazzling fairy tale . . . a whirlwind tour of a 1920s Mexico vivid with jazz, the memories of revolution, and gods, demons, and magic.”—NPR “Snappy dialog, stellar worldbuilding, lyrical prose, and a slow-burn romance make this a standout. . . . Purchase where Naomi Novik, Nnedi Okorafor, and N. K. Jemisin are popular.”—Library Journal (starred review) “A magical novel of duality, tradition, and change . . . Moreno-Garcia’s seamless blend of mythology and history provides a ripe setting for Casiopea’s stellar journey of self-discovery, which culminates in a dramatic denouement. Readers will gladly immerse themselves in Moreno-Garcia’s rich and complex tale of desperate hopes and complicated relationships.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

New English translation of this “demise of the human race” story.

Following his wife’s tragic death, a rich man attempts to contact the god Pan, and his efforts yield spirited results in this classic occult novel. In her compelling way, Dion Fortune combines romance, suspense, and the search for truth and meaning in this psychological thriller that deals ultimately with the growth of consciousness and the path to self-knowledge. Wealthy, skeptical Hugh Paston, shocked by the death of his wife with her lover in a car crash, finds himself at a crossroads in his life. In search of a distraction, he wanders into the shop of an antiquarian bookseller who befriends him and sparks his interest in occult literature. Hugh is drawn to study the Eleusinian Mysteries and, determined to evoke Pan, the goat-foot god, he buys Monks Farm, a former monastery, long unused and sinking into ruin. With the aid of Mona Wilton, a young artist, Hugh refurbishes and revitalizes the property in preparation for the rites. In the ancient monastery, he is possessed by the spirit of a fifteenth-century prior, Ambrosius, who had been walled up in the cellar for practicing certain pagan rituals he had discovered in old Greek manuscripts in the monastery library—rituals dedicated to Pan.