Fantastic Realism (literature)
''The Morning of the Magicians: Introduction to Fantastic Realism'' () is a 1960 book by the journalists Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier. As the authors disclaim in their preface, the book is intended to challenge readers' viewpoints on historic events, whether they believe the explanations or not, but with the goal to give readers the opportunity to test their level of cognitive dissonance and critical thinking skills. Although the book presents a collection of "raw material for speculation of the most outlandish order," the same reviewer also noted "it is the instigation of original thought that matters." It covers topics like cryptohistory, ufology, occultism in Nazism, alchemy, spiritual philosophy and is thus often referenced by conspiracy theory, conspiracy-theory enthusiasts. Written in French, ''Le Matin des magiciens'' was translated into English by Rollo Myers in 1963 under the title ''The Dawn of Magic'', and in 1964 released in the United States as ''The Morning of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Louis Pauwels
Louis Pauwels (; 2 August 1920 – 28 January 1997) was a French journalist and writer. Born in Paris, France, he wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 (including ''Esprit'' and ''Variété'') until the 1950s. He participated in the foundation of ''Travail et Culture'' (''Work and Culture'') in 1946 (intended to spread culture to the masses, and of which he was the secretary). In 1948, he joined the work groups of G. I. Gurdjieff for 15 months, until he became editor in chief of ''Combat (newspaper), Combat'' in 1949 and editor of the newspaper ''Paris-Presse''. He directed (among others) the ''Bibliothèque Mondiale'' (''Worldwide Library'') (the precursor of "Livre de Poche" ["Pocket Books"]), ''Carrefour'' (''Intersection''), the monthly women's ''Marie Claire'' and the magazine ''Arts et Culture'' in 1952. Biography Louis Pauwels was a teacher at Athis-Mons from 1939 to 1945. His degree, (licence de Lettres) was interrupted by the beginning of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jean-Claude Pecker
Jean-Claude Pecker (10 May 1923 – 20 February 2020) was a French astronomer, astrophysicist and author, member of the French Academy of Sciences and director of the Nice Observatory. He served as the secretary-general of the International Astronomical Union from 1964 to 1967. Pecker was the President of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French amateur astronomical society, from 1973–1976. He was awarded the Prix Jules Janssen by the French Astronomical Society in 1967. A minor planet (1629 Pecker) is named after him. Pecker was a vocal opponent of astrology and pseudo-science and was the president of the Association française pour l'information scientifique (AFIS), a skeptical organisation which promotes scientific enquiry in the face of quackery and obscurantism. Early life Jean-Claude Pecker was born 10 May 1923, in Reims, to Victor-Noël Pecker and Nelly Catherine née Hermann (a teacher of Philosophy and Literature), in the department of Marne, Franc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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At The Mountains Of Madness
''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science-fiction and cosmic horror novella by the American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and published in 1936. Rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length, it was originally serialized in the February, March, and April 1936 issues of '' Astounding Stories''. It has been reproduced in numerous collections. The story details the events of a disastrous expedition to Antarctica in September 1930, and what is found there by a group of explorers led by the narrator, Dr. William Dyer of Miskatonic University. Throughout the story, Dyer details a series of previously untold events in the hope of deterring another group of explorers who wish to return to the continent. These events include the discovery of an ancient civilization older than the human race, and realization of Earth's past told through various sculptures and murals. The story was inspired by Lovecraft's inter ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Call Of Cthulhu
"The Call of Cthulhu" is a cosmic horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in February 1928. The story is a founding document of the Cthulhu Mythos, a mythopoeia and shared fictional universe expanded upon by Lovecraft and successors. Plot The deceased narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston, recounts his discovery of notes left behind by his grand-uncle, Brown University linguistic professor George Gammell Angell, after his death in the winter of 1926–27. Among the notes is a small bas-relief sculpture of a scaly creature which yields "simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature." The sculptor, a Rhode Island art student named Henry Anthony Wilcox, based the work on delirious dreams of "great Cyclopean cities of titan blocks and sky-flung monoliths." Frequent references to Cthulhu and R'lyeh are found in Wilcox's papers. Angell also discovers reports ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Erich Von Däniken
Erich Anton Paul von Däniken (; ; born 14 April 1935) is a Swiss author of several pseudoscientific books which make claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling '' Chariots of the Gods?'', published in 1968. Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the " paleo-contact" and ancient astronauts hypotheses. The ideas put forth in his books are rejected by virtually all scientists and academics, who categorize his work as pseudohistory, pseudoarchaeology, and pseudoscience. Early in his career, he was convicted and served time for several counts of fraud or embezzlement, and wrote one of his books in prison. Däniken was the co-founder of the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (AAS RA). He designed Mystery Park, a theme park located in Interlaken, Switzerland, that opened in May 2003. Early life Däniken was born in Zofingen, Aargau. Brought up as a Roman Catholic, he attended the Sain ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ancient Astronauts
Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific set of beliefs that hold that Extraterrestrial intelligence, intelligent Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial beings (alien astronauts) visited Earth and made contact with humans in Ancient history, antiquity and Prehistory, prehistoric times. Proponents of the theory suggest that this contact influenced the development of modern cultures, technologies, religions, and human biology. A common position is that Deity, deities from most (if not all) religions are extraterrestrial in origin, and that advanced technologies brought to Earth by ancient astronauts were interpreted as evidence of divine status by early humans. The idea that ancient astronauts existed and visited Earth is not taken seriously by academics and Archaeology, archaeologists, who identify such claims as Pseudoarchaeology, pseudoarchaeological or unscientific. It has received no credible attention in peer review, peer-reviewe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jason Colavito
Jason Colavito (born 1981) is an American author and independent scholar specializing in the study of fringe theories particularly around ancient history and extraterrestrials. Colavito has written a number of books, including ''The Cult of Alien Gods'' (2005), ''The Mound Builder Myth'' (2020), and ''Legends of the Pyramids'' (2021). Biography Colavito attended Auburn High School, in Auburn, New York, and graduated summa cum laude from Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology and journalism in 2003. Colavito's work has largely focused on debunking " alternative archaeology". His work has been cited in by John Kelly in a ''The Washington Post'' opinion column'','' by Stephen Winick and Firas Al-Atraqchi in ''The Huffington Post'' opinion pieces, and other publications, as well as on the History Channel. In 2005, Colavito authored ''The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture'', published ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Skeptic (US Magazine)
''Skeptic'', colloquially known as ''Skeptic magazine'', is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs. First published in 1992, the magazine had a circulation of over 40,000 subscribers in 2000. History, format and structure The magazine was co-founded in late 1991 by Michael Shermer and Pat Linse as they formed the Skeptics Society. The magazine was first published in early 1992. It is published through Millennium Press. As of July 2021, Shermer remained the publisher and editor-in-chief of the magazine. The magazine's co-publisher and art director was Pat Linse, until her death in July 2021. Other noteworthy members of its editorial board include, or have included, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist Jared Diamond, magicia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print. His work continues to inspire admirers, who refer to themselves as "Forteans", and has influenced some aspects of science fiction. Fort's collections of scientific anomalies, including '' The Book of the Damned'' (1919), influenced numerous science-fiction writers with their skepticism and as sources of ideas. "Fortean" phenomena are events which seem to challenge the boundaries of accepted scientific knowledge, and the '' Fortean Times'' (founded as ''The News'' in 1973 and renamed in 1976) investigates such phenomena. Biography Fort was born in Albany, New York, in 1874, of Dutch ancestry. His father, a grocer, was an authoritarian, and in his unpublished autobiography ''Many Parts,'' Fort mentions the phys ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bibliothèque Nationale De France
The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including books and manuscripts but also precious objects and artworks, are on display at the BnF Museum (formerly known as the ) on the Richelieu site. The National Library of France is a public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture. Its mission is to constitute collections, especially the copies of works published in France that must, by law, be deposited there, conserve them, and make them available to the public. It produces a reference catalogue, cooperates with other national and international establishments, as well as participates in research programs. History The National Library of France traces its origin to the royal library founded at the Louvre Palace by Charles V in 1368. Charles had received a collection o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consider it a religious movement, its adherents typically see it as spiritual or as a unification of mind, body, and spirit, and rarely use the term ''New Age'' themselves. Scholars often call it the New Age movement, although others contest this term and suggest it is better seen as a Social environment, ''milieu'' or ''zeitgeist''. As a form of Western esotericism, the New Age drew heavily upon esoteric traditions such as the occultism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the work of Emanuel Swedenborg and Franz Mesmer, as well as Spiritualism (movement), Spiritualism, New Thought, and Theosophy (Blavatskian), Theosophy. More immediately, it arose from mid-20th-century influen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Counterculture Of The 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is often synonymous with cultural liberalism and with the various social changes of the decade. The effects of the movement"iarchive:cubanc 000104, Where Have All the Rebels Gone?" Ep. 125 of ''Assignment America''. Buffalo, NY: WNET. 1975.Transcript availablevia American Archive of Public Broadcasting.) have been ongoing to the present day. The aggregate movement gained momentum as the civil rights movement in the United States had made significant progress, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and with the intensification of the Vietnam War that same year, it became revolutionary to some. As the movement progressed, widespread social tensions also developed concerning other issues, and tended to flow along generational lines regarding Individu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |