Description: Coming to Our Senses: Body and Spirit in the Hidden History of the West by Morris Herman. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1989. Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition, 1st printing. Bright, clean & tight copy, in Near Fine condition. "According to Morris Berman, we have literally lost our senses--because we have denied our physicality. In this provocative analysis of the underlying structure of Western civilization, Berman explores the relationship between our physical experience of the world and the larger culture of which it is a part. He evaluates the studies of infant behavior in front of mirrors; analyzes the iconography of human/animal relations, from cave paintings to Disney cartoons; investigates esoteric breathing techniques and other occult rituals; and examines the nature of creativity. Uncovering the 'hidden history' of somatic experience, Berman shows how Christianity had its origins in Jewish 'ascent' techniques, how the idea of romantic love grew out of medieval Christian heresy, how modern science arose from Renaissance mysticism, and how Nazism was the most recent episode in a recurring cycle of orthodoxy and heresy. A radical and unconventional work of history and philosophy, COMING TO OUR SENSES is a landmark effort to integrate thinking and feeling." [jacket copy] "The author's call for a life of the body--as opposed to an emphasis on success, material possessions and divisive 'isms'--rigorously extends the arguments advanced in his popular The Reenchantment of the World. Stressing that the human infant's emerging self-awareness is bodily as well as conceptual, Berman views conventional birthing methods as traumatic; he faults modern infant care for a dearth of physical contact with the young. His analysis of repressed 'somatic awareness' takes unusual turns: a history of mirrors, decoding of upper-class vs. lower-class body language, a review of our changing relations with animals--from reverential cave art to the treatment of other species as mere objects. Next, he identifies a countercultural tradition supposedly rooted in bodily experience and rejecting the cerebral, mechanical way of life of the dominant culture. Examples include Gnostic seers' fusion with godhead, Jewish mysticism, 11th century French Cathar heretics with their trance and ecstasy techniques, the soul travel of Renaissance occultists. This maverick synthesis challenges commonly held assumptions."--Publishers Weekly.
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Location: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin
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Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Special Attributes: 1st Edition, Dust Jacket, Illustrated
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Topic: Spirituality
Subject: Religion & Spirituality
Original/Facsimile: Original
