John Michell (1)Rezensionen

This is a nice coffee table book. It contains information on Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. The examples contained within are from quotes and other sayings. So if you ever wanted to know what a zeugma is and don't feel like Googling it, this book could be for you.

This book is a sampler platter. It tries to cover just about every aspect of the trivium, plus some extras, but there isn't space to get into any one topic in any depth, since each gets only one or two pages at most. I liked the book overall, but my feelings about the individual chapters—each written by different authors—varied widely. Luckily for finishing the book, I tended to like each chapter better than the ones before it. "Euphonics" might appeal to many readers; I got tired of it by D and skimmed the rest. I started reading seriously with "Grammar" and "Poetic Meter & Form." The last three, "Logic," "Rhetoric," and "Ethics, were the most fascinating to me, but also the most frustrating because I wanted to know more. The three appendices didn't seem all that closely tied to the chapters, and I could have traded them for more information on the trivium itself. This is a readable, interesting introduction to the trivium, but don't expect to learn much about any one piece of it from this book alone.

John Michell is revered amongst Forteans for his writings on strangeness and esotericism. I'm also a sucker for anything on eccentrics as I plan to become increasingly eccentric as I age and I like to pick up tips from the experts. So "Eccentric Lives and Peculiar Notions" seemed to be right down my alley.

So it was a shame that the book just do much for me. Certainly, there were plenty of eccentrics to pick from but most I had already met in other publications and there was nothing that made me stop, go back and reread a sentence and think "My, that action was odd" (or words to that effect).

There are certainly reasons to read this though; anyone who believed that Jesus was born in Glastonbury is worth reading about, and while I'm unsure that I would ever vote for a candidate campaigning on issue that trepanning should be government funded, I'm happier knowing such candidates exist.

And if only my own obituary could match that of Mr Henry Lee Warner, "(his mind) was tinctured by peculiarities that separated him from a comparison with almost any other human being."½

Eine kurze, unterhaltsame Zusammenfassung des Shakespear-Problems. Es gibt schlicht keine Grundlage anzunehmen, dass William Shaksper die Stuecke selber schrieb. Dies wird im ersten Teil ausfuehrlich und einleuchtend erklaert. Im zweiten Teil geht es um die Frage, wer war es dann und was war die Rolle des Immobilienhais von Stratford.

I enjoy the attractive Geometric design done in water color and Designs with 12 pointed stars. The philosophy interests me less.

“The Temple at Jerusalem: a Revelation” by John Michell, 72 pages, paperback. Like all of Michell’s books it deals with the theme of esoteric or sacred geometry manifested in architecture, landscapes (natural and artificial) and city structure. The main thesis of the book is that aspects of the temple’s geometry are reflected on a larger scale in the features of the city of Jerusalem (reflecting a more expansive and universal destiny as a temple for all nations who regard Jerusalem as their spiritual center); that this may have been intentional on the part of those who worked on the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Bar-Kochba rebellion against Roman rule (including Roman augurs). Michell calls attention to some suggestive relationships based mostly on geometry and numerical ratios, but his main assertions do not seem to be well supported; indeed they seem rather fanciful.

More interesting are the many tidbits of information he provides as he attempts to bolster his theories: the layout of new street grids by Roman Augurs after the devastation of the city, the locations of long vanished ancient structures on the Temple Mount, the relation of Moslem building
projects to older Jewish and Roman structures (such as a temple of Jupiter), biblical metrology (Egyptian canonical cubit, Hebrew great cubit, palm, reed), a synopsis of current theories regarding the precise location of Solomon’s Temple on the Mount.

Many pertinent illustrations: maps, floor plans of existent and vanished buildings, old etchings, add to the value of the book.

Fortean Platonist John Michell focuses here on a topic that some call "sacred geometry." He maintains that a single canon of measure and proportion underlies all ancient monumental architecture, unifying it with cosmology, music, and sacred literature. As instances, he discusses the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse, Stonehenge, Glastonbury, and the Great Pyramid.

Michell does not cite The Canon of William Stirling (1897), which was undoubtedly an enormous influence on the composition of City of Revelation. (The 1974 & 1981 R.I.L.K.O. editions of The Canon feature forewords by Michell.) He is also somewhat cagey about other occultist influences. Not daring to mention Aleister Crowley's A.'.A.'. by name, he refers to "a famous magical order." (67)

Michell became identified with the New Age movement which eagerly consumed his writings. But City of Revelation, while acknowledging a millenial moment, does not share the sanguine utopianism common to the New Age. In some ways, his nostalgic tone is a better fit for the anti-occultist esotericism of the Traditionalists. He is a little muddled about the history of early Christianity, confusing the (late 2nd-century C.E.) date of the first heresiological agendas--i.e. the development of a Christian orthodoxy--with the (much later) date of the identification of the institutional church with Roman imperial power. (13, 128) So, unlike the Traditionalists, and more like the Theosophists (whom he cites familiarly as sources), he sees the principal degeneration of Christianity as taking place with the suppression of antique Gnosticism, rather than the Reformation.

Ultimately, his arithmological focus is on the numbers 666 and 1080, which he identifies with masculine/solar and feminine/lunar qualities respectively. He speculates very briefly on the "extraterrestrial" origin of the canon, and thus of human civilization. The book is full of admirable examples of Greek gematria, and some of the astronomical analogies and metrological data are very striking. The volume could benefit from an index of references to specific numbers discussed in the text.

The thesis of John Michell's The Temple at Jerusalem: Revelation is that the real measurements (cubits) for the Temple in Jerusalem should be multiplied by six compared to the commonly accepted unit. This would make the Temple much larger, covering a significant portion of ancient and contemporary Jerusalem. One of the consequences is that (Jewish) Holy of Holies would be right in the (Christian) Holy Sepulcher church. This sits well with the author's multifaith intention. Throughout the book he is using both the Hebrew and the Christian Bible to support his points. His approach integrating both traditions and Islam too, but he didn't quote anything from Qur'an.

Besides using sacred scriptures the argumentation is built around geography and playing with numbers. However the key concept is found on page 47, where the author introduces the three kind of measurements: the cubit, the handbreadth and the greater cubit. Mitchell identifies this last one, based on Ezekiel 40 as being the equivalent of six regular cubits. Then he goes in complex calculations of how big the Temple is and where it would be compared to the known streets and structures of Jerusalem if we use this measurement. Ezekiel 40 indeed describes a rod s being used to measure the outside of the Temple. However the rod is six cubit and six handbreadth long, thus the basis of Michell's calculations is incorrect. Furthermore that chapter, and specifically the measurement sections are far from being clear; includes words with unknown meanings and words which are often mistranslated. This is one reason I think Michell's thesis stands on shaky ground.

The other is his circular logic. At the end of the book he concludes that the Temple is not just the whole of Jerusalem, but the lost tribes (who are prophecised to return to the Temple) will be the whole of humanity. Furthermore the Temple is not just the Temple of the three Abrahamic faiths, but because Golgotha had a pagan altar on it, it belongs to all faiths. For Mitchell paganism is “the classical or philosopher's religion. Truth, wisdom, and knowledge (in descending order) are its ideals; it demands no artificial beliefs.” (page 63) This assertion is not supported by any evidence; i. e. it is the author's belief. I believe this is one of the points he wanted to support with this book. Thus he had a conclusion first, around which he built an argumentation.

Michell also spends some time on explaining the duodecimal base system and its advantages compared to the decimal system. Again, he talks up the formal quite a bit, often without explaining the value statements. I recognize that my thinking is tainted by being brought up in the decimal system, but at least I am not saying it is better. It is easier to use, but I agree that where the 12 based system is used (measuring angles and time) it makes sense too.

While I disagree with all of its conclusions, I really enjoyed reading this book. It made my mind work, taught me about numbers, the streets, buildings and history and Jerusalem and it had plenty of old drawings and maps, which I am a sucker of.

I bought myself this as a birthday present. It's more money than I'd usually spend on a book, but I figured I should treat myself as it was my birthday. It turned out to be worth it -- it's the best book on the paranormal that I've ever read. It takes a neutral standpoint, presenting a variety of theories on each subject and mostly just reporting various unusual incidents. Instead of just telling the same old ghost and UFO stories that everybody's heard before, there are also chapters on more unusual things -- rains of fish or frogs, species that are thought to be extinct and then reappear, and people who lose items in the sea only to find them again in the stomach of the fish they are about to eat, and other interesting things. Get this book if you're at all interested in the unexplained!

Oddball people but largely ones who made no difference at all. Banvard's Folly is much more interesting as it often deals with unusual people but they are ones who had marked impacts on their times. They were important but have been forgotten whereas these people were never acknowledged in their own lifetimes much less after their deaths.

The Virgin Mary’s recent visits to Boksburg prove that unexplained phenomena can occur anywhere – even on the East Rand – which makes this book doubly interesting.

Do not be mislead by the term ‘rough guide’: there is nothing rough in the serious and systematic synopsis of everything from teleportation to alien abduction, stigmata, lake monsters, hauntings and talking pets.

Nothing is ever debunked, scorned or explained away; instead the inexplicable is described, elucidated and contextualized. Primary source material may be taken from the not-always impartial Fortean Times, but it is still a fascinating and even convincing read.

Hollow earthers, flat earthers, bibliomaniacs, self-trepanners, and druids. Something for everyone. Adorable.

"Eccentric Lives and Peculiar Notions" covers everything: Flat and Hollow Earths, British Israelites, Welsh Druidical Revivalists, conspiracy theorists, self-trepanners, bibliomaniacs, eugenicists, anti-Shakespearians, ufologists, and all the rest - and does so with sympathy and humanity.

Different cover