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Media Kit
Light on Ancient Worlds is described in this way by Seyyed Hossein Nasr: “In a sense an appraisal of the history of man seen from the traditional point of view, the work casts metaphysical light upon ancient civilizations and their significance and traces the gradual fall of man to the modern period and the revolt of European man against the Christian tradition. It also deals with the crucial debate between Hellenists and Christians, the Shamanic character of North American Indian religions and the significance of monasticism. It concludes with the essay ‘Religio Perennis’, which summarizes what lies at the heart of all religions and which may be considered to be the essence of religion as such.” This new edition (a new translation) is fully revised and contains an index and a valuable glossary which clarifies many key ideas expressed in Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, and Arabic, as well as foreign phrases. It also includes a selection of previously unpublished correspondence, which provides striking insights into Schuon’s function as one of the great spiritual masters of our time. Light on the Ancient Worlds, first published in 1967, is a central example of Frithjof Schuon’s thought.
About the Author(s)
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) is best known as the foremost spokesman of the “Traditionalist” or “Perennialist” school and as a philosopher in the metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. He wrote more than two dozen books on metaphysical, spiritual, artistic, and ethnic themes and was a regular contributor to journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America. Schuon’s writings have been consistently featured and reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both scholars and spiritual authorities. Besides his prose writings, Schuon was also a prolific poet and a gifted painter of images that always portrayed the beauty and power of the divine, and the nobility and virtue of primordial humanity.
World Wisdom features a series titled “The Writings of Frithjof Schuon”, which includes many new editions of classic books by Schuon in new translations and with additional materials. Our online Library contains many articles and poems written by Frithjof Schuon, allowing readers to see a representative sample of his remarkable body of work.
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Deborah Casey
Mrs. Casey has been with World Wisdom since 1981, and in her capacity as editor she had the opportunity to meet frequently with Frithjof Schuon for the publication of many of his books in English translation. Her current responsibilities involve working with other translators and editors on the translation and cataloging of Schuon's correspondence and unpublished papers for the future use of interested readers and scholars.Mrs. Casey is the editor of Light on the Ancient Worlds, published by World Wisdom. Light on the Ancient Worlds is the first in a new series of Frithjof Schuon's classical works which have been extensively revised and updated.
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Reviews
- Light on the Ancient Worlds: A New Translation with Selected Letters is a new edition of a classic work by the philosopher and Perennialist thinker and returns to the principles that sustained the ancient civilizations of mankind. These guiding lights were basic to both ancient and modern developments and this revised, expanded edition not only revisits the original but adds a new preface, an appendix of previously unpublished writings, and a glossary.
California Bookwatch
- In a sense an appraisal of the history of man seen from the traditional point of view, the work casts metaphysical light upon the ancient civilizations and their significance and traces the gradual fall of man to the modern period and the revolt of European man against the Christian tradition. It also deals with the crucial debate between Hellenists and Christians, the Shamanic character of North American Indian religions, and the significance of monasticism. It concludes with the essay, ‘Religio Perennis,’ which summarizes what lies at the heart of all religions and which may be considered to be the essence of religion as such.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, subject of The Philosophy of Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Library of Living Philosophers Series) and author of numerous books, including Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization and Knowledge and the Sacredkey” what attempt to understand the far past can hope to succeed?”
- This remarkable and deeply moving book certainly keeps the promise implicit in its title and the author goes straight to the heart of his subject. ‘Each ancient civilization can be said to live on a remembrance of the lost Paradise,’ we are told on the first page. This world-wide feature of antiquity needed to be stressed because so many writers on comparative religion lose sight of it; and yet without this what attempt to understand the far past can hope to succeed?
Martin Lings, author of Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources and What is Sufism?
