The Book of Dreams and Ghosts

Name: The Book of Dreams and Ghosts
Price: 7.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Lang, Andrew
ISBN: 9781522720508

✍️ Lang, Andrew

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📚 ABOUT THE BOOK

Delve into the shadowy realms where waking thought meets spectral presence.

Andrew Lang's "The Book of Dreams and Ghosts" offers an intriguing collection of accounts exploring the mysterious interplay between the human mind and the supernatural. As a renowned folklorist, Lang meticulously gathers and examines narratives of prescient dreams, spectral apparitions, and uncanny experiences, seeking to understand the cultural and psychological underpinnings of such phenomena. This volume serves as an early foray into the study of psychical research, presenting a fascinating historical snapshot of humanity's enduring fascination with the unseen and the unexplained, all through the lens of a keen academic observer.

Key themes

{'title': 'The Dreamscape Unveiled', 'body': 'Explores the symbolic language and potential prophetic nature of dreams, drawing connections between subconscious activity and external events, as interpreted through various historical and personal accounts. Lang delves into how these nocturnal visions have shaped human perception and belief across cultures and eras.'} {'title': 'Encounters with Apparitions', 'body': 'Gathers numerous reports of ghostly sightings and spectral visitations, attempting to categorize and analyze these phenomena from a cultural and early psychological perspective. The book provides a compendium of first-hand narratives, examining the commonalities and variations in human experiences with the paranormal.'} {'title': 'Folklore of the Unseen', 'body': 'Examines how societal beliefs, myths, and oral traditions shape our understanding and perception of supernatural occurrences, integrating anthropological insights. Lang connects individual experiences to broader cultural narratives, illustrating the enduring power of folklore in interpreting the inexplicable.'}

🏛 Createspace Independent Publishing Platform 📅 2015 📖 114 pages 📔 Paperback 📐 Paperback ISBN: 9781522720508

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Fun fact

"The Book of Dreams and Ghosts" offers a fascinating historical journey into early psychical inquiry, meticulously documenting spectral and dream experiences. Lang's academic rigor, blended with his folkloric sensibility, makes it a foundational text for understanding Victorian spiritualism and early parapsychology. However, readers seeking definitive scientific explanations or modern psychological interpretations will find it dated. It excels as a rich compendium of human encounters with the inexplicable, offering a unique historical perspective.

📝 Description: The Book of Dreams and Ghosts

Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 - 20 July 1912) was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him. Lang was born in Selkirk. He was the eldest of the eight children born to John Lang, the town clerk of Selkirk, and his wife Jane Plenderleath Sellar, who was the daughter of Patrick Sellar, factor to the first duke of Sutherland. On 17 April 1875, he married Leonora Blanche Alleyne, youngest daughter of C. T. Alleyne of Clifton and Barbados. She was (or should have been) variously credited as author, collaborator, or translator of Lang's Color/Rainbow Fairy Books which he edited. He was educated at Selkirk Grammar School, Loretto, and at the Edinburgh Academy, St Andrews University and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a first class in the final classical schools in 1868, becoming a fellow and subsequently honorary fellow of Merton College. He soon made a reputation as one of the most able and versatile writers of the day as a journalist, poet, critic, and historian. In 1906, he was elected FBA. He died of angina pectoris at the Tor-na-Coille Hotel in Banchory, Banchory, survived by his wife. He was buried in the cathedral precincts at St Andrews.

⭐ Reader reviews

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⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

Seekers of the arcane, delve into these pages if you're fascinated by Victorian-era spiritualism, the history of psychical research, or the rich tapestry of folklore surrounding dreams and spectral encounters. An essential read for those pondering the liminal spaces of human experience.

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❓ Frequently asked questions

No, Lang meticulously compiles and analyzes purportedly real-life accounts of dreams and spectral encounters, presenting them as subjects for serious inquiry rather than mere entertainment or fiction. It's an early work of parapsychological investigation.

Lang was a distinguished Scottish scholar, renowned for his contributions to folklore, anthropology, and literary criticism, particularly his influential collections of fairy tales. His diverse scholarship informs his approach to the supernatural.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

The Dreamscape Unveiled

Explores the symbolic language and potential prophetic nature of dreams, drawing connections between subconscious activity and external events, as interpreted through various historical and personal accounts. Lang delves into how these nocturnal visions have shaped human perception and belief across cultures and eras.

Encounters with Apparitions

Gathers numerous reports of ghostly sightings and spectral visitations, attempting to categorize and analyze these phenomena from a cultural and early psychological perspective. The book provides a compendium of first-hand narratives, examining the commonalities and variations in human experiences with the paranormal.

Folklore of the Unseen

Examines how societal beliefs, myths, and oral traditions shape our understanding and perception of supernatural occurrences, integrating anthropological insights. Lang connects individual experiences to broader cultural narratives, illustrating the enduring power of folklore in interpreting the inexplicable.

💬 Quotes from the book

«The boundary betwixt the waking mind and the realm of slumber is often permeable, allowing whispers from the unseen to filter into our consciousness, shaping our waking realities.»

«To dismiss all accounts of spectral visitation as mere delusion would be to ignore a persistent thread in the tapestry of human experience, demanding a more rigorous, if not always conclusive, examination.»

📜 Historical context

Published during a peak of societal interest in spiritualism and psychical phenomena, Lang's work contributes to the burgeoning field of psychical research in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His background as a folklorist provides a unique anthropological lens, distinguishing his approach from purely scientific or sensationalist perspectives of the era, grounding the uncanny in cultural context.

📚 Glossary

Apparition
Folklore
Psychical Research

📔 Questions to reflect on

Recall a vivid dream you've had. Did it feel prophetic, or did it offer an insight into your waking life? How did you interpret its message?
Have you ever experienced an uncanny coincidence or a moment that felt genuinely supernatural? How did you rationalize or interpret it, and what was its lasting impact?
Consider a local ghost story or folk tale from your region. What deeper cultural fears, beliefs, or historical events might it represent or attempt to explain?