Gods of Love and Ecstasy: The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus

Description

Shiva and Dionysus are the Hindu and Greek gods of magical power, intoxication,ecstatic sexuality, and transcendence who initiate us into communion withthe creative forces of life. Revealing the earliest sources of the traditionsof Shiva and Dionysus, Alain Danielou reconstructs the fabric of our ancient relationship with creation, vividly relating practices that were observedfrom the Indus Valley to the coasts of Portugal at least six thousand years ago

One of the most distinguished living Orientalists, Alain Danielou was an intimate of Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau, and Nabokov, and spent more than 20 years in India studying music and philosophy with eminent pandits of the Hindu tradition. Danielou is the author of Myths and Gods of India; While the Gods Play; Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe; Virtue, Success, Pleasure, and Liberation; The Phallus; The Complete Kama Sutraand Music and the Power of Sound. He is the founder and former director of the International Institute for Comparative Musicology in Berlin, is a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and Officier du Merite National.

"Danielou's books are remarkable for their clarity, scholarship, and uninhibited celebration of erotic and mystical ecstasy." * Interview Magazine * "Gods of Love and Ecstasy makes compelling reading with so much information on the role played by gods and goddesses, revealing the theological complexity of this ancient cult. This book also includes many references and sources along with a fascinating chronological chart dating back to 15,000 BC. Highly recommended!" * Jane Lee, New Dawn, May-June 2002 * "While written nearly thirty years ago, the message of Gods of Love and Ecstasy is more critical today than ever, as it points the way towards reestablishing our links to the energies these archetypes represent, and their power in the material world." * The Institute of Hermetic Studies, Dec 2007 *