Peter Kingsley's Book of Life is the culmination and completion of an extraordinary body of work. As a historian he has revolutionized our understanding of ancient philosophy and religion; as a mystic, he introduced us to what philosophy and religion are meant to be.

Hauntingly personal, almost autobiographical, this is not the story of one man's life. It's the secret story of us all. Beyond scepticism and cynicism, belief or imagination, A Book of Life offers a roadmap to reality by showing how it still is possible to experience the sacred truths our ancestors knew and lived -- that inside every human being lies the universe and that life itself, in all its splendour, is what lies behind our tiny lives.

This little book is a wide open door into the timeless magic and unfathomable mystery our modern world has managed to forget. Even so, to encourage anyone to read it now would be totally wrong -- because it was written to be read not by people today but in a distant future.

Catafalque offers a revolutionary new reading of the great psychologist Carl Jung as mystic, gnostic and prophet for our time.

This book is the first major re-imagining of both Jung and his work since the publication of the Red Book in 2009 -- and is the only serious assessment of them written by a classical scholar who understands the ancient Gnostic, Hermetic and alchemical foundations of his thought as well as Jung himself did. At the same time it skillfully tells the forgotten story of Jung's relationship with the great Sufi scholar, Henry Corbin, and with Persian Sufi tradition.

The strange reality of the Red Book, or New Book as Carl Jung called it, lies close to the heart of Catafalque. In meticulous detail Peter Kingsley uncovers its great secret, hidden in plain sight and still -- as if by magic -- unrecognized by all those who have been unable to understand this mysterious, incantatory text.

But the hard truth of who Jung was and what he did is only a small part of what this book uncovers. It also exposes the full extent of that great river of esoteric tradition that stretches all the way back to the beginnings of our civilization. It unveils the surprising realities behind western philosophy, literature, poetry, prophecy -- both ancient and modern.

In short, Peter Kingsley shows us not only who Carl Jung was but who we in the West are as well. Much more than a brilliant spiritual biography, Catafalque holds the key to understanding why our western culture is dying. And, an incantatory text in its own right, it shows the way to discovering what we in these times of great crisis must do.

Book details 844-page paperback.

The author of Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic has unearthed a sensational, true story of a mystical and esoteric tradition that lies hidden at the roots of Western culture--and that gave rise to the world we live in.

New and updated edition (2020) of this classic book first published in 2004

REALITY introduces us to the extraordinary mystical tradition that lies right at the roots of western culture.

This is the true story of Parmenides, Empedocles, and those like them: spiritual guides and experts in other states of consciousness, healers and interpreters of dreams, prophets and magicians who laid the foundation for the world we now live in. REALITY documents the excruciating process that led to their work and teaching being distorted, covered over, forgotten. And most importantly, it presents these original teachings in all their immediacy and power -- revealing their ability, just as vibrant now as at the dawn of the western world, to awaken us to what reality truly is.

Peter Kingsley's Book of Life is the culmination and completion of an extraordinary body of work. As a historian he has revolutionized our understanding of ancient philosophy and religion; as a mystic, he introduced us to what philosophy and religion are meant to be.

Hauntingly personal, almost autobiographical, this is not the story of one man's life. It's the secret story of us all. Beyond scepticism and cynicism, belief or imagination, A Book of Life offers a roadmap to reality by showing how it still is possible to experience the sacred truths our ancestors knew and lived -- that inside every human being lies the universe and that life itself, in all its splendour, is what lies behind our tiny lives.

This little book is a wide open door into the timeless magic and unfathomable mystery our modern world has managed to forget. Even so, to encourage anyone to read it now would be totally wrong -- because it was written to be read not by people today but in a distant future.

New and updated edition (2020) of this classic book first published in 2004

REALITY introduces us to the extraordinary mystical tradition that lies right at the roots of western culture.

This is the true story of Parmenides, Empedocles, and those like them: spiritual guides and experts in other states of consciousness, healers and interpreters of dreams, prophets and magicians who laid the foundation for the world we now live in. REALITY documents the excruciating process that led to their work and teaching being distorted, covered over, forgotten. And most importantly, it presents these original teachings in all their immediacy and power -- revealing their ability, just as vibrant now as at the dawn of the western world, to awaken us to what reality truly is.

This is the first book to analyze systematically crucial aspects of ancient Greek philosophy in their original context of mystery, religion, and magic. The author brings to light recently uncovered evidence about ancient Pythagoreanism and its influence on Plato, and reconstructs the fascinating esoteric transmission of Pythagorean ideas from the Greek West down to the alchemists and magicians of Egypt, and from there into the world of Islam.

Rupert the Fearless is the greatest Knight to ever fight a Dragon. Or a Wizard. Or a hive of Western Mountain Trolls. Along with his trusty horse and his magical sword, Sir Rupert can brave the most dangerous villains and defeat the most majestic Dragons that the world has ever seen All before bedtime.

Rompant avec les prejuges de toute la recherche traditionnelle sur la philosophie presocratique, Peter Kingsley renouvelle dans cet ouvrage l'approche d'Empedocle: au lieu d'interpreter les fragments de sa poesie a partir d'une idee post-platonicienne ou post-aristotelicienne de la philosophie, il entreprend de nous faire entendre leur etrangete en les replacant dans leur contexte originel, un contexte ou la philosophie n'est pas d'abord concue comme une entreprise rationnelle, mais comme un mode de vie ou la pensee est etroitement liee a la mythologie, aux mysteres et a la magie. Sont ainsi reconstruites les relations d'Empedocle avec le pythagorisme ancien, mais aussi l'origine pythagoricienne des mythes de Platon, notamment de celui du Phedon qui fait l'objet d'une etude approfondie, avec un certain nombre de consequences methodologiques pour l'etude de la philosophie antique en general.

La deuxieme moitie du livre reexamine le probleme des liens entre magie, science et religion dans la philosophie ancienne. Elle met en evidence une ligne de transmission qui, partant d'Empedocle et des premiers pythagoriciens, atteindra l'Egypte puis le monde islamique. Ce processus de transmission, jusqu'ici neglige, bouleverse notre comprehension non seulement de la philosophie grecque, mais aussi de l'arriere-plan culturel de l'alchimie ancienne, du soufisme et du mysticisme medieval.

Peter Kingsley est professeur honoraire de la Simon Fraser University (Canada) et de l'universite de New Mexico. Aux Belles Lettres on lui doit Dans les antres de la sagesse. Etudes parmenidiennes (2007).