Description: A classic text on alchemy by the leading scholar of Jewish mysticism, Gershom Scholem, is presented here for the first time in English translation. Scholem looks critically at the century-old connections between alchemy, the Jewish Kabbalah; its Christianized varieties, such as the gold- and rosicrucian mysticisms, and the myth-based psychology of C. G. Jung, and uncovers forgotten alchemical roots of embedded in the Kabbalah.
Brief description: Gershom Scholem (1897-1982) was a noted authority on Jewish mysticism. His scholarly achievements were enormous in the field of Jewish mysticism. No other contemporary writer equaled him in breadth of knowledge, depth of perception, and power of synthesis. Among his numerous publications were Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and the Talmudic Tradition (1960), The Messianic Idea in Judaism (trans. 1971), Sabbatai Zevi, the Mystical Messiah (1973), and Kabbalah (1974).