Kyle A. Fraser

Bio: Kyle A. Fraser is an academic researcher from University of King's College. The author has contributed to research in topics: Alchemy & Intellectual history. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 6 publications receiving 108 citations.

The Contested Boundaries of "Magic" and "Religion" in Late Pagan Monotheism

Abstract: The Western concept of "magic" as the demonized other of religion is usually held to originate within early Christian representations of pagan idoloty. This article argues instead that the magic-religion dichotomy was first shaped within pagan monotheistic dicourse. Late pagan thinkers were deeply preoccupied with the reconciliation of theology and cult. They questioned whether the older traditions of cult sacrifice were compatible with the worship of one supreme God. The most prevalent way of addressing this tension was to argue that rituals were address to daimons. Ritual actions that fell outside the bounds of monotheistic piety were illegitimate and magical. The category "magic" as religion's oppositve thus evolved out of tensions between pagan monotheism and daimonology.

Zosimos of Panopolis and the Book of Enoch: Alchemy as Forbidden Knowledge

Abstract: It is stated in the holy scriptures or books, dear lady, that there exists a race of daimons who have commerce with women. Hermes made mention of them in his Physika; in fact almost the entire work, openly and secretly, alludes to them. It is related in the ancient and divine scriptures that certain angels lusted for women, and descending from the heavens, they taught them all the arts of nature. On account of this, says the scripture, they offended god, and now live outside heaven—because they taught to men all the evil arts which are of no advantage to the soul.

Distilling Nature’s Secrets

Abstract: This chapter re-examines the historiography of Greco-Egyptian alchemy. The author challenges the representation of alchemy as a superficial amalgam (or “syncretism”) of Greek philosophical theories. He argues for an indigenous Egyptian development of the art, rooted distantly in the artisanal traditions of the temples, and stresses the originality of alchemical matter theory, which drew creatively on Greek philosophical (especially Aristotelian) concepts. The alchemists were also innovative technicians, developing new methods and apparatus in pursuit of the goal of transmutation. These theoretical and technical innovations contradict the commonplace image of alchemy as an irrational pseudo-science. The esotericism of alchemy, far from undermining its rational development, served to stimulate research, since the secrets of the ancient masters could only be decoded in the light of laboratory experience. Alchemy does not provide evidence for a (supposed) decline into mystical obscurantism in the late ancient world.

Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity

Abstract: Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity offers a collection of essays that deal with perceptions of wisdom, femaleness, and their interconnections in a wide range of ancient sources, including papyri, Nag Hammadi documents, heresiological accounts and monastic literature.

Gregory Chioniades and Palaeologan Astronomy

Abstract: (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)FOR almost seven centuries following the publication of the commentary on the Handy Tables of Theon by Stephanus of Alexandria1 little interest was shown in mathematical astronomy in Byzantium. It is tme that, in the ninth century, under the leadership of Leo the Mathematician,3 the text of Ptolemy's Almagest was studied and copied,3 and that scholars in the eleventh and twelfth centuries had learned something of Arabic science. But it seems improbable that many, save perhaps the astrologers, had the motivation or the training necessary for an attempt to understand more than the most elementary principles of the motions of the celestial spheres; and even the astrologers really needed nothing beyond an ability to manipulate tables.This neglect continued into the thirteenth century, both at Nicaea and in Constantinople after it had been recovered from the Latins. But the beginnings of a revival of astronomical studies can be traced to the early decades of this century when a few scholars sought to sustain Greek learning under the patronage of John III Vatatzes (1222-1254) and Theodore II Lascaris (1254-1258).Nicephorus Blemmydes,4 who taught at the Imperial court from 1238 to 1248 and whose pupils included George Acropolites,5 reawakened an interest in ancient Greek science which had been virtually dead since the time of Michael Psellos8 in the eleventh century. His Epitome physica7 is a completely unoriginal book, and its treatment of astronomy (chapters 25-30) is pitifully inadequate. He has very little that is sensible to say about planetary theory ; but he does demonstrate that he has read Aristotle, Cleomedes, and Euclid with some comprehension, and he observed at least one lunar eclipse, that of 18 May 1258.8An account9 of an observation of a solar eclipse by his pupil George Acropolites in the company of the Imperial court on 3 June 1239 reveals the intellectual atmosphere in which Nicephorus was working. The Empress Irene asked Acropolites, then only twenty-one years old, what had caused this phenomenon. He, though he had just begun his studies under Blemmydes, was able to reply correctly that the Moon was interposed between the Earth and the Sun. The court physician, Nicolaus, scoffed at this ridiculous response, and the Empress, trusting her doctor, called Acropolites a fool. She quickly regretted her use of this derogatory term, not because she realized the correctness of Acropolites' explanation, but because she considered it improper to insult one engaged in philosophical studies. Two years later the Empress died; the philosopher seriously suggests that the eclipse was a portent of that unfortunate event, as was also the appearance of a bearded comet. It was Acropolites who, after the capture of Constantinople by Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261, restored mathematics to the capital; he taught Euclid and Nicomachus to George (later Gregory) of Cyprus and others.10Among his pupils was, apparently, George Pachymeres,11 a man who progressed much further in astronomical studies than had his teacher. Pachymeres' knowledge of this subject is, naturally, set forth in the fourth book of his Quadrivium.12 To a large extent this consists of elaborate instructions for the multiplication of sexagesimal numbers, a procedure he regarded as incredibly difficult, a discussion of the risings, settings, and culminations of various constellations, and a number of the fundamental doctrines of astrology, many of which are also found in the Epitome physica of his mentor's mentor. He is capable of such improbable statements as: "They say that a yearly revolution of the Sun takes place in 365 degrees (poipais for finipcuc), 14 minutes, and 48 seconds" ; but his planetary theory is far more complete than that of his predecessor, and he himself is far from being confused about everything.George of Cyprus' friend John Pediasimus13 continued Blemmydes' study of Cleomedes' KvkAiki) eecopia pmcbpcov, on which he wrote a commentary ; and other mathematicians of this period were Maximus Planudes,14 who composed one of the first treatises on Indian numerals in Byzantium15 and an exegesis of the first two books of Diophantus,16 and his pupil Manuel Moschopulus, who wrote the first Western treatise on the construction of magic squares. …

"An Alchemy of Heaven on Nature's Base": Intimations of the Universal Opus in the Integral Yoga and the Divine Life in Man in the Work of C. G. Jung

Abstract: This comparative study addresses two main questions. First, considering the status of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as spiritual teachers and Jung as a psychologist: might their respective views on transformation be too divergent to warrant comparison? Second, considering that one of the goals of the Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s yoga was the transformation of physical substance, could their relationship be viewed through an alchemical lens? The discussion begins with a comparison and differentiation of integral and analytic psychologies and a discussion of the nature of awakening in the two traditions, which leads to an extended amplification: “a method of association based on the comparative study of mythology, religion and fairy tales, used in the interpretation of images in dreams and drawings” (Sharp, 1991a, see entry under “amplification”), of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo’s relationship and yogic goals through analysis of the coniunctio motif in various alchemical traditions. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are described as living symbols (in Jungian terms) of the union of divine masculine and feminine principles. A comparison of Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s views on the supramental speciation and Jung’s on alchemical transformation follows. A final, personal reflection concludes the paper.