Magick Matters

“Handbook of Music and Emotion: Theory, Research, Applications” by Patrik N. Juslin and John Sloboda

"Music's ability to express and arouse emotions is a mystery that has fascinated both experts and laymen at least since ancient Greece. The predecessor to this book Music and Emotion (OUP, 2001) was critically and commercially successful and stimulated much further work in this area. In the years since publication of that book, empirical research in this area has blossomed, and the successor to Music and Emotion reflects the considerable activity in this area. The Handbook of Music and Emotion offers an up-to-date account of this vibrant domain. It provides comprehensive coverage of the many approaches that may be said to define the field of music and emotion, in all its breadth and depth. The first...>>

“Mystic Chords: Mysticism and Psychology in Popular Music” by Manish Soni

"Rock and roll, and archetypal symbolism? Citing baby-boomer favorites including Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, the Beatles and other Rock greats, the author shows that they have drawn on the same primal source from which mythology, dreams, and poetic insight arise. Using illustrative references to passages from the Bhagavad Gita and the Bible, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, Joseph Campbell and the Tao Te Ching, Manish Soni highlights some of the parallels between psychology, mysticism, religion, and contemporary art forms, as they all contribute to our human quest for greater meaning."...>>

“Musical Emotions Explained” by Patrik N. Juslin

"Can music really arouse emotions? If so, what emotions, and how? Why do listeners respond with different emotions to the same piece of music? Are emotions to music different from other emotions? Why do we respond to fictional events in art as if they were real, even though we know they're not? What is it that makes a performance of music emotionally expressive? Based on ground-breaking research, Musical Emotions Explained explores how music expresses and arouses emotions, and how it becomes an object of aesthetic judgments. Within the book, Juslin demonstrates how psychological mechanisms from our ancient past engage with meanings in music at multiple levels of the brain to evoke a broad variety of...>>

“Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination” by Robert Jourdain (1997 edition)

"What makes a distant oboe's wail beautiful? Why do some kinds of music lift us to ecstasy, but not others? How can music make sense to an ear and brain evolved for detecting the approaching lion or tracking the unsuspecting gazelle? Lyrically interweaving discoveries from science, psychology, music theory, paleontology, and philosophy, Robert Jourdain brilliantly examines why music speaks to us in ways that words cannot, and why we form such powerful connections to it. In clear, understandable language, Jourdain expertly guides the reader through a continuum of musical experience: sound, tone, melody, harmony, rhythm, composition, performance, listening, understanding—and finally to ecstasy. Along the way, a fascinating cast of characters brings Jourdian's narrative to...>>

“Meditation: First and Last Step—From Understanding to Practice” by Ivan Antic

"In this book, you will find everything you need for the practice of meditation, the way the oldest and greatest authorities, Buddha and Patanjali, presented. They left a legacy for humankind that we can all benefit from. We also cover the purpose of meditation: why man needs it, why it is so appealing to spiritually mature people, and its relationship with the soul. Unlike other practices of meditation that deal with the mind only (mantra), or with the body only (yoga), or with emotions only (bhakti) — often leading to discrepancies that have to be adjusted through rituals and beliefs — the practice of meditation presented here encompasses all of these dimensions of man in...>>