From the Greek oracles and biblical prophets down to the tabloid headlines of today, the desire to see into the future is one of the most universal of human traits. Yet it has been nearly impossible to find reliable information on the topic gathered in one place. Until now.
The Encyclopedia of Prophecy is your entertaining yet dispassionate guide to this phenomenon, a guide that presents its findings neither too credulously nor too critically. More than 100 entries--enhanced by illustrations, bibliography, and a general index--range over the entire subject with a critical intelligence. The volume covers the role of prophecy in world history, religion, folklore, and literature. Whether discussing ancient oracles or modern astrological journalism, doomsday sects or 'psychic' predictions about film stars, Geoffrey Ashe presents serious and much-discussed topics from a fresh viewpoint. For example, he refutes the far-fetched claims that are made about the famous Nostradamus yet highlights prophecies that do foreshadow events after his lifetime.
Coverage is given to a dizzying array of subjects: astrology, which became so subversive in Hitler's Germany that he tried to suppress it; the theories of J. W. Dunne, who experimented with seeing the future in dreams; the use of prophecy to promote political agendas; the classics of science fiction, that prophetic genre par excellence (some SF authors have produced ideas that may help to explain real precognition, if it in fact occurs); the widespread folk belief in the return of many heroes, most notably King Arthur.