Bibliography
The End of the World
Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements, edited by Richard Landes [Routledge, 2000] From Apocalypse to Zoroaster, this handy reference book collects basic facts about "religious and social movements around the world and through the ages that have promised to create a better world or usher in a new one." Cross-referenced, readable with photographs, pictures and bibliographies for further research this Encyclopedia is invaluable if you wish to study traditions about the end of the world.FRONTLINE--Apocalypse, the Publice TV Series explores the "evolution of apocalypticism and how it shaped the western world." Among the questions the series seeks to answer are, "Why can Jesus and John the Baptist be described as 'apocalyptic preachers?'" and "Why is Jerusalem ground zero for apocalyptic fervor?" Tapes and a transcript are available at their website.
Apocalypses: Prophesies, Cults, and Millennial Beliefs through the Ages by Eugen Weber [Harvard, 1999] offers a fascinating review of the way that the belief in the end of time and the revelation of the details of this end in various apocalypses for the past two-thousand years has influenced Western society. Religious reformers, saints, popes, scientists, historians, terrorists and fanatics all have looked to various schemas of the world's end in order to make sense of their lives. Weber provides a guided tour through a welter of confusing materials.
Arguing the Apocalypse: A Theory of Millennial Rhetoric by Stephen D. O'Leary [Oxford, 1994] examines the ways in which people from ancient to modern times have used millennial visions and apocalyptic arguments to support a variety of political stances and agendas.
Omens of Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection by Harold Bloom [Riverhead Books, 1996] Bloom seeks to show how the popular beliefs in angels, in prophetic dreams, in the "near-death experience" and in the approaching Millennium (either 2000, 2001 or 2033) are intertwined in contemporary American religious culture.
Century's End: An Orientation Manual for the Year 2000 by Hillel Schwartz [Barnes & Nobel 1996] first explains that the Legend of 1000 is indeed legendary (none of the fabled end of the millennium hysteria seems to have really happened) and then goes on to explore why that legend and related millennialist imaginings play such a big part in Western culture.
The Disappointed: Millerism and Millenarianism in the Nineteenth Century edited by Ronald L. Numbers and Jonathan M. Butler [Indiana U, 1987] is a collection of essays by authors exploring various aspects of that great episode of American apocalypticism, the Millerite movement when thousands of people from Maine to Michigan fervently hoped for and expected Christ's Second Coming in the 1840's. The story of the Millerite movement is a fascinating example of what happens when the world doesn't end as expected.
The Hopi Survival Kit by Thomas E. Mails [Penguin/Arkana 1997] One of the latest expositions of what are called the "Hopi Prophecies" that have caused such a stir in some quarters--Messages from antiquity that are alleged to warn against present actions with which the so-called "Hopi Traditionalists" disagree, warnings which some environmentalists and New Age enthusiasts welcome.
The Invention of Prophecy: Continuity and Meaning in Hopi Indian Religion by Armin W. Geertz [UC Berkeley, 1994] provides an opposing, balancing view of the Hopi Prophecies that are of such interest in some circles. Photographs of the actual carvings on the "Prophecy Rock", comparisons of various versions of the prophecies, and detailed histories of the development of Hopi factionalism help put it all in a different perspective.
When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken and Stanley Schachter [Harper & Row, 1964] is a "Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World." For two months a research team using the "participant-observer" method to gather information about a small group of people who believed that they'd been forewarned about the end of the world.
Dictionary of Jewish Lore & Legend, by Alan Unterman (Thames & Hudson, 1997) Clear, concise entries regarding "Day of Judgment", "messiah", "eschatology ", and the "Resurrection" lead one to other articles such as "Gog and Magog", "ingathering of the exiles", "olam haba" and "immortality". Introduces one to the complexities of Jewish tradition with regards to the end of the world.
The Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliade, editor-in-chief, (MacMillian, 1987) This eighteen-volume set is always invaluable to us; you will enjoy browsing through it in a library. For this program we consulted articles on the "Apocalypse" by John J. Collins, Ithmar Gruenwald and Lawrence Fine; "Eschatology" by R. J. Zwi Werblowsky and Marilyn Robinson Waldman; "Essenes" by Lawrence Schiffman, "Ghost Dance" by Åke Hultkrantz, "Indian Religions: Mythic Themes" by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty and "Millenarianism" by Hillel Schwarz and Richard Shek.
Dictionary of the Middle Ages, Joseph R. Strayer, editor-in-chief, (Scribner, 1984) From this reference work we checked out articles on the "Antichrist", "Jubilee" and Christian and Islamic "Millennialism".
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Maria Leach, editor (HarperCollins, 1972) This immense, 1,236-page paperback is another reference book we keep in the Sound & Spirit offices. We consulted the entry by Natalie F. Joffe on "Soul Cakes" to learn about these and other breads baked for the dearly departed ones.
Pooh and the Millennium: In Which the Bear of Very Little Brain Explores the Ancient Mysteries at the Turn of the Century by John Tyerman Williams [Dutton, 1997] is a must-read for all who agree with the author that "Winnie-the-Pooh is among the most important beings of the twentieth century." Williams (also author of Pooh and the Philosophers) examines the scope of Pooh's influence in everything from astrology, alchemy, tarot and Arthurian legend, to Hermetic philosophy and Druidic beliefs, the Qabalah, and even the Female Mysteries.
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