Note: Some texts are buried deep in e-archives. If title link does not work, click source.

Directories

Mike Madin's pioneering Directory of Internet Resources for Academic Study of Religion has developed into an index for research in a wide range of fields from African Studies to World History. Extensive descriptions & reviews of many sites, (e.g., American religions, Christianity, eastern religions, gnosticism, new religious movements & women's studies) make it a premier guide for scholars from freshmen to professors.

Ernest Valea's detailed analysis of differences between classic Christianity & eastern religions focuses on concepts of the Ultimate Reality, the human condition, salvation (or destiny), & evil, with essays on special critical questions.

Searchable meta-index to the WWW Virtual Library's resources in twelve major religious traditions & pagan cults, ancient & modern.

 Extensive topical index of unannotated links gives quick access to important websites in a number of religion related fields. Top sites under every subtopic are ranked by volume of traffic.

In addition to all major traditions, Gene R. Thursby's well-annotated catalog of religion-related websites features pages on religious experience, mysticism, modernity, new & alternative religions, & relations among religions.

Steve Wright's well-selected list of links to a wide range of religious groups & scriptures.

Susan Brumbaugh & Stan Taylor's comprehensive, searchable database of over 2000 religious web sites organized by over 150 topics. Part of the Religion Mega-Site maintained by Aphids Communications.

Page from Alan Liu's cyber-guide to Humanities Research provides a succinct but well-chosen selection of on-line academic resources for the study of religion.

 

Textbooks & Anthologies of Sacred Texts

Paul Flesher's well-designed & clearly written e-text provides a detailed illustrated introduction to Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, & Judaism. Each section covers that religion's cosmology, organization, religious life, worship, sacred literature, with a glossary, timeline & maps (U of Wyoming).

Richard Hooker's sophisticated on-line course at Washington State U. is producing a collaborative cyber-anthology of readings from eastern & western cultures, integrated learning modules & glossary.

A complete on-line version of Andrew Wilson's 1991 anthology of 4000 selections from over 300 scriptures & oral traditions, arranged according to 164 common themes. Chapters compare views of ultimate reality; eternal law (truth); the purpose of life, in society, nature & beyond; the human condition, deviation & evil; restoration & restoring agents; the religious life; & eschatology (posted by the Unification Church).

Myths

Bob Fisher's complete searchable hypertext edition of Thomas Bullfinch's 1855 classic The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods & Heroes includes an extensive list of links to other on-line resources on the world classical Greece.

M. F. Lindemans' award-winning on-line encyclopedia contains a growing list of more than 3600 definitions of supernatural beings & legendary figures from cultures around the world.

Extensive on-line sampler of Carlos Parada's Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology presents lucid detailed summaries of individuals, groups, places with tables (e.g., creation & theogony), maps, & images to help keep complex stories straight.

Richard Dibon-Smith's astronomical guide to the myths that named the 88 star clusters identified in classical Greece.

Christopher B. Siren maintains a comprehensive annotated directory of websites devoted to myths & fantasies of various cultures from Ur to Oz.

On-line curriculum prepared by Minneapolis Institute of the Arts presents a sampler of images, stories, and study questions to illustrate the relation of myth & art in the cultures of ancient Egypt, Africa, Greece & Rome, western Europe, native America, Oceana, China, & Japan.

 

Mysticism

New Age revival of the secret late 19th-early 20th c. society of British students of eclectic mystical traditions provides brief history of the order, biographies of prominent members (including W.B.Yeats), the Egyptian mysteries & Enochian magic.

Syllabus of 2002 academic seminar posts scholarly papers & electronic bibliographical resources on themes including theological anthropomorphism, Adamic, Enochic, & Melchizedek traditions, ascents to heaven, divine mediators, lectionary & liturgy, magic, pseudepigrapha,  late Jewish mysticism & the Corpus Dionysiacum (hosted by Marquette U). 

Brief sketch of the 16th c. Carmelite poet is gateway to English version of the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross with on-line word search & detailed General Introduction by Kieran Kavanaugh & Otilio Rodriguez (1991). Courtesy of Teresian Carmel (Austria).

Grace Warrack's edition of the 14th c. anchoress' work, from the cyber-stacks of the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College.

Julia Bolton Holloway presents a web of ten interlinked sites based on  the Julian Library Portfolio, a collection of scholarly/contemplative booklets focused on Julian, the sources of Anglo-Saxon mysticism & the internet of medieval European mystics known as the Friends of God. Primary texts include 'Dream of the Rood' (Hilda & Caedmon), 'Showings' (Julian), 'Sparkling Stone' (Jan van Ruusbroec), 'Computer of Wisdom' (Henry Suso), 'If You Would be Perfect' (John of the Cross), & original modern meditations.

Geoffrey Mondello's full-length scholarly commentary on the mystical philosophy of John of the Cross .

Deb Platt puts excerpts from primary Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist & Taoist mystical texts & secondary scholarship into an analytical psychologist's grid. Thought-provoking.

Gene R. Thursby's award-winning catalog focuses on websites, on-line papers & e-journals especially relevant to the study of Christian mysticism.

Official website of Max Heindel's mystical association posts his treatises on Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, spiritual astrology, & detailed historical notes on the association.

Well-designed website devoted to "getting at the essence of spirituality and human existence" provides a wide range of classic resources, contemporary articles and forums focused on mystical and scientific perspectives on the human place in the cosmos.

New English edition of the 15th c. Latin classic which Thomas Hemerken of Kempen in turn had edited from the Dutch work by anonymous 14th c. Brethren of the Common Life. Published on-line in Calvin College's CCEL.

Bob Jacob's extensive library of on-line Rosicrucian texts.

Bruce Janz's chronological glossary & bibliography of major western mystics (pre-Christian, Christian, Jewish & Muslim) has been turned into a major tool for internet research by Gene R. Thursby's extensive hyperlinks to other web pages.

 

Occult

The search engine for research on the dark side. AS is the most extensive annotated cyber-catalog devoted to esoteric subjects on the WWW. Author posted site descriptions not censored but categorized & reviewed. Topics range from the spirituality of primitive cults, through the mystics of major traditions to deviant worldviews.

Alan Hefner's new edition of the Encyclopedia Mystica: an on-line collection of essays on topics relevant to the esoteric & occult, from alchemy to Voodoo, from magi to the laws of magic.

Paul Smith provides extensive evidence that the history & documents of the allegedly ancient secret society at the center of Holy Grail, Holy Blood & The Da Vinci Code were products of an elaborate publicity hoax.

Digging. Help fill holes.

This page was revised 24 February 2004