Mechanical Man

Steam Man. Magazine illustration from 1865, based on a patent for a steam driven mechanical man.

Life Energy Fundamentals

In this new de-deified world, the life force, too, had to be explained anew. The community of natural scientists soon decided to do away with it completely. The universe was mechanical, and so was man. Science started to dissect and analyze the components of the body, expecting to find nothing in it but purely biochemical processes.

       The mind, that puzzling mystery to all our predecessors, became the substance of the brain, and nothing else. When the mind became a mechanism, so did man's ability to move by his own will, so the ancient question had found a completely new answer, where there was neither need nor room for a life force of any kind.

       The only thing hidden within the air, crucial to our survival, was oxygen. And the fluids circulating in our bodies were plain fluids, transporting physical substances hither and thither. Nothing of the person escaped the body at the last breath of death. Humans were mere machines.

Next

1. Introduction

2. Homo rudis

3. Prime mover

4. Air

5. Bodily fluids

6. Survival

7. The dead

8. Spirits

9. Hell

10. Change

11. Agricultural order

12. A demanding spirit

13. Magic

14. The Scientific Revolution

15. Mechanical man

16. Subversive spirits

17. Alien forces

18. Future speculations

My Life Energy Books Life Energy Encyclopedia Qi, prana, spirit, ruach, pneuma, and many other life forces around the world explained and compared. Click the image to see the book at Amazon (paid link). Qi — Increase your life energy The life energy qi (also chi or ki) explained, with several very easy exercises to awaken, increase, and use it. Click the image to see the book at Amazon (paid link).

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My Other Websites

Qi Energy Exercises

The ancient Chinese life energy qi (chi) explained and how to exercise it.

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Creation Myths

Creation stories from around the world, and the ancient cosmology they reveal.

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Cosmos of the Ancients

What the Greek philosophers believed about the cosmos, their religion and their gods.

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Taoistic

Taoism, the ancient Chinese philosophy of life explained. Also, the complete Tao Te Ching online.

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Other Books of Mine

Cosmos of the Ancients

The Greek philosophers and what they thought about cosmology, myth, and the gods. Click the image to see the book at Amazon (paid link).

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Archetypes of Mythology

This book examines Jungian theories on myth and religion, from Carl G. Jung to Jordan B. Peterson. Click the image to see the book at Amazon (paid link).

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Tao Te Ching

The Taoism of Lao Tzu Explained. The great Taoist classic, translated and extensively commented chapter by chapter. Click the image to see the book at Amazon (paid link).

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Fake Lao Tzu Quotes

Erroneous Tao Te Ching Citations Examined. 90 of the most spread false Lao Tzu quotes, why they are false and where they are really from. Click the image to see the book at Amazon (paid link).

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Stefan Stenudd

About me

I'm a Swedish author and historian of ideas, researching the thought patterns in creation myths. I've also written books about Taoism, the Tarot, and life force concepts around the world. Click the image to get to my personal website.

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