Daily Archives: June 30, 2008

“The Future Has Been Shown to Me to the Year 2037”: Jeane Dixon and the Marketing of Miracle, Mystery, and Authority

This is the back cover of a 1973 book by Jeane Dixon, a self-proclaimed psychic, prophet, and astrologer who died in 1997. When her popularity was at its height in the 1960s and 70s, her books sold in the millions … Continue reading

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Enkidu’s Woman: Carla Bruni and the Civilizing Sexfiend in the Epic of Gilgamesh

This past week, New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, had a wonderful profile of Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Sarkozy. Money quote: The French are different from you and me. Yes, they have Sarkozy. And they have Carla. … Continue reading

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From Greenpeace Man to Neoconservative Man: Enkidu, in the Gilgamesh Epic, Gets Religion

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu is a hairy Dionysian wild man whose power, and ability to instill terror in lesser mortals, is equal to that of his civilized Apollonian opposite, Gilgamesh. At least that’s how his story starts. In Book … Continue reading

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