| A Magical Mystery Tour of Math History Much of what we know as math comes to us directly from early astronomer magi who needed to be able to describe and record what they saw in the night sky. Everyone needed math: whether you were the king's court astrologer or a farmer marking the best time for planting, timekeeping and numbers really mattered. Mistake a numerical pattern of petals and you could poison yourself. Lose the rhythm of a sacred dance or the meter of a ritually told story and the intricately woven threads that hold life together were spoiled. Ignore the celestial clock of equinoxes and solstices, and you'd risk being caught short of food for the winter. "As thoughtful as it is readable, Renna Shesso's Math for Mystics is the book I wish I had when I first started trying to make sense of the mathematics that underlie so much of modern magic and traditional occult lore. Not the least of its virtues is the way it makes magical number theory accessible even to those who think they don't like or can't handle math. It provides a first-rate introduction to a fairly neglected branch of magical lore."
-- John Michael Greer Grand Archdruid, Ancient Order of Druids in America and author of The Druidry Handbook Renna Shesso's friendly tone, delightful "math lore," meticulous research, and clear information makes math easy to understand. This marvelous book begins with the simplest lunary and planetary math and then tackles the most enigmatic of numerical esoterica such as Platonic Solids, the Golden Section, Luna's Labyrinth, and Benjamin Franklin's favorite way to pass the time, "Magical Squares," akin to the 17th century Sudoku. For anyone who tried to understand the Fibonacci Sequence of numbers from Dan Brown's (son of a mathematician) The DaVinci Code, this book is for you! "In times past, math was seen as magic for its power and associations. It was even banned by authorities who thought it a threat--a power that no one else should hold. In this book, that ancient magic is relived, and the power yours."
-- Jeff Hoke, author of The Museum of Lost Wonder | 
