Lewis Spence
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James Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence (25 November 1874 – 3 March 1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet, author,
folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
and
occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
scholar. Spence was a Fellow of the
Royal Anthropological Institute The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
of Great Britain and Ireland, and vice-president of the Scottish Anthropological and Folklore Society. He founded the Scottish National Movement.


Early life

Spence was born in 1874 in
Monifieth Monifieth is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In 2016, the population of Monifieth was estimated at 8,110, making it the fifth larges ...
,
Angus, Scotland Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agr ...
. After graduating from
Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...
he pursued a career in journalism. He was an editor at ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'' 1899–1906, editor of ''The Edinburgh Magazine'' for a year, 1904–05, then an editor at ''The British Weekly'', 1906–09.


Career

In this time Spence's interest was sparked in the myth and folklore of
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, resulting in his popularisation of the
Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
n
Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Q ...
, the sacred book of the Quiché Mayans (1908). He compiled ''A Dictionary of Mythology'' (1910), an ''Encyclopedia of occultism and parapsychology'' (1920) and numerous additional volumes. Turning his interest closer to home, he investigated
Scottish folklore Scottish folklore (Scottish Gaelic: ''Beul-aithris na h-Alba'') encompasses the folklore of the Scottish people from their earliest records until today. Folklorists, both academic and amateur, have published a variety of works focused specifically ...
. An ardent
Scottish Nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and Scottish national identity, national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish ...
, he unsuccessfully contested a parliamentary seat for Midlothian and Peebles Northern at a by-election in 1929. He also wrote poetry, collected in 1953. Spence wrote about Brythonic rites and traditions in ''Mysteries of Celtic Britain'' (1905). In this book, Spence theorized that the original Britons were descendants of a people that migrated from
Northwest Africa The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
and were probably related to the
Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...
and the
Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
.


Atlantis

Spence's researches into the mythology and culture of the New World, together with his examination of the cultures of western Europe and north-west Africa, led him to the question of
Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...
. During the 1920s he published a series of books which sought to rescue the topic from the occultists who had more or less brought it into disrepute. These works, including ''The Problem of Atlantis'' (1924) and ''History of Atlantis'' (1927), adopted theories inaugurated by
Ignatius Donnelly Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831 – January 1, 1901) was an American Congressman, populist writer, and fringe scientist. He is known primarily now for his fringe theories concerning Atlantis, Catastrophism (especially the idea of an ...
and looked at the lost island as a
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
civilization that formed a cultural link with the New World, which he invoked through examples he found of parallels between the early civilizations of the Old and New Worlds. Despite Spence's erudition and the width of his reading, the conclusions he reached, avoiding peer-reviewed journals, have been almost universally rejected by mainstream scholarship. His popularisations met stiff criticism in professional journals, but his continued appeal among theory hobbyists is summed up by a reviewer of ''The Problem of Atlantis'' (1924) in ''The Geographical Journal'': "Mr. Spence is an industrious writer, and, even if he fails to convince, has done service in marshalling the evidence and has produced an entertaining volume which is well worth reading." Nevertheless, he seems to have had some influence upon the ideas of controversial author
Immanuel Velikovsky Immanuel Velikovsky (; rus, Иммануи́л Велико́вский, p=ɪmənʊˈil vʲɪlʲɪˈkofskʲɪj; 17 November 1979) was a Jewish, Russian-American psychoanalyst, writer, and catastrophist. He is the author of several books offering ...
, and as his books have come into the public domain, they have been successfully reprinted and some have been scanned for the Internet. Spence's 1940 book ''Occult Causes of the Present War'' () is an early book in the field of
Nazi occultism The association of Nazism with occultism occurs in a wide range of theories, speculation, and research into the origins of Nazism and into Nazism's possible relationship with various occult traditions. Such ideas have flourished as a part of popu ...
.


Personal life

In 1899 he married Helen Bruce. Over his long career, he published more than forty books, many of which remain in print to this day. Spence was also the founder of the Scottish National Movement which later merged to form the
National Party of Scotland The National Party of Scotland (NPS) was a centre-left political party in Scotland which was one of the predecessors of the current Scottish National Party (SNP). The NPS was the first Scottish nationalist political party, and the first which c ...
and which in turn merged to form the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
.


Death

Spence died in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
in 1955 aged 80 and is buried in the north-west section of the 20th century northern extension to
Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...
in western Edinburgh. His wife, Helen S. Bruce (d. 1942) lies with him.


Selected works

Ancient Britain * ''The Mysteries of Britain: Secret Rites and Traditions of Ancient Britain Restored'', (1905, reprinted 1994) London: Senate. * ''The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain'', (1949, Reprint 1999) Dover Publications, * ''Celtic Spells and Charms'', (Reprint 2005) Kessinger Publishing * ''The History and Origins of Druidism'', 1949 Occult * ''An Encyclopaedia of Occultism: A compendium of information on the occult sciences, occult personalities, psychic science, magic, demonology, spiritism and mysticism'', (1920, Reprinted 2003) Dover Publications, * ''Occult Causes of the Present War'', (1940, Reprint 1997) Kessinger Publishing, * ''Second Sight: Its History and Origins'', Rider 1951 Atlantis and other lost worlds * ''The Problem of Atlantis'', London, 1924 * ''Atlantis in America'', London: Ernest Benn, 1925 * ''The History of Atlantis'' (1927, Reprinted 1995) Adventures Unlimited Press, * ''The Occult Sciences in Atlantis'', (Reprinted 1976) Mokelumne Hill Press, * ''The Atlantis of Plato'' * ''The Evidence For Lemuria From Myth And Magic'' * ''The Problem of Lemuria: The Sunken Continent of the Pacific'', London: Rider & Co., 1932 Mythology * ''The Popul Vuh: The Mythic and Heroic Sagas of the Kiches of Central America'', London, David Nutt, 1908 * ''A Dictionary of Mythology'', 1910
''The Myths of Mexico and Peru''
(1913, Reprinted 1976) Longwood,
''The Myths of the North American Indians''
London: George G. Harrap & Co, 1914 * ''Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria'' (New York:Stokes) 1917; (Reprint 1997) Kessinger Publishing, "A readable popular account" began the reviewer in ''The Biblical World'', (51.2 ebruary 1918: 112-113 who found its breezy attempt to "contain the pure gold of Babylonian romance freed from the darker ore of antiquarian research", in Spence's words, a camouflage for Spence's "totally inadequate preparation."
''The Legends and Romances of Spain''
ca. 1920 * ''An Introduction to Mythology'' George G. Harrap & Co., 1921 * ''The Gods of Mexico'', Fisher Unwin Ltd., 1923 * ''The Mysteries of Egypt, or, The Secret Rites and Traditions of the Nile'', 1929 * ''The Magic and Mysteries of Mexico'', 1932 * ''Legends and Romances of Brittany'', 1917 * ''The Minor Traditions of British Mythology'', 1948, London: Rider & Co , Reprinted 1972, Benjamin Blom, Inc * ''The Outlines of Mythology'', 1944 * ''British Fairy Origins: The Genesis and Development of Fairy Legends in British Tradition'', London: Watts & Co., 1946 * ''Fairy Tradition in Britain'', (1948, Reprint 1997) Kessinger Publishing * ''Hero Tales and Legends of the Rhine'' * ''Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends'', (Reprint 1990) Dover, * ''Scottish Ghosts and Goblins'', 1952 Poetry * ''Collected Poems of Lewis Spence'', 1953


See also

*
Donald Alexander Mackenzie Donald Alexander Mackenzie (24 July 1873 – 2 March 1936) was a Scottish journalist and folklorist and a prolific writer on religion, mythology and anthropology in the early 20th century. Life and career Mackenzie was born in Cromarty, son ...
* David MacRitchie * Henry O'Brien


Notes and references


External links

* * *
''Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Lewis 1874 births 1955 deaths Atlantis People from Monifieth Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Mythographers Pseudohistorians Scottish folklorists 20th-century Scottish historians Scottish journalists Scottish National Party politicians Scottish lexicographers British encyclopedists 20th-century Scottish poets Scottish male poets Atlantis proponents Lemuria (continent) Scottish Renaissance