The book of the director of the psychophysical laboratory in Copenhagen, Dr. Alfred Lehmann, is devoted to the foundations of human civilization. What a modern person sometimes looks down on, considering it unscientific, outdated or wild, calling it superstitions, this whole circle of ideas, rituals and objects of material culture - all this helped our ancestors survive for tens of thousands of years. This unique study tells about the development of ancient ways of knowing the world and man, many of which today find their followers who accept it, if not with a cold mind, then with feelings and soul: about astrology, alchemy, magic, palmistry, Kabbalistics - concepts such as hypnosis, sleepwalking, occultism, spiritualism, telepathy are explained. Alfred Lehmann not only analyzes pagan superstitions, magic, magic and occultism, but also dwells in detail on spiritualism and esotericism of the 18th-19th centuries - from Swedenborg to Elena Blavatsky. The book contains over 150 illustrations.