Originally published in 1938, this book is a fascinating look at the yogis of India at that time, both fakir and fake. "The witty and instructive author of New Guinea Gold has now visited India and has made a careful study of the supposed supernatural powers of the Hindu mystic. M. Demaitre warns the reader that the more picturesque performers are very likely to be in the employment of a travel agency, and that their usual repertoire would disgrace any competent European conjurer. At the same time he admits to having been very thoroughly mystified on several occasions. For the benefit of more serious students there is a sound exposition of the theory and practice of contemplation and the book is illustrated with some enlightening and unusual photographs." Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Contents Include: Letter to a Yogi - River of Torment - The City of Forgotten Dreams - Miracles Under the Microscope - The Awakening of the Serpent Kundalini - In the Shadow of Kali

The zodiacal signs impact art, advertising, literature, history, mythology, psychology, health, and language with their evocative imagery, symbols and scientific and religious lore. This fact-filled reference guide pulls together applications of the zodiacal signs in those fields and others. Each sign is explicated in a separate chapter which discusses its origin and importance in diverse cultures, including its history, artistic applications, traditions, literary and religious interpretations, psychological significance, and application to notable historical and contemporary figures. An organized overview with cross-references and indexing allows the zodiac to be studied from numerous points of view. Artistic representations of each of the 12 houses accompany the text. Introductory chapters on the origins of the zodiacal signs, the historical foundation of astrology, the zodiac in the first millennium A.D., and the zodiac in the arts and sciences provide a thorough overview and comparative examination of the influence of the zodiac in human history and thought. A detailed timeline synchronizes discoveries and development of zodiacal associations and thought around the world. Appendices list planetary correspondences in jewels, metals, herbs, color, flavor, form, shapes, food preferences, and senses, and the symptoms and pathologies associated with birth signs. The work also contains an extensive bibliography and index.

In the first chapters of this book we simultaneously follow two threads. While considering the lives of Richard Wagner, Friedrich Nietzsche, and King Ludwig II of Bavaria in their nineteenth-century incarnations and in earlier incarnations, we examine the planetary configurations accompanying not only their conception, birth, and death, but also various significant events in their lives. In this way we experience how these two perspectives-the biographical and the astrological-weave together and are intimately interconnected. As illuminating as this is, the author also indicates however that astrological calculation alone can never suffice for the truly deep biographical research into karma and reincarnation demonstrated in this work. The author shows that although it is clear that an individual's destiny is connected with the positions of the celestial bodies-that certain regular occurrences are evident-nonetheless no strict regularities exist. He maintains moreover that a certain level of clairvoyance is requisite for any serious astrological study of destiny; even more-that real astrology requires initiation. Such astrological research, when successfully carried out as it is here, relating salient celestial configurations to the life-drama of well-known historical personalities, reads like fine literature. On a practical level this work illustrates several important new tools for the astrologer: how to calculate hermetic charts, how to cast horoscopes not only of birth and death but also of conception (including the astrological significance of the embryonic period between conception and birth), and then also how to apply these various horoscopes in describing the spiral of life that unfolds in seven-year periods during the course of a person's earthly existence. All this reveals profound and fascinating regularities-among them the discovery that stellar configurations during the embryonic period are reflected again and again in the subsequent periods of life. Quite new for most readers will be the author's treatment of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, indicating that the names given these planets are deeply meaningful in the light of spiritual science. To make his case he extends Rudolf Steiner's description of cosmic evolution by drawing upon Greek mythology, particularly Orphic cosmology. This book by Robert Powell is of the greatest possible interest. Professor Konrad Rudni_ki Astronomical Observatory Jagiellonian University Cracow, Poland

The Text-Book of Astrology, written by noted English astrologer Alfred John Pearce, was first published as a combined edition in London in 1911. It includes the author's individual books on: Genethliacal Astrology Mundane Astrology Astro-Meteorology Medical Astrology Elections This classic work is filled with numerous examples and its original publication was praised in the the Spiritualist: "Even for those who desire only to obtain a general knowledge of the subject, or at most be able to cast and read an astrological figure, Mr. Pearce's book may be recommended as easily intellligible, and containing much interesting matter, besides the process that will be chiefly useful to the student whose aims are more ambitious. To the latter it is invaluable. It is enriched with many interesting notices of nativities illustrating the different rules and doctrines of the science. "

An unabridged edition to include: Wherein I Bow to the Reader - A Prelude to the Quest - A Magician Out of Egypt - I Meet A Messiah - The Anchorite of the Adyar River - The Yoga Which Conquers Death - The Sage Who Never Speaks - With The Spiritual Head of South India - The Hill of the Holy Beacon - Among The Magicians And Holy Men - The Wonder-Worker of Benares - Written in the Stars - The Garden of the Lord - At the Parsee Messiah's Headquarters - A Strange Encounter - In a Jungle Hermitage - Tablets of Forgotten Truth

This book starts with a meticulous explanation of terminology used in astronomy and astrology. This can be considered as a splendid example of how to explain strictly scientific notions to readers who are not necessarily skilled in the exact sciences. From an astronomical point of view, the most interesting part of the work is the presentation of the old Egyptian world system, which the author concludes was the same as the system of Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). He considers this astronomical system not just as a transitory historical conception, but as something which possesses permanent value. The author's deep historical studies made it possible for him also to solve the problem of the interchange of Mercury and Venus, something indicated many years ago by Rudolf Steiner. This is an important achievement in the history of astronomy. The main astrological finding of this book is that the zodiac of the stars (sidereal zodiac) - as employed by the Babylonians, Egyptians, and ancient Greeks - is the authentic zodiac. Moreover, the auther promotes a new type of astrological chart (hermetic chart) for the conception, birth, and death of personalities under consideration, in addition to the customary geocentric horoscope and in place of the heliocentric horoscope promoted by Willi Sucher (1902-1985). With the hermetic chart the auther places a new tool in the hands of astrologers and opens up new possibilities for astrology as a science. On this basis he develops his two "laws" of reincarnation, illustrating them by striking examples. These "laws" express themselves by way of certain planetary configurations coinciding at the moments of birth and death in successive incarnations. He believes that with these "laws" the significance of the tropical zodiac is disproved. This work of Robert Powell, presenting a new astrological system, is a valuable step in the development of a new wisdom of the stars in line with the ideas of Willi Sucher. Willi Sucher's books and articles are full of charm - deep in a spiritual sense - representing a star wisdom in an embryonic state. With this book by Robert Powell, the ideas of Willi Sucher are born as an earthly reality and something new is brought into the world. Professor Konrad Rudni_ki Astronomical Observatory Jagiellonian University Cracow, Poland

This book contains a translation of the Eight Books of the Mathesis by the 4th century astrologer Julius Firmicus Maternus along with some useful Indexes of Occupations, the Causes of Death, and Personal Characteristics. Book I: An essay on what astrology is Book II: The twelve signs Book III: Aspects and house placement of planets Book IV: Chart Interpretation Book V: The angles and the terms Book VI: The aspects Book VII: Life and death Book VIII: The degrees of the signs The translator, James H. Holden, is a well respected astrological scholar who has translated more than twenty astrology books that were written between the 2nd and 17th centuries. He is also the author of A History of Horoscopic Astrology.

The zodiac was first clearly defined by the Babylonians some 2500 years ago, but until recently the basis of this original definition remained unknown. This zodiac of the Babylonians, known as the sidereal zodiac because it is specified in direct relation to the stars (Latin sideris, 'starry'), was used for centuries throughout the ancient world, all the way to India, and must be distinguished from the tropical zodiac in widespread use by astrologers in the West today, which was introduced only in the middle of the second century A.D. by the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy. Such was Ptolemy's influence, however, that the tropical zodiac gained prominence and, except for its survival (in a variant form) in India, knowledge of the sidereal zodiac was lost. In this thrilling study of the history of the zodiac, first submitted in 2004 as his Ph.D. thesis, Robert Powell rescues the the sidereal zodiac from the dusts of time, tracing it back to the Babylonians in the sixth/fifth centuries B.C. The implications of this discovery-among them the restitution of the sideral zodiac to its rightful place at the heart of astrology-are immense, they key point being that the signs of the sidereal zodiac, each thirty degrees long, coincide closely with the twelve astronomical constellations of the same name, whereas the signs of the tropical zodiac, since they are defined in relation to the vernal point, now have no direct relationship to the corresponding zodiacal constellations, owing to the precession of the equinoxes.This revolutionary history of the zodiac includes chapters on the Egyptian decans and the Hindu nakshatras, showing how these sidereal divisions, which originated in Egypt and India, are related to the original Babylonian zodiac. It also sheds light on the controversy surrounding the 'zodiac question' (tropical vs. sidereal), illuminating the history of the tropical zodiac-showing that originally it was not a zodiac at all, but a calendar for describing the course of the seasons This book, the fruit of thirty years of research, is intended not only for scholars but for general readers as well, and offers the clearest and most comprehensive study of the history of the zodiac yet published.

This thoroughly researched book is a history of the development of Western horoscopic astrology from its origin among the Babylonians and its subsequent creation in its present form by the Alexandrians down to modern times. Special attention is given to background history and to the working conditions and techniques used by astrologers during the last two thousand years. Numerous footnotes provide additional information and bibliographic references. A separate bibliography lists reference sources of particular importance. Two comprehensive indices containing more than 2,800 individual entries enable the reader to locate persons, publishers, topics, and book and periodical titles that are mentioned in the history. The book also contains discussions of several questions and topics relating to astrology.

This comprehensive biographical dictionary of more than 2,200 Western astrologers from the ancient times (beginning with the 2nd century B.C.) down to the early 20th century includes living persons born prior to 1936, as well as some astrologers born in or after 1936 who are deceased. History is made by people, so biography is the basis of history. In this book the reader will find the names (and birth and death data) of most of the prominent Western astrologers of the past and some indication of what they did in the field of astrology. It is thus possible to learn much about the history of astrology simply by reading the lengthier biographical entries. However, the main purpose of this book is to provide a ready reference and to give enough information about these astrologers to enable the reader "to get to know" them. Lists of books written by the astrologers are included along with, in some cases, excerpts from their work.

Spooky happenings throughout Oregon Pull up a chair or gather 'round the campfire and get ready for forty creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences from times past! Oregon folklore traditions are kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and through artist Paul Hoffman's evocative illustrations. You'll meet ghosts and witches, hear things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on the back of your neck on a warm summer evening. Now with brand new stories, this entertaining and compelling collection will have you looking over your shoulder again and again.

Wild Alchemy is a culinary and medicinal bible that brings together traditional alchemical practices with plant lore. Alchemy is the ancient art of transforming nature for the benefit of body, mind and soul. This book is an invitation to connect back to ourselves, and rediscover how our ancestors lived in harmony with the seasons by foraging for food and medicine. Through illustrated botanical and astrological guides and practical recipes, Wild Alchemy takes the reader on a journey of enquiry to become alchemists in their daily lives.