A distinctive feature of Western religous life in recent years has been the rediscovery of the contemplative tradition in Christianity. Within the Christian mystical tradition, England holds a unique place, with a number of major figures from the Middle Ages and later whose writings have fascinated generations of readers. This book presents seven of them, five from the medieval period, the golden age of English mysticism - Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe; and two from later centuries - William Law and George Herbert. Each chapter consists of an introductory essay on the life and writings of each individual, followed by carefully chosen extracts from their writings. Those from the medieval period are in fresh new translations. All these writers see the spiritual life as an ongoing process, a pilgrimage. This inner pigrimage requires no outer excursions, but throughout the ages spiritual pilgrims have undertaken physical pilgrimages as well. One aim of this book is to encourage its readers to continue this tradition by visiting sites from which the writings arose. So each chapter is provided with a map of the area of immediate interest and a drawing of the place most associated with each figure, and the introductory essays contain practical information about how to get there. No other anthology of mystical and spiritual writings describes the lives and locations of these individuals in this way. Gordon L. Miller, Ph.D., is a writer and historian living near Seattle, Washington. He attended Milligan College and Christian Theological Seminary. This book developed from a period of post-graduate study at Cambridge University, when he visited the sites described in the book, a journey which, he says, "made the historical grounding of the English mystical tradition much more real to me." He is also the author of Wisdom of the Earth: Visions of an Ecological Faith.

This work aims to recover the mystical heart of Christianity, confirming that there is a direct tradition of spiritual practices that the main stream Church has managed to ignore and suppress. The author's quest for higher knowledge takes him on a journey to Maine, New York, London, Cyprus and Greece. His revelation of a vital living mystical practice based in ancient Christian thought, is a major step in linking the most esoteric traditions of the East to the largely hidden esoteric traditions of the West. The book has a wide cultural significance, revealing a Western Christian spirituality that includes space for mystical practice that is too often assumed to be the exclusive domain of eastern religions.

Including: Mester Eckhart, Tauler, Paracelsus, Jacob Boehme, Giordano Bruno and Others.

A former Trappist monk who lived and studied with Thomas Merton presents the traditional teaching of the mystical life in a way that people can both understand and make real in their lives.

The sun has risen higher and one sees more clearly and broadly what our new relations with the Unseen may be. Nothing can now prevent us from reaching that wonderful land which stretches so clearly before those eyes which are opened to see it. Contents: The Two Needful Readjustments; The Dawning of the Light; The Great Argument; The Coming World; Is it the Second Dawn?; Spirit Photography. Yes, this is the same author who brought you Sherlock Holmes. He was a gifted spiritualist and mystic.

In Western Christianity, the mystic was seen as having direct access to God, and therefore great authority. Dr. Jantzen discusses how men of power defined and controlled who should count as a mystic, and thus who would have power: women were pointedly excluded. The modern philosophical assumption that mysticism is essentially about intense subjective experiences is misguided. This book is the first on the subject to take issues of gender seriously, and to use them as a point of entry for a deconstructive approach to Christian mysticism.

There comes to all souls, at least once in life, a severe test. It is known as the Dark Night of the Soul. It is when we are beleaguered by darkness: spiritual and mental and where no hope seems to be near and everything we try to do is thwarted. It is where the soul is forced to persist and enter into the glorious Golden Dawn of Illumination and kinship with God, or relax into the dull slumber of a mediocre physical existence. You cannot avoid it. If this test hasn't already come in your life-it will. How you deal with it is as important as life itself. This book, written by a high initiate, St. John, will be your counsel and guide.

The rich mystical tradition of the Near and Middle East is the fascinating subject of this wide-ranging study by Dr Margaret Smith, a renowned writer in this field. Her book explores the relationship between the rise and development of a mystical element in Islam - which we know as Sufism - and the mysticism that was already to be found within the Christian Church of the Near and Middle East, at the time when Arab power was establishing itself and the faith of Islam was in the process of development and formulation. In this earliest period of Islamic mysticism, the contacts between Christianity and Islam were at their closest. Here Dr Smith presents the mystics' teachings and allows their own writings to speak for them, offering an illuminating comparison between the early mystical doctrines of two great religious traditions, and celebrating their shared devotion and inspiration.

If you need to understand consumer markets in the Middle East then look no further than this comprehensive guide. Consumer Middle East 2003 is resource of clearly presented, comparable consumer market size data. Providing volume and value statistics for over 330 product sectors (1996-2001) in 10 countries of the Middle East, it aims to be a one-stop shop for understanding consumer trends. Combine this with full coverage of socio-economic parameters and you have a comprehensive research tool giving you the opportunity to create a detailed picture of this market.

This is a selection from the writings of the 12th century Benedictine mystic, who wrote books on prayer, theology, poetry, music, natural history, the human body, health as well as one play. It includes commentary which places Hildegard's work in its social and historical context and the new translations bring it all vividly to life.

A scholarly and masterful exploration of the meaning and importance of 'mystery' and 'mysticism' to the Christian revelation, offering a fuller understanding of Christian spirituality down the ages and a firmer grasp of what it means to be a Christian.>

Bulgakov] was a torchbearer for what was coming to be called Sophiology.... His championship of Sophia was clearly an attempt to revitalize Orthodoxy and to reestablish the spirit of the divine feminine, so that the Church should not remain off-balanced by its Christocentric view. -Caitlin Matthews, author of Sophia-Goddess of Wisdom: The Divine Feminine from Black Goddess to World Soul There is a great hunger to recover the feminine aspect of the Divinity. But much searching has left Christians disappointed and seeking the "Goddess" elsewhere. In this brave theological work, Bulgakov shows how the Divine Sophia, in whom all things are created, is present in the Holy Trinity itself and how, as the "creaturely Sophia," she works together with her divine counterpart in the work of the Holy Spirit for the redemption of the world.

The mystics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were, writes Karen Armstrong, like "the astronauts of our own day.  They broke into a new religion, blazed a new trail to God and to the depths of the self, a trail far from the beaten pilgrimage paths of Chaucer and Langland."  Mysticism is a spiritual mystery shared in some form by all faiths; it has a supernatural quality that extends beyond the given boundaries of religious creed and may be experienced by any lay person.  The thrilling intensity of a mystical experience, as represented in this volume by the writings of four mystics of the Middle Ages, can inspire other spiritual seekers with its insight into the limitless wonder of both human and divine experience. Dissatisfied by the strictures of dogma and a religion that failed to quench the human thirst for knowledge of a mystical order, these four mystics--Richard Rolle of Hampole, Walter Hilton, Dame Julian of Norwich, and the unknown author of The Cloud Of Unknowing --communicate an intense and passionate experience of faith rare in any time.  Because of their unique beliefs and spiritual strength, their knowledge and writings have proved timeless, and in this beautiful volume show contemporary seekers important new insights into the nature of divine love.

This is a companion volume to Petroff's anthology Medieval Women's Visionary Literature (OUP 1986), which collected texts written by and for medieval women mystics. This volume collects her own essays in which she applies a variety of literary approaches to this remarkably diverse body of texts.

John Sanford opens a new door to the Gospel of John and discovers a treasure-house of psychological wisdom. The Fourth Gospel is the most mystic of all the gospels. And Mystical Christianity sheds light on its myriad meanings. It is a book that John Sanford was meant to write.

Partial Contents: Absolute Being; Adam; Nature and Method of Attainment; Consciousness; Cause and Effect; Christ in You; Contemplation; Cyclic Law; After-Death States; Evolution; Eternity; Emanation; Free Will; Fate; God and Godhead; Good and Evil; The Ancient Gnosis; Heaven and Hell; Intellect; Intuition; Initiation; The Infinite; Knowledge; Love; Logos or Word; Mind; Matter and Substance; Materialism; Manifestation; Mysticism and Mind; Myths; Nature; Personality; Planetary Spheres; Reason; Reality; Religion; Reincarnation; Self-Knowledge; The One Self; Soul, Nature; Soul and Cosmos; Sin; Space; Time and Space; Doctrine of the Trinity; Mystical Union; The Mystical Virgin; Visions; Nature of Will in God and Man; Wisdom in Man.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Volume 1: Henry Atherton; Lionel Gower; Frank Willoughby; Connexion of the Arts; Etymology; Causes of Mysticism; Classification of Mystics. Early Oriental Mysticism: The Bagvat-Gita; Characteristics of Hindoo Mysticism. The Mysticism of the Neo-Platonists: Philo; Plotinus; Neo-Platonism in the Christian Church; Porphyry. Mysticism in the Greek Church: Saint Anthony; The Hierarchies of Dionysius. Mysticism in the Latin Church: Intellectual Activity of the West; Hugo of St. Victor. German Mysticism in the Fourteenth Century: The Chronicle of Adolf Arnstein of Strasburg; The Doctrine of Eckart discussed; The Interdict; Tauler's Disappearance; Nicholas of Basle and Tauler; Further Thoughts on Tauler and Middle-Age Mysticism; Views of God and the Universe; The Black Death; Heinrich Suso; Nicholas of Basle. Volume 2: Persian Mysticism in the Middle Age; Theosophy in the Age of the Reformation: Luther, Cornellius Agrippa, Theophrastus Paracelsus, Jacob Behmen, The Rosicrucians; The Spanish Mystics: Neo-Platonism, St. Theresa, St. John of the Cross; Quietism: Madame Guyon, Antoinette Bourignon, Peter Poiret, Madame de Krudener; Mysticism in England: George Fox, Henry More Norris of Bemerton; Emanuel Swedenborg. A massive work!

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

William Law was a kind and gentle soul who clearly perceived the mystic oneness of all existences. His writings should be read by any mystic. "What is a good Book? A good Religious Book is one full of such truths and Spiritual information will lead us to see and know who, and what and where we are; that God is our All, and that all is misery but a heart and life devoted to him. The best Book is undeniably that which will turn to us that inward one, which, with noon day clearness, shows us the strength of sin, the power of every evil temper, the secret workings of our hearts, the weakness of all our virtues; and to the Teacher, whose instructions consist in an inward birth of Divine Light and Goodness.

Volume 3 of Boris Mouravieff's Gnosis contains ancient keys to a tradition of Christian esotericism that was necessarily hermetized 1800 years ago and has since remained unpublished, surviving to the present only in unwritten form.

This work presents an outline of Christian perfection from the point at which the soul first seeks to rise from the earth and soar upward towards union with God. As a poet St John of the Cross was able, in the realm of mysticism, to push the frontiers of human xpression beyond any other writer.

In this collection of 25 essays, travel writer Mike Tidwell gets marooned on a desert island, travels the Silk Road with nomadic shepherds and hitchhikes on Cajun shrimp boats through Louisiana's bayou country. What makes Tidwell's writing different is his ability to draw out those he meets - a Bombay prostitute, a Hanoi barber and a real-life Tarzan in the Amazon rain forest.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Introduction by Evelyn Underhill. "Jacob Boehme, who reveals to us in this book some of the secrets of his inner life, was among the most original of the great Christian mystics. With a natural genius for the things of the spirit, he also exhibited many of the characteristics of the psychic, the seer, and the metaphysician; and his influence on philosophy has been at least as great as his influence on religious mysticism.