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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Contemporary non-Christian & para-Christian cults & sects
In 1872, D. D. Home (1833 1886), the famous spiritualist and
medium, published this sequel to his controversial autobiography
Incidents in My Life (1863). In it, Home responds to the criticism
levelled at him by reviewers, sceptics and detractors including
William Thackeray and Robert Browning. He describes his expulsion
from Rome in 1864 owing to the authorities' fear of 'sorcery',
opposition from French and American clergy in 1865, a visit to
Russia, and the opening of the 'Spiritual Athenaeum' in London in
1867. He also reports numerous s ances and spiritual
manifestations. The book ends with documents relating to an 1868
lawsuit over a large sum of money given to Home by a wealthy widow,
Jane Lyon. Although a promised third volume never appeared, the
present book provides fascinating insights into the phenomenon of
spiritualism and its attendant controversies during the Victorian
period.
This book...will appeal to those who are in touch with their inner
creative impulses, or are motivated but do not know how to begin.
The aim is to make this spiritual path possible for every person.
It can change the way one relates to life and work - at first
simply by an attitude shift, as a questioning, caring human being,
taking seriously the spiritual forces that manifest in all outer
phenomena.' How do adults learn and develop? How can adult learning
become a living, growing process? Based on the application of the
'seven life processes', Coenraad van Houten has successfully
developed the methods of 'Vocational Learning' (Awakening the Will,
1999) and 'Destiny Learning' (Practising Destiny, 2000). Here, in
the culmination of his research trilogy, he presents a new path of
adult learning which he calls 'Creative Spiritual Research'. Based
on the inner spiritual path of the individual, this is a method
that relates to esoteric schooling, thresholds of consciousness and
human creativity. Part One of Creative Spiritual Research features
guidelines and exercises for individual practice, whilst Part Two
focuses on the general schooling path as a preparation or
precondition, opening the inner space needed for research as well
as a questioning attitude.
Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798 1868), poet and collector, was a
well-connected friend of Robert Southey and Charles Dickens. He
became fascinated with Mesmerism while in Germany and went on to
popularise it in England. This book, first published in 1840, was
his passionate defence of Mesmerism. Developed in the late
eighteenth century by Franz Mesmer, Mesmerism was a kind of
hypnosis based on the theory of animal magnetism. With its
spiritual associations and uncanny effects, it was an extremely
controversial topic in the nineteenth century and its practitioners
were widely considered fraudsters. Townshend describes in detail
the mental states Mesmerism induces, which he identifies as similar
to a state of sleepwalking. Perhaps most fascinating are the
eye-witness accounts describing experiments carried out by
Townshend on the continent, in which he hypnotised his subjects
into feeling his own sensations and knowing things they could not
know.
Friederike Hauffe (1801-1829) suffered throughout her short
lifetime from severe spasms and nervous fevers, and in her
semi-conscious state she allegedly saw spectres and spoke and wrote
predictions in an unknown, 'innate' language. When physically well,
Hauffe could communicate with spectres of the dead, and created a
complex diagram of circles to explain the nervous energy of a
person and its changes throughout the year. The flow of
consciousness and one's waking state in the spirit world, or 'sun
sphere', was individual and seasonal. After continued illness, she
was finally taken into the care of Dr Justinus Kerner for the last
few years of her life. His use of magnetic treatment apparently
gave her some relief, and she was able to use her 'spiritual sight'
to aid others. Kerner's 1829 account of her life, depicting a woman
with unusual psychic gifts, was published in English translation in
1845.
First published in 1888, this biography relates the remarkable life
of Scottish-born medium Daniel Dunglas Home (1833 1886). Descended
from a long line of reputed seers, Home was easily the most well
known and sought-after of the spiritualists of his day. Famous for
his ability to levitate and communicate with the deceased, Home
carved out an illustrious career for himself, conducting s ances
for Napoleon III, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (whose husband Robert
lampooned Home as 'Mr Sludge the Medium'), Tolstoy, and Queen
Sophia of the Netherlands among others. Written by Home's second
wife, Julie de Gloumeline, this book seeks to set the celebrated
medium apart from his contemporaries by outlining the truth and
purpose behind Home's supernatural exploits. D. D. Home provides a
fascinating and personal insight into an enigmatic figure who, in
the twenty-five years he worked as a medium, was never exposed as a
fraud.
"Electronic Contact with the Dead: What Do the Voices Tell Us?" is
the culmination of twenty years of research into Instrumental
Transcommunication (ITC), by Anabela Cardoso, a career diplomat and
the editor of itcjournal.org. ITC is the phenomena whereby
allegedly deceased communicators relay messages and images to the
living via radio equipment, televisions, computers, answerphones
and other recording devices. In this second work the author
presents the reader with an abundance of dialogue with those who
have gone before us. Subjects discussed include time, space, the
nature of life, the group soul, reincarnation, God, life, and much
more. One communicator informs us, "You live in the space of an
illusion that we call time". Another adds, "The object of an
earthly life is not just the goodness. The object is to be
conscious". One small way of becoming more conscious is to read
this book!
The inside story of the world's most notorious cults. The strange
and sinister world of cults is a source of endless fascination.
Their secrets, rituals and shadowy hierarchies make for some of the
most disturbing and shocking revelations in history. Most chilling
of all is the fact that many of their followers forfeit all
independence in order to carry out the often sadistic bidding of a
mysterious master manipulator - and continue to defend their leader
to this day. From Charles Manson, who instructed his followers to
murder seven people, including a heavily pregnant Sharon Tate, to
Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese doomsday cult that carried out deadly
terror attacks, and the People's Temple, these cults and their
leaders transfix us with their extreme ability to commit savage
acts of cruelty and depravity in the name of a self-appointed
higher power. Many shocking and international cults are brought to
life, including: - The Manson Family - People's Temple - Colonia
Dignidad - Thuggees - Aum Shinrikyo - Skopsty - Raelism - Heaven's
Gate
Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That was
nev--er more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly
broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny,
poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star reveals the
in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its
controversial practices. Indoctrinated into Scientolo--gy as a
child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini
eventually moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an
ac--tress and advancing Scientology's causes grew increasingly
intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she'd worked so
hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of
celebrity Scientologists, such as Tom Cruise. But when she began to
raise questions about some of the church's actions, she was
declared to be a threat and therefore a "Suppressive Per--son." As
a result, all of her fellow parishioners-including members of her
own family-were told to disconnect from her. Forever. Bold, brash,
and bravely confessional, Troublemaker reveals the hard-won truths
of a life lived honestly-from an author unafraid of the
consequences.
Book Four of the Law of One is the last of the books in the Law of
One series. Book Four explores in great detail the archetypical
mind which is the framework provided by our Logos or sun body to
aid each of us in the evolution of mind, body, and spirit. Tarot,
astrology, and ritual magic are three paths offering the study of
the archetypical mind, and in Book Four a study of that rich
resource is undertaken using the tarot, also uncovered on the
nature and purpose of the veil that we experience between the
conscious and the unconscious minds and the process of "forgetting"
that occurs during each incarnation in our third-density
experience. In Book Four the path of the adept becomes more clear
as Ra elucidates the adept's use of experience to balance its
energy centres and penetrate the veil of forgetting.
Reminds us that we set out long ago upon an absolutely safe path of
experience, unfolding spiritual gifts through the lessons of
everyday life. This book tells how the reality of the whole of life
is Light, love; and it is only our dimmed awareness that conceives
of the world and ourselves as heavy and physical.
In this study, Peter Fry describes and analyses spirit-mediumship
amongst a community of Zezuru people living near Salisbury in
Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). He examines the belief system which
underpins spirit-mediumship and the basis of the mediums'
authority. He pays special attention to the way in which religious
beliefs are used politically in specific social situations ranging
from village disputes to issues of national importance. Instead of
portraying the spirits and their mediums as a fixed and stable
hierarchy, Peter Fry stresses the dynamics of a religious system
which changes over time in relation to changing external factors
and to the ability of individual competing mediums to build up
followings by responding to and moulding consensus. The book makes
comparisons between the religious systems of the Zezuru and the
Valley Korekore, both subgroups of Shona-speaking peoples, and
concludes by discussing the role of Zezuru mediums in the context
of the confrontation between black and white nationalisms. The
spirit-mediums, opposed structurally to the white mission churches,
are seen as vehicles of black cultural nationalism in the area.
Twenty-five years ago, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and her friends began
sharing messages from a group entity that called themselves
"Michael." Michael's words were offered without alteration or
interpretation for seekers, students, and skeptics alike.
Pragmatic, insightful, and often witty, Michael insisted their work
was simply to help questioners become more aware and better able to
make their own decisions in life. Through this initial volume,
Messages From Michael, and three more that followed, Michael spoke
to thousands who found new understandings of themselves.
Unfortunately imitators and frauds have since exploited the Michael
teachings-but even they admit that Messages From Michael was the
first source of the teachings. Here, expanded for the twenty-first
century, is the long-awaited new edition of this ground-breaking
book.
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