THIS 22 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, by Franz Cumont. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564595374.

In American Indian Prophecies, Kurt Kaltreider PhD, has written a uniquely fascinating work that brings together indigenous American culture, values and spirituality as seen as through Indian prophecies, visions and dreams. This work comprises a series of fact-based conversations between two fictional characters: young John Pearson of the New England gentry and Chasing Deer, a Cheyenne/Lakota elder and keeper of the true history of the Americas. As the conversations unfold, the plight of contemporary Euro-American civilization becomes clear as it is contrasted with the rich tradition of the American Indian, bringing many interesting questions to light.

"Spirit Wars" is an exploration of the ways in which the destruction of spiritual practices and beliefs of native peoples in North America has led to conditions of collective suffering--a process sometimes referred to as cultural genocide. Ronald Niezen approaches this topic through wide-ranging case studies involving different colonial powers and state governments: the seventeenth-century Spanish occupation of the Southwest, the colonization of the Northeast by the French and British, nineteenth-century westward expansion and nationalism in the swelling United States and Canada, and twentieth-century struggles for native people's spiritual integrity and freedom. Each chapter deals with a specific dimension of the relationship between native peoples and non-native institutions, and together these topics yield a new understanding of the forces directed against the underpinnings of native cultures.

In An Unreal Estate, Lucinda Carspecken takes an in-depth look at Lothlorien, a Southern Indiana nature sanctuary, sustainable camping ground, festival site, collective residence, and experiment in ecological building, stewardship, and organization. Carspecken notes the way fiction and reality intertwine on this piece of land and argues that examples such as Lothlorien have the power to be a force for social change. Lothlorien's organization and social norms are in sharp contrast with its surrounding communities. As a unique enclave within a larger society, it offers to the latter both an implicit critique and a cluster of alternative values and lifestyles. In addition, it has created a niche where some participants change, grow, and find empowerment in an environment that is accepting of difference particularly in areas of religion and sexual orientation."

Neo-paganism is the attempt to revive the polytheistic religions of old Europe. But how? Can one just invent or reinvent an authentic, living faith? Or are modern neo-pagans just engaged in elaborate role-playing games? In SUMMONING THE GODS, Collin Cleary argues that the gods have not died or forsaken us so much as we have died to or forsaken them. Modern civilization-including much of modern neo-paganism-springs from a mindset that closes man off to the divine and traps us in a world of our own creations. Drawing upon sources from Taoism to Heidegger, Collin Cleary describes how we can attain an attitude of openness that may allow the gods to return. In these nine wide-ranging essays, Collin Cleary also explores the Nordic pagan tradition, Tantrism, the writings of Alain de Benoist, Karl Maria Wiligut, and Alejandro Jodorowski, and Patrick McGoohan's classic television series The Prisoner. Cleary's essays are models of how to combine clarity and wit with spiritual depth and intellectual sophistication. "The writings of Collin Cleary are an excellent example of the way in which old European paganism continues to question our contemporaries in a thought-provoking way. Written with elegance, his work abounds in original points of view." -Alain de Benoist, author of On Being a Pagan "Jung compared the absence of the gods to a dry riverbed: their shapes remain, but devoid of the energy and substance that would make them live among us as they used to. What we await is the energy and substance to flow once more into the forms. The words of Collin Cleary, his thoughts and ideas, constitute the kind of fresh and vital energy that is needed to effect the renewal of the gods in our contemporary world." - Dr. Stephen E. Flowers, author of The Northern Dawn "Collin Cleary's Summoning the Gods is one of the most important books in its field. Unlike those who would speak for the gods, he shows us how to bring the gods into our lives by letting Them speak for themselves. Perhaps most importantly, Cleary has given serious followers of pagan religions the philosophical tools to defend their beliefs against the most erudite critics." - Stephen A. McNallen, Asatru Folk Assembly "Collin Cleary is a rare breed: a scholar of the mystical, and at the same time a mystic whose probing visions are informed by rigorous study. These are more than just eloquent and thought-provoking essays on myth, religion, or art; at their best, they resonate with the august and ancient tradition of the philosophical dialogue. Time and again, Cleary offers insights that powerfully orient the reader toward archaic ways of thinking, knowing, and seeing vividly-as if through newly opened eyes." -Michael Moynihan, co-editor, TYR: Myth-Culture-Tradition "I have admired Collin Cleary's work in TYR and Runa for years, and I am delighted that this volume of nine essays has arrived in the world. Cleary possesses the admirable ability to write with a frank 'openness to the divine' (to use his own phrase). He does so both clearly and profoundly, on a number of inter-related subjects. The essay 'Philosophical Notes on the Runes' ought to be required reading for all serious students of the runic systems. This book belongs in every radical Traditionalist library." -Juleigh Howard-Hobson, author of Sommer and Other Poems "Collin Cleary's Summoning the Gods is a landmark publication in the intellectual side of the Heathen revival. By applying modes of analysis ranging from Heideggerian phenomenology to Hegelian dialectic, Cleary manages to penetrate deep into the core of polytheistic religiosity. Attracting a thinker of Cleary's stature is an indicator of the vibrancy and health of modern Heathen thought. This book should be a welcome addition to any thinking Heathen's book shelf." -Christopher Plaisance, editor of The Journal of Contemporary Heathen Thought

Neo-paganism is the attempt to revive the polytheistic religions of old Europe. But how? Can one just invent or reinvent an authentic, living faith? Or are modern neo-pagans just engaged in elaborate role-playing games? In SUMMONING THE GODS, Collin Cleary argues that the gods have not died or forsaken us so much as we have died to or forsaken them. Modern civilization-including much of modern neo-paganism-springs from a mindset that closes man off to the divine and traps us in a world of our own creations. Drawing upon sources from Taoism to Heidegger, Collin Cleary describes how we can attain an attitude of openness that may allow the gods to return. In these nine wide-ranging essays, Collin Cleary also explores the Nordic pagan tradition, Tantrism, the writings of Alain de Benoist, Karl Maria Wiligut, and Alejandro Jodorowski, and Patrick McGoohan's classic television series The Prisoner. Cleary's essays are models of how to combine clarity and wit with spiritual depth and intellectual sophistication.

"Holy Harlots" examines the intersections of social marginality, morality, and magic in contemporary Brazil by analyzing the beliefs and religious practices related to the Afro-Brazilian spirit entity Pomba Gira. Said to be the disembodied spirit of an unruly harlot, Pomba Gira is a controversial figure in Brazil. Devotees maintain that Pomba Gira possesses an intimate knowledge of human affairs and the mystical power to intervene in the human world. Others view this entity more ambivalently. Kelly E. Hayes provides an intimate and engaging account of the intricate relationship between Pomba Gira and one of her devotees, Nazare da Silva. Combining Nazare's spiritual biography with analysis of the gender politics and violence that shapes life on the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, Hayes highlights Pomba Gira's role in the rivalries, relationships, and struggles of everyday life in urban Brazil.
A DVD of the film "Slaves of the Saints" is included.

Given contemporary attacks on religious faith, this lecture asks what are the intellectual resources and sources of spirituality that can sustain us in these times of uncertainty? It suggests that human moral life is a search to understand and implement that true nature of morality. It is centred in love, with the idea of kenosis ("letting go") playing a key role because of its transformational qualities. This book argues the various scientific realities are all partial and inadequate. Science can be powerful in the service of an integral view but must not attempt to supplant it. Religion is still a key context for a consideration of ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics and meaning.

"Eternal Egypt: Ancient Rituals for the Modern World" is the first comprehensive collection of important temple rituals performed throughout Egypt during the time of the pharaohs. The author presents seven key rites from official temple records and ancient esoteric texts for personal or group use.

This guidebook also:

- presents rituals in a form designed to assist initiates in restoring the ancient rites of Egypt;
- provides for modern usage, key ritual texts coming solely from authenticated ancient sources;
- contains easy to follow commentaries and background information on each ritual, including symbolism and mythology not previously available in one book;
- gives text with commentary for the "Opening of the Mouth" ceremony;
- offers practical information for conducting these rituals in today's world.

Formerly only available to the scholar and professional Egyptologist, these ritual texts reveal the deeply spiritual understanding of humanity's relationship to divinity that characterized the ancient Egyptian sense of the sacred.

This is a practical intermediate level text for those wishing to worship the great deities of ancient Egypt in as authentic a manner as possible, and by so doing tap into the great spiritual heritage that sustained Egyptian culture for over three thousand years.

Issue 2 of The Crooked Path Journal contains the following articles:
Artemisia - Eric De Vries
Bag of Bones - Steven Posch
Balkan Traditional Witchcraft - Radomir Ristic
Sympathetic Magic - R.J. Thompson
The Call - Veronica Cummer
The Dragon and the Dragon Slayer - Robin Artisson
Away With the Fairies - M.V. Wragg
Childe Ballad 243 - Steven Posch
Scourges and Traditional Craft - Radomir Ristic
Occult Significance of the Crossing Rite - R.J. Thompson
Cupmarks - Steven Posch
Great Spirits of Fate - Radomir Ristic
Virtues and Ethics - R.J. Thompson
Young Hornie Steals Fire - Steven Posch

Since the end of World War II, Navajo healing traditions have slowly been integrated into the Western medical institutions that serve the Dine. The history of Western medical care on Navajo reservations in the twentieth century, however, demonstrates that the incorporation of indigenous healing practices did not come without struggle. The advent of American mass culture, urbanization, and other forces made it difficult for young Dine to learn and preserve the old ways. At the same time, non-Native medical providers, missionaries, and U. S. government officials sometimes hindered the effort of the Dine to use traditional ceremonies and medical care. Focusing on the post-World War II period, Davies's detailed study begins where Robert Trennert's White Man's Medicine (1998), the only other general history of Western medicine among the Navajo, ends. Chronicling the advent of so-called "western" or "scientific" medicine in the modern era, including the development of indigenous healing traditions and such new institutions as the Native American Church, Davies shows the skill and adaptability of Dine in accepting the services of physicians while keeping the work of traditional healers among their health-care options. Davies also explores contemporaneous Navajo critiques of both "high-tech" and traditional health-care modes, detailing Navajo battles to integrate their healing practices into government and private health-care systems. The will of the Dine people to achieve self-determination in health care--and, indeed, to view health and healing in a broad and interactive context--has been so resolute that both tribal leadership and federal officials have been forced to acknowledge and contend with the Dine insistence on shaping Western medicine to fit their way of life. "The Dine," one of Davies' informants states, "are learning to function in two different worlds," and, in so doing, are intent on seeking the best of both.

"The Gospel According to Acharya S" provides intriguing insight into important, probing questions about God while defining humanity in as enlightened and evolved a manner as possible.

The Fifth Gospel presents some compelling new evidence about the life of Jesus which has been derived from a variety of sources in the East which are unknown to most Western scholars. By chance, one of the authors found, in 1965, a reference in Ladakh to the discovery of Buddhist scrolls about Jesus. Since then, the authors have been examining evidence about the survival of Jesus Christ at the time of the crucifixion, and his subsequent travels to the East. The authors' main purpose in writing this book is to inform the West that "we in the East have some source material about the historical Jesus who lived on after the crucifixion.... This book was not written in one day, but is a result of many years' continued search for evidence," and provides research on some very compelling questions, such as: Did God descend on this earth as Jesus? Did Jesus visit India at age 13? Did Jesus survive his crucifixion? Was Jesus saved by his Essene friends, then traveled to the East, visiting many countries, finally settling in Kashmir? Jesus has been mentioned in Oriental manuscripts by many names: Issa, Isa, Issana-deva, Isha Natha, Ishai, Isa Masih, Yusu, Yuzu, Yuzu-Kristo, Yuz-Asaph, and Yusu Masih. In some works, he is mentioned as Eshvara-putram, or the Son of God, and Kanaya-garbum or Born of a Girl. In some ancient manuscripts he is called Metteyya, which is equivalent to Messiah. In some Persian works, he is known as Nasrani or Kristani, which is equivalent to "of Nazareth" or Christian. It is also interesting that the Christians are known in the East as Nasaran and Kira. Jesus is also titled in the East as Ibn-i-Maryam or the Son of Mary. Whether Jesus Christ did or did not die on the cross, or passed away naturally at an older age, like the Buddha, is a vital question in which not only Christians but others are keenly interested. For example, this book presents startling evidence about the tomb of Jesus or Yuzu-Asaph in Kashmir. The research will remain incomplete until this tomb is opened for investigation.

Modern physics tells us that we're dreaming the world into being with every thought." Courageous Dreaming "tells us how to dream our world with power and grace. The ancient shamans of the Americas understood that we're not only creating our experience of the world, but are dreaming up the very nature of reality itself--that is, "life is but a dream." When you don't dream your life, you have to settle for the nightmare being dreamed by others. This book shows how to wake up from the collective nightmare and begin to dream a life of courage and grace, a sacred dream that shamans throughout time have known and served. Alberto Villoldo reveals ancient wisdom teachings that explain how to birth reality from the invisible matrix of creation; and reveals how we can interact with this matrix to dream a life of peace, health, and abundance. He shows us that courage is all that is required to create the joy we desire!

God, Energy & the Field explores the idea that consciousness is the witness which experiences the flow of energy. Consciousness is man's ability to feel, to know and to detect energy. God manifests as creative energy. God is the Supreme Consciousness, the source of the creative field of energy. Creative energy is God's free and undeserved gift to us. There is no other source of energy than Divine Energy. Since Christians believe they owe their existence to this source, this energy is a participation in the life of the God. Christians may think of creation as the continuous bursting forth of Divine Energy. The Big Bang was an explosion of energy: an explosion of God's love given material form.

What is enlightenment? What is it not? This book exposes the myths and defines this misused term once and for all. Which teaching methods will get you there? And which will not? This book explains how the traditional methods work and why the modern, Western approaches are most unlikely to. The clearest book that has ever been written on the subject of enlightenment, it provides a detailed examination of the satsang phenomenon (and its more extreme, neo-Advaita variant), contrasting these approaches with the traditional methods passed down from teacher to disciple for over a thousand years. It indicates what is needed in the way of preparation and path in order to gain enlightenment, given some modern teachers' statements to the effect that there is 'no person' and 'nothing to do'. With a Foreword by Dr. Greg Goode, philosophical counsellor and one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on the subject of non-duality.

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.

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.