A collection of essays on magic and occultism. The essays and articles collected in this volume sum up the first not-quite-decade of John Michael Greer's career. While they cover a range of subjects, all of them share a common theme, and were shaped by certain experiences that remade his spiritual life just before the first of them was written. They record a remarkable period in the life of a scholar, and will provide inspiration and entertainment to students of the occult as well as anyone interested in magic or writing.

Plague, a devastating and recurring affliction throughout the Renaissance, had a major impact on European life. Not only was pestilence a biological problem, but it was also read as a symptom of spiritual degeneracy and it caused widespread social disorder. Assembling a picture of the complex and sometimes contradictory responses to plague from medical, spiritual and civic perspectives, this book uncovers the place of music - whether regarded as an indispensable medicine or a moral poison that exacerbated outbreaks - in the management of the disease. This original musicological approach further reveals how composers responded, in their works, to the discourses and practices surrounding one of the greatest medical crises in the pre-modern age. Addressing topics such as music as therapy, public rituals and performance and music in religion, the volume also provides detailed musical analysis throughout to illustrate how pestilence affected societal attitudes toward music.

Access the gifts of transformation, heal the self, and live in harmony with one another and with the Earth by journeying through the wisdom wheel-a fresh take on the traditional medicine wheel-its archetypes, and its four wisdom challenges. The teachings of the medicine wheel have existed from the beginning of time. Today, however, we are creating modern paradigms of shamanism while drawing on the sacred traditions of the past. In this book, shamanic practitioner Alberto Villoldo explains that the medicine wheel is also a wisdom wheel: an advanced tool for working toward personal and planetary transformation. By journeying through the wisdom wheel and its four directions-South, West, North, and East-each of which is associated with an archetypal animal and sacred journey, you will be able to access powerful healing energies and step into a new personal and collective destiny.

Television, the movies, and computer games fill the minds of their viewers with a daily staple of fantasy, from tales of UFO landings, haunted houses, and communication with the dead to claims of miraculous cures by gifted healers or breakthrough treatments by means of fringe medicine. The paranormal is so ubiquitous in one form of entertainment or another that many people easily lose sight of the distinction between the real and the imaginary, or they never learn to make the distinction in the first place. In this thorough review of pseudoscience and the paranormal in contemporary life, psychologist Terence Hines teaches readers how to carefully evaluate all such claims in terms of scientific evidence.
Hines devotes separate chapters to psychics; life after death; parapsychology; astrology; UFOs; ancient astronauts, cosmic collisions, and the Bermuda Triangle; faith healing; and more. New to this second edition are extended sections on psychoanalysis and pseudopsychologies, especially recovered memory therapy, satanic ritual abuse, facilitated communication, and other questionable psychotherapies. There are also new chapters on alternative medicine, which is now marketed in our drug stores, and on environmental pseudoscience, with special emphasis on the evidence that certain technologies like cell phones or environmental agents like asbestos cause cancer.
Finally, Hines discusses the psychological causes for belief in the paranormal despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This valuable, highly interesting, and completely accessible analysis critiques the whole range of current paranormal claims.

Rysdyk shares powerful stories of shamans from a variety of cultures such as Nepal, Tuva, the Ulchi from Siberia and from Peru. She brings a fresh perspective to the work by showing how the latest findings in quantum physics are verifying that we are all connected in an intricate web of energy and spirit.

Los dialogos que forman este libro son una recopilacion de la intemporal ensenanza de uno de los sabios mas grandes de la India. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj no propuso ninguna religion ni tampoco ideologia alguna, limitandose a desvelar suavemente el misterio del Ser, con su mensaje a la vez sencillo, directo y sublime. La unica preocupacion de Nisargadatta era acabar con el sufrimiento humano y su mision fue guiar al individuo hacia la comprension de su verdadera naturaleza: el Ser todo-abarcante y todo-penetrante, eterna bienaventuranza y felicidad sin limites, de la cual surge todo cuanto existe.

La profecia del Mastay predice el futuro advenimiento de una era de luz y armonia; de un dia que empezara iluminado por un nuevo Sol. Esedia se iniciara con la reintegracion entre la gente de las cuatro direcciones. El proposito de este libro es facilitar dicho reencuentro y descubrir que puede suceder entonces. Para ello, se explica un fragmento significativo de la vida de cuatro personajes, donde cada uno representa un elemento, direccion y civilizacion. El primer personaje representa a lagente de aire, la direccion Este y a la civilizacion Oriental. El segundo representa a lagente de agua, la direccion Norte y al Islam.El tercero a lagente de fuego, la direccion Oeste y a la civilizacion Occidental. Finalmente, tenemos al cuarto personaje, una mujer aborigen australiana que representa a lagente de tierra, la direccion Sur y a todas las primeras naciones. En el quinto capitulo, titulado "El punto de reencuentro," los cuatro personajes mantienen una conversacion. Ellos se reunen con la esperanza de generarla chispa que provoque el mismo reencuentro entre todos y cada uno de nosotros. Un reencuentro predicho por los incas... hace mas de cinco siglos. Este libro tambien trata de recordarnos las ensenanzas originales, tal como las ha interpretado a lo largo de la historia la gente de cada direccion y elemento. Busca aquello que tenemos en comun, aquello que nos complementa. Trata de devolver el equilibrio al planeta, empezando por nuestro propio equilibrio interior para, a continuacion, buscar la armonia entre los pueblos y las culturas. Cuando recordemos, dispondremos de una mejor comprension de quienes somos y de cual es nuestra funcion. Dicen lasensenanzas originales que somos aspectos distintos de una mismadivinidad encarnada y que nuestra responsabilidad inmediata es devolver el equilibrio a la Madre Tierra. Lo lograremos...?"

The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, often looked upon as the third Rosicrucian manifesto, has an entirely different tone from the other Rosicrucian documents. Unlike the Rosicrucian manifestoes, which address the transformation of society, The Chemical Wedding is concerned with the inner transformation of the soul. It is a deeply interior work, one which asks the reader to step into its world of symbols and walk with Christian Rosenkreutz along his path of transformation. Despite its importance as a key text of the Western esoteric traditions, this is the first ever contemporary English translation of The Chemical Wedding, made especially for this edition by Joscelyn Godwin. Also included in this edition is an introduction and commentary by Adam McLean, which illuminates the transformative symbolism.

An invitation to come face to face with the incarnate female power of ancient Egypt. Sekhmet was ancient Egypt's leonine Netjeret (Goddess) who embodied incarnate female power. Sekhmet brought plague and pestilence to the land as well as conferred healing and protection upon her followers. From her ancient origins, to the present day, many have been fascinated by Sekhmet's fierce image and uncompromising destructive powers. This book explores Sekhmet's Egyptian origins, her mythology, character, and worship, bringing together Egyptological research and contemporary Pagan perspectives.

Acclaimed author and Archdruid John Michael Greer provides an in-depth beginner s guide to Druidry a modern tradition of nature spirituality with ancient roots in Celtic traditions. Although we know little about the ancient Druids, their reputation for wisdom and harmony with nature lives on. Today, Druidry is a vibrant, diverse movement with groups and practitioners on every continent but Antarctica. Spiritual rather than religious more an attitude than an ideology it can be embraced by people from different faiths and backgrounds. Archdruid John Michael Greer explores the history and basics of Druidry; how to perform Druidic rituals, meditation, and divination; elements of the lifestyle; and advice for placing less of a burden on the Earth. Includes a simple self-initiation ritual for starting on the Druid path, as well as exercises to help you tap into the elements and learn to pay attention to the natural world.

Shamanic implements assist us in going deeper into the intangible worlds and numinous realms of the spirit, where shamans and spirit walkers believe we navigate the complex interrelationships that are continually creating our physical existence.

"A Spirit Walker's Guide to Shamanic Tools" is specifically designed to support those who have learned how to access the spirit realms and have the desire to add the right spiritual implements to their shamanic tool kit. It is filled with practical information on the purposes of shamanic tools as well as guidance on how to make, buy and empower them for sacred use.

Beautifully illustrated with the author's original artwork and photographs of shamans and their authentic tools, the book pays tribute to ancient shamanic culture. At the same time, it demonstrates the effectiveness of shamanic methods in maintaining one's spiritual center in modern life.

From the sands of Alexandria via the Renaissance palaces of the Medicis, to our own times, this spiritual adventure story traces the profound influence of Hermes Trismegistus -- the 'thrice-great one', as he was often called -- on the western mind. For centuries his name ranked among the most illustrious of the ancient world. Considered by some a contemporary of Moses and a forerunner of Christ, this almost mythical figure arose in fourth century BC Alexandria, from a fusion of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek god Hermes. Master of magic, writing, science, and philosophy, Hermes was thought to have walked with gods and be the source of the divine wisdom granted to man at the dawn of time. Gary Lachman has written many books exploring ancient traditions for the modern mind. In The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus, he brings to life the mysterious character of this great spiritual guide, exposing the many theories and stories surrounding him, and revitalizing his teachings for the modern world. Through centuries of wars, conquests and religious persecutions, the fragile pages of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus have still survived. This is a book for all thinkers and enquirers who want to recover that lost knowledge and awaken a shift in human consciousness.

In the crucible of grief following a friend's death, Presbyterian pastor Patricia Pearce sensed a dimension of existence beneath her ordinary perception-and became resolved to discover it. She soon found herself in a vortex of revelatory dreams, synchronicities, energy openings, and insights that shattered her worldview, exposed a unified Reality of Love, and unveiled the illusory nature of the ego and the world it has created. Faced with these discoveries, she struggled to remain in a religion that, she now realized, has been shaped by the very ego consciousness Jesus transcended and urged others to abandon. Enlightening, revelatory, and bold, Beyond Jesus reveals how our political and religious institutions are an outward manifestation of the inner beliefs we hold about who we are, and that beneath the layers of dogma about Jesus lies a key to our spiritual evolution and the astonishing possibility it holds for the future.

A step-by-step guide to developing an embodied relationship with Egyptian divinities * Details the nine stages of the ancient Egyptian initiatory path, describing each stage's powers as well as the culminating ceremony called "The Crown of Isis" * Provides profound guided meditations for each of the nine stages and illustrates the manifestation of this path's principles through stories of awakening * Shares the author's personal journey as a Garment of Isis and her own powerful interactions with Isis, which culminated in her serving as Oracle of Isis at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1993 The Sacred Science of ancient Egypt was an initiatory spiritual system, a technology of consciousness designed to birth a mystical communion with the divinities, an embodied union of being between the eternal and the mortal. After initiation was completed, the re-identified being, now divinely possessed, was known as a Garment of Isis, signifying that the goddess Isis dwelt within them. Offering a practical guide to the key principles within the Egyptian temple tradition, Naomi Ozaniec explores the process of creating and developing a personal relationship with the Neteru, the divinities and forces of creation of ancient Egypt. She details the nine stages of this initiatory path, which are divided into three phases--heartmind, spiritmind, and soulmind. This step-by-step, interactive process culminates in a ceremony called The Crown of Isis. The author provides profound guided meditations and illustrates the manifestation of the initiate's powers through stories of awakening brought on by this spiritual path. She also shares her personal journey as a Garment of Isis and her own powerful interactions with Isis. An accessible yet substantive guide to initiation into the Egyptian Mysteries, this book details how to gradually awaken and attune your mind to the symbolic, open access to higher realms of consciousness, and enter into a mystical marriage between personal and divine consciousness.

Contemporary seekers on the hunt for an overview of the Western mystery traditions often face a small selection of dense, out-of-date tomes. Alternatively, Hidden Wisdom is a fresh, coherent, and accessible work that expounds many of the teachings of Western esotericism, examining its key figures and movements.

In his psychic trances Edgar Cayce diagnosed illnesses from arthritis to sarcoma to epilepsy -- and many of his cures have been backed by recent medical science. Now -- in one easy-to-read volume -- 9,000 of Edgar Cayce's Psychic Readings have been compiled into a quick-reference encyclopedia to help usher you healthfully into the next millennium. covering nearly 200 different ailments from A to Z, including the common cold, nervous disorders, and cancers, this invaluable Cayce resource also offers in-depth descriptions of the dozens of natural remedies.

A newspaper reporter and editor who has written extensively about the Cayce Foundation, Reba Ann Karp has studied Cayce's medical readings and scrutinized the latest medical research to present this invaluable guide to better and healthier living.