Alternative religious groups have had a profound influence on American history-they have challenged the old and opened up new ways of thinking about healing, modes of meaning, religious texts and liturgies, the social and political order, and the relationships between religion and race, class, gender, and region. Virtually always, the dramatic, dynamic history of alternative religions runs parallel to that of dissent in America.

Communities of Dissent is an evenhanded and marvelously lively history of New Religious Movements in America. Stephen J. Stein describes the evolution and structure of alternative religious movements from both sides: the critics and the religious dissenters themselves. Providing a fascinating look at a wide range of New Religious Movements, he investigates obscure groups such as the 19th-century Vermont Pilgrims, who wore bearskins and refused to bathe or cut their hair, alongside better-known alternative believers, including colonial America's largest outsider faith, the Quakers; 17th- and 18th-century Mennonites, Amish, and Shakers; and the Christian Scientists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Black Muslims, and Scientologists of today.

Accessible and comprehensive, Communities of Dissent also covers the milestones in the history of alternative American religions, from the infamous Salem witch trials and mass suicide/murder at Jonestown to the positive ways in which alternative religions have affected racial relations, the empowerment of women, and American culture in general.

From 1924 to 1927, Katherine Tingley sponsored a series of private studies in "The Secret Doctrine", with G de Purucker as lecturer. This record of the meetings provides an excellent introduction to H.P. Blavatsky's masterwork, yet it stands on its own as a clear restatement of the philosophy expounded by all great thinkers and sages. Beginning with the three fundamental postulates of the SD, the presentation moves to cosmic and human evolution, with emphasis on the interconnectedness of all beings. Other topics include man's nature and destiny; avataras and buddhas; and, initiation, the Mysteries, and ethical values.

Based on personal knowledge and intimate interviews with his subject, as well as access to W.J. Stein's archive of letters and documents, Tautz's biography is a thoroughly-researched and lovingly-detailed study of an exceptional life. Walter Johannes Stein (1891-1957) was one of the original pioneers of anthroposophy. A student of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, Stein met his spiritual teacher whilst studying at Vienna University. After serving in the First World War, Stein was invited by Rudolf Steiner to teach History and Literature at the fledgling Waldorf school in Stuttgart, despite the fact that Stein's doctorate was in Philosophy and his training in Mathematics and Physics. Through his efforts to master the new disciplines, and with the aid of unconventional methods of research, Stein developed groundbreaking new insights into the story of Parzival and the mystery of the Holy Grail, which led to his seminal book The Ninth Century and the Holy Grail. Tautz describes Stein's close friendship with Eugen Kolisko, his struggles to help establish the threefold social order, his work as a Goetheanum lecturer, and his eventual estrangement from the Anthroposophical Society following Rudolf Steiner's death. After journeys of discovery across Europe, Stein landed in London in 1933 - a refugee from the Nazi aggression in Central Europe - where he met his mentor D.N. Dunlop. Dunlop employed him to help establish the first World Power Conference. Based in England for the last 24 years of his life, Stein became a prolific and popular lecturer and the editor of the important anthroposophical journal The Present Age. Long out-of-print, the new edition of this important work is a welcome addition to the growing number of biographies on the founders of anthroposophy.

This is a Cumulative Index to Volumes I-III of "Echoes of the Orient: The Writings of William Quan Judge".

This major work comprises a comprehensive study of Eastern and Western esoteric streams and the occult powers that stand behind them. In Part 1 Prokofieff discusses the spiritual movement of Agni Yoga, presented to the world by Helena Roerich and her husband, the painter Nicholas Roerich. Part 2 focuses on the teachings developed by Alice Bailey, whilst Part 3 considers the relationship between Eastern and Western spiritual masters and the occult streams they represent. The first two Parts of the book give descriptions of both the Roerichs' and Alice Bailey's philosophy, based on their own perspective, together with anthroposophical commentaries that give an understanding of these two streams in the light of modern Christian esotericism. As Prokofieff points out, both the Roerichs and Bailey were convinced that the occult teachers who inspired them were the same as those referred to by the founder of Theosophy, Helena Blavatsky. Part 3 deals directly with the mystery of the Eastern teachers, or mahatmas, and their relationship to Christian esotericism. On the basis of extensive research, Prokofieff comes to the startling conclusion that the occultists whom both the Roerichs and Alice Bailey named as their leaders actually have nothing in common with Blavatsky's Eastern mahatmas. In Prokofieff's words: 'Hence...one has to do not with the Eastern mahatmas but with quite different occultists who had illicitly appropriated their names and then tried - while deliberately misleading their followers - to attain their highly dubious occult political aims with the help of the occult movements which had already been initiated.' Prokofieff argues that this appropriation led to a distortion of the age-old Eastern philosophies, giving them an anti-Christian character, and led to phenomena such as 'occult materialism', insidious political goals, and prophecies of a physically incarnating 'Messiah'. Previously available only in German as three separate books, with just an early version of Part 1 published in English, this long-awaited translation of Prokofieff's incisive study offers a fine schooling in discernment, judgement and spiritual insight.

The solstices and equinoxes have been held sacred in many cultures. This book explains the cosmic and human symbolism associated with the earth's annual cycling round the sun, and the great initiatory events which take place at these seasons. Key teachings on buddhas and avataras, death and initiation, and the two paths of growth for oneself and for others illumine not only the traditions of mankind, but also the road which the aspirant daily seeks to tread.