In December 2005 Jesse Hicks conducted a heretofore unpublished interview with Dr. Christopher Hyatt which asks the question: "What is an 'Extreme Individual'"? In this far-reaching interview, they discuss the principles of Hyatt's seminal work, "Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation", in addition to "The Psychopath's Bible", the "Radical Undoing" series and the "Energized Meditation" series. As they traverse a wide range of personalities from Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson and Marilyn Manson to Sigmund Freud, G I Gurdieff, Roman Polanski and Jerry Falwell, they explore the qualities and characteristics that make an individual "common" or "Extreme".

El mundo secreto de Walter Mercado es un libro fascinante que te abrira las puertas a los secretos del astrologo latino mas importante de nuestros tiempos. En esta nueva y actualizada edicion, basada en los dos tomos de la Enciclopedia de Walter Mercado, las experiencias personales de Walter no solo develan una mirada profunda al alma de este ser extraordinario, sino que te enriquecen con su sabiduria y filosofia.

Con su estilo accesible y encantador, Walter presenta un mensaje universal de amor que te impulsara a una realizacion personal donde abordaras un nuevo mundo lleno de energia positiva, abundancia, exito, fe y hasta tus propios poderes psiquicos. Este es un libro unico que te regalara las herramientas para llevar tu vida entera a otro plano, uno donde la felicidad y la paz reinaran tus dias en esta Tierra.

Das gro e Tier 666," Aleister Crowley, ist heute, wie zu seinen Lebzeiten, immer noch die schillerndste Figur innerhalb des Okkultismus. Seine exzentrische Pers nlichkeit, bizarre Rituale und starker Drogenkonsum bilden die Grundlage f r eine abenteuerliche Legendenbildung um einen der kreativsten und intelligentesten Protagonisten der okkultistischen Subkultur des 20. Jahrhunderts. Allerdings hat diese Entwicklung dazu gef hrt, da Crowley au erhalb von esoterischen Zirkeln kaum bekannt ist oder aber durch Unkenntnis seiner tats chlichen Lehre einer oftmals sehr verzerrten Darstellung unterliegt. Die vorliegende religionswissenschaftliche Studie liefert erstmals eine grundlegende Systematik sowohl der Doktrin als auch der Methodik des letzten gro en Magiers" und versucht dem Leser die oftmals komplexe spirituelle Lehre des selbsternannten Antichristen" zu erl utern. Gest tzt auf ausgiebige Zitate aus dem umfangreichen literarischen Werk Crowleys, werden die Kernelemente seines wissenschaftlichen Erleuchtungsweges" sorgf ltig herausgearbeitet und jenseits konfessioneller Stigmatisierung einer objektiven Beurteilung zug nglich gemacht.

From heartstopping accounts of apparitions, manifestations and related supernatural phenomena Haunted Norwich contains new and well-known spooky storied from around the city. Contained in this selection are stories of the old witch who wanders up and down Bishopsgate, the lonely monk, who can still be found strolling beside the graveyard at St John Maddermarket, the lady in Grey who was tragically locked up alive in her house during the plague of 1578 and others who are said to haunt the city's infamous Tombland area. This fascinating collection of strange sightings and happenings in the city's streets, churches, public houses and historic buildings is sure to appeal to anyone wanting to know more about the haunted heritage of Norwich.

" P.D. Ouspensky s] yearning for a transcendent, timeless reality one that cancels out physical disintegration and death figures into science at some fundamental level.

Einstein found solace in his theory of relativity, which suggested to him that events are ever-present in the space-time continuum. When his friend Michele Besso passed on shortly before his own death, he wrote: 'For us believing physicists the distinction between past, present, and future is only an illusion, even if a stubborn one.'" from Magic, Mystery, and Science

The triumph of science would appear to have routed all other explanations of reality. No longer does astrology or alchemy or magic have the power to explain the world to us. Yet at one time each of these systems of belief, like religion, helped shed light on what was dark to our understanding. Nor have the occult arts disappeared. We humans have a need for mystery and a sense of the infinite.

Magic, Mystery, and Science presents the occult as a "third stream" of belief, as important to the shaping of Western civilization as Greek rationalism or Judeo-Christianity. The occult seeks explanations in a world that is living and intelligent quite unlike the one supposed by science. By taking these beliefs seriously, while keeping an eye on science, this book aims to capture some of the power of the occult. Readers will discover that the occult has a long history that reaches back to Babylonia and ancient Egypt. It proceeds alongside, and frequently mingles with, religion and science. From the Egyptian Book of the Dead to New Age beliefs, from Plato to Adolf Hitler, occult ways of knowing have been used and hideously abused to explain a world that still tempts us with the knowledge of its dark secrets."

Misunderstanding Cults provides a uniquely balanced contribution to what has become a highly polarized area of study. Working towards a moderate "third path" in the heated debate over new religious movements or cults, this collection includes contributions from both scholars who have been characterized as "anticult" and those characterized as "cult-apologists." The study incorporates multiple viewpoints as well as a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, with the stated goal of depolarizing the discussion over alternative religious movements. A prominent section within the book focuses explicitly on the issue of scholarly objectivity and the danger of partisanship in the study of cults.

The collection also includes contributions on the controversial and much misunderstood topic of brainwashing, as well as discussions of cult violence, children brought up in unconventional religious movements, and the conflicts between alternative religious movements and their critics. Unique in its breadth, this is the first study of new religious movements to address the main points of controversy within the field while attempting to find a middle ground between opposing camps of scholarship.

Astrology, Tarot cards, Ouija boards, spiritism, psychic healing, palm reading, and old fashioned fortune telling (now called psychic consulting) -- all these are popular in America today. Psychic hotlines are heavily represented on television, with testimonials to their amazing ability to give people accurate details about their past and predictions about their future. Are psychics indeed gifted with supernatural powers? Andre Kole and Terry Holley show convincingly how the success of these and other paranormal phenomena depends on deceit and slight of hand rather than on genuine supernatural powers. This is an age when countless groups and movements, new and old, mark the religious landscape in our culture. As a result, many people are confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because few people have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements series provides essential information and insights for their spiritual journeys. The second wave of books in this series addresses a broad range of spiritual beliefs, from non-Trinitarian Christian sects to witchcraft and neo-paganism to classic non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. All books but the summary volume, Truth and Error, contain five sections: -A concise introduction to the group being surveyed -An overview of the group s theology --- in its own words -Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group -A bibliography with sources for further study -A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -Truth and Error, the last book in the series, consists of parallel doctrinal charts compiled from all the other volumes. Three distinctives make this series especially useful to readers: -Information is carefully distilled to bring out truly essential points, rather than requiring readers to sift their way through a sea of secondary details. -Information is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow outline form with menu bar running heads. This format greatly assists the reader in quickly locating topics and details of interest. Each book meets the needs and skill levels of both nontechnical and technical readers, providing an elementary level of refutation and progressing to a more advanced level using arguments based on the biblical text. The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help readers to discern truth from falsehood."

While W.B. Yeats' occultism has long been acknowledged, Surette is the first to show that Ezra Pound's early intimacy with Yeats was based largely on a shared interest in the occult, and that Pound's The Cantos is a deeply occult work. Surette argues that Pound's editing of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land was not motivated primarily by stylistic concerns, as has generally been contended by the New Critics, but by thematic considerations. In fact, it was precisely because Eliot knew Pound to be well informed about the occult that he asked for Pound's assistance with The Waste Land.

The evil eye-the power to inflict illness, damage to property, or even death simply by gazing at or praising someone-is among the most pervasive and powerful folk beliefs in the Indo-European and Semitic world. It is also one of the oldest, judging from its appearance in the Bible and in Sumerian texts five thousand years old. Remnants of the superstition persist today when we drink toasts, tip waiters, and bless sneezers. To avert the evil eye, Muslim women wear veils, baseball players avoid mentioning a no-hitter in progress, and traditional Jews say their business or health is "not bad" (rather than "good"). Though by no means universal, the evil eye continues to be a major factor in the behavior of millions of people living in the Mediterranean and Arab countries, as well as among immigrants to the Americas. This widespread superstition has attracted the attention of many scholars, and the twenty-one essays gathered in this book represent research from diverse perspectives: anthropology, classics, folklore studies, ophthalmology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, sociology, and religious studies. Some essays are fascinating reports of beliefs about the evil eye, from India and Iran to Scotland and Slovak-American communities; others analyze the origin, function, and cultural significance of this folk belief from ancient times to the present day. Editor Alan Dundes concludes the volume by proffering a comprehensive theoretical explanation of the evil eye. Anyone who has ever knocked on wood to ward off misfortune will enjoy this generous sampling of evil eye scholarship, and may never see the world through the same eyes again.

This two-volume text reviews spirit possession throughout history, analyzes case studies from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, and examines rites for exorcism. From the beginning of civilization to the present day, and across all major religions and cultures, there have been documented cases of people seemingly overtaken by an unseen entity. The invading force-whether good or bad-appears to replace the possessor's soul with the spirit's own persona, resulting in mystifying symptoms such as levitation or other supernatural feats, speaking in tongues, and even horrific and inexplicably accelerated physical distortion and deterioration. This is a two-volume chronological history and examination of spirit possession that addresses its phenomenological, psychological, and neurobiological aspects, and its effects on societies. Volume one reviews spirit possession from the upper Paleolithic era to modern times, while Volume two focuses on case studies and rites of exorcism. Provides a comprehensive bibliography of materials that gathers historical, anthropological, and archaeological sources, as well as comparative religionist and neurologic literature Contains indexes that reference key religious events, rituals, and personalities, and cross-reference key characteristics of case studies

The shadow side of Sax Rohmer is revealed in this long- unobtainable volume. Widely known as the author of the popular Fu Manchu books, he was also a dedicated scholar of the occult and an adept in the mystic arts. Written for the layman, his only non-fiction work is this guide to the realm of magic in its many forms, beginning with the birth of sorcery in ancient Egypt. The Moslem djinns, the sibylls, the philosophy of the Magi, modes of divination, and magic of the Brahmins are all examined, as are the manifestations of sorcery in Europe including witchcraft at the French royal court and the infamous witch trials of Scotland. The stories of key figures such as Apollonius of Tyana, Nostradamus, Dr John Dee, and Cagliostro are recounted in detail, and there is a comprehensive index from alchemy to zodiac. Rohmer aims to bridge the gulf that has opened as a result of modernity between revealed religion and the ancient truths that need to be sought anew. There is no better general introduction to magic, sorcery, and the paranormal.

The occult sciences have attracted followers and fascinated observers since the middle ages. Beyond Enlightenment examines the social, political, and metaphysical doctrines of Martinism, a French occultist movement and offshoot of Freemasonry that flourished from the late eighteenth century to the dawn of the twentieth century. The French Revolution and the disorder that followed it convinced Martinists that modern society was on the wrong path. For guidance they looked back not to the corrupt Old Regime but rather to a lost golden age of mankind that existed only in their imagination. The Martinists were closely engaged in the political events of their times, and rightly or wrongly, they earned a reputation for secret intrigue and ubiquitous hidden influence. David Allen Harvey focuses on the Martinists themselves, recreating their own social and political views. He traces the birth of Martinism during the Enlightenment, its revival in the fin de siecle, and the late nineteenth-century formation of a distinctly Martinist project-the synarchy-aimed at the social and political renewal of France and the greater world. The Martinist doctrines formed a unique synthesis of Enlightenment and counter-Enlightenment thought. Harvey maintains that Martinists were a peaceful, esoteric society that rejected both secular materialism and dogmatic Catholicism, seeking to reveal the hand of Providence in history, discover divinely inspired laws of social and political organizations, and enact the kingdom of heaven on earth. Seeking to explore and analyze the "irrational" side of the "Age of Reason," Beyond Enlightenment is a welcome addition to recent studies of esoteric movements. Historians of culture, religion, and politics in post-Revolutionary France, as well as historians of esotericism and alternative religions will be interested in this engaging and revealing study.

Exploratory sex magic. Experimentation with mind-altering drugs. Astral travel. Alchemy. Alex Owen's new book, The Place of Enchantment, situates these seemingly anachronistic practices squarely alongside revolutionary understandings of rationality in a compelling demonstration of how a newly psychologized magic operated in conjunction with the developing patterns of modern life. By the end of the nineteenth century, Victorians sought rational explanations for the world in which they lived. The radical ideas of Charles Darwin had shaken traditional religious beliefs. Sigmund Freud was developing his innovative models of the conscious and unconscious mind. And anthropologist James George Frazer was subjecting magic, myth, and ritual to systematic inquiry. Why, then, in this quintessentially modern moment, did late-Victorian and Edwardian men and women become absorbed by metaphysical quests, heterodox spiritual encounters, and occult experimentation? In answering this question for the first time, The Place of Enchantment breaks new ground in its consideration of occultism in British culture prior to World War I. Rescuing occultism from its status as an "irrational indulgence" and placing it at the center of British intellectual life, Owen argues that an involvement with the occult was a leitmotif of an intellectual avant-garde. She details such fascinating examples of occult practice as the sex magic of Aleister Crowley, the pharmacological experimentation of W. B. Yeats, and complex forms of astral clairvoyance as taught in secret and hierarchical magical societies like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Through a remarkable blend of theoretical discussion and intellectual history, Owen has produced a work that is far more than a social history of occultism. Her conclusions bear directly on understandings of modernity and force us to rethink the place of the irrational in modern culture.

The field encompassed by 'Religion, the Occult, and the Paranormal' is both fascinating and frustrating. The fascination stems from the contested nature of the content, and the multi-disciplinary nature of the existing scholarly literature. The frustration stems chiefly from the misunderstood and much-maligned nature of the content, and the way in which specific elements are taken out of context, or treated in a frivolous manner as is often the case with tabloid journalism. This new collection from Routledge addresses these and other urgent questions by bringing together the best foundational and cutting-edge scholarship on religion, the occult, and the paranormal.

This book presents twenty chapters by experts in their fields, providing a thorough and interdisciplinary overview of the theory and practice of magic in the West. Its chronological scope extends from the Ancient Near East to twenty-first-century North America; its objects of analysis range from Persian curse tablets to US neo-paganism. For comparative purposes, the volume includes chapters on developments in the Jewish and Muslim worlds, evaluated not simply for what they contributed at various points to European notions of magic, but also as models of alternative development in ancient Mediterranean legacy. Similarly, the volume highlights the transformative and challenging encounters of Europeans with non-Europeans, regarding the practice of magic in both early modern colonization and more recent decolonization.