This book provides a fascinating historical and cultural overview of traditional beliefs about spirit possession and exorcism around the world, from Europe to Asia and the Middle East to the Americas. Possession and exorcism are elements that occur in nearly every culture. Why is belief in spiritual possession so universal? This accessible reference volume offers a broad sample of the traditions and cultures involving possession and exorcism, presenting thoughts on this widely popular topic by experts from the fields of anthropology, sociology, religious studies, history, neuroscience, forensics, and theology. The entries cover the subject of possession and exorcism across all inhabited continents, from the Bronze Age to the 21st century, providing information that is accessible and intriguing as well as scholarly and authoritative. Beyond addressing the Christian tradition of possession and exorcism, Pentecostalism, and "New Age" and less widely known Western concepts about possession and exorcism, this work examines ideas about possession and exorcism from other world religions and the indigenous cultures of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. It also covers historic cases of possession and presents biographies of famous theologians, exorcists, and possessed individuals. High school and undergraduate readers will learn about world history, religious and spiritual traditions, and world cultures through a topic that figures prominently in popular culture and modern entertainment. Bibliographies that accompany each entry as well as a selected, general bibliography serve to help students locate print and electronic sources of additional information. Provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the subject of spirit possession, reflecting the work of scholars and experts from many fields Covers a wide range of cultures, traditions, and phenomena with up-to-date, little-known information that is difficult to find through independent research Includes primary documents that give students accounts of exorcism and spiritual possession and serve to foster critical thinking skills and media literacy Features sidebars that illuminate key points and present related information, with special attention paid to exorcism and spirit possession in popular culture

Carolyn Vargas has been writing music for years, bringing inspiration and encouragement to her listeners. Now Carolyn has written a companion book to her latest album release, Lord of the Seasons. Through the pages of this book, Carolyn takes us on a journey through the many seasons of life, sharing her own life experiences, as well as the inspiration and events that gave birth to the songs she has written for her newly released album. Carolyn writes with great candor, baring her soul, exposing her own vulnerabilities, and sharing from her heart the joys and the sorrows that brought her to this place in life. From the miracle of having a child, to the devastation of a broken marriage, Carolyn reminds us that Christ Jesus is our redeemer, and there is no situation and no circumstance that He cannot redeem. From the first breath of life until the very last, God is faithful and has a wonderful plan for each person as they journey through the seasons of life.

In this easy-to-read, biblically based book, Gwendolyn Crumbly takes you on a journey through her struggle to identify, accept, and seek healing from personal struggles. Desperately seeking inner peace, she faced adversity, criticism, and multiple emotional challenges. If you are faced with recurring problems that seem to keep you stuck in the maze of repetitive destructive behaviors, hobbling along yet going nowhere, you just may be suffering from the "Mephibosheth Syndrome." The Word of God will lead you to the King's table and return you to your place of divine inheritance. You are about to embark on a true spiritual journey. This book is for anyone who is ready to be healed from their brokenness and start a new life fully restored.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

"Santo Daime: A New World Religion" deals with a young, exotic and controversial religious movement. Emerging in the Brazilian Amazon in the 1930s, Santo Daime has since spread to many of the world's major cities. Santo Daime is a mixture of indigenous, popular Catholic, Afro-Brazilian, esoteric, Spiritist, and new age beliefs and activities. Ritual practice is centred on the consumption of a psychotropic beverage called 'Daime' which members believe enhances their interaction with the supernatural world. Because Daime is treated as an illegal narcotic in many parts of the world, outside of its Brazilian homeland most Santo Daime rituals are practised clandestinely. This book unites extensive fieldwork experience with an established theoretical background and makes a significant contribution to understanding the contemporary interface of religion and late-modern society. Individualization and religious subjectivism, pluralization and religious hybridism, transformation and detraditionalization, globalization and religious identity, and commoditization and religious consumption are among the many issues engaged by this book. "Santo Daime: A New World Religion" is an accessible and multi-disciplinary book suitable for undergraduate students and researchers working in Religious Studies, Sociology of Religion, Anthropology, Cultural Studies and Latin American Studies.

Stephen Hawking avrebbe dovuto passare piu tempo ad aiutare la scienza medica a risolvere i problemi, compreso il suo, anziche cercare buchi neri nelle profondita della sua "mente brillante," criticando aspramente quella che lo ha creato. Il dramma che lo ha reso disabile avrebbe potuto spingerlo a usare la sua "mente brillante" per aiutare gli altri sulla terra, invece di cercare buchi neri e inseguire l'infinitesimo, lasciando che se ne occupino quelli che non sono in condizioni fisiche come la sua. Avrebbe potuto divertirsi con un telescopio a casa sua, come facevo io quando abitavo a Miami, North Miami Beach, e poi a Oakland Park, mentre lo scorrere del tempo scandiva la mia vita.

A quanto ne so, l'orgoglio di essere l'uomo dei buchi neri non lo sta aiutando, perche avrebbe dovuto spiegarci come difenderci da questi mostri anti Dio. Se uno di loro va fuori orbita e ci viene addosso, lui e la sua famiglia diventano cibo per buchi neri, poiche non hanno un Dio che li difende. Questi divoratori della galassia terrorizzano angeli e demoni, e turbano i sogni dei bambini.

When a woman from Samaria comes to draw water at Jacob's well, Jesus, known prophetically as Shiloh, Prince of Peace, offers her an incredible gift-living water. All she has to do is ask, which, by the way, still applies today. Jesus explains that everyone who drinks from His well, even those of questionable character like her, will never be thirsty again, and the water will become a spring welling up to eternal life (NIV). In Shiloh's Well you can read all about an overflowing, abundant life that is available to all those who drink of this miraculous living water. "My prayer is that these pages will proclaim a clear, unequivocal message of eternal hope and spiritual truth pointing to the God who has sustained and blessed me my entire life. May Shiloh's Well make you smile, touch your heart, lead you humbly to the feet of Christ, enlighten your spiritual understanding, and challenge your commitment to Christian service "

"Dare to Be Rare" is a spiritual roadmap that guides YOU to understand the importance your core beliefs are, affecting every aspect of your life. "Dare to Be Rare" guides you to take steps to change your beliefs and then live your life as you dream you can. If you are searching for an understanding of how God/Spirit relates to you in the "here and now" reality of today's world, reading "Dare to Be Rare" you can acquire new, self- rewarding beliefs about yourself and your relationship to Spirit. You don't have to be perfect to have an intimate relationship with Spirit. You already are having one and you always have, but you may not have known it if you harbored the old religious belief of God in the sky and little you and me, separate and powerless beings, down here. As you read this book you will find surprising answers to your questions that can change your life for good. "I was drowning. Rev Elle's course on meditation helped me stay afloat until I could be rescued." -E.B "The alleged cancer is gone. Thanks for your counseling Rev. Elle." "Rev Elle, I signed a $180,000 HUD contract. Thank you for teaching me to believe in myself." -M.T.

The content in this work is fiction, fiction in the sense that the main character through which the eyes of this metaphysical and philosophical journey is viewed, Charlie, is not a real character, nor are his counterparts and foils through which he explores various topics such as love, the meaning of existence or the origins of the cosmos and how our understanding of these abstract ideas have evolved since the dawn of civilization. But like any work of fiction, the characters do have some basis in real experience, from which of course nothing can be created. The intent of the work is to explore the foundations and evolution of knowledge and the boundaries between reason and faith, boundaries which from the author's perspective are not quite as clear as some might have us believe. And the point of going through the exercise, the purpose as it were, is not only for the author to come to a better understanding of how all our modern branches of science hang together, how they have come to be given their socio-political and historical context, but also for others to share in his journey and perhaps learn something along the way. Since the birth of language and thought even, going back thousands of years and even prior to the dawn of civilization itself, mankind has attempted to answer two fundamental questions, questions that have spurred countless creative forces and branches of thought over the centuries; namely who we are and from whence we came. The answers to these questions, no matter what race, religion or creed the seeker might be, or what philosophy or religion they might adhere to, are inextricably linked to each other. This journey of trying to understand our place in the world, and the origins of the universe itself, is an ageless quest that in many respects distinguishes mankind from the rest of the creatures on the planet. Furthermore, this very same quest to answer the same questions fuels not only scientific development but also is the basis for theology and religion, both approaching the same set of questions with a different set of tools and with a different mindset but both trying to answer the same set of basic questions as to who we are and how we got here. From the author's perspective, in order to answer these questions effectively in the Information Age, we should have at least some understanding of the history of our answers to these questions as they have evolved over time. For we all build our collective knowledge on those that have come before us, whether we recognize this or not. And in turn, that in building this bridge, a common metaphor used throughout the work, we must leverage the tool of metaphysics, a term originally coined by Aristotle but in the context of this work implies a level of abstraction that sits above physics as we understand it in today's world but also provides a conceptual underpinning to all of the branches of knowledge that collectively make up our ?understanding? of the world and out place in it. In doing so, it is the author's hope that we can not only come to a more complete and fuller understanding of the answers to these basic human questions that have plagued mankind since time immemorial, but also at the same time perhaps develop a deeper understanding of the problems of life in the Information Age and how we might best approach them, or cope with them, in way that not only benefits ourselves as individuals but to society as a whole, to which our individual well-being depends upon whether or not we recognize it or not.