When a new highway forces a North Carolina church to relocate its cemetery, a century-old mystery of major significance to its Cherokee neighbors is also unearthed.

Now both communities must work together as the high price of progress tears through sacred land. The church enlists their Cherokee neighbors to assist with the relocation efforts, and the crew makes a startling discovery. The resulting investigation uncovers important information about the residents' past and creates an unexpected link across history in the stories of Cistoo and Lokie, two young Cherokee women.

Cistoo, born in 1790, had a dream. Not even the loss of her parents when she was a child and tribal shunning could stop her from becoming the first female shaman of her nation. Lokie, a contemporary Native American teen, likens the so-called progress to the dislocation of her people by the American colonists. These two young women from different centuries each come of age in the pursuit of shamanism and social justice.

Can the answers to the modern graveyard mystery include redemption for both women?

How does the soul relate to the body? Through the ages, innumerable religious and intellectual movements have proposed answers to this question. Many have gravitated to the notion of the "subtle body," positing some sort of subtle entity that is neither soul nor body, but some mixture of the two. Simon Cox traces the history of this idea from the late Roman Empire to the present day, touching on how philosophers, wizards, scholars, occultists, psychologists, and mystics have engaged with the idea over the past two thousand years. This study is an intellectual history of the subtle body concept from its origins in late antiquity through the Renaissance into the Euro-American counterculture of the 1960's and 70's. It begins with a prehistory of the idea, rooted as it is in third-century Neoplatonism. It then proceeds to the signifier "subtle body" in its earliest English uses amongst the Cambridge Platonists. After that, it looks forward to those Orientalist fathers of Indology, who, in their earliest translations of Sanskrit philosophy relied heavily on the Cambridge Platonist lexicon, and thereby brought Indian philosophy into what had hitherto been a distinctly platonic discourse. At this point, the story takes a little reflexive stroll into the source of the author's own interest in this strange concept, looking at Helena Blavatsky and the Theosophical import, expression, and popularization of the concept. Cox then zeroes in on Aleister Crowley, focusing on the subtle body in fin de siecle occultism. Finally, he turns to Carl Jung, his colleague Frederic Spiegelberg, and the popularization of the idea of the subtle body in the Euro-American counterculture. This book is for anyone interested in yogic, somatic, or energetic practices, and will be very useful to scholars and area specialists who rely on this term in dealing with Hindu, Daoist, and Buddhist texts.

Linen is a fairy tale including the after following the "happily ever after" line. It is the story of a foundling girl. Following a life of torment and little joy, she is rescued by the man of her dreams. For a period of time she is blissfully asleep, conscious in an alternate reality where she experiences love and sorrow to an unmitigated degree. Upon awakening, she becomes intimately acquainted with both desperation and denial. Although unable to resolve all troubles, she chooses to live life completely. The novella's title, Linen, represents the fabric of one life, all threads intimately woven into a perfect work. Linen literally winds through the story serving the functions of comfort, cleanliness and concealment for that which must not be seen. The word, linen, represents one complete life and one life is completed with linen. The story is a metaphor of codependency. The primary character learns early that her survival is dependent upon the approval of her benefactor. She clings to this illusion as proof of her own worth. The metaphor parallels the lives of women who are unaware of their personal greatness and live yearning for the approval of others. Some live filled with sorrow, unable to resolve their pain. Some are fortunate in their unconsciousness, ultimately finding happiness in a prescription bottle. A blessed few confront unbearable emotional pain, rip bandages from tender flesh and allow their wounds to heal. It is my hope that you, dear reader, are one of the few.

The Eyes of an Autistic Yogi details one man's understanding of spirituality and life. Even so, spirituality is only one of a plethora of aspects of author Nathan Fox's life. Aside from his spiritual quest as a Yogi, Nathan is a musician, writer, and husband. He also has Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. Nathan first realized that his perception was skewed as a child, and he remained aware and even overwhelmed as he continued to develop. It was not until a moment of spiritual awakening on the side of the highway in Indianapolis, Indiana, that he finally transcended the limitations of his diagnosis; for the first time in his life, he saw the world for its beauty and simplicity. Sometime later, as the vision faded, Nathan knew he needed the experience again. He also knew he must share his insight with the world. Nathan reminds us of our own individuality. For now, we live in a strange world with even stranger people. We call this earth, and it is our home. Remembering our home, we do not seem that strange after all.

A guide to integrating indigenous thinking into modern life for a more interconnected and spiritual relationship with our fellow beings, Mother Earth, and the natural ways of the universe. There is a natural law-a spiritual intelligence that we are all born with that lies within our hearts. Lakota spiritual leader Doug Good Feather shares the authentic knowledge that has been handed down through the Lakota generations to help you make and recognize this divine connection, centered around the Seven Sacred Directions in the Hoop of Life: Wiyohinyanpata-East: New Beginnings Itokagata-South: The Breath of Life Wiyohpeyata-West: The Healing Powers Waziyata-North: Earth Medicine Wankatakab-Above: The Great Mystery Khuta-Below: The Source of Life Hochoka-Center: The Center of Life Once you begin to understand and recognize these strands, you can integrate them into modern life through the Threefold Path: The Way of the Seven Generations-Conscious living The Way of the Buffalo-Mindful consumption The Way of the Community-Collective impact

75,000 years ago... early humans built a stone calendar that predates all other man-made structures found to date. Who were they? Why did they need a calendar?

Adam's Calendar firmly places the many ancient ruins of southern Africa at a point in history that we modern humans have never faced before some 75,000 ago.

It therefore symbolises the first conscious human looking at his first sunrise as a free species on planet Earth.