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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Aspects of religions (non-Christian) > Religious experience > Mysticism
This compilation of the mystical writings of Hadewijch of Antwerp is best described, in Andrew Harvey's words, as a "heroic song" of love. The book presents an honest picture of love from every angle, stripped of sentimentality, not disguising the high price love demands if it is to be taken or given seriously.
In a world torn by division, indifference and chaos, to read Love is Everything is to be awakened to the full potential and dignity of being human, and to be changed. Hadewijch of Antwerp was one of Christianity's greatest Christian mystics, a Beguine who lived in the 13th century.
Andrew Harvey is a world-renowned poet, novelist, translator, mystical scholar, spiritual teacher, and the founder of the Institute for Sacred Activism. He saw in Hadewijch's writings a promise and hope for a broken world and felt called to make it accessible to more people by presenting it in daily-reading format.
Highlights the role of transnational space making in the
construction of diasporic Muridiyya identity. The construction of
collective identity among the Muridiyya abroad is a communal but
contested endeavor. Differing conceptions of what should be the
mission of Muridiyya institutions in the diaspora reveal disciples'
conflicting politics and challenge the notion of the order's
homogeneity. While some insist on the universal dimension of Ahmadu
Bamba Mbakke's calling and emphasize dawa (proselytizing), others
prioritize preserving Muridiyya identity abroad by consolidating
the linkages with the leadership in Senegal. Diasporic reimaginings
of the Muridiyya abroad, in turn, inspire cultural reconfigurations
at home. Drawing from a wide array of oral and archival sources in
multiple languages collected in five countries, The Muridiyya on
the Move reconstructs over half a century of the order's history,
focusing on mobility and cultural transformations in urban
settings. In this groundbreaking work, Babou highlights the
importance of the dahira (urban prayer circle) as he charts the
continuities and ruptures between Muridiyya migrations. Throughout,
he delineates the economic, socio-political, and other forces that
powered these population movements, including colonial rule, the
economic crises of the postcolonial era, and natural disasters.
In exploring the social background of early Jewish mysticism,
"Scholastic Magic" tells the story of how imagination and magic
were made to serve memory and scholasticism. In the visionary
literature that circulated between the fifth and ninth centuries,
there are strange tales of ancient rabbis conjuring the angel known
as "Sar-Torah," the "Prince of the Torah." This angel endowed the
rabbis themselves with spectacular memory and skill in learning,
and then taught them the formulas for giving others these gifts.
This literature, according to Michael Swartz, gives us rare
glimpses of how ancient and medieval Jews who stood outside the
mainstream of rabbinic leadership viewed Torah and ritual. Through
close readings of the texts, he uncovers unfamiliar dimensions of
the classical Judaic idea of Torah and the rabbinic civilization
that forged them.
Swartz sets the stage for his analysis with a discussion of the
place of memory and orality in ancient and medieval Judaism and how
early educational and physiological theories were marshaled for the
cultivation of memory. He then examines the unusual magical rituals
for conjuring angels and ascending to heaven as well as the
authors' attitudes to authority and tradition, showing them to have
subverted essential rabbinic values even as they remained beholden
to them. The result is a ground-breaking analysis of the social and
conceptual background of rabbinic Judaism and ancient Mediterranean
religions. Offering complete translations of the principal
"Sar-Torah" texts, "Scholastic Magic" will become essential reading
for those interested in religions in the ancient and medieval
world, ritual studies, and popular religion.
Originally published in 1996.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand
technology to again make available previously out-of-print books
from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press.
These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these
important books while presenting them in durable paperback
editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly
increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the
thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since
its founding in 1905.
Ladakh, or "Little Tibet", is a beautiful desert land up in the
Western Himalayas. It is a place of few resources and an extreme
climate. Yet for more than 1000 years, it has been home to a
thriving culture. Traditions of frugality and co-operation, coupled
with an intimate and location-specific knowledge of the
environment, enabled the Ladakhis not only to survive, but to
prosper. Everyone had enough to eat families and communities were
strong the status of women was high. Then came "development". Now
in the modern sector one finds pollution and divisiveness,
inflation and unemployment, intolerance and greed. Centuries of
ecological balance and social harmony are under threat from
pressures of Western consumerism. "Ancient Futures" is much more
than a book about Ladakh. It raises important questions about the
whole notion of progress, and explores the root causes of the
malaise of industrial society. At the same time, the story of
Ladakh aims to serve as a source of inspiration for our own future.
It shows us that another way is possble, and points to some of the
first steps towards kinder, gentler patterns of living.
I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation After
six hundred years, the Persian lyrical poet Hafiz (d. 1389) still
remains the most popular poet in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and
other parts of Central Asia where Persian is spoken today as the
mother tongue. Imitated by the likes of Goethe in Germany,
venerated by Tennyson in England and Emerson in the United States
during the nineteenth century, he continues to attract attention
and inspire admirers worldwide. Hafiz's masterful use of the
rhetorical arts, his poetic devices and his skill in imagery are
acclaimed as the benchmark of lyrical excellence in Persian. Yet
the undying cult of Hafiz's popularity owes as much to his
fascinating cosmopolitan romantic vision as to the exceptionally
high calibre of his poetry. This important volume is not only the
first study to date of the philosophical, theological and mystical
bases of Hafiz's erotic spirituality but the most comprehensive
introduction to the poet's romantic philosophy, literary tradition,
poetry and biography yet published in any European language. It
situates for the first time Hafiz's rhetoric of romance within the
broader context of 'Love Theory' in Arabic and Persian poetry. The
work will appeal not only to students of Islamic philosophy, Sufism
and Middle Eastern studies but also to a wider audience interested
in comparative poetics, Eastern literature and spirituality,
medieval romance and the philosophy of love.
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