Nazar, literally 'vision', is a unique Arabic-Islamic term/concept that offers an analytical framework for exploring the ways in which Islamic visual culture and aesthetic sensibility have been shaped by common conceptual tools and moral parameters. It intertwines the act of 'seeing' with the act of 'reflecting', thereby bringing the visual and cognitive functions into a complex relationship. Within the folds of this multifaceted relationship lies an entangled web of religious ideas, moral values, aesthetic preferences, scientific precepts, and socio-cultural understandings that underlie the intricacy of one's personal belief. Peering through the lens of nazar, the studies presented in this volume unravel aspects of these entanglements to provide new understandings of how vision, belief, and perception shape the rich Islamic visual culture. Contributors: Samer Akkach, James Bennett, Sushma Griffin, Stephen Hirtenstein, Virginia Hooker, Sakina Nomanbhoy, Shaha Parpia, Ellen Philpott-Teo, Wendy M.K. Shaw.

Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah presents eight case studies of manuscripts, ritual objects, and folk art developed by Hasidic masters in the mid-eighteenth to late nineteenth centuries, whose form and decoration relate to sources in the Zohar, German Pietism, and Safed Kabbalah. Examined at the delicate and difficult to define interface between seemingly simple, folk art and complex ideological and conceptual outlooks which contain deep, abstract symbols, the study touches on aspects of object history, intellectual history, the decorative arts, and the history of religion. Based on original texts, the focus of this volume is on the subjective experience of the user at the moment of ritual, applying tenets of process philosophy and literary theory - Wolfgang Iser, Gaston Bachelard, and Walter Benjamin - to the analysis of objects.

When Alfred Schwab was given the opportunity to meet a "contact"-an incorporeal entity who had been communicating with someone Alfred barely knew-he was skeptical, to say the least. But his curiosity and open mind encouraged him to at least explore the possibility.Orifi, a non-physical being with a special affection for humans, was willing and able to share his insights from beyond our understanding. Over the course of many years, he and Alfred shared countless conversations filled with humor and earthly give-and-take. Orifi shared generously about our reality, fate, free will, health, love, religion, and our physical world-past, present, and future. When Alfred was faced with unimaginable tragedy in the death of his child, he turned to Orifi for guidance and hope. And what Orifi shared allowed the grieving father to view his life experiences in a new and optimistic way. "You are never alone," Orifi promised his friend, and that sentiment rings through Alfred's story and words.

Primordial Traditions was the winner of the 2009 Ashton Wylie Award for Literary Excellence. This new second edition of the original award winning collection features a selection of essays by Gwendolyn Taunton and other talented authors from the original periodical Primordial Traditions (2006-2010). The new version of Primordial Traditions offers a revised layout and a new binding. This edition also has content not contained in the original publication. The first section of Primordial Traditions deals with aspects of perennial philosophy covering the broader applications of the Primordial Tradition in the modern world. Alchemy, philosophy, civilization, the Kali Yuga, and even the problems afflicting the economy are addressed here from a traditional perspective. This section deals with the nature of the Primordial Tradition and how all True Spiritual Traditions consequently relate to it in this new philosophy of religion. The second section of the book then breaks down Traditions into geographic locations to discuss European, Eastern, Middle Eastern and South American Traditions at an advanced level. Topics covered here include: Tibetan Tantra, Sufism, Yezidi, Tantrism, Vedic Mythology, Theravada Buddhism, Thai Magic, Tantrism, Oneiromancy, Norse Berserkers, Runes, Celtic Mythology, Mithras, Hellenic Mythology and Mayan Ceremonial Astrology to name but a few fascinating obscurities. Content includes the following articles by Gwendolyn Taunton: Sophia Perennis: The Doctrine of Ascension, The Primordial Tradition, The Age of Darkness: Prophecies of the Kali Yuga, Mercury Rising: The Life & Writing of Julius Evola, Ars Regia: The Royal Art Revisited, Tantra: Fifth Veda or Anti-Veda?, Aesthetics of the Divine in Hinduism, Divine Mortality: Nataraja, Shankara & Higher Consciousness in the Imagery of Siva, Monks & Magic: The Use of Magic by the Sangha in Thailand, Does Practice Make One Perfected? The Role of gTum-mo in the Six Yogas of Naropa, Clarifying the Clear Light, Oneiromancy: Divination by Dreams, Of Wolves and Men: The Berserker and the Vratya, Ancient Goddess or Political Goddess? and The Black Sun: Dionysus in the Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche & Greek Myth. Primordial Traditions also contains articles by Damon Zacharias Lycourinos, Matt Hajduk, Krum Stefanov, Bob Makransky and many more.....