The foundational work on shamanism now available as a Princeton Classics paperback Shamanism is an essential work on the study of this mysterious and fascinating phenomenon. The founder of the modern study of the history of religion, Mircea Eliade surveys the tradition through two and a half millennia of human history, moving from the shamanic traditions of Siberia and Central Asia-where shamanism was first observed-to North and South America, Indonesia, Tibet, China, and beyond. In this authoritative survey, Eliade illuminates the magico-religious life of societies that give primacy of place to the figure of the shaman-at once magician and medicine man, healer and miracle-doer, priest, mystic, and poet. Synthesizing the approaches of psychology, sociology, and ethnology, Shamanism remains the reference book of choice for those interested in this practice.

At the threshold that divides the elemental and etheric worlds, Are Thoresen encounters two spiritual entities - Vidar and Balder, 'guardians of the threshold' - whose task is to protect the spiritual border from uninitiated intruders. Building on previous reports, Encounters with Vidar offers startling new esoteric teachings, gleaned - through processes of spiritual knowledge - from these enigmatic gods. Here, Vidar and Balder emphasize the importance of clairaudience as opposed to clairvoyance (the latter particularly being open to attack from adversary beings). Through the process of working with the communications, the author begins to experience a transformation of his head chakras, leading to an awakening of 'spiritual ears'. Whilst clairvoyance is like reading the holy script, clairaudience is akin to hearing the holy script, he learns. --- Amongst the wealth of fresh insights revealed here are the 'fourth aspect of the soul' (or 'time-karma-Christ'); the task of eurythmy today; the whereabouts of the contents of the School of Spiritual Science; and the work of 'Vulcan beings' and other planetary entities. Thoresen offers reflections on his travels to western England (with its connections to Troy) and southern Spain (with its legacy of Moorish occupation). His intention is not to create new dogmas or beliefs, but to testify to the living reality of metaphysical dimensions of reality - and humanity's latent ability to access them.

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

A contribution to current theological and ecclesiological thought.

Originally published in 1948. Moses Maimonides was one of the most powerful philosophers of the Middle Ages. The philosophical basis which he elaborated for Judaism had a profound influence on mediaeval Christian thinkers. This volume describes the full background of Maimonides's thinking in its twelfth-century historical and religious context.

Originally published 1867. This volume describes not only the basic tenets of the Sufis but also the Ahl i wahdat which was a branch of Sufism. The author's use of a Persian manuscript treatise by 'Aziz bin Mohammed Nafasi' is an indispensable tool, particularly because the author did not merely translate it but gave a clearer and more succinct account of the system. The volume contains an Appendix containing a glossary of allegorical and technical terms in use among Sufiistic writers.

Sufism, the mystical movement within Islam, has, in a thousand years of history has powerfully influenced the life, art and literature of the Muslim peoples. It has supplied the element of personal devotion and direct apprehension of Divine Realities which the more formal and practical character of orthodox ritual tended to overshadow. Originally published between 1950 and 1987, the volumes in this mini-set include works by A J Arberry, Henry Corbin, Rom Landau, Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

Many business executives are increasingly becoming workaholic human-doings, longing to be full and integrated human-beings. They aspire to live with integrity, where their thoughts, values, words and deeds are in harmony. The problem is that they don't know how to do so in a business world that is increasingly characterised by complexity, turbulence and greed. Leading with Wisdom provides food for thought for people dealing with these challenges. It contains stories and reflections of 31 inspiring and compassionate business leaders who care about what is truly important in life and who integrate this awareness and sensitivity into their leadership. Leaders who search for meaning, purpose and fulfilment both in the external world of business and in the internal world of consciousness and conscience. Leaders whose leadership is a natural expression of their hearts, minds and souls. In other words, leaders who lead from a spiritual basis. Such perspectives on leadership are not yet mainstream. Greed, prestige and power appear to still be prime motivating forces for leaders of the world's larger corporations. In spite of 25 years of globalisation, poverty is still devastatingly ubiquitous in many parts of the world. In striking contrast, the compensation packages of top leaders in business, particularly in the West, have skyrocketed, reaching levels that would have been considered impossible only a decade ago. What is clearly needed is a change in the mind-set, values and principles of our leaders, as well as of those who finance our enterprises, and of those who teach and mentor our future leaders. At the very minimum, what is needed is an expansion of the concept of 'success' so that it transcends the prevailing myopic focus on short-term financial gains. It can be argued that this rampant greed is gradually being tamed, not just by laws, but also by social and ethical norms. In the last two decades there has been an amazing and uplifting focus on such perspectives as business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability. But when leaders are questioned as to why they and their organisations should promote this new and expanded sensitivity to corporate responsibility, their 'default' answer typically is that it is profitable - an efficacious means to promote classical business ends of increasing earnings and share prices. But how and why should such an expanded concept of leadership develop? What should provide the motivation for our leaders to find their way in an increasingly complex business world by using a compass that points not only to a pot of gold, but also to a path to deeper meaning and purpose in business? This book does not provide answers in the form of proposals as to new rules or laws or moral injunctions. Rather it provides a collage of perspectives in the form of stories of highly respected and successful executives who have integrated their spiritual search into their leadership so as to be "whole" people - leaders whose thoughts, words and deeds are in harmony with their most fundamental truths and longings, both at work and in their private lives. These stories tell of an emerging culture where business becomes a primary domain for both individual and organisational spiritual growth. Leading with Wisdom: Spiritual-Based Leadership in Business portrays an emerging global culture. This ground-breaking book offers the experiences and perspectives of 31 top executives from 15 countries in 6 continents. It is based on extensive personal interviews. These are business people who express from first-hand experience what it is like to lead a business from a spiritual basis. They tell amazing, down-to-earth, real-life stories about how spirituality and rationality can go hand in hand in leadership and life. Their words of wisdom demonstrate that executives who lead from a spiritual basis can achieve success, recognition, peace of mind and happiness, while at the same time serving the needs of all those affected by their leadership. Written in an engaging style, where the special "voice" of each leader is heard, this book will be profoundly valuable to business leaders at every level and for all people who want to lead with integrity from a spiritual basis.

In this volume Henry Corbin emphasizes the differences between the exoteric and esoteric forms of Islam. He also reveals that whereas in the West philosophy and religion were at odds, they were inseparably linked, at least during this period, in the Islamic world.

A valuable section of notes and appendices includes original translation of numerous Sufi treatises.

More activities to tap into the strength of your clients' spiritual beliefs to achieve therapeutic goals. The Therapist's Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II is the second volume of a comprehensive two-volume resource that provides practical interventions from respected experts from a wide range of backgrounds and theoretical perspectives. This volume includes several practical strategies and techniques to easily incorporate spirituality into psychotherapy. You'll find in-session activities, homework assignments, and client and therapist handouts that utilize a variety of therapeutic models and techniques and address a broad range of topics and problems. The chapters of The Therapist's Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II are grouped into four sections: Models of Therapy Used in Integrating Spirituality; Integrating Spirituality with Age-Specific Populations: Children, Adolescents, and the Elderly; Integrating Spirituality with Specific Multicultural Populations; and Involving Spirituality when Dealing with Illness, Loss, and Trauma. As in Volume One, each clinician-friendly chapter also includes sections on resources where the counselor can learn more about the topic or technique used in the chapter-as well as suggested books, articles, chapters, videos, and Web sites to recommend to clients. Every chapter follows the same easy-to-follow format: objectives, rationale for use, instructions, brief vignette, suggestions for follow-up, contraindications, references, professional readings and resources, and bibliotherapy sources for the client. The Therapist's Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II adds more useful activities and homework counselors can use in their practice, such as: using religion or spirituality in solution-oriented brief therapy "Cast of Character" counseling using early memories to explore adolescent and adult spirituality cognitive behavioral treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder age-specific clients such as children or the elderly multicultural populations and spirituality dealing with illness, loss, and trauma recovering from fetal loss creative art techniques with caregivers in group counseling and much more! The Therapist's Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II provides even more creative and helpful homework and activities that are perfect for pastoral counselors, clergy, social workers, marriage and family therapists, counselors, psychologists, Christian counselors, educators who teach professional issues, ethics, counseling, and multicultural issues, and students.

Picturing the life story of Jalal ad-Din Rumi, a premier Muslim mystic and the original Whirling Dervish, the images in three extant manuscripts of Aflaki's Wondrous Feats of the Knowers of God provide a unique way to interpret the text. Part One: History and Context provides the medieval Anatolian historical setting; the broad contours of literary and artistic works of Islamic Hagiography; and the specific details of the three manuscripts to be explored. Part Two: Text and Image proposes a method for interpreting a hybrid literary-visual document as a grand narrative of the Family Rumi at the inspirational and ethical core of a virtuous community: flourishing within a complex Muslim society under divine providence. Pictures in the three manuscripts were produced by studios of painters under the patronage of major late 16th-century Ottoman sultans. The result of their efforts is a kind of 'visualised hagiography' uniquely capable of suggesting distinctive and often surprising twists on the narratives, enhancing the text with images of striking beauty and rich detail.

In our contemporary post-modern world, popular forms of spirituality are increasingly engaging with notions of re-enchantment - of self and community. Not only are narratives of re-enchantment appearing in popular culture at the personal and spiritual level, but also they are often accompanied by a pragmatic approach that calls for political activism and the desire to change the world to incorporate these new ideas. Drawing on case studies of particular groups, including pagans, witches, radical faeries, post-modern tourists, and queer and goddess groups, contributors from Australia, the UK and North America discuss various forms of spirituality and how they contribute to self-knowledge, identity, and community life. The book documents an emerging engagement between new quasi-religious groups and political action, eco-paganism, post-colonial youth culture and alternative health movements to explore how social change emerges.

First published in 1923, The Prophet is a collection of twenty-six poetic fables that centre around the prophet Al Mustafa, who, boarding a boat in the city of Orphalese, where he has lived for many years, prepares to sail home. On the voyage Al Mustafa is approached by a group of travellers, with whom he discusses deep topics - love, friendship, passion, pain, religion - and The Prophet becomes a manual and spiritual guide. This edition features the original illustrations prepared by the author, as well as an introduction by Dr Daniele Nunziata, which introduces the great work for a new generation.

The Mystical Exodus in Jungian Perspective explores the soul loss that results from personal, collective, and transgenerational trauma and the healing that unfolds through reconnection with the sacred. Personal narratives of disconnection from and reconnection to Jewish collective memory are illuminated by millennia of Jewish mystical wisdom, contemporary Jewish Renewal and feminist theology, and Jungian and trauma theory. The archetypal resonance of the Exodus story guides our exploration. Understanding exile as disconnection from the Divine Self, we follow Moses, keeper of the spiritual fire, and Serach bat Asher, preserver of ancestral memory. We encounter the depths with Joseph, touch collective grief with Lilith, experience the Red Sea crossing and Miriam's well as psychological rebirth and Sinai as the repatterning of traumatized consciousness. Tracing the reawakening of the qualities of eros and relatedness on the journey out of exile, the book demonstrates how restoring and deepening relationship with the Sacred Feminine helps us to transform collective trauma. This text will be key reading for scholars of Jewish studies, Jungian and post-Jungian studies, feminist spirituality, trauma studies, Jungian analysts and psychotherapists, and those interested in healing from personal and collective trauma. Cover art: 'Radiance' by Elaine Greenwood

Mircea Eliade descibed shamanism as the primal religion of humanity, the 'archaic technique of ecstasy'. The books of best-selling author Carlos Castaneda made it part of popular culture. Since the 1960s shamanism has continued to attract the attention of scholars, artists, writers and the general public. The most intriguing aspect of this religion is the ability of shamans to enter into contact with spirits on behalf of their communities. The first eighteenth-century explorers of Siberia dubbed shamanism a blatant fraud. Later, academic observers stamped it as 'neurotic delusion'. In the 1960s shamans were recast as 'wounded healers', who sacrifice their lives for the spiritual well being of their communities. Many current writers and scholars treat shamanism as ancient wisdom that has much to teach us about true spirituality. This anthology tells the story of shamanism in Eurasia, North and South America, Africa and Australia. It brings together for the first time fifty-six articles and book excerpts by anthropologists, psychologists, religious scholars and historians, illustrating the variety of views on this subject.

Examine the questions of how, what, and why associated with religiousness and spirituality in the lives of older adults! New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality explores new ways of thinking about a topic that was once taboo but that has now attracted considerable attention from the gerontological community. It examines various approaches to methodology and definition that are used in the study of religion, spirituality, and aging. In addition, it explores the ways that gerontological research can highlight the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of older adults. The first section will introduce you to new ways of thinking about research methodology and data analysis that can be applied to studying the complexity of older adults' religious/spiritual practice and beliefs. You'll learn several approaches to the study of phenomena that are both personal and also deeply embedded in community. The second section addresses issues of definition, exploring important questions that call for critical reflection, such as: What are we studying? What social and psychological influences shape our thinking about definition? and Do the definitions used by gerontologists match those held by older people? The final section moves the study of religion, spirituality, and aging beyond a focus on health and mortality to examine well-being more broadly in the context of the life experiences of older adults. Here is a small sample of what you'll learn about in New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality: structural equation modelinga statistical method designed to capture the dynamics inherent in the passage of time feminist qualitative methods for studying spiritual resiliency in older women spirituality as a public health issue the differences between groups of older people in the way they define religion and spirituality the psychosocial implications of two types of religious orientationdwelling and seeking older women's responses to the experience of widowhood and to the question of whether their religious beliefs were affected by the experience how social context influences our decisions and our interpretations of people's religious beliefs, behaviors, and experiences the ways that people caring for a spouse with dementia rely on religious coping a model that delineates three different ways people relate to God in copingand a study that asks whether these types of coping produce different outcomes for caregivers how people adjust to bereavement as a function of their beliefs about an afterlife

Sundar Singh (1889-1929), an Indian holy man, was raised in a wealthy Sikh family. At sixteen he left his home to live as a sadhu, or wandering holy man. His beggar-like existence, his intense devotion, his mystical encounters with Jesus, and his simple parables became the stuff of legends. His parables and meditations probed the essence of the gospel, calling listeners to awareness and compassion. When he disappeared during a journey to Tibet, millions mourned his passing.

Based on lectures given in 1927, this book is a fine introduction to Dr. Thind's teachings. It is easily understood by and popular with young people, as well as more advanced students of Eastern Religions. A few of the chapter titles are: How to Find Out What You Are Best Suited For; Evolution - Passing From Lower to Higher Births; Consciousness - An Inward Knowledge; and Aum - The Sacred Hum of the Universe.