Rabbi Gershon Winkler's travels in New Mexico brought him in contact with the nations of the Dineh, the Jicarilla Apache, the Walatowa, and the Zia, and he began to recover piecemeal the long lost wisdom of what he terms "Aboriginal Judaism". Winkler came to understand deeply why the ancient Hebrew word for "wilderness", mid'bar, means "that which resonates", and he began to understand the earth-based significance of his own Jewish traditional ceremonies, rediscovering the continuing vital stream of shamanic teachings in ancient Jewish texts.

By returning to primary source material, including the Torah and ancient and medieval rabbinic literature, Rabbi Gershon Winkler illustrates the often uninhibited and celebrative attitudes towards sexuality and sensual pleasure found in Jewish teachings. Unfortunately, Judaism's healthy outlook on human desires and physical enjoyment has been nearly lost after centuries of subjection to host religions and cultures that have all but squelched the notion of sensuality. In this fascinating and often surprising volume, the myth of a 'Judeo-Christian' approach to sex is shattered.

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From sorcery to animal totems, buzzard feathers to hawk spirits, talking trees to magical stones, sacred circles to healing rituals, the Kabbalah brings readers a rich body of ancient wisdom that has been long neglected and even longer misunderstood. The Kabbalah celebrates a quality of consciousness that enables one to experience magic in the ordinary, miracles in the natural course of events, and spirituality in the physical. Its roots are as old and rich as most aboriginal shamanic traditions, sharing in common with many of them the belief that all of creation is alive, from animals and plants to the sun and the moon.
The uniqueness of this book lies in its selections from this rare tradition of Jewish mystery wisdom. Culled from ancient and medieval Hebraic and Aramaic sources, much of this material has been hidden in dusty archives or obscure translations. These short selected readings are intended as contemplative, inspirational, and even entertaining extracts. As short as a few lines or as long as a page, they are translated and paraphrased here to render them accessible to readers of all backgrounds and spiritual paths.

A book-length study of the wisdom that Judaism imparts upon relationships with God, self, and others.