John Sack contends in Mystic Mountain that the current elder explosion has jarred open a door to unparalleled soul work, the wisdom that comes only with age. In clear, nonacademic language he seeks to stir the boundless spirit, the miracle of transformation, dormant in all humanity. For those fast upon their wisdom years, yearning to live as closet or cloistered contemplatives, he lights the mystic path as it shines through the larger journey from birth to return. The general reader will gain a profound introduction to the mystic way. Those already en route as beginners or proficients will find here a practical guide through rising levels of awareness. The author draws on wisdom traditions worldwide, from Sufi to Sikh, shaman to Christian, Buddhist to Hindu, Jewish to Jain, piecing into one the fragmented shards held by each while leading readers through a rich range of spiritual masters. He writes as well from his own experience as a Trappist monk and Hindu sannyasi.

On the nights of the full moon, fra Angelo Lorenzini crawls into the darkest part of his dungeon and pulls his blanket over him. He stays away from stray moonbeams, those stairways to the edge of his senses that start his skin prickling and the blood raging through his veins. He lifts his ears to better hear the howling of the moon, but is careful not to reply. Angelo bears the mark of the wolf. Since the discovery of this strange inheritance from his grandfather, he has sought the reason for the curse - why was he singled out? His search leads him on a long and tortuous spiritual pilgrimage. In contrast to the legendary King Midas, he destroys everything and everyone he touches, including the two women he truly loves. His soul is divided, torn among his human, animal and angelic natures. The novel is set against the backdrop of 13th-century Italy, a period profoundly tarnished by conflicts between ecclesiastical and imperial powers, a time when the extreme poverty of religious zealots challenged the prosperity of merchants, monastic orders, and high church officials. Angelo's personal feud with pope Boniface VIII goes back fifty years to their childhoods, when the pope was the boy Benedetto Gaetani. Angel's Passage is a companion work to the international best-seller, The Franciscan Conspiracy (translated as: Im Zeichen der Serafim, La Conspiracion de Assis, Le Complot des Franciscains, Il Sigillo di Dio).