|
Showing 1 - 25 of
121 matches in All Departments
The power of positive thinking. It is an idea deeply rooted in
American culture, from Oprah to The Secret to the mass-media
ministries of Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes. Yet no one has examined
how this one simple idea to think positively has morphed from
metaphysics into mass belief. In One Simple Idea, Mitch Horowitz
tracks the history of the positive-thinking movement from its
pioneers to its most dramatic personalities, including Dale
Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale. Positive thinking has been the
root of studies on the placebo effect, the 12-step approach to
overcoming addition, and the mind-body connection in treating
illness. And it is central to the American idea of success, as seen
in political messages like Ronald Reagan's "Nothing is impossible"
or President Obama's "Yes, we can" and slogans such as the U.S.
Army's "Be all you can be" and Nike's "Just do it." This paperback
edition includes new exercises and methods, which readers can use
to test the validity of positive-mind mechanics in their daily
lives. One Simple Idea answers the age-old question Does it work?
and shows that, yes, positive thinking can change the world.
An exploration of our extraordinary shift away from materialism
toward renewal of the numinous, mysterious, and uncertain *
Examines topics that evoke widespread misunderstanding, including
the real history of secret societies, the wisdom of the Satanic,
Gnosticism, Hermeticism, out-of-body experience, and the
contemporary war on witches * Looks at the influence of the
founding lights of modern occultism, including mystic Neville
Goddard, occult scholar Manly P. Hall, and surrealist filmmaker
David Lynch, and debunks famous pseudo-skeptics such as the Amazing
Randi * Explores magickal practices, including Anarchic Magick,
mind metaphysics, the Law of Attraction, and Ouija boards, and
upends hallowed spiritual concepts like forgiveness All of us today
dwell in uncertain places--realities in which thoughts make things
happen, ESP is provable by the scientific methods once used to
debunk it, UFOs are mainstream, and magick no longer requires rite
and ritual but is as near as your own mind. Today's leading voice
of esotericism and the occult, Mitch Horowitz explores topics that
evoke widespread misunderstanding, including the real history of
secret societies, the wisdom of the Satanic, the relevance of
Gnosticism, and the slender but authentic connection between
today's spiritual culture and antiquity, including in areas of
Hermeticism, deity worship, out-of-body experience, and magick. He
demonstrates the occult roots of wide-ranging facets of modern
culture, including politics, abstract art, mind-body healing,
self-help, and breakthrough scientific fields such as quantum
physics and neuroplasticity. He looks at the influence of the
founding lights of modern occultism, including mystic Neville
Goddard, occult scholar Manly P. Hall, and surrealist filmmaker
David Lynch, and provides a magnificent take-down of famous
debunkers and pseudo-skeptics such as the Amazing Randi. He
explores magickal practices, including Anarchic Magick, mind
metaphysics, the Law of Attraction, and the history of Ouija boards
and questions time-honored spiritual values like forgiveness. Mitch
also examines the contemporary war on witches around the world and
what it is like to be blacklisted. Offering a thought-provoking
investigation of the spiritual, the occult, the magickal, and the
extra-physical, Mitch lays the groundwork for readers to continue
their own journeys into these esoteric streams of consciousness.
From its earliest days, America served as an arena for the
revolutions in alternative spirituality that eventually swept the
globe. Esoteric philosophies and personas--from Freemasonry to
Spiritualism, from Madame H. P. Blavatsky to Edgar
Cayce--dramatically altered the nation's culture, politics, and
religion. Yet the mystical roots of our identity are often ignored
or overlooked. Opening a new window on the past, Occult
America""presents a dramatic, pioneering study of the esoteric
undercurrents of our history and their profound impact across
modern life.
An intimate exploration of the life, philosophy, and lasting occult
influence of Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan With
his creation of the infamous Church of Satan in 1966 and his
bestselling book The Satanic Bible in 1969, Anton Szandor LaVey
(1930-1997) became a controversial celebrity who basked in the
attention and even made a successful career out of it. But who was
Anton LaVey behind the public persona that so easily provoked
Christians and others intolerant of his views? One of privileged
few who spent time with the "Black Pope" in the last decade of his
life, Carl Abrahamsson met Anton LaVey in 1989, sparking an
"infernally" empowering friendship. In this book Abrahamsson
explores what LaVey was really about, where he came from, and how
he shaped the esoteric landscape of the 1960s. The author shares
in-depth interviews with the notorious Satanist's intimate friends
and collaborators, including LaVey's partner Blanche Barton, his
son Xerxes LaVey, current heads of the Church of Satan Peter
Gilmore and Peggy Nadramia, occult filmmaker Kenneth Anger, LaVey's
personal secretary Margie Bauer, film collector Jack Stevenson, and
film historian Jim Morton. Abrahamsson also shares
never-before-published material from LaVey himself, including
discussions between LaVey and Genesis P-Orridge and transcripts
from LaVey's never-released "Hail Satan!" video. Providing inside
accounts of the Church of Satan and activities at the Black House,
this intimate exploration of Anton LaVey reveals his ongoing role
in the history of culture and magic.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|