An in-depth exploration of the practice, relevance, and purpose of spirit marriage around the world * Presents interviews with ten contemporary practitioners of spirit marriage, exploring how the relationship developed and the opportunities and challenges * Discusses the author's own spirit marriage, including her awakening as an erotic mystic and her encounters with her Faery beloved * Explains how to cultivate a spirit marriage, sharing precautions and practices to spiritually prepare yourself and navigate the potential challenges of spirit marriage Exploring the phenomenon of the spirit spouse or spirit lover--an entity to which a human is psychically bonded--Megan Rose, Ph.D., examines the practice and purpose of spirit marriage around the world, presenting transcultural evidence of this form of sacred union in anthropological research, religious literature, mythology, folklore, and the oral tradition. She shares her in-depth interviews with ten contemporary practitioners of spirit marriage, including a Faery Seer, a Shakta Tantric, a West African Shrine Keeper, a New Orleans Voodoo Mambo, Haitian Vodou practitioners, and a ceremonial magician. Through these respectful interviews, the spirit-marriage practitioners tell their stories of initiation and of having a spouse who is both otherworldly and able to assist in waking- world activities. They offer intimate insight into this growing global practice and its larger evolutionary purpose. We learn about their experiences of first contact, the decision to marry, how the relationship is upheld by their community, and the impact on their other relationships. We also learn about the risks and challenges as well as one example of divorcing a spirit. Sharing her personal experience, the author discusses in detail her own spirit marriage, including the erotic nature of being "spirit filled" and her encounters with her Faery beloved. She explains how to cultivate a spirit marriage, sharing precautions and practices to spiritually prepare yourself, interpret your paranormal encounters, and navigate the potential challenges of spirit marriage. Presenting the first study of the transcultural, shamanistic practice of spirit marriage, this book shows how bonded relationships with spirits are needed now more than ever to assist with spiritual evolution.

Issue 7 of The Crooked Path Journal includes the following articles:
Guided Visualizations Throughthe Caucasus - Michael Berman
The Thinking Witch Top Reads of 2010 - Steven Posch
Interview with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone - Tony Mierzwicki
Storm Mother - Veronica Cummer
Sonnets to the Morrigan - S. P. Hendrick
The Witch and the Well and the Dark Rider - Orion Foxwood
Pagan Parenting - Renee Berg
The Future Through the Writing onyour Forehead - Michael Berman
Pendraig Publishing Catalogue
Invocation and theAncient Art of Ritual Possession - Peter Paddon
Gardner Redux - Ann Finnin
Spotlight on: Visceral Magick - Peter Paddon
Before the Battle - Peter Paddon