These blessings offer refreshment to your soul and a biblical perspective to your thoughts.Borne from Susie Larson's own bouts with nighttime worries, each blessing and related Scripture is a daily, soothing reminder of God's love and mercy."May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace."

    From unicorns, salamanders, satyrs, giants, elves and trolls, to dragons, nymphs, mermaids, werewolves and griffins — take an enchanting journey through the history, folklore, and mythology of these beasts from virtually every culture in the world. With stories and amazing facts on even the most obscure mythological creature, this is a cornucopia of magic and folklore.

    He examines its relation to religion, science, philosophy, art, literature and politics before introducing us to the different types of magic, the kinds of people who practiced magic, and the reasoning behind their beliefs. This book places magic at the crossroads of medieval culture, shedding light on many other aspects of life in the Middle Ages.

    Where the maiden, mother, crone archetypal system is tied to female biology and physical stages of life, the fivefold model liberates the female experience from the shackles of the reproductive model.In a woman's lifetime, she will go through several different cycles of beginnings, potential, creation, mastery, and wisdom. This fivefold model is not an adaption of the threefold. It is a new system that embraces the powerful, fluid nature of the lived experience of women today.Join Lasara Firefox Allen as she explores the nature of the five archetypes; gives examples of what areas of life each might preside over; lists goddesses that fit within each archetype; suggests ways to begin building relationship with the different archetypes; and provides simple rituals for recognition, transition, and invocation.

    This beautifully conceived and thoroughly modern three-volume guide will appeal to the theological novice as well as to the ecclesiastical sophisticate. Making primary use of the Book of Common Prayer and the writings of the Church Fathers, The Divine Hours is also a companion to the New Jerusalem Bible, from which it draws its Scripture readings. The trilogy blends prayer and praise in a way that, while extraordinarily fresh, respects and builds upon the ancient wisdom of Christianity. The third and final book in the set, Prayers for Springtime, provides prayers, psalms, and readings for this season associated with rebirth. Compact, it is perfect for those seeking greater spiritual depth. As a contemporary Book of Hours, The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime heralds a renewal of the tradition of disciplined daily prayer, and gives those already using the first two volumes the completion they are seeking. With this volume, the series culminates with three prayer manuals encompassing the liturgical and calendar year with the offices for every day.From the Hardcover edition.

    It:· connects the dots, demonstrating how each individual story is really one chapter in the larger story· shows how Jesus, especially his death and resurrection, is the point of the story, even when the Son of God is not a key player · helps readers build a biblical worldview that answers the ultimate questions of life Readers will gain a better grasp of the whole story of Scripture and, most importantly, why these stories are the ones God chose to preserve for us through the writers of the Bible.

    "The Wicca Spellbook" is a grimoire of modern Wiccan magick for both novice and seasoned Witches, solitaries and coveners.

    After a fateful encounter with a high initiate of the ancient Fellowship of Isis, she began researching the history of Judaism and Christianity to find out how and when the Divine Feminine became lost. She discovered a forgotten age when the Creator was honored as female and humanity lived in peaceful societies completely free of war. She shows how we can return to an age of peace and celestial light if we work to bring the masculine and feminine energies of the world back into balance. Sharing her journey into the heart of the Divine Mother, McCannon details her initiation into the Fellowship of Isis, a process rich with ceremony, ritual, and myths of the Goddess from ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Greek, Hebrew, and Native American traditions. She reveals how the many archetypes of the Goddess, including Isis, Ishtar, Brigit, and the Black Madonna, can become our allies for self-transformation. She explores Mysteries at the heart of Christianity that have remained hidden for nearly 2,000 years and how the Gnostic goddess Sophia is tied to the Second Coming, Mary Magdalene, and the Female Christ. She reveals the lost teachings of Jesus about the Divine Mother and Father and about the Divine Daughter and Son.Through her story and her in-depth research, McCannon takes us on a journey to awaken the creative power of the Divine Feminine within each of us. Equipped with the teachings of the Goddess, we gain the mastery to overcome the deeply rooted masculine-feminine imbalance of the patriarchy and to embark into the future as Homo luminous, beings of light.

    In Brian Doyle’s newest work, A Book of Uncommon Prayer: 100 Celebrations of the Miracle & Muddle of the Ordinary, his readers will find a series of prayers unlike any of the beautiful, formal, orthodox prayers of the Catholic tradition or the warm, extemporized prayers heard from pulpits and dinner tables. Doyle’s often-dazzling, always-poignant prayers include eye-opening hymns to shoes and faith and family. In Doyle’s words, “the world is crammed with miracles, so crammed and tumultuous that if we stop, see, savor, we are agog,” and the pages of his newest book give voice and body to this credo. By focusing on experiences that may seem the most unprayerful (one prayer is titled “Prayer on Seeing Yet Another Egregious Parade of Muddy Paw Prints on the Floor”), he gives permission to discover the joys and treasures in what he often calls the muddle of everyday life.

    A Marvelous Blend of Memoir, Folk Wisdom, and Afro-American Beliefs.Actress, storyteller, and priestess Luisah Teish dramatically re-creates centuries-old African-American traditions with music, memoir, and folk wisdom.

    Hindu myth shows him appearing at the beginning of creation as a giant pillar of fire from which this world sprang forth. Yet he is also the most approachable of gods, for he is the lover of lovers and the devotee of his devotees. Of the 1,008 names of Shiva, Pashupati, Lord of Animals, is one of the most common. His special relation to animals along with his trickster nature reveal the deep connection of Shiva to shamanism and other gods such as the Norse Odin and the Celtic Cernunnos that came out of the Paleolithic traditions.Ethnologist Wolf-Dieter Storl was first captivated by Shiva when he was in India as a visiting scholar at Benares Hindu University. In this book he invites readers to join in the lively and mythical world of Shiva, or Mahadev, God of All Gods. Shiva is a study in contrasts: As the lord of dance he looses himself in ecstatic abandon; with his consort Parvati he can make love for 10,000 years. Both men and women worship him for his ability to unite and balance masculine and feminine energies. But as the ascetic Shankar he sits in deep meditation, shunning women, and none dare disturb him lest he open his third eye and immolate the entire universe. Lord of intoxicants and poisons, he is the keeper of secret occult knowledge and powers, for which he is worshipped by yogis and demons alike. Shiva dances both the joy of being and the dance of doom--but in every aspect he breaks through the false ego to reveal the true self lying within. This is his true power.

     The entire purpose of the spiritual life is to come closer to God through prayer and action. The best way to initiate a better and deeper prayer life is through the giver of life Himself, the Holy Spirit.

    Discover how to embark on this sacred green path and enrich your life with its ancient wisdom.Practicing Druid Penny Billington offers a clear and structured course of study grounded in Celtic history and mythology, and highlights the mysteries and modern practice of this nature-based tradition. Each chapter begins with an evocative visualization and captivating Welsh mythic tales from the Mabinogionare woven throughout, introducing lessons and key concepts. A series of hands-on exercises will help you internalize these truths, develop a spiritual awareness rooted in nature, build a relationship with the multi-dimensional world, and ultimately adopt a druidic worldview to guide you in everyday life.Archetypes Animal energy The elements The Nwyfre Symbols The Wheel of the Year The Otherworld Trees as teachers and healers Shapeshifting From joining a druidic community to starting out as a solitary practitioner, this unique spiritual guide offers advice on everything you need to know about practicing Druidry today.Praise: I loved this rich and intuitive approach to the study of modern Druidry. Penny's book is full of wisdom and insight. The comprehensive course is accompanied by beautiful visualizations and carefully crafted inspirational exercises.--Barbara Erskine, bestselling author of Lady of Hay

    Taken from his sermons as well as his writings, these beautiful meditations by the acclaimed spiritual teacher, writer and now Pontiff, give his usual fresh insights into the deeper meaning of this most wondrous event, and show the Pope to be a man who knows how to address both the mind and the heart. Includes many Illustrations. "Christmas is the most profoundly human feast of faith, because it allows us to feel most deeply the humanity of God. The cirb has a unique power to show us what it means to say that God wished to be "Immanuel" - a "God with us," a God we may address in intimate language, because he encounters us as a child. This makes Christmas a feast that invites us in a special way to meditation, to an internal act of looking at the Word. It awakens in us a deeper perception of the truth of the words from Scripture, "The goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior has appeared.'"

    By practicing the Great Work of the ancient alchemists and magicians, readers are guided into self-possession constant communication with their divine selves and connection with the Limitless Divine. Using the tools of energy and breath, shadow and dream work, tarot and meditation, readers will learn to open up "life power" and access breath, will, and desire the key components of effective magic to, quite literally, reshape the world.