Much Ado About Loving: What Our Favorite Novels Can Teach You About Date Expectations, Not So-Great Gatsbys, and Love in the Time of Internet Personals


Jack Murnighan - 2012
    From Dido to Jane Eyre, the characters of great literature are trying to figure out how to have healthy, happy relationships—with varying degrees of success—just like the rest of us. But the world’s best-known heroes and heroines didn’t go through all their trials and tribulations for naught—and now, thanks to Much Ado About Loving, we can learn from their foibles, misadventures, and eventual triumphs. Much as things have changed since the days when Jane Austen was writing, a lot about love has stayed the same. And so timeless literary classics contain many great lessons about romance that are as relevant today as they ever were. In this unique relationship guide full of humor and pathos, Maura Kelly and Jack Murnighan reflect on the renowned novels that have given them the most insight into their romantic lives. In chapters like Lightbulb in August: How to Have a Clue When He’s Just Not That Into You, they use Faulkner to discuss early warning signs a relationship isn’t going to work out. In Infinite Gesticulating: Why Do Men Talk So Much? they cite David Foster Wallace as an example of the male propensity to bloviate, but also have some suggestions for how to deal with it. Witty, wise and well-read in equal measures, Kelly and Murnighan will appeal to lovers of Candace Bushnell as much as to hard-core literary types with their entertaining, erudite, and engaging style.

Entheogens and the Future of Religion


Robert Forte - 2000
    Gordon Wasson, Jack Kornfield, Terence McKenna, the Shulgins, Rick Strassman, and others • Explores the importance of academic and religious freedom in the study of psychedelics and the mind • Exposes the need for an organized spiritual context for entheogen use in order to fully realize their transformative and sacred value We live in a time when a great many voices are calling for a spiritual renewal to address the problems that face humanity, yet the way of entheogens--one of the oldest and most widespread means of attaining a religious experience--is forbidden, surrounded by controversy and misunderstanding. Widely employed in traditional shamanic societies, entheogens figure prominently in the origins of religion and their use continues today throughout the world. They alter consciousness in such a profound way that, depending on the set and setting, they can produce the ultimate human experiences: union with God or revelation of other mystical realities. With contributions by Albert Hofmann, Terence McKenna, Ann and Alexander Shulgin, Thomas Riedlinger, Dale Pendell, and Rick Strassman as well as interviews with R. Gordon Wasson and Jack Kornfield, this book explores ancient and modern uses of psychedelic drugs, emphasizing the complementary relationship between science and mystical experience and the importance of psychedelics to the future of religion and society. Revealing the mystical-religious possibilities of substances such as psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and LSD, this book exposes the vital need for developing an organized spiritual context for their use in order to fully realize their transformative and sacred value. Stressing the importance of academic and religious freedom, the authors call for a revival of scientific and religious inquiry into entheogens so they may be used safely and legally by those seeking to cultivate their spiritual awareness.

The Heart of Love: How to Go Beyond Fantasy to Find True Relationship Fulfillment


John F. Demartini - 2006
    If you’re looking for your soul mate, want to reignite the spark in a longtime relationship; seeking to safeguard your marriage from infidelity; or are committed to creating more authentic friendships, family connections, and business relationships, then this book is for you. This book helps you understand what really drives human behavior in romance, business, and families; and assures you that you can have the kind of relationships you’d love to have, whether they’re lasting or brief, intensely intimate or just for fun. Ultimately, this book aims to inspire you to fulfill the true purpose of your relationships: to wake you up to your own wholeness, the divine magnificence present in every human soul. It invites you into the heart of love, which transforms any relationship into one of gratitude and true fulfillment.

Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help


Marion Weinstein - 1978
    If you are new to the occult, this book may provide a new vantage point, perhaps a different way, of looking at life than you are used to! Astrology, Tarot Cards, I Ching, Witchcraft, Words of Power are all explored.

Dreaming the Divine: Techniques for Sacred Sleep


Scott Cunningham - 1999
    Most authorities agree that dreams are very important for those on a spiritual path. This book shows you how to push beyond the boundaries of ordinary dreaming, and introduces you to the concept of making sleep a spiritual act. This process is known as "dream incubation" or "sacred sleep." The technique was practiced in dream temples around the ancient world, including those in Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Dream incubation is the process of creating sacred dreams for a specific purpose: healing, advice, glimpses of the future, protection, conception of children, battle plans, and a host of other reasons. Now you can learn this technique in "Dreaming the Divine. "Tucked inside this book, you'll find practical and simple techniques for receiving sacred messages in your dreams, including: - How to prepare for sacred sleep - Dream rituals and spells to achieve your sacred sleep goals - The meanings of dream symbols seen during sacred sleep - Dream messengers and deities from numerous cultures - Natural sleep-inducing techniques including prayer, special baths, special foods to eat and others to avoid, herb teas, scented pillows, aromatherapy, and several others - How to remember and record your sacred sleep dreams. Seeking communion with the divine through dreams is one of the oldest forms of personal spirituality. Sacred sleep is one way to remove spirituality from the hands of the "experts" and place it where it belongs: in the hearts, minds, and dreams of everyday people. Get "Dreaming the Divine "and make your dreamtime special.

Through the Open Door: To the Vastness of Your True Being


Eckhart Tolle - 2005
    Through the Open Door is Eckhart's highly anticipated return to audio, featuring new teachings on: Achieving Space Consciousness, learning to focus on the underlying field from which all forms and thoughts arise Refining your alertness to become alive and present with every cell of your body ? The illusions that lead to suffering, spiritual longing, and the need for more time in our lives and how to dispel them. How to discover true liberation beyond the limits of the thinking mind and the little self, and more. Eckhart's listeners often report that they play his recordings time and again in order to experience his unique ability to transport them to a state of awakened consciousness. Now, the legions of fans who turn to this modern spiritual beacon for guidance are invited to follow him Through the Open Door into a new world of vast aliveness.

The Skinny on Willpower: How to Develop The Self Discipline You Need To Advance Your Career and Life


Jim Randel - 2009
    the only separation between mediocrity and excellence in one's pursuit.

The Reality Creation Technique


Frederick Dodson - 2010
    Beyond the shallow waters of new-age, "law of attraction" and conventional motivational psychology there is a deep well from which you derive unbending determination and strength. That source is within you and can be awakened to achieve anything. The Reality Creation Technique is the most speedily effective method to help you make your dreams come true.