Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds


Charles Mackay - 1841
    This Harriman House edition includes Charles Mackay's account of the three infamous financial manias - John Law's Mississipi Scheme, the South Sea Bubble, and Tulipomania.Between the three of them, these historic episodes confirm that greed and fear have always been the driving forces of financial markets, and, furthermore, that being sensible and clever is no defence against the mesmeric allure of a popular craze with the wind behind it.In writing the history of the great financial manias, Charles Mackay proved himself a master chronicler of social as well as financial history. Blessed with a cast of characters that covered all the vices, gifted a passage of events which was inevitably heading for disaster, and with the benefit of hindsight, he produced a record that is at once a riveting thriller and absorbing historical document. A century and a half later, it is as vibrant and lurid as the day it was written.For modern-day investors, still reeling from the dotcom crash, the moral of the popular manias scarcely needs spelling out. When the next stock market bubble comes along, as it surely will, you are advised to recall the plight of some of the unfortunates on these pages, and avoid getting dragged under the wheels of the careering bandwagon yourself.

The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols


Jean Chevalier - 1982
    Compiled by an international team of experts, each entry is given its complete range of interpretations - sexual and spiritual, official and subversive, cultural and religious - to bring meaning and insight to the symbol.

The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore


W.B. Yeats - 1893
    Yeats took a particular interest in the tales' mythic and magical roots. The Celtic Twilight ventures into the eerie and puckish world of fairies, ghosts, and spirits. "This handful of dreams," as the author referred to it, first appeared in 1893, and its title refers to the pre-dawn hours, when the Druids performed their rituals. It consists of stories recounted to the poet by his friends, neighbors, and acquaintances. Yeats' faithful transcription of their narratives includes his own visionary experiences, appended to the storytellers' words as a form of commentary.

The Call of the Horned Piper


Nigel Jackson - 1990
    An exploration of the inner symbology, sacred cycles, working tools, incantations, spells & pathworking of the ancient Witchcraft. A practical grim

The Witches' Book of the Dead


Christian Day - 2011
    They cast spells, heal, and foretell the future. What you might not know is that Witches can also commune with the spirits of the dead.In The Witches' Book of the Dead, modernday Salem Warlock Christian Day shows how the spirits of our beloved dead can be summoned to perform such tasks as helping you to discover hidden opportunities, influence the minds of others, seduce the object of your affection, and even reach into the dreams of the unwary. According to legend, the Spirits of the dead can confer magical talents, fame, love, and wealth on those brave enough to summon them.The Witches' Book of the Dead explores the enduring relationship between witches and the dead and teaches rituals and incantations to help readers open doorways to the spirit world.Topics include: Legendary Witches who have raised the dead, including The Witch of Endor, Circe, and ErichthoCreating ancestral altars and building relationships with spiritsThe tools of Necromancy: the bronze dagger, yew wand, iron keys, graveyard dust, the offering cauldron, spirit powders, the human skull, and moreMethods of spirit contact, including automatic writing, scrying mirrors, spirit boards, pendulums, and spirit mediumshipThe ancient arts of necromancy as a method of conjuring the dead to assist in magicRidding yourself of unwanted spirits using rituals of cleansing, banishing and exorcismGhost hunting techniques that combine psychic wisdom with modern technologyCommuning with the dead in dreamsSacred holidays and powerful celebrations of the deadResources on where to ethically obtain the tools of the tradeAn overview of the feared deities of the UnderworldRituals, recipes, exercises, and more!Dare to walk between the worlds with Christian Day as he guides you across the River Styx into the shadowy realms where the dead long to connect with us once more!

Dance of the Four Winds: Secrets of the Inca Medicine Wheel


Alberto Villoldo - 1994
    Here Quecha masters use the jungle plant ayahuasca to further their spiritual progress along the four paths of the Medicine Wheel. Entering a magical realm of enigmatic sorcerers and powerful animal totems, Villoldo confronts the hidden powers of his own mind as he unlocks the secrets of the human psyche.

The Witches' Goddess


Janet Farrar - 1987
    Part I covers the myriad faces of the Goddess revealed, including: Her presence throughout history; Her Earth and Moon symbolism; Her Madonna and Magdalene disguises; Her revelation within the psyche; Her relationship with women; Her influence today; and much more. Part II covers ritual invocations of the Goddess in 13 guises: from Ishtar to Isis, from Hecate to Aphrodite, from Epona to Ma'at. Part III gives an alphabetical listing of more than 1000 goddesses including a brief history and the main correspondences of each. This is an important work by the Farrars providing an indepth exploration of the Goddess in her many aspects at a time when Western culture is awakening to the influence of Feminine Divinity, both individually and collectively. Over 40,000 sold!

Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural


Pamela A. Moro - 1985
    The engaging articles on all key issues related to the anthropology of religion grab the attention of students, while giving them an excellent foundation in contemporary ideas and approaches in the field. The multiple authors included in each chapter represent a range of interests, geographic foci, and ways of looking at each subject. Divided into ten chapters, this book begins with a broad view of anthropological ways of looking at religion, and moves on to some of the core topics within the subject, such as myth, ritual, and the various types of religious specialists.

The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma


Gurcharan Das - 2009
    The Mahabharata is obsessed with the elusive notion of dharma - in essence, doing the right thing. When a hero falters, the action stops and everyone weighs in with a different and often contradictory take on dharma. The epic's characters are flawed, but their incoherent experiences throw light on our familiar dilemmas. Gurcharan Das's best-selling book India Unbound examined the classical aim of artha, material well being. This, his first book in seven years, dwells on the goal of dharma, moral well being. It addresses the central problem of how to live our lives in an examined way - holding a mirror up to us and forcing us to confront the many ways in which we deceive ourselves and others. What emerges is a doctrine of dharma that we can apply to our business decisions, political strategies and interpersonal relationships - in effect, to life itself.

A Dictionary of Symbols


Juan Eduardo Cirlot - 1958
    At every stage of civilization, people have relied on symbolic expression, and advances in science and technology have only increased our dependence on symbols. The language of symbols is considered a science, and this informative volume offers an indispensable tool in the study of symbology. It can be used as a reference or simply browsed for pleasure. Many of its entries — those on architecture, mandala, numbers, serpent, water, and zodiac, for example — can be read as independent essays. The vitality of symbology has never been greater: An essential part of the ancient arts of the Orient and of the Western medieval traditions, symbolism underwent a 20th-century revival with the study of the unconscious, both directly in the field of dreams, visions, and psychoanalysis, and indirectly in art and poetry. A wide audience awaits the assistance of this dictionary in elucidating the symbolic worlds encountered in both the arts and the history of ideas.

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.

Animal Spirit Guides: An Easy-to-Use Handbook for Identifying and Understanding Your Power Animals and Animal Spirit Helpers


Steven D. Farmer - 2006
    In Animal Spirit Guides, Dr. Farmer provides concise, relevant details about the significance of more than 200 animals that may come to you in physical or symbolic form as guides and teachers. With each animal listed, you’ll find general meanings of the visitation; practical ways that they can help you as spirit guides; and how, as your power animal, they reflect characteristics that you possess. You’ll also find a “whom-to-call-on” section that will tell you which animal spirit guide to call on for any specific purpose.

Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition


Charles Eisenstein - 2011
    Today, these trends have reached their extreme—but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.   This book is about how the money system will have to change—and is already changing—to embody this transition. A broadly integrated synthesis of theory, policy, and practice, Sacred Economics explores avant-garde concepts of the New Economics, including negative-interest currencies, local currencies, resource-based economics, gift economies, and the restoration of the commons. Author Charles Eisenstein also considers the personal dimensions of this transition, speaking to those concerned with "right livelihood" and how to live according to their ideals in a world seemingly ruled by money. Tapping into a rich lineage of conventional and unconventional economic thought, Sacred Economics presents a vision that is original yet commonsense, radical yet gentle, and increasingly relevant as the crises of our civilization deepen.Sacred Economics official website: http://sacred-economics.com/About the Imprint: EVOLVER EDITIONS promotes a new counterculture that recognizes humanity's visionary potential and takes tangible, pragmatic steps to realize it. EVOLVER EDITIONS explores the dynamics of personal, collective, and global change from a wide range of perspectives. EVOLVER EDITIONS is an imprint of North Atlantic Books and is produced in collaboration with Evolver, LLC.

Parallel Myths


J.F. Bierlein - 1994
    . . An eye-opener to readers into the universality and importance of myth in human history and culture."--William E. Paden, Chair, Department of Religion, University of Vermont For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality. Now, in Parallel Myths, classical scholar J. F. Bierlein gathers the key myths from all of the world's major traditions and reveals their common themes, images, and meanings.Parallel Myths introduces us to the star players in the world's great myths--not only the twelve Olympians of Greek mythology, but the stern Norse Pantheon, the mysterious gods of India, the Egyptian Ennead, and the powerful deities of Native Americans, the Chinese, and the various cultures of Africa and Oceania. Juxtaposing the most potent stories and symbols from each tradition, Bierlein explores the parallels in such key topics as creation myths, flood myths, tales of love, morality myths, underworld myths, and visions of the Apocalypse. Drawing on the work of Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Carl Jung, Karl Jaspers, Claude L�vi-Strauss, and others, Bierlein also contemplates what myths mean, how to identify and interpret the parallels in myths, and how mythology has influenced twentieth-century psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and literary studies."A first-class introduction to mythology . . . Written with great clarity and sensitivity."--John G. Selby, Associate Professor, Roanoke College

Circle, Coven & Grove: A Year of Magickal Practice


Deborah Blake - 2007
    No matter what kind of Witch you are, High Priestess Deborah Blake's guide to ritual has something for you.Part instruction manual, part personal journal, and part Book of Shadows, this all-in-one ritual handbook is an ideal tool for busy Witches, new covens, and new priestesses, priests, or coven leaders. Celebrate the Wheel of the Year with original group rituals that can be used as written, personalized to reflect your coven's unique style, or modified for solitary practitioners. Along with practical tips on ritual basics, there are beautifully written New Moon rituals, Full Moon rituals, and Sabbat celebrations for each month and season.Circle, Coven & Grove presents basic correspondences for magickal practice and coven work essentials such as circle etiquette. With seasonal spells, blessings, and rituals for celebrating holidays, increasing energy, giving thanks, healing, and more, this friendly book has everything you need.