He’s still wondering years later when, jilted and newly jobless, he gets off a bus by chance in the Faraway Hills and steps unawares into a story that has been awaiting him there.Does the world have a plot? It’s what Rosie Rasmussen wants to know, too. Will her life have the fearful symmetry of the lives led inside the books she reads? Rosie, newly returned to her childhood environs in the Faraways, is reading the historical romances of dead Fellowes Kraft one after another to see her through the hard realities of a divorce. There is another history in Kraft’s vivid novels: there are angels and Elizabethan magicians and the boy Shakespeare; once upon a time these tales entranced Pierce Moffett too, and teased him with the traces of a very large story indeed…Pierce is on the track of a history he can’t quite believe in; Rosie is losing her place in her own story, forgetting why people love one another. They are two seekers, marked by loss, about to share a discover in Fellowes Kraft’s old house in the Faraway Hills. There is more than one history of the world.

    One On One With SatanA chilling and highly convincing account of possession and exorcism in modern America, hailed by NBC Radio as "one of the most stirring books on the contemporary scene."

    Thammuz of Syria. Esus of the Celtic Druids. Mithra of Persia. Quexalcoati of Mexico. All were crucified gods, and all met their fates hundreds of years before Jesus appeared on the scene. In this foundational work of modern atheism, American spiritualist KERSEY GRAVES (1813-1883) breaks the Christ myth down into its component parts and ably demonstrates how the story of Jesus has its roots in the depths of antiquity. Here you'll read about the surprising prevalence throughout global folklore of: . the miraculous and immaculate conception of the gods . stars that point out the time and place of a savior's birth . angels, shepherds, and magi visiting an infant savior . the 25th of December as the universal birth date of gods . saviors who descend into Hell . and much more. This is essential reading for students of comparative mythology and modern freethinkers. Also available from Cosimo: Graves's The Biography of Satan and The Bible of Bibles

    P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Grant, and the followers of Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley • Provides instructions on how to identify egregores, free yourself from parasitic and destructive entities, and destroy an egregore, should the need arise One of most important but little known concepts of Western occultism is that of the egregore, an autonomous psychic entity created by a collective group mind. An egregore is sustained by belief, ritual, and sacrifice and relies upon the devotion of a group of people, from a small coven to an entire nation, for its existence. An egregore that receives enough sustenance can take on a life of its own, becoming an independent deity with powers its believers can use to further their own spiritual advancement and material desires. Presenting the first book devoted to the study of egregores, Mark Stavish examines the history of egregores from ancient times to present day, with detailed and documented examples, and explores how they are created, sustained, directed, and destroyed. He explains how egregores were well known in the classical period of ancient Greece and Rome, when they were consciously called into being to watch over city states. He explores the egregore concept as it was understood in various Western Mystery traditions, including the Corpus Hermeticum, and offers further examples from Tibetan Buddhism, Islam, modern esoteric orders such as the Order of the Golden Dawn and Rosicrucianism, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Kenneth Grant, and the followers of Julius Evola and Aleister Crowley. The author discusses how, even as the fundamental principles of the egregore were forgotten, egregores continue to be formed, sometimes by accident. Stavish provides instructions on how to identify egregores, free yourself from a parasitic and destructive collective entity, and destroy an egregore, should the need arise. Revealing how egregores form the foundation of nearly all human interactions, the author shows how egregores have moved into popular culture and media--underscoring the importance of intense selectivity in the information we accept and the ways we perceive the world and our place in it.

    In the tradition of unsolved historical mysteries like David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon and Douglas Preston's The Lost City of the Monkey God, Brian Muraresku’s 10-year investigation takes the reader through Greece, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, offering unprecedented access to the hidden archives of the Louvre and the Vatican along the way.In The Immortality Key, Muraresku explores a little-known connection between the best-kept secret in Ancient Greece and Christianity. This is the real story of the most famous human being who ever lived (Jesus) and the biggest religion the world has ever known. Today, 2.4 billion people are Christian. That's one third of the planet. But do any of them really know how it all started?Before Jerusalem, before Rome, before Mecca—there was Eleusis: the spiritual capital of the ancient world. It promised immortality to Plato and the rest of Athens's greatest minds with a very simple formula: drink this potion, see God. Shrouded in secrecy for millennia, the Ancient Greek sacrament was buried when the newly Christianized Roman Empire obliterated Eleusis in the fourth century AD.Renegade scholars in the 1970s claimed the Greek potion was psychedelic, just like the original Christian Eucharist that replaced it. In recent years, vindication for the disgraced theory has been quietly mounting in the laboratory. The rapidly growing field of archaeological chemistry has proven the ancient use of visionary drugs. And with a single dose of psilocybin, the psycho-pharmacologists at Johns Hopkins and NYU are now turning self-proclaimed atheists into instant believers. No one has ever found hard, scientific evidence of drugs connected to Eleusis, let alone early Christianity. Until now.Armed with key documents never before translated into English, convincing analysis, and a captivating spirit of quest, Muraresku mines science, classical literature, biblical scholarship and art to deliver the hidden key to eternal life, bringing us to what clinical psychologist William Richards calls "the edge of an awesomely vast frontier."Featuring a Foreword by Graham Hancock, the New York Times bestselling author of America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization.

    Recipes for poetic terror, anarcho -black magic, post-situ psychotropic surgery, denunciations of spiritual addictions to vapid infotainment cults - this is the bastard classic, the watermark impressed upon our minds. Where conscience informs praxis, and action infects consciousness, T.A.Z. is beginning to worm its way into above-ground culture. This book offers inspired blasts of writing, from slogans to historical essays, on the need to insert revolutionary happiness into everyday life through poetic action, and celebrating the radical optimism present in outlaw cultures. It should appeal to alternative thinkers and punks everywhere, as it celebrates liberation, love and poetic living. The new edition contains the full text of Chaos: The Broadsheets of Ontological Anarchism, the complete communiques and flyers of the Association fo Ontological Anarchy, the long essay 'The Temporary Autonomous Zone, ' and a new preface by the author

    It's a masterpiece...if you're interested in American Masonry and its impact on our country, this book is for you.-Brent Morris, The Scottish Rite Journal

    This inquiry into Gnosticism examines the character, history, and beliefs of a brave and vigorous spiritual quest that originated in the ancient Near East and continues into the present day.Lawrence Durrell writes, “This is a strange and original essay, more a work of literature than of scholarship, though its documentation is impeccable. It is as convincing a reconstruction of the way the Gnostics lived and thought as D.H. Lawrence’s intuitive recreation of the vanished Etruscans.”“A remarkable book for both knowledge and the understanding of Gnostic texts, so abstruse at first sight, and for the poetical interpretation of the Gnostic movement across history. Lacarriere is particularly well informed about the various currents and undercurrents of Gnosticism, and their perennial importance for the religious and the mystic mind.” — Marguerite YourcenarJacques Lacrarriere (1925-2005) was a French writer who studied philosophy and classic literature and was known for his work as a critic, journalist, and essayist. In 1991, he received le Grand Prix de l'Academie francaise (The Great Prize of the French Academy).

    tr Rosmarie Waldrop, second of 2-vol set

    Up until very recently the Kabbalah was reserved for the elite, those who only after years of scholarship and practice were allowed to enter this mystical realm. However, one doesn't need to devote one's life to intense study to reap the rich rewards of the Kabbalah. With just a basic understanding of a few key concepts, our lives can be enriched immensely. We can then begin to fulfill our deepest dreams and reach our most important goals, becoming the people we long to become.        By learning to understand the Sefirot--the ten spiritual properties that flow from the cosmic source into our heart--we can connect to the universe and profoundly transform our experience of daily life. For example, Hessed, or "loving-kindness," represents the desire to be generous, while Gevurah is the desire to focus intently or withhold. These properties must be balanced in order for harmony and well-being to occur. Rabbi Laibl Wolf shows how to maintain that balance and enjoy a healthy and productive life by using simple meditation and creative visualization techniques to grasp the spiritual nature of our life.        Practical Kabbalah draws upon ancient wisdom but offers a modern interpretation and easy-to-understand techniques for delving deeper into our selves and our world and for reaping the bounteous gifts that were always meant for us.

    Besides exhortations to live a moral, simple and contemplative life, these pithy aphorisms allow a glimpse of a bit of the Pythagorean schools' deeper knowledge.Contents:IntroductionThe Golden Verses of PythagorasNotes on the Golden Verses of Pythagoras from the Commentaries of HieroclesThe Golden Sentences of DemocratesThe Pythagorean Sentences of DemophilusThe Similitudes of DemophilusPythagorean Ethical Sentences from Stob?usSelect Sentences of Sextus the PythagoreanPythagorean Sentences from the Protreptics of IamblichusThe Symbols of Pythagoras

    The Complete Book of Numerology reveals the underlying meaning behind the numbers in your life and enables you to understand the connection between your numerological patterns and your degree of abundance, health, and general well-being. Overall, delving into the world of numbers will provide you with a simple and accurate way to decipher your experiences in the same manner that a road map helps you navigate a route that you haven't previously traveled.

    Unlike other books on Jung and alchemy which contain a psychological interpretation of alchemical material, this work uses alchemy to understand the three cornerstones of Jungian spirituality--the self, the transcendent function, and active imagination. Through the interpretation of alchemical imagery, Raff explains the nature of these three concepts and illustrates how together they form a new model of contemporary Western spirituality. This book is also unique in selecting alchemical texts for analysis that are relatively unknown and which, for the most part, have never been interpreted. In addition, he presents two new concepts--the ally and the psychoid realm. Through the addition of these ideas, and the new understanding that they offer, it is possible to apply alchemical imagery to transpsychic experience/ that is, to a world of spirits which may not be reduced to psychological concepts. By including this realm in the study of alchemy and Jungian thought, it is possible to gain insights into the nature of visionary and ecstatic experiences that form part of the path of individuation--the road to completion.

    • Explains various divination systems and how to perform ancient rituals that open the doorway to secret and arcane knowledge. True magic can be defined as the art and science of using little-known or forgotten natural forces in order to achieve changes in consciousness and the physical environment. It concerns a wide body of doctrines and techniques, including the conjuring of spirits and non-human entities; the manufacture and consecration of wands, swords, talismans, and other tools of the magus; ritual divination; and the exploration of universes other than that with which we are familiar. The masters who taught others these ancient arts are gone, but Techniques of High Magic provides the practical and lucid instruction necessary for self-initiation into these secret traditions. Emphasizing the ordered nature of the universe and the power of will directed by imagination, Francis King and Stephen Skinner introduce the reader to magical practices, rituals, and instruments that have been used for centuries. They explain systems of divination such as the I Ching, the Tarot, and geomancy, as well as techniques of astral projection and elementary alchemy. Their disciplined approach to magical practice includes easy formulas and diagrams that will help the initiate navigate an ancient and potent universe of gods, angels, and spirits--the world of High Magic.

    It scrutinizes its symbolistic dimensions and stylistic excellence while keeping an undeviating focus on the poignant classic of love in the time of war. This study further demonstrates how the novel appeals at different levels like the other works of Hemingwayas a story of war, a story of love, a story of the growth of the heros soul, a story of memorable characters and a work of artistic excellence. The present book will definitely prove useful to students, researchers as well as teachers of English Literature interested in the study of Hemingway and his works.