The Devils of Loudun


Aldous Huxley - 1952
    He had been found guilty of conspiring with the devil to seduce an entire convent of nuns in what was the most sensational case of mass possession and sexual hysteria in history. Grandier maintained his innocence to the end and four years after his death the nuns were still being subjected to exorcisms to free them from their demonic bondage. Huxley's vivid account of this bizarre tale of religious and sexual obsession transforms our understanding of the medieval world.

Astoria


Washington Irving - 1835
    Envisioned as the spur of a fur-trading empire, by 1813 the project was a business failure and the fort was surrendered to the British. But in its short life Astoria rendered incalculable benefits to public understanding of the Great Northwest. The exploration of trade routes, the description of various Indian tribes and their customs, and an American claim on the Northwest coast were among many of its legacies. Astor never relinquished his pride in the enterprise and insisted that the West would one day be a dominating factor in national politics. To drive his point home he asked Washington Irving, the country's most renowned and respected author, to transform the papers of Fort Astoria into a unified and readable history. Irving accepted the offer and published Astoria in 1836. From its first appearance--when it was hailed by no less a reviewer than Edgar Allan Poe--to the present day, Astoria has been read as a vivid and fascinating history, comparable indeed to the finest of romances, but rooted in the rough and hardy life of trapping, hunting, and exploration. The text of this edition is approved by the Center for editions of American Authors, Modern Language Association of America.

Sekret Machines: Gods An Official Investigation of the UFO Phenomenon (Gods, Man & War)


Tom DeLonge - 2017
    The reader will not discover wild theories or unfounded claims, but instead will confront a solid -- if often unsettling -- reality, one that demands the collaboration of all of us in every field of human endeavor if we are to understand it and manage its effects. If nothing else, readers will come to the conclusion that the Phenomenon is not what they think it is.  It is, in fact, much more serious and potentially much more threatening than they can imagine.Sekret Machines: GODS is volume one of the companion investigation series to the bestselling thriller Sekret Machines: Chasing Shadows by DeLonge and NYTimes bestselling author AJ Hartley.  The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts.  Read together, the thriller series and the investigation series show what cannot be revealed with one approach alone.

Behold a Pale Horse


Milton William Cooper - 1991
    This information has been kept in topsecret government files since the 1940s. His audiences hear the truth unfold as he writes about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the war on drugs, the secret government, and UFOs.Bill is a lucid, rational, and powerful speaker whose intent is to inform and to empower his audience. Standing room only is normal. His presentation and information transcend partisan affiliations as he clearly addresses issues in a way that has a striking impact on listeners of all backgrounds and interests. He has spoken to many groups throughout the United States and has appeared regularly on many radio talk shows and on television.In 1988 Bill decided to "talk" due to events then taking place worldwide, events that he had seen plans for back in the early 1970s. Bill correctly predicted the lowering of the Iron Curtain, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the invasion of Panama. All Bill's predictions were on record well before the events occurred. Bill is not a psychic. His information comes from top secret documents that he read while with the Intelligence Briefing Team and from over seventeen years of research.

Killer


David Drake - 1985
    Only two of them almost destroyed the planet Doronin. The enigmatic rulers of the galaxy ordered Doronin annihilated to stop the spread of the creatures--not knowing that one had been lost by smugglers on Earth!

American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology


Diana Walsh Pasulka - 2019
    This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions.Over the course of a six-year ethnographic study, D.W. Pasulka interviewed successful and influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in aliens is due to a number of factors including their ubiquity in modern media like The X-Files, which can influence memory, and the believability lent to that media by the search for planets that might support life. American Cosmic explores the intriguing question of how people interpret unexplainable experiences, and argues that the media is replacing religion as a cultural authority that offers believers answers about non-human intelligent life.

The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects


Edward J. Ruppelt - 1956
    With the exception of the style, this report is written exactly the way I would have written it had I been officially asked to do so while I was chief of the Air Force's project for investigating UFO reports--Project Blue Book."Foreword1 Project Blue Book and the UFO Story 2 The Era of Confusion Begins 3 The Classics 4 Green Fireballs, Project Twinkle, Little Lights, and Grudge 5 The Dark Ages 6 The Presses Roll--The Air Force Shrugs 7 The Pentagon Rumbles 8 The Lubbock Lights, Unabridged 9 The New Project Grudge 10 Project Blue Book and the Big Build-Up 11 The Big Flap 12 The Washington Merry-Go-Round 13 Hoax or Horror? 14 Digesting the Data 15 The Radiation Story 16 The Hierarchy Ponders 17 What Are UFO's? 18 And They're Still Flying 19 Off They Go into the Wild Blue Yonder 20 Do They or Don't They?

Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization


Paul Kriwaczek - 2010
    He chronicles the rise and fall of dynastic power during this period; he examines its numerous material, social and cultural innovations and inventions: The wheel, civil, engineering, building bricks, the centralized state, the division of labour, organised religion, sculpture, education, mathematics, law and monumental building.At the heart of Kriwaczek's magisterial account, though, is the glory of Babylon - 'gateway to the gods' - which rose to glorious prominence under the Amorite king Hammurabi, who unified Babylonia between 1800 and 1750 BC. While Babylonian power would rise and fall over the ensuing centuries, it retained its importance as a cultural, religious and political centre until its fall to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BC.

The Priest and the Medium


Suzanne R. Giesemann - 2009
    Anne Gehman gave her first spirit readings to her teddy bears at age five. Raised in the Mennonite tradition, she left home at age 14 to finish her schooling. A life-changing near-death experience led Anne to develop her natural gifts, including an uncanny ability to predict future events. She has gained international attention for her help in solving crimes, locating oil and missing persons, healing illnesses, and connecting family members with their loved ones in spirit. She has worked with top government agencies and officials, police departments, judges, and corporate CEOs. While remarkable for her spiritual gifts and experiences, Anne’s life is all the more fascinating due to an unusual twist: she is married to Wayne Knoll, Ph.D., a former Jesuit priest. A brilliant student devoted to his faith, Wayne also left home at 14 to join a Roman Catholic seminary. Even while pursuing his life’s dream as a professor of literature at Georgetown University, Wayne felt an emptiness that only a woman could fill. After more than a decade of religious training, he made the wrenching decision to leave the priesthood, not knowing if he would find the love he sought. The Priest and the Medium shares the remarkable story of two soul mates on parallel paths with divergent beliefs, yet united in their love for God and each other.

In the Beginning...Was the Command Line


Neal Stephenson - 1999
    And considering that the "one man" is Neal Stephenson, "the hacker Hemingway" (Newsweek) -- acclaimed novelist, pragmatist, seer, nerd-friendly philosopher, and nationally bestselling author of groundbreaking literary works (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, etc., etc.) -- the word is well worth hearing. Mostly well-reasoned examination and partial rant, Stephenson's In the Beginning... was the Command Line is a thoughtful, irreverent, hilarious treatise on the cyber-culture past and present; on operating system tyrannies and downloaded popular revolutions; on the Internet, Disney World, Big Bangs, not to mention the meaning of life itself.

Exceptions to Reality


Alan Dean Foster - 2008
    Now he turns his imagination to the short story in these spectacular tales of outer space, cyberspace, ancient gods, modern demons, and mortal horror, includingPanhandler A predatory lawyer encounters a fabled boyhood hero and falls victim to the less innocent intrigues of eternal youth.Growth Not even his minidrag Pip can save Flinx from the overly intimate advances of an intruder who goes entirely too far. Basted A lowly, hen-pecked Egyptian discovers that the Pharaoh’s tomb holds exactly what he needs for a whole new life.The Killing of Bad Bull A man with a knack for getting gambling’s one-armed bandits to give it up finds himself at the top–of several hit lists.At Sea A poor Scandinavian captain forced into running drugs is shown a way out of his desperate straits with the help of five beautiful blondes who are simply out-of-this-world. Open Exceptions to Reality to find these amazing stories and nine other irresistibly unearthly tales!

Numerology


Hans Decoz - 1993
    They each have some personal meaning. Through the centuries, numerologists have been studying the significance of numbers and perfecting their art in the belief that numbers strongly influence both our behavior and our fate. They have learned that by understanding the meaning of numbers, we can gain greater insight into ourselves.In Numerology: Key to Your Inner Self, world-renowned numerologist Hans Decoz and accomplished writer Tom Monte have teamed together to produce an easy-to-understand guide that introduces the reader to the basic concepts and applications of numerology. Presented here is a technique that relates the major questions of an individual's life -his talents, challenges, career, and personal growth--with the basic numeric facts of his existence--his birth date and name.The book begins with a fascinating explanation of what numerology is and an intriguing look at the philosophy that lies behind it. It then examines how numerology works, focusing on the numeric meanings of personal names, birth dates, and language in general. Included is a step-by-step guide to calculating your own numbers and interpreting them in chart form.

Mojave Incident: Inspired by a Chilling Story of Alien Abduction


Ron Felber - 2015
    I thought we were going to die, or had already died and we were being tortured in Hell." —Elise GiffordOn the night of October 21, 1989, nine glowing objects appeared over an empty stretch of the Mojave desert—and turned a couple’s quiet weekend into an unearthly nightmare of terror.Elise and Tom Gifford say they were held captive in their camper by nonhuman creatures—and through love and prayer were able to live through psychological torment as their captors manipulated their minds with telepathic power.The Watchers hovered over them for a day and a night, they say, stealing their thoughts and emotions, making them relive their most painful and intimate memories, bringing them to the brink of madness. Hours later they were alone again—alive but the visits continuedand the nightmare wasn’t over.Called "The most frightening UFO book ever written", The Mojave Incident touches the subconscious fears deep in all of us.

What is Coming? A Forecast of Things after the War


H.G. Wells - 1916
    For it is the lot of prophets who frighten or disappoint to be stoned. But for some of us moderns, who have been touched with the spirit of science, prophesying is almost a habit of mind.

Keepers of the Light Oracle Cards


Kyle Gray - 2016
    These amazing masters transcend religion and go beyond time – they are here and willing to help all of those who call on them.   The new Keepers of the Light oracle card deck from Kyle Gray draws together 44 Ascended Masters, spiritual deities, and beings from many world traditions, and embraces spiritual teachings from ancient to modern times. The deck balances male and female energies, and includes traditional masters like Lord Buddha and Mother Mary, Earth-based deities like Gaia and Cernunnos, and modern favorites like Sanat Kumara, Lady Venus, and Saint Germain.   Each card is beautifully hand drawn by visionary artist Lily Moses, who paints what she sees from a deep meditative state. The deck’s aim is to help spiritual seekers to develop their intuition and to really start trusting the messages that spirit shares.