Tuhami: Portrait of a Moroccan


Vincent Crapanzano - 1980
    A master of magic and a superb story-teller, Tuhami lives in a dank, windowless hovel near the kiln where he works. Nightly he suffers visitations from the demons and saints who haunt his life, and he seeks, with crippling ambivalence, liberation from 'A'isha Qandisha, the she-demon. In a sensitive and bold experiment in interpretive ethnography, Crapanzano presents Tuhami's bizarre account of himself and his world. In so doing, Crapanzano draws on phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and symbolism to reflect upon the nature of reality and truth and to probe the limits of anthropology itself. Tuhami has become one of the most important and widely cited representatives of a new understanding of the whole discipline of anthropology.

The Secret Teachers of the Western World


Gary Lachman - 2015
    Running alongside the mainstream of Western intellectual history there is another current which, in a very real sense, should take pride of place, but which for the last few centuries has occupied a shadowy, inferior position, somewhere underground. This "other" stream forms the subject of Gary Lachman’s epic history and analysis, The Secret Teachers of the Western World. In this clarifying, accessible, and fascinating study, the acclaimed historian explores the Western esoteric tradition – a thought movement with ancient roots and modern expressions, which, in a broad sense, regards the cosmos as a living, spiritual, meaningful being and humankind as having a unique obligation and responsibility in it.The historical roots of our “counter tradition,” as Lachman explores, have their beginning in Alexandria around the time of Christ. It was then that we find the first written accounts of the ancient tradition, which had earlier been passed on orally. Here, in this remarkable city, filled with teachers, philosophers, and mystics from Egypt, Greece, Asia, and other parts of the world, in a multi-cultural, multi-faith, and pluralistic society, a synthesis took place, a creative blending of different ideas and visions, which gave the hidden tradition the eclectic character it retains today. The history of our esoteric tradition roughly forms three parts:  Part One: After looking back at the earliest roots of the esoteric tradition in ancient Egypt and Greece, the historical narrative opens in Alexandria in the first centuries of the Christian era. Over the following centuries, it traces our “other” tradition through such agents as the Hermeticists; Kabbalists; Gnostics; Neoplatonists; and early Church fathers, among many others.  We examine the reemergence of the lost Hermetic books in the Renaissance and their influence on the emerging modern mind.Part Two begins with the fall of Hermeticism in the late Renaissance and the beginning of “the esoteric counterculture.” In 1614, the same year that the Hermetic teachings fell from grace, a strange document appeared in Kassel, Germany announcing the existence of a mysterious fraternity: the Rosicrucians. Part two charts the impact of the Rosicrucians and the esoteric currents that followed, such as the Romance movement and the European occult revival of the late nineteenth century, including Madame Blavatsky and the opening of the western mind to the wisdom of the East, and the fin-de-siècle occultism of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.Part Three chronicles the rise of “modern esotericism,” as seen in the influence of Rudolf Steiner, Gurdjieff, Annie Besant, Krishnamurti, Aleister Crowley, R. A Schwaller de Lubicz, and many others. Central is the life and work of C.G. Jung, perhaps the most important figure in the development of modern spirituality. The book looks at the occult revival of the “mystic sixties” and our own New Age, and how this itself has given birth to a more critical, rigorous investigation of the ancient wisdom. With many detours and dead ends, we now seem to be slowly moving into a watershed. It has become clear that the dominant, left-brain, reductionist view, once so liberating and exciting, has run out of steam, and the promise of that much-sought-after “paradigm change” seems possible. We may be on the brink of a culminating moment of the esoteric intellectual tradition of the West.

The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, YaHoWha 13, and The Source Family


Isis Aquarian - 2007
    By night, in their mansion in the Hollywood Hills, they explored the cosmos with their spiritual leader, Father Yod. Yod was an outlandish figure who had 14 wives, drove a Rolls-Royce, and fronted his own psychedelic rock band, Ya Ho Wa 13, now considered one of the most singular psychedelic bands of all time. He surprised many by suddenly morphing from health food restaurateur into mystical leader of what many considered a cult: a group of young people who lived strictly devoted to his esoteric teachings, unusual sexual practices, and philosophies of natural living and dying. Still, as controversial as he was to outsiders, Father Yod was, by inside accounts, a deeply loving and spiritually powerful magus who taught his Family to recognize their divinity within and their innate connectedness to all of creation. The Source Family’s astonishing and moving true story—kept secret for over 30 years after Father’s hang-gliding accident and death in 1975—is revealed here for the first time by the Family members themselves, offering readers an insider’s perspective into this vital utopian social experiment.Illustrated with over 200 color and black and white period photographs, this book contains a bonus CD of never-before-heard Source Family music, interviews and changes, including an extremely rare recording of Ya Ho Wa 13 performing live at Beverly Hills High School in 1973.

The Most Holy Trinosophia of the Comte de St. Germain


Comte de Saint-Germain - 1980
    Germain is one of the most baffling personalities of modern history. His activities are traceable for more than one hundred: years between 1710 and 1822, leading Frederick the Great to refer to him as "the man who does not die." An outstanding scholar and linguist, a great musician and painter, as well as a chemist with skill so profound he could change base metals into gold, he was also enormously wealthy and was on intimate terms with the crowned heads of Europe. Nothing is known about the source of St. Germain's occult knowledge; he merely admitted he was obeying the orders of a power higher than himself, saying that his father was the Secret Doctrine and his mother the Mysteries.

Cabinets of Wonder


Christine Davenne - 2012
    A centuries-old tradition developed in Europe during the Renaissance, cabinets of wonder (also known as curiosity cabinets) are once again in fashion. Shops, restaurants, and private residences echo these cabinets in their interior design, by making use of the eclectic vintage objects commonly featured in such collections. "Cabinets of Wonder "showcases exceptional collections in homes and museums, with more than 180 photographs, while also explaining the history behind the tradition, the best-known collections, and the types of objects typically displayed. Offering both a historical overview and a look into contemporary interior design, this extravagantly illustrated book celebrates the wonderfully odd world of cabinets of wonder.

A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World


Susanne Paola Antonetta - 2005
    As with her previous book, which Michael Pollan praised in the New York Times Book Review as "a challenge to our prevailing notions of science and journalism and even literary narrative," A Mind Apart employs a unique fusion of literary genres to draw readers into the experience of people with neurological conditions and to consider what their alternate ways of perceiving may, in fact, have to teach us. According to the United States Department of Health the number of people being diagnosed with autism has been increasing by approximately twenty percent a year over the last decade. AD/HD, Tourette's, and chronic depression have been spreading at commensurate rates. Sifting through the many abilities that underlie these and other mental "disabilities"- the "visual consciousness" of an autistic or the "metaphoric consciousness" of a manic-depressive-Antonetta reveals just how much "normally" functioning people can learn from those with neurological disorders. This fascinating blend of memoir, journalism, and science will be of deep interest to readers of Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures or Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon.

The Ultimate Price Action Trading Guide


Atanas Matov - 2019
     Understand the dynamics of price action trading and give yourself a significant trading advantage. Benefit from years of trading experience. Give yourself an advantage by learning from someone who has experience on a prop desk. Atanas will teach you what you need to know about different types of price action and and how to trade it. Not sure where to start? Are you unsure about what it means to trade price action? Or maybe you don't understand how technical indicators work. This book will give your trading clarity. Understand different types of candlesticks and price action patterns so you can reduce your risk and be consistently profitable.. Easy to understand explanations of complex topics, this book will demystify price action trading once and for all. From Steve Burns of NewTraderU.com: "Atanas writes about the topics that most traders are interested in, price action and the tools to trade it systematically. His insight on technical indicators, how to identify and trade a trend, and how to visually see chart patterns have been read by tens of thousands of readers. The work and effort Atanas puts into writing and custom illustration is a testament to his passion for trading." About the Author: Atanas Matov a.k.a. Colibri Trader (@priceinaction on Twitter) started his trading career as a retail trader in the early 2000’s. After a few years of trading and investing his own funds, he won the KBC stock market challenge and shortly afterwards started working for a leading prop trading house in London. Currently he is trading his own account and trying to help other traders through his trading blog and social media. Major part of Atanas’s philosophy is in giving back and helping others achieve their trading goals. In his own words: “Judge your trading success by the things you have given up in order to get where you are now!" Follow Atanas on Twitter @priceinaction www.colibritrader.com

The Complete Butcher's Tales


Rikki Ducornet - 1980
    P. Lovecraft, here are nearly sixty unforgettable stories that ignore the confines of space and time to offer, among other times and places: a cabinet of curiosities in contemporary Cairo, an alchemical ceiling in 18th-century Naples, the hallucinatory inner worlds of psychotics, anthropomorphic planets, and an Old West ruled by necromancy.This expanded, revised edition collects the complete short stories of one of the most immaginative writers of our time.

The Gas


Charles Platt - 1970
    Not for the faint-hearted. Adults only.

Messages from Michael


Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - 1979
    Recounts the first contact made by a group of friends with a mass of spirits known as Michael, sharing the voices' messages on life and beyond.

Hammer Glamour


Marcus Hearn - 2009
    Bursting at the seams with rare and previously unpublished photographs from Hammer’s archive and private collections worldwide, and featuring many new interviews, Hammer Glamour is a lavish, full colour celebration of Hammer’s female stars, including Ingrid Pitt, Martine Beswick, Caroline Munro, Barbara Shelley, Joanna Lumley, Nastassja Kinski, and of course Raquel Welch (who can forget her fur bikini in One Million Years B. C.?)

Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul


Titus Burckhardt - 1960
    This wonderfully insightful volume introduces some of the metaphors useful for establishing attitudes required for the soul's advancement: trust, confidence, hope, and detachment. It is a reminder that when any substance or entity undergoes dissolution, it must eventually be resolved or re-crystalized in a new, possibly higher and more noble form.

Advanced Procedure & Axioms


L. Ron Hubbard - 1951
    Ron Hubbard shows you how to move from effect to cause in life. Learn basic discoveries about life, including the incredible Axioms-the 194 codified natural laws that allow you to harness the powerful forces of life rather than be the effect of them.

Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment


Janet Heimlich - 2011
    After speaking with dozens of victims, perpetrators, and experts, and reviewing a myriad of court cases and studies, the author explains how religious child maltreatment happens. She then takes an in-depth look at the many forms of child maltreatment found in religious contexts, including biblically-prescribed corporal punishment and beliefs about the necessity of "breaking the wills" of children; scaring kids into faith and other types of emotional maltreatment such as spurning, isolating, and withholding love; pedophilic abuse by religious authorities and the failure of religious organizations to support the victims and punish the perpetrators; and religiously-motivated medical neglect in cases of serious health problems. In a concluding chapter, Heimlich raises questions about children’s rights and proposes changes in societal attitudes and improved legislation to protect children from harm. While fully acknowledging that religion can be a source of great comfort, strength, and inspiration to many young people, Heimlich makes a compelling case that, regardless of one’s religious or secular orientation, maltreatment of children under the cloak of religion can never be justified and should not be tolerated.

Irresistible North: From Venice to Greenland on the Trail of the Zen Brothers


Andrea di Robilant - 2011
    This delightful journey begins with Andrea di Robilant’s serendipitous discovery of a travel narrative published in Venice in 1558 by the Renaissance statesman Nicolò Zen: the text and its fascinating nautical map re-created the travels of two of the author’s ancestors, brothers who explored the North Atlantic in the 1380s and 1390s. Di Robilant set out to discover why later, in the nineteenth century, the Zens’ account came under attack as one of the greatest frauds in geographical history. Was their map—and even their journey—partially or perhaps entirely faked? In Irresistible North the author follows the Zens’ route from the Faeroes to Shetland to Iceland and Greenland, greeted by characters who help unravel the enigmas in the Zens’ account. The medieval world comes to life as di Robilant guides us through a landscape enlivened by the ghosts of power-hungry earls and bishops of the old Norwegian realm and magical tales of hot springs and smoking mountains. In this rich telling—an original work of history and a travel book in one—the magnetism of the north draws us in as powerfully as it drew the Zen brothers more than six centuries ago.