How long it has occupied the fibrous soil of that place is uncertain, but Dr Jim Alburton estimates it is close to ten million years. Then again, this is not his sphere of expertise. He would normally consult Jane Milner, the county’s only resident fungus expert. But Jane is dead, along with her partner — victim of a rare, acute brain disease. Alburton found her on the floor of a laboratory, sticky orange fluid oozing from her ears. This was disturbing enough, however her partner’s face was mutilated beyond recognition, an apparent result of his girlfriend’s killing frenzy. Alburton comes to know of the fungus because of Jane’s notebook, which describes its discovery but gives little scientific detail or where it is located. He can’t help thinking the discovery is bound up with her sudden death and that of her partner. The police are moving too slow for Alburton’s liking and don’t accept there’s a connection between this incident and an increasing number of horrific deaths rapidly blooming in the area. A woman walking her dogs along a popular pathway is savagely attacked, a local student inexplicably kills the school nurse, a care-worker suffers a psychotic episode and attacks an elderly man in his home. The news bulletins deliver more reports by the hour. As the number of incidents mounts, Alburton becomes convinced the county is quickly becoming the epicentre of a fungal disease epidemic that could spread nationwide. He concludes the fungus must be acting on its host’s nervous system, causing them to become depraved killing machines. Yet few believe him as he has little evidence for his theory. Now he faces the responsibility of tracking down the source of the disease, persuading the authorities and somehow preventing a cascade of bloody murders. With the newly christened phenomenon known as Mycophoria accelerating in its impact, there are only days or perhaps hours to accomplish this before the disease goes pandemic.

    It describes the tools and techniques for developing the magical mind and honoring the soul, while revealing how Vodou can release creative spirituality and open doors to self-awareness. Comprehensive and inviting, this book introduces readers to Vodou's rich history, powerful ancestors, and vibrant spirits, known as Lwa. With more than one hundred breathtaking illustrations, Vodou Visions reveals how to honor and invoke the Lwa with specific ceremonial offerings and litanies. Using methods drawn from more than twenty years of practice, Vodou priestess Sallie Ann Glassman shares purification and empowerment rituals for individuals, communities, homes, and spiritual spaces. For more advanced practitioners, Glassman describes ways to deepen communication with the Lwa and to give thanks for an ongoing spiritual relationship. The visions of the Lwa bring a living experience of the Spirit into daily life. Glassman welcomes readers to a community of faith and--above all--to a journey toward a creative spirituality that will enrich and affirm their lives.

    Included inside the back cover is a beautifully illustrated 18 × 24–inch wall chart of the Major Arcana tarot cards to inspire and guide you each day. Tarot cards and readings have been used since the eighteenth century as a divination tool in seeking answers to past, present, and future events, in addition to guidance and support. Their popularity continues to this day. But how do you start? With In Focus Tarot, author and professional reader Steven Bright breaks down the essentials so you can start reading tarot cards right away. Bright first thoroughly explains each of the Major and Minor Arcanas, outlining for each card:The general meaning of the cardThe card interpreted as a situationThe card interpreted as a personQuestions to help you relate a card's message on a personal levelKeywords that give quick and handy meanings for the cardMeanings of the card if reversedThen learn how to put your knowledge to work using both traditional and newer tarot card placements (called tarot spreads). You'll also find professional tips and tricks to becoming a successful tarot reader. The In Focus series applies a modern approach to teaching the classic body, mind, and spirit subjects. Authored by experts in their respective fields, these beginner's guides feature smartly designed visual material that clearly illustrates key topics within each subject. As a bonus, each book holds reference cards or a poster, held in an envelope inside the back cover, to give you a quick, go-to guide containing the most important information on the subject.

    In Tarot for Troubled Times, Shaheen Miro and Theresa Reed show us how working with the shadow—facing it directly, leaning into it rather than away—releases power that can free ourselves from negative mental habits and destructive emotions to find healing ourselves and others. Tarot, as the authors show, offers a rich and subtle path for this profound transformation.Through this book, you will discover a different approach to tarot, life, and self-empowerment.Befriend our shadow by working with the archetypes of the Major ArcanaDiscover—through affirmations, tarot prescriptions, and other healing modalities—how to empower ourselves and find our true voicesTake our newly found powers and speak out so that we can become a helpful ally for the light and begin to do your greater work in the worldTarot for Troubled Times is not just another book on how to read the tarot—the authors provide specialty readings and suggested practices for issues such as grief, addiction, depression, fear, anger, divorce, illness, abuse, and oppression, and provide practical suggestions for stepping up as an ally or leader so that you can shape social policies. With a selection of mindful, introspective tarot spreads, you’ll learn how the Tarot can help you rewrite your healing story and change your life, and help transform the world.

    The cards have the power to offer hope, reassurance, and support to readers as they meander through the ups and downs of life. In fact, the Tarot have even been known to trigger previously unknown solutions to major dilemmas – whether you consider the message to have come from your own intuition, or more mystical sources. Contrary to the popular myth, you don’t need psychic powers to read Tarot. All you need is a willingness to learn, time to practice, and the ability to hone and trust your natural intuition. Reading the Tarot is a combination of skills born from following instructions, listening to intuition, and making educated leaps of thought. As complicated as it may seem at first, it’s actually a relatively simple process. Seasoned Tarot readers would say that it’s a natural habit – something that comes like second nature to them. You too can reach that level of experience and comfort with the Tarot, through practice and patience. Tarot for Beginners Tarot for Beginners was created to teach regular people how to work with the mystical Tarot cards and change their life for the better – not to mention starting a fascinating new hobby, and having fun while doing it! This guide will provide you with everything a beginner needs to know about Tarot, including the most popular card meanings to get you started. Whether you’re using a “traditional” deck like Waite-Smith or the Tarot of Marseille, or a more specialist deck, the definitions included in this guide are relevant, and a solid starting point for a skill that you can carry with you for a lifetime. Remember, though: nothing is set in stone with Tarot. Reading Tarot involves listening to your intuition; as you become a skilled reader, the card meanings might evolve into something more personal to you. That is the beauty of Tarot, as different readers interpret things in their own unique style. If you're just starting out, though, this book is the perfect first step on your journey! We will also dive deeper into the Tarot: you will learn about the history of Tarot, the Major and Minor Arcana, and the positions and meanings of the cards in some of the world’s most popular Tarot spreads. In other words, Tarot for Beginners will teach you everything you need to start reading Tarot, today!

    This is the foundation for the veneration of Santa Muerte, or "Holy Death." Considered to be the female personification of death, she is associated with protection and safe passage to the afterlife. She is also the patron saint of people who live on the fringes of society and often face violence and death. In recent years her constituency has expanded to include the LGBT community and people who are marginalized or whose jobs put them at significant risk of death such as military and police personnel. Santa Muerte is hailed as their potent and powerful protector, capable of delivering them from harm and even granting miracles.Santa Muerte is a complete ritual guide to working with this famous--and infamous!--Mexican folk saint. It takes us beyond the sensational headlines to reveal the truth about why Santa Muerte is so beloved by so many. Author Tracey Rollin presents simple, straightforward methods for working with Holy Death that may be used alone or easily incorporated into your own magical practice.

    The Ultimate Guide to the Rider Waite Tarot details the ten most important symbols on each and every card in the deck complete with hundreds of illustrations for easy use. In addition to an explanation of the symbols, each card is given a brief interpretation by topic:- Primary meaning- Prognosis or tendency- Spiritual meaning - Love and relationship meaning- Daily meaning - Success and happiness meaningWriting in a convenient format designed for quick reference, European tarot authorities Johannes Fiebig and Evelin Burger also provide tips, hints, facts, and lore to improve your reading right away. Within these pages, you will find the top ten most important:- Ways of using a single card- Tips and rules for interpretation- Facts about the tarot- Interpretations for each suit- Spread layout techniques

    

    Also included are simple techniques for doing energy readings, plus instructions on keeping a synchronicity journal and using tarot as a tool to communicate with spirit guides or loved ones on the other side.

    Talba, aka poetess Baroness de Pontalba, has the beauty, the brains, the computer savvy, the poetic soul, the youth, the right demographic, and the sass. Eddie Valentino’s got the detective agency. Also a short fuse and yes, wisdom. Not only do they make it work, they’ve got chemistry. “The quirky pleasure of watching the Baroness strut her stuff is worth the price of admission.” —Houston Chronicle Vol. 1: LOUISIANA HOTSHOT In Louisiana Hotshot, their job is to hunt down a sociopath and pedophile who’s molested the fourteen-year-old daughter of their client, hangs out on the ragged edges of the rap and recording industries, and has more powerful allies than a Cabinet member. But both detectives have unfinished business from the past—in Eddie’s case, something he deeply regrets; in Talba’s, a personal mystery, one so frightening no one will help her investigate. But she knows she won’t sleep till she solves it—and the truth will change her forever. Vol. 2: LOUISIANA BIGSHOT The hottest detective duo in New Orleans is going to need every skill and ounce of courage they can summon in this intricate tale of a decades-old conspiracy only now coming home to roost, with the murder of Talba’s friend Babalu Maya. Babalu is actually Clayton Robineau, daughter of the local banker in a small Louisiana town that bears her name, a town buried under the weight of its own malevolent past. As Talba and Eddie investigate, they find that something terrible happened to Clayton as a child, an injury—both pscyhic and physical--so bizarre, so shameful and damning that almost anyone in town would kill to cover it up. Vol. 3: LOUISIANA LAMENT One stormy day Talba gets an emergency call from Janessa, the sister she barely knows, and arrives to find a body floating in a swimming pool—the mortal husk of Allyson Brown, known in New Orleans literary circles as the Girl Gatsby. Like Gatsby, Allyson was one of those mysterious rich people who move to town, give amazing parties, and seem made of moonbeams. Investigating, Talba finds the reality behind the Gatsby glamour. Allyson was a con artist who neglected her children, ignored her bills, and lied like a Ponzi schemer. But she wasn’t the only bad actor on the local literary scene. Fellow poet Rashad leads Talba a merry chase, leaving a trail of clues in the form of poetry, while novelists engage in fisticuffs, unseemly preening, and unforgivable arrogance. The Baroness discovers just how seamy, petty, and downright murderous her fellow literati can be. Vol. 4: P.I. ON A HOT TIN ROOF YOUR LAWYER NEEDS YOU TO BAIL HER OUT? ISN'T THAT KIND OF BACKWARDS? So thinks PI Talba Wallis, on her way to Parish Prison—and indeed something’s badly amiss. New Orleans’ most dynamic detective duo have a personal interest in this one—Eddie’s lawyer daughter Angie’s been set up for a drug bust. Talba embeds herself in the house of prominent Judge Buddy Champagne as a spy, and uncovers plenty of evidence the judge is dirty—but she doesn't count on how involved she was going to get—especially with Buddy’s 14-year-old daughter Lucy.

    D. Ouspensky (1878-1947) was one of the most important and influential figures in the occult movement of the twentieth century.His book on the Tarot has remained practically unknown since its initial publication in Russia in 1913. Yet, it is an important work presenting a general introduction and Ouspensky’s insights on the 22 cards of the Greater Arcana. The cards are presented in pairs, each completing the sense of another. 22 cards from the Waite set, described by Ouspensky, have been produced in full color on the covers.Unabridged, corrected republication of the original (1913) edition.

    Drawing on Jungian psychology and his own considerable knowledge of esoterica, Banzhaf clearly shows how the major arcana of the Waite tarotdeck tell the story of the hero's journey. It is the world's oldest story, residing in our collective unconscious, as women and men alike find themselves engaged in the heroic task of maturation. 126 color illustrations. Notes. Bibliography

    Tucked under his arm, he carries the manuscript of a strange ghost story, written by the mysterious Walter Ward of Old Coal House.Arriving at his sister's home, Arthur immediately realizes that something is wrong. Elizabeth seems distant and distracted, and she finally erupts in a fit of fury. After being thrown out of the house, Arthur searches through the snowy night for refuge. All the usual boarding houses are closed for the holiday. His only choice is to make his way up the hill and knock on the of Old Coal House, and to ask for a room.Soon, Arthur discovers that Walter Ward's tales are not necessarily works of fiction after all. A strange figure stalks the halls and corridors of Old Coal House, tormenting Mr Ward and driving him to drink. When he sets foot in the house for the first time, Arthur does not believe in ghosts at all. By the time he leaves the following morning, he has discovered the truth not only about Old Coal House itself but also about a terrible tragedy that once struck his own family.

    He is a true man of the Town--a drinker, card player, and contented bachelor--until one evening when Mrs. Sofia Sparrow, a fortune-teller and proprietor of an exclusive gaming parlor, shares with him a vision she has had: a golden path that will lead him to love and connection. She lays an Octavo for him, a spread of eight cards that augur the eight individuals who can help him realize this vision--if he can find them.

    Developed by Native American medicine teacher Jamie Sams, this unique system distills the essential wisdom of the sacred teachings of many tribal traditions and shows users the way to transform their lives.The 44 beautifully illustrated cards, each endowed with a particular meaning and message, may be drawn individually for a daily lesson or laid out in a series of spreads that open up different paths to inner knowledge. Used with the accompanying text, which explains the various forms and methods of interpretation and divination, the cards are a powerful tool for enhanced self-awareness and positive change.