Ong offers fascinating insights into oral genres across the globe and through time, and examines the rise of abstract philosophical and scientific thinking. He considers the impact of orality-literacy studies not only on literary criticism and theory but on our very understanding of what it is to be a human being, conscious of self and other.This is a book no reader, writer or speaker should be without.

    Written by one of the world's few practicing alchemists, it's a concise reference guide that provides easy-to-follow information so that anybody can be a wizard-in-training.

    Nowhere is his glorious poetic and pictorial legacy more evident than in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which many consider his most inspired and original work.The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is both a humorous satire on religion and morality and a work that concisely expresses Blake's essential wisdom and philosophy, much of it revealed in the 70 aphorisms of his "Proverbs of Hell." This beautiful edition, reproduced from a rare facsimile, invites readers to enjoy the rich character of Blake's own hand-printed text along with his deeply stirring illustrations, reproduced on 27 full-color plates. A typeset transcription of the text is included.

    . . as when iron is drawn to a magnet, camphor is sucked into hot air, crystal lights up in the Sun, sulfur and a volatile liquid are kindled by flame, an empty eggshell filled with dew is raised towards the Sun . . .' The Bible is full of stories featuring forms of magic and possession - from Moses battling with Pharaoh's wizards to the supernatural actions of Jesus and his disciples. As, over the following centuries, the Christian church attempted to stamp out 'deviant' practices, a persistent interest in magic drew strength from this Biblical validation. A strange blend of mumbo-jumbo, fear, fraud and deeply serious study, magic was at the heart of the European Renaissance, fascinating many of its greatest figures.This is a book filled with incantations, charms, curses, summonings, cures and descriptions of extraordinary, shadowy, only half-understood happenings from long ago. It features writers as various as Thomas Aquinas, John Milton, John Dee, Ptolemy and Paracelsus along with anonymous ancient and medieval works which were, in some cases, viewed as simply too dangerous even to open.Brian Copenhaver's wonderful anthology will be welcomed by everyone from those with the most casual interest in the magical tradition to anyone drawn to the Renaissance and the tangled, arcane roots of the scientific tradition.

    The best known of numerous books by the British sage whom C.S. Lewis called the "wisest and best of my unofficial teachers," it draws on sources from mythology, philosophy, history, literature, theology, and science to chronicle the evolution of human thought from Moses and Aristotle to Galileo and Keats. Barfield urges his readers to do away with the assumption that the relationship between people and their environment is static. He dares us to end our exploitation of the natural world and to acknowledge, even revel in, our participation in the diurnal creative process.

    "An intellectually dazzling view of our past and future."--Time magazineContents1. How humans have repeatedly lost hope, and how new encounters, and a new pair of spectacles, revive them2. How men and women have slowly learned to have interesting conversations3. How people searching for their roots are only beginning to look far and deep enough4. How some people have acquired an immunity to loneliness5. How new forms of love have been invented6. Why there has been more progress in cooking than in sex7. How the desire that men feel for women, and for other men, has altered through the centuries8. How respect has become more desirable than power9. How those who want neither to give orders nor to receive them can become intermediaries10. How people have freed themselves from fear by finding new fears11. How curiosity has become the key to freedom12. Why it has become increasingly difficult to destroy one’s enemies13. How the art of escaping from one’s troubles has developed, but not the art of knowing where to escape to14. Why compassion has flowered even in stony ground15. Why toleration has never been enough16. Why even the privileged are often somewhat gloomy about life, even when they can have anything the consumer society offers, and even after sexual liberation17. How travellers are becoming the largest nation in the world, and how they have learned not to see only what they are looking for18. Why friendship between men and women has been so fragile19. How even astrologers resist their destiny20. Why people have not been able to find the time to lead several lives21. Why fathers and their children are changing their minds about what they want from each other22. Why the crisis in the family is only one stage in the evolution of generosity23. How people choose a way of life, and how it does not wholly satisfy them24. How humans become hospitable to each other25. What becomes possible when soul-mates meet

    For two and half thousand years the Celts have continued to fascinate all who have come into contact with them. THE ANCIENT CELTS presents an absorbing account of the tribes whose origins and identity still provoke heated debate. Exploring the archaeological reality of the Iron Age inhabitants of barbarian Europe, Professor Cunliffe traces the emergence of chiefdoms,patterns of expansion and migration, and the development of Celtic ethnicity and identity.

    Described by many as ‘the Bible of Tarot readers’, the books brought awareness of myth and modern psychology to the Tarot’s ancient esoteric symbolism. Now, for the first time, the texts for 'The Major Arcana' and 'The Minor Arcana' appear in one volume. To mark this special occasion, Rachel Pollack has revised and updated the book in the light of her thirty years’ teaching, reading, and writing about Tarot cards. She has also written a new preface describing her own journey through the Tarot’s world of symbols.The Tarot is an eternally fascinating set of strange and beautiful pictures. But beyond this lies a world of potent symbols granting access to a path of self knowledge, personal growth and freedom. These symbols connect us to the great stories of world mythology and the eternal truths of the soul. 'Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom'shows you how to use Tarot as an effective and accessible means of self-enlightenment. The book includes a complete section on how to give Tarot readings, as well as an analysis of the origins, meaning and psychological aspects of Tarot divination.

    Drawing on shamanic practices from the world over, SHAMANISM AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE FOR DAILY LIFE addresses the needs of contemporary people who yearn to deepen their own innate mystical sensibilities. This inspirational book shows how to develop a personal spiritual practice by blending elements of shamanism with inherited traditions and current religious commitments. Contents include: The central role of power animals and spirit teachers.Visionary techniques for exploring the extraordinary in everyday life.Elements of childhood spirituality including songs, secret hiding places, power spots, and imaginary power figures.A journey to an ancestral shaman to recover lost knowledge.

    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.

    Practical exercises in inner and outer observation and moral development are described.By patiently and persistently following these suggestions, new "organs" of soul and spirit begin to form, revealing the contours of higher worlds that had been concealed from us. Here, Rudolf Steiner is available as teacher, counselor, and friend. His advice is practical, clear, and powerful.

    They caused a sensation in the religious world as they revealed the mysteries of Gnostic Christianity. The gospels selected for this volume reveal intimate conversations between Jesus and his disciples and shed new light on his relationship with Mary Magdalene. The Gospel of Thomas, also included, consists of symbolic mini-parables, many of which are not in the New Testament.

    Just as Russ Kick's Guides focusing on secrets and lies from the mainstream media, government, and other establishment institutions rethought what a political science book could look like and whom it would appeal to, Book of Lies redefines occult anthologies, packaging and presenting a huge array of magical essays for a pop culture audience. Just some of the contents:An introduction by comics genius Grant Morrison, who also contributes a threepart article on Pop Magick.Mark Pesce, author of The Playful World, compares computer programming and spellcasting.Genesis POrridge, father of Industrial Music and Rave culture explains how samples in a rave song can have magical consequences.Paul Laffoley discusses his magical artistic strategies (Metzger compares Laffoley to Merlin the Magician).Magical Thinking--an extended excerpt from Daniel Pinchbeck's Breaking Open the Head.William Burroughs and the occult.Nevill Drury, Australia's most noted occult writer, tells of Dion Fortune, Austin Spare, and Rosaleen Norton.Why Does Aleister Crowley Still Matter?Donald Tyson's "The Enochian Apocalypse Working." Were the seeds of the end of the world sown in the Elizabethan era?.The first ever biographical essay on Marjorie Cameron, the fascinating character from Los Angeles' occult and beatnik scene.Hitler and the occult--Peter Levenda interview by Tracy Twyman.Robert Temple on how his book The Sirius Mystery's, controversial thesis (for which he was ridiculed) was proven by the Hubble telescope twentyfive years late.An exclusive Anton LaVey interview by Michael Moynihan, author of bestselling book Lords of Chaos.Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis, looks at H. P. Lovecraft's Magick Realism.

    He tells of the Nazi cult of the primeval German forest; the play of Christian and pagan myth in Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers; and the duel between a monumental sculptor and a feminist gadfly on the slopes of Mount Rushmore. The result is a triumphant work of history, naturalism, mythology, and art. "A work of great ambition and enormous intellectual scope...consistently provocative and revealing."--New York Times"Extraordinary...a summary cannot convey the riches of this book. It will absorb, instruct, and fascinate."--New York Review of Books

    The Tarot is first and foremost a powerful instrument of self-knowledge and a representation of the structure of the soul. The Way of Tarot shows that the entire deck is structured like a temple, or a mandala, which is both an image of the world and a representation of the divine. The authors use the sacred art of the original Marseille Tarot--created during a time of religious tolerance in the 11th century--to reconnect with the roots of the Tarot’s Western esoteric wisdom. They explain that the Tarot is a “nomadic cathedral” whose parts--the 78 cards or “arcana”--should always be viewed with an awareness of the whole structure. This understanding is essential to fully grasp the Tarot’s hermetic symbolism. The authors explore the secret associations behind the hierarchy of the cards and the correspondences between the suits and energies within human beings. Each description of the Major Arcana includes key word summaries, symbolic meanings, traditional interpretations, and a section where the card speaks for itself. Jodorowsky and Costa then take the art of reading the Tarot to a depth never before possible. Using their work with Tarology, a new psychological approach that uses the symbolism and optical language of the Tarot to create a mirror image of the personality, they offer a powerful tool for self-realization, creativity, and healing.