Although the theme of bloodied nuptial sheets seems pervasive in western culture, its association with female virginity is uniquely tied to a brief passage in the book of Deuteronomy detailing the procedure for verifying a young woman's purity; it seldom, if ever, appears outside of Abrahamic traditions.
This book explores Icelandic spirit work, known as andleg mal, which features trance and healing practices that span earth and spirit realms, historical eras, scientific and supernatural worldviews, and cross-Atlantic cultures.
The first English translation of Maria de Naglowska's sexually magical novella, Le rite sacr de l'amour magique *; Contains autobiographical material from Maria de Naglowska's life *; Continues, in symbolic story form, the sexual initiatory teachings expounded in Naglowska's The Light of Sex and Advanced Sex Magic *; Includes a summary of Naglowska's religious doctrine in her own words Available for the first time in English, The Sacred Rite of Magical Love is a mystical, sexually magical novella written by Maria de Naglowska--the Russian mystic and esoteric high priestess of 1930s Paris.
The enigmatic sixteenth-century Swiss physician and natural philosopher Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus, is known for the almost superhuman energy with which he produced his innumerable writings, for his remarkable achievements in the development of science, and for his reputation as a visionary (not to mention sorcerer) and alchemist.
The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha addresses the Old Testament Apocrypha, known to be important early Jewish texts that have become deutero-canonical for some Christian churches, non-canonical for other churches, and that are of lasting cultural significance.
The Oxford Handbook of Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible is a collection of essays that provide resources for the interpretation of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
Elisha's Profile in the Book of Kings uses the tools of literary criticism to read the Elisha narrative as an integral component of the Deuteronomistic History compiled in the aftermath of the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.
In this unprecedented masterwork, The Scholar's Haggadah: Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and Oriental Versions, Heinrich Guggenheimer presents the first Haggadah to treat the texts of all Jewish groups on an equal footing and to use their divergences and concurrences as a key to the history of the text and an understanding of its development.
Explains how to successfully navigate the process of initiation, instruction, testing, and self-transformation under the guidance of a spiritual teacher *; Explores how to approach a teacher for initiation and the importance of gauging your inner response and feeling of trust and resonance with the teacher *; Discusses the process of separating from a spiritual teacher and how to negotiate the emotional conflicts that can arise at this stage *; Shares the author's experiences with several remarkable teachers and details lessons learned through testing and confronting doubts and fears In the search for inner awakening and self-realization, a spiritual mentor can be key to advancement.
Durante más de 20 años, el estadounidense Alan Shoemaker ha sido aprendiz y colaborador de chamanes en Ecuador y Perú, donde se ha familiarizado con los métodos tradicionales de preparación de la ayahuasca, los rituales ceremoniales para su uso y la forma de hacer comunión con el espíritu sanador de esa planta sagrada y del cactus de San Pedro y otros aliados similares del mundo vegetal.
The Routledge Handbook of Muslim-Jewish Relations invites readers to deepen their understanding of the historical, social, cultural, and political themes that impact modern-day perceptions of interfaith dialogue.
Addressed to Jews and non-Jews alike, though aware that these two reader groups were likelyn to approach the book with very different presuppositions, Daiches sets out to define Judaism in relation to philosophy, to explain Kant's philosophy through the superiority of halakhah, defend a biblically based Jewish interpretation of history, and champion Judaism as a religion of freedom guaranteed by halakhah (Jewish law).
Explores ancient Jewish beliefs in life after death as well as contemporary spiritual experiences*; Reveals clear references to the afterlife, heaven, and spiritual encounters in ancient Hebrew texts, including the Torah, the Zohar, and the Dead Sea Scrolls*; Shares profound stories from the author's clinical therapy practice to show how afterlife beliefs can heal destructive emotional patterns and ancestral trauma*; Describes the psychological parameters of trauma resolution, enabling long-term healing and spiritual advancementExploring afterlife theories from the ancient world as well as contemporary afterlife encounters, Carla Wills-Brandon, Ph.
An overview of Mithraism, the ancient Roman mystery religion popular in the Roman Legions*; Provides a comprehensive history of Mithraism, including its influence on Christianity and Islam*; Includes rituals, meditations, and teaching tales for readers who wish to follow the Mithraic path*; Studies the evolution and divergence of the Eastern (Persian) and Western (Roman) forms of MithraismThe Mysteries of Mithras presents a revival of the magical practices and initiatory system of Mithraism, the ancient Roman mystery religion that was immensely popular in the Roman Legions from the late second century B.
Reveals how psychedelics can facilitate spiritual development and direct encounters with the sacred *; With contributions by Albert Hofmann, Huston Smith, Stanislav Grof, Charles Tart, Alexander ';Sasha' Shulgin, Brother David Steindl-Rast, and many others *; Includes personal accounts of Walter Pahnke's Good Friday Experiment as well as a 25-year follow-up with its participants *; Explores protocols for ceremonial use of psychedelics and the challenges of transforming entheogenic insights into enduring change Modern organized religion is based predominantly on secondary religious experience--we read about others' extraordinary spiritual encounters with God but have no direct experience ourselves.
The Hebrew Torah was translated into Greek in Alexandria by Jewish scholars in the third century BCE, and other 'biblical' books followed to form the so-called Septuagint.
Originally published in 1955, and containing some 500 passages, this Biblical anthology brings together, in their original wording, the highest expressions of the Biblical view of life.
Lauren Monroe argues that the use of cultic and ritual language in the account of the Judean King Josiah's reforms in 2 Kings 22-23 is key to understanding the history of the text's composition, and illuminates the essential, interrelated processes of textual growth and identity construction in ancient Israel.
The life and many afterlives of one of the most enduring mystical testaments ever writtenThe Life of Saint Teresa of Avila is among the most remarkable accounts ever written of the human encounter with the divine.
Winner of the AAR's 2016 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Textual StudiesHow Repentance Became Biblical tells the story of repentance as a concept.