Religion : Mysticism

The founder of the influential Gnosis magazine collects essays by some of today's finest spiritual writers to explore the West's magical and esoteric traditions. Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Gnosticism, The Knights Templar . . . Even before the success of The Da Vinci Code, many readers knew of these and other aspects of Western esoterica. But few understand their true meaning. In The Inner West, more than twenty essays by seventeen leading authors shine a light on some of the most mysterious and closely held aspects of the Western tradition. Its authors bring to life the symbolist and occult philosophies that populate the history and beliefs of the Western way. These same philosophies-which include variants of Christian and Jewish mysticism, and the teachings of figures like Rudolf Steiner and G. I. Gurdjieff-can present a deep and different spiritual path for today's seekers. Spiritual seekers have often looked to the East for inspiration and guidance. Yet increasing numbers of people are discovering that many helpful wisdom traditions have existed right here in the West. With the Kabbalah and Tarot cards more popular than ever, and alternative spirituality from Wicca to Sufism gaining a new audience, The Inner West is a timely book for this expanding audience. more...

Price: $14.95

This volume is a study of the 14th-century recluse, Julian of Norwich and shows that she was an adept and insightful teacher in the Middle Ages. more...

Price: $135.00

Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, authors of The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess , return with a powerful indictment of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic fundamentalism and a passionate reinterpretation of Gnostic spirituality. According to Freke and Gandy, religiously inspired acts of violence, such as the attacks on 9/11, are nothing new. more...

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The tale of a devout Buddhist girl who separates from her family and through suffering and death finally achieves divine status is a myth of religious celibacy, of filial piety, and of ritual salvation of the dead. It also presents a major symbol of the tension in women's lives between individual spiritual fulfilment and the imperatives of family duty. This is a new edition of the first full study of this important and influential Chinese legend. - ;In Chinese legend, the princess Miaoshan defied her father by refusing to marry, and pursued her austere religious vocation to the death, but returned to life to be his saviour and the saviour of all mankind. The story is inseparable from the female bodhisattva Guanyin, whose cult dominated religious life at all levels in traditional China and is still powerful in rural China today. Miaoshan herself became a lasting symbol of the tension in women's lives between individual spiritual. fulfilment and the imperatives of family duty. The previous edition of this book was the first full monograph on the subject. It deals with the story's background, early history, and more developed later versions, bringing much of this material to the attention of modern readers for the first time. It analyses the basic sources, many of them in Buddhist scripture, and the overall pattern of development. It finally offers a range of interpretations which discover here myths of religious celibacy, of filial piety, and of ritual salvation of. the dead. The legend of Miaoshan spans the uncertain boundaries between Chinese popular literature, theatre, and religion, and this book directly addresses students of those fields. But it holds a larger significance for those interested in the position of women in traditional society, and students of comparative literature and folklore will find here a version of the 'King Lear' story. This new edition takes account of epigraphical evidence, discovered and accessed since the time of fi more...

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The myths of Genesis are the foundation for hundreds of texts written at later diachronically distinct and datable periods. Seven texts-Genesis itself, Genesis Rabbah, Pirke deRabbi Eliezer and mediaeval compilations-are examined here, with five interrelated questions in focus: Can structuralist theory be applied usefully to societies conscious of history and change? What is the relationship between continuity and trasformation as a mythological tradition develops diachronically? What role does diachronic development within a myth play in relation to its underlying structure? What is the synchronic structure of Israelite (or rather, biblical) myth? Are there identifiable patterns of transformation and continuity between biblical myth and the three diachronically distinct levels of rabbinic myth? more...

Price: $150.00