Inner Traditions

Long before the advent of firearms, Iron Shirt Chi Kung, a form of Kung Fu, built powerful bodies able to withstand hand-to-hand combat. Even then, however, martial use was only one aspect of Iron Shirt Chi Kung, and today its other aspects remain vitally significant for anyone seeking better health, a sound mind, and spiritual growth. In Iron Shirt Chi KungMaster Mantak Chia introduces this ancie

The techniques of Chi Nei Tsang evolved in Asia during an era when few physicians were available and people had to know how to heal themselves. Many people today have symptoms that modern medicine is not able to cure because a physical source for the problem is not easily found. The energies of negative emotions, stress, and tension--all common in modern life--and the weight of past illness accumu

The Western concept of massage primarily concerns muscle manipulation. In the practice of Chi Massage, internal energy, or Chi, is manipulated to strengthen and rejuvenate the sense organs--eyes, ears, nose, tongue, teeth, and skin--and the internal organs. The Taoist techniques in this practice are more than 5,000 years old and, until very recently, were closely guarded secrets passed down from m

Most Westerners believe that a daily physical exercise program helps slow the aging process. Yet those whose bodies appear most physically fit on the outside often enjoy only the same life span as the average nonathletic person. It is the internal organs and glands that nourish every function of the body, and it is the bone marrow that nourishes and rejuvenates the organs and glands through the pr

After his overwhelming and life-altering encounters with Shams of Tabriz, Rumi, the great thirteenth-century mystic, poet, and originator of the whirling dervishes, let go of many of the precepts of formal religion, insisting that only a complete personal dissolving into the larger energies of God could provide the satisfaction that the heart so desperately seeks. He began to speak spontaneously i

Bee shamanism may well be the most ancient and enigmatic branch of shamanism. It exists throughout the world--wherever in fact the honeybee exists. Its medicinal tools--such as honey, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly--are now in common usage, and even the origins of Chinese acupuncture can be traced back to the ancient practice of applying bee stings to the body’s meridians. In this authoritative

In The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Kenaz Filan, an initiate of the Société la Belle Venus, presents a working guide to the proper methods of interacting with the full Vodou pantheon, explaining how to build respectful relationships with the lwa, the spirits honored in Haitian Vodou, and how to transform the fear that often surrounds the Vodou religion. Until recently, the Haitian practice of Vodou was

In The Science of the Dogon, Laird Scranton demonstrated that the cosmological structure described in the myths and drawings of the Dogon runs parallel to modern science - atomic theory, quantum theory and string theory - their drawings often taking the same form as accurate scientific diagrams that relate to the formation of matter. Scranton, also, pointed to the close resemblance between the key

An exploration of the origins and influences of number from prehistory to modern time • Reveals the deeper meaning of the symbols and esoteric knowledge of secret societies • Explains the numerical sophistication of ancient monuments • Shows how the Templar design for Washington, D.C., represents the New Jerusalem The ubiquitous use of certain sacred numbers and ratios can b

CRUSADE AGAINST THE GRAIL is the book that popularised the legend of the Cathars and the Holy Grail. The first edition appeared in Germany in 1933 and drew upon Rahn's account of his thrilling explorations of the Pyrenean caves where the heretical Cathar sect took refuge during the 13th century. Over the years the book has been translated into many languages and exerted a large influence on, for e

Taoists consider our sexual energy to be the creative force that we can use to regenerate the body's internal energy, but we must learn how to harness excess sexual energy and transform it into chi or life-force energy. When we circulate the sexual energy in the Microcosmic Orbit - a continuous energy loop that runs up the spine and down the front of the body - we transform it into self-healing en

A practical guide to preventing and treating the toxic assault on our bodies · Shows how the practices of periodic detox and “rational retox” can counteract the toxic nature of our modern lifestyles, diets, and environment · Provides ancient Chinese methods and remedies that help the body repair itself · Includes detoxification techniques, formulas, and exercises that work within 10 days Despite t

Thousands of years ago Taoist masters discovered that a healthy organ vibrates at a particular frequency. They found six sounds with the correct frequencies to keep each organ in optimal condition. To accompany these Six Healing Sounds, six postures were developed to activate the acupuncture meridians, or energy channels, of the corresponding organs.In THE SIX HEALING SOUNDS Master Mantak Chia exp

The Inner Smile is a practice that focuses gratitude and joy on the internal organs to resolve the physical and mental tensions that can lead to illness. In Taoism negative motions - anger, sadness, depression, fear and worry - are seen as low-grade energy that causes chronic disease and steals our major life force by creating energy blockages. Master Mantak Chia shows that the internal awareness

Freemasonry, as a fraternal order of scientists and philosophers, emerged in the 17th century and represented something new--an amalgam of alchemy and science that allowed the creative genius of Isaac Newton and his contemporaries to flourish. In Isaac Newton’s Freemasonry, Alain Bauer presents the swirl of historical, sociological, and religious influences that sparked the spiritual ferment and t

Mystics and sages have long maintained that there exists an interconnecting cosmic field at the roots of reality that conserves and conveys information, a field known as the Akashic record. Recent discoveries in vacuum physics show that this Akashic Field is real and has its equivalent in science's zero-point field that underlies space itself. This field consists of a subtle sea of fluctuating ene

Healthy tendons are the foundation of true strength in the body. Strong and supple tendons and open joints allow more space to store raw energy, which can then be transformed into higher creative and spiritual energy. The eight postures of Tendon Nei Kung are specifically designed to open the joints and fortify and grow all the tendons in the body, strengthening them as a unit. Like the practice o

Taught to Chinese emperors, their wives and their concubines for thousands of years, Taoist sexual techniques help lovers harmonise their cycles of pleasure and utilise the abundance of reproductive power that is otherwise wasted in non-procreative sex. Combining the study of sex with traditional Chinese medicine, these practices stimulate and sustain sexual desire through the meridians and pressu

Thousands of years before the first written records, humans were turning to the night sky as a source of meaning for existence and their place within it. The conclusions drawn from these observations are embodied in stories from across the world known as Creation Myths. Contrary to the popular belief that these myths were meant to explain the origins of the universe, Pete Stewart shows that they w

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) has been long noted for her political and cultural achievements that profoundly shaped twelfth-century Europe. Culturally, beyond her role as wife of kings Louis VII of France and Henry II of England and mother of kings Richard and John, she inspired the huge diffusion of the Arthurian cycle and the Celtic myths underpinning it. Without Eleanor, figures such as Mer