Inner Traditions

In this exploration of the history of the runes from 1500 CE to the present day, Stephen Edred Flowers examines the five periods of runic revival: the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Romantic period, the early 20th century, and the late 20th century.

In 1975, in an isolated Himalayan forest, Daniel Odier met Lalita Devi, a Tantric yogini who took him on a mystical journey beyond the limits of sexual experience to transcend the ego, recognize the true self, and rediscover the Divine nature of absolute love.

Kriya yoga is an ancient meditation technique that focuses on breathing and the spine to unlock deep states of awareness, self-realization, and spiritual growth. Kriya can provide a fast path to awakening, yet its practice has been shrouded in secrecy, passed only from master to initiate for millennia.

Offering an illustrated exploration of the origins and history of amulets, lucky charms, talismans, and mascots, including photos of unique and original artifacts from his extensive collection, Nigel Pennick examines these objects from a magical perspective, from ancient Egypt to the present.

The fossil record confirms that humanity originated in Africa. Yet somehow we have overlooked that Africa is also at the root of all that makes us human--our spirituality, civilization, arts, sciences, philosophy, and our conscious and unconscious minds.

In its Native American meaning, wetiko is an evil cannibalistic spirit that can take over people's minds, leading to selfishness, insatiable greed, and consumption as an end in itself, destructively turning our intrinsic creative genius against our own humanity.

One of the most important texts in the Western magical tradition for nearly 500 years, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's 1533 work THREE BOOKS OF OCCULT PHILOSOPHY collates a multitude of sources from the Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance periods and organizes them into a coherent explanation of the magical world.

Anyone can become a mermaid. To do so, you must develop the vibration of water in your energy field and learn to perceive as mermaids do. In this how-to guide, Elyrria Swann shares her personal experiences, beginning at age 10, with astral mermaids, water spirits, and other magical creatures and offers wisdom and practical lessons from the watery kingdom to reveal the path to becoming a mermaid.

Right behind your eyes, you are there. You can feel yourself there, looking. So intimate is your connection with your looking that when you say, 'I'm looking,' you're implying that how you look and what you see are a direct reflection of who you are in this moment. Your attitudes and beliefs reflect what you see and the way you live in your body can colour your perceptions as well.

· Explains Shiva's contradictory forms, such as destroyer or benefactor and how his form depends on the needs of the devotee · Reveals how Shiva's teachings allow one to see through the illusions at the root of all grief and alienation in human life · Explores Shiva's relationships with Durga, Shakti, Sati and Parvati and with his sons Ganesha and Kartikeya Shiva, ...

The mainstream position of the Christian church on sexuality was perhaps best summed up by Pope Innocent III (1160-1216) when he stated that the sexual act is so shameful that it is intrinsically evil. Another Christian theologian maintained that the holy Ghost is absent from the room shared by a wedded couple.

According to Zen masters, by adopting a belly-centered posture and correct breathing, one can cultivate inner tranquility and balance: the state called Hara.

Gnosticism was contemporary to early Christianity and its demise can be traced to Christianity's efforts to silence its teachings. The Gnostic message however was not destroyed but simply went underground.

One of the cache of codices and manuscripts discovered in Nag Hammadi, THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS, unlike the canonical gospels, does not contain a narrative recording Christ's life and prophecies. Instead it is a collection of his teachings: in fact what he actually said. These 114 logia or sayings were collected by Judas Didymus Thomas, whom some claim to be Jesus's closest disciple.