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In examining some of the great masterpieces of literature produced by writers at the end of their lives, she elucidates the difference between growing old and disintegrating, encouraging the reader to grow emotionally and mentally during the culminating stage of life.
It is only in the age of technology that human beings have lost a sense of nature being alive. Throughout history, people spoke to nature, and nature communicated with them. During the Middle Ages, reading the book of nature was called the doctrine of signatures, which had always been an important part of interacting with nature for traditional healers and herbalists.
As a child, I just knew which plant to pick up and hold to my head for a headache to go away. Once I heard about the concept of a 'doctrine of signatures, ' I would just stand silently, in awe of nature talking to me, talking and talking in her silent, direct speech. The book of nature seemed so obviously spelled out, and in oddest contrast to what I learned in medical school. My professors seemed never to have heard of nature being vibrant and alive and brimming with patterns of energy that are right there for us to understand and use.... This direct and primordial experience of being part of nature's omnipresent, cyclic course taught me more in the realm of no-words than any university ever could have. --Julia GravesThe Language of Plants covers all aspects of the doctrine of signatures in an easily accessible format, so that everyone, whether nature lovers or healers, can learn to read the language of plants in connection with healing.
More than 200 color and b/w images.
Robert Powell uncovers a secret stream of wisdom that flows through the heart of Christianity--the feminine principle, known in Greek as Sophia, the being of Holy Wisdom herself. This sacred embodiment, named in the Old Testament as the first living being made by God, has comforted and guided seekers of truth in every age and in every human culture.
Powell surveys the wonders and teachings associated with this unacknowledged treasure of Christianity's mystical past--a stream running from the Greek philosophers and King Solomon through the cosmic visions of Hildegard von Bingen, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the relation of Sophia to Mary the mother of Christ.
The Sophia Teachings provides accessible and informative insights into the being of Sophia--generally overlooked by modern, patriarchal Christianity and misinterpreted by new age and and other movements that often trivialize the meaning and purpose of this significant cosmic entity.
Other than what is contained in her singular work, Showings of Divine Love, we know almost nothing of the personal life of Julian. We do, however, know something about her background, as a recluse, or anchoress, and the social, cultural, and political life of late-fourteenth-century England.
Although nothing of it is mentioned in her Showings, the times in which Julian lived were fraught with political, social, and economic upheavals in both Church and state. There are, indeed, many parallels to the present age. This, in part, helps to explain why Julian speaks so loudly to today after six hundred years of silence.
On the thirteenth of May, 1373, Julian received a series of sixteen visions centered on the person and sufferings of Jesus and on the Trinity. A short time later, she wrote an account of them in twenty-five chapters (known as the Short Text). Twenty years later, after much prayer and reflection, she wrote another account consisting of eighty-six chapters (called the Long Text). During this important interim, Julian the visionary became Julian the theologian.
Julian's visions correspond to the classic understanding of such phenomena. Some visions were spiritual locutions. In this experience, God spoke directly to her heart in such a way as to communicate with absolute, unquestioned clarity the desired message. Actual words were probably not used but the visionary was left with no doubt as to the authenticity or the meaning of the message. Other visions were visual or experienced as coming through the corporeal senses. These resulted from the direct action of God on the imagination. Still others were spiritual visions, not easily expressed and usually concerned with the deeper mysteries of God, such as the Trinity. Many of Julian's visions were combinations of all three types.
This book is not a translation or paraphrase of Julian's Showings of Divine Love. Rather, it is a commentary--in 86 brief, meditative chapters--intended to provide information, reflections, and further theological understanding that will enhance the modern Christian's reading of Julian's book. It can be read independently, prior to reading Julian's book, or along with it, chapter by chapter.
In the 1920s, the physician and homeopath Dr. Edward Bach made his great discovery of the healing effects of various flower essences. Intense and revelatory, his experiences in nature resulted in thirty-eight flower remedies. He describes these as bringing courage to the fearful, peace to the anguished, and strength to the weak. But the therapeutic effects of the remedies were never limited to emotional states. They are equally effective in the treatment of physical disorders.
Barnard begins the process of explaining this phenomenon. He describes how Bach made his discoveries and examines the living qualities of the plants in their context and how the remedies are actually produced. The result is remarkable. The author recounts his observations so that readers can experience, in a living way, the complex ways in which the remedy plants grow--their gestures and qualities, ecology, botany, and behavior.
For the last four centuries, science has tried to account for everything in terms of atoms and molecules and the physical laws they adhere to. Recently, this effort was extended to try to include the inner world of human beings. Gary Lachman argues that this view of consciousness is misguided and unfounded. He points to another approach to the study and exploration of consciousness that erupted into public awareness in the late 1800s.
In this secret history of consciousness, consciousness is seen not as a result of neurons and molecules, but as responsible for them; meaning is not imported from the outer world, but rather creates it. In this view, consciousness is a living, evolving presence whose development can be traced through different historical periods, and which evolves along a path to a broader, more expansive state. What that consciousness may be like and how it may be achieved is a major concern of this book.
Lachman concentrates on the period since the late 1800s, when Madame Blavatsky first brought the secret history out into the open. As this history unfolds, we encounter the ideas of many modern thinkers, from esotericists like P. D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, and Colin Wilson to more mainstream philosophers like Henri Bergson, William James, Owen Barfield and the psychologist Andreas Mavromatis. Two little known but important thinkers play a major role in his synthesis--Jurij Moskvitin, who showed how our consciousness relates to the mechanisms of perception and to the external world, and Jean Gebser, who presented perhaps the most impressive case for the evolution of consciousness.
An important contribution to the study of consciousness ... a must-read.
Every spiritual practice, every exercise of consciousness, all meditation--indeed, every moment of true awareness--we do with the gentle will, even if we are unaware of it initially and cannot fully activate it yet. In the course of practice, however, the gentle will begins to shine, and we gradually gain the ability to access it in our ordinary, daily activities, allowing our lives to become infinitely richer, meaningful, and creative.
The gentle will is relaxed, receptive, expressive, creative, soft, light, and playful. It is not rigid or cramped. We use the gentle will in artistic activities such as playing a musical instrument, writing a poem, or painting a picture. It is the original will of the human being, the will of the I. The gentle will is not the determined, useful, goal-oriented, egoistic, working will of Sisyphus, who will never be able to roll his boulder up the mountain. The gentle will is free of me-feeling and egoism. In this way, it differs from the hard will, which works through egoism.
Today, however, all life is governed by the principle of usefulness, utility, comfort, and efficiency--the hard will of egoism. This approach has brought the world to the brink of catastrophe, regardless of what technocrats say or think about it.
Georg Kühlewind writes in this book that the only hope he sees of avoiding destruction is a change in human consciousness; the hard will must become the gentle will. To this end, he provides exercises through which we may transform the hard will into the gentle will.
Sophia (the world soul) fell from her place in the heavens to the chaos below. Sophia is among the most haunting and mysterious figures in Western spirituality. She is also one of the great symbols of the divine feminine in world civilization.
The personification of divine Wisdom, Sophia is praised in the biblical book of Proverbs as co-creator of the universe with God. In the secret teachings of early Christianity known as Gnosticism, she represents our shared consciousness, trapped in the material world as a result of the Fall.
One of the most sublime Gnostic texts is the Pistis Sophia or Faith Wisdom, a great allegory in which the resurrected Christ explains how he freed the divine Sophia from her imprisonment by the forces of spiritual wickedness. Christ goes on to show his disciples how they will share in this cosmic act of redemption.
In this profound yet accessible work, Egyptologist Violet MacDermot gives us a fresh translation of the Pistis Sophia from the Coptic and discusses it in its historical setting. She also shows us how Sophia's story of is our story. It is a tale of our separation and isolation as a result of ego-consciousness, but it is one in which we, too, can share spiritual liberation. Her engaging discussion relates this work not only to ancient teachings but to the thought of C.G. Jung, Emanuel Swedenborg, and the Kabalah.
The Essential Steiner offers a compact, accessible, and illuminating introduction to essential writings of Rudolf Steiner, the great modern spiritual teacher who has had an immense influence on contemporary education, literature, art, science, and philosophy. Robert McDermott offers selections from sixty of Steiner's published works that show the extraordinary range, vision, and power of his thought.
In his introduction, McDermott recounts Steiner's life and work, from childhood and education to his work as a natural scientist, philosopher, scholar, educator, artist, interpreter of culture, and seer. Steiner is placed in the context of major traditions of thought with an exploration of important spiritual and philosophical relationships.
Although Steiner is credited with major cultural contributions and as the founder of the worldwide Waldorf school movement, he remains remarkably little known by the academic community as well as the general public. Selections from Steiner's writings are presented in five chapters, each with an introductory commentary:
Knowledge, Nature, and Spirit: early writings (1894-1904) on philosophy of nature, spiritual thinking, and the knowledge of higher worlds;
Spiritual Anthropology: on Steiner's theory of human nature as a combination of the physical, etheric, soul-life, and spiritual;
Historical Vision: Steiner's interpretation of history from Egyptian and Buddhist culture, to the Greeks and the modern age;
Esoteric Christianity: Steiner's esoteric interpretation of the Christ event and Christian revelation;
Society and Education: on social philosophy and education, of particular releveance to contemporary issues.
The Essential Steiner provides an invaluable compendium and an accessible introduction to foundational works of Anthroposophy.
Dennis Klocek explores the essence of biodynamic agriculture, in particular the nature of inner development needed to utilize such methods effectively. He tells us that biodynamics requires constant self-development and an intimate knowledge of and relationship with the plants, animals, weather, earth, the preparations and much more.
Based on numerous lectures presented to serious biodynamic gardeners, farmers, and winemakers, the author presents his views within a structure of Goethean observation, alchemical language, and the classic four elements, all based on the work of Rudolf Steiner and other pioneers in this field, as well as his own many years of interest in biodynamic methods, both conceptual and practical.
This is not a book of recipes and how-to techniques, but a guidebook to the inner means of working with the elemental nature of the earth, showing ways to read in nature what is needed.
From an esoteric point of view and from Steiner's point of view, the evolution of the Earth depends on the evolution of human consciousness. They are not separate. The ancient peoples understood that. They understood that human consciousness is woven in with the destiny and life of the Earth as a spiritual being. As a result they lived in a sacred manner. Their daily round was the stuff of a priesthood. They understood the relationship between the human and the divine by seeing the Earth as the mother and the sky as the father of humanity.It was just a given for them that nature was permeated by spiritual entities. However, that worldview had to evolve to the spot where we are today. Today the vast majority of people feel totally divorced from a real connection to the spiritual being of the Earth. The Earth primarily is a resource to be used. If you go tell your mother she is just a resource to be used, you have a lot of problems. My thesis is that the evolution of consciousness requires us to understand that our state of consciousness has an impact on the evolution of the Earth as a spiritual being. -- Dennis Klocek
Traditionally, Western astrologers have interpreted the houses as though they rotate in the same, counterclockwise direction as the zodiac signs. According to Jacques Dorsan, however, the houses are enumerated in a clockwise direction, following the daily diurnal motion of the Sun, for example. By using the clockwise house system together with the sidereal zodiac, everything suddenly falls into place astrologically when looking at a horoscope. This key unlocks the mystery of the horoscope. Thanks to Jacques Dorsan, we finally have access to a true form of astrology--based on the sidereal zodiac and utilizing the clockwise house system--enabling a giant leap forward in the practice of astrology. It allows us to recover the original astrology. This is possible today because of Rudolf Steiner's indications, as well as the research of the French statistician Michel Gauquelin, who investigated hundreds of thousands of horoscopes and confirmed that the astrological houses run in a clockwise direction.
This English translation includes more than eighty charts, both those in the Jacques Dorsan's original work in French and more added by the editor of this edition. The clockwise house system is applied in this book using sidereal horoscopes. It can just as easily be applied using tropical horoscopes.
The Clockwise House System is an invaluable addition to the literature of modern astrology, allowing open-minded readers a unique and profound look at the new and limitless possibilities of this powerful tool of spiritual growth and understanding.
This book is a translation from French of Le véritable sens des maisons astrologiques Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 1984.
For more than a hundred years, the various fields of psychology have sought methods for healing the individual soul. Today, the being in need of care is the world. All the organizing forms that ought to enrich life with beauty, purpose, and depth no longer do so. To heal ourselves we need to reimagine the world.
Beginning with the myth of Sophia--the Soul of the World--Sardello evokes a sense that the world is filled with her presence. He suggests that the soul's primary aspects--its arts of concentration, meditation, imagination, and contemplation--do not belong simply to individual consciousness, but constitute a surrender of subjective, personal states to the consciousness that is the soul of the world. He shows how we can begin to approach daily life in a new way by practicing these arts. The chapters that follow establish a psychology of the world.
Meekelorr, lying near a stream in the Easternlands with a small troop of his soldiers sleeping nearby, woke suddenly from a strange dream. He sat up, pushing away both the blankets and the grogginess. He wanted to think about the dream, to fix it in his mind so he could tell it to Pohl.
A young man was standing over a grave. Then, as happens in dreams, the young man was walking in the mountain forest heading somewhere with great determination. In the dream, his friend Pohl had shaken him awake. Be aware and be wary, Meekelorr; that boy's destiny is woven into yours.
I see him, Meekelorr assured Pohl. The boy seems simple, pleasant, hardly a threat.
You are shortsighted, friend. That boy is like a sleepwalker. He doesn't know what it is he is moving toward, yet he will be a determining player in the world events that are nearly upon us.
He will aid us?
That, Pohl said, or destroy us; then there will be little hope left for this world.
Meekelorr, fully awake now, reached over and shook his friend Pohl, who was snoring peacefully next to him.
The older man sat up quickly and grabbed his sword.
Whoa, Pohl, no danger. But I must tell you this dream while I can recall it. ....
Auragole of the Mountains is the first novel in Shirley Latessa's exciting quartet Auragole's Journey.
Aurogole's Journey
1. Auragole of the Mountains
2. Auragole of the Way
3. Auragole of Mattelmead
4. Auragole and the Last Battle
5. Meekelorr: The Early Years (the prequel)
Marko Pogačnik has written several books based on the results of his research into and practice of what he terms geomancy. In this book, he presents the fundamental research and principles behind this new science of the spirit.
The author writes:
Geomancy is an ancient word denoting knowledge of the invisible and visible dimensions of the Earth and its landscapes. I see it as an essential complement to modern geography, which is interested exclusively in one level of reality, the material level of existence. To convey the idea that geomantic knowledge in a very specific way complements the material point of view of geography, I refer to geomancy as sacred geography. By sacred I mean that the task of geomancy in our present day is not simply to foster public interest in etheric, emotional and spiritual levels of places and landscapes, but also to promote a deeper, more loving, and more responsible relationship toward the Earth, the Cosmos, and all beings, visible and invisible. This book is conceived not just as a theoretical introduction to the worlds of sacred geography, but primarily as a practical guide through different dimensions of places and landscapes. It includes more than 170 practical examples from different parts of the world, all of them presented as original drawings. Much of the text, drawings, and exercises are intended to describe and explain methods of pluri-dimensional perception, so that the reader will feel encouraged and supported to explore and develop her or his own experiences of the geomantic phenomena presented in the book.This is an essential text for understanding the vital work of sacred geometry called geomancy.
Laurence Oliphant is one of the great unknown personalities of the nineteenth century, and indeed of recent cultural history at large. He was born at Cape Town in 1829 and died near London in 1888. He left behind some twenty books, including novels, travel accounts, and mystical spiritual writings. He was diplomat, traveler, adventurer, writer, and mystic.
At the beginning of the 1860s, the period of Oliphant's great spiritual transition began when he met the Swedenborgian Thomas Lake Harris. It was Oliphant's last works, Sympneumata and Scientific Religion, that prompted Rudolf Steiner to pursue karmic research on Oliphant. As a result, Steiner revealed the karmic relationship between the lives of Oliphant and the Roman poet Ovid. In an August 24, 1924, lecture in London, Steiner commented that Oliphant's individuality is significant not only because of the previous Ovid incarnation, but also because of its activity in the interval between the two incarnations. Looked at in the light of spiritual research on the subject, Oliphant's life assumes dimensions of world-historical interest.
When a Stone Begins to Roll contains extensive selections from Oliphants autobiographical book, Episodes in a Life of Adventure; or, Moss from a Rolling Stone (1887). In addition to the insightful commentary of T.H. Meyer, the book also offers a generous sampling of Oliphant's complex and compelling work, as well as hitherto unpublished material and the satire The Sisters of Tibet.
Empirical knowledge is only one side of reality. Empirical knowledge is all about the outside, the surfaces of objects, the matter we can see and touch. It does not speak to the insides, the unconscious inner reality, subjectivity, feelings, and meaning that humans contribute to the world of objects we experience in our day-to-day lives. The New Enlightenment looks at the inside from that place phenomenologist Edmund Husserl termed the great world of the interiority of consciousness.
Using the insights of Owen Barfield (1898-1997) as his starting point, Linderman investigates the nature of consciousness, the Enlightenment, scientific thinking, belief, and the power of imagination.
This book is for those who appreciate the insights of alternative thinkers, but feel at the mercy of an engineer neighbor, an amateur science buff friend, or skeptical relatives. They confidently present clear, reasoned, scientific arguments to discredit, or, at least, bring considerable doubt to the veracity of the claims of the alternative thinkers you find compelling. For you to explain why you find some alternative writers so helpful, you need to be able to articulate succinctly the theory of knowledge that undergirds them. Likely, you struggle to do so now. You should find help in this book.
Myth and history are placed side by side in a scientific and imaginative approach that documents the correlation between pre-historical and historical periods and the spiritual events that ushered them in, as narrated in the myths and legends of North America. This approach reconciles Western analytical consciousness with the Native American language of myths and legends.
All of this is placed first in the perspective of Maya spiritual tradition, and then from the perspective that the twentieth-century research of Rudolf Steiner brought to light, especially in relation to the events that took place in Central America two thousand years ago, about which only Rudolf Steiner has spoken.
The first part of the work explores events of 2,000 years ago and their consequences in the onset of Maya civilization. The second part researches the rise of new spiritual influences around the time just before the arrival of Columbus in America. At the extremes of the spectrum, we find Aztec and Iroquois worldviews. Both cosmologies have links, subtle or obvious, with the Popol Vuh, whether continuing or reinterpreting its original message. This polarity carries momentous consequences for global social trends in modern world history.
Spiritual Turning Points of North American History brings a fresh perspective to North American history and the meeting of European and First Nations worldviews.
From ancient times, we are told in the story of the Tower of Babel, human beings have been separated by different languages and, consequently, different cultures. Over the centuries, this division has increased and the distance between nations and peoples has prevented true communication and understanding. Gradually, mutations of meaning within single languages have further isolated individuals from one another. Toward the end of the twentieth century, however, a newly intensified consciousness arose--one that sought the basis of a new unity. This has resulted in, among other things, the budding globalization of world societies, economically, politically, and culturally.
Linguists and language historians have long searched for the source of our original unity--the one language from which we were separated. Inspired by a pamphlet on the origin of language by Hermann Beckh, and encouraged by his study of Rudolf Steiner's works, Dr. Arnold D. Wadler began thirty years of devoted research into the tongues of various human families. In One Language, he lifts the veil from pre-Columbian America and reveals its place in the developing life of earthly human beings. Based on language and custom, ancient America can be seen as the key to the question of the common primeval tongue of the origin of humanity and modern civilization. His comprehensive grasp of the subject and his broad understanding of history, religion, art, and the science of language places this book among the classics of spiritual scientific literature.