Download or read book A Lapidary of Sacred Stones written by Claude Lecouteux and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-12-04 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive dictionary of sacred and magical gem lore that draws on the rarest source texts of Antiquity and the Middle Ages • Reveals the healing and magical virtues of familiar gemstones, such as amethyst, emerald, and diamond, as well as the lore surrounding exotic stones such as astrios, a stone celebrated by ancient magicians • Examines bezoars (stones formed in animals’ bodies) and “magnets” that attract materials other than metal • Based on ancient Arabic, Greek, Jewish, and European sources, ranging from the observations of Pliny the Elder to extremely rare texts such as the Picatrix and Damigeron’s Virtue of Stones Our ancestors believed stones were home to sacred beings of power, entities that if properly understood and cultivated could provide people protection from ill fortune, envy, and witchcraft; grant invisibility and other magical powers; improve memory; and heal the sick from a wide variety of diseases. These benefits could be obtained by wearing the stone on a ring, bracelet, or pendant; through massage treatments with the stone; or by reducing the gem into a powder and drinking it mixed with water or wine. Drawing from a wealth of ancient Arabic, Greek, Jewish, and European sources--from the observations of Pliny the Elder to extremely rare texts such as the Picatrix and Damigeron’s Virtue of Stones--Claude Lecouteux provides a synthesis of all known lore for more than 800 stones. He includes such common examples as the emerald, which when engraved with the figure of a harpy holding a lamprey in its claws will banish panic and nightmares, and beryl, which when appropriately carved can summon water spirits or win its owner high renown, as well as more exotic stones such as astrios, a stone celebrated by ancient magicians and whose center glows like a star. Lecouteux also examines bezoars--stones formed in animals’ bodies--as well as “magnets” that attract materials other than iron, such as gold, flesh, cotton, or scorpions. This comprehensive dictionary of sacred and magical gem lore, drawn from the rarest sources of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, represents a one-of-a-kind resource for gem enthusiasts and magical practitioners alike.

Download or read book Crystal Blueprint written by Beatriz Singer and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to quartz crystals from both an ancestral and scientific point of view, with the mission of helping readers identify their mind patterns and wounds to reconnect with the authentic self. It's estimated that 10 billion quartz crystals are used every year in electronic devices--from smartphones to computers, credit cards, watches, digital cameras, TVs, cars, and much more. When you think about it, it's almost impossible to imagine life without crystals. These same crystals we see in so much of our technology have been used over the course of many centuries, and by many different cultures around the world, for healing. In fact, crystal healing is alive and well today, with modern-day healers harnessing the energy of quartz crystals to help alleviate suffering. What is it that has drawn scientists and healers around the world to crystal technology, and what are the similarities between the ways these two groups have used the stones? In this book, crystal healer and holistic therapist Beatriz Singer answers these questions--and more. She takes readers on a journey to understand the many wonders of quartz crystals, so that we can use their powers to bring peace and healing to ourselves and the world.

Download or read book First in the Family written by Jessica Hoppe and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2024-09-10 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unflinching and intimate memoir of recovery by Jessica Hoppe, Latinx writer, advocate, and creator of NuevaYorka. “A powerful thunderclap of a memoir.” —Lilliam Rivera, author of Dealing in Dreams A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024: Today.com, LupitaReads, Electric Literature, Esquire, Publishers Weekly In this deeply moving and lyrical memoir, Hoppe shares an intimate, courageous account of what it means to truly interrupt cycles of harm. For readers of The Recovering by Leslie Jamison, Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford, and Heavy by Kiese Laymon. During the first year of quarantine, drug overdoses spiked, the highest ever recorded. And Hoppe’s cousin was one of them. “I never learned the true history of substance use disorder in my family,” Hoppe writes. “People just disappeared.” At the time of her cousin’s death, she’d been in recovery for nearly four years, but she hadn’t told anyone. In First in the Family, Hoppe shares her journey, the first in her family to do so, and takes the reader on a remarkable investigation of her family’s history, the American Dream, and the erasure of BIPOC from recovery institutions and narratives, leaving the reader with an urgent message of hope.

Download or read book The Stone Witch of Florence written by Anna Rasche and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2024-10-08 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The premium special edition hardcover will feature an exquisite gold foil jacket, stunning four-color endpapers designed for personal inscription, and beautiful blue sprayed edges. “A feast of a novel, The Stone Witch of Florence is erudite, transportive, and addicting. Magical in every sense of the word.” —Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters A woman's secret. A deadly Plague. Unleash the hidden magic… 1348. As the Black Plague ravages Italy, Ginevra di Gasparo is summoned to Florence after nearly a decade of lonely exile. Ginevra has a gift—harnessing the hidden powers of gemstones, she can heal the sick. But when word spread of her unusual abilities, she was condemned as a witch and banished. Now the same men who expelled Ginevra are begging for her return. Ginevra obliges, assuming the city’s leaders are finally ready to accept her unorthodox cures amid a pandemic. But upon arrival, she is tasked with a much different mission: she must use her collection of jewels to track down a ruthless thief who is ransacking Florence’s churches for priceless relics—the city’s only hope for protection. If she succeeds, she’ll be a recognized physician and never accused of witchcraft again. But as her investigation progresses, Ginevra discovers she’s merely a pawn in a much larger scheme than the one she’s been hired to solve. And the dangerous men behind this conspiracy won’t think twice about killing a stone witch to get what they want…

Download or read book The Seven Archetypal Stones written by Nicholas Pearson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to the mystery teachings of the mineral kingdom for catalyzing spiritual growth and healing • Focuses on 7 essential crystal and gemstone mentors: obsidian, jade, lapis lazuli, emerald, quartz, amethyst, and diamond • Integrates crystal lore from around the world with mineral science to reveal the archetypal wisdom embodied within each stone • Provides crystal healing exercises and meditations on the specific spiritual work each stone archetype supports Stones and crystals are our most ancient teachers. The relationships between the mineral kingdom and the human kingdom are as old as life itself, for the mineral kingdom--comprised of beautiful crystals, dense rocks, sands, clays, and everything in-between--is the very foundation upon which life developed on Earth. Supporting humanity through the eons, these teachers offer curative and restorative properties for healing as well as powerful guidance to catalyze spiritual growth. Integrating gemstone lore from around the world with modern mineral science, Nicholas Pearson guides readers on a journey into the inner realm of the mystery teachings of the mineral kingdom, a journey that mirrors the soul’s path to perfection. He reveals the archetypal wisdom embodied within 7 essential crystal and gemstone mentors--obsidian, jade, lapis lazuli, emerald, quartz, amethyst, and diamond--examining each stone’s mythological, historical, and cultural associations in tandem with their crystalline structure and chemical composition. He explores each stone’s healing and spiritual properties, providing practical exercises, esoteric revelations, and meditations on the specific spiritual work each stone archetype supports. Obsidian, for example, is the stone of initiation, revealing our shadow side and guiding us to places in need of light. Diamond, the final perfected stone of the seven, illuminates Divine Love, purifying us and leading our consciousness to enlightenment, cutting through any vestiges of fear or illusion because it is the hardest, sharpest, most luminous teacher the mineral kingdom has to offer. Enabling each of us to harness the power of stones for spiritual evolution and healing, this guide to the mystery teachings of the mineral kingdom shows how the ancient call to evolve with the crystals and stones that surround us lives on in an unbroken legacy.

Download or read book Field Manual for the Archaeology of Ritual Religion and Magic written by C. Riley Augé and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2022-07-08 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By bringing together in one place specific objects, materials, and features indicating ritual, religious, or magical belief used by people around the world and through time, this tool will assist archaeologists in identifying evidence of belief-related behaviors and broadening their understanding of how those behaviors may also be seen through less obvious evidential lines. Instruction and templates for recording, typologizing, classifying, and analyzing ritual or magico-religious material culture are also provided to guide researchers in the survey, collection, and cataloging processes. The bulleted formatting and topical range make this a highly accessible work, while providing an incredible wealth of information in a single volume.

Download or read book Stones of the Goddess written by Nicholas Pearson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical guide to working with gemstones and crystals connected to Goddess energy for magick, healing, and transformation • 2020 Coalition of Visionary Resources Gold Award • Explores more than 100 Goddess-centered stones and crystals, including amazonite, amethyst, birthing stones, thundereggs, geodes, Lemurian seed crystals, sakura stone, yeh ming zhu, and carnelian, also known as the blood of Isis • Details each stone’s astrological and elemental correspondences, Goddess archetypes, healing properties, magickal uses, and aspects of the Divine Feminine it embodies • Includes instructions for Goddess-centered rituals, guided meditations, and spells • Explains how to create Goddess-centered crystal grids, crystal elixirs, and charm bags Part of Mother Earth, crystals and gemstones are intimate pieces of the body of the Goddess, sacred tools that can help us tap into Her energy for healing, magick, and spiritual growth. In this practical guide to working with the stones of the Goddess, Nicholas Pearson explores more than 100 gemstones and crystals strongly connected with the energies of the Divine Feminine, including old favorites like amazonite, amethyst, geodes, and carnelian (also known as the blood of Isis), alongside newer and more unusual stones such as sakura ishi, yeh ming zhu, and Lemurian seed crystals. He details each stone’s spiritual and healing properties, astrological and elemental correspondences, Goddess archetypes and lore, magickal uses, and the aspects of the Divine Feminine it embodies. Providing an overview of major Goddesses from around the world, he reveals how Goddess traditions and myths have incorporated stones throughout history. Guiding you through the basics of crystal work, including cleansing and programming, the author offers step-by-step instructions for Goddess-centered magickal rituals, guided meditations to connect with the Divine Feminine, and the use of crystals for spellcasting. He explains how to create crystal grids, including the Triple Goddess Grid and the Venus Grid; crystal elixirs, such as Aphrodite Elixir and Yemayá Essence; and crystal charm bags for purification, wealth, and a happy home. With the rebirth of the Goddess now happening after millennia of suppression, Pearson shows how, by working with gemstones and crystals, you can help restore the radiant light and limitless magick of the Divine Feminine and move humanity toward collective growth and healing. The stones of the Goddess are here to support us through practical means as well as serve as anchors for the return of the Goddess’s presence.

Download or read book The Mineral and the Visual written by Brigitte Buettner and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2022-06-29 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Opulent jeweled objects ranked among the most highly valued works of art in the European Middle Ages. At the same time, precious stones prompted sophisticated reflections on the power of nature and the experience of mineralized beings. Beyond a visual regime that put a premium on brilliant materiality, how can we account for the ubiquity of gems in medieval thought? In The Mineral and the Visual, art historian Brigitte Buettner examines the social roles, cultural meanings, and active agency of precious stones in secular medieval art. Exploring the layered roles played by gems in aesthetic, ideological, intellectual, and economic practices, Buettner focuses on three significant categories of art: the jeweled crown, the pictorialized lapidary, and the illustrated travel account. The global gem trade brought coveted jewels from the Indies to goldsmiths’ workshops in Paris, fashionable bodies in London, and the crowns of kings across Europe, and Buettner shows that Europe’s literal and metaphorical enrichment was predicated on the importation of gems and ideas from Byzantium, the Islamic world, Persia, and India. Original, transhistorical, and cross-disciplinary, The Mineral and the Visual engages important methodological questions about the work of culture in its material dimension. It will be especially useful to scholars and students interested in medieval art history, material culture, and medieval history.

Download or read book Enchanted Net written by Celia Lake and published by Celia Lake. This book was released on 2024-09-20 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thessaly’s life is laid out before her, a sparkling path toward the goals any young woman of Albion should aspire to. Her own magic is strong, she’s a gifted duellist mastering the enchantments of illusion work. Now she’s betrothed to the shining son of one of the greatest families in the country. All she has to do is tread the steps of the proper dance. Vitus has just returned from a grand tour, learning all he can about stones and mines to cap off his apprenticeship as a talisman maker. Now it’s time to establish himself, build his business, and craft his own future. When Thessaly and Vitus meet at a costume ball, there’s an immediate spark between them. Thessaly’s marriage agreements specifically permit that, so long as she’s discreet. Certainly, there’s no barrier to a friendship or magical collaboration. Vitus, for his part, is charmed by her intelligence, creativity, and eye for crafting magic. They’ve barely begun to get to know each other - or figure out how to handle their growing mutual interest properly - when Thessaly’s world collapses. The sudden change in her life throws everything she’d expected into chaos. Vitus has no idea how to help, not without risking his future as well. The first book in the Mysterious Fields trilogy begins Thessaly and Vitus’s story and romance - but their happily ever after won’t come until book three. Join them for a toast in honour of recognising each other as kindred spirits, navigating the politics of Albion’s Great Families, and figuring out how to live their own lives. Set in 1889, this book about the magical community of Victorian Britain is a wonderful entry point to Celia Lake’s Albion books.

Download or read book Speculum Lapidum written by Camillo Leonardi and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2023-08-29 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In early modern Europe precious and semiprecious stones were valued not only for their beauty and rarity but also for their medical and magical properties. Lorenzo de’ Medici, Philip II of Spain, and Popes Leo X and Clement VII were all treated with expensive potions incorporating ground gems such as rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. Medical and magical/astrological lapidaries, texts describing the stones’ occult and medical qualities as well as their abilities to ward off demons and incantations, were essential resources for their use. First published in Venice in 1502, Camillo Leonardi’s Speculum Lapidum is an encyclopedic summary of all classical and medieval sources of lithotherapy. In describing the natural, manifest, and occult properties of precious and semiprecious stones as well as their graven images and applications, the Speculum Lapidum provides tremendous insight into the role that medical astrology and astral magic played in the life of an Italian court in the early modern period. Liliana Leopardi’s English translation, complete with critical apparatuses, gives unprecedented access to this key text within the magical lapidary genre. A vital addition to the existing canon of lapidaria in translation, Leopardi’s work will be of special importance for students and scholars of the history of magic, medicine, religion, and Renaissance humanism, and it will fascinate anyone interested in the occult properties of precious and semiprecious stones.

Download or read book Nicholas of Cusa and the Making of the Early Modern World written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-01-14 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nicholas of Cusa and Early Modern Reform sheds new light on Cusanus’ relationship to early modernity by focusing on the reform of church, the reform of theology, the reform of perspective, and the reform of method – which together aim to encompass the breadth and depth of Cusanus’ own reform initiatives. In particular, in examining the way in which he served as inspiration for a wide and diverse array of reform-minded philosophers, ecclesiastics, theologians, and lay scholars in the midst of their struggle for the renewal and restoration of the individual, society, and the world, our volume combines a focus on Cusanus as a paradigmatic thinker with a study of his concrete influence on early modern thought. This volume is aimed at scholars working in the field of late medieval and early modern philosophy, theology, and history of science. As the first Anglophone volume to explore the early modern reception of Nicholas of Cusa, this work will provide an important complement to a growing number of companions focusing on his life and thought.

Download or read book Mental Health Spirituality and Religion in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age written by Albrecht Classen and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2014-07-28 with total page 744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume continues the critical exploration of fundamental issues in the medieval and early modern world, here concerning mental health, spirituality, melancholy, mystical visions, medicine, and well-being. The contributors, who originally had presented their research at a symposium at The University of Arizona in May 2013, explore a wide range of approaches and materials pertinent to these issues, taking us from the early Middle Ages to the eighteenth century, capping the volume with some reflections on the relevance of religion today. Lapidary sciences matter here as much as medical-psychological research, combined with literary and art-historical approaches. The premodern understanding of mental health is not taken as a miraculous panacea for modern problems, but the contributors suggest that medieval and early modern writers, scientists, and artists commanded a considerable amount of arcane, sometimes curious and speculative, knowledge that promises to be of value and relevance even for us today, once again. Modern palliative medicine finds, for instance, intriguing parallels in medieval word magic, and the mystical perspectives encapsulated highly productive alternative perceptions of the macrocosm and microcosm that promise to be insightful and important also for the post-modern world.

Download or read book Three Books of Occult Philosophy written by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-11-23 with total page 864 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Three hardcover volumes in slipcase • Corrects the many mistranslations, copyist mistakes, and errors introduced from other editions, drawing on new research and access to Agrippa’s source texts • Restores all of Agrippa’s original illustrations • Presents a nearly complete bibliography of Agrippa’s primary sources 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. Divided into three parts--the natural world, the celestial world, and the divine world--the book systematically explains the philosophy, logic, and methods of magic and astrology and how they work. The basis for 19th-century magical orders such as the Golden Dawn and a primary source for countless books on magical uses of stones, herbs, incense, and astrology, Agrippa’s many lists and diagrams have proven invaluable to magicians since the 16th century. Yet, until now, all English editions of Agrippa’s Three Books were based on the same flawed 1651 translation from the mysterious “J.F.” In this new translation from the original 1533 Latin edition, Eric Purdue corrects the many mistranslations, copyist mistakes, and errors introduced from other editions as well as restores all of Agrippa’s original illustrations. Purdue notates every correction and offers commentary, drawing on major developments in the research of older magical and astrological texts. He also presents a nearly complete bibliography of Agrippa’s primary sources, revealing Agrippa as a mainstream scholar of his day. Presenting the first new English translation of Three Books of Occult Philosophy in more than 350 years, this three-volume hardcover boxed set repairs the gaps in knowledge pervasive in the original translation and restores the magical spirit of Agrippa’s masterpiece, allowing us to hear Agrippa speak again.

Download or read book Tales of Witchcraft and Wonder written by Claude Lecouteux and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Offers commentary for each story, revealing its historical context, cultural and esoteric associations, and hidden pagan beliefs • Explores how the tales transformed over the ages and their origins in Classical Antiquity, the Middle East, and India • Includes stories never-before-translated from their original Latin and many purposely left in obscurity due to scandalous depictions of popes and other notables The Middle Ages witnessed the blossoming of oral traditions whose echoes can still be found in many legends, fables, and tales today. In this collection of medieval tales of witchcraft, wonder, and the supernatural, Claude and Corinne Lecouteux explain how many of these stories arose in Classical Antiquity while some made their way into Dark Ages Europe from the Middle East and India. Offering commentary for each tale, the authors place them in historical context and analyze their cultural and esoteric associations. They include stories never- before-translated from their original Latin or demotic versions and show how, unlike the well-known fairy tales made popular by the Brothers Grimm, many stories were purposely left in obscurity because they presented scandalous depictions of popes and other notables. Additionally, for many of the tales, the authors scrupulously peel back the Christian veneer to show how the stories were instrumental in assuring the survival of age-old pagan beliefs across the centuries. These beliefs are explored through tales of animals with magical powers and the ability to converse with humans, including the tale of the Grateful Lion made famous through Aesop’s fables; stories of individuals with supernatural or otherworldly powers, like the Venomous Maiden who poisons all men who have relations with her; legends of miracles and wondrous things that violate the laws of nature, such as people returning from the dead to help a descendant; and stories of witchcraft, magic, and demonic apparitions, including the pope who was a disguised demon. The authors also explore tales of supernatural spouses and illicit love affairs, wisdom teachings and parables of fools, and heroic legends.

Download or read book Mysteries of the Werewolf written by Claude Lecouteux and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Examines werewolf tales and stories from early Greece, Scandinavia, France, Germany, Eastern Europe, China, and Japan, as well as legends of other shapeshifting creatures such as were-tigers, were-jackals, and were-caribou • Looks at the various ways people become werewolves, including pacts with the devil, magic, and spells, and explores ways to identify, escape, and do away with werewolves • Includes the trial records from medieval Europe for individuals who were tried on suspicion of being werewolves and the personal records of people whose spouses could shapeshift into wolves An animal both mythical and real, a terrifying predator and the villain in many a fairytale, the wolf has haunted the human imagination since prehistoric times. Even more disturbing is the possibility that some individuals can change into wolves. These werewolves, or lycanthropes, are able to divest themselves of their human nature and transform into enemies that are all the more dangerous as no one knows who they are. Means of protecting oneself from this beast have been a concern for people since Classical Antiquity, and werewolf legends offer both fascinating tales of horror as well as advice for thwarting these creatures or breaking the werewolf curse. In this exploration of werewolf folktales, legends, and historical accounts, Claude Lecouteux examines werewolf beliefs and stories from early Greece to the post-medieval age, including the beliefs of the Norse and tales from France, Germany, Eastern Europe, China, and Japan. The author includes the trial records from medieval Europe for individuals who were tried on suspicion of being werewolves and the personal records of people whose spouses could shapeshift into wolves. He investigates the nature of the werewolf, how it can act as the double or lead to out-of-body experiences, and its counterparts in other parts of the world such as were-tigers, were-jackals, and even were-caribou in the Inuit regions of North America. Lecouteux also looks at the various ways people become werewolves, including pacts with the devil and spells, and explores ways to identify, escape, and do away with werewolves. Sharing werewolf mysteries from around the world, Lecouteux shows that by studying the legends of the werewolf we also gain insight into the psyche and ancient imagination of humanity.

Download or read book Magic Crystals Sacred Stones written by Melusine Draco and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-28 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magic Crystals, Sacred Stones is aimed at those who have explored crystal working as a beginner and who now wish to understand the mysteries of the Earth at a deeper level. , ,

Download or read book Crystals Made Easy written by Judy Hall and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2021-10 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical, step-by-step guide to working with crystals for healing, protection and spiritual development. Judy Hall is an internationally recognized crystal expert with over 45 years' experience in crystal healing. In this illuminating guide, she shares the immense benefits that working with crystals can bring to your life. She explains how to use crystals to increase your energy, enhance your wellbeing, keep calm in a crisis and change the way you think and live. You'll also learn about the different techniques and exercises that you can use to connect with the gems' powerful energy. Discover: - how crystals work and how to choose the right ones for you - how to cleanse, charge and attune your crystals - the many things that crystals can help you with - ways to use crystals for healing the mind, body and emotions - how to use crystals for self-protection and energy enhancement This book was previously published under the title Crystals (Hay House Basics series).