Download or read book Matter Magic and Spirit written by David Murray and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The spiritual and religious beliefs and practices of Native Americans and African Americans have long been sources of fascination and curiosity, owing to their marked difference from the religious traditions of white writers and researchers. Matter, Magic, and Spirit explores the ways religious and magical beliefs of Native Americans and African Americans have been represented in a range of discourses including anthropology, comparative religion, and literature. Though these beliefs were widely dismissed as primitive superstition and inferior to "higher" religions like Christianity, distinctions were still made between the supposed spiritual capacities of the different groups. David Murray's analysis is unique in bringing together Indian and African beliefs and their representations. First tracing the development of European ideas about both African fetishism and Native American "primitive belief," he goes on to explore the ways in which the hierarchies of race created by white Europeans coincided with hierarchies of religion as expressed in the developing study of comparative religion and folklore through the nineteenth century. Crucially this comparative approach to practices that were dismissed as conjure or black magic or Indian "medicine" points as well to the importance of their cultural and political roles in their own communities at times of destructive change. Murray also explores the ways in which Indian and African writers later reformulated the models developed by white observers, as demonstrated through the work of Charles Chesnutt and Simon Pokagon and then in the later conjunctions of modernism and ethnography in the 1920s and 1930s, through the work of Zora Neale Hurston, Zitkala Sa, and others. Later sections demonstrate how contemporary writers including Ishmael Reed and Leslie Silko deal with the revaluation of traditional beliefs as spiritual resources against a background of New Age spirituality and postmodern conceptions of racial and ethnic identity.

Download or read book Matter Magic and Spirit written by Rolland Murray and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2007-01-05 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Our Living Manhood, Rolland Murray examines how James Baldwin, John Edgar Wideman, Clarence Major, John Oliver Killens, and other writers challenged the Black Power movement's political commitment to masculinity in the 1960s.

Download or read book Black Magic written by Yvonne P. Chireau and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2006-11-20 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black Magic looks at the origins, meaning, and uses of Conjure—the African American tradition of healing and harming that evolved from African, European, and American elements—from the slavery period to well into the twentieth century. Illuminating a world that is dimly understood by both scholars and the general public, Yvonne P. Chireau describes Conjure and other related traditions, such as Hoodoo and Rootworking, in a beautifully written, richly detailed history that presents the voices and experiences of African Americans and shows how magic has informed their culture. Focusing on the relationship between Conjure and Christianity, Chireau shows how these seemingly contradictory traditions have worked together in a complex and complementary fashion to provide spiritual empowerment for African Americans, both slave and free, living in white America. As she explores the role of Conjure for African Americans and looks at the transformations of Conjure over time, Chireau also rewrites the dichotomy between magic and religion. With its groundbreaking analysis of an often misunderstood tradition, this book adds an important perspective to our understanding of the myriad dimensions of human spirituality.

Download or read book Magical Consciousness written by Susan Greenwood and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-08-20 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does a mind think magically? The research documented in this book is one answer that allows the disciplines of anthropology and neurobiology to come together to reveal a largely hidden dynamic of magic. Magic gets to the very heart of some theoretical and methodological difficulties encountered in the social and natural sciences, especially to do with issues of rationality. This book examines magic head-on, not through its instrumental aspects but as an orientation of consciousness. Magical consciousness is affective, associative and synchronistic, shaped through individual experience within a particular environment. This work focuses on an in-depth case study using the anthropologist’s own experience gained through years of anthropological fieldwork with British practitioners of magic. As an ethnographic view, it is an intimate study of the way in which the cognitive architecture of a mind engages the emotions and imagination in a pattern of meanings related to childhood experiences, spiritual communications and the environment. Although the detail of the involvement in magical consciousness presented here is necessarily specific, the central tenets of modus operandi is common to magical thought in general, and can be applied to cross-cultural analyses to increase understanding of this ubiquitous human phenomenon.

Download or read book Soul Magic written by Arizona Bell and published by Castle Point Books. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Centuries of spiritual practice and self-care at your fingertips If you have ever hungered for a more meaningful or satisfying life journey, this comprehensive collection of all things spirit-nourishing is your soul’s true companion. Soul Magic is a treasure trove of centuries-old secrets and ancient wisdom to enrich your life, guide your choices, and heal your mind, body, and soul. Whether it’s aligning your career moves with the phases of the moon, dropping the baggage you’re carrying from a past life, programming a crystal to find love, or designating a meditation spot in your home, you’ll find plenty of empowering and pragmatic “now age” uses for age-old traditions. Guided by beautiful imagery and clear explanations from real experts in alternative practices, you will discover how to: • maximize the life-changing power of crystals, herbs, and essential oils • unblock your seven chakras and bring harmony to your whole self • use tarot cards to heighten your awareness and steer you toward your best future • observe a full day of rest and reflection no matter how busy your life may be • progress beyond traditional thinking to find true peace and satisfaction Anyone with a soul that’s yearning for some magic will find solace and answers in this comprehensive field guide to the human spirit.

Download or read book Almandal Grimoire written by Genese Grill and published by . This book was released on 2018-08-06 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Secret History of the Soul written by Richard Sugg and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-11 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What would Christianity be like without the soul? While most people would expect the Christian bible to reveal a highly traditional opposition of matter and spirit, the spirit forces of the Old and New Testaments are often surprisingly physical, dynamic, and practical, a matter of energy as much as ethics. The Secret History of the Soul examines the forgotten or suppressed models of body, soul, and human consciousness found in the literature, philosophy and scripture of the ancient and classical worlds. It shows how the spirit forces of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, and the Old and New Testaments tended to be quantities not entities, and to be closely bound up with the dynamic physical flux of the human body, rather than cleanly abstracted in some absolute immaterial realm. Forces such as menos and thymos, nephesh, pneuma and dynamis not only blurred the line between body and soul, but were potent and transferable, being used, in New Testament culture, to effect magical cures or bestow magical power. Related to this surprising lack of body-soul dualism is a lack of dualistic afterlife in either Homer or Hebrew scripture, where Hades and Sheol are the sole post-mortem destinations. The Secret History of the Soul restores the living strangeness of a spirit world filled with potent energy and practical magic, in cultures which had not yet glimpsed the abstracted soul of later Christianity.

Download or read book Matter Magic and Spirit written by David Murray and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Magic Spirit the Dream Horse written by Pippa Funnell and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-05-11 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first in a series of heart-warming pony tales packed with expert advice from three-times Olympic Medallist and Grand Slam winner, Pippa Funnell, on everything you ever wanted to know about horses. Tilly Redbrow lives, breathes and dreams horses. The only thing missing from life with her adoptive family is a pony of her own. But on the day Tilly helps rescue a terrified horse from the roadside, her dreams begin to come true. She quickly forms a special bond with Magic Spirit, the beautiful grey horse that is now being cared for at Silver Shoe Farm. It's the start of a partnership with a horse that only she can ride to stardom, but they both have a lot to learn along the way. Collect all 18 titles in this series of irresistible, uplifting pony adventures, packed with expert, up-to-date advice from the author as well as a helpful glossary and black and white illustrations. For 8+

Download or read book The Spirit of Magic written by Virgil and published by Falcon Books Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2019-01-17 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was written with one purpose in mind - to share the knowledge and wisdom the author has acquired since he began working with the system of magic designed by the Czech adept Franz Bardon. The contents of this book contain: - Reflections about the nature of magic made after over a decade of studying and practicing the art in its most genuine and pure form - Helpful comments on important technical exercises and basic theoretical teachings - An assessment of the inner inspiration that lies at the heart of magic and brings the art to life. 'The Spirit of Magic' contains anecdotes and stories to illustrate important aspects of magical training. The author's engaging and straightforward approach offers a serious, yet enjoyable and easily understandable guide for those seeking balanced and steady magical advancement. This book is unique in its approach since it draws upon the full spectrum of life in order to illustrate the most basic and important principles of the sacred art. Hardback copies are also available on the Falcon Books Publishing website: www.falconbookspublishing.com.

Download or read book Spiritual Solutions written by Deepak Chopra, M.D. and published by Harmony. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life is full of challenges, both big and small. Spirituality is here to offer solutions. Over the course of his career as physician, teacher, and bestselling author, Deepak Chopra has received thousands of questions from people facing every kind of challenge. They have asked how to lead more fulfilling lives, how to overcome relationship problems and personal obstacles. What’s the best way to deal with a passive-aggressive friend? Can a stagnant career be jump-started? In a world full of distractions and stress, how does one find time for meditation? Hidden among all of these questions are answers waiting to be uncovered. In this groundbreaking book, Chopra shows you how to expand your awareness, which is the key to the confusion and conflict we all face. “The secret is that the level of the problem is never the level of the solution,” he writes. By rising to the level of the solution in your own awareness, you can transform obstacles into opportunities. Chopra leads the reader to what he calls “the true self,” where peace, clarity, and wisdom serve as guides in times of crisis. For Chopra, spirituality is primarily about consciousness, not about religious dogma or relying on the conventional notion of God. “There is no greater power for success and personal growth than your own awareness.” With practical insight, Spiritual Solutions provides the tools and strategies to enable you to meet life’s challenges from within and to experience a sense of genuine fulfillment and purpose.

Download or read book Three Magic Words written by U. S. Andersen and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2023-10-03 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revised and updated edition of a groundbreaking self-help classic, with a foreword by Eckhart Tolle, bestselling author of The Power of Now and A New Earth Three Magic Words presents a simple but profound truth: we can shape the outer world by shaping our inner thoughts. Instead of being controlled by circumstances, we can become architects of our reality by harnessing the power of consciousness itself. Throughout the book, U. S. Andersen illustrates this principle with meditations to help you reframe difficult situations and cultivate liberating thoughts. He also empowers you to: • understand the true relationship between mind and matter • free yourself from limiting beliefs • program your thoughts for success • tap the power of the subconscious mind • develop your innate intuitive abilities As Andersen puts it, this book is “aimed at revealing to you your power over all things. You will learn that there is only one mover in all creation, and that mover is thought.”

Download or read book Ordinary Magic written by John Welwood and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 1992-09-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiritual practice and meditation are often thought of as being the province of priests, monks, and nuns—those few individuals who have returned from the preoccupations of day-to-day life. This inspiring book reveals how the simple practice of mindfulness can be a magical and transformative part of anyone's daily life. Thirty-five wide-ranging essays written by well-known spiritual teachers, therapists, and creative artists show how learning to focus awareness can bring a new richness to ordinary activities; how mindfulness can heighten creative pursuits such as painting, journal writing, or playing music; how contemplative awareness enhances both physical and psychological well-being; and how meditation can contribute to better relationships with family, community, and the world at large.

Download or read book African American Religion A Very Short Introduction written by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-27 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the first African American denomination was established in Philadelphia in 1818, churches have gone beyond their role as spiritual guides in African American communities and have served as civic institutions, spaces for education, and sites for the cultivation of individuality and identities in the face of limited or non-existent freedom. In this Very Short Introduction, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. explores the history and circumstances of African American religion through three examples: conjure, African American Christianity, and African American Islam. He argues that the phrase "African American religion" is meaningful only insofar as it describes how through religion, African Americans have responded to oppressive conditions including slavery, Jim Crow apartheid, and the pervasive and institutionalized discrimination that exists today. This bold claim frames his interpretation of the historical record of the wide diversity of religious experiences in the African American community. He rejects the common tendency to racialize African American religious experiences as an inherent proclivity towards religiousness and instead focuses on how religious communities and experiences have developed in the African American community and the context in which these developments took place. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

Download or read book The Spirit of Matter written by Peter Pels and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2023-07-14 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A range of meaningful objects—exhibits of human remains or live people, fetishes, objects in a Catholic Museum, exotic photographs, commodities, and computers—demonstrate a subordinate modern consciousness about powerful objects and their ‘life’. The Spirit of Matter discusses these objects that move people emotionally but whose existence is often denied by modern wishful thinking of ‘mind over matter’. It traces this mindset back to Protestant Christian influences that were secularized in the course of modern and colonial history.

Download or read book The Fire of Aether is the all vivifying Spirit of Cosmic Matter written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2019-04-07 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part 1. Aether is the Father of the Universe and the all-vivifying Spirit of Cosmic Matter. Myths always speak to those who listen. In Kosmos there are three higher principles: Chthonia (Chaos), Æther (Zeus) and Chronos (Time). Æther is the Spirit of Cosmic Matter, represented by Zeus, Osiris, and other androgynous deities; Astral Light is their shadow on earth. Fire is the unity of Æther in its universality. But there are two Kosmic “Fires,” and a distinction is made between them in the Occult teachings. Æther and Hemera are the light of the superior and the light of the inferior or terrestrial regions. Æther–Chaos–Akasha is Deity. The Æther of the Greeks is the Akasha of the Hindus; the Ether of modern physics is one of Æther’s subdivisions on our plane. Æther and Chaos (Plato’s Mind and Matter) are the two primeval and eternal principles of the universe, utterly independent of anything else. Æther is the all-vivifying intellectual principle; Chaos, a shapeless liquid principle, without “form or sense,” from the union of which two sprung into existence the Universe the first androgynous deity — the chaotic matter becoming its body, and æther its soul. Chaos–Theos–Kosmos are aspects of the Unknown Space. Deity, in the shape of Æther–Chaos–Akasha, Soul of the Universe and noumenon of Astral Light, pervades all things. The Theurgists called it the Living Fire, and the Spirit of Light. The science of physics, and of metaphysics for that matter, know nothing of Æther. Yet Father-Æther is re-welcomed with open arms; and wedded to gravitation. Æther is the source and cause of all forces, whether cohesive, chemical, thermal, electric, or magnetic. Æther is septenary, whether Akasha is meant by the term, or its lower principle — Ether. Akasha is the Matrix of the Universe and the “Mysterium Magnum,” from which all that exists is born by separation or differentiation: it is the cause of existence; it fills the infinite Space; and is Space itself, in one sense. But as the finite within the Infinite, this light must have its shadowy side — the “Astral Light,” which is no light. Individual human beings can overpower that “fatal light” but only by the holiness of their lives, and by acts of kindness and brotherly love. In Buddhism there are no compulsory beliefs. We are to believe only when the writing, doctrine, or teaching is corroborated by our own reason and consciousness. But then, we have to act accordingly and abundantly. Nihil is synonym for the impersonal divine Principle, the Infinite All, which is neither “being” nor “thing.” It is the Parabrahman of the Vedantist, The One Life of the Buddhist, “That” of the Chhandogya Upanishad, the Ain-Soph of the Kabbalah, The Absolute of Hegel. Lord Buddha taught that the Primitive Substance is eternal and unchangeable. Its vehicle is the pure, luminous Æther, boundless, infinite Space — still a creation of maya. Mastery of Buddhist dogmas can be attained only by following the Platonic deductive method, i.e., proceeding from universals to particulars. In Buddhist philosophy annihilation implies only a dispersion of matter in whatever form or semblance of form it may be. Even our astral bodies, pure ether, are but illusions of matter, so long as they retain their terrestrial outline. Æther is incorruptible. The spirits of creatures, who are emanations of the most sublimated portions of Æther, are Breaths not forms. The body of Jesus was abandoned to the earth while Christos, the Inner Man, was clothed with a luminous body made up of Æther. Part 2. Ether is the Mother of differentiated matter vivified by the formless Fire of Aether. When we recall pictures from the ether, the returning current meeting the outgoing wave of crystallised sound takes it up by magnetic attraction, and returns to us simultaneously the images of the past and the vibrations of its sounds. Each particle of matter is the register of all that has happened and previsionally apprehends even unspoken thought which, once conceived, displaces the particles of the brain by setting them in motion, and scatters its ideas throughout the universe, thus impressing them indelibly upon the eternal and boundless expanse of ether. The Divine Intellect is veiled in man. His animal brain alone philosophizes. When “astral light” circulates in harmony with the divine spirit, the occult powers of plants, animals, and minerals magically sympathize with the “superior natures,” and the divine soul of man attunes with the “inferior” ones. But during the barren periods, the latter lose their magic sympathy, and the spiritual sight of the majority of mankind is so blinded as to lose every notion of the innate powers of its divine lineage and essence. Spirit is the personal god of each mortal and his only divine element. The dual soul, on the contrary, is semidivine, i.e., potentially divine. It is only when the human individuality, soiled with earthly impurities, overcomes separateness and identifies itself with the divine intelligence within, that the aroma of personal experience can become immortal. Although invisible, thought is a material force. Let the least cerebral motion reverberate in the Ether of Space and it will produce a disturbance reaching to infinity. Akasha is not the Holy Ghost, because it would then be Shekh?nah (M?laprakriti). Akasha is the noumenon of the Cosmic Septenary, whose soul is Ether. Ether is the lining of Akasha, and Akasha is the Anima Mundi and Mother of Kosmos. Akasha, whose lowest form is the Ether of Space, is entirely different from the medium of Science. Fire is the Spirit of Deity, the active, male, generative principle; and Ether, the Soul of Matter, is the light of the Fire, the passive female principle from which everything in this Universe emanated. Hence, Ether or “Water” is Mother, and Fire is Father. Sound is the characteristic of Akasha (Ether): it generates air, the property of which is touch, and which, by friction, generates colour and light. The ether of Science is the grossest manifestation of Akasha, though on our plane, it is the seventh principle of the astral light, and three degrees higher than “radiant matter.” When ether penetrates or informs something, it may be molecular because it takes on the form of the latter, and its atoms inform the particles of that “something.” We may perhaps call matter “crystallised ether.” There is no such things as light, heat, sound, or electricity. There is nothing but radiant energy due to one thing — Motion of Ether. Modern Science may divide its hypothetically conceived ether in as many ways as it likes; the real Ether of Space, i.e., Æther, will remain as it is throughout. Ether is the vibrating sound-board in Nature, in all of her seven differentiations. Where there was no Ether there would be no sound. The “Astral Light,” or Ether of Space, preserves the images of all beings and things on its sensitised waves. An occult explanation of “Spirit” photographs is that they are objective copies from subjective photographs impressed upon the ether, and constantly thrown out by our thoughts, words, and deeds. There exists an infinite ocean of ether, in which all material substance floats, and through which are transmitted all forces in the physical universe. So long as “Spirit” photography, instead of being regarded a science, is presented to the public as a new revelation from the God of Israel and Jacob, the jury will go on deliberating much longer. The mediumistic rapping is a correlation of vital force, emitted from the person of the rapper, with the potential energy of the ether. Cyprianus, the reformed sorcerer of Antioch, confessed that he knew of the Chaldæan division of ether into parts. Part 3. The Seven Cosmic Elements, with their numberless sub-Elements, are modifications of One Element. There is but One Element in Nature, and at its rootless root is Deity. The so-called Seven Elements, of which five have already manifested and asserted their existence, are the fabric veiling Deity. Father-Æther has pre-eminence over, and is the synthesis of, all elements. Chaos-Theos-Kosmos is Unknown Space, producing the four primary Elements, which are known on the terrestrial plane as Seven Cosmic Elements. The attempt to derive God from the Anglo-Saxon word “good” is an abandoned idea. God is Jod, a phallic hook. He may be the creator of physical man, “out of nothing,” but not the spark of divine intelligence that “fell” in order to make animal man divine. The Seven “immortal gods who give birth and life to all” are constantly forming matter under the never-ceasing impulse of the One Element. The Seven Cosmic Elements, with their numberless sub-Elements, are modifications and aspects of the One and only Element. Four are entirely physical, and the fifth (Ether) semi-material. Akasha, of which Ether is the grossest form, is the Fifth Cosmic Principle which corresponds to, and from which unfolds, the human Manas. The first four numbers in German are named after four elements. But the Ancients represented the world by five elements. Had they been ignorant of the heterogeneity of the elements they would have had no personifications of Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and Æther. Of the Seven Elements on our Earth, four are now fully manifested, while the fifth — Ether — is only partially so, as we are hardly in the second half of the Fourth Round and, consequently, the Fifth Element will manifest fully only in the Fifth Round. It will only be in the next, or Fifth Round, that Ether, the gross body of Akasha, will become a familiar fact of Nature to all men, as air is familiar to us now. Cosmic Elements are the noumena of the terrestrial elements. “Water” is Matter in its precosmic state. Ether contains all other states of matter and their properties. The “waters” of creation are not the liquid we know, but Æther — the Fiery Waters of Invisible Space. Fohat is the “Son of Æther,” in its highest aspect. From Mahat-Intelligence proceeds ether; from ether, air; from air, heat; from heat, water; and from water, earth with everything on her. Æther is universal Fire — imponderable power and potency. Ether is one of Seven Cosmic Principles. Akasha is the synthesis of Æther; and Ether, an aspect of Akasha. The Astral Light is no “light,” it is the dark side of Ether, teeming with conscious, semi-conscious, and unconscious entities.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Spirits written by Judika Illes and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-09-14 with total page 1076 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enter the World of Spirits! The Encyclopedia of Spirits is a comprehensive and entertaining A to Z of spirits from around this world and the next. Within these pages meet love goddesses and disease demons, guardians of children and guardians of cadavers. Discover Celtic goddesses and goddesses of the Kabbalah, female Buddhas, African Powers, Dragon Ladies, White Ladies, Black Madonnas, the Green Man, the Green Fairy, lots and lots of ghosts, djinn, mermaids, fairies, and more. From the beneficent to the mischievous, working with these spirits can bring good fortune, lasting love, health, fertility, revenge, and relief. Discover: The true identities of over one thousand spirits (as well as their likes and dislikes) How to communicate with specific spirits for your own benefit How to recognize these spirits when they manifest themselves The mythological and historical events associated with specific spirits The colors, days, numbers, and astrological signs associated with specific spirits The Encyclopedia of Spirits also provides an overview of the role of spirit communication throughout history and a general guide to working with spirits. No matter what your life's problems or desires, this book can guide you to the right spirits who can help fulfill your dreams. For the spiritual adept, the amateur, or the simply curious, the Encyclopedia of Spirits will inform, inspire, and delight.