Saturday, 23. February 2008
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Tantric Sex

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What exactly is tantric sex? This book explains the way of life the ancients knew and that we are rediscovering. People may be drawn to tantric practices hoping to enhance their sexual satisfaction. But Tantra is much more than a sexual teaching. Tantric practice can transform every aspect of your life, helping you to expand your physical health and vitality, emotional healing and expression, psychic sensitivity, satisfying relationships, creativity, and productivity.

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This book is written in a very clear, detailed and simple manner, so that everyone will understand what 'tantric sex' implies and what it means to live blissfully. You will learn about the different needs you and your partner have and know how to satisfy them. You will be given ideas and tips about how to improve communication and how to make your relationship grow and become 'one' with your partner.

You will find out that sex comes first from the heart and not from our hormones. It will teach us how to make love from our hearts. It will make you realise that sexuality and spirituality are linked.


Complete Idiot's Guide to Tantric Sex by Dr. Judy Kuriansky.
Alpha, 2002 | 374 pages | PDF | 7.7 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | Tantra & Kamasutra |




Saturday, 16. February 2008
Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Alternative Medicine

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The world of alternative medicine can be a confusing place - there are so many different practices all claiming success for improved health. This book guides you through the hype to the heart of alternative therapy, helping you discover which alternative is right for you. It is an easy-to-follow comprehensive resource, covering therapies as diverse as Chinese medicine, aromatherapy, massage, biofeedback, dream study, herbal remedies, meditation, Ayuredic medicine, homeopathy, yoga, prayer, and much more.


The guide begins with the basics, covering the benefits of each therapy as well as things to watch out for. You then learn how to find a qualified practitioner, how diagnoses are made in each field, and what treatments work best for which ailments. The author also spells out how various therapies are used in conjunction with traditional Western medical treatment in complementary medicine.

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Alternative Medicine by Karen Fontaine
Que, 1 edition, 2004 | 384 pages | PDF | 2,2 MB
Category: Body & Health | Books & Magazines |




Saturday, 09. February 2008
26 Secrets from the Orient - Feng Shui

Introduction: Although Feng has been practiced in the Eastern hemisphere for thousands of years, it is relatively new to western civilization. Feng Shui may seem mysterious and foreign to our western culture, but it is actually a very sensible collection of ideas and actions.

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Once you understand its principles, you will be able to produce harmony, comfort and balance in almost any situation or environment.

26 Secrets has been put together to simplify Feng Shui so that everyone can understand and work with its principles to balance their lives and make way for more money, love, health and happiness. Some of these tips will help bring these things to you, while others will make it easier to hold on to money, romance and health once they’re in your hands.

When you energize the various parts of your home, your life will improve and you will start to attract more abundance and happiness.


Begin to think of balance in all things. For example, you must activate your career and benefactor sections so that you can be a magnet for exposure to opportunities and people who will help you get ahead. It will be easier for you to invite wealth when you have a happy love life. And if you are loved, you are more likely to stay healthy and attain the kind of wealth that stays with you.

Before you begin, critically evaluate all areas of your home, examining each and every room inside as well as outside of the house.
Knowing your Kua number will help you better understand your element, your best colors and your best directions for improving your life. These are all tools to help you attain your goals.

26 Secrets from the Orient - Feng Shui by Eloise Helm
Aquarian Publications, 2002 | 54 pages | PDF | 1.9 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | Energy & Light |


Psychedelic Shamanism

This book is a bona fide classic of psychedelic literature. It separates its subject into two parts: The Shamanic Hypothesis, and Psychedelic Catalysts. The first part focuses on experience; the second on the plants, their psychedelic chemicals, and how to grow and ingest them. The writing is calm, clear and vivid; and the various warnings and advice given should be taken very seriously indeed.

Here's a brief quote from the "Extraction Prodedures" chapter:

"In most aboriginal cultures, the extraction process for psychedelic plants is quite simple; as often as not, the shaman just boils down the raw materials in a pot and then drinks the concentrated brew.

We come from a different tradition with different beliefs and expectations. For one thing, our 'civilized' tastes have been refined to the point where we have difficulty in ingesting anything we perceive as bitter or repulsive -- this, unfortunately, applies to most psychoactive botanicals.

I know of no plant hallucinogen that actually tastes good, which I would want to eat even if it weren't a psychedelic.

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Westerners generally prefer pure compounds in the form of pills or capsules that can be easily swallowed, an efficiency which makes up in acceleration what it loses in verisimilitude."

Psychedelic Shamanism: The Cultivation, Preparation & Shamanic Use of Psychoactive Plants by Jim DeKorne.
Loompanics Unlimited, 1994-05 | 155 pages | PDF | 3.5 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | Ethno & Shamanism | Lunacy & Psychedelic |


Monday, 04. February 2008
Esoterica - The Journal

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Esoterica - The Journal of esoteric studies by Collge of Arts and Letters - Michigan State University.

Our primary emphasis in Esoterica is the scholarly investigation of esoteric spiritual traditions, with a special emphasis on Western esotericism. Western esoteric traditions are of a remarkable variety, ranging from Gnosticism and Hermeticism to alchemy, magic, Christian mysticism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, and other secret or semi-secret societies. Investigation in this field is by nature transdisciplinary, drawing upon such diverse disciplines as history, religious studies, and literature, without belonging solely to any of these.

Category: Books & Magazines | Mystics & Alchemy |


Saturday, 02. February 2008
The Secret Life of Nature

If you don't believe in fairies, this startling book by Peter Tompkins, author of the New York Times number one bestseller 'The Secret Life of Plants' (1989), will convince you otherwise.

Peter Tompkins uncovers the history, past mystical organizations (as well as current ones), mystics, scientists and others and then factually pieces together the existence of this hidden worldaround us. This book is out of print and is not available at the bookstores in the U.S. I might concur with the prior reviewer that the material was before its time.

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There's more to nature than green leaves and twittering birds: it's a world that only the gifted and dedicated observer can see, using techniques of the mind that transcend the limits of the five senses, much as the scientist peers into the subatomic world with supercolliders and electron microscopes.

Talented clairvoyants describe devas, elves, gnomes, fairies, sea nymphs, sylphs, and other beings that live in air, water, fire, and the earth. Going beyond the usual fairy dialogue, Tompkins also draws fascinating connections between the natural world and the Kabbalah Tree of Life, the astral and etheric body, angels, and other esoteric mysteries.


Going beyond the boundaries of typical pro-environmental propaganda, The Secret Life of Nature is more than a plea to save the planet; it will change the way you see the world.

The Secret Life of Nature: Living in Harmony With the Hidden World of Nature Spirits from Fairies to Quarks by Peter Tompkins.
HarperOne; 1st ed edition, 1997 | 240 pages | PDF | 3.5 MB
For the open-minded reader!
Nature People are most definitely real. And, they have purpose and meaning to our lives. They can, too, contribute significantly to our well-being. Give this book of Peter Tompkin's a chance, and try and understand the deeper Theosophical concepts he may employ.
Category: Books & Magazines | Faeries & Nature Spirits |


The Ritual Magic Workbook

The Ritual Magic Workbook offers the reader a structured and highly practical twelve-month introduction to ritual magic.
A must have for beginners and experts alike.

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, a founding member and former Director of Studies for the Servants of the Light (a well known occult school), has been a practicing occultist for more than 30 years. This 1998 Weiser edition is a reissue of a work originally published in 1986 by the Aquarian Press in England.

The book's self-paced course is designed specifically for the solitary student, although a number of rituals may be undertaken with a small group. Ashcroft-Nowicki offers the student a solid, sensible-and sometimes quirkily humorous-
introduction to magic. She focuses on real magic; magic as a path of spiritual development. She encourages the student to examine the 'why' as well as the 'how' of magic.

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Yet the 'how' she provides is extensive: from what to wear and how to prepare and consecrate the temple, to a series of exercises, meditations, and rituals designed to open the magical world to the student.

While not all occultists will agree with everything Ashcroft-Nowicki has to say, The Ritual Magic Workbook offers a good introduction to the subject and is recommended to the interested student.

The Ritual Magic Workbook: A Practical Course of Self-Initiation
by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki.
Red Wheel/Weiser, 1998 | 256 pages | PDF | 2.8 MB
I enjoyed it for the detail about the making of the implements and the temple. So it's practical, as described, but a fuller self-initiation requires several other books and thus the suggested readings at the ends of each chapter.

If you want to put your hands to meditative use so you are well-grounded for further explorations, then this is a marvelous introductory book.
Category: Books & Magazines | Magick & Witchcraft |


Saturday, 26. January 2008
Be Your Own Doctor with Foot Reflexology

Like Acupuncture or Acupressure, Reflexology is a science of stimulating specific points on the surface of the body (e.g., on soles), which have a correspondence or a link with the internal organs.

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However, unlike Acupuncture, no needles or special instruments are required.

You can treat yourself in your own home, at any convenient time.


  • Are you tired of medicines?
  • Do you wish to treat minor ailments yourself?
  • Do you lack drive and vitality?
  • Do you feel tired all the time?
  • Do you frequently take ill?
  • Do you wish to retain youthfulness forever?
  • Do you want to increase your sexual power?

Then turn to Reflexology. The book gives laymen and professionals alike, a step by step guidance of pressure therapy to preserve health, alleviate pain and control/cure diseases.


Be Your Own Doctor with Foot Reflexology
by Dr. Dhiren Gala, Dr D.R. Gala, Dr. Sanjay Gala.
Navneet Publication, 2005 | 140 pages | PDF | 16.2 MB


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Category: Body & Health | Books & Magazines |


Awakening the Third Eye

A step by step method to awaken the third eye and engage spiritual vision. A manual packed with practical information and techniques on clairvoyance, dowsing land energies, psychic sleep, perceiving acupuncture meridians, psychic protection and grounding. The book also presents a number of fundamental principles of the Clairvision work.

Introduction:
This book describes a systematic process to open the third eye.
It has been written for those who cannot be satisfied with only an intellectual understanding of spiritual realities and who wish to gain access to direct experience. The development of spiritual vision requires the patient building of some new ‘organs’ of energy, of which the third eye is an essential member. These new structures are not physical, nevertheless they are very real and tangible. Once fully developed, the perceptions coming through them appear clearer, sharper and far more substantial than those coming from the physical senses.
A number of techniques will be described which aim at a methodical cultivation of this new form of perception.

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Awakening the Third Eye by Samuel Sagan.
Clairvision, 2007 | 290 pages | PDF | 1.5 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | Meditation & Mind |


Monday, 14. January 2008
The Illustrated History of Buddhism

Two examples:

16. The Buddha preaching the sermon "the wheel of law"
to the "Band of five disciples":


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Soon after the birth of the Future Buddha, eight Brahmin fortune-tellers, observed the marks and characteristics of the Future Buddha's person. Five of these Brahmins interpreted that prince Siddhattha would unquestionably become a Buddha and with that belief, had already become ascetics. When Siddhattaha retired from the world, they attended to his personal needs. Then seeing that the Future Buddha had given up extreme asceticism and gone back to the usual way of taking ordinary material food, they doubted if he would ever become a Buddha, and deserted him.


49. The blessed one taming Nalagiri elephant which was sent to crush him:

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After the death of King Bimbisara, Devadatta made several attempts to kill the Buddha, but he was not successful. So he went to the elephant-keepers and said to them. "Venerable Theras like us who are recognized by the King can use our influence to get you promotion in your service. Therefore, you had better carry out my instructions. If the Venerable Gotama should pass this way, set the full grown male elephant, Nalagiri, upon Him".

The Illustrated History of Buddhism - 65 pictures with description.
Author: Ashin Janakabhivamsa; Artist: U Ba Kyi; 1951.

Notice: Refers to the Theravada Buddhism as practised in Myanmar (Burma).
Category: Books & Magazines | Religion & Early Cultures |


Saturday, 12. January 2008
YOU: The Owner’s Manual

If there ever was a pair of docs who can make the small intestine seem truly intriguing, here they are. Dr. Mehmet Oz is an alternative-medicine maverick and a cardiologist known to implement acupuncture during open-heart surgery. Dr. Michael Roizen developed the RealAge concept of calculating one's biological, as opposed to chronological, age. Here they've whipped up a witty guide to the workings of the entire body, appropriate not just for those who can't tell their pancreas from their pituitary.

In short, just a very fun and informative book with several worthy goals. For one, it educates your average person in the inner workings of the human body. It does this quite entertainingly through frequent quizzes, trivia, facts, and interesting pictures - for instance the authors use some nice elf cartoons.

Additionally, the book also gives one many helpful tips on how to keep their body running smoother. Especially middle-agers like me who want to learn more about how their bodies work so they can keep it running smoothly in the years to come.

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YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger by Michael F Roizen & Mehmet Oz
Harper Collins, 2005 | 435 Pages | PDF | 8,9 MB

I wish you good health and happy reading!

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Related Entry:
Heart and Soul: The Integrative Medicine of Dr. Mehmet Oz
Category: Body & Health | Books & Magazines |


How to Be Happy at Work

Everyone has the power to control their own destiny in their jobs, careers and life. The author explains this so well. Whatever your age, whatever your job is - recommended!

From the book:

"In what many people call 'the real world,' it’s assumed that financial success is the key ingredient to satisfaction. I question this assumption. Although economic security settles the mind and can even quiet the soul, money alone can’t create deep career fulfillment.
To be deeply fulfilled through work, you must integrate your financial needs and goals with your spiritual desires.

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I use the word 'spiritual' cautiously, knowing that it’s often equated with religion. What I have in mind is a more secular spirituality that doesn’t call forth visions of God in the workplace. Derived from the Latin word spiritus, which means 'breath,' spirituality, in this sense, refers to those animating life principles that enable you to feel most completely alive.
When you bring energy, enthusiasm, and passion to your work, you infuse your livelihood with a vitality that drives away boredom. Add creativity, growth, meaning, and service, and you’ll find that alienation will disappear, too. By adding depth to your work, you can soar to greater heights."



Hirsch is the founder of a career and psychological counseling company in Chicago and a senior lecturer at Northwestern University.

Part 1 introduces a number of psychological challenges that need to be addressed and resolved, including the need to create a personal life agenda and timetable. Part 2 discusses some of the difficult organizational realities that have evolved over the last decade, including the loss of job security. Part 3 explores alternative work styles and schedules to increase autonomy and enhance the quality of life. There are chapters on midlife career transitions, achieving career security, business ethics, quitting a job, balancing work and personal life, and starting a business.

How to Be Happy at Work: A Practical Guide to Career Satisfaction
by Arlene S. Hirsch
Jist Publishing; 2nd edition, 2003 | 305 pages | PDF | 2.4 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | Meditation & Mind |


Saturday, 05. January 2008
Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils

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Alchemical, astrological, and medical-chemical (chemiatric) texts are notoriously difficult and often made completely inaccessible through interlarding with "occult" ciphers. These are "sigils" that are neither abbreviations nor hieroglyphic symbols, but belong to a category of their own. They were probably meant to exclude the profane reader or else to place on record an imagined discovery or new recipe for transmutation without giving the secret away. Some of the sigils are consistent and what they stand for has been known for a long time in a well-established tradition. However, there are innumerable variants and problems of deciphering that remain.


A historical and graphical basis of the sigils can be found in various archetypal alphabets, notably those related to ancient Hebrew scripts and the extant "secret" alphabets that are derived from them.

It falls into two main parts, first the Lexicon proper with its 1500 subject-entries and pictographs in alphabetical order, and second an index of sigils for their identification by counting strokes (1-5) and recognizing curvings and additional circles. (from the review by Walter Pagel)

Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils by Fred Gettings.
Viking Pr, 1981 | 410 pages | PDF | 29,7 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | Lexica & Overviews | Symbols & Geometry |


Saturday, 22. December 2007
Living in the Light: A Guide to Personal and Planetary

Shakti Gawain is a pioneer in the field of personal development. For over twenty-five years, she has been a best-selling author and internationally renowned teacher of consciousness. The first book I read was 'Creative Visualization', followed by 'Living in the Light'.

This is an updated New Age classic and a good handbook for those starting their deeper spiritual journey. Well written and easy to understand.

Self-knowledge is vital to success in life and this book helps you begin to learn who you are, truly. Not who you think you are.

She explains our role as channels of energy, and our job is to allow this energy to flow freely through us into the world for positive change. She demonstrates how problems can result from blocking this flow, and shows how dissolving blockages through meditation and other methods can heal and empower us. The book is divided into background theory and practical application.

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Part One describes a set of principles, including:
  • A New Way of Life
  • The Higher Power Within Us
  • Intuition
  • Becoming a Creative Channel
  • Exploring Our Many Selves
  • The World As Our Mirror
  • Spirit And Form
  • The Male And Female Within, and Men And Woman
  • East And West: A New Challenge.


Part Two describes living the principles, including:
  • Trusting Intuition
  • Feelings
  • Balancing Being and Doing
  • Authoritarian and Rebel
  • Relationships
  • Our Children
  • Work and Play
  • Money
  • Heath
  • Your Perfect Body
  • Life and Death
  • Transforming Our World, and A Vision

Shakti's writing style provides a nice blend of ideas, personal experiences, meditations, and exercises. I especially like her call for acceptance and balance in dealing with seeming contradictions in our nature. Much of what she describes I can see in myself and in others. I recommend reading the book to see if there is something of value to you in 'Living in the Light'.

Living in the Light: A Guide to Personal and Planetary Transformation
by Shakti Gawain
New World Library, 1998 (Revised Edition) | 224 pages | PDF | 2,8 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | New Age & New Religion |


Life on the Other Side: A Psychic’s Tour of the Afterlife

Perhaps the greatest question ever asked is "What happens after we die?" Every human being eventually deals with this question and ponders the mysterious answer. But, until it's our turn to travel to the Other Side, we can't know what we will find. Or can we?

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The entire first chapter details the life of world-famous psychic and New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Browne, also the lives of her ancestors as they relate to the spirit world. She goes into detail about HOW she knows what she knows. Sylvia writes, that through this book she is acting as our "psychic travel agent" answering the five basic questions, "How do I get there?", "What does it look like?", "What are the local (people) like?", "What is there to do?" and "How exactly do I get back". Things that most of us would be "dying" to know.

There's an awful lot of "facts" she provides for us to consider. She believes that "The Other Side" is Home, where we all came from and where we will all go again, and that we carry very real memories of it in our spirit minds.


Whether or not you end up believing what she writes, you can't help but come away with food for thought. Most interesting! It left me with a peaceful feeling about the hereafter.

Take a comprehensive "tour" of the afterlife, includes:

  • how spirit guides and angels "talk" to us daily
  • the truth about ghosts and hauntings
  • solving "unsolvable" missing persons cases
  • how psychic energy can keep people healthy and improve relationships
  • why we shouldn't fear aging and death
  • must-read predictions for the new millennium
  • and more


Life on the Other Side: A Psychic's Tour of the Afterlife by Sylvia Browne & Lindsay Harrison
Publisher: Signet, 2001 | 270 Pages | PDF | 1,1 MB


Links:
Official
Sylvia Browne official website
The Society Of Novus Spiritus - Browne's church
Sylvia Brown's Online Talk Show at HayHouseradio. Next show 'Mystical Travelers' on Sunday, December 23, 2007. Free registration required.

Critical
Stop Sylvia Browne - a site critical of Sylvia Browne
King of the Paranormal by Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Sylvia Browne Clock by James Randi from James Randi Educational Foundation.
Her biggest opponent.

Transcripts
Official transcript: Are Psychics Real?, Larry King Live, September 3, 2001.
(Browne and James Randi)
Official transcript: Are Psychics for Real?, Larry King Live, March 6, 2001.
(Browne and John Edward)
Official transcript: Psychic Powers Debunked in Shawn Hornbeck Case, Anderson Cooper, January 19, 2007. (Browne's manager and Randi)
Official transcript: Psychic Psychic Reality Check, Anderson Cooper,
January 30, 2007. (Browne's manager and Randi)
Category: Books & Magazines | Incarnation & Death | People & Organisations |


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