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"In this series of fascinating and profound conversations, clinical psychologist Robert J. Faas and author Arthur Versluis discuss how to deepen your spiritual life in the midst of challenging and even apocalyptic times. In this remarkable book, they discuss the hidden inner riches of mystical Christianity and disclose for the first time in accessible, clear language the secret alchemical path of transmutation embedded in the Grail cycle and in the mysteries of the Western tradition. This book is meant for the spiritual seeker who knows there must be more to life than what we are usually told. In an age of distraction and confusion, what is our path forward to a more meaningful and fulfilled life? To that question this book provides answers"--

Step into the Elizabethan world of the extraordinary Giordano Bruno: a philosopher, a magician, a professor, a spy, an initiate in a pan-European secret society. In this vivid novel, meet kings and queens, court alchemists, great playwrights, scoundrels, and come to know the greatest minds of the Western European Renaissance. Engage with the esoteric spiritual practices of the art of memory, visualization, and mysticism. Enter into the secret societies that sought to bring about a new culture and a new society. Award-winning, The Ash Wednesday Supper brings this remarkable era to life and illuminates how to live in integrity in our own.Winner of the Hopwood Award for Fiction"Enchanting and original."-John Michell, author of The View Over Atlantis and many other books."This is a deeply serious and complicated novel at the level of ideas and demands a similar commitment from the reader. But the reader who persists finds himself immersed in a period and world of rapidly increasing fascinations, both human and private, and political and theological. The end came with all the force of fate, and for the writer to make history appear inevitable once again in fiction suggests the kind of obsession and constancy to the subject out of which comes the kind of writing we all care about most-or should."-Alan Cheuse, National Public Radio"Ash Wednesday Supper offers us a glimpse into a way of understanding that eludes us today-in this novel, Versluis reveals the intellect universalized as a mode of being for our time. Thoroughly recommended."-James Cowan, author of Fleeing Herod and The Deposition, winner of the Australian Gold Medal for Literature

John Pordage (1608-1681), the most remarkable of all English mystics and leader of a school of Christian theosophy, wrote in journal form this extraordinary treatise on the figure of Sophia, divine wisdom. This is the first volume in a series of Pordage's works, brought back into English and published now in his native language for the first time. For those interested in the inner life, mystical practice, and visionary experience, Pordage is a seminal figure and guide,and this volume is essential reading.

These short fictions by renowned Australian author James Cowan, winner of the Australian Gold Medal for Fiction, offer the reader a remarkable flight to places that defy time. They deal with circumstances and events that lie beyond the scope of normal events. Is there a relationship between the fantastic and the real? Whether one is taking a voyage around the bowl of a pipe, or engaging with the magical properties of an elephant, the reader is encouraged to project himself into a state of mind where his own objectivity is questioned. A letter from Abelard to his true love Heloise, a man who becomes a fish, a journey among lost souls, or an encounter with headhunters in the jungle, these are but a few of the incidents that the author asks us to experience. In doing so, omen birds and anchorites appear to participate in a reality filled with portents and wonders. _A Voyage Around My Pipe_ is more than a match for how we see things. The reader is about to take an unforgettable ride to a place where the imagination is released from the constraints of established forms. In so doing, each story becomes a perfect antidote to what he or she considers to be real. "Find yourself a secluded garden alcove, a bottle of red and some crusty bread, and become engrossed." -Diana Ward "A writer to rival Eco..." -Mary Ryan

This is not just another book, so much as a new way of seeing the world and our way of being in it. Groundbreaking, and profoundly optimistic, this is the only book to investigate how mysticism can inspire cultural and political renewal. At heart, _The Mystical State_ looks toward the future, toward what is possible on the other side of the difficult times that confront us, and how we can envision and encourage cultural emergence. In _The Mystical State_, Arthur Versluis delves into the origins of modernity and what led to the crises of our time. But he also looks to the future, and in particular, to how spirituality can inform cultural and political life in new and illuminating ways. "Arthur Versluis¿s _The Mystical State: Politics, Gnosis and Emergent Cultures_, asks a question long overdue in the study of mysticism: what are the political implications of direct mystical experience and thinking? His analysis ranges freely over both ancient and modern thought and experience. His focus on Western thought, ancient and modern, is a welcome respite from the tendency to focus on Eastern meditation and philosophy among scholars of mysticism. His exploration of the marginalized is especially important. And by focusing on ¿the road not taken¿ when Gnosticism was repudiated long ago, he dares to imagine what a new culture and state that¿s centered on the mystical might look like: the end of gigantism, the re-framing of life and value, and a form of political authority centered in value. It is a courageous and thought provoking book, and should open the door to a series of questions important in our struggling world." ¿Robert K. C. Forman, author of _Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness_ and numerous other books on mysticism. ¿It's simply amazing! Each page is a feast to both my mind and soul!¿ ¿Miguel Conner, editor of _Voices of Gnosticism_ ¿A wonderful book . . . fascinating! I highly recommend that people buy it and read it as soon as possible. I can¿t say enough about it.¿ ¿William Kennedy, Sphinx Radio Praise for Other Works by Arthur Versluis: "At a time when the religions of the world are meeting on a spiritual level and in a global context, it is crucial that the Christian West rediscover its often forgotten inner or esoteric wisdom. Arthur Versluis skillfully guides the reader to recover the wide range of this rich heritage." ¿Ewart Cousins, general editor, _World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest_ "A collection of very precious clues to the sources of the Western spiritual tradition, pointing to the hidden currents both in history and in our own selves." ¿Jacob Needleman, author of _The American Soul_ and _The Heart of Philosophy_