This book provides a nuanced picture of the notions of body and soul held by the peoples of Europe through the soul concepts associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition and other religions and denominations; and the alternative traditions preserved alongside Christianity in folklore collections, linguistic and literary records. The studies also emphasize the connections between these notions and beliefs related to death and the dead, as well as questions of communication between the human world and the spirit world. The essays here focus on the roles notions of the soul and the spirit world play in the everyday life, religion and mentality of various communities; their folklore and literary representations, as well as the narrative metaphors, motifs, topoi and genres of ideas about the soul and about supernatural communication, along with questions of the relationship between narratives and religious notions. This book will appeal to researchers and students of religion, mythology, folklore and the anthropology of religion, as well as general readers interested in the humanities.

Focuses on the problem of communication with the other world: the phenomenon of spirit possession and its changing historical interpretations, the imaginary schemes elaborated for giving accounts of the journeys to the other world, for communicating with the dead, and finally the historical archetypes of this kind of religious manifestation—trance prophecy, divination, and shamanism.Recognized historians and ethnologists analyze the relationship, coexistence and conflicts of popular belief systems, Judeo-Christian mythology and demonology in medieval and modern Europe. The essays address links between rites and beliefs, folklore and literature; the legacy of various pre-Christian mythologies; the syncretic forms of ancient, medieval and modern belief- and rite-systems; "pure" examples from religious-ethnological research outside Europe to elucidate European problems.

Bring Your Unconscious Powers into the Conscious Mind and Make a Life of Greater Success and Happiness Master the Tools of Psychic Empowerment and Self-Knowledge Become more than you are Spiritual communication is no longer a passive state of waiting to hear the spirits speak through a medium or channel. Discover how to manifest an active state of consciousness and create direct communication with specific spirits and spiritual entities. This is a do-it-yourself book, personal and individual, so you no longer have to depend on groups and institutions for power or authority. With clear and precise instructions, Communicating with Spirit shows you how to return Spirit to your inner self, open the doors to communication at the spiritual levels, and extend perception from material limitations toward the inclusiveness of higher-dimensional awareness. Explore yourself and the world of spirit—the answers come from within.

Have you ever asked yourself what changed when you were "born again?" You look in the mirror and see the same reflection - your body hasn't changed. You find yourself acting the same and yielding to those same old temptations - that didn't seem to change either. So you wonder, Has anything really changed? The correct answer to that question is foundational for receiving from God. If you lack this basic understanding, you'll forever ask yourself doubt-filled questions like: "How could God love somebody like me?" and "How can I possibly expect to receive anything from the Lord? I don't deserve it, I'm not good enough!" Spirit, Soul, and Body will help you eliminate those and other doubt-filled questions that destroy your faith. If you have trouble receiving from God, this is a must-read!

Jan Snedeker is "The Cadet", the European term for a younger brother. Younger brothers do not inherit, and are expected to make their own way in the world. The early~16OO's are a harsh and unsettled time. Alone, penniless, and with only his prized musket, Jan travels to Amsterdam. An act of incredible bravery gains him a powerful ally, opening his future to new horizons. Jan lives through the shattering events of the time, serving in the Amsterdam as a combination soldier and fireman, and falling in love with a delicate beauty. His further courageous feats as a militiaman launch him and his new family on a dramatic journey across the Atlantic Ocean. His metal is proven time and again as a landed colonist in the struggling colony of New Amsterdam, as he combats Indians, hardships, and inept colony governors to carve out a legacy that lasts to this very day. The chronicle of his bravery, humor, and industry sets the standard for the name that begins with him. Although written in the form of a novel, all of the characters actually existed, and the events depicted are factual.

Discusses different aspects of beliefs about life after death, including theories about the afterlife in modern cultures, communication with the dead, miracles, ghost hunting techniques, and near-death experiences.

You’re no idiot, of course. You know life is a journey and that physical birth and death are its points of transition. Many people, across cultures and faiths, believe the spirit lives on—and have experienced contact with the spirits of loved ones who have passed to the higher side. This contact is joyous, comforting, and healing—but you wonder if it’s really real and whether you can share in it, too. Don’t give up the spirit! The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Communicating with Spirits will show you exactly how to uncover your own mediumistic capabilities and connect with those no longer on the earth plane. In this Complete Idiot’s Guide®, you get: --Tips on how to connect with your personal divine energy through prayer, meditation, and dreams. --Information on the birth of the human soul—as perceived through theological, metaphysical, and spiritual viewpoints. --Exercises to help you develop your mediumistic abilities. --Tangible evidence of the continuity of life as presented through the experiences and spirit drawings of medium Rita S. Berkowitz.

Never say die! Can the living communicate with the dead? Many believe that spirits are constantly about us and that it is possible, through a variety of means, to speak to them and to have them speak to us. The Spirit Book: The Encyclopedia of Clairvoyance, Channeling, and Spirit Communication looks at these methods of communication, their history, and the personalities involved throughout the past three hundred years of this eternal quest. The fascinating history of Spiritualism is coaxed into the material realm as the object of this perceptive and sweeping overview by that legendary author of the occult and supernatural, Raymond Buckland. Drawing on decades of research, writing, and transcendence, he describes sundry methods of channeling, events associated with Spiritualism, including séances and exorcism, organizations focused on clairvoyance, and a colorful host of mortals—famous and infamous—who delved into Spiritualism. Nostradamus, Helena Blavatsky, and Edgar Cayce receive their due, as well as Joan of Arc, William Blake, Susan B. Anthony, Winston Churchill, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mahatma Gandhi, Harry Houdini, and Mae West (look up and see her sometime). The Spirit Book explores Qabbalah, Sibyls, Fairies, Poltergeists; phenomena such as intuition and karma; objects useful in the attempt to cross the divide, including tarot cards, flower reading, and runes; and related practices such as Shamanism, transfiguration, meditation, and mesmerism. This comprehensive reference also reports on investigations of contemporary manifestations, including electronic voice phenomena and spirit appearances on TV screens, plus channeling, fraud, psychic research, and possession. Containing more than 500 entries and 100 illustrations, this fun, fact-filled tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.

Possession, a seemingly irrational phenomenon, has posed challenges to generations of scholars rooted in Western notions of body-soul dualism, self and personhood, and a whole set of presuppositions inherited from Christian models of possession that was “good” or “bad.” The authors of the essays in this book present a new and more promising approach. They conceive spirit possession as a form of communication, of expressivity, of culturally defined behavior that should be understood in the context of local, vernacular theories and empiric reflections. With the aim of reformulating the comparative anthropology of spirit possession, the editors have opened corridors between previously separate areas of research. Together, anthropologists and historians working on several historical periods and in different European, African, South American, and Asian cultural areas attempt to redefine the very concept of possession, freeing it from the Western notion of the self and more clearly delineating it from related matters such as witchcraft, devotion, or mysticism. The book also provides an overview of new research directions, including novel methods of participant observation and approaches to spirit possession as indigenous historiography