Not only a study of texts, 'Language, Eros, Being' explores the complex gender symbolism that permeates Kabbalistic literature.

This long-awaited, magisterial study-an unparalleled blend of philosophy, poetry, and philology-draws on theories of sexuality, phenomenology, comparative religion, philological writings on Kabbalah, Russian formalism, Wittgenstein, Rosenzweig, William Blake, and the very physics of the time-space continuum to establish what will surely be a highwater mark in work on Kabbalah. Not only a study of texts, Language, Eros, Being is perhaps the fullest confrontation of the body in Jewish studies, if not in religious studies as a whole. Elliot R. Wolfson explores the complex gender symbolism that permeates Kabbalistic literature. Focusing on the nexus of asceticism and eroticism, he seeks to define the role of symbolic and poetically charged language in the erotically configured visionary imagination of the medieval Kabbalists. He demonstrates that the traditional Kabbalistic view of gender was a monolithic and androcentric one, in which the feminine was conceived as being derived from the masculine. He does not shrink from the negative implications of this doctrine, but seeks to make an honest acknowledgment of it as the first step toward the redemption of an ancient wisdom. Comparisons with other mystical traditions-including those in Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam-are a remarkable feature throughout the book. They will make it important well beyond Jewish studies, indeed, a must for historians of comparative religion, in particular of comparative mysticism. Praise for Elliot R. Wolfson: "Through a Speculum That Shines is an important and provocative contribution to the study of Jewish mysticism by one of the major scholars now working in this field."-Speculum

Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality is a controversial book that lays bare the meanings Greeks gave to sex. Contrary to the romantic idealization of sex dominating our culture, the Greeks saw eros as a powerful force of nature, potentially dangerous and in need of control by society: Eros the Destroyer, not Cupid the Insipid, is what fired the Greek imagination. The destructiveness of eros can be seen in Greek imagery and metaphor, and in their attitudes toward women and homosexuals. Images of love as fire, disease, storms, insanity, and violence—top 40 song clichés for us—locate eros among the unpredictable and deadly forces of nature. The beautiful Aphrodite embodies the alluring danger of sex, and femmes fatales like Pandora and Helen represent the risky charms of female sexuality. And homosexuality typifies for the Greeks the frightening power of an indiscriminate appetite that threatens the stability of culture itself. In Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Seualily, Bruce Thornton offers a uniquely sweeping and comprehensive account of ancient sexuality free of currently fashionable theoretical jargon and pretensions. In its conclusions the book challenges the distortions of much recent scholarship on Greek sexuality. And throughout it links the wary attitudes of the Greeks to our present-day concerns about love, sex, and family. What we see, finally, are the origins of some of our own views as well as a vision of sexuality that is perhaps more honest and mature than our own dangerous illusions.

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time A book about romantic love, Eros the Bittersweet is Anne Carson's exploration of the concept of "eros" in both classical philosophy and literature. Beginning with, "It was Sappho who first called eros 'bittersweet.' No one who has been in love disputes her," Carson examines her subject from numerous points of view, creating a lyrical meditation in the tradition of William Carlos Williams's Spring and All and William H. Gass's On Being Blue. Epigrammatic, witty, ironic, and endlessly entertaining, Eros is an utterly original book.

Analyzes the feelings and problems involved in different types of human love, including familial affection, friendship, passion, and charity.

One of the worlds foremost literary critics meditates upon seven books he long had in mind to write but never did. Massively erudite, the essays are also brave, unflinching, and wholly personal.

Don Miguel Ruiz, the author of the classic The Four Agreements and one of the most influential spiritual leaders in the world today, offers students of mystery a new path of knowledge through the most powerful force in the uni-verse: love.

Two innovative spiritual teachers show how to use desire and passion—eros—as a gateway to realizing our fullest potential What do desire and passion have to do with our spiritual journey? According to A. H. Almaas and Karen Johnson, they are an essential part of it. Conventional wisdom cautions that desire and passion are opposed to the spiritual path—that engaging in desire will take you more into the world, into egoic life. And for most people, that is exactly what happens. We naturally tend to experience wanting in a self-centered way. The Power of Divine Eros challenges the view that the divine and the erotic are separate. When we open to the energy, aliveness, spontaneity, and zest of erotic love, we will find it inseparable from the realm of the holy and sacred. When this is understood, desire and passion become a gateway to wholeness and to realizing our full potential. Through guided exercises, the authors reveal how our relationships become opportunities on the spiritual journey to express ourselves authentically, to relate with openness, and to discover dynamic inner realms with another person. Through embodying the energy of eros, each of us can learn to be fully real and alive in all of our interactions.

Eros is the expression of our sexual sensualities in our relationships. It is also the initial language of love. It is the magnetism of the first glance, the interlocking of eyes, and the warm and fuzzy feeling that draws us into the intimate space of another. It is the rush of euphoria that swoons our rationale; it is the eruption in our stomach that makes it flutter with butterflies; it is the adrenalin that causes us to hear and feel our heartbeats outside of our chest as our souls connect; and, it is the crazy instantaneous attachment that we develop for people we barely know. Although "Eros" is the essence of infatuation, it is also the first indication of our affection. But it is often frowned upon, as if it is shameful, to be free to express passion for someone you are attracted to. Since the beginning of time, it has been the primary building block of the structure of a loving relationship. When we examine the first couple on earth, Adam and Eve, Adam was aroused by what he saw in the woman that God created. That initial arousal made Adam agree with God that His creation of woman was indeed, "good". In its raw natural form, Eros is the stimulus that moves us to recreate and procreate. It is also the deviant that makes us explore the deeper, darker side of our sexual fantasies. In this book, I delve into the innocent and the naughty realms of Eros where you will feel both the exhilaration of romanticism as well as the liberation of erotica.

In the steamy tradition of Zane, Eros brings you Whipped: The Beginning, an erotic tale of seduction and bliss. Is finding the pleasure you want, the way you always wanted it, worth the risk of losing everything you have? It is for Paul and Joyce Ware, a naïve couple who find themselves in the middle of a sexual revolution they never dreamed possible. The Ware family has a long list of temptations, and as chilling secrets tumble forth from their lives, the aftermath leads toward a climax that can threaten not only their marriage but the lives of their children as well. Welcome to Whipped: The Beginning and once you begin to turn the pages, your sex life will never be the same. Gratification guaranteed!