Examines the history and nature of seemingly paranormal phenomena.

Journey to the world's most enigmatic and magical destinations with this charming guide, full of folklore, unworldly mysteries and far-flung fairy tale locales.

Just what makes a locale one of the world's most mysterious places is a subject open to debate. But if Bigfoot, UFOs, and chain-rattling ghosts all appear in one particular location, time and again, along with a fantastic range of other bizarre phenomena, then this is highly suggestive that the place is truly weird and mysterious in the extreme. Readers will learn startling truths of these amazing, paranormal locations and uncanny hot spots. Included are eerie haunts scattered across the United States, Russia, Canada, and just about everywhere in between, including such infamous locales as Death Valley, the Bermuda Triangle, Loch Ness, and even the New York City subway. Also addressed are the various theories that have been posited to explain why such places have become so infinitely weird in the first place. This is a wild tour of the world and its many rich cultures and folklore that reveals the top twenty-five places on Earth that are...well...incredibly weird and mysterious.

France is one of the most visited countries in the world -- and one of the least known. This book takes you beyond the superficial coverage of conventional guidebooks -- history, architecture, etc. -- in search of the deeper truths. A Guide to Mystical France takes you deep under the psychic skin of France into the invisible dimensions that our materialistic world does its best to ignore. Science stops at the most interesting questions. To describe, say a painted prehistoric cave as a sacred space used for ritual is to beg more questions than it answers. It is impossible to fully appreciate the cathedral of Notre-Dame, Mont St Michel, or the alignments of Carnac if you do not understand the reasons these structures were built and they way they have been used over the centuries. The book makes no assumptions. The reader is not required to believe anything. He is merely pointed in the direction of the invisible and the hidden and left to judge for himself. You get much more out of a visit if you look for what isn’t there as well as what is. Only by engaging with such enigmas in an open-minded, non-logical way can we begin to unravel them. This approach also makes sightseeing more satisfying and more meaningful. Covered here are a multitude of fascinating themes: the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, Black Virgins, prehistoric cave paintings, labyrinths, ley-lines, symbolism and sacred geometry, the tarot, etc. The backdrops for the drama includes such legendary places as Chartres, Rennes-le-Chateau, churches carved out of the rock and mountain sanctuaries. The cast list, meanwhile, includes Templars, Cathars, mystics, Gurdjieff, King Arthur, Nostradamus and alchemists such as the enigmatic Fulcanelli (who is rumoured to be immortal).

The "Nine Unknown Men" are a fictional secret society founded by the Mauryan Emperor Asoka around 270 BC to preserve and develop knowledge that would be dangerous to humanity if it fell into the wrong hands. The nine men are embodiment of good and face up against nine Kali worshippers, who sow confusion and masquerade as the true sages. The story surrounds a priest called Father Cyprian who is in possession of the books but who wants to destroy them out of Christian piety, and a number of other characters who are interested in learning their contents. The nine books entrusted to the Nine Unknown contain information on (1) Propaganda and Psychological warfare, (2) Physiology, including secrets concerning the "touch of death", (3) Microbiology, (4) Alchemy, (5) Communication, including communication with extraterrestrials, (6) Gravity, and anti-gravity devices (Vimanas, mythological flying machines of ancient India), (7) Cosmology, including hyperspace and time-travel, (8) Light, and a technology capable of modifying the speed of light and (9) Sociology, including rules predicting the rise and fall of empires.

Inspired Traveller’s Guides: Literary Places takes you on an enlightening journey through the key locations of literature’s best and brightest authors, movements, and moments—brought to life through comprehensively researched text and stunning hand-drawn artwork. Travel journalist Sarah Baxter provides comprehensive and atmospheric outlines of the history and culture of 25 literary places around the globe, as well as how they intersect with the lives of the authors and the works that make them significant. Full-page color illustrations instantly transport you to each location. You’ll find that these places are not just backdrops to the tales told, but characters in their own right. Travel to the sun-scorched plains of Don Quixote’s La Mancha, roam the wild Yorkshire moors with Cathy and Heathcliff, or view Central Park through the eyes of J.D. Salinger’s antihero. Explore the lush and languid backwaters of Arundhati Roy’s Kerala, the imposing precipice of Joan Lindsay’s Hanging Rock, and the labyrinthine streets and sewers of Victor Hugo’s Paris. Delve into this book to discover some of the world’s most fascinating literary places and the novels that celebrate them.

From the natural splendour of Devils Tower in Wyoming, to the medieval pilgrimage of Camino de Santiago that stretches to Spain, Inspired Traveller's Guides: Spiritual Places explores locations that will be a balm to the mind and a tonic to the soul. Travel journalist Sarah Baxter has carefully curated a selection of the 25 most spiritual destinations from around the world – places that hold the promise of rare and profound experiences, whether areas of natural beauty imbued with spiritual significance or sites constructed for worship. From breathtaking scenery to religious capitals, sacred valleys to places of natural beauty, here the full spiritual story and unique tranquillity of each place is revealed with beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and evocative tales of previous visitors that will both delight and inspire. Featured locations: Crater Lake, Oregon, USA; Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA; Devils Tower, Wyoming, USA; Haida Gwai, Canada; Teotihuacan, Mexico; Lake Titicaca, Bolivia and Peru; Easter Island, Chile; St Catherine's Monastery, Egypt; Kyoto, Japan; Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar; Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka; Varanasi and the Ganges, India; Mount Kailash, China; Cape Reinga, New Zealand; Uluru, Australia; Saut d'Eau waterfall, Haiti; Camino de Santiago, Spain; Mezquita de Cordoba, Spain; Isle of Iona, Scotland; Avebury, England; Mont St-Michel, France; Lourdes, France; Luther Trail and Wittenburg Cathedral, Germany; Mount Olympus, Greece; Temple Mount and Jerusalem, Israel. Perfect for those who want to get away from it all, this book takes you closer to these sacred locations than ever before. Each book in the Inspired Traveller's Guides series offers readers a fascinating, informative and charmingly illustrated guide to must-visit destinations round the globe. Also from this series, explore intriguing: Artistic Places (March 2021), Literary Places, Hidden Places and Mystical Places.

For forty years, James Finley’s Merton's Palace of Nowhere has been the standard text for exploring, reflecting on, and understanding the rich vein of Thomas Merton's thought. Spiritual identity is the quest to know who we are, to find meaning, to overcome that sense of “Is this all there is?” Merton’s message cuts to the heart of this universal quest, and Finley illuminates that message as no one else can. As a young man of eighteen, Finley left home for an unlikely destination: the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Thomas Merton lived as a contemplative. Finley stayed at the monastery for six maturing years and later wrote this Merton’s Palace of Nowhere in order to share a taste of what he had learned on his spiritual journey under the guidance of one of the great religious figures of our time. At the heart of the quest for spiritual identity are Merton's illuminating insights—leading from an awareness of the false and illusory self to a realization of the true self. Dog-eared, tattered, underlined copies of this book are found on the bookshelves of retreat centers, parish libraries, and the homes of spiritual seekers everywhere. This anniversary edition brings a classic to a new generation and includes a new preface by Finley.

Examines many secret societies and secret initiations both from the past and the present.