At the heart of spiritual awakening lies the discovery that each of us can achieve the direct, transformative connection with the sacred realms—a connection that defines the mystic. The Journey to the Sacred Garden guides us along a well-traveled path into this extraordinary experience and includes an experiential audio download of shamanic drumming and rattling, providing us with an effective, easily learned technique for expanding awareness and shifting consciousness safely. The first goal: to find our Sacred Garden, a place for personal empowerment; as well as physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual restoration. Once there, we learn through direct experience that the garden can be used as a gateway into the other levels of the inner worlds. Anthropologist Hank Wesselman, Ph.D., reveals that our garden operates by four primary rules: • Everything in the garden is symbolic of some aspect of ourselves or our life experience. • Everything in the garden can be communicated with, enhancing understanding. • The garden can be changed by doing work. • When you change your garden, some part of you or your life will change in response.

Discover how peace and tranquility have been tapped through the personal stories of ordinary people, ordinary gardens, and extraordinary spaces. As professional horticulturalists, as husband and wife, and now as authors, Michel and Judy Marcellot explore motivations to garden for peace, for balance, for relaxation, for contemplation, and to memorialize loved ones. Above all, they find joy expressed within and through gardening. Personal stories show how the simple act of gardening changed lives and individuals. The authors chronicle their own paths from naive and idealistic, back-to-the-earth entrepreneurs who wanted to "be of service to the planet, and have a good time doing it," to respected horticulturists and sought after speakers who still embody the same ideals as when they started out. Examples illustrate varied elements of sacred sites and suggest ways readers might create the sacred in their own gardens. Read on and see how ordinary gardeners can attain their own backyard bliss.

«Таинственный сад» – любимая классика для читателей всех возрастов, жемчужина творчества Фрэнсис Ходжсон Бернетт, роман о заново открытой радости жизни и магии силы. Мэри Леннокс, жестокое и испорченное дитя высшего света, потеряв родителей в Индии, возвращается в Англию, на воспитание к дяде-затворнику в его поместье. Однако дядя находится в постоянных отъездах, и Мэри начинает исследовать округу, в ходе чего делает много открытий, в том числе находит удивительный маленький сад, огороженный стеной, вход в который почему-то запрещен. Отыскав ключ и потайную дверцу, девочка попадает внутрь. Но чьи тайны хранит этот загадочный садик? И нужно ли знать то, что находится под запретом?.. Впрочем, это не единственный секрет в поместье...

Studies of rituals in sacred gardens and landscapes offer tantalizing insights into the significance of gardens and landscapes in the societies of India, ancient Greece, Pre-Columbian Mexico, medieval Japan, post-Renaissance Europe, and America. Sacred gardens and landscapes engaged their visitors into three specific modes of agency: as anterooms spurring encounters with the netherworld; as journeys through mystical lands; and as a means of establishing a sense of locality, metaphorically rooting the dweller's own identity in a well-defined part of the material world. Each section of this book is devoted to one of these forms of agency. Together the essays reveal a profound cultural significance of gardens previously overlooked by studies of garden styles.

"Hidden Mountain Secret Garden: a theological contemplation on prayer" helps the reader discover the riches of mental prayer in the Catholic Tradition. In fact, the images of the "Hidden Mountain" and the "Secret Garden" are ancient metaphors for contemplative prayer, a kind of prayer that begins and ends in faith. This book is especially for those whose prayer is a search for the loving eyes of One who has conquered death. This kind of prayer beholds the wonder of Christ's living but hidden presence in one's highest thoughts and most noble aspirations as well as in one's instinctual urges and deepest longings. The ecstasy of this kind of prayer extends beyond even the vast unexplored horizons of the human heart and opens to an immensity of such excessive mercy that all else is forgotten -- and only love remains. The whole world needs this love: it is the secret garden, the hidden mountain, the inexhaustible riches only prayer knows and an excess of grace only prayer can make known. This is why Blessed John Paul II told the Church not to be afraid to open wide the doors of our hearts to Christ and it is why He told the young people of the world to be proud to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord. For those brave souls who have faithfully open their hearts to the Lord through this discipline of this kind of prayer, every Christian owes you a debt of gratitude. For those who want to join them, this work encourages you along the way -- for the journey you endeavor is at once the most perilous, the most heart-rending and the most wonderful adventure this world has ever known. "Dr. Anthony Lilles has authored an introduction to prayer that is inspiring and encouraging. For those desiring to pray this is a resource that is full of practical advice - written simply and attractively. This book bears the mark of a man - husband, father and teacher - who is not only imbued with the wisdom of the Saints, but who has also, through his own prayer, learned how all of us can, through prayer, foster faith in and love for Jesus and his Gospel." THOMAS G. WEINANDY, O.F.M., CAP. Executive Director for the Secretariat for Doctrine United States Conference of Catholic Bishops This is a wonderful book. I've taught spiritual theology many years and I wish I had had this text use. In fact, I wish I had written this book. It is scriptural, patristic, historical, theological, mystical, experiential and user friendly. Dr. Lilles takes us through the spiritual journey of prayer, citing Fathers and doctors, saints and even sinners to guide us on our Christian way toward contemplation. Weaving many themes into a harmonious whole, he opens up the life of contemplation for all Christians, our baptismal birthright in a way that is accessible and attractive. This is a book one will read more than once. FR. GILES DIMOCK, O.P., S.T.D University Parish of St. Thomas Aquinas At the University of Virginia In this book we find the real meat of the new evangelization. The church in America will not be renewed by "facts about Jesus" but only through one's choice to let Christ reach the heart and change it from within. It is an ancient message received by only few: Do not be afraid of letting go of what now defines you. Let Christ tell you who you are. Dr. Lilles is one of the ablest guides to lead us through to such a choice. Will I stay with knowledge about Jesus or will I enter the garden of prayer and finally come to know Him!! Do not be afraid to be loved, read this book. DEACON JAMES KEATING, PH.D, Institute for Priestly Formation, Omaha, NE

Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha, was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1997. It is situated in an area commonly referred to as the 'Sacred Garden'. Archaeological remains testify to the authenticity of the place, which has become a major pilgrimage site. Nevertheless over two and a half millennia, the understanding of Lumbini has changed and different perceptions exist of what Lumbini might have been like at the birth of Lord Buddha. For the long-term safeguarding of this World Heritage site, overall understanding of the property is essential. This publication will provide a means for the various stakeholders to come to an understanding of each other's historical, religious, environmental and touristic perspectives of Lumbini.

The spirit of gardening is a deepening connection with nature that transforms the gardener into an adventurer encountering lessons great and small. Author Jim Nollman sees the connection to the garden as the space in which a genuine healing relationship between person and place can be formed. Why We Garden is full of helpful tips from Nollman's decades of gardening experience, along with the Zen of gardening--the sense of place and purpose and what tending the land means to us. A beautifully written gem for the gardener seeking the simplicity and spirit of the land and a gift for all who are stewards of the earth.

This exploration of the Judean priesthood’s role in agricultural cultivation demonstrates that the institutional reach of Second Temple Judaism (516 BCE–70 CE) went far beyond the confines of its houses of worship, while exposing an unfamiliar aspect of sacred place-making in the ancient Jewish experience. Temples of the ancient world regularly held assets in land, often naming a patron deity as landowner and affording the land sanctity protections. Such arrangements can provide essential background to the Hebrew Bible’s assertion that God is the owner of the land of Israel. They can also shed light on references in early Jewish literature to the sacred landholdings of the priesthood or the temple.

The changing of the seasons can feel magical-green leaves transforming into browns and golds, snow melting to show fresh buds. We all recognize these telltale signs, but few of us are aware of the powerful impact each season has on our spiritual lives. Whether sunny, snowy, windy, rainy, cold, or humid, the weather has a dramatic effect on our being wherever we may live. African American Magick: A Modern Grimoire for the Natural Home examines the magical ability of the seasons to enhance our lives, as Stephanie Rose Bird unearths ancient techniques, rituals, and methods from around the world that use each season's inherent energies to supplement body, mind, and soul. Drawing upon her own ancestral heritage, as well as those from neighboring cultures and those that have influenced her, Bird provides tips, techniques, potions, spells, and rituals unrestricted by geographic borders or magical path. Bird's wisdom and expert botanical knowledge open the path to a holistic and magickal life.

When did the first humans begin to inhabit the Earth? How did they get here? Why and for what purpose were they put here? How did they evolve from the first humans who looked like a Botticelli painting, to “ape-like” humans, to modern day humans? You will also read about Lamuria and Atlantis ,and without spirituality how Atlanteans destroyed themselves and their continent. Dr. Modi explains all this and more in her remarkable work about the astounding past and future of mankind. In doing this, she describes how spirituality is the key to successfully fulfilling mankind’s desire to become one with God. According to Dr. Modi, human beings have the unique potential to create a heaven-like society on Earth by spreading the spirituality on Earth that will eventually spread to neighboring planets, galaxies, and the entire universe through the continued development and enhancement of spirituality. From what was, to what is, could well include a future with the entire universe “going home to God.” The book takes you on what can only be described as An Amazing Human Journey.