Overlapping history with personal observation, this inspirational memoir shares the experience of one woman during the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostella, an ancient journey of more than 500 miles through northern Spain. Introduced to fellow pilgrims along the way and learning of their inspirational stories, this thoughtful work is filled with commonsense advice and spiritual guidance as the winter blusters around the travelers on their path. Emotionally confronting the reality of a loved one being diagnosed with incurable cancer, the author generously shares her experience of deep thought, light humor, physical challenge, and learning how to cope with helplessness on this pilgrimage of the spirit.

Loyalty and devotion to Truth make up the right attitude. The aspirant must unlearn all that he knows, prepare himself for martyrdom, and begin to learn a new alphabet on the lap of Mother Nature, every letter of which will afford a new insight to him, every syllable and word, an unexpected revelation. Nature gives up her secrets and imparts true wisdom only to Philaletheians because they love Truth for her own sake. Christianity has always put down and martyred those who have the audacity, in this time of social abasement and corruption, to live up to its ideals. The only scientific basis of morality is to be sought for in the doctrines of Lord Buddha and Sri Shankaracharya. Occultism requires unflinching loyalty and devotion to Truth. Otherwise, the faint-hearted will be ridiculed and chaffed by the masses, and partake in the terrible fate of Oedipus. But Truth should not be sought for intellectual acquisitiveness, pleasure, contempt of others, profit, fame, honour, promotion, and for other inferior ends. A clean life is the first step towards the Temple of Truth. An outward looking mindset, trapped in the gloom and doom of separateness, invariably gives rise to pessimism. But the abyss of despair has its advantages: 1 It encourages a mental U-turn from exterior preoccupations to interior realms of being and spirituality. It is like a chink in the dark prison walls of earth-life, through which breaks in a ray of light from the eternal home and which, illuminating the inner senses, whispers to the prisoner in his shell of clay the origin and the dual mystery of our being. 2 It is a tacit proof of the presence in man of that which knows, without being told, i.e., that there is another and a better life, once that the curse of earth-lives is lived through. Charity and mercy, harmlessness and humbleness, kindness and gentleness, define the right approach. Before you even think of treading the path, purify the material self. Otherwise you will end up degrading the spiritual. You have to fathom the mysteries of the heart, before you can hope to unravel the mysteries of the soul. Superhuman powers are stones on the path. Faculties and abilities will come naturally to those who are mentally and ethically fit to use them for the common good. Mere desire for powers is a form of selfishness, and receives no encouragement from our Teachers. If aroused prematurely, they will hinder rather than help. Self-interest can neither reveal the powers latent in man, nor can it alleviate the woes of the “Great Orphan.” Take heed of the words of a Master of Wisdom. Even virtues can be vices in the eyes of the beholder. Silently and quietly endure what life brings, without expecting neither plaudits nor feedback. Pristine efforts cannot be thwarted by criticism and apathy. Nor can anyone hide from the all-seeing Law. Woe to those who live without suffering. Prerequisites for study and self-knowledge. · Awareness of the ignorance and deception of the world we live in. · Conviction that self-knowledge can be obtained by personal effort. · Determination to obtain and face that knowledge. Eastern Occultism is the origin and fount of all we know and can possibly learn. There is nothing new under the Sun, nothing new except what is forgotten. The aim of education proper is the art of revealing to the ignorant the world of thought and law, of marvels and mysteries, of moral beauty and ideal truth that lies within us and about us. The aim of science proper is to trace unity in diversity and to sum up the laws that govern their manifold operations in Nature. Reasoning out the unknown from the known and vice-versa, i.e., inductive and deductive reasoning, is what meditation proper is all about. Having reasoned out the Eternal and Universal, then by purity and virtue we may begin to ascend towards the “Sacred Majesty of Truth.” Tarrying on the particulars will sink the mind in the shifting sands of doubt and despair, and any insight of the universals previously gained will be lost. One has to take into account that many of the extant Sanskrit authorities are far from being sacred. For no truly esoteric doctrines were ever written. Many things are orally explained, and always have been. In any case, intellectual study alone is never enough, unless corroborated by application, practice, and experience. Unselfishness is likely to aid the mind and protect it from error. Alas, too many Theosophists are content to read books and too few strive to further the interests of Brotherhood. If mastering a narrow domain of modern science requires years of unremitting study, how much longer will it take one to fathom out the world’s religions and philosophies? Only those Lovers of Truth who are self-reliant and willing to think for themselves can hope to progress by working out a conceptual structure of the Teachings which (a) stands to reason and (b) explains every mystery, and triumphantly demonstrates the nature of every phenomenon. Key occult terms that will have to be understood by neophytes include: · Spirit and Matter, Force and Space; · Reality and Unreality, Formless and Form, Dream and Waking. · Subjective and Objective, both as sensuous and as psychic perceptions. Arguments, contentions, objections, and dissensions about the Teachings stifle intuition and are likely to sever the link between Guru and Chela. Immoral atmosphere saps siddhis. Co-operation with Nature, diligent study, fortitude and perseverance in the face of adversity and, above all, unconditional love for humanity and all that lives, make up the right conduct. Aspirants to the narrow and thorny Path should be deeply studying the philosophy of Occultism before entering upon the practical training. One must ascend the Golgotha of sentient life step by step unaided, by his own initiatives and exertions, ever moving onward and upward. Woe to him who, instead of studying the half-defaced landmarks, he pronounces them indecipherable. The Doctrine of Heart alone, can make of him an elect. You cannot be one with ALL, unless all your acts, thoughts and feelings synchronise with the onward march of nature. You can only approach ALL through unconditional love of, and devotion to, Humanity and all that lives by turning away from selfishness, which is the main of sin and sorrow. Don’t even think of circumventing Karman through masterly inactivity. For inaction on the physical produces adverse effects on the spiritual planes. “Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.” The physical inactivity of a Mahatman or a Raja Yogin is quite different from the that of solitary fakirs, hermits, and Hatha Yogins. The former are working for mankind on high spiritual realms; the latter are afflicted from spiritual selfishness here, on Earth, the plane of illusion, and the greatest of all hells. Stop pushing yourself forward. “Be restrained, be liberal, be merciful.” Forget yourself in the midst of so many selves. Consider whether “turning the other cheek” may encourage offenders to re-offend. Stop abusing and tormenting animals, and eating their flesh. Desist from gossiping, for gossip fans flames! Condemn the sin, not the Sinner within. Do not set yourself as example to others, for “the camel cannot see its own hump.” But by example you can imprint upon the astral light pictures of higher aspirations and thus aid advanced souls from other spheres to descend. Stones on the Path. Practical Occultism is fraught with dangers. It requires total, unreserved and unswerving commitment, and loyalty to Truth. The aspirant must choose between the life of the World and the life of Occultism. After a pledge is given, any sensual or even mental self-gratification will forfeit the power of spiritual discrimination. And, regardless of motive, the renegade will retrogress and sink deeper into the mire. Only implicit faith to the Teachings and explicit service to mankind can admit the disciple to the Kingdom of Heaven. Neither success nor safety is to be found outside self-development. Woe to those who, driven by selfishness and vanity, dissent from the aim and ideals of the Theosophical Society and its motto. Disunity is the first condition of failure; rivalry, the second. Chelas, Disciples, Shravakas, Upasans: united in thought and deed. The sine qua non of “Chelaship is a spirit of absolute unselfishness and devotion to Truth; then follow self-knowledge and self-mastery.” Chelaship is a psychic resolvent, which eats away all dross and leaves only the pure gold behind. Real gurus are not simply Adepts in Occult Sciences: they are Living Men of profound knowledge and noble ethics. They are masters of human nature and of the secrets of Nature herself. Entrance to the mysteries of Inner Life requires a pledge of seven years’ probation. Unswerving faith, trust, and confidence to the Master are indispensable. But many are unworthy of the honour. “The results have been far from encouraging so far, and it is to show these unfortunates the cause of their failure as much as to warn others against rushing heedlessly upon a similar fate, that the writing of the present article has been ordered.” Masters normally select Chelas from natural mystics in the East. Exceptions of accepted Chelas in the West include Fludd, Thomas Vaughan, Paracelsus, Pico della Mirándola, and Count de Saint-Germain. When you see the light, that light is from you and it is you!

Unlock the hidden powers of crystals and gemstones. For millennia, magicians and astrologers, familiar with celestial magic, knew that precious stones held an important key for the maintenance of health and wellbeing. During the Age of Reason this knowledge was lost. Now, nearly 400 years later drawing from ancient sources, Peter Stockinger's astro-magical lapidary invites you to re-discover this long-lost knowledge and to learn how to utilise the magical and therapeutic powers of gems. - Read the in-depth descriptions of 30 gemstones and crystals revealing their hidden lore, and discover their practical use from antiquity; - Study real-life cases that demonstrate how to use the beneficial powers of crystals and gemstones; - Learn how to find your perfect gem, create gemstone talismans and manufacture lucky fixed star rings. The lapidary also contains a thorough introduction to the subject of traditional astrology, a therapeutic index and a detailed glossary.

This is a second edition of a textbook that provides the first comprehensive, easy-to-read, and up-to-date account of the fascinating discipline of archaeoastronomy, in which the relationship between ancient constructions and the sky is studied in order to gain a better understanding of the ideas of the architects of the past and of their religious and symbolic worlds. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which explores the past relations between astronomy and people, power, the afterworld, architecture, and landscape. The second part then discusses in detail the fundamentals of archaeoastronomy, including the celestial coordinates; the apparent motion of the sun, moon, stars, and planets; observation of celestial bodies at the horizon; the use of astronomical software in archaeoastronomy; and current methods for making and analyzing measurements. The final section reviews what archaeoastronomy can now tell us about the nature and purpose of such sites and structures as Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, Chichen Itza, the Angkor Temples, the Campus Martius, and the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento. In addition, it provides a set of exercises that can be performed using non-commercial free software, e.g., Google Earth and Stellarium, and that will equip readers to conduct their own research. This new edition features a completely new chapter on archaeoastronomy in Asia and an “augmented reality” framework, which on the one hand enhances the didactic value of the book using direct links to the relevant sections of the author’s MOOC (online) lessons and, on the other, allows readers to directly experience – albeit virtually –many of the spectacular archaeological sites described in the book. This is an ideal introduction to what has become a wide-ranging multidisciplinary science.

The Stones of Time presents one of the most dramatic archaeological detective stories of our time. Predating Stonehenge by at least a thousand years, the stone complexes of ancient Ireland have been extensively studied, yet have refused to give up their mystery. The most complete record of Irish megalithic art ever published.

Published in association with North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California.

Twelve-year-old Chestnut Hill’s daddy stole her and the triplets away from their mama. At least, that’s how Chestnut remembers it. It’s 1921, and after nearly two years on the road with his traveling elixir show, Daddy’s still making no move to go back to Kentucky and buy Mama that house. So Chestnut is forced to come up with her own plan to get home. At night, when Daddy and the triplets are in bed, she draws up flyers with the name of the next town they’ll be traveling to. Before they leave each town and hoping her mama will see them, she nails up the flyers, leaving Mama an easy trail straight to her children. When that doesn’t work, Chestnut is forced to try something bigger. But when her newest plan lands Daddy in jail and Mama has to come to the rescue, Chestnut discovers that things are not always as they seem. Written with a wonderful mountain hillbilly voice, Snakes and Stones has a mystery at its heart and lovable, strong, and complicated characters.

"There's something mesmerizing about Hiebert's storytelling voice." --The New York Times Book Review A case from the past sparks a nightmare for Detective Leah Teal in Michael Hiebert’s masterful new novel of suspense. Fifteen years ago, a serial killer tagged by the media as the Stickman spread terror throughout Alabama and became Alvin detective Joe Fowler’s obsession. After fifteen months and nine victims, Harry Stork was identified as the Stickman and Fowler shot him dead. The killings stopped. For a while. Now, more bodies are turning up, each staked through the chest with a stick-figure drawing in the killer’s signature style. Detective Leah Teal—Joe Fowler’s daughter and Alvin’s sole detective—receives a letter before each victim is found, just like her late father did. The only people who knew about the letters were the cops on the taskforce back then—and the killer himself. Did Joe shoot the wrong man, or was one of the detectives he handpicked involved all along? As a single mother, Leah tries to balance an increasingly disturbing case and a new relationship with caring for her children—bright, perceptive Abe, and teenaged Caroline, who’s in the first flush of young love. But with each menacing communication, each gruesome discovery, Leah realizes just how personal, and how devastating, the truth may be. Weaving lyrical prose and emotional richness into a taut, gripping mystery, Michael Hiebert creates a fascinating novel of life, love, and death in a small Southern town. Praise for the novels of Michael Hiebert Dream with Little Angels "Hiebert's first novel courts comparison to the classic To Kill a Mockingbird, but the book manages to soar as a moving achievement in its own right. In Hiebert's hands, psychological insight and restrained lyricism combine to create a coming-of-age tale as devastating as it is indelible. --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Readers who enjoy literary fiction depicting small-town life in the tradition of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird may want to try Hiebert's debut." --Library Journal "Michael Hiebert's debut delivers . . . a breathless, will-they-get-there-in-time affair, with a heartbreaking resolution." --Mystery Scene Close to the Broken Hearted "Hiebert does a masterful job of building suspense." --Publishers Weekly "A very good, sometimes emotional, mystery that will stay with you long after it's over." --Suspense Magazine A Thorn Among the Lilies "Engaging. . .Readers will keep guessing whodunit to the end." --Publishers Weekly