The Anastenaria are Orthodox Christians in Northern Greece who observe a unique annual ritual cycle focused on two festivals, dedicated to Saint Constantine and Saint Helen. The festivals involve processions, music, dancing, animal sacrifices, and culminate in an electrifying fire-walking ritual. Carrying the sacred icons of the saints, participants dance over hot coals as the saint moves them. 'The Burning Saints' presents an analysis of these rituals and the psychology behind them. Based on long-term fieldwork, 'The Burning Saints' traces the historical development and sociocultural context of the Greek fire-walking rituals. As a cognitive ethnography, the book aims to identify the social, psychological and neurobiological factors which may be involved and to explore the role of emotional and physiological arousal in the performance of such ritual. A study of participation, experience and meaning, 'The Burning Saints' presents a highly original analysis of how mental processes can shape social and religious behaviour.

It is estimated that only a small fraction, less than 1 per cent, of ancient literature has survived to the present day. The role of Christian authorities in the active suppression and destruction of books in Late Antiquity has received surprisingly little sustained consideration by academics. In an approach that presents evidence for the role played by Christian institutions, writers and saints, this book analyses a broad range of literary and legal sources, some of which have hitherto been little studied. Paying special attention to the problem of which genres and book types were likely to be targeted, the author argues that in addition to heretical, magical, astrological and anti-Christian books, other less obviously subversive categories of literature were also vulnerable to destruction, censorship or suppression through prohibition of the copying of manuscripts. These include texts from materialistic philosophical traditions, texts which were to become the basis for modern philosophy and science. This book examines how Christian authorities, theologians and ideologues suppressed ancient texts and associated ideas at a time of fundamental transformation in the late classical world.

18+ for language and sexual situations… Spencer "Ropes" Kimble is one of the Burning Saints’ most loyal soldiers but harbors a secret passion...one that could get him laughed out of his club. Devlin Walker has a singular focus: save enough money to open her own tattoo shop. Nothing is going to stand in her way, especially not a cocksure biker who won’t take no for an answer. As his club faces their biggest threat to date, Ropes is about to follow the call of his newfound muse into uncharted waters. With danger looming on both land and at sea, will Ropes and Devlin navigate their way to forever, or lose themselves in the deep?

A biography of Isaac Jogues, a French Jesuit priest who worked as a Catholic missionary among the native peoples of New France until he was martyred in 1646.

The heart of the Christian faith is a direct encounter with God so profound that it can be referred to as union. It is an experience that cannot be described in words, but it can be glimpsed--in the radiant lives of the men and women called mystics. Here James Harpur presents the stories of some of the most influential Christian mystics from the past two thousand years. He provides their historical and ecclesiastical contexts, as well as appreciations of the unique contributions of each of them to the ongoing articulation of the way of love and union. Love Burning in the Soul is a comprehensive and highly readable survey of the great Christian mystical tradition for everyone. Included are: Clement of Alexandria * Gregory of Nyssa * John Scotus Eriugena * Bernard of Clairvaux * Hildegard of Bingen * Francis of Assisi * Mechtild of Magdeburg * Meister Eckhart * John Tauler * Jan van Ruysbroeck * Gregory Palamas * Richard Rolle * Julian of Norwich * Catherine of Siena * Jacob Boehme * George Fox * Teresa of �vila * Fran�ois F�nelon * Jean Pierre de Caussade * William Blake * Pierre Teilhard de Chardin * Thomas Merton * Many others

From Jeff VanderMeer, the author of Borne and Annihilation, comes the paperback reissue of his cult classic City of Saints and Madmen. In this reinvention of the literature of the fantastic, you hold in your hands an invitation to a place unlike any you’ve ever visited—an invitation delivered by one of our most audacious and astonishing literary magicians. City of elegance and squalor. Of religious fervor and wanton lusts. And everywhere, on the walls of courtyards and churches, an incandescent fungus of mysterious and ominous origin. In Ambergris, a would-be suitor discovers that a sunlit street can become a killing ground in the blink of an eye. An artist receives an invitation to a beheading—and finds himself enchanted. And a patient in a mental institution is convinced that he’s made up a city called Ambergris, imagined its every last detail, and that he’s really from a place called Chicago . . . By turns sensuous and terrifying, filled with exotica and eroticism, this interwoven collection of stories, histories, and “eyewitness” reports invokes a universe within a puzzle box where you can lose—and find—yourself again.

The first component in Bulgakov s minor theological trilogy . In this book Sergius Bulgakov refutes the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception and discusses the Orthodox veneration of the Mother of God. The Burning Bush is a consideration of the personal sinlessness of Mary, the truth of which Bulgakov fi nds grounded in both Gospel witness and the liturgical tradition of the church. Though his most controversial legacy to the theological community, Bulgakov s Sophiology nevertheless is critical to understanding his Mariology. This volume is more than mere sophiological speculation, however, as anthropology, eschatology, original sin, human sanctity, and sexuality all fi nd their way into Bulgakov s exploration of the mystery of the woman chosen by God to give birth freely to the Christ. / In this book, unique in the Russian Orthodox literature, the great theologian Sergius Bulgakov illuminates various aspects of the Church s veneration of the Mother of God. Like all of Bulgakov s devotional books, this is not a work of abstract theologizing, but a work of prayer, opening up a vision of the mystical reality that forms the foundation of our relations to the Ever-Virgin and her relation to us. Thomas Allan Smith s translation is superb, and in his first-rate introduction he does an excellent job of elucidating Bulgakov s sophiological approach. Boris Jakim / Thomas Allan Smith and Eerdmans deserve an immense debt of gratitude for providing a long-awaited English translation of this pivotal work of the leading Russian Orthodox theologian of the twentieth century. Even more, Smith s translation is careful, nuanced, and yet preeminently readable. . . . Western Christians and non-Christians alike often see Orthodoxy as a fascinating, exotic, and mysterious form of Christianity. The Burning Bush, in Smith s translation, helps the reader recognize both Orthodoxy s inner coherence and rationality and its rootedness in a profoundly sublime appreciation of creation s beauty and magnificence. . . . Smith s list of Bulgakov s sources is a simple yet indispensable tool for the scholarly reader. This translation will serve us all well for decades to come. Myroslaw Tataryn

Learn how to do powerful, practical magic when you use candles and call on the saints in Reverend Ray T. Malbrough's The Magical Power of the Saints. This book can be your personal guide to help you call on the saints as your spiritual allies. You will learn how to work with seventy-four different saints through the use of "seven-day vigil candles" (saint candles), prayers, psalms, herbal baths, and more. For example, you would call on Saint Benedict (whose candle color is white and day of the week is Saturday) to help end fevers, heal sick animals and more. You might call on Our Lady of Charity (whose candle color is yellow and day of the week is also Saturday) for protection of the home and family, to bring a new lover, or to obtain better finances. But, The Magical Power of the Saints includes much more: Find out which saint can best help you for any situation, along with that saint's specific day of the week and color of candle Learn rituals for fifty-seven different situations—such as attracting good fortune, strengthening your marriage, and improving your business Use divination to discover which ingredients will summon the proper powers to help you in any specific situation Locate passages in the Bible that support the practice of divination Learn how to use prayer to honor your departed ancestors and communicate with them Discover the best way to prepare and use the saint candles Recite the correct Biblical psalm for your specific need Read messages in a candle flame to see if your prayers will be answered The Magical Power of the Saints includes over forty-five illustrations of saints to help you in your work.

Cutting through the mists of Celtic myth, this historical account introduces the saints to us as real men and women in pursuit of holiness. The Celtic period began in 435 and ended in 715; this work tells the stories of the various branches of the Celtic church in this period.