"The energy of Eros is powerful--alluring, fascinating, compelling. Many people--especially those who are single or celibate by choice or by circumstance--struggle with the containment of erotic energies. Many people in all walks of life wonder how sexuality and spirituality can live together in harmony. The instinctual energy of Eros and the compelling archetype of Self fire and guide the desires that lead to psychological growth and ultimate spiritual development." "These issues were central to Jung as he began to formulate his theories over against Freud's. The Fires of Desire explores the consequences of Jung's split with Freud over the nature of libido as sexual energy and describes the vicissitudes of that energy's unfolding. The central question is: What is the nature of erotic energy and how may it be transmuted? Just as Jung looked to mythology and the alchemical mysteries of medieval Europe to find answers from the realm of the deep psyche, today one continues to wonder: How is the lead of life transformed into gold? How are ordinary erotic energies transmuted into the passionate yearning that leads the soul to mystical union with the Divine?" "In this book leading Jungians--psychotherapists, analysts, educators, and theologians--revisit the issue that created the Freud/Jung split and attempt to reformulate our understanding of Eros in relation to Spirit. The Fires of Desire follows a developmental path depicting human experience. It marks out the similarities and differences between psychosis and mystical experience. It sketches the structure of feminine and masculine development. It looks at the process of psychospiritual growth and at the transformations of religious experience. In addressing the essential question of the transmutation of erotic energy, it asks: After therapy, what then? In its answer, it delineates four stages in the quest for the Divine and describes the nature of conjunctio or mystical union."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

For most religious people, the words God and sex never go together. God is conceived of as holy, pure, sexless, and as morally above the raw desires that so powerfully beset us. Sex, on the other hand, is conceived of as earthy and unholy, something we must snatch, and not without guilt, from the gods. Christianity has struggled mightily with sex; so too have most other religions. And yet when we look at sexual desire and ask where it comes from, there can be only one answer. It comes from God. This is a book on desire, its experience, its origins, its meaning, and how it might be generatively channeled. Sexuality is inside us to help lure us back to God, but dealing with this fire inside us is a lifelong struggle. Ron Rolheiser sheds light on this mystery and the journey it takes us on in these tantalizing fragments that help give us permission to feel what we feel and know that God is still smiling on us.

A new generation continues the saga of Steve and Ginny.

An illuminating exploration of the surprisingly familiar sex lives of ordinary medieval people. The medieval humoral system of medicine suggested that it was possible to die from having too much—or too little—sex, while the Roman Catholic Church taught that virginity was the ideal state. Holy men and women committed themselves to lifelong abstinence in the name of religion. Everyone was forced to conform to restrictive rules about who they could have sex with, in what way, how often, and even when, and could be harshly punished for getting it wrong. Other experiences are more familiar. Like us, medieval people faced challenges in finding a suitable partner or trying to get pregnant (or trying not to). They also struggled with many of the same social issues, such as whether prostitution should be legalized. Above all, they shared our fondness for dirty jokes and erotic images. By exploring their sex lives, the book brings ordinary medieval people to life and reveals details of their most personal thoughts and experiences. Ultimately, it provides us with an important and intimate connection to the past.

These thought-provoking and spiritual poems focus on faith, relationships, and the role of God in life and in the bedroom. Female empowerment is at the heart of this collection, as well as perceptions of humanity as beings full of light.

Almost as old as the idea of the library is the urge to destroy it. Author Lucien X. Polastron traces the history of this destruction, examining the causes for these disasters, the treasures that have been lost, and where the surviving books, if any, have ended up. Books on Fire received the 2004 Societe des Gens de Lettres Prize for Nonfiction/History in Paris.

This carefully crafted ebook: "PERSONAL POWER (All 12 Volumes)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: Personal Power - Your Master Self Creative Power - Your Constructive Forces Desire Power - Your Energizing Forces Faith Power - Your Inspirational Forces Will Power - Your Dynamic Forces Subconscious Power - Your Secret Forces Spiritual Power - The Infinite Fount Thought Power - Radio-Mentalism Perceptive Power - The Art of Observation Reasoning Power - Practical Logic Character Power - Positive Individuality Regenerative Power or Vital Rejuvenation This book is devoted to the subject of the development, cultivation and manifestation of Personal Power— Personal Power in all its phases, aspects and modes of manifestation and expression. "Personal Power,” as understood and taught in this book, may be defined as: "The ability or strength possessed by the human individual, by which he does, or may, accomplish desired results in an efficient manner, along the lines of physical, mental, and spiritual effort and endeavor.” William Walker Atkinson (1862-1932) was a prolific writer. His works treat themes related to the mental world, occultism, divination, psychic reality, and mankind's nature.

Floyd brings queer critique to bear on the Marxian categories of reification and totality and considers the dialectic that frames the work of Georg Lukâas, Herbert Marcuse and Frederic Jameson.