The notion that we spring into existence ex nihilo at birth strikes many people as counter-intuitive. By contrast, the idea that we have an eternal identity appeals to some deep intuition about the self. And indeed, belief in the soul's pre-mortal existence has a long history in Western thought. Terryl Givens offers the first systematic exploration of this fascinating if generally unfamiliar feature of Western cultural history.

Dadi Janki is a yogi — one who seeks union with God. Her life’s work has been to build within herself the experience of the Divine and to share that experience with the world. Set in lyrical verse, Janki’s timeless words explain ways of responding to life’s challenges that help us to find true happiness and fulfill our highest potential. In this inspiring collection, framed by the stunning color images of French artist Marie Binder, readers will discover that it is indeed possible to banish sorrow from their lives. Chapters on Humility and Empowerment, Living the Vision, God, The World, Meditation, The Art of Living and Angels, provide readers with the tools they need to remove mental and emotional obstacles to self-fulfillment. Dadi shows how, with God’s help, every one of us can find our spiritual identity and make a very practical contribution to a better life and a better world.

I had two wonderful boys born into my life that I love with all my heart, and savoured every moment as they grew up. After a bitter divorce, my ex-wife methodically took all contact away from me and my children. I had lost part of my soul or the wings of who I was. I vowed with my children, that I wouldn't see them go through the mess of a divorce and separation of parents like I had, and the loss of who I really was deep inside. But it happened, and they became increasingly alienated from me. I lost who I was even more. Through a lot of soul searching and letting go, I found I needed to now heal the wings of my soul and truly delve deep inside what makes me who I am to escape this circle of loss. By learning from past mistakes and re-lighting the burning fires within, I could help myself and ultimately take myself and the soul of my wings to higher places I have not been before or places I was afraid to go before. Through these life lessons I was starting to find out my soul and my lost wings.

A scarred, mortal witch. A dragon-shifter with a terrifying reputation. Constance Rinehart has a tortured past. Her mother died in the hands of a ruthless man, and she grew up with a closed heart. After recent bandit raids, Evernbrook is starving for food, forcing Constance to sacrifice herself in the Offering--an event where young maidens are mated to dragon gods. When she is paired with the most brutal man in the world, her worst fears come true.Rayse Everstone, lord of the largest dragon shifter clan ever, has been searching for his mate for the last five-hundred years. He is at odds with his clan and feared by the humans. When his mate rejects him, and tensions amongst his kind rise, he faces the threat of having all he has built collapse... and even the loss of his own life. OBSIDIAN WINGS is the first novel in a four-book fantasy romance series. The SOUL OF A DRAGON series explores the world of Gaia, where dragons roam and magic is rampant. All four books have been written and edited before being published together. This series contains scenes of abuse, sexual content, and violence, which makes it unsuitable for the light-hearted.

Winner of a Catholic Press Association Award: Soft cover-spirituality books. (Third Place). For thirty years, beginning with Fresh Bread in 1985, Joyce Rupp has comforted millions with books such as Praying Our Goodbyes and May I Walk You Home. For the first time, she shares the story of her own grief in the wake of her mother's death, offering readers both a profile of her mother's resilient spirit and a voice of compassion for their own experience of loss. In this heartfelt memoir about her mother Hilda's final years, Joyce Rupp shares the lessons her mother taught her, especially to "fly while you still have wings." As a poor farmer's wife and the mother of eight living on rented land in Maryhill, Iowa, Hilda lived a life of hard labor and constant responsibility--from milking cows and raising chickens to keeping the farm's financial ledger. Rupp shows how the difficulties of her mother's early years and family life, including the loss of a twenty-three-year-old son, forged a resilience that guided her through the illnesses and losses she faced in later years. This affectionate profile of their relationship is, at the same time, an honest self-examination, as Rupp shares the ways she sometimes failed to listen to, accept, and understand her mother in her final years. Rupp begins each chapter with a meditative poem that captures the essence of each stage in the journey. Her unfailing candor and profound faith illumine this story of a mother and daughter with a universal spirit of hope, reconciliation, and peace.

We all pass through different phases of life. Our life is like a roller coaster ride, it is never same all the way. Often, some tragic incidents break us into pieces. Being heartbroken, we just look for one ray of hope as an inspiration. However, where does this inspiration come from? Inspiration comes from every small thing surrounding us. Nature along with its creations is capable of inspiring us to the best. We all get heartbroken at some point of time in our life, but let’s not give the heart-breaking reasons the power to destroy us, describe our identity, or define our destiny. Even if, no one steps forward to render help and soothe our pain, we still have the potential to gift ourselves the wings of love. Let’s not forget that even in worst conditions, we are always capable of gifting ourselves the wings to our broken souls. These wings are so powerful and strong that they work like magic for us. These wings hold our aspiring dreams and show us the path of the complete transformation of our soul and body. Every time we flap the wings, not only we bless ourselves with love but also shower love on others. So let’s not forget that in all adversities, we have the capability to empower ourselves with the powerful wings of love to our broken souls.

Challenges the idea that Plato is a secular thinker, exploring the interaction of philosophy and Greek religion in the dialogues.

Cosmic Cradle is filled with wisdom gathered from interviews with gifted individuals as well as classical and traditional sources - philosophy, cultural anthropology, history, biographies, religion, poetry, and mythology. This knowledge has never been synthesized and compiled before into a single volume.

This young adult fantasy debut about love, found family, and healing is “a fantastical ode to the Golden City’s postpunk era,” told through the eyes of a Mexican-American girl (Entertainment Weekly). “Complex and beautiful, blending folklore, San Franciscan history, the music scene, vampires, magic . . . hard to put down.” —School Library Journal Seventeen-year-old Xochi is alone in San Francisco, running from her painful past: the mother who abandoned her, the man who betrayed her. Then one day, she meets Pallas, a precocious twelve-year-old who lives with her rockstar family in one of the city’s storybook Victorians. Xochi accepts a position as Pallas’s live-in governess and quickly finds her place in the girl’s tight-knit household, which operates on a free-love philosophy and easy warmth despite the band’s growing fame. But on the night of the Vernal Equinox, as a concert afterparty rages in the house below, Xochi and Pallas perform a riot-grrrl ritual in good fun, accidentally summoning a pair of ancient beings bound to avenge the wrongs of Xochi’s past. She would do anything to preserve her new life, but with the creatures determined to exact vengeance on those who’ve hurt her, no one is safe—not the family Xochi’s chosen, nor the one she left behind.