In the midst of a nineteenth-century boom in spiritual experimentation, the Cercle Harmonique, a remarkable group of African-descended men, practiced Spiritualism in heavily Catholic New Orleans from just before the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction. In this first comprehensive history of the Cercle, Emily Suzanne Clark illuminates how highly diverse religious practices wind in significant ways through American life, culture, and history. Clark shows that the beliefs and practices of Spiritualism helped Afro-Creoles mediate the political and social changes in New Orleans, as free blacks suffered increasingly restrictive laws and then met with violent resistance to suffrage and racial equality. Drawing on fascinating records of actual seance practices, the lives of the mediums, and larger citywide and national contexts, Clark reveals how the messages that the Cercle received from the spirit world offered its members rich religious experiences as well as a forum for political activism inspired by republican ideals. Messages from departed souls including Francois Rabelais, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, Robert E. Lee, Emanuel Swedenborg, and even Confucius discussed government structures, the moral progress of humanity, and equality. The Afro-Creole Spiritualists were encouraged to continue struggling for justice in a new world where "bright" spirits would replace raced bodies.

Organized in chronological order of the founding of each movement, this documentary reader brings to life new religious movements from the 18th century to the present. It provides students with the tools to understand questions of race, religion, and American religious history. Movements covered include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), the Native American Church, the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, and more. The voices included come from both men and women. Each chapter focuses on a different new religious movement and features: - an introduction to the movement, including the context of its founding - two to four primary source documents about or from the movement - suggestions for further reading.

"Throughout the ages, there have been men and women in every race and religion that have mastered time and space, transcended the cycles of karma and rebirth, and returned to the Source of all life. By attaining the goal of life, the ascension, these souls have become ascended masters. In this book, drawn from the author’s pivotal spiritual conference held at Mount Shasta in 1975, you will discover how the saints and sages of both East and West work together behind the scenes of life with seekers in every field of human endeavor. Learn about this vast brotherhood of light, known as the Great White Brotherhood (the word “white” refers not to race but to the aura of white light that surrounds these ascended masters), their devotion to humanity, and their tireless efforts to help you and those you love. Contains an easy-to-understand and unique approach to spiritual astrology called the “Cosmic Clock,” with diagrams. Also explores key interpretations of the Book of Revelation, America’s unique role, and the little-known vision of George Washington and the prophecy of Sir William Hope about the future of America. "

In 2015, the beautiful jazz funeral in New Orleans for composer Allen Toussaint coincided with a debate over removing four Confederate monuments. Mayor Mitch Landrieu led the ceremony, attended by living legends of jazz, music aficionados, politicians, and everyday people. The scene captured the history and culture of the city in microcosm--a city legendary for its noisy, complicated, tradition-rich splendor. In City of a Million Dreams, Jason Berry delivers a character-driven history of New Orleans at its tricentennial. Chronicling cycles of invention, struggle, death, and rebirth, Berry reveals the city's survival as a triumph of diversity, its map-of-the-world neighborhoods marked by resilience despite hurricanes, epidemics, fires, and floods. Berry orchestrates a parade of vibrant personalities, from the founder Bienville, a warrior emblazoned with snake tattoos; to Governor William C. C. Claiborne, General Andrew Jackson, and Pere Antoine, an influential priest and secret agent of the Inquisition; Sister Gertrude Morgan, a street evangelist and visionary artist of the 1960s; and Michael White, the famous clarinetist who remade his life after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina. The textured profiles of this extraordinary cast furnish a dramatic narrative of the beloved city, famous the world over for mysterious rituals as people dance when they bury their dead.

These twenty Discourses were trance channeled from the Realms of Light and the level of the Christ-Consciousness. Masters of The White Brotherhood and a group of teachers who called themselves The Universal spoke to a group gathered in the heartland of the United States during 1985-1987. In close to 500 sessions, these members of the Spiritual Hierarchy spoke of the New Dispensation coming to Earth in this millennium and the need for the embodied Children of Light to Awaken to become the Teachers that will guide humankind into the New Era. Great emphasis is placed upon dedication to soul growth so that the personal resurrection of the Christ Life within can be attained. In this first book of Series I of The Aquarius Materials, these Brotherhood Discourses were given over a period of six months. These messages stress the absolute importance of those gathered to comprehend that individual Divinity can be realized while here on Earth, in order to prepare the way for the destined manifestation of The Kingdom of God on Earth.

Charles Montgomery's compelling narrative traces the history of the upper Rio Grande's modern Spanish heritage, showing how Anglos and Hispanos sought to redefine the region's social character by glorifying its Spanish colonial past. This readable book demonstrates that northern New Mexico's twentieth-century Spanish heritage owes as much to the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1880 as to the first Spanish colonial campaign of 1598. As the railroad brought capital and migrants into the region, Anglos posed an unprecedented challenge to Hispano wealth and political power. Yet unlike their counterparts in California and Texas, the Anglo newcomers could not wholly displace their Spanish-speaking rivals. Nor could they segregate themselves or the upper Rio Grande from the image, well-known throughout the Southwest, of the disreputable Mexican. Instead, prominent Anglos and Hispanos found common cause in transcending the region's Mexican character. Turning to colonial symbols of the conquistador, the Franciscan missionary, and the humble Spanish settler, they recast northern New Mexico and its people.