The Secret History Of Western Sexual Mysticism

Author : Arthur Versluis
Publisher : Destiny Books
ISBN 13 : 9781594772122
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Secret History of Western Sexual Mysticism written by Arthur Versluis and published by Destiny Books. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book to reveal the history of Western sexual mysticism • Reveals the secret sexual practices that have been used since ancient Greece to achieve mystical union with God • Details the sects and individuals who transmitted the radical sexual practices that orthodox Christianity never completely silenced • Distinguishes between sexual magic and sexual mysticism Beginning with the ancient Greek Mystery traditions, Gnosticism, and the practices in early Christianity, Arthur Versluis uncovers the secret line of Western sexual mysticism that, like the Tantra of the East, seeks transcendence or union with God through sexual practices. Throughout antiquity, and right into the present day, sexuality has played an important, if largely hidden, role in religious traditions and practices. This includes not only Christian but also kabbalistic and hermetic alchemical currents of sexual mysticism, many discussed together here for the first time. In the Mystery tradition of hieros gamos (sacred marriage) and the Gnostic tradition of spiritual marriage, we see the possibility of divine union in which sexual union is the principal sign or symbol. Key to these practices is the inner or archetypal union of above and below, the intermingling of the revelatory divine world with the mundane earthly one. Versluis shows that these secret currents of sexual mysticism helped fuel the rise of the troubadours and their erotic doctrine, the esoteric teachings of Jacob Böhme in the late 16th century, the 19th-century utopian communities of John Humphrey Noyes and Thomas Lake Harris, the free love movement of the 20th century, and the modern writings of Denis de Rougemont and Alan Watts.

Author : Arthur Versluis
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1594779864
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Secret History of Western Sexual Mysticism written by Arthur Versluis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book to reveal the history of Western sexual mysticism • Reveals the secret sexual practices that have been used since ancient Greece to achieve mystical union with God • Details the sects and individuals who transmitted the radical sexual practices that orthodox Christianity never completely silenced • Distinguishes between sexual magic and sexual mysticism Beginning with the ancient Greek Mystery traditions, Gnosticism, and the practices in early Christianity, Arthur Versluis uncovers the secret line of Western sexual mysticism that, like the Tantra of the East, seeks transcendence or union with God through sexual practices. Throughout antiquity, and right into the present day, sexuality has played an important, if largely hidden, role in religious traditions and practices. This includes not only Christian but also kabbalistic and hermetic alchemical currents of sexual mysticism, many discussed together here for the first time. In the Mystery tradition of hieros gamos (sacred marriage) and the Gnostic tradition of spiritual marriage, we see the possibility of divine union in which sexual union is the principal sign or symbol. Key to these practices is the inner or archetypal union of above and below, the intermingling of the revelatory divine world with the mundane earthly one. Versluis shows that these secret currents of sexual mysticism helped fuel the rise of the troubadours and their erotic doctrine, the esoteric teachings of Jacob Böhme in the late 16th century, the 19th-century utopian communities of John Humphrey Noyes and Thomas Lake Harris, the free love movement of the 20th century, and the modern writings of Denis de Rougemont and Alan Watts.

Author : Wouter J. Hanegraaff
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9047443586
Total Pages : 566 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hidden Intercourse written by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2008-12-31 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of Western esotericism is rich in references to the domains of eros and sexuality, but this connection has never been explored in detail from a critical scholarly perspective. Bringing together an impressive array of top-level specialists, this volume reveals the outlines of a largely unknown history spanning more than twenty centuries.

Author : Wendy Berg
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
ISBN 13 : 9780738703008
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Polarity Magic written by Wendy Berg and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2003 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Polarity magic is at the heart of the Western Mystery Tradition, though few are aware of its theory and practice. Even so, it constitutes the core of all mythology and mystery teachings. It recognizes that the most powerful creative force is found in the fundamental energies exchanged between a man and a woman. It exalts, rather than negates, human sexuality in spiritual and magical endeavor. This book explores the hidden traditions of the Western mysteries, focusing on the divine feminine and the sexual dynamics of magic. It shows why the feminine principle must be restored to magic, and offers practical magical examples of how this may be done. Sympathetic reconstructions of priest and priestess rituals are offered, which feature ancient historical and mythological couples such as Isis and Osiris, Taliesen and Ceridwen, Arthur and Gwenevere, Merlin and Gwendydd, and Akhenaten and Nefertiti. The magical implications of the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Christ are also addressed. Also featured in this one-of-a-kind magical volume is advice on forming working partnerships with beings of the faery realm, and techniques for the lone magician who works with inner-plane partners.

Author : Arthur Versluis
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 9780742558366
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Magic and Mysticism written by Arthur Versluis and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides overview, from antiquity onwards, on various Western religious esoteric movements. This book includes topics such as: alchemy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and more.

Author : Georg Feuerstein
Publisher : Tarcher
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 278 pages
Book Rating : 4.70/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sacred Sexuality written by Georg Feuerstein and published by Tarcher. This book was released on 1992 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a vast diversity of religious and spiritual traditions, this comprehensive exploration of sexuality's spiritual dimensions uncovers deeply hidden messages about sexuality and shows how to incorporate the concepts of Hinduism, Christianity, Judasim, and other philosophies into our lives. Illustrated.

Author : Marla Segol
Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 0271091053
Total Pages : 311 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Kabbalah and Sex Magic written by Marla Segol and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2021-06-16 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this provocative book, Marla Segol explores the development of the kabbalistic cosmology underlying Western sex magic. Drawing extensively on Jewish myth and ritual, Segol tells the powerful story of the relationship between the divine and the human body in late antique Jewish esotericism, in medieval kabbalah, and in New Age ritual practice. Kabbalah and Sex Magic traces the evolution of a Hebrew microcosm that models the powerful interaction of human and divine bodies at the heart of both kabbalah and some forms of Western sex magic. Focusing on Jewish esoteric and medical sources from the fifth to the twelfth century from Byzantium, Persia, Iberia, and southern France, Segol argues that in its fully developed medieval form, kabbalah operated by ritualizing a mythos of divine creation by means of sexual reproduction. She situates in cultural and historical context the emergence of Jewish cosmological models for conceptualizing both human and divine bodies and the interactions between them, arguing that all these sources position the body and its senses as the locus of culture and the means of reproducing it. Segol explores the rituals acting on these models, attending especially to their inherent erotic power, and ties these to contemporary Western sex magic, showing that such rituals have a continuing life. Asking questions about its cosmology, myths, and rituals, Segol poses even larger questions about the history of kabbalah, the changing conceptions of the human relation to the divine, and even the nature of religious innovation itself. This groundbreaking book will appeal to students and scholars of Jewish studies, religion, sexuality, and magic.

Author : Richard Smoley
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470249072
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Conscious Love written by Richard Smoley and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-03-31 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though love is a perennial topic for writers of all kinds, much of what is written aboutlove is simplistic and unsatisfying. In Conscious Love, Richard Smoley—an expert on the esoteric traditions of mystical Christianity—incorporates insights and wisdom about love from noted thinkers in literature, art, philosophy, sociology, cultural criticism, and even neurology. This remarkable book offers a blueprint for infusing conscious love into human relationships.

Author : Arthur Versluis
Publisher : Inner Traditions / Bear & Co
ISBN 13 : 9780892813520
Total Pages : 180 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sacred Earth written by Arthur Versluis and published by Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. This book was released on 1992-06 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Placing Native American spirituality in the context of the world's great religions, Sacred Earth contrasts contemporary society's arrogant belief in its own power with native traditions of reverence for the earth. This eye-opening journey through the terrain of Native American spirituality is an urgent call to rediscover and become firmly grounded on the sacred earth again.

Author : Christopher S Hyatt
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781935150251
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Secrets of Western Tantra written by Christopher S Hyatt and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: So many books on Tantra are obscure, obtuse and of little real use -- especially for the Western Practitioner. Finally there is a book which provides a direct, honest, pragmatic, no-holds-barred approach to the most powerful methods for personal growth and spiritual attainment. "Sex is one of the most powerful forces on the planet and, until it is transformed, the people and the planet will remain asleep". This revised edition includes a new article by S Jason Black.