Art Religion

Imagine floating freely, untethered from the confines of your physical body, exploring realms beyond the everyday world. This is not just a fantasy, but a profound experience reported by those who practice astral projection. Known also as an out-of-body experience (OBE), astral projection allows the conscious mind to journey away from the physical body, exploring the astral plane—a dimension of existence intertwined with our own, yet vastly different.

Composer John Cage sought the silence of a mind at peace with itself - and found it in Zen Buddhism, a spiritual path that changed both his music and his view of the universe. "Remarkably researched, exquisitely written", Where the Heart Beats weaves together "a great many threads of cultural history" (Maria Popova, Brain Pickings) to illuminate Cage’s struggle to accept himself and his relationship with choreographer Merce Cunningham. Freed to be his own man, Cage originated exciting experiments that set him at the epicenter of a new avant-garde forming in the 1950s.

After flipping her raft days away from help on a trip down the remote Salmon River, Katie Arnold's shattered leg tests both her spirit and her marriage for years to come. It also reignites her meditation practice and motivates her to dive into Zen in search of healing. Before the accident, Katie was an elite ultrarunner with a simmering but adequate marriage who avoided being indoors whenever possible. But who is she afterwards? In the midst of hardship, Katie turns for support to the Zen practice she had long dabbled in.

The contented heart is never out of heart. Contentment is a golden shield that beats back discouragement. True contentment will trust God even when it cannot see him. Why are you discontented? Is it because you are temporarily dispossessed of comforts? You who are discontented because you do not have all you would like to have, let me tell you, either your faith is a nonentity, or, at best, it is just an embryo. It is a weak faith that must have stilts and crutches to support it.

Perhaps in no other way do we more vibrantly reflect our creator than with our creativity. Whether through music, writing, baking, painting, posting on social media, dancing, or any other form of artistic expression within our grasp, we were created to create. Yet, there are times we may be unsure about our art, times when our creating and making doesn't feel possible or purposeful or practical. Rachel Marie Kang wants you to know that your art is not peripheral to life—it is at the very heart of why you exist and what you have to offer to yourself and to the world.

Orthodoxy, first published 1908, is Chesterton's spiritual autobiography. Subtitled, 'The romance of faith', Chesterton declares that people need a life of 'practical romance; the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure.'

Thich Nhat is a spiritual luminary, second only to the Dalai Lama, and is globally renowned and admired. His words of wisdom are centralized in finding peace in every moment; whether you're stopped at a red light or answering a phone, mindfulness grounds you into the present moment. Go Slowly, Breathe, and Smile will provide encouraging words of advice from the Wisest Monk Thich Nhat Hanh, words of wisdom to thrive in the mind and body, and life lessons and tools for mindful meditations.

We want the thousands of hours we will work over our lifetime to matter. But how do we know they're really significant? How do we go from being defined by what we do to having our work become an expression of who we are? There is not a quick fix but a progressive solution: it begins with surrendering our whole lives and then every moment of our lives to God. In The Spiritual Art of Business, "corporate mystic" Barry Rowan invites us to be transformed by God that he might transform the world through us as we begin to see our work as an extension of our faith.

Radio personality and best-selling author Barbara Rainey knows firsthand the challenges newly married couples face. Dismayed by Hollywood depictions of marriage and the seemingly easy solution of divorce, she sees a desperate need for a voice of experience, a mentor who has been there and understands - and can encourage, coach, and care. As her daughters began their married lives, Barbara wanted to share with them, and now you, some of the lessons learned throughout her own marriage as well as those gleaned from years of ministry to couples.

We are living in a time when behavioral change is necessary for our health and survival. Yet we find it exceedingly difficult to transform our own habits, let alone those of other people. Enter Naohiro Matsumura, whose powerful new design method is as astonishingly simple in its logic as it is sophisticated in its psychology. It allows any of us to address challenges in our homes, our public spaces, and our social interactions.

Never before has this country indeed this world faced such a need for a book that unites people, a book that reassures those disillusioned by faith that they can navigate their way back to God and even experience a profound spiritual awakening. For author and entrepreneur Steve McSwain, such an epiphany transformed his life. In The Enoch Factor, readers discover a kindred spirit in an author who understands how religion can subvert a spiritual life. His story will help them navigate their own spiritual journeys.

For the first time in more than a decade, Grimassi introduces listeners to a new system of witchcraft, one that draws upon the old ways and the old days to teach the practitioner how to master all that it is to be a Witch. Chock full of spells and rituals, Grimassi takes listeners deep into the woods to learn the secrets of the Thorned Path. Here we meet the entities that dwell deep within the organic memory of the earth - the devas, the deities, the magical life force behind the surface of the wooded glen.

Art is inherently magickal, and you, as an artist, are also a magician who can ritualize your creative endeavors to make them stronger than ever. Astrea Taylor offers an impressive collection of spells, rituals, deities, and lore that will help you bring to life the story, painting, sculpture, or music you've been dreaming about. This book is designed to guide you through the entire creative process. You'll draw inspiration from spirits and the four elements to complete your rough draft, and then use the principles of alchemy to refine your piece.

Jim Clary presents a compelling and riveting digest of beliefs, customs, and mystery in Superstitions of the Sea. Clary focuses on the vast array of strange, mythical, and often comical beliefs of mariners from ancient times to the present. Collecting the various topics for years, Clary found that maritime superstition was weaved throughout every fabric of his study. The folklore was so interesting that it often lured him far away from his subject search and held him spellbound for hours at a time.

When Paula D'Arcy lost her husband and baby in a car crash, she began an inner search for a faith that was stronger than fear. In Gift of the Red Bird she shares her remarkable spiritual adventure. Grief, she shows us, is an ongoing, never-completed process, one that becomes woven into the fabric of the grieving person's spiritual life.

Considered by many to be the first autobiography/memoir ever written, Confessions is a retrospective view of a life challenged by uncertainty, doubt, human frailty, and earthly desires. Augustine discovers and cherishes a deeply personal relationship with his God, all while describing the day-to-day dealings of his life in the fading, corrupt days of the Roman Empire.

At twenty-five, activist Cristina Moon faced an impossible task: preparing for the possibility of arrest and torture inside military-ruled Myanmar. Her response? Learning Buddhist meditation. So began what would become a decades-long spiritual path—eventually leading her to a Zen temple and martial arts dojo in Hawai'i with a timeless method of warrior Zen training.

When John Donne stood in the pulpit of St. Paul's, the lyricism of a great poet fused with the devotion of a holy man. There were no prepared sermons, for he spoke only from notes, and what he said was later transcribed from memory. But the sermons were overwhelming; for behind him was a lifetime devoted, as poet, philosopher and devine, to God.

A follow-up to the bestseller Sigil Witchery, Visual Alchemy takes a deeper look at the extraordinary connection between art and magic. Laura Tempest Zakroff expands on her signature sigil witchery method, an accessible and intuitive approach to crafting effective sigils. She covers numerous topics, including how to connect to the artist within, draw inspiration to you, and easily incorporate art into your ritual practice. Featuring more than fifty shared magic sigils, this book empowers you to put aside fear and unleash the full potential of your imagination.

Unshakable Awareness addresses a critical need for unsettled times - how to stay present, clear-minded, and calm when facing unpredictable life events. It offers a recipe for grounded presence when life is challenging. Unshakable Awareness will teach you to remain clear and centered under extreme pressure.