Women Mystics

Journey into the lives of extraordinary women who redefined spirituality, reshaped philosophical thought, and left an indelible mark on the world of mysticism. Mystic Women offers an inspiring exploration of female visionaries whose insights and legacies continue to influence philosophy, faith, and mystical traditions around the globe.

With Wild Mercy, Mirabai Starr shares the subversive wisdom and fierce compassion of the feminine mystic across cultural boundaries and throughout history. From saints and sages, to goddesses and archetypal energies, to contemporary teachers and seekers - you'll meet women who blazed a path that will illuminate your own.

On the day her daughter leaves for college, Anne Colwater's husband of 20 years announces he wants a divorce. Her roles of wife and mother suddenly gone, Annie retreats to her childhood home of Mystic, Washington, to heal. There she finds her old friend Nick, suddenly widowed and unable to cope with his emotionally scarred young daughter, Izzie.

Is there a Christian spirituality that embraces the entire reality of womanhood? The answer, Shannon K. Evans suggests, is an emphatic yes. There is a spirituality that meets us in every part of our lives, developed by the women who came before us. Six mystics—Teresa of Ávila, Margery Kempe, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Thérèse of Lisieux—revealed a faith big enough to hold the female experiences of sex and desire, the yearning for bodily autonomy, the challenges of motherhood and identity, as well as life with male authority and—sometimes—violence.

A community of quirky, mismatched, and endearing women struggle to find meaning and purpose on a ramshackle monastery in upstate New York. Having spent their lives in service to a church that seems to no longer serve them, they are confused about their own futures and the future of the entire monastery.

Wyatt Fitzgerald doesn't consider his deafness a disability, and he doesn't want special consideration from anyone - least of all a spoiled city girl like Erin. He prides himself on his ability to read lips, and when she confronts him, Wyatt sees no reason to volunteer to her that he's deaf. But there's no escaping each other in the small Oregon town, especially once Erin seeks him out to make amends. Wyatt gave up on dating long ago, but the written correspondence he and Erin begin to share speak to him like nothing else ever has.

From the beautiful apsaras of Hindu myth to the swan maidens of European fairy tales, stories of flying women - some carried by wings, others by clouds, rainbows, floating scarves, and flying horses - reveal the perennial fascination with and ambivalence about female power and sexuality. In Women Who Fly, Serinity Young examines the motif of the flying woman as it appears in a wide variety of cultures and historical periods, in legends, myths, rituals, sacred narratives, and artistic productions.

The Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was forty-four years old when she broke with the academic tradition in which she had been trained to produce a body of radical, abstract works the likes of which had never been seen before. Today, it is widely accepted that af Klint was one of the earliest abstract academic painters in Europe. But this is only part of her story. Not only was she a working female artist, she was also an avowed clairvoyant and mystic.

While in Bath preparing for her upcoming marriage to Lord Darkefell, Lady Anne learns of a profoundly accurate mystic working in town whose uncanny predictions have stunned the gullible and the skeptical alike. Certain there's a harmless rational explanation for the medium's supposed otherworldly abilities, Anne's tolerance turns to defiance when the seer's dark pronouncements begin having a decidedly harmful affect on her friends - and a troubled local vicar takes his own life.

Barista April Storm longs for more than making a mean macchiato and talking to her ex-boyfriend’s ghost. So when her quirky Aunt Rose asks her to help open a hip café in the rural area near the Welsh and English border, she jumps at the chance to start fresh. Little does she know what lies in store for her when spirits begin to arrive, asking for help in solving their murders. Assisted by her spectral ex, a magical secret agent, and a talking cat named Punkin, she finds herself in hot water time after time. Can April serve up justice before a brewing disaster boils over?

When retired postmaster Albert Schumer is found dead on the steps of the post office, the whole town of Mystic Notch is disappointed he won’t be able to play in the annual checkers tournament. But when his ghost informs middle-aged bookstore owner Willa Chance that he died trying to deliver an old letter, which has mysteriously gone missing, Willa realizes Albert didn’t just slip and fall. Someone killed him. Even worse, it turns out the letter contains a list of ingredients for a spell that could wreak havoc on Mystic Notch if it falls into the wrong hands.

Middle-aged bookstore owner Willa Chance is looking forward to the opportunity of appraising a valuable private library that hasn't seen the light of day for 50 years...until she finds a dead body in the backyard and the ghost of the home's previous owner anxiously waiting for her inside.

It's New Year's Eve, and Angelica is ready to welcome the New Year. But when the clock strikes twelve and a curse is unleashed, old acquaintances will be anything but forgotten. Who has it out for Silverlake? Or maybe the magical town isn't the target. Because when the snow settles, two women are left frozen at the center of it all—the town's persnickety mayor and an up-and-coming WNN news anchor. Both women's personalities aren't going to make this an easy case.

As the town’s medium, Connie Winters is the only person who can see the ghosts who call Mystic Springs home. When young temptress Lola is killed, the dead mayor and the dead sheriff are determined to investigate. Since they’ve never been replaced with live counterparts, they’d better get on with it. But they need Connie’s help. And if Connie’s helping, her sister Sage is going to get involved too - she’s beautiful, slim, and 20 years dead.

Middle-aged bookstore owner Willa Chance is often haunted by ghosts who want her to do their bidding. Usually it involves the nasty business of bringing their killers to justice, so when the ghost of Adelaide Hamilton asks her to find an old recipe book and give it to Elspeth Whipple, it seems like an easy job. Except Willa's search for the book has her crossing the path of Sheriff Eddie Striker one too many times for comfort. He's acting almost as if he's investigating a murder, but Adelaide died of natural causes. Didn't she?

Three hundred years ago, accused witch Hester Warren buried a magical box in Mystic Notch. The secret contents within have the power to bring disaster to the town, and when the box is dug up at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Mystic Notch Historical Museum, Hester's ghost and that of her cat make an appearance to warn the humans and enlist their help to ensure the box doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Too bad the only one listening is Pandora, the cat.

Christmas is right around the corner, and Angelica and Vance are finally getting ready to say their vows. But just as they're about to start their happily ever after, a dark cloud appears on the horizon in the form of someone from Angelica's past. This mysterious figure has a dangerous plan and will stop at nothing to silence Angelica forever.

There's nothing practical about magic—which is why I ditched my wand years ago. Thirteen years, to be exact. The day I left Silverlake. Except now, a family emergency has called me back home, and quite frankly, I'd rather be anywhere but here. But when my aunt raises her wand to cure a friend and he ends up dead, it becomes abundantly clear I'm not leaving anytime soon.

Welcome to the best holiday of the year. Or so I thought...until the tricks began to outweigh the treats. Frog curses, poisoned candy apples, and a wayward vampire are only the half of it. Add in a two-hundred-year-old curse, a depressed poltergeist, and a dead body, and you can see why my enthusiasm for the witchiest day of the year is waning. Not cool, Halloween Hijacker. Not cool. And that's why you can bet your wand I’m not going to go down without a fight, even if my actions land me in grave danger.

It turns that even a witch can't run from her past forever. A lesson I learned the hard way. But now I'm back home, and things are going well—or at least they were for about five minutes. With the town-saving fall festival days away and the inn's renovation falling apart, I'm run ragged and right into a crime scene. A suspicious death has sent gossip flying faster than you can say bibidi babidi boo, threatening to put Silverlake on the map for all the wrong reasons. It'll take all witches on deck to solve this crime and save Silverlake before it's too late.