Collection: Spirituality & Religion

The book sets forth theories about motor learning and control that provide lessons for learning any sport or physical activity. For example, a central idea in the book is that through years of practice, a physical activity becomes effortless both mentally and physically, as if the body executes complex and difficult movements without conscious control from the mind.

Explore the magical qualities of our feline friends through history, folklore, and myths!

Incorporate feline energy into your spell and ritual work with this beautifully illustrated guide. Cat Magick invites you to bolster your magickal practice by embracing your wild feminine and developing the bond with your feline familiar. Learn about the centuries-long veneration of cats; feline history, myths, legends, and folklore; and the distinctions between familiars, guides, and messengers.

Begin working with the unique energies of domestic shorthair and purebred cats, as well as big cats, including tigers, lions, and panthers. Conduct your own rituals for:

• Calling your feline guide and familiar to you
• Strengthening the bond with your familiar
• Syncing with lunar and solar energies
• Creating fur talismans
• Healing with cat medicine
• And much more!

Open yourself up to Cat Magick and elevate your relationship with felines into one full of unity and mysticism.

From the bestselling author of the princess saves herself in this one comes an accessible guide to welcoming magic into your life, perfect for beginner witches and the magic-curious alike.

As witchcraft grows ever more popular, there are countless introductions and paths into magical practice to choose from--so many that you might not know where to begin. When you're just getting started, it's easy to be intimidated or discouraged or to feel that there's no place for you in the craft.

With make your own magic, amanda lovelace aims to change that. This inviting beginner's guide shows that magic doesn't have to be fancy, time-consuming, or one-size-fits-all. It introduces the tenets of witchcraft so that you can develop your own practice and relationship with magic in whatever way works for you. With simple explanations, twenty all-new inspiring poems, words of encouragement, magical journaling prompts, and more, this book sweeps away the gatekeeping and offers you the tools needed to begin building a strong, long-lasting practice focused on self-love.

A practical guide to understanding and using Mexican healing traditions in everyday life.

Arranging ofrendas. Brewing pericón into a healing tea. Releasing traumas through baños and limpias. Herbalist and curandera Atava Garcia Swiecicki spent decades gathering this traditional knowledge of curanderismo, Mexican folk healing, which had been marginalized as Chicanx and Latinx Americans assimilated to US culture. She teaches how to follow the path of the curandera, as she herself learned from apprenticing with Mexican curanderas, studying herbal texts, and listening to her ancestors. In this book readers will learn the Indigenous, African, and European roots of curanderismo. Atava also shares her personal journey as a healer and those of thirteen other inspirational curanderas serving their communities. She offers readers the tools to begin their own healing--for themselves, for their relationship with the earth, and for the people.

The Curanderx Toolkit includes more than 25 profiles of native and adopted plants of Baja and Alta California and teaches you to grow, know, and love them. This book will help anyone who has lost connection with their ancestors begin to incorporate the herbal wisdom and holistic wellness of curanderismo into their lives. Take the power of ancient medicine into your own hands by learning simple herbal remedies and practicing rituals for kinship with the more-than-human world.

A guide to the transformative power of Buddhist psychology--for meditators and mental health professionals, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.

You have within you unlimited capacities for extraordinary love, for joy, for communion with life, and for unshakable freedom--and here is how to awaken them. In The Wise Heart, celebrated author and psychologist Jack Kornfield offers the most accessible, comprehensive, and illuminating guide to Buddhist psychology ever published in the West. Here is a vision of radiant human dignity, a journey to the highest expression of human possibility--and a practical path for realizing it in our own lives.

A revolutionary, science-based approach to meditation from a neuroscientist turned meditation master, The Mind Illuminated is an accessible, step-by-step toolkit for anyone looking to start--or improve--their daily meditation practice.

The book that bestselling meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg raves "brings the path of meditation to life," The Mind Illuminated is the first how-to meditation guide from a neuroscientist who is also an acclaimed meditation master. This innovative book offers a 10-stage program that is both deeply grounded in ancient spiritual teachings about mindfulness and holistic health, and also draws from the latest brain science to provide a roadmap for anyone interested in achieving the benefits of mindfulness. Dr. John Yates offers a new and fascinating model of how the mind works, including steps to overcome mind wandering and dullness, extending your attention span while meditating, and subduing subtle distractions.

This groundbreaking manual provides illustrations and charts to help you work through each stage of the process, offering tools that work across all types of meditation practices. The Mind Illuminated is an essential read, whether you are a beginner wanting to establish your practice or a seasoned veteran ready to master the deepest state of peace and mindfulness.

A comprehensive guide to a growing religious movement

If you want to study Paganism in more detail, this book is the place to start. Based on a course in Paganism that the authors have taught for more than a decade, it is full of exercises, meditations, and discussion questions for group or individual study.

This book presents the basic fundamentals of Paganism. It explores what Pagans are like; how the Pagan sacred year is arranged; what Pagans do in ritual; what magick is; and what Pagans believe about God, worship, human nature, and ethics.

• For those who are exploring their own spirituality, or who want a good book to give to non-Pagan family and friends
• A hands-on learning tool with magickal workings, meditations, discussion questions, and journal exercises
• Offers in-depth discussion of ethics and magick

Introducing a groundbreaking, holistic approach to the practice and philosophy of herbal healing for the body, spirit, and soul.

The first-ever herbalism guide to integrate herbal, medical, and esoteric traditions from around the globe--including astrology, Ayurveda, and alchemy--into one cohesive model.

Sajah Popham presents an innovative approach to herbalism that considers the holistic relationship among plants, humans, and the underlying archetypal patterns in Nature. Organized in 5 parts, this work explores a unique integration of clinical herbalism, Ayurveda, medical astrology, spagyric alchemy, and medical and esoteric traditions from across the world into a truly holistic system of plant medicine.

A balance of the heart and the mind, and the science and spirit of people and plants, Evolutionary Herbalism provides a holistic context for how plants can be used for transformational levels of healing for the body, spirit, and soul. For both the student herbalist and experienced practitioner, Popham's original perspectives guide readers to a more intimate, synergistic, and intuitive relationship with the plant kingdom, people, and Nature as a whole.

Get on the path to Zen bliss--the essential beginner's guide to Buddhism

How is an awakening different from enlightenment? Can agnostics and atheists be Buddhist? What are you supposed to think about during meditation? In No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners, author Noah Rasheta--renowned Buddhism teacher and host of the popular Secular Buddhism podcast--delivers an easily accessible introduction to the teachings of Buddhism that anyone can dive into! Inside, you'll discover the basics of Buddhism and how to apply the philosophies in your everyday life.

A 4-part overview--Learn the fundamentals with chapters about the Buddha, key Buddhist concepts, the Buddha's teachings, and current Buddhist practices.

Straightforward Q&As--Simplify the key concepts of Buddhism, like mindfulness, Zen, and why Buddhism is so has been around so long, into easy-to-understand ideas.

"Everyday Buddhism" Sidebars--Make Buddhism less abstract with quick callouts throughout the book that offer down-to-earth examples of Buddhism that are all around you.

Presented in a simple, conversational style, this friendly spiritual book provides the groundwork for building (or continuing) your own Buddhist practice.

A clear and simple manual of precise instructions for accessing the Akashic Records and confirming the accuracy of the information you receive

- 2020 Coalition of Visionary Resources Gold Award and Book of the Year

- Details exercises, tools, and techniques to clear the energies blocking your access and tune to your Akashic Record Keepers

- Explains the specific markers that allow you to recognize your Record Keepers and to validate the information you receive, rather than "trusting" it to be true

- Provides guidance on accessing the Akashic Records on behalf of other people, how to ask questions, and how to handle the information as it comes in

The Akashic Records are a vast domain of energetic imprints much like a movie library, a living vibrational field that stores all possible futures, the present, and the past. As soon as your soul begins its life experience, a field of energy is released that records every thought, word, action, desire, and emotion. In this guide to opening the Akashic Records, Maureen St. Germain provides precise instructions explaining how to connect with your personal Record Keepers, gain clear access to the Akashic Records, discover information about you and your loved ones, and learn your soul's purpose.

The author explains how outside energies can influence your connection to the Akashic Records. She details energetic clearing exercises to remove the energies blocking or shadowing your access and teaches the Higher Self Protocol to ensure an authentic channel of communication. She explores how to find the Record Keepers who will be the most helpful to you and provides techniques and tools, such as guided energy work, to prepare you for Akashic Record access, initiate you into the 5D mindset, and invite more accuracy and a stronger connection. She details the specific markers to look for to recognize genuine Akashic Librarians and to validate and confirm the information you receive, rather than simply "trusting" it to be true. She also provides guidance on accessing the Akashic Records on behalf of other people, how to ask questions, and how to handle the information as it comes in.

Explaining why the Ascended Masters opened access to the Akashic Records to all of humanity and how their presence assists you, St. Germain shows how the intended purpose for working with the Akashic Records is for soul growth, not to "repair" your karma debts. By seeing your records and working with your Record Keepers, not only will you learn your soul's purpose and help solve the problems that crop up in everyday life and relationships, but you will amplify your spirituality and begin operating at a higher level in consciousness. Your work in the Akashic Records aids and assists in Earth's ascension.

Explore the World of Tarot with This Fun and Information-Packed Resource

Want to learn how to read Tarot cards? Not sure where to start? With The Tarot Coloring Book, you can color your way through every card in the deck--and go from Tarot rookie to Tarot rock star in no time. Created especially for new practitioners and people who've been intimidated by Tarot, this guide was created to help you get going immediately with a Tarot practice that will grow and deepen for many years to come. As you relax and enjoy coloring illustrations from the classic Rider Waite deck, you'll experience Reed's accessible guidance as she shares:

- Card-by-card insights on the symbolism, meaning, and hidden wisdom of all 78 Major and Minor Arcana
- Guidance for coloring--what the classic colors mean, and why it's sometimes even better to choose your own
- Easy, jargon-free explanations about the history and practice of Tarot
- Beginner-friendly spreads to help you get to answers fast and aid in decision-making
- Tarot-to-Go--a handy quick-reference guide for the essential meaning of each card

As you color the images, you'll find yourself seeing symbols that you may not have noticed before, writes Theresa. You'll see stories and patterns begin to emerge. You'll find your own meanings while learning the traditional ones. Now you can master the entire deck with a unique and enjoyable guidebook for exploring the hidden aspects of this classic divination system.

This landmark collection is the definitive introduction to the Buddha's teachings - in his own words.

The American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, whose voluminous translations have won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught. Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha's Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha's discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight. A concise, informative introduction precedes each chapter, guiding the reader toward a deeper understanding of the texts that follow.

This book contains:

• Clear translations of the Buddha's original teachings
• Thoughtfully curated selections from the Pali Canon
• Chapters on the Buddha's life, rebirth, suffering, liberation, and practice
• A foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

In the Buddha's Words allows even readers unacquainted with Buddhism to grasp the significance of the Buddha's contributions to our world heritage. Taken as a whole, these texts bear eloquent testimony to the breadth and intelligence of the Buddha's teachings, and point the way to an ancient yet ever-vital path. Practitioners and scholars alike will find this systematic presentation indispensable.

Dive into the world of the Buddha through these easy-to-read English translations of the Pali Canon. The Pali Canon is the literary, intellectual, and spiritual foundation of Theravada Buddhism. This volume, being organized in a progressive manner "from the simple to the difficult, from the elementary to the profound," makes it well-suited for those looking for an accessible introduction to the Theravadin scriptural corpus, as well as being a valuable resource for those familiar with the Pali Canon but wanting a more structured presentation of the materials.

"So much thoughtful insight and practical advice is contained in these pages . . . Jane uses nature as a guide to living life in harmony rather than discord."--Rosemary Gladstar, author of Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs

Insight, ideas, and inspiration abound in this highly practical guide to growing successfully in harmony with the moon, the Earth, and other planetary influences.

Planting by the moon is an age-old gardening tradition, but did you know that the cycles of the moon and the zodiac can be a powerful tool to improve your success with all kinds of gardening tasks? In The Celestial Garden, longtime gardener and herbalist Jane Hawley Stevens explains how the movement of the moon through the constellations of the zodiac provides a detailed calendar of optimal times for planting seeds, roots, and transplants, as well as for pruning, weeding, propagation, harvesting, and even starting new garden projects or throwing garden parties. While herbs are Stevens's specialty, she loves growing all kinds of plants, and The Celestial Garden provides excellent gardening tips for every gardener, whether their passion is for vegetables, fruits, herbs, or flowers. At a deeper level, Stevens believes that gardening by the moon and learning about astrological cycles can help restore our elemental interconnection with Nature and the Earth.

The Celestial Garden introduces and explains all aspects of astrological gardening:

• What moon signs are, and why and how the phase of the moon affects plant growth and development
• How to align the moon's passage through the constellations of the zodiac with your choice of daily garden tasks and projects
• Specific tips and advice for the best activities to undertake during each of the moon's phases
• How to incorporate simple, creative seasonal rituals into your astrological gardening practice
• How to design a unique chakra garden
• How to apply what you learn about astrological influences beyond the garden to experience a greater sense of flow and satisfaction in all aspects of your daily life

Photos of the author's garden throughout the book provide visual evidence of the positive results that come from gardening in harmony with the moon and planetary influences. Illustrations and charts help readers understand the lunar cycle and its influence on plants, the astrological rulers of the body, and the relationship between the signs of the zodiac and the four elements (earth, air, water, fire).

Gardeners of every level of experience will find new insights, ideas, and inspiration in this unusual, beautiful, and highly practical guide to the simple yet expansive art of consulting with the cosmos to inform our garden tasks on any given day, week, or month and enjoy greater gardening satisfaction and success.

"[Stevens'] advice is plentiful . . [and her] horticultural degree underscore the science of her work."--Booklist

"A unique and wonderful book, brimming with the knowledge and skills that arise from a lifetime in herbalism. . . This book is a major contribution to herbalism's role not only in the alleviation of suffering, but the transformation of human consciousness. Thank you, Jane!"--David Hoffmann, RH (AHG), fellow, National Institute of Medical Herbalists; principal scientist, Traditional Medicinals

"In this easy-to-understand guidebook, Jane Hawley Stevens demystifies the moon and stars in relationship with nature and explains how you can use their powerful cycles to make your garden the most beautiful, bountiful, and happiest it can be."--Maria Rodale, author of Love, Nature, Magic

Learn how to anticipate the future and shape the present in this new guide about reading Tarot cards.

For centuries, mystics and clairvoyants have used Tarot cards to predict the future. But no special power is needed to read the cards with How to Read Tarot. This easy-to-follow guide can show you how to interpret and understand the meaning behind Tarot cards. You'll find everything from explanations of each card in the deck to using the Tarot for personal gain. The truth is in the cards--that is, if you know where to look.

Tap into the divine and unlock your destiny by learning to read tarot

Tarot is a powerful, mystical tool that can help you discover what's destined for you and those around you. This modern tarot book will teach you everything you need to know about this time-honored practice, how the universe speaks through tarot spreads, and how you can use tarot to improve your love, work, personal, and spiritual lives.

What sets How to Read Tarot apart from other tarot deck books:

• Tarot basics-Begin your tarot journey learning how to use your deck; exploring the relationship between tarot, astrology, and numerology; and understanding how to perform readings for others.
• Detailed card breakdowns-Tarot decks are broken up into the major and minor arcana, which represent the big and small events in your life. You'll review each of these cards and their ancient symbols to learn how they can provide guidance and insight.
• Tarot card starter spreads-Learn to peer into your past, present, and future with a three-card spread; delve into a big decision with a Celtic cross spread; look at every aspect of your life with a 21-card spread; and more.

Connect with the cards, the universe, and your unlimited potential with How to Read Tarot.

Psychedelics for spiritual, therapeutic, and problem-solving use

- Presents practices for safe and successful psychedelic voyages, including the benefits of having a guide and how to be a guide

- Reviews the value of psychedelics for healing and self-discovery as well as how LSD has facilitated scientific and technical problem-solving

- Reveals how microdosing (ultra-low doses) improve cognitive functioning, emotional balance, and physical stamina

- This year 600,000 people in the U.S. alone will try LSD for the the first time, joining the 23 million who have already experimented with this substance

Called "America's wisest and most respected authority on psychedelics and their use," James Fadiman has been involved with psychedelic research since the 1960s. In this guide to the immediate and long-term effects of psychedelic use for spiritual (high dose), therapeutic (moderate dose), and problem-solving (low dose and microdose) purposes, Fadiman outlines best practices for safe, sacred entheogenic voyages learned through his more than 40 years of experience--from the benefits of having a sensitive guide during a session (and how to be one) to the importance of the setting and pre-session intention.

Fadiman reviews the newest as well as the neglected research into the psychotherapeutic value of visionary drug use for increased personal awareness and a host of serious medical conditions, including his recent study of the reasons for and results of psychedelic use among hundreds of students and professionals. He reveals new uses for LSD and other psychedelics, including microdosing, extremely low doses for improved cognitive functioning and emotional balance. Cautioning that psychedelics are not for everyone, he dispels the myths and misperceptions about psychedelics circulating in textbooks and clinics as well as on the internet. Exploring the life-changing experiences of Ram Dass, Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Huston Smith as well as Francis Crick and Steve Jobs, Fadiman shows how psychedelics, used wisely, can lead not only to healing but also to scientific breakthroughs and spiritual epiphanies.