Long before Gnosticism was formally named, seekers pursued a deeply personal, mystical knowledge of God - believing this sacred insight could free humanity from suffering and spiritual ignorance.While all religions acknowledge an imperfect world, Gnostics uniquely taught that creation itself was flawed - implicating the creator rather than humanity. This radical theology, condemned as heresy in early Christianity, led to persecution, especially given the sect's liberal views on gen...

In its right appreciation, love has been exalted by the ancients in song and story and extolled by priest and philosopher. “To the Spirit, to Heaven, to the Sun, to the Moon, to Earth, to Night, to the Day, and to the Father of all that is and will be, to Eros.” Such an invocation was possible only among the ancient civilized nations. They recognized the importance of sexuality in life. They could not see any moral turpitude in actions, regarded by them as the design of nature and as the a...

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For what is it that the All lacked, if not the knowledge of the Father?' - Gnostic text from the Gospel of TruthLong before there was a system of belief called Gnosticism there were those who reached for a special intimate knowledge of God and His mysterious ways. The possession of such knowledge, they believed, would bring salvation from suffering.All religious traditions acknowledged that the world is imperfect. Where they differ is in the explanations they offer for this...

Who were the Cathars and what was the Albigensian Crusade?The brutal (and largely unknown) Albigensian Crusade took place from 1209 to 1229 in Languedoc, France, and was perpetrated by the Catholic Church. The victims were thousands of Cathars – the members of the region's popular religion – and the Last of the Gnostics.In this extraordinary work, author Don Durrett follows six women of the time to capture the Cathar's final years in rich and historic detail. Although scrut...

As long as we have been human, we have been mythmakers. In A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong holds up the mirror of mythology to show us the history of ourselves, and embarks on a journey that begins at a Neanderthal graveside and ends buried in the heart of the modern novel.Surprising, powerful and profound, A Short History of Myth examines the world's most ancient art form - the making and telling of stories - and why we still need it.

In this classic text, Thomas Merton offers valuable guidance for prayer. He brings together a wealth of meditative and mystical influences–from John of the Cross to Eastern desert monasticism–to create a spiritual path for today. Most important, he shows how the peace contacted through meditation should not be sought in order to evade the problems of contemporary life, but can instead be directed back out into the world to affect positive change.Contemplative Prayer is one...

Out in the Open, Revised Edition: The Complete Male Pelvis offers a frank exploration of the male pelvic region from a cultural and scientific perspective. Focusing on pelvic structure and development, the book explains how male sexuality develops throughout a man's life—from birth onwards. An experienced Rolfer with an academic background in physiology, the late author R. Louis Schultz, PhD, offers the fruits of his wisdom gleaned over the course of his twenty-five year bodywork ...

The classic collection of essays for those seeking spiritual wisdom from the religious scholar, Trappist monk, and author of The Seven Storey Mountain.A recapitulation of his earlier work Seeds of Contemplation, this collection of sixteen essays plumbs aspects of human spirituality. Merton addresses those in search of enduring values, fulfillment, and salvation in prose that is, as always, inspiring and compassionate. "A stimulating series of spir...

This anonymous fourteenth-century text is the glory of English mysticism, and one of the most practical and useful guides to finding union with God ever written. Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s new translation is the first to bring the text into a modern English idiom—while remaining strictly faithful to the meaning of the original Middle English.The Cloud of Unknowing consists of a series of letters written by a monk to his student or disciple, instructing him (or her) in the wa...