This title was first published in 2000: These essays ecplore the spiritual culture shared by texts and writers in Western Europe from the 13th to 17th centuries; the visionaries, mystics and nuns who were poets or scholars and the creative writers who drew on spiritual themes. The topics range chronologically from the late 13th to late 17th centuries and geographically from Germany, England, Italy, France, Spain and New Spain (Mexico), though the volume's centre is the spiritual culture of 16th-century Spain. Common concerns of each essay are the exploration of spiritual culture; how some texts and writers shape expectations attending the life of the spirit; and how they are in turn shaped by them. The sub-themes many of the essays share are the gendering of spiritual culture and the relationship between traditional literary genres like poetry and drama and spiritual discourse. Each text or spiritual figure covered here has a distinctive spiritual voice - a mystical gesture - that contributes an individual mysticism to the common spiritual culture they all share. Each scholar in her or his own way defines this mystical gesture. The essays analyze Mechthild von Magdburg, "Piers Plowman", "The Second Shepherds' Play", Catherine of Siena, Bernardo de Laredo, Teresa of Avila, Alonso de la Fuente, Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, Cecilian de nacimiento, Margaret Mary Alaconque and Sor Juana.

These essays ecplore the spiritual culture shared by texts and writers in Western Europe from the 13th to 17th centuries; the visionaries, mystics and nuns who were poets or scholars and the creative writers who drew on spiritual themes. The topics range chronologically from the late 13th to late 17th centuries and geographically from Germany, England, Italy, France, Spain and New Spain (Mexico), though the volume's centre is the spiritual culture of 16th-century Spain. Common concerns of each essay are the exploration of spiritual culture; how some texts and writers shape expectations attending the life of the spirit; and how they are in turn shaped by them.

Channel the Root Energies of the Universe with an Approach to Magic Unmatched in Elegance and Power Discover a system of magic that you can use to create any ritual, any charm, any spell you need in your life...with no special tools required. Kinesic magic is a new approach to Western magic that uses body postures and hand gestures to channel and utilize the fundamental esoteric forces. This book includes the basic postures and gestures as well as numerous practical exercises to master them. Renowned occultist Donald Tyson also shares a range of complete rituals—from simple to complex—for calling forth the powers of the elements and planets, commanding spirits, healing the body and mind, and more. Magical systems often require the use of tools, altars, jewelry, or other accoutrements. Kinesic magic simply uses twenty-four hand gestures and twenty-four basic postures to invoke, direct, concentrate, project, and banish powerful magical forces. This unique system connects your physical and mental energies with the five elements, the seven planets of traditional astrology, and the twelve signs of the zodiac. This magic of the empty hand can be used anytime, anywhere for remarkable magical results.

In the study of Judaism, the Zohar has captivated the minds of interpreters for over seven centuries, and continues to entrance readers in contemporary times. Yet despite these centuries of study, very little attention has been devoted to the literary dimensions of the text, or to formal appreciation of its status as one of the great works of religious literature. The Art of Mystical Narrative offers a critical approach to the zoharic story, seeking to explore the interplay between fictional discourse and mystical exegesis. Eitan Fishbane argues that the narrative must be understood first and foremost as a work of the fictional imagination, a representation of a world and reality invented by the thirteenth-century authors of the text. He claims that the text functions as a kind of dramatic literature, one in which the power of revealing mystical secrets is demonstrated and performed for the reading audience. The Art of Mystical Narrative offers a fresh, interdisciplinary perspective on the Zohar and on the intersections of literary and religious studies.

Although the Spanish Inquisition looms large in many conceptions of the early modern Hispanic world, relatively few studies have been made of the Spanish state and Inquisition’s approach to book censorship in the seventeenth century. Merging archival and rare book research with a case study of the fiction of Baltasar Gracián, this book argues that privileged authors, like the Jesuit Gracián, circumvented publication strictures that were meant to ensure that printed materials conformed to the standards of Catholicism and supported the goals of the absolute monarchy. In contrast to some elite authors who composed readily transparent critiques of authorities and encountered difficulties with the state and Inquisition, others, like Gracián, made their criticisms covertly in complicated texts like El Criticón.