History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time. Alexandria isnt sure shes going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, shes a goner... and so is Aiden. If thats not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome. But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and shes caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed and destroyed. Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

These are step-by-step teachings on the genereation stage practices of deity yoga as they were practiced in Tibet.

'For anyone who wants to do serious inner work with their dark, or shadow self, I highly, highly recommend this book.' Jessica Elizabeth | Facing North Journey to the Dark Goddess will lead you on a powerful, healing path. In the stories of ancient Goddesses you will hear your own soul, calling out to you. The Dark Goddess is the creatrix of healing, change and renewal. She offers connection with the core of yourself. If you have been unable to shake off depression, or fear its return; if you have inexplicable 'blank patches' in your life, if you know that something is missing, or something is calling to you, if you seek the source of women's power - it's time to journey to the Dark Goddess. The for this journey to the Dark Goddess exists in ancient myth. Weaving the stories of Inanna, Persephone and Psyche with self-enquiry and sacred ritual we learn to journey internally, creating maps in our darkest places and return enriched, integrating our deepest understandings. Meeting the Dark Goddess we see a mirror of our own soul.

The prime doctrine of alchemy was that what was above mirrored what was below. From this it follows that manipulating what was below could exert a profound influence upon the realm above. Alchemy was a dual process in which physical and chemical or metallurgical changes had a parallel spiritual aspect, both personal and cosmic, so that the transformations occurred also within the retort of the body of the practitioners of the art, who sought to transmute leaden consciousness to celestial transcendence and perhaps even manage to move the stars. What flowed from the body of the deity, as an alchemical vessel, was a magical sacrament offering mystical communion with its divine source. The main focus of this study is van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece known as the 'Mystic Lamb.' It was intended as a complex talisman to influence the ascendancy of Burgundy and the coronation of its Duke, Philip the Good, as the Pope's choice to rule over the New Jerusalem of John's Apocalyptic Revelation. Its completion coincided with the Duke's inauguration of the elite chivalric Order of the Golden Fleece. The river of the alchemical aqua vitae that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb in the Altarpiece encodes the secret of their psychoactive initiatory Eucharist. The context for van Eyck's masterpiece includes the visionary scholarship of the Jewish Cabbala and medieval Christian mystics, Chrétien de Troyes' Conte du Graal, and such other artistic masterpieces as St. Berward's Michaeliskirke, Filippo Lippi's series of Adorations painted for his Medici patron's, and Petrus Christus' paintings for the Order of the Dry Tree, as well as other works of van Eyck and his contemporaries that were intended to serve as aids for mystical meditation. A final chapter examines the nature of the Eucharist at the time John's Revelation. A DVD is included in the book.

In this annotated translation and study of an early fourteenth-century Japanese devotional picture scroll set, Royall Tyler illuminates the complex relationships between medieval Japanese religion and politics, text, and art. The Kasuga Gongen genki ("The Miracles of the Kasuga Deity") mingles text and painting on silk to tell the tale of miraculous events at the Kasuga shrine in Nara, a site favored by the dominant Fujiwara clan for centuries. The work's values are aristocratic, but the text sheds light on the syncretic nature of the era's religious practices, allowing Tyler to collapse the distinction between high and low forms of medieval Japanese religion. Tyler provides a detailed examination of the scrolls, the shrine, and their history and political role. He also elucidates the scrolls' relationship to literary genre and religious practice, including the interaction between Shintoism and Buddhism. His copious annotations describe the work's historical context, as well as its religious and cultural influences. This study is essential for scholars of religion, art historians, and cultural historians alike.

The old gods are still with us. The world is constantly changing, evolving, growing. In order to stay relevant, deities must change with the times as well. In this anthology, fifteen science fiction and fantasy authors tackle how gods and goddesses have adapted to the surge in technology and the mercurial beliefs of humanity. So sit back and watch Hera try her hand at marriage counseling, while Macuilxochitl conquers the world of online gaming. Buy a ticket to Anubis’ magic act or roam the back tents at the local carnival and catch Doc Saturday’s medicine show. Take a sip of wine at Dionysus’ winery or grab some potato pancakes at Baba Yaga’s café. Whatever your taste, here you will find interesting twists on how deities have found their way in our modern world from Crystal Sarakas, Juliet E. McKenna, Tanya Huff, Edward Willett, Daniel Roman, Jennifer Dunne, Jean Marie Ward, Mike Marcus, A.L. Tompkins, Daryl Marcus, Alma Alexander, Kari Sperring, A.J. Cunder, Irene Radford, and N.R. Lambert. And remember to beware. You never know who...or what...you will meet next. And don’t miss THE MODERN FAE’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY!

This reference book offers a comprehensive survey of gods and goddesses from cultures across the globe, with each entry covering specific cultures, dates of worship, the role the god played, and defining characteristics and symbols.