San Pedro, a visionary and hallucinogenic brew derived from the mescaline-based Trichocereus pachanoi or 'cactus of vision', is one of Peru’s most important and powerful teacher plants. For thousands of years this brew has been drunk by spiritual seekers and those who need healing, and has cured a wide variety of physical problems, including cancer, diabetes, paralysis and pneumonia, and emotional and psychological issues such as alcoholism, heartbreak and grief. Those who work with it say San Pedro brings us closer to God. There has been no book specifically written about the shamanic use of San Pedro…until now. This important volume is therefore a first of its kind. In it, Ross Heaven looks at the healing and ceremonial usage of San Pedro, with interviews and case studies from shamans and participants who offer their remarkable stories of instant cures and spiritual insights.

Would You Recognize an Angel if You Saw One? The majority of earth’s inhabitants believe in Angels. Yet so few of us can claim to have seen one. Why? Perhaps it’s because in order to encounter one, we first have to learn what to look for and how to look! We live in a world where the natural and supernatural overlap. Angels are constantly on mission from God and constantly at work in this world. From the Garden of Eden to the Book of Revelation, Scripture is filled with hundreds of references to these wondrous creatures. In this creative work, Scot McKnight explores what the Bible says – and doesn’t say – about these majestic beings. And that’s deeply important because angels are still on mission today. They express God’s love, confirm His presence, and even lead humans in redemptive worship. Don’t just believe in angels. Learn how to recognize these messengers of God that are all around us and know how God might be using them to affect our lives. Now available in a convenient paperback edition, The Hum of Angels illuminates what the Bible says about these heavenly beings; and it helps you to understand the deepest truths about one of God’s most magnificent and yet misunderstood creations. Most People Believe in Angels. It’s What we Believe About them that Matters. Believing in angels is one thing. But how can we know what angels are really like – especially when our preconceived notions have been mostly shape by sensationalized misinterpretations of these wondrous beings? To help sort things out, Scot McKnight untangles fact from fiction on topics such as: * Do loved ones become angels when they die? * Can we hear from angels? * Is there a hierarchy of angels? * Do we have a specific guardian angel? * Should we be scared of angels? * Are cherubs and seraphs different creatures than angels? * Do angels have wings? * Are angels worship leaders?

From a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The House of Broken Angels and Good Night, Irene, discover the epic historical novel following the journey of a young saint fighting for her survival. This historical novel is based on Urrea's real great-aunt Teresita, who had healing powers and was acclaimed as a saint. Urrea has researched historical accounts and family records for years to get an accurate story.

The history of San Pedro and its uses for healing, creativity, and conscious evolution • Includes interviews with practicing San Pedro shamans on their rituals, cactus preparations, and teachings on how San Pedro heals the mind and body • Contains accounts from people who have been healed by San Pedro • Includes chapters by Eve Bruce, M.D., and David Luke, Ph.D., on San Pedro’s effects on psychic abilities and its similarities to and differences from ayahuasca San Pedro, the legendary cactus of vision, has been used by the shamans of Peru for at least 3,500 years. Referring to St. Peter, who holds the keys to Heaven, its name is suggestive of the plant’s visionary power to open the gates between the visible and invisible worlds, allowing passage to an ecstatic realm where miraculous physical and spiritual healings occur, love and enthusiasm for life are rekindled, the future divined, and the soul’s purpose revealed. Exploring the history and shamanic uses of the San Pedro cactus, Ross Heaven interviews practicing San Pedro shamans about ancient and modern rituals, preparation of the visionary brew, experiences with the healing spirit of San Pedro, and their teachings on how the cactus works on the mind, body, and illness. He investigates the conditions treated by San Pedro as well as how it can enhance creativity, providing case studies from those who have been healed by the cactus and accounts from those who have been artistically and musically inspired through its use. Psychedelic researchers Eve Bruce, M.D., David Luke, Ph.D., and journalist Morgan Maher contribute chapters delving into San Pedro’s effects on conscious evolution and psychic abilities as well as its similarities to and differences from ayahuasca. Exploring plant communication and the vital role of music in San Pedro ceremonies, Heaven explains how healing songs are communicated by the sacred plants to the shamans working with them, much in the same way that other gifts of San Pedro--from healing to inspiration to expanded consciousness--are passed to those who commune with this ancient plant teacher.

Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, the region a battlefield between anti and pro slavery forces. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an arguement between Brown and Henry's master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town with Brown, who believes Henry is a girl. Over the next months, Henry conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. He finds himeself with Brown at the historic raid on Harper's Ferry, one of the catalysts for the civil war.

At turns heartbreaking, uplifting, fiercely romantic, and riotously funny,this novel from a Pulitzer Prize finalist tells the unforgettable story of a young woman coming of age and finding her place in a new world. Beginning where Luis Alberto Urrea's bestselling The Hummingbird's Daughter left off, Queen of America finds young Teresita Urrea, beloved healer and "Saint of Cabora," with her father in 1892 Arizona. But, besieged by pilgrims in desperate need of her healing powers, and pursued by assassins, she has no choice but to flee the borderlands and embark on an extraordinary journey into the heart of turn-of-the-century America. Teresita's passage will take her to New York, San Francisco, and St. Louis, where she will encounter European royalty, Cuban poets, beauty queens, anxious immigrants and grand tycoons -- and, among them, a man who will force Teresita to finally ask herself the ultimate question: is a saint allowed to fall in love?