A series of spiritual experiences send Elisabeth Egekvist on a quest for answers: What happened and why? She embarks on journey that takes her through various university studies. Here she meets both modern and ancient thinkers like English anthropologist, Gregory Bateson, and Islamic mystic, Ibn 'Arabi, who provide insights that help her piece together an understanding of her development up to some point. After this she continues to form her own ideas on the importance of re-introducing an imaginal world which was abandoned and forgotten centuries ago, but now turns out to play a significant role in the development of mankind. In the book Elisabeth Egekvist describes a number of spiritual experiences and examines them with an outset in relevant theories. The book may thus be useful to people who ask questions about their own spiritual experiences, but may also provide an input into an academic discussion of learning and creativity.

Between the radical, creative capacity of our imagination and the social imaginary we are immersed in is an intermediate space philosophers have termed the imaginal, populated by images or (re)presentations that are presences in themselves. Offering a new, systematic understanding of the imaginal and its nexus with the political, Chiara Bottici brings fresh perspective to the formation of political and power relationships and the paradox of a world rich in imagery yet seemingly devoid of imagination. Bottici begins by defining the difference between the imaginal and the imaginary, locating the imaginal's root meaning in the image and its ability to both characterize a public and establish a set of activities within that public. She identifies the imaginal's critical role in powering representative democracies and its amplification through globalization. She then addresses the troublesome increase in images now mediating politics and the transformation of politics into empty spectacle. The spectacularization of politics has led to its virtualization, Bottici observes, transforming images into processes with an uncertain relationship to reality, and, while new media has democratized the image in a global society of the spectacle, the cloned image no longer mediates politics but does the act for us. Bottici concludes with politics' current search for legitimacy through an invented ideal of tradition, a turn to religion, and the incorporation of human rights language.

A manual for opening the doors of perception and directly engaging the intelligence of the Natural World • Provides exercises to directly perceive and interact with the complex, living, self-organizing being that is Gaia • Reveals that every life form on Earth is highly intelligent and communicative • Examines the ecological function of invasive plants, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, psychotropic plants and fungi, and the human species In Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm, Stephen Harrod Buhner reveals that all life forms on Earth possess intelligence, language, a sense of I and not I, and the capacity to dream. He shows that by consciously opening the doors of perception, we can reconnect with the living intelligences in Nature as kindred beings, become again wild scientists, nondomesticated explorers of a Gaian world just as Goethe, Barbara McClintock, James Lovelock, and others have done. For as Einstein commented, “We cannot solve the problems facing us by using the same kind of thinking that created them.” Buhner explains how to use analogical thinking and imaginal perception to directly experience the inherent meanings that flow through the world, that are expressed from each living form that surrounds us, and to directly initiate communication in return. He delves deeply into the ecological function of invasive plants, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, psychotropic plants and fungi, and, most importantly, the human species itself. He shows that human beings are not a plague on the planet, they have a specific ecological function as important to Gaia as that of plants and bacteria. Buhner shows that the capacity for depth connection and meaning-filled communication with the living world is inherent in every human being. It is as natural as breathing, as the beating of our own hearts, as our own desire for intimacy and love. We can change how we think and in so doing begin to address the difficulties of our times.

The modern-day mystic and beloved author of The Wisdom Jesus shares the evolution of her spiritual journey, offering a bold interpretation of Christian mysticism, energy, and our collective reality In Eye of the Heart, Cynthia Bourgeault investigates the imaginal realm—an energetic realm well known to the mystical traditions but often forgotten in our own times. It is invisible to the physical eye, but clearly perceptible through the eye of the heart. The imaginal realm has long been associated with the personal world of dreams, prophecy, and oracles, and it also points toward a higher vision of our human purpose that is both evolutionary and collective. Bourgeault explores both aspects of imaginal reality and shows readers how we can cooperate more fully with its guidance in our lives. Expertly blending her own lived experiences with research on the imaginal realm, Bourgeault explores how her personal relationships have helped to bring these teachings into sharper focus and the role this realm plays in Christian and other mystical traditions. She delves into the connections between our inner consciousness and what happens in the world, exploring the transformative energy and governing conventions that make the manifestation of this realm possible. Eye of the Heart presents Bourgeault’s spiritual journey with the imaginal realm and encourages readers to attune their hearts for the well-being of the world.

Mary Harrell unflinchingly greets a cast of imaginal figures who inhabit her life, and encourages all of us to welcome their wisdom into our own inner landscapes. These very real beings dwell in a realm between matter (nature) and mind (reason), appearing in dreams, intuitive callings, visions, feelings, and sometimes frightening events. Mary offers her own intimate experiences through which she explores and engages these figures, showing her readers how to host these beings as one would host invited guests. From the work of philosopher Henry Corbin, psychiatrist C. G. Jung, and psychologist James Hillman, we know that the name of the realm in which these figures dwell is the "mundus imaginalis," or the imaginal world. As this is a work in which archetypes are grounded in experience, "Imaginal Figures In Everyday Life: Stories from the World between Matter and Mind" is both a path to individual transformation and, in the words of psychologist Robert Romanyshyn, "a therapy of culture." Mary Harrell, Ph.D., a Jungian-oriented psychotherapist and New York licensed psychologist, received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, California. She is Curriculum and Instruction Associate Professor Emeritus at State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego. While at the university she taught education and psychology courses and served as Professional Development Schools (PDS) specialist, supporting the National PDS initiative, which builds bridges between elementary and secondary schools and the university's School of Education. Her writings in the areas of educational reform, and imaginal psychology appear in four invited chapters in edited books. In 2014 Mary's poetry was anthologized in Syracuse University's "The Stone Canoe, a Journal of Arts, Literature and Social Commentary, No. 8." She lives with her husband, Stephen, in South Carolina.

In The Corner of Fourth and Nondual, a title inspired by Thomas Merton's moment of revelation 'at the corner of Fourth and Walnut' in his celebrated essay 'A Member of the Human Race', Cynthia Bourgeault--internationally renowned retreat leader, and a practitioner and teacher of centering prayer--describes the foundations of her theology: a cosmological seeing with the eye of the heart, and classic Benedictine daily rule informed and enlightened by wisdom from the Asian traditions. She explains the influence of the author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Teilhard de Chardin, Boehme, Barnhart, Keating, and Gurdjieff, among others in a philosophy built on the cornerstones of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery, tied by the Trinity as a cosmogonic principle, the fundamental generative mechanism through which all things came into being. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books. There are sixteen titles total.