The Perennial Philosophy is defined by its author as "The metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds." With great wit and stunning intellect, Aldous Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains them in terms that are personally meaningful.An inspired gathering of religious writings that reveals the "divine reality" common to all faiths, collected by Aldous Huxley"The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley writes, "may be found among the traditional lore of peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions."With great wit and stunning intellect—drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam—Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.

"Life exists only at this very moment, and in this moment it is infinite and eternal. For the present moment is infinitely small; before we can measure it, it has gone, and yet it exists forever. . . . You may believe yourself out of harmony with life and its eternal Now; but you cannot be, for you are life and exist Now."—from Become What You Are  In this collection of writings, including nine new chapters never before available in book form, Watts displays the intelligence, playfulness of thought, and simplicity of language that has made him so perennially popular as an interpreter of Eastern thought for Westerners. He draws on a variety of religious traditions, and covers topics such as the challenge of seeing one's life "just as it is," the Taoist approach to harmonious living, the limits of language in the face of ineffable spiritual truth, and the psychological symbolism of Christian thought.

Except his book on flying saucers, read in childhood, this was the first book I ever read by C.G. Jung. The experience led to a programme of study which occupied the next eight years, leading me to change college majors (history to religious studies) and to proceed to seminary upon graduation.The occasion of the reading happened accidentally. Ed, an older friend from high school, had visited Grinnell from the University of Illinois, using my library card to check out books to study while in town. The Jung volume struck my fancy. I'd heard of him, of course, heard of him of an associate of Freud, someone important, someone one ought know about. Besides, the book looked impressive: thick, lots of notes, an understated black cover. I asked to borrow it and began to read.My immediate impression was that the author was extremely erudite, his text making reference not only to psychology, but to cultural anthropology, comparative religions, philosophy, theology, ancient history, the classics etc. I knew, generally, where it was pointing, but not very clearly what it was pointing at. Gnosticism, hermeticism, alchemy--all of which he took seriously--were little more than words referring to archaic and discredited belief systems to me. Besides, he seemed to be comfortable with Latin--which I'd taken, not very successfully, in high school--and with Greek--which was still "Greek to me." Reading Jung made me painfully aware of how vast my ignorance was. Rather than being depressing, though, I took it as a challenge.Additionally, some of what Jung wrote about seemed to indicate that he and the persons and traditions he was concerned about knew something about those "altered states of consciousness" that I was exploring on almost a weekly basis--and that they took it seriously, very seriously. In other words, some of the archaic belief systems which I had previously dismissed were here being represented as stemming from experiences similar to ones very familiar and, sometimes, disturbing to me.I finished this alluring and mystifying book, then, when next home in Illinois, began the long, expensive process of buying and reading every volume of The Collected Works as well as very many books about Jung, about his "analytical psychology" and about the various, often obscure, topics he addressed.

Disinformation's "wicked warlock" Richard Metzger gathers an unprecedented cabal of modern occultists, magicians, and forward thinkers in this large format Disinformation Guide. Just as Russ Kick's Guides focusing on secrets and lies from the mainstream media, government, and other establishment institutions rethought what a political science book could look like and whom it would appeal to, Book of Lies redefines occult anthologies, packaging and presenting a huge array of magical essays for a pop culture audience. Just some of the contents:An introduction by comics genius Grant Morrison, who also contributes a threepart article on Pop Magick.Mark Pesce, author of The Playful World, compares computer programming and spellcasting.Genesis POrridge, father of Industrial Music and Rave culture explains how samples in a rave song can have magical consequences.Paul Laffoley discusses his magical artistic strategies (Metzger compares Laffoley to Merlin the Magician).Magical Thinking--an extended excerpt from Daniel Pinchbeck's Breaking Open the Head.William Burroughs and the occult.Nevill Drury, Australia's most noted occult writer, tells of Dion Fortune, Austin Spare, and Rosaleen Norton.Why Does Aleister Crowley Still Matter?Donald Tyson's "The Enochian Apocalypse Working." Were the seeds of the end of the world sown in the Elizabethan era?.The first ever biographical essay on Marjorie Cameron, the fascinating character from Los Angeles' occult and beatnik scene.Hitler and the occult--Peter Levenda interview by Tracy Twyman.Robert Temple on how his book The Sirius Mystery's, controversial thesis (for which he was ridiculed) was proven by the Hubble telescope twentyfive years late.An exclusive Anton LaVey interview by Michael Moynihan, author of bestselling book Lords of Chaos.Erik Davis, author of Techgnosis, looks at H. P. Lovecraft's Magick Realism.

A new paradigm that delivers a genuine transformation of occultism. The author assumes no previous knowledge, only a willingness to explore what magick offers, yet its apparent to anyone with a background in the subject that Alan Chapman is drawing on a wide range of experience, from classical Crowleyean Magick, to eastern metaphysics, and back again to Discordianism and Chaos Magick. Chapmans writing-style is humorous, direct, seductively logical, and his enthusiasm for the benefits of magick is both tangible and infectious. The novice magician will indeed find themselves equipped to commence all sorts of magickal operations: trance work, enchantment, divination, and even some of the higher forms of spiritual development. To experienced magicians, Chapman offers a subtler challenge: he revitalises magick by cutting it free from the extreme relativism Chaos Magick bequeathed, provocatively redefining it as: the art, science and culture of experiencing truth.

PsyberMagick contains astonishing, controversial and revolutionary ideas on the theory and practice of magic(k), the structure of the universe and the nature of the mind. This, the third book by a leading magus, holds many surprises as it challenges many of the conventional assumptions and paradigms of magic. The author invites the serious seeker of magical knowledge to undo the basic fallacy of "being" and to learn the techniques of reaching "sideways" into imaginary time to accomplish magic(k).

A complete, advanced magical training course for the individual or for groups, with details of the author's magical order, an outline for setting up a temple, and instructions for carrying out the essential rituals of Chaos Magic. Includes a fresh look at aeonics, cosmogenesis, auric magic, and shadow time, as well as discloses the technical aspects of spells and equations. Illustrated. Appendices. References.

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