The Sacred Center

The Sacred Center PDF Author: John Michell
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594779279
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
The symbolism and power behind sacred locations in ancient and modern times • Explains the need and role for ritual centers in modern society • Examines ancient territorial centers in ancient Egypt, Greece, Africa and Asia, and Iceland and the British Isles • Reveals the code of number and geometry behind the idealistic social structure of the ritual center, formed to imitate the heavenly order Symbols of ritual centers are among the most persistent elements of myth and belief between cultures widely separated in time and space. Every tribe and state had its “generation center,” a sacred area within its heartland where its legendary founders gave birth to its people and established their laws. Within the inner sanctum of the sanctuary was an altar or pillar, the omphalos or navel stone, that marked the midpoint of the home territory and represented the world-pole on which everything revolved. It was the focus of a perpetual cycle of rituals and festivals that passed with the seasons around the country and held its people under the spell of a golden age. In this book John Michell reveals the precise methods by which the ancients located the appropriate centers and adopted them as sanctuaries. The same principles of ritual geography in the siting of Akhenaten’s capital in Egypt and Megalopolis in classical Greece apply also to the traditional centers of small territories and islands. The rediscovery of these sites--such as the spot at the center of Ireland where the Celtic High Kings were installed--sheds new light on the ritualized order of prehistoric societies and the sacred, scientific code on which they were founded. These revelations from the distant past are of great significance in present times, for in them are the secrets of harmony on every scale, from the personal to the universal. Restoring the sacred center to its former place of prominence offers the possibility of a renaissance of human culture, ideally centered upon the image of a perfectly ordered Cosmos.

The Sacred Center

The Sacred Center PDF Author: John Michell
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594779279
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Get Book Here

Book Description
The symbolism and power behind sacred locations in ancient and modern times • Explains the need and role for ritual centers in modern society • Examines ancient territorial centers in ancient Egypt, Greece, Africa and Asia, and Iceland and the British Isles • Reveals the code of number and geometry behind the idealistic social structure of the ritual center, formed to imitate the heavenly order Symbols of ritual centers are among the most persistent elements of myth and belief between cultures widely separated in time and space. Every tribe and state had its “generation center,” a sacred area within its heartland where its legendary founders gave birth to its people and established their laws. Within the inner sanctum of the sanctuary was an altar or pillar, the omphalos or navel stone, that marked the midpoint of the home territory and represented the world-pole on which everything revolved. It was the focus of a perpetual cycle of rituals and festivals that passed with the seasons around the country and held its people under the spell of a golden age. In this book John Michell reveals the precise methods by which the ancients located the appropriate centers and adopted them as sanctuaries. The same principles of ritual geography in the siting of Akhenaten’s capital in Egypt and Megalopolis in classical Greece apply also to the traditional centers of small territories and islands. The rediscovery of these sites--such as the spot at the center of Ireland where the Celtic High Kings were installed--sheds new light on the ritualized order of prehistoric societies and the sacred, scientific code on which they were founded. These revelations from the distant past are of great significance in present times, for in them are the secrets of harmony on every scale, from the personal to the universal. Restoring the sacred center to its former place of prominence offers the possibility of a renaissance of human culture, ideally centered upon the image of a perfectly ordered Cosmos.

Finding Our Sacred Center

Finding Our Sacred Center PDF Author: Henri J. M. Nouwen
Publisher: Twenty-Third Publications
ISBN: 9781585958474
Category : Lourdes (France)
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
It was January 1990, the dawn of a new decade and Henri Nouwen, world-renoweded spiritual writer, was in France but his writing wasn't going well. Frustrated and discouraged, he decided to go to Lourdes, even though it was the "off season," to give his "anxious heart a rest." This profoundly inspiring journal is the result of his three-day stay. Lourdes restored Nouwen's inner peace and helped him return to his sacred center. He realized, of course, that he did not need to be at Lourdes to find peace and joy. The purity, simplicity, and freedom he experienced "belong to the heart and can be lived anywhere." Whether we have been to Lourdes or not, does not matter. This small journal is bound to touch our own restless and searching hearts and help us to find again our own sacred center, the living Christ within us.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu PDF Author: Johan Reinhard
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN: 1938770927
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Machu Picchu, recently voted one of the New Wonders of the World, is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites, yet it remains a mystery. Even the most basic questions are still unanswered: What was its meaning and why was it built in such a difficult location? Renowned explorer Johan Reinhard attempts to answer such elusive questions from the perspectives of sacred landscape and archaeoastronomy. Using information gathered from historical, archaeological, and ethnographical sources, Reinhard demonstrates how the site is situated in the center of sacred mountains and associated with a sacred river, which is in turn symbolically linked with the sun's passage. Taken together, these features meant that Machu Picchu formed a cosmological, hydrological, and sacred geological center for a vast region.

Jesus and Mary

Jesus and Mary PDF Author: Henri J. M. Nouwen
Publisher: Franciscan Media
ISBN: 9780867161892
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Book Description
Both parts of this book -- the homily on Mary and the journal of Henri Nouwen's pilgrimage to Lourdes -- deal with his insights into his relationship with Jesus and Mary. Mary is his "gentle guide" who takes him by the hand and leads him into deeper union with her son. Nouwen invites us to find our inner child and rid ourselves of the "false adulthood" of our times.

Secrets of the Sacred Heart

Secrets of the Sacred Heart PDF Author: Emily Jaminet
Publisher: Ave Maria Press
ISBN: 1646800206
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
Winner of a third-place award for spirituality books from the Catholic Media Association. Do you yearn for the peace, protection, and joy of a Christ-centered home? The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the answer. Bestselling and award-winning author Emily Jaminet takes up each of the twelve promises Christ made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in a series of visions, puts a fresh new spin on the classic Catholic devotion, and invites you and your family to experience the profound spiritual benefits you will receive when you keep the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the center of your home. Appearing to her in a series of visions in 1673, Jesus promised St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that those who “expose and honor his most Sacred Heart” will find peace in the home, consolation in sorrow, and a source of refuge in times of trouble. In Secrets of the Sacred Heart, Emily Jaminet—executive director of the Sacred Heart Enthronement Network—weaves personal testimony, teachings, and reflection questions while exploring and applying each of Christ’s promises. Jaminet will guide you through a special enthronement ceremony to dedicate your home and inspire you to a lifelong devotion to the Sacred Heart. Whether you have already consecrated your home or are newly embarking on the journey of discovering the graces of this ancient practice, you will find a personal encounter with Jesus, who promises: peace in your home, safe refuge in life and death, blessings on your undertakings, an infinite source of mercy, and a restored and enlivened faith for those who surrender themselves wholly to Christ. Videos and additional resources can be found at WelcomeHisHeart.com.

Landscapes of the Sacred

Landscapes of the Sacred PDF Author: Belden C. Lane
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801868382
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
This substantially expanded edition of Belden C. Lane's Landscapes of the Sacred includes a new introductory chapter that offers three new interpretive models for understanding American sacred space. Lane maintains his approach of interspersing shorter and more personal pieces among full-length essays that explore how Native American, early French and Spanish, Puritan New England, and Catholic Worker traditions has each expressed the connection between spirituality and place. A new section at the end of the book includes three chapters that address methodological issues in the study of spirituality, the symbol-making process of religious experience, and the tension between place and placelessness in Christian spirituality.

Seasons of the Sacred

Seasons of the Sacred PDF Author: Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center
ISBN: 1941394469
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 99

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Book Description
Seasons of the Sacred weaves together poems, images, and stories of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, reconnecting us to our roots in the cycles of nature and our own soul. As our world appears more and more out of balance, our destruction of the natural world increasing, there is a vital need to remember what is essential, simple, and sacred. Likening Spring to falling in love, Summer with abundance and spiritual awakening, and Autumn with fruition and wisdom, this book continuously reflects the profound resonance of humanity within nature. Never more relevant than now, the chapter on Winter helps the reader remember what is most essential, showing how there is meaning and even peace amidst the most devastating losses, and how all life belongs to these deeper patterns of change. The book draws from such a variety of sources, such as Rumi, Hafiz, Lao Tzu, Rabia, Julian of Norwich, T.S. Eliot, and others. Each chapter opens with a unique woodcut or engraving image, further illustrating the beauty of our seasons. Vaughan-Lee adeptly connects the reader to the deepest envisioning of contemporary challenges. Climate catastrophe, refugees, cultural degradation, and political divisiveness are all contextualized within natural cycles of birth, loss, and transition, and the reader is guided to listen through the fear and anxiety of our age to the deeper ground of belonging that calls from even the most destitute inner and outer landscapes. Seasons of the Sacred is Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee’s fifth contribution to his spiritual ecology series, which places the human story within the story of the Earth and compels the examination of attitudes, beliefs, and habits in relation to the ongoing desecration, ecological devastation—and potential restoration—of our common home. “Vaughan-Lee encourages reconnecting with the Earth in this heartfelt compilation of essays, poems, and illustrations…. Suitable for readers of all spiritual persuasions, Vaughan-Lee’s soothing observations will inspire a more mindful contemplation of Earth’s rhythms.” —Publishers Weekly “Seasons of the Sacred is a beckoning down into the simple rhythms of nature. With his guiding eloquence, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee moves us into conversation with the sacred, calling our awareness to the concealed gifts of each season. Drawing on the ancient poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Julian of Norwich, Wordsworth, and others, we can’t help but fall into step with the numinous found in ordinary life.” —Toko-pa Turner, author of Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home

Sacred Instructions

Sacred Instructions PDF Author: Sherri Mitchell
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1623171962
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A “profound and inspiring” collection of ancient indigenous wisdom for “anyone wanting the healing of self, society, and of our shared planet” (Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma). A Penobscot Indian draws on the experiences and wisdom of the First Nations to address environmental justice, water protection, generational trauma, and more. Drawing from ancestral knowledge, as well as her experience as an attorney and activist, Sherri Mitchell addresses some of the most crucial issues of our day—including indigenous land rights, environmental justice, and our collective human survival. Sharing the gifts she has received from the elders of her tribe, the Penobscot Nation, she asks us to look deeply into the illusions we have labeled as truth and which separate us from our higher mind and from one another. Sacred Instructions explains how our traditional stories set the framework for our belief systems and urges us to decolonize our language and our stories. It reveals how the removal of women from our stories has impacted our thinking and disrupted the natural balance within our communities. For all those who seek to create change, this book lays out an ancient world view and set of cultural values that provide a way of life that is balanced and humane, that can heal Mother Earth, and that will preserve our communities for future generations.

Encountering the Sacred in Psychotherapy

Encountering the Sacred in Psychotherapy PDF Author: James L. Griffith
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 146250583X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Drawing on narrative, postmodern, and other therapeutic perspectives, this book guides therapists in exploring the creative and healing possibilities in clients' spiritual and religious experience. Vivid personal accounts and dialogues bring to life the ways spirituality may influence the stories told in therapy, the language and metaphors used, and the meanings brought to key relationships and events. Applications are discussed for a wide variety of clinical situations, including helping people resolve relationship problems, manage psychiatric symptoms, and cope with medical illnesses.

The Sacred Art of Listening

The Sacred Art of Listening PDF Author: Kay Lindahl
Publisher: SkyLight Paths Publishing
ISBN: 1893361446
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
Hearing and listening are two different things. Learning to listen--really listen--requires sacred practice. The Sacred Art of Listening guides you through forty practices of deep listening--to our Source, to ourselves, and to each other. Inspiring text and contemplative artwork combine to communicate the three essential qualities of deep listening--silence, reflection and presence. They demonstrate that the key to healthy relationships and spiritual transformation can be as basic as practicing the art of listening. You will learn how to: Speak clearly from the heart Communicate with courage and compassion Heighten your awareness and sensitivity to opportunities for deep listening Enhance your ability to listen to people with different belief systems