Book Reviews

In this page you will find book reviews published in Quest Magazine from 1988 to 2024.

Summer 2024

Theurgy, Theory and Practice: The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine, Homeric Epics, the Chaldean Oracles, and Neoplatonic Ritual
by P.D. Newman

Hellenic Tantra: The Theurgic Platonism of Iamblichus
by Gregory Shaw

Embodied Imaginations: Fictional Characters Making Experiential Crossings into Real Life: An Unusual Phenomenon
by Chidambaram Ramesh

Opening to Oneness: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to the Zen Precepts
by Nancy Mujo Bakerby 

Spring 2024

Nicholas Roerich: The Artist Who Would Be King
by John McCannon reviewed by Peter Orvetti

Rising Up into the Divine: World Mystics on the Ascent of Your Soul
by Lucia Lena Hodges reviewed Clare Goldsberry

Proof of Life after Life: Seven Reasons to Believe There Is an Afterlife
Raymond A. Moody and Paul Perry reviewed by Antti Savinainen

 

Winter 2024

Modern Occultism: Hisory, Theory and Practice
by Mitch Horowitz; reviewed by Jordan Gruber

Blessed by Mysterious Grace
by Ravi Ravindra; reviewed by Adele Chabelski

A Solution to a Pointless Life; Spiritual Self- Help for Personal Development
by Albret Amao Soria; reviewed by Von Brachler

100 Places to See after You Die
by Ken Jennings; reviewed by Petere Orvetti

The Religious Revolution: The Birth of Modern Spirituality, 1848-98
by Dominic Green; reviewed by Clare Goldsberry

The Mystery of Doggerland: Atlantis in the North Sea
by Graham Philips; reviewed by Richard Smoley

 

Fall 2023

Approaching the Secret Doctrine: Its Teachings and Practical Application
by Pablo Sender reviewed by Richard Smoley

The Eloquence of Silence: Surprising Wisdom in Tales of Emptiness
by thomas Moore reviewed by Peter Orvetti

Quantum Spirituality: Science Gostic Mysticism, and Connecting with Source Consciousness
By Peter Canova reviewed by Claire Goldsberry

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 3: Philosophical Schools
edited by Thupten Jinpa reviewed by Dhananjay Joshi

God on Psyhchedelics: Tripping across the Rubble of Old-Time Religion
by Don Lattin

 

Summer 2023

The Secret Gospel of Mark: A Controversial Scholar, a Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, and the Fierce Debate over Its Authenticity 
by Brent C. Lanau, reviewed by Richard Smoley

What I Don't Know about Death: Refections on Buddhism and Mortality
by C.W. Huntington Jr, reviewed by Clare Goldsberry

Queens of the Wild: Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe: An Investigation 
by Ronald Hutton, reviewed by Peter A. Huff

Spring 2023

Seven Games of Life and How to Play
by Richard Smoley, reviewed by Peter Orvetti

Earth's Hidden Reality: Discover It, Explore It, Embrace It
by Mark Hunter Brooks, reviewed by Andre Juliao and Andre Clewell

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: My Seven Years in Occult Los Angeles with Manly Palmer Hall
by Tamra Lucid, reviewed by Nancy Bragin

The Land of the Gods: The Long-Hidden Story of Visiting the Masters of Wisdom in Shambhala
by (H.P. Blavatsky;) Franz Hartmann, reviewed by Clare Goldsberry

Hermetic Spirituality and the Gistorical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in  Late Antiquity
by Wouter J.Hanegraaff, reviewed by Mitch Horowitz

The Contemplative Tarot: A Christian Guide to the Cards
by Brittany Muller, reviewed by John Plummer

The Kabbalistic Tree
by J.H. Chajes, reviewed by Richard Smoley

 

Winter 2023

Lightbringers of the North: Secrets of the Occult Tradition of Finland
By Perttu Hakkinen and Vesa Litti: reviewed by Antti Savinainen

Painting the Cosmos: A Metaphyscial Universe
by Carolyn Wayland: reviewed by David Bruce

Philosophy for Passengers
By Michael Marder; reviewed by Clare Goldsberry

To Light the Flame of Reason: Clear Thinking for the Twenty-First Century
By Christer Sturmark: reviewed by Peter A. Huff

Julian of Norwich, The Showings: Uncovering the Face of the Feminine "Revelations of Divine Love"
by Mirabai Starr; reviewed by Peter Orvetti

Fall 2022

Mindful Medicine: Forty Simple Practices to Help Healthcare Professionals Heal Burnout and Reconnect to Purpose
By Jan Chozen Bays, MD, reviewed by Dhananjay Joshi

Poems of Bliss
by Geoffrey Hodson, reviewed by Nathaniel Altman

Poems of Contemplation
Elizabeth and John Sell, reviewed by Nathaniel Altman

Rebirth: A Guide to Mind, Karma, and Cosmos in the Buddhist World
by Roger R. Jackson, reviewed by Clare Goldsberry

Summer 2022

Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living
by David Fideler; reviewed by Dhananjay Joshi

Peacock Angel: The Esoteric Tradition of the Yezidis
by Peter Lamborn Wilson; reviewed by Richard Smoley

Vajrakilaya: A Complete Guide with Experiential Instructions
by Kyabje Garchen Rinpoche; reviewed by Richard Smoley

Rose Paradise: Essays of Fathoming--Gurdjieff, the Mahatmas, Andree, the Emerald Tablets, OAHSPE, and More
by Frankie Pauling Hutton: reviewed by Joel Sunbear

Spring 2022

The Illusion of Life and Death: Mind, Consciousness, and Eternal Being
by Clare Goldsberry; reviewed by David Bruce

The Afterlife Frequency: The Scientific Proof of Spiritual Contact and How That Awareness Will Change Your Life
by Mark Antony; reviewed by Clare Goldsberry

Extraordinary Awakenings: When Trauma Leads to Transforamtion
by Steve Taylor; reviewed by Peter Orvetti

Introducing Swedenborg
by Peter Ackroyd;
introducing Swedenborg: Correspondeces
by Gary Lachman; reviewed by Peter A. Huff

Three Books of Occult Philosophy
by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa;
translated by Eric Purdue; reviewed by Richard Smoley

The Magic of Makarasana: The Yoga Posture That Will Transform Your Life 
by Teresa Keast; reviewed by Tim Wyatt

Winter 2022

Future Morality
Edited by David Edmonds: reviewed by Antoinette LaFarge

Annie Besant in India
Compiled by C.V. Agarwal and Pedro Oliveira: reviewed by Peter Orvetti

Bottoming Out the Universe: Why There Is Someting Rather than Nothing
by Richard Grossinger; reviewed by Dhanajay Joshi

Introduction  to Magic, Volume 3: Realizations of the Absolute Individual
by Julius Evola and the UR Group; translated by Joscelyn Godwin; reviewed by Richard Smoley

The History of Tarot Art
by Holly Adams Easley and Esther Joy Archer; reviewed by Richad Smoley

Fall 2021

A Healer’s Journey to Intuitive Knowing: The Heart of Therapeutic Touch
Dolores Krieger

The Miracle Month: Thirty Days to a Revolution in Your Life / The Miracle Habits: The Secret of Turning Your Moments into Miracles
Mitch Horowitz

The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman, and the Bhagavad Gita
Jeremy David Engels

The Elements of the Cosmos: Numbers and Letters as Archetypes
Scenza

Summer 2021

The Truth about Magic
Richard Smoley

After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond
Bruce Greyson, M.D.

Everyone’s Book of the Dead: A Panoramic Compendium of Death and Dying: The After-Death States, Karma, and Reincarnation throughout World History
Tim Wyatt

Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die
Steven Nadler

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 2: The Mind
Conceived and introduced by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, edited by Thubten Jinpa, with contextual essays by John D. Dunne

 

Spring 2021

Blavatsky Unveiled: The Writings of H.P. Blavatsky in Modern English, Volume I
edited by Moon Laramie
The Chela's Handbook
compiled by William Wilson Quinn
The Spiritual Roots of the Tarot: The Cathar Code Hidden in the Cards
Russell A. Sturgess
Magic: A History: From Alchemy to Witchcraft from the Ice Age to the Present
Chris Gosden
The Yoga of Jesus: Teachings of Esoteric Christianity
Mauri Lehtovirta
Gurdjieff: Mysticism, Contemplation, and Exercises
Joseph Azze

Winter 2021

Recycled Lives: A Reincarnation in Blavatsky's Theosophy
Julie Chajes
Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World
Tara Isabella Burton
Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are
James Fadiman and Jordan Gruber
Creating a Life of Integrity: In Conversation with Joseph Goldstein
Gail Andersen Stark
Forbidden Fruits: An Occult Novel
Joscelyn Godwin and Guido Mina di Sospiro
A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data
Alexander Boxer 

Fall 2020

That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation
David Bentley Hart
Conspiracy Theories
Quassim Cassam
The End of Quantum Reality
Written and produced by Richard Deland

Summer 2020

Awaken the Power Within: In Defense of Self-Help
Albert Amao
Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
Brian Greene
Compassionate Conversations: How to Speak and Listen from the Heart
Diane Musho Hamilton, Gabriel Menegale Wilson, adn kimberly Loh
Creativity, Spirituality, and Making a Buck
David Nichtern

Spring 2020

English Illuminati: Including the History of the Order of the Illuminati and the Mysteries of the Illuminati
Alastair McGawn Lees
Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being
Agustin Fuentes
Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times
Thomas Waters

Winter 2020
Giza’s Industrial Complex: Ancient Egypt’s Electrical Power and Gas Generating Systems
James Ernest Brown, Dr. J.J. Hurtak, and Dr. Desiree Hurtak
A Short Philosophy of Birds
Philippe J. DuBois and Elise Rousseau, translated by Jennifer Higgins
I Know What I Saw: Modern-Day Encounters with Monsters of New Urban Legend and Ancient Lore
Linda S. Godfrey
God and Love on Route 80: The Hidden Mystery of Human Connectedness
Stephen G. Post
The Art and Science of Initiation Edited by Jedidiah French and Angel Millar

 

Fall 2019
A Theology of Love: Reimagining Christianity through A Course in Miracles A Course in Miracles Richard Smoley
Love on Every Breath: Tonglen Meditation for Transforming Pain into JoyTonglenLove on Every Breath: Tonglen
Meditation for Transforming Pain into Joy
 Lama Palden Drolma
Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World Pema Chodron
Practical Spirituality: Selected Works of John Sell Edited by Elizabeth Sell
Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the New Threat to Liberal Democracy Edited by Mark Sedgwick

Summer 2019
Living on the Inner Edge: A Practical Esoteric Tale by Cyrus Tyan
Gurdjieff Reconsidered: The Life, the Teachings, the Legacy by Roger Lipsey
Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication by Oren Jay Sofer
Correspondence: 1927–87, Joseph Campbell Edited by Evans Lansing Smith and Dennis Patrick Slattery

Spring 2019
Physicians’ Untold Stories by Scott J. Kolbaba, M.D.
The Spiritual Meaning of the Sixties: The Magic, Myth, and Music of the Decade That Changed the World by
Tobias Churton
The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality by Mitch Horowitz
Effortless Living: Wu-Wei and the Spontaneous State of Natural Harmony by Jason Gregory

Winter 2019
Evolution of the Higher Consciousness: An In-Depth Study into H.P. Blavatsky’s Teachings by Pablo Sender
An Ocean of Light: Contemplation, Transformation, and Liberation by Martin Laird
Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks by Diana Butler Bass
The Gurdjieff Movements: A Communication of Ancient Wisdom by Wim Van Dullemen
Egregores: The Occult Entities That Watch over Human Destiny by Mark Stavish

Summer 2018
The Collected Letters of Alan Watts   Edited by Joan Watts and Anne Watts
Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump  by Gary Lachman
Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 1: The Physical World  Edited by Thupten Jinpa
Annie Besant (1847–1933): Struggles and Quest  by Muriel Pécastaing-Boissière

Spring 2018
From Death to Rebirth: Teachings of the Finnish Sage Pekka Ervast  by Jouni Marjanen, Antti Savinainen, and Jouku Sorvali, eds. Foreword by Richard  Smoley
Aging with Wisdom: Reflections, Stories, and Teachings  by Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle
Holy Rascals: Advice for Spiritual Revolutionaries  by Rami Shapiro

Winter 2018
Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection Sharon Salzberg
Into the Mystic: The Visionary and Ecstatic Roots of 1960s Rock and Roll Christopher Hill
Your Inner Islands:The Keys to Intuitive Living Will Tuttle, Ph.D

Fall 2017
Out of Darkness: From Chaos to Clarity via Meditation Cecil Messer
The Bhagavad Gita: A Guide to Navigating the Battle of Life; A New Translation and Commentary Ravi Ravindra
A Guided Tour of Hell: A Graphic Memoir Samuel Bercholz

Spring 2017
Taormina’s Historic Past and Continuing Story: A Unique Spiritual Community in Ojai, by Helene Vachet
The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, by Éliphas  Lévi, translated by John Michael Greer and Mark Anthony Mikituk
Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson, by Gary Lachman


Winter 2017
How Soon Is Now? From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation by Daniel Pinchbeck
Letters to the Sage: Selected Correspondence of Thomas Moore Johnson, Volume One: The Esotericists PATRICK D. BOWEN and K. PAUL JOHNSON, editors
Tarot Triumphs: Using the Marseilles Tarot Trumps for Divination and Inspiration by CHERRY GILCHRIST

Fall 2016
Faith Beyond Belief: Spirituality for Our Times; A Conversation. by David Stenidl-Rast and Ansel Grrun
Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care by Koshin Paley Ellison and Matt Weingast, Editors 
Insights from the Masters: A Compilation by Fions C. Odgren

Summer 2016
Inside Knowledge: How to Activate the Radical New Vision of Reality of Tibetan Lama Tarthang Tulku, Jack Petranker, Editor
Upstate Cauldron: Eccentric Spiritual Movements in Early New York State, by Joscelyn Godwin
Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life through Transcendental Meditation, by Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D.
Under a Sacred Sky: Essays on the Practice and Philosophy of Astrology, by Ray Grasse
How God Became God: What Scholars Are Really Saying about God and the Bible, by Richard Smoley

Spring 2016
The Metaphysics of Ping-Pong, by Guido Mina Di Sospiro
The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary, by Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr Et Al.
Esoteric Instructions, H.P. Blavatsky, Edited by Michael Gomes
The Presence of the Infinite: The Spiritual Experience of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness, by Steve McIntosh

Winter 2016
A Jewel on a Silver Platter: Remembering Jiddu Krishnamurti by Padmanabhan Krishna
The Process of Self-Transformation by Vicente Hao Chin, Jr.
Art, Science, Religion, Spiritualiy: Seeking Wisdom and Harmony for a Fulfilling Life by David White
Prophet for Our Times: The Life and Teachings of Peter Deunov by David Lorimer

Fall 2015
A Most Unusual Life: Dora Van Gelder Kunz: Clairvoyant, Theosophist, Healer by Kirsten Van Gelder and Frank Chesley
Sweet Synchronicity: Finding Annie Besant, Discovering Krishnamurti by Elizabeth Spring
Empress of Swindle: The Life of Ann Odelia Diss Debarr by John Benedict Buescher
Jerusalem! The Real Life of William Blake by Tobias Churton

Summer 2015
Sharing the Light: Further Writings of Geoffrey Hodson, Volume Three Edited by John and Elizabeth Sell and Roselmo Z. Doval Santos
Masters of Wisdom: The Mahatmas, Their Letters, and the Path by Edward Abdill
Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll by Peter Bebergal
Restoring the Soul of the World: Our Living Bond with Nature's Intelligence by David Fideler

Spring 2015
Revolutionaries of the Soul: Reflections on Magicians, Philosophers, and Occultists by Gary Lachman
Taking the Adventure: Faith and Our Kinship with Animals aking the Adventure:Faith and Our Kinship with Animals by Gracia Fay Ellwood
Beyond Mindfulness: The Direct Approach to Lasting Peace, Happiness, and Love by Stephan Bodian

Winter 2015
The Deal: A Guide to Radical and Complete Forgiveness by Richard Smoley
Healing without Medicine: From Pioneers to Modern Practice; How Millions Have Been Healed by the Power of the Mind Alone by Albert Amao, PH.D.
How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart D. Ehrman

Fall 2014
Embattled Saints: My Year with the Sufis of Afghanistan by Kenneth P. Lizzio
Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents)  by Elone Snel
Doyle after Death by John Shirley
Isis in America: The Classic Eyewitness Account of Mme. Blavatsky’s Journey to America and the Occult Revolution She Ignited
Henry Steel Olcott

Summer 2014
The Forbidden Book: A Novel by Joscelyn Godwin and Guido Mina di Sospiro
God, Science and “The Secret Doctrine”: The Zero Point Metaphysics and Holographic Space of H.P. Blavatsky by
Christopher P. Holmes
Living the Season: Zen Practice for Transformative Times by Ji Hyang Padma
The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea by Joan E. Taylor

Spring 2014
The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources Rediscovered in Hermeticism and Cabala by Ronald Decker
One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life by Mitch Horowitz
Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean by Amruta Patil

Winter 2014
Supernormal: Science, Yoga, and the Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic Abilities by Dean Radin
Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Path: A Road Map to Joy and Rejuvenation by Jan Phillips 
Dancing with Fire: A Mindful Way to Loving Relationships by John Amodeo
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit

Fall 2013
Radiance from Halcyon: A Utopian Experiment in Religion and Science by Paul Eli Ivey
Handbook of the Theosophical Current  Edited by Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein
The Origins of the World’s Mythologies by E.J. Michael Witzel 

Summer 2013
The Power of the New Spirituality: How to Live a Life of Compassion and Personal Fulfillment  by William Bloom
The Hidden Geometry of Flowers: Living Rhythms, Form, and Number Keith Crichlow

Spring 2013
Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History by Richard Smoley
Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth by Bart D. Ehrman
Transformational Lessons from Oz by Jean Houston

Winter 2013
Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality by Gary Lachman
Faith Beyond Belief: Stories of Good People Who Left Their Church Behind by Margaret Placentra Johnston
Return to Redemption Ridge by George Eugene Belcher
Medieval Literacy: A Compendium of Medieval Knowledge with the Guidance of C.S. Lewis by James Grote

Fall 2012
The Modern Book of the Dead: A Revolutionary Perspective on Death, the Soul, and What Really Happens in the Life to Come by Ptolemy Tompkins
Initiating Women in Freemasonry: The Adoption Rite by Jan A.M. Snoek
Ancient Wisdom for a New Age: A Practical Guide for Spiritual Growth by Terry Hunt & Pal Benedict

Summer 2012
The Secret Tradition of the Soul by Patrick Harpur
Swedenborg: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas by Gary Lachman
Revelations: Vision, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation by Elaine Pagels

Spring 2012
Just Trust Me: Finding the Truth in a World of Spinust Trust Me: Finding the Truth in a World of Spin by G. Randy Kasten
Art Magic by Emma Hardinge Britten, Edited and annotated by Marc Demarest
Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World by The Fourteenth Dalai Lama 

Winter 2012
Christian Gnosis by C. W. Leadbeater. Edited with a  foreward by Sten Von Krusensterna. intorduction and notes by Richard Smoley.
Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World by Lisa Randall

Fall 2011
Sufism and the Way of Blame: Hidden Sources of a Sacred Psychology by  Yannis Toussulis
Sharing the Light: The Collected Articles of Geoffrey Hodson edited by John and Elizabeth Sell and Roselmo Z. Doval Santos
The Audible Life Stream: Ancient Secret of Dying While Living by Alistair Conwell
Barbarian Rites: The Spiritual World of the Vikings and Germanic Tribes by Hans-Peter Hasenfratz Translated by Michael Moynihan

Summer 2011
Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations by Joscelyn Godwin
Red Shambhala: Magic, Prophecy, and Geopolitics in the Heart of Asia by Andrei Znamenski

Spring 2011
Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World’s Religions Can Come Together by The Dalai Lama
The Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff and Gurdjieff by Seymour B. Ginsburg
The Secret Doctrine Commentaries: The Unpublished 1889 Instructions [of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]
Transcribed and annotated by Michael Gomes
Pavel Florensky, A Quiet Genius: The Tragic and Extraordinary Life of Russia’s Unknown da Vinci by Avril Pyman

Winter 2011
“Freemasonry” and Ritual Work: Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner, vol. 265 by Rudol f Steiner, introduction by Christopher Bamford, translated by John Wood.
Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung’s Life and Teachings by Gary Lachman
Thriving in the Crosscurrent: Clarity and Hope in a Time of Cultural Sea Change by Jim Kenney

Fall 2010
Consciousness from Zombies to Angels: The Shadow and the Light of Knowing Who You Are by Christian de Quincey
Echoes of the Orient: The Writings of William Quan Judge compiled by Dara Eklund
The Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff by Seymour B. Ginsburg

Summer 2010
The Dice Game of Shiva: How Consciousness Creates the Universe by Richard Smoley
Crystal and Arabesque: Claude Bragdon, Ornament, and Modern Architecture by Jonathan Massey
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky by abridged and annotated by Michael Gomes
On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by  Stephen T. Asma

Spring 2010
D. M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker produced by Roderick Bradford
The Lost Teachings of Lama Govinda: Living Wisdom from a Modern Tibetan Master
edited by Richard Power, foreword by Lama Surya Das

Winter 2010
A New Science of the Paranormal: The Promise of Psychical Research by Lawrence LeShan
The 2012 Story: The Myth, Fallacies, and Truth behind the Most Intriguing Date in History by John Major Jenkins

Fall 2009
The Light of the Russian Soul: A Personal Memoir of Early Russian Theosophy by Elena Fedorovna Pisareva
What is Hinduism? Modern Adventures into a Profound Global Faith by the editors of Hinduism Today
The Death of Religion and the Rebirth of the Spirit: A Return to the Intelligence of the Heart by Joseph Chilton Pearce
My Journey in Mystic China: Old Pu's Travel Diary by John Blofeld

Summer 2009
A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion by Catherine L. Albanese
The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life by Parker J. Palmer
The Voice, The Word, The Books: The Sacred Scripture of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims by F. E. Peters
On the Wings of Shekhinah: Rediscovering Judaism's Divine Feminine by Rabbi Léah Novick

Spring 2009
The Majesty of Your Loving: A Couple's Journey through Alzheimer's by Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle
Rapture for the Geeks: When AI Outsmarts IQ by  Richard Dooling
The Kingdom of Agarttha: A Journey into the Hollow Earth by the Marquis Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre

Winter 2009
Into Great Silence DVD. Zeitgeist Films
Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen by Gary Lachman
Letters from a Sufi Teacher by Shaikh Sharfuddin Maneri
A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion by Catherine L. Albanese

November/December 2008
Grammar for the Soul: Using Language for Personal Change by Lawrence A. Weinstein
Buddhist Goddesses of India by Miranda Shaw
Het Web der Schepping: Theosofie en Kunst in Nederland van Lauweriks tot Mondrian [The Web of Creation: Theosophy and Art in the Netherlands from Lauweriks to Mondrian] by Marty Bax
Transforming Fate into Destiny: A New Dialogue with Your Soul by Robert Ohotto

September/October 2008
The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual and Social Harmony by Will Tuttle
Conscious Love: Insights from Mystical Christianity by Richard Smoley

July/August 2008
American Shamans: Journeys with Traditional Healers by Jack Montgomery
Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance—and Why They Fall by Amy Chua
Saving Angel by Charlotte Fielden

May/June 2008
Modern Physics and Ancient Faith by Stephen M. Barr
Reflections Along the Path by Robert Bonnell
Into the Interior: Discovering Swedenborg by Gary Lachman

March/April 2008
The Taliesin Fellowship: The Untold Story of Frank Lloyd Wright & the Taliesin Fellowship by Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman
Nicholas and Helena Roerich: The Spiritual Journey of Two Great Artists and Peacemakers by Ruth A. Drayer

January/February 2008
Chartres: Sacred Geometry, Sacred Space by Gordon Strachan
Kindness, Clarity and Insight, the 25th Anniversary Edition By the Dalai Lama
Esoteric Christianity by Annie Besant
Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives by Dr. Jim B. Tucker

January/February 2007
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Invoking Mary Magdalene: Accessing the Wisdom of the Divine Feminine by Siobhan Houston
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

May/June 2007
The Heavens Declare: Astrological Ages and the Evolution of Consciousness by Alice O. Howell
Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Post-Modern World by Ken Wilber
Darkness Visible: Awakening Spiritual Light through Darkness Meditation by Ross Heaven and Simon Buxton

July/August 2007
Yoga Tantra, Paths to Magical Feats by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba, and Jeffrey Hopkins translated by Jeffrey Hopkins

November/December 2007
The Secret Gateway: Modern Theosophy and the Ancient Wisdom Tradition by Edward Abdill
Nagarjuna's Letter to A Friend translated by the Padamakara Translation Group with commentary by Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche
Sophia Sutras: Introducing Mother Wisdom by Carol E. Parrish-Harra

January/February 2006
Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion by Frank Visser
What Is Self? A Study of the Spiritual Journey in Terms of Consciousness by Bernadette Roberts
The Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time by Fred Alan Wolf
Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism edited by Wouter J. Hanegraaff
The Way of Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing by Cathrine Ann Jones

March/April 2006
Signs of the Times: Unlocking the Symbolic Language of World Events by Ray Grasse
The End of Karma: 40 Days to Perfect Peace, Tranquility, and Joy by Dharma Singh Khalsa
A Rebirth of Christianity by Alvin Boyd Kuhn
Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe by Leon M. Lederman and Christopher T. Hill
Meditation: A Complete Audio Guide by Eknath Easwaran

May/June 2006
The Oxford Companion to World Mythology by David Leeming
Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel by Rebecca Goldstein

July/August 2006
A Place at the Table by William J. Elliott
Strength in the Storm: Creating Calm in Difficult Times by Eknath Easwaran

November/December 2006
D. M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker by Roderick Bradford

January/February 2005
The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God by Robert Louis Wilken
Dancing with Chaos by Patricia Monaghan
The Wonderful World of Zen: The Golden Age of Zen: Zen Masters of The Tang Dynasty by John C. H. Wu

March/April 2005
Limitless Mind by Russell Targ
The Song of Songs: A Spiritual Commentary by M. Basil Pennington
Cycles of Faith: The Development of the World's Religions by Robert Ellwood

May/June 2005
Prayers to an Evolutionary God by William Cleary
The Process of Self-Transformation: Mastery of the Self and Awakening Our Higher Potentials by Vincente Hao Chin, Jr
In Search of P. D. Ouspensky: The Genius In The Shadow of Gurdjieff by Gary Lachman
Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas by John Shirley

July/August 2005
What The Bleep Do We Know!? DVD Fox Home Entertainment
Helena Blavatsky edited by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
The Essential Edgar Cayce edited and introduced by Mark Thurston

September/October 2005
Keeping the Link Unbroken: Theosophical Studies Presented to Ted, G, Davy on His Seventy-fifth Birthday edited by Michael Gomes
The Gospel of Thomas: A Guidebook for Spiritual Practice by Ron Miller
Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs by Steve Hagen

January/February 2004
Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion by Michael York
Samadhi: The Highest State of Wisdom, Vol. I. by Swami Rama
A Concise Encyclopedia of The Philosophy of Religion by Anthony C. Thiselton
Reading the Pentateuch by John J. McDermott

March/April 2004
A Secret History of Consciousness by Gary Lachman
Rumi: Gazing at the Beloved by Will Johnson
Sake & Satori: Asian Journals-Japan by Joseph Campbell
The Dawn of the New Cycle: Point Lama Theosophists and American Culture by W. Michael Ashcraft

May/June 2004
Holidays and Holy Nights: Celebrating Twelve Seasonal Festivals of the Christian Year by Christopher Hill
Selections From The Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda
Hildegard of Bingen's Spiritual Remedies by Dr. Wighard Strehlow
Friends on The Path: Living Spiritual Communities by Thich Nhat Hanh compiled by Jack Lawlor
Yoga Hotel: Stories by Maura Moynihan
I Ching: An Annotated Bibliography by Edward Hacker, Steve Moore and Lorraine Petsco

July/August 2004
A Walk with Four Spiritual Guides: Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Ramakrishna by Andrew Harvey
Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow by Arthur Green
Jonathan Edwards's Philosophy of History: The Reenchantment of The World In The Age of Enlightenment by Avihu Zakai

September/October 2004
A Sense of The Cosmos: Scientific Knowledge and Spiritual Truth by Jacob Needleman

January/February 2003
Jung: A Journey of Transformation by Vivianne Crowley
The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance by Arthur Versluis
Nature Loves To Hide: Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality, a Western Perspective by Shimon Malin
The Wisdom of the Confucians by Compo Zhou Xun with T. H. Barrett
The Pk Man: A True Story of Mind over Matter by Jeffrey Mishlove
Fighting the Waves: The Wandering Peacemaker by Roger Plunk

March/April 2003
Within Time and Beyond Time: A Festschrift for Pearl King by Ed. Riccardo Steiner and Jennifer Johns
The Hidden Gospel: Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus by Neil Douglas-Klotz
The Spirituality of Success: Getting Rich with Integrity by Vincent M. Roazzi
Alchemical Psychology: Old Recipes for Living in a New World by Thom F. Cavalii
Heart without Measure: Work with Madame de Salzmann by Ravi Ravindra
The Fall Of Sophia: A Gnostic Text on the Redemption of Universal Consciousness translated with commentary by Violet MacDermot
Spirit and Art: Pictures of the Transformation of Consciousness by Van James

May/June 2003
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jean-Yves Leloup
In Search Of The Unitive Vision: Letters of Sri Madhava Ashish to an American Businessman 1978-1997 compiled by Seymour B. Ginsburg
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist Wisdom by Gill Farrer-Halls
Luminous Emptiness: Understanding the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Francesca Fremantle
The Mind of the Universe: Understanding Science and Religion by Mariano Artigas
Alive in God's World: Human Life on Earth and in Heaven as Described in the Visions of Joa Bolendas by Joa Bolendas

January/February 2002
The Foundations of Tibetan Buddhism: The Gem Ornament of Manifold Oral Instructions Which Benefits Each and Everyone Accordingly by H. E. Kalu Rinpoche
Freud, Jung, and Spiritual Psychology by Rudolf Steiner
Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions edited by Wendy Doniger
When Oracles Speak: Understanding the Signs and Symbols All around Us by Dianne Skafte
Visitations from the Afterlife: True Stories of Love and Healing by Lee Lawson
Budo Secrets: Teachings of the Martial Arts Masters edited by John Stevens
A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation by Diana L. Eck
The Odyssey of A New Religion: The Holy Order of MANS from New Age to Orthodoxy by Phillip Charles Lucas
Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure through the Himalayas by Robert Thurman and Tad Wise
Riding Windhorses: A Journey into the Heart of Mongolian Shamanism by Sarangerel

March/April 2002
The Spiritual Teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson by Richard G. Geldard
The Zen of Listening: Mindful Communication in the Age of Distraction by Rebecca Z. Shafir
Ethics for the New Millennium by the Dalai Lama
Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion by Wade Clark Roof
Blake, Jung, and The Collective Unconscious: The Conflict between Reason and Imagination by June Singer
The Crystal and The Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen by Chogyal Namkhai Norbuv
The Atlantis Blueprint: Unlocking the Ancient Mysteries of a Long-Lost Civilization by Colin Wilson and Rand Flem-Ath
Wandering Joy: Meister Eckhart's Mystical Philosophy translated by Reiner Schurmann

January/February 2001
The Mystery Schools by Grace F. Knoche
The Golden Dawn Scrapbook: The Rise and Fall of a Magical Order by R. A. Gilbert
Food for Thought by Adam Moledina
The Mythic Journey: The Meaning of Myth as a Guide for Life by Liz Greene and Juliet Sharman-Burke
Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions by Richard Smoley and Jay Kinne
Western Esotericism and The Science Of Religion: Selected Papers Presented at the 17th Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Mexico City 1995 edited by Antoine Faivre and Wouter J. Hanegraaff
The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism, 1200-1350 by Bernard McGinn
Lightposts for Living: The Art of Choosing a Joyful Life by Thomas Kinkade
Vehicles of Consciousness: The Concept of Hylic Pluralism (Ochêma) by J. J. Poortman
Outposts of the Spirit by William M. Justice
Son of Man by Andrew Harvey Boulder
Poems of Rumi by Robert Bly and Coleman Barks
Love Is Fire and I Am Wood: The Sufi's Mystical Journey Home by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Divine Bliss: Sacred Songs of Devotion from the Heart of India by Shri Anandi Ma
B'ismillah: Highlights from the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music
Shaman, Jhankri, and Nele: Music Healers of Indigenous Cultures by Pat Moffitt Cook

March/April 2001
Cassadaga: The South's Oldest Spiritualist Community edited by John J. Guthrie, Jr. Philip Charles Lucas and Gary Monroe
The Incredible Births of Jesus by Edward Reaugh Smith
Physician: Medicine and the Unsuspected Battle for Human Freedom by Richard Leviton
Other Worlds, Other Beings: A Personal Essay on Habitual Thought by Lathel F. Duffield, with Camilla Lynn Duffield

May/June 2001
Afterwards, You're A Genius: Faith, Medicine, and the Metaphysics of Healing by Chip Brown
The Journal of Spiritual Astrology edited by Alexander Markin
Theosophy as the Masters See It: As Outlined in the Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom by Clara M. Codd
Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle by Daniel Stashower
Miracles of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal Consciousness and Spiritual Healing by Russell Targ and Jane Katra
Mind Science: An East-West Dialogue, The Dalai Lama et al edited by Daniel Goleman and Robert A. F. Thurman
Letter to a Man in the Fire: Does God Exist and Does He Care? by Reynolds Price
Relax, It's Only a Ghost: My Adventures with Spirits, Hauntings, and Things That Go Bump in the Night by Echo L. Bodine
The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava: The Indian Consort of Padmasambhava translated by Lama Chonam and Sangye Khandro

July/August 2001
American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace by John C. Culver and John Hyde

January/February 2000
Forest of Visions: Ayahuasca, Amazonian Spirituality, and the Santo Daime Tradition by Alex Polari de Alverga
Reading the Bible: An Introduction by Richard G. Walsh
Atlantis: The Andes Solution: The Discovery of South America as The Legendary Continent of Atlantis by J. M. Allen

March/April 2000
Voices of the Rocks: A Scientist Looks at Catastrophes and Ancient Civilizations by Robert M. Schoch with Robert A. McNally
Innocence and Decadence: Flowers in Northern European Art 1880-1914 by Chichester
The Politics of Myth: A Study of C. G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell by Robert Ellwood

May/June 2000
H.P.B.: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement by Sylvia Cranston and Carey Williams
The Seekers: The Story of Man's Continuing Quest to Understand His World by Daniel J. Boorstin
Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness by Robert K. C. Forman
Celebrate!: A Look at Calendars and the Ways We Celebrate by Margo Westrheim
The Rosicrucians: The History, Mythology, and Rituals of an Esoteric Order by Christopher Mcintosh

July/August 2000
Adyar: The International Headquarters of the Theosophical Society. Introduction by Radha Burnier
Adyar: Historical Notes and Features up to 1934 by Mary K. Neff, Henry S. Olcott, Annie Besant, Ernest Wood, J. Krishnamurti, George S. Arundale
Mary Moody Emerson and the Origins of Transcendentalism by Phyllis Cole
God in Concord: Ralph Waldo Emerson's Awakening to the Infinite by Richard Geldard
Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History by Ed. Thomas A. Tweed and Stephen Prothero
The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah: Recovering the Key to Hebraic Sacred Science by Leonora Leet
The Clouds Should Know Me by Now: Buddhist Poet Monks of China edited by Red Pine and Mike O'Connor
Realizing Emptiness: The Madhyamaka Cultivation of Insight by Gen Lamrimpa
Subtle Wisdom: Understanding Suffering, Cultivating Compassion through Ch'an Buddhism by Master Sheng-yen
The Last Laugh: A New Philosophy of Near-Death Experiences, Apparitions, and the Paranormal by Raymond A. Moody Jr.
The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey by Ronald Roberson


January/February 1999
Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile by John Shelby Spong
Christ the Yogi: A Hindu Reflection on the Gospel of John by Ravi Ravindra
Unfinished Animal: The Aquarian Frontier and the Evolution of Consciousness by Theodore Roszak

March/April 1999
The Best Guide to Meditation by Victor N. Davich
Twenty-Five Doors to Meditation: A Handbook for Entering Samadhi by William Bodri and Lee Shu•Mei
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain
Emerson Among the Eccentrics: A Group Portrait by Carlos Baker
Emerson: The Mind on Fire by Robert D. Richardson, Jr
Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography by David S. Reynolds

May/June 1999
Victorian Fairy Painting by Ed. Jane Martineau
The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice by Georg Feuerstein
Other Creations: Rediscovering the Spirituality of Animals by Christopher Manes
Becoming Osiris: The Ancient Egyptian Death Experience by Ruth Schumann-Antelme and Stephane Rossini

July/August 1999
O Lanoo! The Secret Doctrine Unveiled by Harvey Tordoff
The Common Vision: Parenting and Educating for Wholeness by David Marshak
Holistic Science and Human Values, transactions 3 by Theosophy Science Centre

September/October 1999
Apparitions of The Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary: A Translation and Study of Jigme Lingpa's Dancing Moon in the Water and Dakki’s Grand Secret-Talk by Janet Gyatso
Labrang: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery at the Crossroads of Four Civilizations by Paul Kocol Nietupski
Healing From The Heart: A Leading Heart Surgeon Explores the Power of Complementary Medicine by Mehmet Oz, with Ron Arias and Lisa Oz

January 1998
Cumulative Index to Lucifer, Volumes I-XX compiled by Ted G. Davy

Spring 1998
The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain by Terrence W. Deacon
Thinking about the Earth: A History of Ideas in Geology by David R. Oldroyd

Summer 1998
Spiritualism in Antebellum America by Bret E. Carroll
Tarot and the Tree of Life: Finding Everyday Wisdom in the Minor Arcana by Isabel Radow Kliegman
Choice Centered Tarot by Gail Fairfield
Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die edited by Sushila Blackman

June 1998
The Psychic Revolution of The 20th Century and our Psychic Senses by Claire G. Walker
The Secret Doctrine: Index by John P. Van Mater
The Secret Doctrine: Electronic Book Edition edited by Vincente Hao Chin, Jr.

July 1998
H. P. Blavatsky and The Spr: An Examination of the Hodgson Report of 1885 by Vernon Harrison

October 1998
Sod: The Son of the Man by S. F Dunlap

January 1997
The Theosophical Enlightenment by Joscelyn Godwin
Realization, Enlightenment and the Life of Rapture by A. E. I. Falconar

January 1997 and June 1997
The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity by Paul Heelas

February 1997
K. Paul Johnson's House of Cards? A Critical Examination of Johnson's Thesis on the Theosophical Masters Morya and Koot Hoomi by Daniel H. Caldwell
Technical Terms in Stanza II by David Reigle

March 1997
Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Mary's Vineyard: Meditations, Readings, and Revelations by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut
Handbook for the Soul edited by Richard Carlson and Benjamin Shield
Handbook for the Heart edited by Richard Carlson and Benjamin Shield

April 1997
A Doctor's Guide to Therapeutic Touch by Susan Wager

June 1997
Coming into Being: Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness by William Irwin Thompson
The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas
The Philosophy of Classical Yoga by Georg Feuerstein
Henry A. Wallace: His Search for a New World Order by Graham White and John Maze

July 1997
How to Use Your Nous by A. E. I. Falconar
A Treatise on The Pâramîs, from the Commentary to the Cariyâpitaka by Acariya Dhammapala, translated by Bhikkhu Bodi
Medical Intuition: How to Combine Inner Resources With Modern Medicine by Ruth Berger
Les Histoires de Gopal by Louis Moliné, translated by Edith Deri

August 1997
The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590-1710 by David Stevenson

Spring 1996
Living Buddha Zen by Lex Hixon
New Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science edited by Willis Harman with Jane Clark
Chaos, Gaia, Eros: A Chaos Pioneer Uncovers the Great Streams of History by Ralph Abraham
The Balance of Nature's Polarities In New-Paradigm Theory by Dirk Dunbar
Structures of Consciousness by Georg Feuerstein

Summer 1996
The Tale of the Incomparable Prince Mdoc Mkhar Tshe Ring Dbang Rgyal translated by Beth Newman
A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber
A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: The Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science by Michael S. Schneider
God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita. Royal Science of God-Realization by Parahmahansa Yogananda
The Ultimate Maze Book by David Anson Russo

Autumn 1996
A Mythic Life by Jean Houston
Peripheral Visions by Mary Catherine Bateson
The Way of the Explorer: Art Apollo Astronaut's Journey through the Material and Mystical Worlds by Edgar Mitchell, with Dwight Williams
A Parliament Of Souls: In Search of Global Spirituality edited by Michael Tobias, Jane Morrison and Bettina Gray

Winter 1996
The Shambhala Guide to Yoga by Georg Feuerstein
Science, Paradox, and The Moebius Principle: The Evolution of a 'Transcultural' Approach to Wholeness by Steven M. Rosen

Spring 1995
The Masters Revealed: Madame Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge by K. Paul Johnson
Mysticism: Its History and Challenge by Bruno Borchert
Spiritual Politics by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson
The Imagination of Pentecost Rudolf Steiner and Contemporary Spirituality by Richard Leviton
Wise Women of The Dreamtime: Aboriginal Tales of the Ancestral Powers collected by K. Langloh Parker, edited by Johanna Lambert

Summer 1995
Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution by Ken Wilber
The River by Ma Jaya Sali Bhagavali
Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science edited by Christopher Bamford

Autumn 1995
Krishnamurti-Love and Freedom: Approaching a Mystery by Peter Michel
Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life by Sam Keen


Spring 1994
Cosmic Consciousness Revisited: The Modern Origins and Development of a Western Spiritual Psychology by Robert M. May
The Making of a Mystic: Seasons in the Life of Teresa of Avila by Francis L. Gross, Jr., with Toni Perior Gross
The Spiritual Athlete compiled and edited by Ray Berry

Summer 1994
The Transcendental Universe: Six Lectures on Occult Science, Theosophy, and the Catholic Faith by C. G. Harrison, edited by Christopher Bamford
The Healing Path: A Soul Approach to Illness by Marc Ian Barasch
Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence by Joseph Chilton Pearce

Autumn 1994
Three Books of Occult Philosophy edited and annotated by Donald Tyson
Understanding the Present: Science and the Soul of Modern Man by Bryan Appleyard

Winter 1994
Postmodern Ethics by Zygmunt Bauman
The Morality of Pluralism by John Kekes
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
Music and the Mind by Anthony Storr
The Parabola Book of Healing, introduction by Lawrence E. Sullivan
Rituals of Healing: Using Imagery for Health and Wellness by Jeanne Achterberg, Barbara Dossey and Leslie Kolkmeir
Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and The Practice of Medicine by Larry Dossey

Spring 1993
H.P.B.: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the Founder of the Modem Theosophical Movement by Sylvia Cranston
Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life by Thomas Moore
Facing the World With Soul: A Re-imagination of Modern Life by Robert Sardello
Burma: The Next Killing Fields? by Alan Clements

Summer 1993
The Case for Astrology by John Anthony West
Carmina Gadelica: Hymns& Incantations Collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland in the Last Century by Alexander Carmichael
Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival by Joscelyn Godwin
A Rosicrucian Notebook: The Secret Sciences Used by Members of the Order by Willy Schrodter
Meister Eckhart: The Mystic as Theologian by Robert K. C. Forman
Magical And Mystical Sites: Europe and the British Isles by Elizabeth Pepper and John Wilcock

Autumn 1993
The Fruitful Darkness: Reconnecting with the Body of the Earth by Joan Halifax
The Eight Gates of Zen: Spiritual Training in an American Zen Monastery by John Daido Loori
Islands of the Dawn: The Story of Alternative Spirituality in New Zealand by Robert S. Ellwood

Winter 1993
Great Song: The Life and Teachings of Joe Miller by edited with an introduction by Richard Power
The Strange Life of P. D. Ouspensky by Colin Wilson

Spring 1992
Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics & Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, & Rascal Gurus by Georg Feuerstein
Biosphere Politics: A New Consciousness for a New Century by Jeremy Rifkin
On a Spaceship with Beelzebub: By a Grandson of Gurdjieff by David Kherdian

Summer 1992
Sacred Paths: Essays on Wisdom, Love and Mystical Realization by Georg Feuerstein
Food for Solitude: Menus and Meditations to Heal Body, Mind and Soul by Francine Schill
The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that have Shaped Our World Viewby Richard Tarnas

Autumn 1992
Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerer's World/Lila: An Inquiry into Morals by Florinda Donner
Lila: An Inquiry into Morals by Robert M. Pirsig
How Like an Angel Came I Down: Conversations with Children on the Gospels by Bronson Alcott edited by Alice O. Howell
The Spiritual Life of Children by Robert Coles
The First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentary on the Therigatha by Susan Murcott

Winter 1992
Unconditional Life: Mastering the Forces that Shape Personal Reality by Deepak Chopra
Profiles in Wisdom: Native Elders Speak About the Earth by Steven McFadden
A Fire in the Mind: The Life of Joseph Campbell by Stephen and Robin Larsen

Spring 1991
IMAGINARY LANDSCAPE: Making Worlds of Myth and Science by William Irwin Thompson
CIRCULAR EVIDENCE by Pat Delgado and Colin Andrews
THE EYE OF THE HEART: Portraits of Passionate Spirituality by Harry W. Paige

Summer 1991
THE LANGUAGE OF THE GODDESS/THE ONCE AND FUTURE/THE HEART OF THE GODDESS: A Symbol for Our Time by Marija Gimbutas
The Once and Future Goddess: A Symbol for Our Time by Elinor W. Gadon
The Heart of the Goddess by Hallie Iglehart Austen
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD/IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GANDHI/THE FIRESIDE TREASURY OF LIGHT/A NEW CREATION edited by Benjamin Shield and Richard Carlson
In The Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists by Catherine Ingram
The Fireside Treasury of Light: An Anthology of the Best in New Age Literature  edited by Mary Olsen Kelly
A New Creation: America’s Contemporary Spiritual Voices edited by Roger S. Gottlieb
At the Leading Edge: New Visions of Science, Spirituality and Society by Michael Toms
IRON JOHN/KING, WARRIOR, MAGICIAN, LOVER by Robert Bly
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette
FREEDOM IN EXILE/OCEAN OF WISDOM/TO THE LION THRONE/WHITE LOTUS/CUTTING THROUGH APPEARANCES/TAMING THE MONKEY MIND by the Dalai Lama
Ocean of Wisdom: Guidelines for Living by the Dalai Lama
To the Lion Throne: The Story of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama by Whitney Stewart
White Lotus: An Introduction to Tibetan Culture edited by Carole Eichert
Cutting Through Appearances: Practice and Theory of Tibetan Buddhism by Geshe Lhundup Sopa and Jeffrey Hopkins
Taming the Monkey Mind by Thubden Chodron
REACHING FOR THE MOON by Kenneth W. Morgan
HEALING, HEALTH , AND TRANSFORMATION by Elaine R. Ferguson
PRAYERS OF THE COSMOS: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus by Neil Douglas-Klotz

Autumn 1991
THE YOGA OF THE CHRIST/SCIENCE AND SPIRIT by Ravi Ravindra
Science and Spirit edited by Ravi Ravindra
FULL CATASTROPHE LIVING by Jon Kabat-Zinn
REIMAGINATION OF THE WORLD; A Critique of the New Age, Science, and Popular Culture by David Spangler and William Irwin Thompson

Winter 1991
GRACE AND GRIT: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber by Ken Wilber
THE EARTH MOTHER: Legends, Ritual Arts, and Goddesses of India by Pupul Jayakar
SERPENT IN THE SKY/THE TRAVELER'S KEY TO ANCIENT EGYPT by John Anthony West
The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt by John Anthony West

Spring 1990
THE TRIAL OF SOCRATES by I. F. Stone

Summer 1990
THE GODDESS WITHIN: A Guide to the Eternal Myths that Shape Women's Lives by Jennifer Barker Woolger and Roger J. Woolger
IMMORTAL SISTERS: Secrets of Taoist Women translated and edited by Thomas Cleary
NEW RELIGIONS AND THE THEOLOGICAL IMAGINATION IN AMERICA by Mary Farrell Bednarowski

Autumn 1990
PHILOSOPHY GONE WILD by Holmes Rolston
THE WAY OF THE LOVER: The Awakening & Embodiment of the Full Human by Robert Augustus Masters
THE JEFFERSON BIBLE by Thomas Jefferson

Winter 1990
SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY: A Guide to Reconnection with Nature by Jim Nollman
Mother Earth Spirituality: Native American Paths to Healing Ourselves and Our World by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man
Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology edited by Allan Hunt Badiner
Sacred Places: How the Living Earth Seeks Our Friendship by James A. Swan
WAITING FOR THE MARTIAN EXPRESS: Cosmic Visitors, Earth Warriors, Luminous Dreams by Richard Grossinger
WORDS TO LIVE BY: Inspirations for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

Spring 1989
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels
Other Peoples' Myths: The Cave of Echoes by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty
Many Mansions: A Christian's Encounter with Other Faiths by Harvey Cox
Unitive Thinking by Tom McArthur

Summer 1989
NEW WORLD, NEW MIND: Moving Toward Conscious Evolution by Robert Ornstein and Paul Ehrlich

Autum 1989
THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY IN ENGLISH edited by James M. Robinson
THE CHAKRAS AND THE HUMAN ENERGY FIELDS by Shafica Karagulla and Dora van Gelder Kunz

Winter 1989
THE UPSIDE DOWN CIRCLE: Zen Laughter by Zen Master Don Gilbert
JUNG: A biography by Gerhard Wehr

Winter 1988
Old Age by Helen M. Luke
The Aquarian Conspiracy/The New Age/Otherworld Journeys/Channeling-+- by Marilyn Ferguson and Jeremy P. Tarcher
The New Age: Notes of a Fringe WatcherThe New Age: Notes of a Fringe Watcher by Martin Gardner
Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern TimesOtherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times by Carol Zaleski
Channeling: Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal SourcesChanneling: Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources  by Jon Klimo and Jeremy P. Tarcher

 

 


Other Worlds of Thought

Printed in the  Fall 2022 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Scherini, Desiree Holmes,  "Other Worlds of Thought" Quest 110:4, pg 12-13

By Barbara Hebert
National President

barbara hebertThe theme for this issue is “Other Worlds.” One may think of many ways in which discussion of this theme could diverge. For example, in Columbus, Ohio, there is an immersive art experience called OtherWorld. It is filled with large-scale interactive art, mixed reality playgrounds, and secret passageways where visitors are encouraged to explore and interact with a surreal world of science fiction and fantasy. Numerous videos on YouTube focus on information about the planets in our solar system and others that center on bizarre science fiction videos. Austin, Texas, holds an Other Worlds science fiction film festival every year. There are online interactive learning sites that are labeled “Other Worlds” as well as various stores around the country with that name, not to mention many books and movies. So the possibilities for articles in this issue are essentially unlimited.

My initial thought was many articles would discuss intelligent life on other planets in our solar system and other solar systems across the universe. This is a matter of conjecture for some and of belief for others. Theosophical literature discusses this topic.

Another mention of extraterrestrial life in the Theosophical literature occurs in Letter 62 (chronological) of The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett. The Mahatma Koot Hoomi writes, “There are other and innumerable manvantaric chains of globes bearing intelligent beings—both in and out of our solar system—the crowns or apexes of evolutionary being in their respective chains, some—physically and intellectually—lower, others immeasurably higher than the man of our chain. But beyond mentioning them we will not speak of these at present.”

Given the Theosophical teaching that souls incarnate in order to gain self-conscious awareness of their divine nature and connection with the One, it makes sense that souls could incarnate on other planets for this purpose. This is certainly a topic that many find fascinating and may explore further.

Several of the articles in this issue focus on other worlds in the sense of alternate realms of consciousness. Certainly for those of us on the physical plane, the various realms of consciousness can seem like other worlds. For this Viewpoint, I would like to veer into another direction that seems especially pertinent for our world today. On more than one occasion in the last few years, I have wondered, “What kind of a world am I living in?” Many of you may have wondered the same thing. In fact, I have gone from wondering about it to asking the question aloud: “Have I somehow journeyed to another world?” Our world right now is fraught with confusion, uncertainty, suffering, anger, and the loss of so much. It makes us yearn for a world filled with love, harmony, and compassion.

We can easily forget that our world is also filled with love, harmony and compassion. We find support and aid for those who are struggling, compassion for those who are suffering, and strength from those who stand up for their beliefs. From many perspectives, we live in a world of duality: struggles and support, suffering and compassion, strength in light of instability, loss, and uncertainty.

We may wonder if the world is worse today than it was 100 years ago, 700 years ago, or even 2,000 years ago. It seems that it must be worse, but glancing briefly at some components of history may provide greater insight. One hundred years ago, the world was recovering from the influenza pandemic and World War I, but it was also experiencing a time of expansion and solid economic growth. Seven hundred years ago, Europe in the 1300s experienced famine and plagues. The Great Famine of 1315‒17 was followed by the bubonic plague, commonly referred to as the Black Death, in 1346‒53. The ensuing depopulation brought on wars and social unrest. Yet at the same time, the Renaissance was beginning to shine its light in Italy.

Two thousand years ago, the world was also experiencing war and political turmoil. The first century AD saw the rule of the insane emperor Caligula and his assassination; the murder of his successor, Claudius, by his wife; the reign of Nero, with the burning of Rome in AD 64; and the Jewish revolt against Rome, culminating in the sack of the Jerusalem Temple in 70. There was at least one natural disaster with the explosion of Mount Vesuvius in 79. However, also during this time, it is said that Jesus was born and lived. In 96, the Five Good Emperors, starting with Nerva, began a nearly century-long reign over Rome.

It seems that each generation lives through a time of turmoil punctuated by positive events. As human beings, we tend to focus on the negative aspects and sometimes even believe that our time is the worst of times. But, is it?

We may be reminded of the opening words of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, referring to the French Revolution of 1789 and its aftermath: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

It is important to ask ourselves, what are we focusing on? Are our minds and thoughts centering on “the worst of times,” “the age of foolishness,” “the epoch of incredulity,” “the season of darkness,” “the winter of despair,” or the opposite?

Theosophical literature tells us that thoughts are things. Our thoughts manifest as vibrations of mental matter and, if definite enough, can create a form consisting of energy from the emotional and mental fields. The Mahatma K.H. wrote to A.P. Sinnett, “Thoughts are things—have tenacity, coherence, and life . . . they are real entities” (Chin, 66). In another letter, to A.O. Hume, the Mahatma writes:

Every thought of [an individual] upon being evolved passes into the inner world and becomes an active entity by associating itself—coalescing, we might term it—with an elemental; that is to say with one of the semi-intelligent forces of the kingdoms. It survives as an active intelligence, a creature of the mind's begetting, for a longer or shorter period proportionate with the original intensity of the cerebral action which generated it. Thus, a good thought is perpetuated as an active beneficent power; an evil one as a maleficent demon. And so [an individual] is continually peopling his current in space with a world of his own, crowded with the offsprings of his fancies, desires, impulses, and passions. (Chin, 472)

These statements by the Mahatma must give us pause and compel us to “metathink”—to think about the thoughts we think! Our thoughts surround us (“peopling our space,” to paraphrase the Mahatma’s words) affecting us as well as those around us. They are the glasses through which we view the world.

If we continue to think about the difficult things that are happening in our world today, we are surrounding ourselves with those negative energies and vibrations. Furthermore, we attract other negative thoughts to us. Soon we have difficulty seeing anything positive around us. All we see is the sadness and suffering, and it can impact us dramatically in both physical and nonphysical ways.

On the other hand, if we focus on the positive, we surround ourselves with positivity. We can remind ourselves of the many acts of kindness and helpfulness, the compassion for others, the love that individuals show to one another, and the strength and courage that many show in standing up for their beliefs. In this way, we are peopling our space with beneficent thoughts, and we are inviting thoughts of similar vibratory patterns to us. Soon we are seeing the beauty in our world and feeling gratitude for it.

Centering our minds and thoughts on positivity is not to suggest that we ignore the suffering; rather, we acknowledge the suffering and work to alleviate it. Yet we do not allow the suffering to become our only perspective. When we focus on the beauty, goodness, compassion, strength, and love that can be seen in almost every corner of the globe, then we send those thoughts out into the world. In this way, we become a powerful force for good in the world. As Matthew Fox says in his interview in this issue, “We all have to ground ourselves in . . . the goodness of creation, the presence of the divine and of love and justice. We have to fill ourselves with those things without being in denial about the suffering.”

Source Material

Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ed. The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in Chronological Sequence. Quezon City, Philippines: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993.


Experiencing the Other World of the Devachanic Plane

Printed in the  Fall 2022 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Scherini, Desiree Holmes,  "Experiencing the Other World of the Devachanic Plane" Quest 110:4, pg 9-11

By Desiree Holmes Scherini

desiree holmes scheriniWhen someone speaks of other worlds, images of outer space and distant planets often come to mind. We may tend to think of these worlds as far away from us, alien and unreachable. However, each of us inhabits many worlds right now, even though we aren’t commonly able to observe them.

Most Theosophists have a grasp of the many states of being that we inhabit. These states can be classified into three, seven, or even a myriad of stages. In the three, we acknowledge body, mind, and spirit. The basic divisions generally given in Theosophical teaching include seven subtle stages: body (rupa), vitality (prana), the astral body (linga sharira), the animal soul (kama rupa), the human soul (manas), the spiritual soul (buddhi), and the spirit (atma). Each of these states is a world of existence that our being can and does experience.

In waking life, we are most keenly aware of our physical world: our bodies, homes, furnishings, aches and pains, as well as physical pleasures. While the physical body is resting in meditation or sleep, we may become more aware of our astral being. The mind is free to roam through dreams, time, and space without the limits of the physical body. In deep states of meditation, temporary physical death, or hypnosis, our spiritual being may travel even further, to the edge of the highest level of being, while the body still remains in physical form. These experiences have been documented throughout the years, some through near-death experiences (NDEs), others through meditation or even spontaneously.

Perhaps the most difficult thing to fathom is the independent state of consciousness that is separate from the physical body. Our three-dimensional reality seldom permits us to conceive of the mind as existing beyond the brain. Luckily, in recent years, some scientists have given more serious consideration to the concept that mind, consciousness, is indeed independent of the physical body. NDEs have been instrumental in supporting this claim, as survivors have shown no brain activity yet have returned to life with extraordinary stories of their time while “dead.”

After years of careful investigation, many previously skeptical researchers have come to support the concept of consciousness existing beyond the body. Among them is Dr. Peter Fenwick, a highly regarded neuropsychiatrist who believes that “the brain does not create or produce consciousness; rather, it filters it.” Fenwick believes that “consciousness actually exists independently and outside of the brain as an inherent property of the universe itself like dark matter and dark energy or gravity.”

Similarly, Dr. Brian Weiss, a respected psychiatrist, did not believe in reincarnation until one of his patients began discussing past-life experiences under hypnosis. After confirming elements of the patient’s stories through public records, he became convinced that an element of the human personality survives after death.

Similarly, psychologist and hypnotherapist Dr. Michael Newton, who described himself as a skeptic by nature, specialized in clinically practical behavioral modifications for the treatment of psychological disorders. He resisted requests for past-life regressions until a patient found relief from chronic pain by spontaneously going back to a past-life experience of injury. This led Newton to a long career of using past-life regression to help resolve current life issues, and even more importantly, to discover that his hypnotized subjects could report back to him about their experience of the spiritual realm during the passage of the soul through what he came to term “life between lives,” passing between this life and past lives. His work led to thousands of regressions, providing case studies that reported unexpected and extraordinary correlation of the subjects’ experiences.

Therapeutically, this work also led to deep emotional healing and insights, and Newton went on to develop and teach a hypnotic therapeutic process called “Life between Lives: Spiritual Regression” with Dr. Allen Chips through the National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists.

As a hypnotherapist, I have been lucky to be trained in past-life regression therapy and Newton’s and Chips’ process. Training for these processes requires that the student be the subject of the hypnotic processes as well.

Here I want to share my direct experience of the spirit world, which I will correlate to the devachanic plane of Theosophy. But first I would like to provide a previous personal experience which provided me some confirmation of the reality of this other world.

My mother passed away in the summer of 2019. I was there in the rest home to help at the time. The morning after her death, while I was in a half-awake state, she appeared to me in the form of her physical self. She had three smooth, flat stones in front of her. She was waving her hand upward into the air while raising up her torso. She said, “Build me up,” and something about her bed. Her message didn’t make sense at the time, but I made a note of it and told my sister and father.

Two days later, while visiting the cemetery, we were presented with the options for her burial, among them a new mausoleum, a tall, smooth stone structure. We then knew that she wanted to be interred in the mausoleum for her final resting place (her “bed”).

Following that communication, I had several dreams of my mother that I would share with my family. After about three months, my father said he felt sad that he never had dreams of her, although he missed her immensely.

Since she had communicated with me, I decided to ask her if she had a message for my father. As I woke one morning, I stayed in the half-awake state, with closed eyes, and asked her for a message. She did reply, with quite a detailed response for my father. It led us to a wooden chest containing a letter in which she expressed her love for him and recounted when they first fell in love. She had sent it to him several years ago, while he was traveling, but it had been returned “to sender” because he had left the hotel by the time the letter arrived. Neither my dad nor I had any knowledge of it before then, yet it held the perfect message for a grieving husband.

During that exchange with my mother, I felt that our connection was quite strong, so I asked more questions. “What is it like there?” I asked.

She answered, “It’s beautiful! Everything is beautiful! I’m beautiful!”

I asked if my godparents and my sister, who are all deceased, were there.

My mother said, “Yes” and even mentioned that Donnie, a favorite dog from before my birth, was there as well. Then she surprised me and brought me out of my state by saying, “You’re here too; you just don’t know it.” This was the first of three confirmations that I would receive that my being is not limited to the physical plane.

A month or so later, as I prepared for my certification as a spiritual regression specialist, I had several books to read, primarily those of Dr. Michael Newton, in which he documents the experiences of subjects who independently described their journey through the spiritual world. As I read the narrative of each one, along with Dr. Newton’s overview, it was made clear that the subjects routinely reported that their souls were not encapsulated in the physical body and that there was a portion of the soul that always stays in the “heaven world.” They added that while we are in our normal waking state, most of us are unaware of this, and we tend to believe that our whole being is only here, in the body.

From his subjects’ reports, Dr. Newton noted that “the average soul takes around 50 to 70 percent of their energy into a body. This can vary from life to life, depending on a soul’s body choices and state of advancement” (Newton, 135).

Then, in the late fall of 2019, a couple of months after my mother’s message about me “being there too,” I was preparing to give a presentation on devachan (best described commonly as a layer of “heaven”) to my local Theosophical lodge.

I referred to a small book by C.W. Leadbeater entitled The Devachanic Plane, or The Heaven World: Its Characteristics and Inhabitants, first published in 1896. In it he describes the spiritual realm and explains that the soul, or spirit, inhabits several different levels of being, which differ in frequency. Among those levels is the physical body and the nonphysical “bodies.”

Leadbeater states, “We have not at present in the English language any convenient and at the same time accurate words to express these conditions; perhaps to call them respectively embodied and disembodied will be, on the whole, the least misleading of the various possible phrases.” This he found more appropriate than the terms ‘living” and “dead,” inasmuch as the soul never ceases. So again I found a reference to the soul or spirit existing in that realm, both while “alive” and while “dead.”

Thus I had three diverse and separate confirmations, separated by source and time, which substantiated the reality of the particular “other world” of devachan. With further study, I came to understand that my mother’s first communication with me was from the astral plane (where the recently deceased is still connected to the physical world). Her description a few months later represented her experience of the devachanic plane, to which she must have transitioned (which is indeed heavenlike, and the being is surrounded by loved ones and beauty).

Then came my first opportunity to experience this other world through the process of hypnotic spiritual regression. Unlike the thousands of case studies in Dr. Newton’s books, I did have some prior knowledge of others’ experiences before my own session. I had read accounts of some of them and noted the similarities of the stages of passage through the spiritual realm, so I had an expectation of what I would experience.

However, I was surprised to find that my own experience did not fit my expectations completely; it seemed to have its own unique process for my visit. Even so, it was similar enough to provide me with some confidence that there was indeed something true about the experience and that I wasn’t simply making it up based on what I had read. As with other things of this nature, unless one experiences it oneself, it can seem quite questionable.

In my experience following the hypnotic induction (which was quite long), I no longer quite sensed my physical body, although I was still aware of it. At first, I was simply experiencing darkness, seemingly for quite a few minutes, until amorphous colors began to appear, moving and mixing. Blues and purples, as if lit from within. Then appeared a point of light, seemingly distant. As I told my hypnotic facilitator what I was seeing, I was directed to go toward it (yes, the “light at the end of the tunnel”). As I did I came into a cavelike space, where there were many different orblike lights in different colors. As I observed them, I began to recognize them as friends and family, even though they only appeared as colored, energetic orbs of light. Some bounced about, as if to get my attention.

I questioned why I was seeing them, as all of them were still alive. I expected to encounter those who had passed on, not the living. It was as if we all greeted each other, and although we had no physical bodies, there was still a sense of emotion. When I passed into the next “chamber,” this emotion became expansive and brought physical tears as I encountered similar energetic beings, this time those who had passed on. Again, I recognized them: my sister, a pink orb; my godmother, green; many others, in various hues; and my mother, a golden and brown glowing orb that came toward me and seemed to embrace me in loving energy.

To my right there was a large white light, which seemed to accompany me through the whole process. I didn’t want to move on from this space, but eventually passed through a tunnellike corridor, where geometric shapes began to fill my inner vision. As I progressed, they began to take forms like buildings, although they were not solid. I seemed to float through them, experiencing a sense of learning. The remainder of my journey brought insights for this lifetime, with messages received, and my facilitator eventually brought me out of the hypnosis. (This is a very brief explanation, as the complete process took about four hours.)

As a hypnotherapist practicing this process with clients, I have been fascinated to note the similarity in experiences they have had to mine and to the case studies of Dr. Newton. I give my own account to offer a personal report of experiencing this other world, which we always inhabit, yet which lies outside of our everyday physical perception of reality.

Throughout history, there are reports of the experience of these other worlds. Many of us have experienced at least a glimpse of them. As Leadbeater indicated, and as current quantum physicists report, our reality exists in different frequencies. Like a radio dial, we can adjust our antenna to receive a signal. We do indeed exist in many worlds at once. These inner worlds are available for the curious quester in each of us to explore.


Sources

Leadbeater, C.W. The Devachanic Plane. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1916.

Newton, Michael. Life between Lives: Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression. Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn, 2004.

Tucker, Jim B. “Children Who Claim to Remember Previous Lives: Past, Present, and Future Research,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 21, no. 3 (2007): 543‒52. 

 

Desiree Holmes Scherini is a board-certified master transpersonal hypnotherapist and certified life coach. She has several other certifications as well as a BA in psychology from the University of California. She has a higher diploma in Theosophy from the Theosophical Society in England and enjoys her continued studies in Theosophy. She hosts “Intuitive Journey with Desiree” on YouTube and Podcast. She is also an artist and the author of Journey to Joy: The Written Path. She is a member of the National Capital Lodge in Washington, DC. To hear her account of her past-life regression, listen to her podcast, “Ghosts and the Spirit World: Intuitive Journey with Desiree,” on Apple Podcasts.

 


Optimism of the Will: Mind Power as a Philosophy of Life

Printed in the  Fall 2022 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Horowitz, Mitch,  "Optimism of the Will: Mind Power as a Philosophy of Life" Quest 110:4, pg 36-39

By Mitch Horowitz

Mitch horowitzIt is a common assertion in alternative spirituality that mind power is the primary force in the universe and that thoughts are causative. If these statements are true, they place the practitioner in front of a daunting question: what is mind power for? Is it just a metaphysical ego trip? Or a mode of escapism?

I have wrestled with this question for many years. At this stage of my search, I have ceased to distinguish between what are considered to be eternal values and temporal ones. I believe that any such division is artificial, however deeply imbued in us it may be by the force of familiarity.

Much of Eastern and Western religious thought tells us that we live in a hierarchical cosmos, and things that are essential, eternal, sacred, and everlasting belong to the “greater you,” to a higher degree of existence. You progress toward this higher degree as you shed worldly attachments and illusions, sometimes broadly called maya or samsara, and realize that attachments foster suffering.

I believe that this idea, as foundational and familiar as it may be, does not suit the life and search of the contemporary seeker. In my observation, we have fallen into a rote and recitative division in which we think in terms of attachment and nonattachment, identification and nonidentification, personality and essence, ego and true self, temporal and eternal. At this point in my search, I have come to believe that the essential purpose of life is self-expression. Self-expression can take any number of forms that are intimate and necessary to the individual. This is not the same as consumption of a gross variety, which merely aims to salve a lack of self-expression.

I am opposed to any barriers that may have been thrown up between the seeker and his or her sense of self-expression. The only thing that I stand against—the only moral code I employ on the path—is that I would never intentionally do anything to block or deter another person from striving for the same human potential that I wish for myself.

Even in our age of decentered and discursive information, we imbibe too many homiletic ideas about what constitutes the search, what reflects progress on the path, and how one would evaluate that progress. I believe that the evaluation of the success (a term of which we should be unafraid) of a philosophy, therapy, religious, or spiritual viewpoint is the conduct and experience of the seeker.

In Scripture, we read that the creator fashioned the individual in its own image. In the ancient text called The Emerald Tablet, a similar note appears in the principle “as above, so below.” If we take these notions seriously, if these ideas actually mean something to us—and they are at the heart of the Abrahamic and Hermetic religious systems—they must mean that you, the individual, are capable of creating within your own sphere, as you were created.

Created from what? Hermeticism teaches that all of existence emanates from an infinite presence, from which nothing can be added or subtracted. This original substance has no proportion; it cannot be measured, limited, or contained within concepts of time, space, or dimension. The one thing that we consensually understand as fitting that definition is mind.

The Hermeticists used the Greek term nous to describe an Overmind, which they saw as the source of creation. These Greco-Egyptian thinkers believed that each individual emanates through concentric spheres from this higher mind. As a being born of mind, the individual is endowed with corresponding creative abilities within the physical framework in which he or she dwells. But this schema also holds that we are limited by the laws and forces of our cosmic framework. “Ye are gods,” the Psalmist says, “but ye shall die like men” (Psalm 82:6‒7).

Observation dictates that we live under immensely diffuse laws and forces—of which I believe mental causation is one. A law is, by definition, ever operative. This does not mean, however, that it is experienced uniformly. H2O is always water, but water can, of course, be vapor, liquid, or solid depending upon temperature. Gravity is constant—it is mass attracted to itself—but you will experience gravity differently on the moon than on earth, on Jupiter, or in the vacuum of space. The law of mental causation may work similarly: it is constant, but myriad forces mitigate your experience, sometimes deterring it from its apparent function. Hence we do not categorically flee from limits when experimenting with the mind power thesis.

Is there any difference between thought and spiritual appeal? The sensitized mind may be what we colloquially call spirit. We know from academic ESP studies that the mind evinces extraphysical qualities.* Extraphysicality is my basic definition of spirituality. As such, mind and spirit may be part of the same scale. Let me share a personal experience, which touches on that prospect. 

Several years ago, I was part of a very demanding esoteric order. Many people in the group were intellectually refined, and the rigor of the search was deeply felt. Physical demands were placed on us. Seekers could be pushed to their limits. I can assure you that nothing does more, or works more quickly, to skewer fantasies about yourself than being awakened at an inconvenient hour in an unfamiliar or uncomfortable place to perform some difficult task: you discover your limits quickly. People who are accustomed to succeeding in familiar or comfortable settings, who are considered “wise owls” in their domestic realms, or who see themselves as spiritually advanced, become leveled when they are exposed to a very different scale.

One winter, we were planning a camping trip near the New York‒Pennsylvania border. If you have ever gone winter camping in the northeastern United States, you know it can be tough going. But this trip was planned for a purpose. We were gathering in the woods to join together in the search.

My teacher gave me a particular task in preparation. He mixed in a little humor with it, but it was nonetheless a veritable and meaningful effort. He said that the women in the group were going to sleep in tents in the freezing nights. The men were staying in a cold-water cabin—basically a large, uninsulated shack, which was little better. My teacher said that if the female campers had to get up at night to relieve themselves, in order that they would not have to venture into the icy woods, I was to go out and buy buckets for their tents to serve as chamber pots. But these buckets, he said with a glint in his eye, had to be of a particular type. They had to be pink and heart-shaped. If, after really trying, I could find no pink, heart-shaped buckets, it would be acceptable for me to buy red, heart-shaped ones. If I really found myself out of options, I could finally buy red buckets of a standard shape.

This was before digital commerce exploded, so the search for an unusual item required phone calls and visits on foot. I lived on the East Side of Manhattan, and I embarked on a search across New York’s boroughs for pink, heart-shaped buckets. I did not want to disappoint my teacher, and I felt that the task was important on several levels. I put everything into it. I called and visited bed and bath stores, hardware stores, home goods stores, and contractor stores, crossing myriad places off my growing list. I got nowhere. I could not find pink, heart-shaped buckets. So I decided to switch to plan B and look for red buckets, first heart-shaped and, if that proved futile, of a standard shape. That did not seem too difficult.

Oddly enough, here I was in New York City—one of the commercial hubs of the world—and I could not find red buckets of either type. Again, I called and visited hardware stores, paint stores, you name it. Nothing. Early one evening, out on a household errand, I told myself, “Well, it’s time to call my teacher and admit that I failed. I’ve searched everywhere for pink, heart-shaped buckets. I searched for red, heart-shaped buckets, and then just regular red, circular buckets—but came up empty.” Something told me to wait a bit longer: do not call him yet.

As this was running through my head, I was standing outside of a little neighborhood grocery store, someplace you run to pick up eggs or milk. I entered the store and headed toward the back to the cold foods section. When I reached the rear of the store, right there stood a gleaming, brand-new pile of pink, heart-shaped buckets. In near disbelief, I grabbed a stock boy and asked, “What color are those buckets?” He said, “Pink.” I asked, “And they’re heart-shaped?” Regarding me somewhat strangely, he agreed and volunteered, “They just came in today.”

I was astonished not only because the odds and circumstances of finding my hallowed item right then and there seemed infinitesimal (this is so even if you use the “law of large numbers,” which dictates that across a large population, weird things must happen to someone), but there was an additional factor. It is critical to recall that there is one thing that statistics cannot really get at: the emotional stakes and personal meaning of an experience. The individual is invested with a certain something in relation to the thing encountered—whether a yearned-for relationship, job offering, home listing, crisis averted, stranger who helps, or a friend who has been long out of touch. The emotional stakes and private meaning of a situation can heighten its rarity and pertinence beyond any measure of chance. That is what I experienced in this situation. It exemplified for me an ineffable truth: there is something lawful about mental exertion.

 

To focus on just one aspect of the mind causation thesis, it seems to me that the trigger of conveyance behind thought and circumstance is the uniqueness, dedication, and totality of an individual’s focus, mental and otherwise.

Why should this be? In Hermetic philosophy, all actions, cycles, and events represent a kind of rhythmical swing. A pendulous, rhythmical swing necessitates a mirroring swing. To switch for a moment to standard mechanics, Isaac Newton made the observation, which has been validated in both macro and particle physics, that objects separated over vast distances exert precise mirroring effects over one another, a process for which we have been unable to fully account.

Contemporary string theory is among the theses developed to explain this mirror effect. Within the schema of string theory, all of reality, from the particulate to the universal, is joined by networks of interwoven strings, providing unseen and extradimensional antecedents for observed events, including those that we call chance. 

In terms of human endeavor, when we dedicate ourselves to an ideal and we bring totality of effort—mental, emotional, and physical—to concentrate on that point, we set in motion a rhythmical swing. There must be a corresponding motion. That motion moves along the arc of your focus, provided there is no overwhelming countermovement based on another event, action, or physical barrier within your framework.

Is this more than supposition? To consider that, follow me briefly down a different path. It strikes me that our senses are nothing more than organic instruments of measurement. If we want to get down to definitions that even a philosophical materialist could love, what else are sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste than instruments of measurement, which transfer data to your central nervous system or psyche?

Over the course of more than ninety years, researchers in particle physics have amassed indelible evidence that a subatomic particle exists in what is called a wave state or a state of superposition: the particle appears in an infinite number of places simultaneously. It is not localized, or actual, until a sentient observer decides to take a measurement, or a technical device, such as a photometer, periodically takes one.

There exists debate over whether a device represents a method of measurement distinct from an observer, as well as whether the “collapse” from wave to particle results from an observer’s individual psyche or “transpersonal mind behaving according to natural laws,” as noted by Bernardo Kastrup, Henry P. Stapp, and Menas C. Kafatos in a May 29, 2018, Scientific American article, “Coming to Grips with the Implications of Quantum Mechanics.” This transpersonal mind, the writers continue, “comprises but far transcends any individual psyche,” a description similar to the Hermetic concept of nous. The authors compellingly argue that even if a device is used for measurement—and thus localization—perception and intent, either of the individual, the metamind, or both, remains the determining force.

Readers who look up this Scientific American article will find that my descriptions of quantum theory are, if anything, conservative. We are, in fact, witnessing a kind of reality selection in the quantum lab, pertaining not only to particle behavior but also to the nature of observation and creation—or, again, selection—from among infinite, coexisting realities. A decision to measure or not measure sets in motion innumerable possibilities. This is the “many worlds interpretation” of quantum physics. A law, as noted, must be constant, although it is not necessarily transferable to every situation or free from mitigating or surrounding circumstances.

Quantum mechanics has brought us to the undeniable conclusion that consciousness, or the psyche, cannot be extracted from physics and material existence. All is entangled or whole. Hence, if our senses function as devices of measurement, we are nudged in the direction of self-selection.

The implications of quantum data are increasingly important because we are encountering parallel insights in other sciences. Researchers in neuroplasticity use brain scans to demonstrate that thought alters neural pathways through which electrical impulses travel in the brain. Brain biology must be understood as the product of thought as much as the other way around. Hence I am engaging in more than metaphor when I speak of rhythmic correspondences, sensory measurements, and mental selectivity.

 

I believe that nothing on the path does more to stifle your sense of morale, purpose, possibility, and selfhood than being told what you are supposed to find, how you are supposed to live, what your spiritual values are supposed to be, or what the search is supposed to be about. Self-determination is vital to everything I have been describing.

In my observation, the ability to direct your mental and emotive energies requires a measure of assurance and hopeful expectancy. This is commonly observed in placebo studies. The belief that something can happen is critical. Another elusive concept, faith, is an umbrella term for these catalytic factors. Faith is bound up with, and in some ways equivalent to, persistence. That is the experience described in my story of the buckets. Through the passion of dedication and meaningful persistence, my full psyche was in play. The psyche is a compact of thought and emotion.

Nonetheless, thoughts, emotions, and physicality run on separate tracks. If thoughts ruled us, no one would have a problem with anger, addiction, or overeating. Emotion and physicality are often stronger than thought. We can use our minds (which run on a continuum with spirituality) to help circumvent mood or craving; but those things are enormously powerful, and they sometimes must receive their due. Moods and cravings are not just to be corralled and reorganized; they may have a valid claim on us. I point this out simply to highlight that thought is not the only mediator of power.

As an amalgam of thought and emotion, the unified psyche is powerful: it is the totality of your psychology. This compact entity forms only when you progress in the direction of a passionately felt need. That is why I consider desires sacred. A desire does not necessarily liberate you from things that are owed to others. But a desire points you in the direction of authenticity. As such, a desire should be carefully understood and, whenever principle permits, heeded. Do not allow a noninvasive desire to get taken from you. Because persistence in its direction summons the forces called faith, expectation, belief in self, and investment in the greater possibility of the individual.

In the afterword of The Culture of Narcissism, philosopher Christopher Lasch sharpened his critique of religious or social models that extol gratification and pointed to his vision of a sounder, stabler approach to life. He observed compellingly:

The best hope of emotional maturity, then, appears to lie in a recognition of our need for and dependence on people who nevertheless remain separate from ourselves and refuse to submit to our whims. It lies in a recognition of others not as projections of our own desires but as independent beings with desires of their own. More broadly, it lies in acceptance of our limits. The world does not exist merely to satisfy our own desires; it is a world in which we can find pleasure and meaning, once we understand that others too have a right to these goods. Psychoanalysis confirms the ancient religious insight that the only way to achieve happiness is to accept limitations in a spirit of gratitude and contrition instead of attempting to annul those limitations or bitterly resenting them.

My wish is not to foster an imagined escape from life’s obligations or a justification to bend others to our desires. Indeed, the chief sign of weakness masquerading as agency is when someone continually burdens others to repair his moods, support his psyche, or dispense rewards. Nor am I positing a system without limits or barriers. Unwillingness to bow to or acknowledge frustrations can become a form of theater in which the indestructible being conceals his or her own lack of self-belief.

I pursue experiential philosophies that elevate and encourage our expansion toward self-expression and heightened existence—without denying existential trauma. Such outlooks bring purpose, intention, striving, focus, and beingness to our existence. The philosophy of mind causation, on the terms explored here, not only abets authentic selfhood but forms its foundation.

As I see it, nothing in this approach abrogates or fundamentally conflicts with Lasch’s analysis. More importantly, the mind causation thesis contributes a defensibly greater possibility to the human situation than what appears in Lasch’s or many other secular psychosocial outlooks. As seeking people, we must avoid delusional excesses, which occur on either extreme—mystical or materialist—of how one views the psyche.

Within New Age culture, as Lasch justly observes, we are often conditioned to think in elusive or inflated concepts of self-development and its horizons. People of a spiritual orientation might use terms like realized, enlightened, or illumined. I find such language excessive. People of a psychological bent might use terms like well-adjusted, actualized, or fulfilled. Those concepts are more graspable; but, like the vocabulary of cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychological terminology can confine the individual to a life of diagnostic contentment rather than supporting a more expansive sense of attainment.

I reaffirm my contention that the true aim of life is self-expression. And we possess tools—including mind causation—that can help us in that effort. Such prospects are not to everyone’s spiritual and ethical tastes, but they do not require a break with philosophical sobriety.

* See, for example, a meta-analysis of psychical research data that appeared in the flagship journal of the American Psychological Association: “The Experimental Evidence for Parapsychological Phenomena: A Review” by Etzel Cardeña, American Psychologist 73, no. 5 (2018): 663–77. 


A PEN Award‒winning historian, Mitch Horowitz is the author of books including Occult America, The Miracle Club, Daydream Believer, and Uncertain Places. Mitch is a writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library. His books have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Spanish. His work is censored in China. Mitch is a member of the Theosophical Society in America. He is on Twitter @MitchHorowitz and on Instagram @MitchHorowitz23.

This article is adapted from a chapter in Daydream Believer: Unlocking the Ultimate Power of Your Mind, published by G&D Media, July 2022.


From the Editor's Desk Fall 2022

Printed in the  Fall 2022 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Smoley, Richard,  "From the Editor's Desk" Quest 110:4, pg 2

Richard SmoleyIt’s natural to associate the idea of other worlds with life on faraway planets as well as the subtle levels of reality described by the esoteric traditions.

Lately, though, my thoughts have been going toward the other worlds that may have existed on this planet. I’ve just finished a fascinating new book by Carole Nervig entitled The Petroglyphs of Mu: Pohnpei, Nan Madol, and the Legacy of Lemuria.

Nervig started out as a Peace Corps volunteer on Pohnpei in the late sixties. Pohnpei (in case the name isn’t instantly familiar to you) is one of the islands of Micronesia in the South Pacific, 1,339 miles northeast of New Guinea.

Pohnpei has some sites featuring ancient megaliths and petroglyphs (as usual, made when and by whom is unknown). One site, Nan Madol, on the east coast, is well-known to archaeologists. Nervig, who has traveled to Pohnpei intermittently since her Peace Corps days, has delved into ones that aren’t as well documented.

At one point, Nervig was told in a dream to climb Takaieu Peak in the center of the island. Although it’s only 164 feet high, a journey there has a number of impediments, notably mud. Nervig says that the interior of the island gets an unbelievable 400 inches of rain a year.

Nervig was told to climb it alone, but in the end a local family sent their two sons along with her as guides. Alone with them in the wild, she grew uncomfortable with their sexual banter, which is common among Pohnpeians, but only adults.

She had thought they were between eight and twelve, so she was led to ask how old they were. Eighteen and twenty-six, as it turned out. “Are you guys some of the aramas tiktik (little people or pygmies) of the legends?” she asked.  Yes, they were. “This was flesh-and-blood proof that oral history must be taken seriously” (emphasis Nervig’s).

The story proceeds in more detail, and Nervig produces many illustrations showing the petroglyphs and their similarity to similar carvings from far-flung locations.

Similarly, James Churchward’s books on Mu in the 1930s argued that this commonality of symbols points toward the existence of a lost continent in the South Pacific called Mu. By this view, Mu was home to an advanced civilization. It was submerged in a cataclysm, but outposts of its civilization can be found everywhere from Taiwan to Mesoamerica and points beyond. Churchward discussed this theme in a number of books, including The Lost Continent of Mu, The Children of Mu, and The Sacred Symbols of Mu.

If you want something more scientifically grounded, you can look up Zealandia online. Some geographers class it as a continent, though a submerged one: 94 percent of it is under water. The part that isn’t includes the two main islands of New Zealand (hence the name) and New Caledonia. On average, it’s about 3,500 feet below sea level.

It seems possible that Zealandia was above water recently enough to house an advanced civilization whose remnants were disseminated after the continent sank in prehistoric times (although Churchward considers Zealandia to have been only a colony of a much larger Mu).

How would Mu relate to the Lemuria known from the Theosophical literature? A map of Mu was commissioned by King Kalakaua of Kauai in 1886. It is reprinted in the book, and it shows Mu extending from the southwest coast of Alaska all the way to Africa. Thus Mu and Lemuria would have been part of the same megacontinent. But it may make more sense to think of them separately. Lemuria has traditionally been placed in the Indian Ocean, and there is a great deal of lore about it, particularly among the Tamils. If you want to delve into this subject, I recommend The Lost Land of Lemuria by Sumathi Ramaswamy.

Then we have to consider the relation of these civilizations to other worlds in the interstellar sense, since many tribes contend that their ancestors came from star systems such as the Pleiades.

 My reaction to this information is complex. In the first place, like many such books, Nervig’s contains such a welter of details and ideas that it’s hard to sort through them. I come away from this work overloaded and unsure of quite what to do with it all. At the same time, I can’t avoid seeing some truth here. It is becoming increasingly evident that prehistory, even in comparatively recent times, differs greatly from conventional views.

It is not easy to relate these traditional ideas to archaeological discoveries. As Nervig writes, “Due to a contemporary cultural/intellectual bias, these oral accounts as input for analyzing incomprehensible archaeological or sacred sites are systematically ignored, discounted, and ridiculed by academia.”

A veil of silence separates history—what we know since written records start, around 3000 BC—from prehistory. This veil partly consists of what we think we know about these subjects versus the actual truth.

Possibly as the generations turn over in such fields as archaeology and archaeoastronomy, some of this veil will begin to lift.

Richard Smoley


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