Coming to the Edge of the Circle
Coming to the Edge of the Circle

Author: Nikki Bado

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2005-08-04

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0198037252

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Imagine yourself sitting on the cool damp earth, surrounded by deep night sky and fields full of fireflies, anticipating the ritual of initiation that you are about to undergo. Suddenly you hear the sounds of far-off singing and chanting, drums booming, rattles "snaking," voices raised in harmony. The casting of the Circle is complete. You are led to the edge of the Circle, where Death, your challenge, is waiting for you. With the passwords of "perfect love" and "perfect trust" you enter Death's realm. The Guardians of the four quarters purify you, and you are finally reborn into the Circle as a newly made Witch. Coming to the Edge of the Circle offers an ethnographic study of the initiation ritual practiced by one coven of Witches located in Ohio. As a High Priestess within the coven as well as a scholar of religion, Nikki Bado is in a unique position to contribute to our understanding of this ceremony and the tradition to which it belongs. Bado's analysis of this coven's initiation ceremony offers an important challenge to the commonly accepted model of "rites of passage." Rather than a single linear event, initiation is deeply embedded within a total process of becoming a Witch in practice and in community with others. Coming to the Edge of the Circle expands our concept of initiation while giving us insight into one coven's practice of Wicca. An important addition to Ritual Studies, it also introduces readers to the contemporary nature religion variously called Wicca, Witchcraft, the Old Religion, or the Craft.

Being a Pagan
Being a Pagan

Author: Ellen Evert Hopman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2001-11-01

Total Pages: 584

ISBN-13: 1594775907

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More than 60 pagan leaders and teachers describe in their own words what they believe and what they practice. • Addresses how Pagans view parenting, organized religion, and politics. • Introduces the wide range of possibilities within the neo-Pagan movement. • By Ellen Evert Hopman, author of A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year; Walking the World in Wonder: A Children's Herbal; and Tree Medicine, Tree Magic. Who are the pagans and what do they stand for? Why would some of the members of the best educated, most materially comfortable generation of Americans look back to mystical traditions many millennia old? During the last few decades, millions of people have embraced ancient philosophies that honor Earth and the spiritual power of each individual. Ways of worship from sources as diverse as the pre-Christian Celts, ancient Egypt, and Native American traditions are currently helping their followers find meaning in life while living in the Information Age. In this book Pagan leaders and teachers describe in their own words what they believe and what they practice. From Margot Adler, an NPR reporter and author of Drawing Down the Moon, to Isaac Bonewits, ArchDruid and founder of a modern neo-Druidic organization, those interviewed in this book express the rich diversity of modern Paganism. Hopman's insightful questions draw on her own experiences as a Pagan and Druid as well as on her extensive research. With coauthor Lawrence Bond, she examines how Pagans address such issues as parenting, organized religion, and politics. The resulting dialogues illuminate the modern Pagan revival.

Circle's End
Circle's End

Author: Delwyn McPhun

Publisher: Circle's End

Published: 2010-05

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 2953670106

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Crop circles: Hundreds of these strange patterns appear in our fields each year, their vast beauty inspiring awe and wonder. A sudden increase in their number throws Matt Lancing, maths student and amateur symbologist, into a world of intrigue. What is creating them? What is their message? Matt deciphers crop circles for a secret military group led by the mysterious Ember, a determined redhead with strange spiritual beliefs. Uncovering what makes the circles is just the beginning of his journey to a terrifying discovery. Warning: This well documented enigma will question your deepest illusions.

Come to the Edge
Come to the Edge

Author: Jim Killen

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2013-03-08

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1475977964

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Jim Killen has lived a long and deeply meaningful life. When he learned that he was suffering from a terminal illness, he decided to gather up the insights and experiences he most wanted to share with those whom he loved and put them together into a series of short reflections on religion and life. The reflections gathered themselves into five groups: Reflections on the shape of reality, Reflections on learning to love, Reflections on the things God does to save us, Reflections on finding the way into a personal relationship with God, Reflections on some other really big questions.Jim invites you to let him share his reflections with you. He hopes that they will lead you into an adventure in faith.

The Circle
The Circle

Author: Dave Eggers

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2013-10-08

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 0385351402

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INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A bestselling dystopian novel that tackles surveillance, privacy and the frightening intrusions of technology in our lives—a “compulsively readable parable for the 21st century” (Vanity Fair). When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

A Tangle Of Magicks: An Improper Adventure 2
A Tangle Of Magicks: An Improper Adventure 2

Author: Stephanie Burgis

Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction Ltd.

Published: 2011-08-01

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1848774818

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Regency England's feistiest twelve-year-old is back! When Kat Stephenson's family arrive in Bath in search of a suitor for her sister, it's not long before Kat discovers that the town is fizzing with wild magic. Stumbling upon a plot to harness the magic in the Roman Baths, Kat finds that her brother has unwittingly become involved. To foil the plot and save her brother she must defy the Order of the Guardians and risk losing her magical powers, forever . . .

Mystical Stitches
Mystical Stitches

Author: Christi Johnson

Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC

Published: 2021-06-22

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1635863341

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Explore personal transformation through the stitching of dreams and intentions. Anything but ordinary, Mystical Stitches combines the beloved and accessible craft of embroidery with a spiritual element, introducing a rich treasury of 200 magical symbols you can use to set an intention and create personal icons to wear or embellish items in the home. Christi Johnson offers unique patterns inspired by botanicals, animals, numbers, the cosmos, earth elements, zodiac signs, and mythical beasts, for novice or well-practiced crafters to combine into talismans with personal meaning. Johnson’s folk art style is vibrant and unintimidating and provides a framework for bringing spiritual elements into physical form.

Outfection
Outfection

Author: Craig Stucko

Publisher: Balboa Press

Published: 2020-04-06

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 1982244003

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The world’s most powerful syndicates are hunting down a man only known as The Ghost. As they do their best to find him, the elusive Ghost takes on a more active role in changing the world and bringing life back to those lacking hope. John Thimes is harboring a family secret that is allowing him to defy the odds and allude capture while pulling people back from the brink. As he takes the battle to those who will do anything to maintain their empires, John journeys throughout the United States and eventually falls in love with the beautiful Emily Bronson while scaling mountain peaks, exploring caverns of ancient cultures and surviving perilous car chases through city streets. Nowhere is safe. While the FBI watches John, only time will tell if they will help or hinder his important mission to rescue humanity, before it is too late. In this action-packed tale, powers beyond comprehension bring together a man and woman who fall in love and then risk everything to save those who cannot be saved.

Close to the Edge
Close to the Edge

Author: Randal Files

Publisher: PublishAmerica

Published: 2004-03

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9781413718553

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Wendell Sanger burns for the touch of young skin and the feel of young girls. He stalks his prey with the methodical organization that he uses in his business. He feels neither shame nor remorse, and he feels no satisfaction except for that brief moment when he is gorging himself on his victim. Ernest Caldwell is the police chief of Mossberg, Arkansas. His only companions are his bottle of Jack Daniels and his deputy. The townspeople see him as a lecherous boor of a man with no morals or ability, but he does work cheap and there is little crime in Mossberg. Wendell walks so close to the edge of sanity that he passes unnoticed. Ernest walks so close to the edge of corruption that he has no credibility. The murder of Kelly Settle will change both menas lives forever as one manas obsession becomes the other manas redemption.