""Composition of a Soul's Journey through Poetry is...Sensuous and intimate, Hopeful, inspiring and aspiring Vulnerable, honest, real, relevant, relatable even therapeutic. An appreciation for G'd's grace to us through others. A unique perspective and a keen sense of the world Submission to G'd's power and an acceptance of life as it really is and most of all it invites the reader to Self- empowerment.
Essential teachings on nature and meaning of life, exploring the soul's experience from manifestation, through life on earth, and its return to the source of life.
For more than 20 years, I had been on a journey of personal and spiritual growth. I always knew that I am a spirit. With Ryan's death, and my desire to be close to him, simply knowing that I am a soul was no longer enough. One day, a question was stuck in my mind that would not go away. What if I live as a soul in the human clothes, rather than as a human who has a soul. That pondering set in motion a startling inversion of priority. Asking my soul that question with persistence and commitment catapulted me into a surprising journey that I could not have imagined just a few years ago. I received clear messages from Ryan and uncanny sources to write poems. I had never written a serious poem in my life. But my soul's whisper was unceasing. With a series of synchronicities and chance encounters, new friends became the angels in my poetry journey. The calling was unmistakable. I surrendered. My verses, together with the love from my friends and family, have healed me. My poetic musings clarified, distilled, deepened and ingrained the essence of past spiritual experiences onto my being. As I sculpted my poems, my poems were sculpturing me at the same time. Writing poetry has become a most joyous and uplifting spiritual practice for me. The soul's journey is one that discovers the true nature of the Divine and each soul is love itself. Peeling off all layers of reality, only awareness and love remain. My poems have healed and transformed me, by sharing them I hope they will heal and inspire others.
The renowned author of eight books and abbess of the online retreat center Abbey of the Arts, Christine Valters Paintner takes readers on a new kind of pilgrimage: an inner journey to discover the heart of God. Eight stages of the pilgrim's way--from hearing the call to coming home--are accompanied by scripture stories of great biblical journeys and the author's unique and creative practices of prayer, writing, and photography. As she did in The Artist's Rule and Eyes of the Heart, Christine Valters Paintner once again helps readers travel to the frontiers of their souls to discover the hidden presence of God. In The Soul of a Pilgrim, Paintner identifies eight stages of the pilgrim's way and shows how to follow these steps to make an intentional, transformative journey to the reader's inner "wild edges." Each phase of the exploration requires a distinct practice such as packing lightly, being uncomfortable, or embracing the unknown. Paintner shows how to cultivate attentiveness to the divine through deep listening, patience, and opening oneself to the gifts that arise in the midst of discomfort. Each of the eight chapters offers reflections on the themes, a scripture story, an invitation to the practice of lectio divina, and a creative exploration through photography and writing.
A Collection of Poems A Journey Through Life By: Cheryl Williams A Collection of Poems takes us through the power of the human mind, good or bad, and its impact on one’s direction and journey through life. With the help of music, writing, and positive thinking, author Cheryl Williams found hope and purpose in life. Life isn’t fair. It is unpredictable, bad things happen to good people, and we never know what tomorrow holds. Cheryl wants her readers to realize that even when faced with insurmountable, hopeless situations, even when life seems dark and uncertain, we should never let go of hope and appreciate the beauty and blessings that life has to offer, making the most of every day, loving, living, laughing, and learning. Seasons change, and there is always a rainbow after the storms of life.
"The Supplicationes variae is an extraordinary manuscript: an anthology of devotional texts and images, dated 1293 and made for use in Genoa, ending with a long series of full-page tinted drawings. This study uses the Supplicationes to explore the intersection of art and religion--not only the manuscript designer's theological premises but also the practical use of the book and its broader social and historical significance. In doing so, it provides a new perspective on Franciscans' impact on the visual arts in late medieval Italy, in particular Saint Bonaventure, whose concepts of humanity, prayer, and salvation inform text and image, style and iconography in the Supplicationes. The manuscript's artists faced the challenge of creating images that convey both complex ideas and vivid emotions; their use of models from Italy, northern Europe, and Byzantium creates a unique hybrid of eastern and western Christian cultures. Incorporating nearly 250 colour illustrations, A Soul's Journey illuminates and enlarges the scope of long-standing questions about the contributions of Byzantine art and Franciscan spirituality to cultural change preceding the Italian Renaissance."--
"This book dives into the case studies from Linda Backman's work as a regression hypnotherapist. Through numerous regression accounts, distinct details of what Linda calls "interplanetary souls" are defined, including characteristics, challenges, and life purpose on Earth"--
How do poets use language to render the transcendent, often dizzyingly inexpressible nature of the divine? In an age of secularism, does spirituality have a place in modern American poetry? In Thick and Dazzling Darkness, Peter O’Leary reads a diverse set of writers to argue for the existence and importance of religious poetry in twentieth- and twenty-first-century American literature. He traces a poetic genealogy that begins with Whitman and Dickinson and continues in the work of contemporary writers to illuminate an often obscured but still central spiritual impulse that has shaped the production and imagination of American poetry. O’Leary presents close and comprehensive readings of the modernist, late-modernist, and postmodern poets Robinson Jeffers, Frank Samperi, and Robert Duncan, as well as the contemporary poets Joseph Donahue, Geoffrey Hill, Fanny Howe, Nathaniel Mackey, Pam Rehm, and Lissa Wolsak. Examining how these poets drew on a variety of traditions, including Catholicism, Gnosticism, the Kabbalah, and mysticism, the book considers how modern and contemporary poets have articulated the spiritual in their work. O’Leary also argues that an anxiety of misunderstanding exists in the study and writing of poetry between secular and religious impulses and that the religious nature of poets’ works is too often marginalized or misunderstood. Examining the works of a specific poet in each chapter, O’Leary reveals their complexity and offers a defense of the value and meaning of religious poetry against the grain of a secular society.
📖 Author's Introduction: Navigating the Depths of the Mind Welcome to a journey that transcends the ordinary and ventures into the extraordinary landscape of the human experience. My journey as an author began in the shadows of depression and anxiety, where I unraveled the complexities of the human psyche. Through introspection and the transformative power of poetry, I found my way out of the labyrinth of my own mind, offering readers a unique path toward understanding and healing. Join me in "Anxiety and Depression: Poems from the Depths of the Soul" as we explore the profound interplay of emotions, confront darkness, and illuminate it with introspective verse, ultimately embarking on a journey of self-discovery and resilience. 📖 Author's Introduction: Unlocking the Depths of the Mind Imagine diving into the uncharted waters of the human psyche, exploring the hidden caverns of the soul, and deciphering the cryptic language of emotions. That's where my journey as an author truly began - not in the light, but in the shadowy depths of depression and anxiety. For years, I found myself entangled in the intricate web of these two formidable adversaries, trapped in a relentless struggle to understand the whispers of my own mind. It was a labyrinthine voyage, where darkness held hands with despair, and anxiety painted intricate mazes of doubt. But within this labyrinth, I discovered the power of introspection and the healing magic of words. I learned that the emotions that once seemed like turbulent storms could be transformed into poetry, each verse a lifeboat navigating the tumultuous sea of the soul. These poems became my lifeline, a way to navigate the treacherous waters of my own thoughts, and ultimately, a path toward the light. Through this book, "Anxiety and Depression: Poems from the Depths of the Soul," I invite you to join me on this unique journey. It's a journey that transcends the ordinary and ventures into the extraordinary landscape of the human experience. Together, we will explore the intricate interplay of emotions, confront the darkness within, and illuminate it with the poetic power of introspection. As you turn the pages, you'll discover not only the depths of my own struggles but also the resilience of the human spirit. It is my hope that these words will resonate with you, offer solace in your own moments of darkness, and inspire you to confront and conquer the emotional maelstrom within. 📕 What you will find in this book: 📕 🌌 Discover the Emotional Universe: As if traveling through a cosmos of feelings, you will explore the depths and heights of human emotions, uniquely revealing how complex the experience of anxiety and depression can be. 🐦 Verses Like Feathers of a Bird: Poems are like the feathers of a bird flying deep into the soul, enveloping you in the beauty and grace of words. Each verse will gently carry you through a range of emotions. 🎭 The Theater of Human Emotions: This book is a theater of human emotions, with dramatic acts of anxiety and depression, as well as moments of light and transformation. You will feel like you are on stage, experiencing every word. 🧭 Navigating the Rolling Waves of Healing: Words and verses will guide you through a tumultuous navigation of inner healing, offering you tools to find your balance and peace. 🕊️ Returning to Self: In the middle of the book, you will discover that poetry can be a means of returning to oneself, of rediscovering authenticity, and of deep connection with your own essence.
Elisabeth Tonnard's In This Dark Wood is a study of urban alienation in America. In a haunting, modern-gothic style, it pairs images of people walking alone in nighttime city streets with 90 different English translations, collected by Tonnard, of the famous first lines of Dante's Inferno: "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita / mi ritrovai per una selva oscura / ché la diritta via era smarrita." ("In the middle of the journey of our life / I found myself in a dark wood / for the straight way was lost"). The images were selected from the Joseph Selle collection at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, which contains over a million negatives from a company of street photographers who worked in San Francisco from the 1940s to the 70s. This edition is a reprint of a work originally self-published in 2008.
