The desire to soothe our souls has perhaps never been greater. This collection of lyrical meditations, prayers, contemplations, devotionals and psalms, can be the spiritual balm we desperately need right now. Enjoy 111 passages structured around nine metaphorical landscapes guiding the reader over emotional terrains on a journey toward peace and transcendence, while providing a sense of place to be mined for inner awareness. We can't help bring about much-needed change in the world if we aren't engaged in some form of self-healing. What is happening on the global stage is a reflection of what is transpiring within. Sacred Landscapes of the Soul gently assists in the process by helping us to find the wisdom, wit and wherewithal to embrace our challenges and celebrate our spiritual liberation. We are each meant to become a magnanimous and beneficial presence on the planet. When we consciously choose to align with the divine within, we tap into wellsprings of faith, hope, and connection. Together we heal the world--this comforting and encouraging message rings out from every page and will resonate with readers wherever they are on life's journey.
This substantially expanded edition of Belden C. Lane's Landscapes of the Sacred includes a new introductory chapter that offers three new interpretive models for understanding American sacred space. Lane maintains his approach of interspersing shorter and more personal pieces among full-length essays that explore how Native American, early French and Spanish, Puritan New England, and Catholic Worker traditions has each expressed the connection between spirituality and place. A new section at the end of the book includes three chapters that address methodological issues in the study of spirituality, the symbol-making process of religious experience, and the tension between place and placelessness in Christian spirituality.
Seasons of the Sacred weaves together poems, images, and stories of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, reconnecting us to our roots in the cycles of nature and our own soul. As our world appears more and more out of balance, our destruction of the natural world increasing, there is a vital need to remember what is essential, simple, and sacred. Likening Spring to falling in love, Summer with abundance and spiritual awakening, and Autumn with fruition and wisdom, this book continuously reflects the profound resonance of humanity within nature. Never more relevant than now, the chapter on Winter helps the reader remember what is most essential, showing how there is meaning and even peace amidst the most devastating losses, and how all life belongs to these deeper patterns of change. The book draws from such a variety of sources, such as Rumi, Hafiz, Lao Tzu, Rabia, Julian of Norwich, T.S. Eliot, and others. Each chapter opens with a unique woodcut or engraving image, further illustrating the beauty of our seasons. Vaughan-Lee adeptly connects the reader to the deepest envisioning of contemporary challenges. Climate catastrophe, refugees, cultural degradation, and political divisiveness are all contextualized within natural cycles of birth, loss, and transition, and the reader is guided to listen through the fear and anxiety of our age to the deeper ground of belonging that calls from even the most destitute inner and outer landscapes. Seasons of the Sacred is Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee’s fifth contribution to his spiritual ecology series, which places the human story within the story of the Earth and compels the examination of attitudes, beliefs, and habits in relation to the ongoing desecration, ecological devastation—and potential restoration—of our common home. “Vaughan-Lee encourages reconnecting with the Earth in this heartfelt compilation of essays, poems, and illustrations…. Suitable for readers of all spiritual persuasions, Vaughan-Lee’s soothing observations will inspire a more mindful contemplation of Earth’s rhythms.” —Publishers Weekly “Seasons of the Sacred is a beckoning down into the simple rhythms of nature. With his guiding eloquence, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee moves us into conversation with the sacred, calling our awareness to the concealed gifts of each season. Drawing on the ancient poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Julian of Norwich, Wordsworth, and others, we can’t help but fall into step with the numinous found in ordinary life.” —Toko-pa Turner, author of Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home
In this wide-ranging discussion, Robert Hamma draws upon scripture, psychology, and theology to lay out the framework for a spirituality of place. He explores what is involved in developing a 'sense of place' and reminds readers how the places of childhood become so important. After an exploration of the ancient Hebrews' tradition of 'the land' and Jesus' own sense of place, he leads readers to discover those places that have impacted them most, in particular home. Readers will find that they suddenly see with new eyes the places-past and present-that have shaped their spiritual journeys and recognize them as doorways to the sacred.
“What does it mean to see the American landscape in a secular way?” asks Nicolas Howe at the outset of this innovative, ambitious, and wide-ranging book. It’s a surprising question because of what it implies: we usually aren’t seeing American landscapes through a non-religious lens, but rather as inflected by complicated, little-examined concepts of the sacred. Fusing geography, legal scholarship, and religion in a potent analysis, Howe shows how seemingly routine questions about how to look at a sunrise or a plateau or how to assess what a mountain is both physically and ideologically, lead to complex arguments about the nature of religious experience and its implications for our lives as citizens. In American society—nominally secular but committed to permitting a diversity of religious beliefs and expressions—such questions become all the more fraught and can lead to difficult, often unsatisfying compromises regarding how to interpret and inhabit our public lands and spaces. A serious commitment to secularism, Howe shows, forces us to confront the profound challenges of true religious diversity in ways that often will have their ultimate expression in our built environment. This provocative exploration of some of the fundamental aspects of American life will help us see the land, law, and society anew.
Sacred Natural Sites are the world's oldest protected places. This book focuses on a wide spread of both iconic and lesser known examples such as sacred groves of the Western Ghats (India), Sagarmatha /Chomolongma (Mt Everest, Nepal, Tibet - and China), the Golden Mountains of Altai (Russia), Holy Island of Lindisfarne (UK) and the sacred lakes of the Niger Delta (Nigeria). The book illustrates that sacred natural sites, although often under threat, exist within and outside formally recognised protected areas, heritage sites. Sacred natural sites may well be some of the last strongholds for building resilient networks of connected landscapes. They also form important nodes for maintaining a dynamic socio-cultural fabric in the face of global change. The diverse authors bridge the gap between approaches to the conservation of cultural and biological diversity by taking into account cultural and spiritual values together with the socio-economic interests of the custodian communities and other relevant stakeholders.
A journey into the immortal nature of the Soul, the landscapes of Heaven, and the purpose behind your incarnation on Earth • Reveals the connection between the soul and the orders of Angels and provides a roadmap to the realms of Heaven and Hell • Explains the six stages of Soul Evolution and the Nine Orders of Angels • Describes the many dimensions between the highest celestial realms and the lower Astral plane and the Genesis Matrix, our angelic place of origin Your Soul is a divine light originating within the Angelic Orders of Heaven. The Tibetan Book of the Dead speaks about the seven Lokas, or dimensions, the Soul travels through after death, while the Egyptian Book of the Dead refers to the Soul becoming one with the ever-renewing phoenix. Yet what is the phoenix but a symbol of our own Angelic Twin who resides in the highest realms, the essence of our Soul? In this book, Tricia McCannon explains how to discover the angelic realms where the highest parts of yourself reside and become the catalyst for your own path of ascension. Exploring the Soul’s angelic origins, the Nine Orders of Angels, and the multi-dimensional landscapes of Heaven, McCannon takes you on the journey each Soul makes as it descends from the higher vibrational realms to arrive in the world of form. Drawing from the perennial wisdom of the Gnostics, Tibetans, Egyptians, Buddhists, Hindus, Hebrew mystics, and the ancient Mystery traditions, she looks at what our ancient ancestors have to say about the nature and history of the Soul. She reveals how, once embodied, the Soul loses its ability to vibrate with the highest celestial levels causing it to forget its purpose. She addresses how our illusion of separation from Divine Oneness arises, causing us to move away from the Light and become wrapped up in the Shadow of fear and suffering. She explains the six stages of Soul Evolution we must pass through to heal the wounds of separation, reawaken to higher vibrations, and remember our Soul’s purpose, the reason your Soul chose this incarnation. McCannon shares stories from those who have returned from the Otherside, tales of revelation, temples of learning, and crystal cities of light. Presenting the great Course Curriculum of the Soul, the lessons we must master to complete our missions on Earth, the author shows that by remembering our divine essence we can move beyond conflict and struggle to embrace the love and joy that reside eternally at the core of our being.
Painting the Landscape of Your Soul engages and reawakens your innate creativity as a path to self discovery. This book is a step-by-step journey of empowerment, reclaiming your inner self with paint and paper. It incorporates trusting your intuitive voice with deep, underlying principles of healing such as energy medicine and shamanism. It's a journey toward integration and wholeness and will bring a twinkle to your eyes again! No artistic skill is required."
