Category:
Ancient Civilizations
£17.99
Sekhmet and Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt is a detailed study of the history, mythology, symbolism and worship of the lion and cat goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Lesley Jackson traces the evolution of Sekhmet and Bastet within the context of ancient Egyptian religious rituals, beliefs and practices. Other feline deities, such as the goddesses Mehit, Menhyt, Mestjet. Pakhet (Pasht), Seret, Shesmetet and Tefnut, and gods such as Mahes, Ruty and Amun are also introduced, providing additional insights into the importance of feline divinities in Ancient Egyptian religious life.
Sekhmet is the Lady of Heaven, Mistress of the Two Lands, Mistress of the Gods and the Great One, as well as being the Eye of Ra and the Beloved of Ptah. In the famous story of the Destruction of Mankind, Sekhmet is tricked into drinking a vast quantity of beer to distract her from killing all humanity, which she was intent upon to avenge the Sun God Ra. Bastet was also initially a Lion Goddess who over time evolved into a Cat Goddess associated with the smaller, more docile, domestic cat. Her name translates as She of the Ointment Jar, represented with a hieroglyph of a sealed perfume jar. These goddesses were invoked in numerous aspects of ancient life, including for their fiercely protective nature and healing abilities, and their aid in divination, oracles, malicious magic and love spells.
In this thorough study, the author illustrates how feline symbolism and power permeated Ancient Egyptian life. Evidence demonstrating their importance is brought together from an extensive range of sources, including artefacts, tomb scenes, statues, funerary texts and amulets employed in guarding the body and tomb of the deceased. The names, epithets, iconography, characteristics, festivals and temples of Sekhmet and Bastet provide further insights, alongside information on the cultural, historical and symbolic worlds within which these powerful deities were worshipped.
£34.99
Bѳ and Bön: Ancient Shamanic Traditions of Siberia and Tibet in their Relation to the Teachings of a Central Asian Buddha.
Hailed as a fascinating and unique book, this is the first in-depth study of its kind comparing the ancient Bon religion with the Siberian shamanic tradition of Lake Baikal. Combining scholarly research with spiritual insight and with over 200 illustrations, maps and diagrams, the information is presented in a clear and lively way, enabling the reader to navigate easily through the various topics dealt with and to follow the threads of the intricate tapestry which is woven as the parallels between the ancient shamanic traditions of Tibet and Siberia unfold.
£14.99
Invoking Mnemosyne--Greek goddess of memory and eloquence, daughter of Heaven and Earth, mother of the Muses, and archetypal deity of the Asklepion dream temple tradition--this book initiates you into full dream consciousness, offering a lucid-dreaming ritual experience in the spirit of the Mystery Schools of antiquity. Explaining how a conscious dream life is essential for self-discovery, deep integration, and healing, lucid-dreaming instructor Sarah Janes presents exercises, techniques, and initiations to help you explore the inner depths of your psyche. These realms, accessible through dreams, can help you to form a better understanding of who you are.
Sharing her more than a decade of research on Sleep Temples and Mystery Schools of the Esoteric Tradition, Sarah explores the evolution of imagination, memory, and consciousness throughout the ages and proposes that dreams have been fundamental in the creation and development of culture. Dreams play an important role in ancestor worship, afterlife beliefs, animism, religion, and wisdom traditions. Sarah reveals how dreams offer us an opportunity to remember and directly experience our divinity, to transcend the limitations of our mortality and enter timeless, imaginal realms.
Employing the power of story to affect the mind and lay down new neural pathways--as if one were really living the story--Sarah begins each initiatory chapter with a psychodramatic narrative. Using symbolism and powerful imagery, these stories help you generate the perfect dreams for each stage in the initiation. And by becoming a better dreamer, you can make better, more aware decisions in your waking life.
£65.00
Myth would inform us that Dumuzid was merely the effete, hapless shepherd god who invoked the anger of his wife, Inanna, and became little more than a footnote in myth.
Erotic poetry; liturgical texts and hymns; magical formulae, however, indicate something greater. In such texts, we find that Dumuzid is more than a mere pastoral deity standing guard over the sheepfold. He appears as a king; high priest; warrior; captain of the host and commander of chariots; a god who stands at the gates of Heaven, possesses a throne upon the Earth, and is seated beside Ereškigal, the great queen of the Underworld.
Wholly informed by academic sources and personally applied praxis, The Red Shepherd: Towards a New Image of Dumuzid includes relevant myths and mythopoetic lacunae texts; transliterated liturgical compositions written by the author; ritual texts inspired by historical source material.
Through this book, Samuel David invites you to enter into the presence of the god of both the living and the dead whose name and power are the breath of life which quickens the child in the womb; the eroticism of the virile lover; the psychopomp who leads ghosts in his train; the intercessor who takes the burden sickness and disease from his supplicants.