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Sexual Practices of the Druids: A Handbook of Magic and Ritual
by Jon G. HughesA step-by-step guide to the ancient tradition of sex magic as practiced by generations of Celtic Druids • Details a wide range of sex magic rituals that may be used by couples, groups, and solitary practitioners • Explains how to channel, intensify, and project your sexual energy for magical purposes • Provides instructions for crafting the necessary ritual tools, including wands, chalices, cauldrons, and attire, and for brewing the potions that accompany these rites One of the Druid’s most powerful tools, sex magic harnesses and projects the immense natural energy produced by orgasm to liberate your consciousness from everyday awareness and influence reality at will. With more than 50 years in the Druidic tradition, Jon Hughes reveals the fundamentals of Celtic sex magic passed down secretly from generation to generation. He explains how to channel, intensify, and project your sexual energy for magical purposes and offers authentic instructions for a wide range of sex magic rituals that may be used by couples, groups, and solitary practitioners. In addition to the steps of preparation and closure for each ritual, he describes the workings of the 9 stages of the sex magic ritual--Awakening, Augmentation, Intensification, Quickening, Orgasm and Projection, Continuance, Relaxation, Scattering, and Gift. Hughes provides detailed instructions for crafting and consecrating the necessary ritual tools, including wands, chalices, and cauldrons, and for brewing the potions that accompany these rites. He also explores the power of emotion and intention in these sacred rituals, providing a complete guide to this ancient path of empowerment and magic.
The Sexual Reformation: Restoring the Dignity and Personhood of Man and Woman
by Aimee ByrdSince the Reformation, Protestants have confessed that the church is reformed and always reforming. But do we really believe this? Why, then, are we so shocked to hear that the church itself needs a sexual reformation? That the church has been fighting to uphold biblical distinction between the sexes against a culture that is rapidly and aggressively challenging this, is certainly one reason. But in trying to be faithful to the beauty of God's design for man and woman, the church has instead latched onto a pagan, Aristotelian concept of man and woman--that woman is by nature inferior to man--which robs us of the dignity of personhood as man and woman created in the image of God.Much of the evangelical teaching on the sexes is based on cultural stereotypes and an unbiblical ontology of male authority and female subordination. While some try to correct this, they often flatten the meaningful distinctions in the feminine and masculine gift. We end up missing the beautiful message that our bodies, and our whole selves as men and women, tell: the story of the great joy in which Christ received his gift of his bride, the church. Having taken on flesh, he is bringing her to the holy of holies, ushering her behind the veil, and securing communion with his bridal people in sacred space. He gave himself as the ultimate Gift and he loves us to the end. We see this highlighted in the book placed right in the middle of our Bibles. The Song of Songs enfleshes our hope as it poetically sings the metanarrative of Scripture.In this book, Aimee Byrd invites you to enter into the Song's treasures as its lyrics reveal a typology in God's design of man and woman, one that unfolds throughout the canon of Scripture. The meaning of man and woman extends beyond biology, nature, and culture to give us a glimpse of what is to come. Our bodies are theological. They are visible signs that tell us something about our God. This often-ignored biblical book has much to teach us about Christ, his church, man, and woman. It teaches us the whole point of it all. And what it teaches us is not a list of roles and hierarchy, but a love song. We are ripe for a sexual reformation in the church, and recovering a good theological anthropology is imperative to it. We desperately need to peel away the Aristotelian mindset of man and woman that still pervades much of the teaching on gender and sexuality in the church today.?The Holy Spirit is speaking to us in his Word to bring about a sexual reformation. He invites us to sing an eschatological song. In doing so, we find ourselves in it. We participate in it. We find beauty in it. We persevere by it. It changes us.
Sexual Science: The Victorian Construction of Womanhood
by Cynthia RussettOne scarcely knows whether to laugh or cry. The spectacle presented, in Cynthia Russett's splendid book, of nineteenth-century white male scientists and thinkers earnestly trying to prove women inferior to men--thereby providing, along with "savages" and "idiots," an evolutionary buffer between men and animals--is by turns appalling, amusing, and saddening. Surveying the work of real scientists as well as the products of more dubious minds, Russett has produced a learned yet immensely enjoyable chapter in the annals of human folly. At the turn of the century science was successfully challenging the social authority of religion; scientists wielded a power no other group commanded. Unfortunately, as Russett demonstrates, in Victorian sexual science, empiricism tangled with prior belief, and scientists' delineation of the mental and physical differences between men and women was directed to show how and why women were inferior to men. These men were not necessarily misogynists. This was an unsettling time, when the social order was threatened by wars, fierce economic competition, racial and industrial conflict, and the failure of society to ameliorate poverty, vice, crime, illnesses. Just when men needed the psychic lift an adoring dependent woman could give, she was demanding the vote, higher education, and the opportunity to become a wage earner! No other work has treated this provocative topic so completely, nor have the various scientific theories used to marshal evidence of women's inferiority been so thoroughly delineated and debunked. Erudite enough for scholars in the history of science, intellectual history, and the history of women, this book with its stylish presentation will also attract a large nonspecialist audience.
Sexual Virtue: An Approach to Contemporary Christian Ethics
by Richard W. McCartyRichard W. McCarty offers a compassionate and inclusive conception of sexual virtue, one that liberates Christians from traditional patriarchal requirements for heterosexuality, marriage, and procreation. Daring to depart from ongoing debates about what Aristotle or Aquinas had to say, this book sets a new course centered on virtue ethics. It employs new insights from the sciences, biblical scholarship, analyses of church traditions, and revisionist natural law thinking. Eschewing simple deconstruction of traditional Christian norms for sexual morality, McCarty offers constructive ideas about what might count as real human goods for people in a wide variety of sexual relationships. Recreation, relational intimacy, and selective acts of procreation are three ends of sexual virtue that promote human happiness and can be appreciated in a broad Christian framework. While primarily referencing the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition, McCarty's work is also vital and accessible to those from Protestant backgrounds. Addressed to LGBT and straight readers, Sexual Virtue provides a compassionate sexual ethics for our time.
Sexuality: God's Gift
by Anne HershbergerBig business makes big money selling a phony notion of what we want and need as sexual people. Ads insist that certain products will make us more sexually appealing. But what we really want and need is true intimacy—the knowledge that we matter to another person and are loved for who we are. We all are sexual beings, all of our lives, and relate to each other sexually all the time. God marvelously made us this way. Using the metaphor of sexuality as a good gift from God, this book offers Christian resources for living a sexually healthy and fulfilling life.
Sexuality And The Black Church: A Womanist Perspective
by Kelly Brown DouglasThis book tackles the "taboo" subject of sexuality that has long been avoided by the Black church and community. Douglas argues that this view of Black sexuality has interfered with constructive responses to the AIDS crisis and teenage pregnancies, fostered intolerance of sexual diversity, frustrated healthy male/female relationships, and rendered Black and womanist theologians silent on sexual issues.
Sexuality and New Religious Movements
by Edited by Henrik Bogdan James R. LewisIssues relating to sexuality, eroticism and gender are often connected to religious beliefs and practices, but also to prejudices against and fear of religious groups that adopt alternative approaches to sexuality. This is especially apparent in connection with new religious movements, which many times find themselves accused by the media and anti-cultists of promoting illicit and controversial views on sexuality. This anthology aims to critically investigate the role of sexuality in a number of new religious movements, including Mormon fundamentalist communities, the Branch Davidians, the Osho movement, the Ra#65533;l movement, contemporary Wicca and Satanism, in addition to the teachings of Adidam and Gurdjieff on sexuality.
Sexuality and Sex Therapy: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal (Christian Association for Psychological Studies Books)
by Mark A. Yarhouse Erica S. TanSexuality and Sex Therapy
Sexuality And Sex Therapy: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal (Christian Association For Psychological Studies)
by Mark Yarhouse Erica TanThe field of human sexuality is one of ever-increasing complexity, particularly for Christian therapists and psychologists seeking to be faithful to Scripture, informed by science and sensitive to culture. In Sexuality and Sex Therapy, Mark Yarhouse and Erica Tan offer a survey and appraisal of this field from a Christian perspective, which grounds sex therapy in the biblical affirmation of physicality and the redemptive purposes of human life. Integrating the latest research within a Christian worldview, the authors explore sexual dysfunctions as well as various clinical issues and treatments. Not only have Yarhouse and Tan written a standard resource for Christian therapists and counselors, but they also challenge the church to talk more honestly and openly about the blessing of human sexuality.
Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection
by James B. Nelson Sandra P. LongfellowThis volume is rooted in two convictions: (1) sexuality is far more comprehensive and more fundamental to our existence than simply genital sex and (2) sexuality is intended by God to be neither incidental nor detrimental to our spirituality but a fully integrated and basic dimension of that spirituality. The articles address what our sexual experience reveals about God, the way we understand the gospel, and the ways we read Scripture and tradition and attempt to live faithfully.
Sexuality and the World's Religions
by David Machacek Melissa Wilcox Frank Korom<p>What do the world's most important religious texts have to say about one of humanity's favorite activities? Editors David W. Machacek and Melissa M. Wilcox have brought together top scholars in the field of religious studies to ask and answer these critical questions. Carefully researched, elegantly written, and respectfully presented, Sexuality and the World's Religions explores the intersection of the spiritual and the carnal in Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and African and Native American spiritual traditions. <p>A separate section explores critical religious and sexual topics in American society, including the role of spirituality in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities; the role of sex in the modern witchcraft community; and the ever thorny problem of religion and sexual liberty. Reconciling sexuality and spirituality in every human soul is one of religion's most important tasks. Students and other readers will find this timely and comprehensive volume of interest in exploring these issues.</p>
Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism
by José Ignacio CabezónA prolific scholar surveys classical Buddhism’s approach to sex, gender, and sexual orientation in this landmark volume.More than twenty-five years in the making, this detailed sourcebook on Buddhist understandings of sexuality, desire, ethics, and deviance in classical South Asia is filled with both engaging translations and original and provocative analysis. Jose Cabezon, the XIVth Dalai Lama Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, marshals an incredible array of scriptures, legal and medical texts, and philosophical treatises, explaining the subtleties of this ancient literature in lucid prose. This work will be of immense interest not only to scholars of Buddhism and gender studies but also to lay readers who want to learn more about traditional Buddhist attitudes toward sex.
Sexuality in Islam (Routledge Library Editions: Islam #20)
by Abdelwahab BouhdibaBeginning with the Qur’an, Abdelwahab Bouhdiba confronts the question of male supremacy in Islam, and the strict separation of the masculine and the feminine. He gives an account of purification practices, of Islamic attitudes towards homosexuality, concubinage, legal marriage and of the sexual taboos laid down by the Qur’an. He assesses present-day sexual practice, including eroticism, misogyny and mysticism and concludes that the sexual alienation – and even oppression – of modern Muslim women is the result not of the Islamic vision of sexuality, but of social and economic pressures.
Sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud
by Yishai KielWithin this close textual analysis of the Babylonian Talmud, Yishai Kiel explores rabbinic discussions of sex in light of cultural assumptions and dispositions that pervaded the cultures of late antiquity and particularly the Iranian world. By negotiating the Iranian context of the rabbinic discussion alongside the Christian backdrop, this groundbreaking volume presents a balanced and nuanced portrayal of the rabbinic discourse on sexuality and situates rabbinic discussions of sex more broadly at the crossroads of late antique cultures. The study is divided into two thematic sections: the first centers on the broader aspects of rabbinic discourse on sexuality while the second hones in on rabbinic discussions of sexual prohibitions and the classification of permissible and prohibited partnerships, with particular attention to rabbinic discussions of incest. Essential reading for scholars and graduate students of Judaic studies, early Christianity, and Iranian studies, as well as those interested in religious studies and comparative religion.
Sexuality, Magic & Perversion
by Francis KingSexuality, Magic & Perversion by Francis King is a controversial, revelatory, highly recommended volume of original research that investigates sexuality in religions and traditions all over the globe, from fertility cults and tantricism to Islamic mysticism and Crowleyan sex magick. A tantalizing study of the mystical aspect of sex, heavily researched.
The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion: Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
by Leo SteinbergOriginally published in 1983, Leo Steinberg's classic work has changed the viewing habits of a generation. After centuries of repression and censorship, the sexual component in thousands of revered icons of Christ is restored to visibility. Steinberg's evidence resides in the imagery of the overtly sexed Christ, in Infancy and again after death. Steinberg argues that the artists regarded the deliberate exposure of Christ's genitalia as an affirmation of kinship with the human condition. Christ's lifelong virginity, understood as potency under check, and the first offer of blood in the circumcision, both required acknowledgment of the genital organ. More than exercises in realism, these unabashed images underscore the crucial theological import of the Incarnation. This revised and greatly expanded edition not only adduces new visual evidence, but deepens the theological argument and engages the controversy aroused by the book's first publication. "
Sexuality, Sociality, and Cosmology in Medieval Literary Texts
by Jennifer N. Brown Marla SegolThis edited volume contains nine articles exploring medieval sexuality and its relation to cosmological and social ordering. All of our authors analyze literary texts, both religious and secular, using a variety of critical methodologies. These include discourse theory, psychoanalytic criticism, queer theory, masculinity studies, and new historicist methodologies, among others. However, we all begin with the notion that medieval sexuality is distinct from our own conceptions of it, and that the one of the most important factors in considering its difference is its conceptualization in terms of social and cosmological ordering. Medieval people ordered their communities differently than contemporary people do, and they conceptualized their relationship to them based on different cosmological models that the ones we currently use. As a result, they thought of sexuality differently as well. This volume explores the relation between sexuality, social taxonomies, and cosmology in medieval religious and secular literature, as well as the various contemporary methodologies available for conceptualizing this. Its theoretical importance lies in this dual focus, which will render the collection useful to a wide audience of students and teachers of medieval literature, religion and history, as well as to those interested in the history of sexuality generally. "
Sexualtechnische Konsumobjekte und Metamorphosen moderner Sexualitäten: Praktiken, Beziehungsformen, Identitäten, Sozialverhältnisse
by Tino Heim Dominik SchrageDer Sammelband gibt aus den Perspektiven unterschiedlicher Disziplinen und Theorieansätze einerseits Einblicke in grundsätzliche epistemologische und gesellschaftsstrukturelle Kontexte, Bezugsprobleme und Konfliktfelder geben, die für die Konstitution und den Wandel moderner Sexualitäten prägend waren. Andererseits steht die spezifische Frage im Mittelpunkt, wie sexualtechnischen Artefakte und Konsumobjekte dabei neue Praktiken ermöglicht und angereizt haben, wie dies zur Veränderung von Wissensordnungen, Beziehungsformen und Weltverhältnisse beigetragen hat und in welche größeren gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhänge und Transformationsprozesse solch Verschiebungen eingebunden sind: Wie verändert der Gebrauch der Dinge das Körperwissen, die Praxisformen und die Einstellungen zur Sexualität? Mit welchen politisch-ökonomischen und soziokulturellen Regulationsbemühungen, Dynamiken und Kämpfen sind entsprechende materielle Kulturen des Sexuellen und ihr Wandel verwoben? Wo gehen die Expansionen und Liberalisierungen sexueller Möglichkeitsräume mit einer Ausweitung von Freiheitsgraden einher und wo konstituiert dies zugleich neue gesellschaftliche Zwänge?
The Sexy Little Book of Kama Sutra: Take Your Love to Erotic New Depths (Sexy Little Books)
by Dave Copeland Ron LouisA distinctly modern take on an ancient erotic classic. The most famous sex guide in history is also one of the oldest - the Kama Sutra. Translated many times over, this historic work has at its core instruction and advice that can guide couples to dizzying depths of sexual satisfaction. Unlike many of those translations, The Sexy Little Book of Kama Sutra touches lightly on philosophy, focusing instead on the pure principles and techniques of ultimate gratification. This hip and helpful little guide gives readers: Clear instructions on numerous positions with sexy photographs that encourage experimentation. Enticing information on the body's pleasure hot spots and erotic ways to make the most of them.
Seymour, the Formerly Fearful
by Eve B. FeldmanSeymour Goldfarb has a big problem. He's afraid of everything! He dreads roller coasters and the beach. He refuses to go to Camp Sportahama. He won't even learn to ride a bike. Quick thinking helps Seymour hide his fears from the world. But things change the summer his cousin Pessach comes to visit from Israel. Big, confident Pessach is strong and fearless. His idea of a good time is parachuting out of a plane, which he did as an Israeli paratrooper. And he demands that Seymour show him how Americans have fun! How will Seymour ever survive the summer?
Shī'ī Islam
by Najam HaiderDuring the formative period of Islam, in the first centuries after Muhammad's death, different ideas and beliefs abounded. During this period two particular intellectual traditions emerged, Sunnism and Shi'ism. Sunni Muslims endorsed the historical caliphate, while Shi'i Muslims, supporters of 'Ali, cousin of the Prophet and the fourth caliph, articulated their own distinctive doctrines. The Sunni-Shi'i schism is often framed as a dispute over the identity of the successor to Muhammad, whereas in reality, Sunni and Shi'i Muslims also differ on a number of seminal theological doctrines concerning the nature of God and legitimate political and religious authority. This book examines the development of Shi'i Islam through the lenses of belief, narrative, and memory. This book also covers, for the first time in English, a wide range of Shi'i communities from the demographically predominant Twelvers to the transnational Isma'ilis to the scholar-activist Zaydis. The portrait of Shi'ism that emerges is that of a distinctive and vibrant community of Muslims with a remarkable capacity for reinvention and adaptation, grounded in a unique theological interpretation of Islam.
Sh*t the Moon Said: A Story of Sex, Drugs, and Ayahuasca
by Gerard Powell"It was during my eighth or ninth plant medicine journey that I was finally getting a real sense of freedom. I was feeling so elated that I told the moon I had a special request. I explained that this life had been so full of pain for me that I didn't think I could do it all again. So I asked her if in my next life she could make sure that I found the plant medicine as soon as possible. Her reply floored me. She typed, ‘Gerry, that's a request about next time, but it's the same one you used last time.'" Plant medicine? The moon typing? It probably seems incomprehensible. Gerard Armond Powell was a rags-to-riches success story—a member of the 1 percent—but also an extremely unhappy person with multiple addictions. On a fast track to destroying every relationship that ever mattered to him and considering suicide, he was looking for a miracle, a way out. He found it in the form of plant medicine and a shaman who introduced him to the truth of his life, and laid the groundwork for a psycho-spiritual journey that would lead him to reconnect with his soul, heal his addictions, and, finally, achieve a lasting sense of peace and happiness. This experience changed Powell, and convinced him to share the universal truths he learned with as many people as he could, which he does at the acclaimed Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, and now with readers in Sh*t the Moon Said. This mesmerizing story gives readers a blueprint to chart their own course to happiness. The first step is to learn who they really are and the possibilities of what they can still become. Second, they have to achieve a reconnection with their souls. And third, they must heal their hearts. Sh*t the Moon Said provides us with an irreverent way of highlighting our shared unconscious wisdom and its life-changing potential. Powell's candid tale and unlikely journey will help inspire readers to know themselves better, and to find the path to their own greatest redemption.
Sh#t Your Ego Says: Strategies To Overthrow Your Ego And Become The Hero Of Your Story
by James McCrae"Don’t read this book," your Ego says."Your life could change. And that scares me."Sometimes our worst failures lead to our greatest transformation.In 2012, James McCrae left behind a comfortable life in Minnesota and a successful career in advertising to move to New York City and pursue his dreams of being a writer. Soon after he arrived, Hurricane Sandy ripped through the eastern seaboard. New York City was underwater, and James —jobless and running out of money —was suddenly homeless. Fleeing to the island of Culebra for refuge, James sat alone on Flamenco Beach while his greatest doubts and insecurities rose to the surface. What he discovered was his Ego —and it had a lot of sh#t to say.This story of adventure, redemption, and transformation reminds us that we all have two voices inside us: the Ego and the Higher Self. The Ego is our reactive, attached mind that tells us we’re victims of circumstance. The Higher Self is our source of intuition and imagination that reminds us we’re the creators of our reality. Sh#t Your Ego Says exposes the battle between these voices.With arresting honesty and candid, compelling prose, James takes you through practical strategies for overthrowing your Ego and reclaiming a life of creativity and freedom. Whether you’re looking to achieve meaningful career success, improve your relationships, or unlock your imagination, this book provides a no-nonsense roadmap to living with purpose.
Shabbat Sabotage
by Emma Carlson BerneWelcome to Camp Shalom, a Jewish sleepaway camp that offers adventure and friendship! But when mysterious events start occurring, the campers will need to use their brains and work together-with some occasional sneaking around-to figure out what's really going on.Maya can't deny that she's nervous on the first day at Camp Shalom. She's never been to sleepaway camp before, she doesn't like insects and heat, and worst of all, she's afraid of swimming after an upsetting experience back at home. Maya feels a lot better about Camp Shalom after meeting friendly Dani, but she's not so sure about bossy Yael. When someone steals the special items their cabin needs to lead Shabbat, Maya and Dani do some sleuthing. They're no closer to catching the thief when Dani discovers that she is being accused. Now Maya really has to find out who sabotaged Shabbat-or her best friend will be sent home from camp. Meanwhile, she still has to pass the camp swimming test or she won't be able to go on the sleepover to Snake Island. Maya has a busy summer ahead, but with Dani's help-and maybe even Yael's-she will find out that honesty and the support of her friends can solve almost every problem.
The Shack: THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
by Wm Paul YoungWith 20 million copies sold worldwide THE SHACK is an international bestseller that explores life's toughest questions through the gripping story of one man's struggle to find answers to his suffering.Mack's youngest daughter, Missy, was abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, still trapped in his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack. Against his better judgement Mack arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon. What he finds there will change his life forever.THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question, 'Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?' Mack's experiences when he faces up to his darkest nightmares will astound you, and perhaps transform you as much as it did him.This is the kind of book you'll want to tell everyone about. Millions have discovered it already - now it's your turn.This film tie-in edition includes a new ten-page note from the author on his reflections and experiences of seeing The Shack brought to life on film.