Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley

Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley

by Lawrence Sutin

Aleister Crowley was a blustery coward, an arrogant, misogynistic racist with fascist leanings, and a callous user, as often threatened by his sexuality as he claimed to be liberated by it. But he was also a groundbreaking poet and an iconoclastic visionary whose literary and cultural legacies extend far beyond the limits of his reputation. This controversial individual, a frightening mixture of egomania and... (more)

Aryan Christ:, The: The Secret Life of Carl Jung

Aryan Christ:, The: The Secret Life of Carl Jung

by Richard Noll

Carl Gustav Jung, along with Sigmund Freud, stands as one of the two most famous and influential figures of the modern age. His ideas have shaped our perception of the world; his theories of myths and archetypes and his notion of the collective unconscious have become part of popular culture. Now, in this controversial and impeccably researched biography, Richard Noll reveals Jung as the all-too-human man he... (more)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda

by Amy Wallace

S orcerer’s Apprentice opens with Amy Wallace’s first meeting with Carlos Castaneda, the infamous anthropologist-turned-shaman, whose books described meetings with Yaqui Indian spiritual teacher don Juan. Castaneda’s rise was meteoric in the late 1960s as he wrote massive bestsellers, inspired many to experiment with psychedelics, and was dubbed “the Godfather of the New Age.” The possibility that Castaneda’s... (more)

Castaneda's Journey: The Power and the Allegory

Castaneda's Journey: The Power and the Allegory

by Richard De Mille

Carlos Castaneda was a brilliant scholar but legitimacy bored him. At UCLE he got a Ph.D. in anthropology by turning the latest social science theories into controversies with a mushroom-smoking hermit and feeding them back to his professors as an ancient Indian wisdom. ”Careful, balanced, and scholarly … definitive work.” —Weston La Barre, Journal of Psychological Anthropology “Should satisfy anyone still... (more)

Seven Years in Tibet

by Heinrich Harrer

This real-life adventure is the story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian who, during World War II, escaped from a British internment camp in India and walked across the Himalayas. Harrer eventually arrived in Tibet, where he spent seven years with the Dalai Lama. This fascinating audiobook coincides with the release of the feature film starring Brad Pitt. October publication date. 2 cassettes.

Van Gogh and God: A Creative Spiritual Quest (Campion Book)

Van Gogh and God: A Creative Spiritual Quest (Campion Book)

by Cliff Edwards

Art was Vincent Van Gogh's road to personal salvation, a direction he took only after abandoning his career as lay Methodist minister in England and evangelist preacher in the Belgian mines, maintains the author. In this specialized, philosophically arguable, illustrated study, Edwards ( Christian Being and Doing ) broadly interpets Van Gogh's paintings as a moral-religious drama, claiming the tormented artist... (more)

The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge (Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions)

The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge (Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions)

by K. Paul Johnson

Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work

Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work

by Gary Lachman

The first truly popular biography of the influential twentieth-century mystic and educator who-while widely known for founding the Waldorf schools and other educational and humanitarian movements-remains a mystery to many who benefit from his ideas. People everywhere have heard of Waldorf schools, Biodynamic farming, Camphill Villages, and other innovations of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner... (more)

Spirit of Shaolin

by David Carradine

A well-known martial arts expert describes the philosophy behind Kung Fu, discussing the ancient wisdom of the Chinese masters, the principles of Shaolin thought, and the inner meaning of martial arts. Reprint.

Lucifer's Court: A Heretic's Journey in Search of the Light Bringers

Lucifer's Court: A Heretic's Journey in Search of the Light Bringers

by Otto Rahn

Rahn’s personal diary from his travels as occult investigator for the Third Reich • First English translation of the author’s journeys in search of a Nordic equivalent to Mt. Sinai • Explains why Lucifer the Light Bringer, god of the heretics, is a positive figure Otto Rahn’s lifelong search for the Grail brought him to the attention of the SS leader Himmler, who shared his esoteric interests. Induced by... (more)

H. P. B.: The Extraordinary Life & Influence of Helena BlavastskySylvia Cranston

H. P. B.: The Extraordinary Life & Influence of Helena Blavastsky

by Sylvia Cranston

Crossing Borders

by Michael Ferris

Cultural misunderstandings, crazy and dangerous situations, inter-cultural friendships, love and disappointment and the excitement of exploring. "Crossing Borders" tells the story of living and becoming an adult in a foreign country away from friends and family. This narrative is not a simple travel log of pondering curiosities, it unites the weirdest, most interesting and funniest experiences from twelve years... (more)

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton : The Secret Agent Who Made the Pilgrimage to Mecca, Discovered the Kama Sutra and Brought the Arabian Nights to t

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton : The Secret Agent Who Made the Pilgrimage to Mecca, Discovered the Kama Sutra and Brought the Arabian Nights to t

by Edward Rice

Describes the life of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, who explored India, the Near East, and Africa, went to Mecca, discovered the Kama Sutra, and introduced the Arabian Nights to the West. Reprint.

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Tags: biography/memoirs