Richard Smoley

Often, life can seem to be a serious business. We could also look at it is as a game--or a series of games. They include Survival Love Power Pleasure Courage CreativityThe culmination is the Master Game, which one plays to gain not things or esteem, but knowledge, and to surpass one's limits as a human. Everyone plays these games, whether they want to or not. Mastering them makes the difference between a rich and successful life and one of disappointment and failure. In this brief, bracing, but insightful book, Richard Smoley will give a lively but profound account of these games. He talks about the ways we usually play them the mistakes we often make and how we can play them to the benefit of ourselves and othersRichard Smoley is the author of thirteen books including G&D Media's Introduction to the Occult. Now he interweaves ideas from great thinkers such as Epicurus, Hobbes, Freud, Machiavelli, and Tolstoy with his own dry and irreverent wisdom, gleaned from forty years of spiritual study and practice (and real-world experience), to show how to live happily, successfully, and meaningfully.

From ancient sages, spiritual teachers such as the Buddha, philosophers including Plato and Seneca to modern-day quantum physicists, life-long student of religions and spiritual traditions, philosophy and quantum physics, Clare Goldsberry, walks us through the mystery of death and dying, as well as the questions of the meaning and purpose of life. With her insights as a Buddhist practitioner and teacher, student of Hinduism, as well as the journey of the cancer diagnosis of her significant other and his death, she provides a unique view into living and dying as seen through the ages from those who've sought answers into this most mysterious of experiences--this thing we call death.

Magic, the occult, the mystical--is there anything behind those words apart from horror-movie clich s? People the world over have always known and interacted with these hid¬den forces. But today there are very few ways to sort out truth from nonsense. In this book, Richard Smoley, an expert on the occult, delves into mind power, magic, suggestion, and the realms of the unseen. He speaks simply and clearly, in common-sense terms, about these mysterious forces, how they can work for you, and what you need to avoid. This trip through unseen worlds could be the most exciting adventure of your life as you learn about: Life after Death Evil Witchcraft and Satanism Atlantis and Lost Civilizations The Last Judgment The Kingdom of God Healing Reincarnation The Brotherhood Psychedelics and SpiritualityRichard Smoley is editor of Quest: Journal of the Theosophi¬cal Society and former editor of Gnosis: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions. He has published eleven books, including For¬bidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism; Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Traditions; and Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History. He has spent more than forty-five years studying the world's mystical traditions.

Long regarded as one of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century, this beautiful edition of The Great Gatsby which includes an Introducion and Afterword by Richard Smoley, is the original text which expresses many of the central themes of the American myth: romance, love, the quest for wealth and status, loneliness, and corruption.

Long regarded as one of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century, this beautiful edition of The Great Gatsby which includes an Introducion and Afterword by Richard Smoley, is the original text which expresses many of the central themes of the American myth: romance, love, the quest for wealth and status, loneliness, and corruption.

Magic, the occult, the mystical--is there anything behind those words? If there is, is it anything beyond horror-movie clich s? People the world over have always known and interacted with these hidden forces. But in our culture, there are very few ways to sort out truth from nonsense. In this book, Richard Smoley, an expert on the occult, delves into the world of mind power, magic, suggestion, and the realms of the unseen. He speaks simply and clearly, in common-sense terms, about these mysterious forces, how they can work for you, and what you need to avoid. This trip through unseen worlds could be most exciting adventure of your life, and possibly the most important, as you learn about: Meditation The Colors of Magic The Life Force The Astral Light Thought Power Prophecy Psychic Powers Astrology The Tarot Ghosts, Angels, and Spirits Life after Death Evil Witchcraft and Satanism Atlantis and Lost Civilizations The Last Judgment The Kingdom of God Healing Reincarnation The Brotherhood Psychedelics and Spirituality Richard Smoley is editor of Quest: Journal of the Theosophical Society and former editor of Gnosis: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions. He has published eleven books, including Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism; Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Traditions; and Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History. He has spent over 40 years studying the world's mystical traditions

A spirituality based on love, not fear In the West, theology has almost always meant Christian theology--a hodgepodge of beliefs that are hard to make sense of. Why, for example, should an all-loving, merciful God have gotten mad at the human race because someone ate a piece of fruit six thousand years ago? And why would he send part of himself down to earth to be tortured to death? These beliefs, stated baldly, are nonsensical. Millions of people are realizing this and losing their faith. The time has come to reenvision Christian theology without contradictory teachings laced with fear. It is time for a theology of love and miracles. Richard Smoley reframes Christian theology using logical, consistent, and easy-to-understand teachings of unconditional love and forgiveness. He draws inspiration not only from the Bible, but also from Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, and from esoteric and mystical teachings, such as A Course in Miracles and the Sefer Yetzirah, the oldest known Kabbalistic text. He explains how the “fallen” state of the human condition, not one of sin but of oblivion, leads us to experience the world as flawed and problematic--not wholly evil, but not wholly good. Citing philosophical wisdom from Kant, Blake, Jung, and Gurdjieff, alongside cognitive science, Smoley reveals how it is not the world that is flawed, but the way we see the world. Sharing key teachings from A Course in Miracles, he shows that our fear-based mind-sets--often filled with anxiety, suffering, and shame--lead us to feel separated from God when, in fact, we are all extensions of a God of infinite love and light. Offering a path to help you regenerate from the “fallen” state and see the real spiritual world and loving God that lies behind it, the author provides ways for each of us to craft our own self-consistent theology. He also lays out a vision for the future of spirituality, a path for present-day religion to transform into something higher and more universal.

This gem-like, concise anthology provides thoughtful people with both an introduction to the paranormal and a reason to take a fresh look at it. Nostradamus...channeling...Atlantis...divination. Most serious people consider such topics nonsense. But look again. Writing with intellectual verve and a deeply critical mind, religious thinker Richard Smoley explores and reconsiders the supernatural in history and today. We are often conditioned to think of the Judeo-Christian tradition as the only valid, historically accurate, and rational spiritual philosophy. Occultism, magic, and the esoteric are, by contrast, considered illegitimate, delusional, and lacking in intrinsic worth. "Supernatural "challenges this prejudice, revealing that Western occult traditions are richer and more historically impactful than most of us imagine. The book reveals hidden diamonds and neglected ideas that characterize the magical tradition in the West. For any reader, at any level of experience, who has ever been curious about an arcane subject - from psychical powers to secret societies - here is a book that gives a complete yet precise, critical, yet serious, and always respectful account of topics from the unseen world. "Supernatural" is a brilliant primer to the occult and magical traditions of the West.Praise for RICHARD SMOLEY"I have a standing rule: I read anything Richard Smoley writes." --Larry Dossey, M.D."Smoley . . . is adept at unknotting the paradoxes of spiritual traditions and making new connections across centuries and languages." --"Library Journal""He is one of the liveliest, most intrepid, and most gifted explorers of the spiritual landscape writing today."--Ptolemy Tompkins, author of "Paradise Fever"

A popular history of the lost traditions of Gnosticism reveals some of the long-lost secrets of Christianity as it discusses the tenets and principles of a movement that flourished during early Christianity until it was declared heretical by the Church, and its long-lasting influence and legacy for world religion and modern-day popular culture. Reprint.

From his predictions about life and death in the Middle French court of Catherine de' Medici to his uncannily suggestive preconceptions of World War II, Michel de Nostradamus has aroused continual fascination-and commercialization-in the West. Today, many search his elliptical "centuries"-or collected verses-for new truths about 9/11 and End Times, while supermarket tabloids routinely falsify and exploit his pronouncements. What is the difference between prophecy and prediction, and how has it led to a misuse of the ideas of Nostradamus, as well as those of other post-biblical prognosticators? What is the nature of the oracular tradition in the West-stretching back to the oracle at Delphi-and how can Nostradamus be understood from this perspective? In The Essential Nostradamus, the highly regarded spiritual thinker and writer Richard Smoley provides a true sourcebook in the life and messages of one of history's most peculiar figures. This volume offers a host of advantages beyond other collections of Nostradamus's work. Many commentators on Nostradamus take liberties in their translations, further confusing the matter of what the prophetic quatrains actually said. In The Essential Nostradamus, Smoley presents a fresh, scholarly, and literal translation of Nostradamus's Middle French, allowing readers to make their own determination as to the passages' historical references and accuracy. Smoley also supplies detailed commentary on Nostradamus's key quatrains, with a sharp eye toward the political and social events of the writer's era-elements that many commentators overlook or fail to grasp. An authoritative biographical essay-highlighting Nostradamus's separate roles as physician, astrologer, and prognosticator-rounds out the volume to create a truly essential exposition of the work of one of Western culture's most mysterious men.