Books

A groundbreaking exploration of the remarkable women in Native American communities.

In this well-researched and deeply felt account, Brenda J. Child, a professor and a member of the Red Lake Ojibwe tribe, gives Native American women their due, detailing the many ways in which they have shaped Native American life. She illuminates the lives of women such as Madeleine Cadotte, who became a powerful mediator between her people and European fur traders, and Gertrude Buckanaga, whose postwar community activism in Minneapolis helped bring many Indian families out of poverty. Moving from the early days of trade with Europeans through the reservation era and beyond, Child offers a powerful tribute to the courageous women who sustained Native American communities through the darkest challenges of the past three centuries.

Tree of Dreams, A Spirit Woman's Vision of Transition and Change, is book twelve of the Medicine Woman Series. Shaman healer Lynn Andrews finds herself at a crossroads in her own life, a time of transition and change when that which once seemed sure begins to unravel. With disarming candor, she reveals her own spiritual questioning and metaphysical battles to her teachers, Agnes Whistling Elk, Ruby Plenty Chiefs and Spider Woman. Their strength, power and wisdom have remained constant and guided her through the many challenges she has experienced in life, and in this book they use their own blend of magic to 'trick' her into learning valuable lessons, even when she is most resistant. It is the wisdom of the elders passed down through an apprentice, timeless teachings of growth, healing and spiritual connection that will last a lifetime.

With their ability to enter trances, to change into the bodies of other creatures and to fly through the northern skies, shamans are the subject of both popular and scholarly fascination. In Shamans Ronald Hutton looks at what is really known about both the Shamans of Siberia and about others spread throughout the world. He traces the growth of knowledge of shamans in Imperial and Stalinist Russia, describes local variations and different types of shamanism and explores more recent western influences on its history and modern practice. This is a challenging book by one of the world's leading authorities on Paganism.

A huge international success, the Dalai Lama's books are bestsellers all over the world. Now, for the first time, we are able to discover the personal feelings and thoughts of this highly respected spiritual figure on subjects ranging from how the experience of profound spiritual insight actually feels, to how he has learned to love people who anyone else would consider an enemy, and under what circumstances he believes he would be capable of violence.

Ever feel trapped in the same old habits and painful emotions time and time again? These are patterns we all face, and sometimes they feel impossible to shake. So how can we get unstuck? Drawing on time-honored Buddhist teachings on shenpa (all the attachments and compulsions that cause us suffering), Pema Chödrön shows how certain habits of mind tend to “hook” us and get us stuck in states of anger, blame, self-hatred, addiction, and so much more—and, most of all, how we can liberate ourselves from them. “This path entails uncovering three basic human qualities,” explains Pema. “They are natural intelligence, natural warmth, and natural openness. Everyone, everywhere, all over the globe, has these qualities and can call on them to help themselves and others.” Pema shares insights and exercises from her lifetime of practice that we can immediately put to use in our lives to awaken these essential qualities and help us to take a bold leap toward a new way of living—one that will bring about positive transformation for ourselves and for our troubled world.

Little Wisdom is a series of wisdom teachings, short stories, poems, and practices that introduce readers to the old, timeless, spiritual wisdom in practical ways.

In this volume, which is intended as a preliminary opening to a series of five books, the author describes himself as "a child of earth, an indigenous man, who was raised in traditional teachings." The information he shares in these pages is, he asserts, is "a message from Creator, gained and gifted through journeys, study, spiritual work, integrity, and persistence," all laid bare for what the author refers to as "the age of Reconciliation." The book's chapters draw from a wide variety of spiritual traditions, and through them all, the author derives a series of basic life-precepts that will go on to inform the rest of the books in the "Way of Unity" series. 

The Earth speaks to us if we listen. High in the Andes, children sing to Pachamama in gratitude. May this book reawaken your senses and deepen your kinship with nature. May this book inspire you to give back in reciprocity for all the Beauty the Earth has given us. 

Rebecca Myers is the author of several award-winning travel and nature stories. She has been an environmental educator, writer, and storyteller. Her memoir, Sanctuary, is about living on a wildlife sanctuary in the Adirondack Mountains where she helped create a nature center, led hikes, and developed environmental programs. 

Gloria Arteaga is an illustrator and concept artist for animation and video games. She was born in Lima, Peru. Gloria loves to paint plein air while studying the light and color from nature. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Drew and dog Camille. This is her first children's book. 

Deepen your awareness through the practice of Tibetan dream and sleep yoga.

We spend a third of our life sleeping and it is common, in many spiritual traditions throughout the world, for the world of dream and sleep to be utilized on the path to awakening. Dream yoga in the Tibetan traditions of dream practice has been the primary support for the realization of many yogis and great Tibetan masters. Now, updated and presented with fresh insight born from years of teaching this practice to Westerners, Tenzin Wangyal clearly presents a powerful method for liberation. With clearly illustrated Tibetan syllables and the places they are to be visualized, this practical guide will be of use to both new and adept practitioners. 

"If we cannot carry our practice into sleep, if we lose ourselves every night, what chance do we have to be aware when death comes? Look to your experience in dreams to know how you will fare in death. Look to your experience of sleep to discover whether or not you are truly awake."—Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

A reader-friendly, fun, and practical guide to improving one's love life, career, health, and overall happiness with African American folk magick.

In this groundbreaking book that places Rootwork in its rightful spot among other magickal traditions, Tayannah Lee McQuillar offers a fun and practical guide to improving your life with the help of African American folk magick. Rootwork begins with the basics, from explanations about the magickal powers of the four elements (air, earth, fire, and water) to instructions on creating talismans, charms, and mojo bags.

Also included are spells to help you:

• Find your soul mate
• Spice up your sex life
• Get a new job
• Improve your health
• Discover your inner muse

Accessible and easy to use, Rootwork offers the insights of a time-honored tradition as a means of self-empowerment and spiritual growth.

Long before it came to be known as Duluth, the land at the western tip of Lake Superior was known to the Ojibwe as Onigamiising, "the place of the small portage." There the Ojibwe lived in keeping with the seasons, moving among different camps for hunting and fishing, for cultivating and gathering, for harvesting wild rice and maple sugar. In Onigamiising Linda LeGarde Grover accompanies us through this cycle of the seasons, one year in a lifelong journey on the path to Mino Bimaadiziwin, the living of a good life.

In fifty short essays, Grover reflects on the spiritual beliefs and everyday practices that carry the Ojibwe through the year and connect them to this northern land of rugged splendor. As the four seasons unfold--from Ziigwan (Spring) through Niibin and Dagwaagin to the silent, snowy promise of Biboon--the award-winning author writes eloquently of the landscape and the weather, work and play, ceremony and tradition and family ways, from the homey moments shared over meals to the celebrations that mark life's great events. Now a grandmother, a Nokomis, beginning the fourth season of her life, Grover draws on a wealth of stories and knowledge accumulated over the years to evoke the Ojibwe experience of Onigamiising, past and present, for all time.

A Two-Spirit Journey is Ma-Nee Chacaby's extraordinary account of her life as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian. From the remote community of her childhood to the larger urban centers she later called home, Chacaby experienced abuse, addiction, racism, homophobia, and homelessness. Eventually, with the right support and drawing on her grandmother's teachings for strength, she emerged from those experiences grounded in faith, compassion, humor, and resilience. Her memoir provides unprecedented insights into challenges still faced by many Indigenous people.

Sarah and her magnificent spirit animal Alice the Elephant created this wee book of inspiration to encourage creatives, healers and helpers. Alice offers up daily wisdom in a lighthearted (and sometimes salty) way and Sarah adds her own reflections along with a prompt and prayer.

Themes include humility, moderation, self-love, family, friendship, creativity, pitfalls & quagmires, addiction recovery, and dealing with fear.

How good are YOU willing to let it get? We hope that your answer is, "VERY good!" and this book will help you get there.

Perhaps the first of its kind, 'Ascending with both feet on the Ground' is a collection of author Jeff Browns most inspiring and well-loved Facebook quotes, soul-bytes, excerpts and aphorisms. In Jeff's hands, Facebook status became a kind of spiritual graffiti, a grass roots opportunity to inspire, support and connect with humanity. With a writing style that is unforgettably heartfelt and original, Jeff calls out to our inner knowing and reminds us of the magnificent life that awaits us.

This little treasure book is no generic quotes book. It is an impactful, stirring and enlivening piece of art that will keep you company on the journey home. Exhilarating, compassionate, insightful, these truth-soundings will help you to excavate your purpose, befriend your confusion, confront your avoidance, ground your spirituality and open your heart. 

Welcome Home: Following Your Soul's Journey Home is Sandra Ingerman's follow-up to her deeply moving debut, Soul Retrieval, which captivated readers with its introduction of shamanic journeying, an ancient tradition of healing.

With the characteristic warmth, passion, and authenticity that have earned her worldwide recognition, Ingerman now continues to share her lifework with Welcome Home, an empowering action plan for creating a more positive future by truly letting go of blame and guilt.

Through explorations of the three pillars of Zen--teaching, practice, and enlightenment--Roshi Philip Kapleau presents a comprehensive overview of the history and discipline of Zen Buddhism. An established classic, this 35th-anniversary edition features new illustrations and photographs, as well as a new afterword by Sensei Bodhin Kjolhede, who has succeeded Philip Kapleau as spiritual director of the Rochester Zen Center, one of the oldest and most influential Zen centers in the United States.