60 cards represent the cycle or pillars of 10 Heavenly Stems of Yin and Yang qualities and the 5 elements of wood, fire, metal, water, and earth, which are the foundation of the Tao. 12 Earthly Branches depict animals, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog and pig.
In the distant past, the sages of China designed a system to enable understanding that life, so full of challenges and changes, is an interaction of two opposition forces, described as Yin and Yang. These are shown as a circle , half light and half dark, with a dot of light within the dark and a dot of dark within the light. These are portrayed not only as opposing and interacting energies, but the mutual attraction between them. In writing, these are shown as a broken line for Yang and an unbroken line for Yin. A series of 6 lines is called a ‘hexagram’.
The I Ching is an ancient method of divination, sometimes called The Book of Changes. It was written about 5000 years ago and is one of the oldest books in the world, and contains wisdom provided in old Chinese poetry of the feudal Mandarin era. Though highly complex, this book presents the matter very simply. The philosophy relates to the opposing energies that exist in the world, but shows that within every polarity is a part of the opposing force that creates eventually balance and harmony. ☯️
I liked this well illustrated full colour book which explains simple, and clearly, what this ancient (from 3000BC) Chinese philosophy of geomancy offers to the modern person. It is based on harmonising your environment with good health and wellbeing. Included in the book are all aspects of Feng Shui - Chi, directions, celestial animals, invisible landscape energies, currents and polarities, yin & yang, elements, trigrams, personal magic numbers, your homeand garden. The author, Stephen Skinner (PhD in Classics) is an Australian expert in this field and has written extensively about Feng Shui, shamanism, magic, sacred geometry and alchemy and . Recommended as an ideal gift or coffee table book! Reading for Yourself, Your Community, and Your World with the Waite-Smith Tarot.
We are living in post pandemic, post elite corruption times and Caitlin Matthews brings the meanings of the tarot cards up to date for all kinds of readings. This is more than just a Tarot for individual readings, it encompasses personal development, taking us to the big picture, with chapters on Groups, institutions and Collectives, Peace and Reconciliation, Community, and planetary issues, as cards step forward to be seen and heard, to provide a lantern in times of despair and confusion.
I received this book in the post with a request for an honest review! It begins with a beautiful story from 1330 and of the heart of Robert the Bruce, being taken to Jerusalem for burial by an ancestor of the author. Much of the St Clair family history goes back far beyond 1,000 years to the lands of the river Epte in Normandy. We read of the Gnostics, and the connection between the Templars and Freemasons, hidden knowledge, mysticism, hermetic and cabalistic knowledge, and how the Kirkwall scroll of Orkney, now in a Masonic lodge on an island in the North Atlantic, holds the key to many of the greatest mysteries, such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Garden of Eden, and the Grail itself and how geometric designs were learnt from mosques in the holy land. The remains of Templars were often interred in the position of the skull over crossed leg bones, a position which I found extraordinary, like much else in this book.
The author connects the Christian Templars with the Freemasons who are not Christians. I was shocked that the author criticised Jacques de Molay for “ruining his sect by ordering it to surrender and confess” even under excruciating torture, peine forte et dure! I notice the author has changed the title of the Order from The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon to the Order of the Temple, thereby cutting out both the oath of poverty and duty to Jesus Christ. This says a lot about the intention of the book and the way it presents the lives of the Templars especially, and the emphasis of the text on heresy whilst ignoring the New Testament!
Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: 'The Secret Founding of America - The Real Story of Freemasons, Puritans & the Battle for the New World', by Nicholas Hagger, published by Watkins Publishing, Paperback 352 pages, £9.99 Kindle: £5.03 Visit http://www.nicholashagger.co.uk/
Mind, Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Sign And The Seal - A Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant by Graham Hancock.
Written in an easily understandable style with a summary every few pages. This book of discovery and expose took six years of research and unravels the story of Jesus and the earliest Jerusalem church. Were there initiations practised by early Christians that were similar to Freemasonry initiations? Could these initiations originated in Egypt? Did the early Christians have connections to other religious groups such as those mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls? There are secrets of Freemasonry initiations and their possible connections to Gnostics and Templars. Parallels between Mithras, Attis, Indra, Adonis, Dionysius and others. And revelations of the origins of the Hiram Abiff story.
The lost story of Jesus is described. Was he from a town called Nazareth, or was he a Nazorean, a word meaning 'fish'? Was he the Messiah? What do the apocryphal Gnostic books state? Who was Jesus Barabbas? Was Jesus a rebel who was an Essene of the Qumran Community and what power had they in the Jerusalem Church? What is special about the white robe? What is the association with the rebuilding of Solomon's Temple, the Essenes, the Knights Templar and Freemasonry?
Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Sword and the Grail - The Story of the Grail, the Templars and the True Discovery of America by Andrew Sinclair. Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Tarot for Lovers by E W Neville. Published by Schiffer Publishing £13.99
The retired author, Ed Neville hails from Southern California and spent 28 years working in top management in government whilst combining studies on the Occult, Astrology and Tarot. This book was first published in 1987 - but don’t be disheartened - people haven’t changed, and the information is just as good today as it always was!
Love is so extremely important throughout our life, from cradle to the grave, but fraught with so many serious difficulties and who, as a reader, hasn’t had numerous questions about relationships? If relationship questions are your weakness, then this is the Tarot book for you! Covering the Majors, Minors and Court Cards, you can not only read for others but read for yourself!
