Divining The Body

Honor Your Body as the Instrument of Your SoulThis book is an attempt to undo the damage we've sustained living in a culture that thrives on our self - hatred. It is a sanctification of our human bodies, a consecration of ourselves as hosts to the Great Beloved. It is a journey of awe and reverence through the sacred terrain of foot and hand, back and breast, heart and brain. The path to peace is the pathway through ourselves, starting with the inward step, the brave, gentle step toward the Divine within. - from the Introduction Our view of the human body is always evolving. From the goddess - worship of civilizations millennia ago, to the strict social rules of Victorian England, to the modern feminist movement, the human body - particularly the feminine body - has always been a point of interest, mystery, and contention. Discover an entirely new way to look at your body - as a pathway to the Divine. Award - winner Jan Phillips takes you on an energizing journey through your physical self, drawing connections between the bone, muscle, and sinew of your body and the spiritual teachings of various faith traditions, modern scientific research, and her own experiences. You will find yourself empowered to work to transform the world around you and overcome self - defeating thoughts through positive, practical exercises and meditations that show you how to climb back into your body and honor it as the temple of God that it is.

Award-winning author Jan Phillips offers a joyful and liberating alternative to the degrading, socially constructed views of the body held by most of us today. She takes the reader on an energizing pilgrimage of their own bodies, exploring each part as a portal through which vital, creative, divine energy is received and released. This book fosters self-love, spiritual empowerment, and social consciousness by allowing readers to see their bodies as channels for expressing the Divine. Divining the Body leads readers into a milieu of reverence, mystery, and delight, helping them discover a redeemed sense of self. Readers will learn to trade self-defeating thoughts and behaviors for actions that are healing for themselves and others.

Honor Your Body as the Instrument of Your Soul This book is an attempt to undo the damage we’ve sustained living in a culture that thrives on our self-hatred. It is a sanctification of our human bodies, a consecration of ourselves as hosts to the Great Beloved. It is a journey of awe and reverence through the sacred terrain of foot and hand, back and breast, heart and brain. The path to peace is the pathway through ourselves, starting with the inward step, the brave, gentle step toward the Divine within. —from the Introduction Our view of the human body is always evolving. From the goddess-worship of civilizations millennia ago, to the strict social rules of Victorian England, to the modern feminist movement, the human body—particularly the feminine body—has always been a point of interest, mystery, and contention. Discover an entirely new way to look at your body—as a pathway to the Divine. Award-winner Jan Phillips takes you on an energizing journey through your physical self, drawing connections between the bone, muscle, and sinew of your body and the spiritual teachings of various faith traditions, modern scientific research, and her own experiences. You will find yourself empowered to work to transform the world around you and overcome self-defeating thoughts through positive, practical exercises and meditations that show you how to climb back into your body and honor it as the temple of God that it is.

Divining the Self weaves elements of personal narrative, myth, history, and interpretive analysis into a vibrant tapestry that reflects the textured, embodied, and performative nature of scripture and scripturalizing practices. Velma Love examines the Odu—the Yoruba sacred scriptures—along with the accompanying mythology, philosophy, and ritual technologies engaged by African Americans. Drawing from the personal narratives of African American Ifa practitioners along with additional ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Oyotunji African Village, South Carolina, and New York City, Love’s work explores the ways in which an ancient worldview survives in modern times. Divining the Self also takes up the challenge of determining what it means for the scholar of religion to study scripture as both text and performance. This work provides an excellent case study of the sociocultural phenomenon of scripturalizing practices.

The art of divining, or dowsing, has for years been cloaked in mystery and superstition. Recognized by some as a means of finding water and minerals, it is actually a method for anyone to develop intuitive skills. This thought-provoking book demystifies dowsing and presents this ancient science as a powerful tool for self-knowledge. Includes a brief history of dowsing, and step-by-step instructions for learning to use L-rods, Y-rods, and pendulums, as well as non-device dowsing. Shows how dowsing is used for locating water, gold and other minerals, buried artifacts, ancient ritual sites, and in police work to help find missing persons.

This comprehensive volume on dowsing and divining - from the twig and the pendulum to motorscopes and bare hands - traces the story of these fascinating and enigmatic phenomena from its origins in the world of fairy tales and mythology to recent theories that the enigma can be explained in terms of present-day psychology. The force present in the act of dowsing and divining can be compared to the sensitivity of men and women suffering from rheumatism who feel, in advance, changes of weather. Theories that have been brought forward to explain its presence include suggestion, radiation, colour, the existence of a sixth sense, and changes in the earth's magnetic field. As there are many possible explanations there are also many types and applications of dowsing and divining: map dowsing; being eggs; radiesthesia; the diagnosis and cure of disease; locating missing persons; forces, fields and rays; and detecting thieves. The author tells of dowsers past and present: Robert Leftwich who located abandoned tunnels and other underground hazards; Major Harold Spary who dowsed for the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the Royal Engineers during World War II; William Young who charged £200 a day in 1971 for dowsing; Tom Lethbridge who investigated Viking graves on Lundy Island; Henry Gross who discovered Bermuda's first natural wells. Even today large building and contracting firms employ resident site engineers who use sophisticated sets of divining rods. The book introduces us, in lucid and readable style, to the fascinating world of dowsing and divining, and gives the reader full instructions on how to attempt to become one of this international community.

The patronage of dowsers by mining administrations through the eighteenth century challenges common assumptions about the Enlightenment. Rather than decline in importance like alchemy and astrology, dowsing transformed from a study of mineral vapors into an experimental branch of geophysics.

Building on the principles and practices presented in The Divining Mind (Richard Wright's first book on dowsing, coauthored by T. Edward Ross II), authors Richard and Pat Wright define dowsing as the "process of uncovering information through the medium of the self." The Wrights believe, as do many dowsers, that the ability to dowse is innate, but they also feel that its proper development is contingent upon the parallel unfoldment of the spiritual qualities in our nature. Through this process, the dowser becomes increasingly cognizant of the interconnectedness of all aspects of life and begins to play his or her part as an agent of healing and positive change. Includes detailed information on: • Responsibility in dowsing • Practical dowsing • Earth energies • Planetary stewardship • Healing and prayer • The supersensory worlds An indispensable guide for the advanced dowser as well as a beginner's sourcebook.