Fire Over Heaven

In Fire Over Heaven author/artist Roy Collins uncovers the ancient origins of the Chinese yin/yang dialectic and the I Ching (Book of Changes) and explains the complex debate over their meanings. Inspired by art historian Ernest Fenollosa’s early work on the exchange of cross-cultural art and design motifs, Collins has reasoned that a similar path of transmission had also heightened the barter of both ideas and languages. He further argues that due to the nature of cultural differences and individual perception, it often becomes obligatory for people to make slight adjustments in word sounds, art forms, and visual styles in order for new transitions to be acceptable. From Africa’s Rift Valley, across the sands of the “Silk Route” and into the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village, Collins cites examples of specific key words and ideas from well-known artists, philosophers, poets, physicists, historians, political officials, and scientists to show how their interpretations differ from the original usage. It is a literary/psychological journey that extends back over three million years in time and, according to Collins, is slated to continue as long as the human race evolves in time.

'The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat' SARAH WATERS 'The Alexandriad is one of the twentieth century's most unexpectedly original works of art' GORE VIDAL In the first novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend. Alexander's beauty, strength and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son's loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotle's tutoring provoked his mind and Homer's Iliad fuelled his aspirations. Killing his first man in battle at the age of twelve, he became regent at sixteen and commander of Macedon's cavalry at eighteen, so that by the time his father was murdered, Alexander's skills had grown to match his fiery ambition. Shortlisted for the 1970 Lost Booker Prize 'This is not just a novel: it's also the best imagining we are ever likely to have of a man who tore up history. The language may seem a bit florid at first - a little too "historical novel" - but set all snobbery aside: this is wonderful, scholarly, top-flight stuff' - Emily Wilson, Guardian 'The Alexander Trilogy stands as one of the most important works of fiction in the 20th century . . . it represents the pinnacle of [Renault's] career . . . Renault's skill is in immersing us in their world, drawing us into its strangeness, its violence and beauty. It's a literary conjuring trick like all historical fiction - it can only ever be an approximation of the truth. But in Renault's hands, the trick is so convincing and passionately conjured' - Antonia Senior, The Times

***LORDS OF SIN NOVELS ARE STANDALONE ROMANCES THAT CAN BE READ IN ANY ORDER*** He’s dangerous to know… And impossible to resist… Thrown from the carriage she’s driving at breakneck speed, Lady Kira Scottney is even more stunned by Damien Sharpe, the midnight-eyed man who rescues her. He looks like a demon incarnate, with a presence that makes her tremble with an unholy desire. Her dilemma worsens when she learns Sharpe is suspected of murdering his first wife—Kira’s own cousin. Damien had every reason to distrust Kira Scottney. Her family had labeled him a killer, destroying his life. Stripped of his lands and his good name, Damien considers everything lost—until Kira sweeps into his life. She’s unlike any woman he’s ever met, a wild beauty filled with innocence, desire, and a fiery spirit to make her very much his equal in their dance of passion and betrayal… And danger.

Ancient Classics, Modern Revival One of the Four Poems of the ancient times, the classical text of Xuan Ji Fu is now translated with detailed line-by-line commentaries for easy absorption and reading. A definite must-have reference for any serious student or practitioner of Xuan Kong Feng Shui.

Unlock The Hidden Codes of Flying Stars Closing the transliteration series of the Four Celebrated Poems of Xuan Kong is the Ode To Flying Stars, a translation of the much-discussed but yet arcane classical text of Flying Stars. An essential addition to the library of determined Feng Shui practitioners and students everywhere, this book presents knowledge in Xuan Kong Feng Shui in levels you never dreamt of before.

Provides a step-by-step photographic guide to each posture in the Before Heaven T'ai Chi form and illustrates the 64 postures of the After Heaven T'ai Chi form. Also includes discussion of the universal principals of the pratice of T'ai Chi and the philosophy of the I Ching.

This collection of Taoist texts includes: • The Taoist I Ching: The classic "Book of Change" illuminated by the commentary of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Taoist adept Liu I-ming. The first part of the book is the text of I Ching proper with Liu's commentary. The second part is Liu's commentary on two additional sections—known as the Overall Image and the Mixed Hexagrams—added to the I Ching by earlier commentators, believed to be members of the original Confucian school. In total, the book illuminates the Taoist inner teachings as practiced in the School of Complete Reality. • I Ching Mandalas: A traditional program of study that enables students of the I Ching to achieve a deeper understanding of the meaning of this great classic. I Ching Mandalas presents diagrams as tools for whole-brain learning that help the student to visualize patterns and interrelationships among the trigrams and hexagrams of the I Ching.

Ritual was a cradle of archaic philosophy in India. Mythological concepts were synthesized in the ritual context, and its results gave a new interpretation to the rituals themselves and to the life of man. The Agnihotra ritual is experienced differently by those who know what it is, and life is experienced differently by those who carry out the Agnihotra. A ritual presents us with a riddle which actually has no answer. What matters is not the intrinsic meaning, but the process in which the meaning is generated. It is true that ritual is pure activity without meaning or goal, but it is not meaningless in the sense that it generates riddles, and eventually meanings. This study is a philological study of the Vedic mythology, while also being a contribution to ritual studies. (Series: Nijmegen Buddhist and Asian Studies - Vol. 2)