The Mystery Of The Portal

Translated by David L. Schindler, JrIn what is one of the greatest Catholic poetic works of our century, Péguy offers a comprehensive theology ordered around the often-neglected second virtue which is incarnated inhis celebrated image of the ‘little girl Hope'.

When history teacher Fritz Russell walks through his classroom door, he finds himself in the company of General Robert E. Lee - over 150 years in the past. Fritz finds his sudden time trip to the past both a gift and a chance for great adventure. But when a portal opens to the Oval Office, he realizes that the mysterious gate could also be put to a more serious purpose. When the president hires him to help with national security, Fritz doesn't believe there is any danger in traveling across time and space. But will his own government consider him expendable if he cannot solve the mystery of the portal?

Rudolf Steiner wrote four mystery dramas intended to portray the spiritual path of self-knowledge as described by spiritual science, or Anthroposophy. Those plays are not merely symbolic but realistic depictions in a spiritual sense. In this book, Steiner describes how "The Portal of Initiation" (the first of his dramas) portrays the intense and tempestuous inner events of initiation as experienced by a young painter. He explains the spiritual background of this character's "karmic" tests and higher guidance. He also discusses the Rosicrucian nature of this play, as well as the "symbolism and fantasy" of the second drama, "The Soul's Probation." Steiner also emphasizes the power of certain fairy tales and poetry for bridging the gap between the spiritual and material worlds. As one of the mystery dramas shows, this is especially valuable for those who tend to be intellectuals. Rudolf Steiner portrayed much of the wisdom of his spiritual science in the mystery dramas and intended them to graphically depict what he taught all his life. As he said, "If people will exert themselves...to work with the drama, I will not have to give any more lectures for a long time." THE LECTURES: Self-knowledge as Portrayed in the Rosicrucian Mystery, The Portal of Initiation (Basel, Sept. 17, 1910) On the Rosicrucian Mystery, The Portal of Initiation (Berlin, Oct. 31, 1911) Symbolism and Phantasy in Relation to the Mystery Drama The Soul's Probation (Berlin, Dec. 19, 1911)

William and his brother Daniel come home from school one day to find their parents have disappeared - It's the first of a series of shocks they have to cope with, not the least of which is finding that their house has been built over an inter-stellar portal - It's some time before they can solve the mystery of where their parents have gone and why - and in the meantime they have to cope with visiting aliens, chickens, and making their own lunch - It's not easy - Not easy at all.

On the day he graduated from law school, there was little doubt that Ellis Portal would have a brilliant future. He and five of his similarly gifted colleagues commemorated the splendor of their shared expectations with the presentation, to each, of a specially commissioned signet ring. For a time, those expectations were borne out, and Ellis took his place at the top of Toronto society. However, he has fallen hard. Homeless now, cut off from his family, he lives in Toronto's shadows and has almost succeeded in forgetting his own past. And then one day he makes a grisly discovery and comes across an unusual, unmistakable signet ring. And Ellis, against his will, begins to remember.

"Although many literary critics assert that the Catholic novel is in decline, Aiming at Heaven, Getting the Earth: The English Catholic Novel Today argues that there is still vitality in the English Catholic novel at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Marian Crowe relates this fiction to recent developments in the post-Vatican II Church and elucidates intriguing possibilities for future Catholic fiction. In addition to discussing the theory and history of the Catholic novel, the book provides an in-depth study of four contemporary English Catholic novelists."--BOOK JACKET.

This is the second in criminologist Aubert's series starring Ellis Portal, the disgraced former judge who solved the mystery in her 1997 novel Free Reign, praised by The New York Times as a "smart, successful who-dun-it" whose sleuth is "a character with great dignity and unusual moral depth."

As Laura placed her left foot on the floor, something clicked and a low, humming vibration filled the room. Suddenly she was surrounded by an intense, blinding white light, and she was gone. It's a dark, snowy night when Laura awakens at the bottom of a staircase with a horrible headache and no idea how she got there. To make matters worse, she is alone in the house, snowed in by a blizzard, with no way to call for help. While exploring the house in a desperate attempt to trigger the return of her memory, she discovers a small room beneath the basement. She steps inside, and an unknown force instantly transports her to a mysterious, pastoral land. She finds a quaint village that at first glance seems like a peaceful place; but Laura soon learns that peace is merely an illusion. Why are terrible rumors circulating about the village's leader? Why do the villagers worship a sinister deity who bears no resemblance to her own powerful and loving God? Most importantly, will she ever remember who she is and find her way home? In her quest for answers, she uncovers a myriad of forbidden secrets that might keep her trapped inThe Land Beyond the Portal.