“Fearful Spirits, Reasoned Follies: The Boundaries of Superstition in Late Medieval Europe” by Michael D. Bailey

"Superstitions are commonplace in the modern world. Mostly, however, they evoke innocuous images of people reading their horoscopes or avoiding black cats. Certain religious practices might also come to mind-praying to St. Christopher or lighting candles for the dead. Benign as they might seem today, such practices were not always perceived that way. In medieval Europe superstitions were considered serious offenses, violations of essential precepts of Christian doctrine or immutable natural laws. But how and why did this come to be? In Fearful Spirits, Reasoned Follies, Michael D. Bailey explores the thorny concept of superstition as it was understood and debated in the Middle Ages. Bailey begins by tracing Christian thinking about superstition from the...>>

“Magic and the Magician: Training and Work in Ritual, Power and Purpose” by W. E. Butler

"W.E. Butler, founder of The Servants of the Light School of Occult Sciences, was an occult teacher and this compilation brings together his first two works - "Magic: Its Ritual, Power and Purpose" and "The Magician: His Training and Work". The first book explains the ancient uses, ritual and true aims of magic showing how magic is based upon profound psychological laws. The second book conveys every aspect of magical training, including visualization, vestments, Tattvic tides, talismans, the Body of Light and the way to attainment as well as explaining the core of magical philosophy, the Hebrew Qabalah or "tree of life"...>>

“Glamorous Sorcery: Magic and Literacy in the High Middle Ages” by David Rollo

"Rollo's highly specialised analysis examines the spread of literacy and the relationship between vernacular and latin literature in 12th-century Europe. He focuses on how secular and clerical writers used magic as a metaphor for writing and examines the literary devices and works of William of Malmesbury, Geoffrey of Monmouth, John of Salisbury, William Fitzstephen, Richard FitzNigel, BenĂ´it de Sainte-Maure and Gerald of Wales. Extracts include English translations."...>>

“A Philosophy of Madness: The Experience of Psychotic Thinking” by Wouter Kusters

"In this book, philosopher and linguist Wouter Kusters examines the philosophy of psychosis—and the psychosis of philosophy. By analyzing the experience of psychosis in philosophical terms, Kusters not only emancipates the experience of the psychotic from medical classification, he also emancipates the philosopher from the narrowness of textbooks and academia, allowing philosophers to engage in real-life praxis, philosophy in vivo. Philosophy and madness—Kusters's preferred, non-medicalized term—coexist, one mirroring the other. Kusters draws on his own experience of madness—two episodes of psychosis, twenty years apart—as well as other first-person narratives of psychosis. Speculating about the maddening effect of certain words and thought, he argues, and demonstrates, that the steady flow of philosophical deliberation may sweep one...>>

“Badass Habits: Cultivate the Awareness, Boundaries, and Daily Upgrades You Need to Make Them Stick” by Jen Sincero

"Badass Habits is a eureka-sparking, easy-to-digest look at how our habits make us who we are, from the measly moments that happen in private to the resolutions we loudly broadcast (and, erm, often don't keep) on social media. Habit busting and building goes way beyond becoming a dedicated flosser or never showing up late again--our habits reveal our unmet desires, the gaps in our boundaries, our level of self-awareness, and our unconscious beliefs and fears. Badass Habits features Jen's trademark hilarious voice and offers a much-needed fresh take on the conventional wisdom and science that shape the optimism (or pessimism?) around the age-old topic of habits. The book includes enlightening interviews with people who've successfully strengthened...>>