Spooks and Saints


Book Description




Father Ed Dowling


Book Description

The story of Father Ed Dowling, S.J., the Jesuit priest who served for twenty years as sponsor and spiritual guide to Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. An icy evening in December 1940 saw the first meeting of two extraordinary spiritual leaders. Father Ed said that the graces he received from meeting Bill Wilson were as great as those he had received from his ordination as a priest, and Bill in turn described encountering the Jesuit as being like a second conversion experience, where he could feel the transcendent presence of God filling the entire room with grace. The good priest taught Wilson about St. Ignatius Loyolas Spiritual Exercises, about the eternal battle between good and evil which the Spanish saint described in that book, and explained the Jesuit understanding of the way we can use our deepest emotions to receive guidance from God while serving on that battlefield. The co-founder of the twelve step movement in turn supplied Father Ed with some of the most valuable tools he possessed for carrying out small group therapy on a wide range of different kinds of troubled people. Together the two men discussed Poulains Graces of Interior Prayer and Bills attempts to make spiritual contact with both spooks and saints, and explored the world of LSD experiences and the teachings of the Catholic, Hindu, and Buddhist mystics in Aldous Huxleys Perennial Philosophy. And we will see how Father Ed, with his deep social conscience, helped Bill W. turn his book on the Twelve Traditions into a Bill of Rights for the twelve step movement, and how he laid out his own spiritual vision of Alcoholics Anonymous at the A.A. International in St. Louis in 1955.




Maya Saints and Souls in a Changing World


Book Description

The Maya of Santiago Chimaltenango have experienced increasingly rapid, even violent, integration into Guatemalan society in the last fifty years, yet they still distinguish themselves ethnically from Spanish-speaking Guatemalans and other Maya. Why this sense of ethnic identity persists—and also changes—over time is the focus of Maya Saints and Souls in a Changing World, a beautifully written ethnography of a Mam-speaking Maya town in the western highlands of Guatemala. John Watanabe uniquely explores how Chimaltecos themselves define their local distinctiveness. This approach uncovers significant continuities in lifeways and world view that might otherwise remain imperceptible to an outsider. Another important feature of the study is that it updates Charles Wagley's pioneering research in the community during the 1930s. Watanabe identifies both the external, historical factors that have prompted change in the community since Wagley's time and the people's responses to these changes.




Brightest and Best


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In these meditations on the lesser feasts and fasts of the church calendar Sam Portaro asks the question, “What do these saints and commemorations have to say to Christians today?” His answers are often surprising and always thought-provoking, with fresh insights into the lives and teachings of those who have gone before us in the Christian faith. The cycle of the year begins in Advent with St. Andrew and ends in late November with Kamehaneha and Emma of Hawaii. Each reflection looks at the scripture readings for the day and focuses on a distinctive attribute of the saint or feast in the light of contemporary questions of faith, mission, and community. Saints of the distant past such as Columba and Agnes, Cyprian and Augustine, Thomas Becket and Catherine of Siena are included, as well as those closer to our own day—Charles Wesley and Julia Emery, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Evelyn Underhill and Jonathan Daniels. Following the calendar provided in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, meditations on the holy days of the church seasons are also included, such as All Saints and the Epiphany.” Brightest and Best is designed for a variety of Christian education purposes, including adult forums, confirmation classes, seasonal presentations, clergy groups, and groups of students and young adults. It is equally useful for individuals seeking varied and interesting devotional reading. Although based on the church year, each chapter is discrete and readers can focus on any event or person and begin at any season. Since these pieces began as homilies in a college setting, they are useful as a preaching aid and could be the basis of a homily at a midweek service.




Monkey Business Theatre


Book Description

In 1983, a group of citizens in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, formed Sna Jtz'ibajom, the Tzotzil-Tzeltal Maya writers' cooperative. In the two decades since, this group has evolved from writing and publishing bilingual booklets to writing and performing plays that have earned them national and international renown. Anthropologist Robert M. Laughlin has been a part of the group since its beginnings, and he offers a unique perspective on its development as a Mayan cultural force. The Monkey Business Theatre, or Teatro Lo'il Maxil, as this branch of Sna Jtz'ibajom calls itself, has presented plays in virtually every corner of the state of Chiapas, as well as in Mexico City, Guatemala, Honduras, Canada, and in many museums and universities in the United States. It has presented to the world, for the first time in drama, a view of the culture of the Mayas of Chiapas. In this work, Laughlin presents a translation of twelve of the plays created by Sna Jtz'ibajom, along with an introduction for each. Half of the plays are based on myths and half on the social, political, and economic problems that have confronted—and continue to confront—the Mayas of Chiapas.




Socrates Meets Marx


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Utilizing the dialogue format that the Greek philosopher made famous, Kreeft presents the latest in his series of small books on philosophy. In a unique and compelling take on the philosophies of the modern world, Kreeft pits the ancient Greek philosopher against the founder of Communism. Humorous, frank, and insightful, this book challenges the reader to step in and take hold of what is right and to cast away what is wrong. Topics covered include such varied subjects as private property, the individual, the ಜThree Philosophies of Manಝ, women, individualism, and more. A wonderful introduction to philosophy for the neophyte, and a joy for the experienced student.




Spooks! Welcome to the Great Beyond


Book Description

Spooks! Welcome to the Great Beyond Tabletop Role-playing in the Afterlife The gates to paradise are shut, the dead are restless and a shadow war between the pharaohs threatens to consume the Great Beyond... and you just got here. Congratulations, you're dead! and the afterlife isn't what we thought. In this fantastical game you play as a spook, otherwise known as the dearly departed, in an Ancient Egyptian inspired hereafter known as the Great Beyond. Play as a bhoot, doll, ghost, ghoul, skeleton, vampire, wraith or zombie in a predominate Victorian society. Meet people from history, explore a rich and infinite world under the shinning lights of Necropolis, city of the dead. Tour infamous locations such as the River of Styx, manifest into the Spirit Realm to haunt the living, unravel the dreams of yesterday and today through the Dream Veil, brave the dangers of the Hellfire Lands or quest for the lost paradises of old such as Elysium, Valhalla or Avalon. How will you spend your afterlife? Game Features d6 mechanic that pools dice for purposes of determining fate and skill rolls. Non-class system where players choose their spook, select their skills and buy equipment without feeling restricted by class abilities. Watch this video for how to make a character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfsOEKxQ9G4 Statistic point-buy system that is determined on character level and not a variety of rolls. Characters don't die, they just faint. Improvise-friendly game where challenges and denizens can be created in a manner of minutes without spending hours ahead of game in preparation or cause large amounts of in-game downtime. Spell card magic system, where players can either use an official Spooks! WTTGB spell deck or use any playing card deck to track their spells. No memorization or spell slots on how often a spell can be used. Magic is tracked by magic points, much like hit points, and regenerate quickly. 24 historical non-player characters (NPCs) that the players can meet including George Washington, Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron, Edgar Allan Poe and more. 12 organizations characters can encounter or possibly join in the afterlife. 34 magic items specific to the game 41 denizens to incorporate into your stories Plus all the rules you need to create your own spells, equipment, magic items and denizens.




The People of the Bat


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Disembodying Women


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In Disembodying Women, Barbara Duden takes a closer look at this contemporary transformation of women's experience of pregnancy. She suggests that advances in technology and parallel changes in public discourse have refrained pregnancy as a managed process, the mother as an ecosystem, and the fetus as an endangered species.




PEOPLE OF THE BAT


Book Description

This is a book about dreams, myths, and tales from Zina Cantan, a small Maya community in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.