Spiritual Books on
History

The Ancient Engineers – L. Sprague De Camp 1995

Amazon Synopsis: From the dawn of history to the rise of the scientific method in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, invention and technology advanced with painful slowness. The reason was not that men were stupid during those thousands of years—it was the fact that most people were simply too busy trying to keep alive. The imagination and daring that leisure and security could divert to other ends were limited to a tiny group. It is about these brave men—whose genius enabled the Egyptians to build their pyramids, the Phoenicians to cross stormy seas, the Romans to erect magnificent public buildings—that this carefully researched and fascinatingly written account of the advance of early technology has been written.

Mr. de Camp describes the methods used by early irrigators, architects, and military engineers to build and maintain structures to serve their rulers' wants. He tells, for example, how the Pharaohs erected obelisks and pyramids, how Nebuchadnezzar fortified Babylon, how Dionysios' ordnance department invented the catapult, how the Chinese built the Great Wall, and how the Romans fashioned their roads, baths, sewers, and aqueducts. He recounts many intriguing anecdotes: an Assyrian king putting up no-parking signs in Nineveh; Plato inventing a water clock with an alarm to signal the start of his classes; Heron of Alexandria designing a coin-operated holy-water fountain; a Chinese emperor composing a poem to be inscribed on a clock invented by one of his civil servants.

 

A Short History Of The Theosophical Society - Compiled By Josephine Ransom 1992

 

The Bermuda Triangle – Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey 1973

 

The Bermuda Triangle – Charles Berlitz 1996

Synopsis: You may have heard of it as 'the Hoodoo Sea', 'the Graveyard of the Atlantic' or 'the Devil's Triangle'. But it is most famous as 'the Bermuda Triangle' - an area of the Western Atlantic between Bermuda and Florida where, since 1945, over 100 ships and planes and 1,000 people have vanished - without a trace.

 

The Book of the Master of the Hidden Places – W. Marshall Adams

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The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays - Anthony F. Aveni 2004

Amazon Synopsis: What is the connection between May Day and the Statue of Liberty? Between ancient solstice fires and Fourth of July fireworks? Between St. Valentine, the Groundhog, and the Virgin Mary? In The Book of the Year, Anthony Aveni offers fascinating answers to these questions and explains the many ways humans throughout time have tried to order and give meaning to time's passing. Aveni traces the origins of modern customs tied to seasonal holidays, exploring what we eat, the games we play, the rituals we perform, and the colorful cast of characters we invent to dramatize holidays. Along the way, Aveni illuminates everything from the Jack 'O Lantern and our faith in the predictive power of animals to the ways in which Labor Day reflects the great medieval "time wars," when the newly invented clock first pitted labor against management. Vividly written, filled with facts both curious and astonishing, this engrossing book allows us to hear that beat more clearly and to understand more fully the rhythms we all dance to throughout the year.

 

Chariots of the Gods – Erich Von Däniken 1984

Goodreads Synopsis: Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods is a work of monumental importance--the first book to introduce the shocking theory that ancient Earth had been visited by aliens. This world-famous bestseller has withstood the test of time, inspiring countless books and films, including the author's own popular sequel, The Eyes of the Sphinx. But here is where it all began--von Daniken's startling theories of our earliest encounters with alien worlds, based upon his lifelong studies of ancient ruins, lost cities, potential spaceports, and a myriad of hard scientific facts that point to extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Most incredible of all, however, is von Daniken's theory that we ourselves are the descendants of these galactic pioneers--and the archeological discoveries that prove it... * An alien astronaut preserved in a pyramid

• Thousand-year-old spaceflight navigation charts
• Computer astronomy from Incan and Egyptian ruins
• A map of the land beneath the ice cap of Antarctica
• A giant spaceport discovered in the Andes

Includes remarkable photos that document mankind's first contact with aliens at the dawn of civilization.

Cosmic Code - Zecharia Sitchin  

Amazon Synopsis: Book VI of the Earth Chronicles. Many thousands of years ago, a group of extraterrestrials from another planet guided the evolution of life on Earth—determining the existence and nature of humankind as we know it today. How did the master builders from the stars construct the miracle called man? Is the DNA that is at the core of all life in the universe a "cosmic code" that links Earth to heaven and man to God?

In this sixth volume of The Earth Chronicles, Zecharia Sitchin unveils writings from the past to decipher prophesies, and reveals how the DNA-matched Hebrew alphabet and the numerical values of its letters serve as a code that bares the secrets of mortal man’s fate and mankind’s celestial destiny.

 

Desert Patriarchy: Mormon and Mennonite Communities - Janet Bennion 2004

Amazon Synopsis: On the high desert plateau of northern Mexico, outsiders have taken refuge from the secular world. Here three Anglo communities of Mormons and Mennonites have ordered their lives around male supremacy, rigid religious duty, and a rejection of modern technology and culture. In so doing, they have successfully adapted to this harsh desert environment. Janet Bennion has lived and worked among these people, and in this book she introduces a new paradigm—"desert patriarchy"—to explain their way of life. This perspective sheds light not only on these particular communities but also on the role of the desert environment in the development and maintenance of fundamentalist ideology in other parts of the United States and around the globe.

Making new connections between the arid environment, opposition to technology, and gender ideology, Bennion shows that it is the interplay of the desert and the unique social traditions and gender dynamics embedded in Anglo patriarchal fundamentalism that accounts for the successful longevity of the Mexican colonies. Her model defines the process by which male supremacy, female autonomous networking, and religious fundamentalism all facilitate successful adaptation to the environment. More than a theoretical analysis, Desert Patriarchy provides an intimate glimpse into the daily lives of these people, showing how they have taken refuge in the desert to escape religious persecution, the forced secular education of their children, and economic and political marginalization.

It particularly sheds light on the ironic autonomy of women within a patriarchal system, showing how fundamentalist women in Chihuahua are finding numerous creative ways to access power and satisfaction in a society structured to subordinate and even degrade them. Desert Patriarchy richly expands the literature on nontraditional religious movements as it enhances our understanding of how environment can shape society. It offers unique insights into women's status in patriarchal communities and provides a new way of looking at similar communities worldwide.

 

Divination and Healing: Potent Vision - Michael Winkelman & Philip M. Peek, Editors 2004

Amazon Synopsis: Divination is an important feature of cultures all over the world. While some may still question the efficacy of divination systems, they continue to serve their communities by diagnosing ailments, prescribing healing treatments, and solving problems. Yet despite their universality, there are relatively few comprehensive studies of divination systems. This volume seeks to fill this gap regarding the use of divination in healing. Here some of the world’s leading authorities draw on their own fieldwork and participation in ritual to present detailed case studies, demonstrating that divination rituals can have therapeutic effects.

As the contributors examine the systems of knowledge that divination articulates and survey the varieties of divinatory experience, they seek to analyze divination as an epistemological system, as a social process, and as a therapeutic endeavor. While some of their findings reinforce traditional assumptions about the importance of social control, spirit relations, and community support in the divination process, the authors place these considerations within new epistemological frameworks that emphasize the use of alternative modes of knowing. In this wide-ranging volume, readers will find coverage of classic Ifa systems; Buddhist-influenced shamanic practices in the former Soviet Union; the reconciliation of Muslim beliefs and divinatory practices in Thailand; Native American divination used in diagnosis; Maya calendrical divination in Guatemala; mediumistic and chicken oracle divination among the Sukuma of Tanzania; Ndembu divination, focusing on the process of collective healing; and divination among the Samburu (Maasai) of Kenya, featuring dialogues from actual healing sessions.

Together, these contributions argue for new perspectives on the study of divination that emphasize not only the epistemological roots of these systems but also their multifaceted therapeutic functions. Divination and Healing is a rich source of both data and insight for scholars of ritual, religion, medical anthropology, and the psychology of altered states of consciousness.

 

Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World - Linda Hogan 2007

Amazon Synopsis: Award-winning Chickasaw poet and novelist Linda Hogan explores her lifelong love of the living world and all its inhabitants.

"We want to live as if there is no other place," Hogan tells us, "as if we will always be here. We want to live with devotion to the world of waters and the universe of life." In offering praise to sky, earth, water, and animals, she calls us to witness how each living thing is alive in a conscious world with its own integrity, grace, and dignity. In Dwellings, Hogan takes us on a spiritual quest borne out of the deep past and offers a more hopeful future as she seeks new visions and lights ancient fires.

 

Earth Changes Update – Hugh Lynn Cayce 1980

Synopsis: Hugh Lynn Cayce looked at the earth change predictions made by Edgar Cayce in the context of what he saw around him in the late 1970s. These include historical earth changes that the earth has gone through: ice-ages, poleshifts, and landmass changes according to the readings. It also looks at present and future earth changes.

 

Edgar Cayce’s Story of the Soul – W. H. Church 1991

Amazon Synopsis: W.H. Church, a scholar of the Edgar Cayce readings, traces the genesis of the soul -- where we came from and where we are going -- in a remarkable work that reveals the spiritual process of creation itself and the divine plan for the soul's eventual salvation.

 

Egyptian Heritage: Based on the Edgar Cayce Readings - Mark Lehner 1974

Book Jacket: This  fascinating account reviews the historical saga presented to us through the psychic channel of Edgar Cayce in light of the academic data availabe concerning Egyptian society in 10,500 BC.

The author first presents the readings' account of Egypt at the time of the migration from Atlantis and the subsequent years during which both the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx were constructed. The emphasis is on the people and their society.

Egyptian Magic – E. A. Wallis Budge 1971

Amazon Synopsis: Sums up all that is known about magic in Ancient Egypt: the role of magic in controlling the gods, powerful amulets that warded off evil spirits, scarabs of immortality, use of wax images, formulas and spells, the secret name, much more.

 

Genesis Revisited - Zecharia Sitchin 1990

Amazon Synopsis: Modern Technology . . . or Knowledge of the Ancients?

Space travel . . . Genetic engineering . . . Computer science . . . Astounding achievements as new as tomorrow. But stunning recent evidence proves that as these ultramodern advances were known to our forfathers millions of yrsterdays ago . . . as early as 3,000 years before the birth of Christ!

In this remarkable companion volume to his landmark EARTH CHRONICLES series, author Zecharia Sitchin reexamines the teachings of the ancients in the light of mankind's latest scientific discoveries -- and uncovers breathtaking, never-before-revealed facts that challenge long-held, conventional beliefs about our planet and our species.

 

The Gold of the Gods – Erich Von Däniken 1974

Goodreads Synopsis: Erich von Daniken, whose books have enthralled millions of readers around the world, now presents astonishing new confirmation for his revolutionary theories.Erich von Daniken's The Gold of the Gods unveils new evidence of an intergalactic "battle of the gods" whose losers retreated to, and settled, Earth. He explores a vast, mysterious underworld of Ecuador-caves filled with gold and writings in solid gold that go back to the time of the Great Flood, bolstering von Daniken's theory of a prehistoric earthly "era of the gods."

 

The Handy Religion Answer Book - John Renard PhD 2012

Amazon Synopsis: Providing detailed descriptions of the beliefs, rituals, history, and organization of the world’s eight major religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto, this fully revised and updated edition is an easy-to-use comparative guide for anyone seeking basic religious literacy. Clearly and eloquently written by a scholar with more than 40 years of study and teaching experience, The Handy Religion Answer Book is organized into chapters on each major religion and contains a wealth of information about their history, beliefs, symbols, membership, leaders, observances, and customs. The reference answers more than 800 questions, such as What is the significance of the Star of David? How did so many different Christian churches come into being? What is the importance of the month of Ramadan? What is an Ayatollah? and Do Taoists believe in heaven and hell?, as well as new questions concerning religion and violence and suborganizations that claim affiliation with the major faith communities. A glossary of religious terminology, maps of the general coverage areas for each religion, and suggestions for further reading are also included.

 

Historical Atlas of the Holy Lands - Karen Farrington 2003

Amazon Synopsis: Nowhere in the world has a more tumultuous history than the Holy Land, that troubled bridge of land that links Asia, Africa and Europe. Today we are used to watching TV news reports covering the region's modern-day conflicts. It is scant consolation to know that equally world-shaping battles were being fought there thousands of years ago. These lands have always been a crossroads of peoples and the stage for a clash of cultures, and the region has bred more than its fair share of heroes, villains, invaders, saints and zealots. Their exploits were woven into a series of religious books chronicling the history of the region that later became known as The Bible. Whatever one's religious beliefs, the Bible contains a wealth of historical fact and an insight into the contemporary culture of the region. This book investigates the background of the Bible, not only re-telling the classic stories but looking at the latest archeological evidence to provide a thoroughly up-to-date account.

 

In Search of Stones – M. Scott Peak, MD 1995

Amazon Synopsis: From the acclaimed author of The Road Less Traveled comes the personal story of his own journey of self-discovery. On a three-week spiritual quest with his wife to see the ancient megalithic stones in the countryside of Wales, England, and Scotland, he gained insight into such issues as parenthood, holiness, romance, art, and his own shortcomings.

 

Jealous Gods and Chosen People: The Mythology of the Middle East - David Leeming 2004

Amazon Synopsis: Esteemed scholar David Leeming, who has authored more than twelve books on mythology, here offers the first comprehensive narrative study of the mythology of the Middle East, that tumultuous region that was the cradle of civilization.

Leeming begins with a brief, engaging history of the Middle East, spanning Neolithic cultures, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the invention of writing and the rise of Egypt and Babylonia, Israel and Roman rule, and the early history of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. This is followed by an in-depth discussion of the mythology of the region, covering individual pantheons, cosmic myths, mythic heroes, and much more. Leeming ranges from prehistoric figures such as the Mother Goddess of Çatal Hüyük to Mesopotamian gods such as Marduk and mythic heroes such as Gilgamesh, to the pantheon of Egyptian mythology, including the falcon-headed sky-sun god Horus and jackal-headed Anubis.

The author also offers an illuminating exploration of the mythology of the three great monotheistic religions of the region: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a provocative Epilogue, Leeming depicts today's crisis in the Middle East as "violent, clearly immoral, and illegal actions" justified by "what can only be called myths." He notes that fundamentalists in the area's three religions all see their way as the only way, forgetting that myths represent truths that are spiritual and philosophical--not historical events that can be used to justify acts of violence.

 The Lost Realms – Zecharia Sitchin 2007

Amazon Synopsis: Book IV of the Earth Chronicles. In the sixteenth century, Spanish conquerors came to the New World in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. Instead, they encountered inexplicable phenomena that have puzzled scholars and historians ever since: massive stone edifices constructed in the Earth's most inaccessible regions . . . great monuments forged with impossible skill and unknown tools . . . intricate carvings describing events and places half a world away.

Who were the bearded "gods of the golden wand" who had brought civilization to the Americas millennia before Columbus? Who were the giants whose sculpted stone heads in Mesoamerica still mystify to this day?

In this remarkably researched fourth volume of The Earth Chronicles, author and explorer Zecharia Sitchin uncovers the long-hidden secrets of the lost New World civilizations of the Olmecs, Aztecs, Mayas and Incas, and links the conquistadors' quest for El Dorado to the extraterrestrials who searched there for gold long before.

 

The Lost Years of Jesus Revealed – Rev. Dr. Charles Francis Potter 1985

Amazon Synopsis: For centuries Christian students of the Bible have wondered where Jesus was and what he did during the so-called "eighteen silent years" between the ages of twelve and thirty.

The amazing and dramatic scrolls of the great Essene library found in cave after cave near the Dead Sea have given us the answer at last.

That during those "lost years" Jesus was a student at this Essene school is becoming increasingly apparent. Scholars are gradually admitting the startling parallels between his doctrines and vocabulary and those of the Essenes and their "Teacher of Righteousness," who was evidently executed nearly a century before the birth of Jesus. It is to his title and authority that Jesus probably succeeded.

 

Physician Heal Thyself... - John M. Allegro 1985

JohnAllegro.org Synopsis: Physician, Heal Thyself, published by Prometheus Books in 1985, looks at the significance of spiritual healing in early Christianity, specifically among the Gnostics and their forebears the Essenes, and as it is reflected in some of the miracles attributed to Jesus. The book examines the nature of the healers’ power and where they believed it came from. John could not and did not try to “explain” miracles of healing in a western, scientific sense, nor did he analyze the medicinal properties of the herbs the Essenes used, but he brings to light the deep religious convictions that drove them to attempt their cures.

Healing in the Essenic tradition, he explains, was only partly a matter of the “investigations into medicinal roots and the properties of minerals” attested by Josephus. It was a spiritual exercise, for all sickness was attributed to possessions by demons, and the first step in the cure was to identify and utter the name of the evil spirit. So, for instance, to cast out the demon controlling the demented outcast at the Gadarene monastery, Jesus summons it by name (Mark 5:1-20).

To call on the help of guardian spirits, it was necessary to know their names. This knowledge of angels was part of Gnosis, the “knowledge of God,” the special enlightenment bestowed by grace on members of the Qumran community, though attained by study and prayer.

Physician, Heal Thyself is slim and readable and was meant to appeal to anyone interested in faith healing either as a historical tradition or in current practice. It could have gone into past and present manifestations of healing in much greater detail to make a more solid intellectual case, but John saw it as a way to provoke popular discussion rather than as academic research.

 

The Religion Book: Places, Prophets, Saints, and Seers - Jim Willis 2004

Amazon Synopsis:  From Aaron (the first high priest of Israel) to Zoroastrianism (once the dominant religion in Persia), The Religion Book provides an encyclopedic look at the practices of yesterday and today. Christians, Buddhists, Wiccans and the rest may have questions about others’ belief or even their own, and The Religion Book expertly explains the similarities, differences, and original ideologies of believers and skeptics around the world.

Are Nirvana and Heaven the same? Who are the Raelians, and why are they cloning people? What’s the difference between Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses? Dogma? Karma? Feng Shui? What do they all mean? Devils, ghosts, the afterlife—do they really exist? If killing’s a sin, why are there jihads? From the prominence of Catholics to the head scratching of the Red Paint People, The Religion Book is the go-to resource for all ages—and it doesn’t require dressing in go-to-meeting clothes.

The Religion Book: Places, Prophets, Saints, and Seers is a reader’s convenient parchment pulpit of easy understanding to some of the most asked-about religious topics. Five hundred–plus pages explore 300 key religious figures, prophets, deities, places, and scriptures that play important roles in the major religions of the world. Willis respectfully explains terms and concepts as they relate to their respective belief systems, whether mainstream, pagan, or cultish.

 

The Riddle of the Bermuda Triangle –Martin Ebon 1975

Synopsis: An interesting read if you're keen on the Bermuda Triangle.

 

The Search For Psychic Power - David Hammond 1975

Book Jacket: There is powerful evidence we are hurtling toward a new era which will change our lives, the Age of Psychic Man. Now read it here. Uri Geller: Modern science cannot explain how this man can bend metal and communicate telepathically. The human mid has begun to change with the incredible development of an astonishing psychic sense.

In this second volume of his trailblazing series The Earth Chronicles, Zecharia Sitchin unveils secrets of the pyramids and hidden clues from ancient times to reveal a grand forgery on which established Egyptology is founded, and takes the reader to the Spaceport and Landing Place of the Anunnaki gods—"Those Who from Heaven to Earth Came."

 

Transformations of Myth Through Time – Joseph Campbell 1990

Amazon Synopsis: The renowned master of mythology is at his warm, accessible, and brilliant best in this illustrated collection of thirteen lectures covering mythological development around the world.

 

The 12th Planet – Zecharia Sitchin 2007

Amazon Synopsis: Book I of the Earth Chronicles. Over the years, startling evidence has been uncovered, challenging established notions of the origins of life on Earth—evidence that suggests the existence of an advanced group of extraterrestrials who once inhabited our world.

The first book of the revolutionary Earth Chronicles series offers indisputable documentary evidence of the existence of the mysterious planet Nibiru and tells why its astronauts came to Earth eons ago to fashion mankind in their image.

The product of more than thirty years of meticulous research, The 12th Planet treats as fact, not myth, the tales of Creation, the Deluge, the Tower of Babel, and the Nefilim who married the daughters of man. By weaving together the biblical narrative with Sumerian and Babylonian clay-tablet texts, it challenges the established notions of the origins of Earth and mankind, and offers a compelling alternative history and prehistory of both.

 

The Wars of Gods and Men – Zecharia Sitchin 2007

Amazon Synopsis: Book III of the Earth Chronicles. Thousands of years ago, the Earth was a battlefield. These were the wars that would shape man's destiny—terrible conflicts that began lifetimes earlier on another planet.

Parting the mists of time and myth, the internationally renowned scholar Zecharia Sitchin takes us back in this volume to the violent beginnings of the human story, when gods—not men—ruled the Earth.

In a spellbinding reconstruction of epic events preserved in legends and ancient writings, he traces the conflicts that began on another world, continued on Earth, and culminated in the use of nuclear weapons—an event recorded in the Bible as the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm - Layne Redmond 1997

Amazon Synopsis: In this long-awaited, lavishly illustrated book, drummer Layne Redmond presents an empowering narrative history of the sacred drum in the ancient Goddess civilization, using her extensive collection of images gathered during more than five years of research and travel in the Mideast and Europe. 80 photos & drawings.

 

The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca and Neo-pagnism - Raymond Buckland

Amazon Synopsis: With 560 entries, a resource section, and 114 photos and illustrations, this is an exhaustive A-to-Z exploration of people, places, events, literature, and other matters related to this ever-timely and popular topic. It defines both the darker Christian concept and the true concept of Wicca, concentrating on the Western European and later New World versions of Witchcraft and magic and its history.

 

When Time Began - Zecharia Sitchin 2007

Amazon Synopsis: Book V of the Earth Chronicles. They came to Earth thousands of years ago to usher in mankind's first New Age of scientific growth and spiritual enlightenment. Under the guidance of these ancient visitors from the heavens, human civilisation flourished - as revolutionary advances in art, science and thought swept through the inhabited world. And they left behind magnificent monuments -- baffling monoliths and awesome, towering structures that stand to this day as testaments to their greatness.

In this extraordinarily documented, meticulously researched work, Zecharia Sitchin draws remarkable correlations between the events that shape our civilisation in millennia past - pinpointing with astonishing accuracy the tumultuous beginning of time as we know it . . . and revealing to us the indisputable signature of extraterrestrial god indelibly written in stone.

 

The World Before – Ruth Montgomery 1995

Amazon Synopsis: In 1971, Arthur Ford gave Ruth Montgomery six predictions, published in A World Beyond. Every one has come true! In The World Before, he and the Guides offer secret lore of the past and startling new glimpses of the future.

Here is the extraordinary story of Creation and the fabulous lost worlds of Atlantis and Mu, the past lives of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Jackie Onassis, Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and other celebrities. The World Before forecasts things to come, among them:

-- A solution to the world's energy problem...

-- A reduction in crime throughout America...

-- The rise of a new national leader -- in Germany...

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