{"product_id":"the-secret-of-the-five-rites-in-search-of-a-lost-western-tradition-of-inner-alchemy-9781801520652","title":"The Secret of the Five Rites: In Search of a Lost Western Tradition of Inner Alchemy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn investigation of T\u003cem\u003ehe\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eEye of Revelation, \u003c\/em\u003e a system of inner alchemy meant to awaken the subtle powers of the human body and mind.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis book examines in detail a short book, often referred to as \u003cem\u003eThe Five Tibetans\u003c\/em\u003e that was published in 1939 teaching a simple yet effective set of five exercises for health and longevity, the Five Rites.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCertain dietary rules and lifestyle principles accompanied the Rites, so did a Sixth Rite that worked the diaphragm muscles and redirected sexual energies, and also a set of teachings about seven energy centers or vortices in the body, though not the same as the well-known seven chakras along the spine.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese vortices are among the most distinctive things about the system, and are found in only a scattered handful of sources elsewhere. It is by awakening the vortices to their normal rate of spin, the book claims, that the Rites achieve their effects.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJohn Michael Greer follows each of these threads back as far as possible, to reveal something of the landscape of ideas and practices that gave rise to these remarkable exercises.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHe then spins the threads back together, putting the Five Rites in as much of their original context as he can, and describing in detail the practice of the broader system in which the Rites have their place--a system of inner alchemy meant to awaken certain subtle powers of the human body and mind.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe book also includes the complete original text of \u003cem\u003eThe Eye of Revelation\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Michael Greer\u003c\/strong\u003e is the award-winning author of more than fifty books, including 'The New Encyclopedia of the Occult', 'The Druidry Handbook', 'The Celtic Golden Dawn', and 'Circles of Power: An Introduction to Hermetic Magic'. An initiate in Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, Greer served as the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA) for twelve years. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife Sara. Greer is also the author of eleven fantasy and science fiction novels and ten nonfiction books on peak oil and the future of industrial society, and also blogs weekly on politics, magic, and the future at www.ecosophia.net.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Aeon Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50626716598546,"sku":"9781801520652","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5cfd0881-7434-4375-ad34-76d7e6b2cbf1.jpg?v=1732666927","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-secret-of-the-five-rites-in-search-of-a-lost-western-tradition-of-inner-alchemy-9781801520652","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}