Kyriacos C. Markides

In a collection of reflections, dialogues, history, and travelogue, an authority in Christian mysticism examines the spiritual traditions, ritual, and practice of Greek Orthodoxy and the role of Orthodox spirituality in a complex, modern world. Reprint.

A Search for Orthodox Spirituality

The Mountain of Silence

a pilgrimage to the heart of Christian spirituality

Inner river

Ever since his childhood, Kyriacos C. Markides has heard mysterious rumors concerning the Magus of Strovolos, Cyprus’s “specialist of the netherworld.” When he returns to Cyprus as an adult, Markides seeks out this master healer and spiritual teacher, to discover the old man for himself. Armed with the skepticism he learned as a sociologist, combined with his passion to explore the inner world and beliefs of this strange Magus, Markides soon learns to appreciate the power and wisdom of this peaceful and humorous soul. From his exorcism of a Jewish girl haunted by Nazi ghosts to his theory of reincarnation, the Magus reveals to Markides the extraordinary secrets of his philosophy, challenging Western materialism and science, and pointing towards vast domains we normally cannot see. In writing The Magus of Strovolos, Markides seeks to bring the master healer’s teachings to the world. By reading it, we too undertake his spiritual journey.

The Extraordinary World of a Spiritual Healer

The Magus of Strovolos

Healers, Sages, and Mystics (Arkana)

Fire in the Heart

The Wisdom of the Magus of Strovolos

Homage to the Sun

The Forgotten Path of Christian Spirituality

Gifts of the Desert

Eleni S. Nikita

Elengo N. Rangou

Social Change in a Cypriot Village

Lysi

In Kyriacos C. Markides’s newest book, Eastern Orthodox mysticism meets Western Christianity as the internationally renowned author takes readers on a deep journey back in time to unveil the very roots of authentic spirituality. In his previous book The Mountain of Silence, Markides introduced us to the essential spiritual nature of Eastern Orthodoxy in a series of lively conversations with Father Maximos, the widely revered charismatic Orthodox bishop and former abbot of the isolated monastery on Mount Athos. In Gifts of the Desert, Markides continues his examination of Easter Orthodox mystical teachings and practices and captures its living expression through visits to monasteries and hermitages in Greece and America and interviews with contemporary charismatic elders, both male and female. Markides’s pursuit of a deeper understanding of Orthodoxy takes him to the deserts of Arizona and a stay at a new monastery in Sedona; to the island of Cyprus and a reunion with Father Maximos; on a pilgrimage to holy shrines aboard a cruise ship in the Aegean Sea; and finally to the legendary Mount Athos, home to more than two thousand Orthodox monks. Markides relates his journey and reflections in a captivating style while providing important background material and information on historical events to give readers a highly accessible, in-depth portrait of a tradition little known in the West. Gifts of the Desert will appeal to a wide range of people, from Christians seeking insights into their religion and its various expressions to scholars interested in learning more about the mystical way of life and wisdom that have been preserved on Mount Athos since the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the Great Schism that separated the Eastern and Western Churches. Perhaps most important, however, is the bridge it offers contemporary readers to a Christian life that is balanced between the worldly and the spiritual.

Professor Markides continues his quest for the nature of reality, mind, self, and ultimate divinity, searching within diverse sources of wisdom on a journey that takes him from Maine to New York to London to Cyprus and on to ancient monasteries on the coast of Greece. His revelation of a vital, living mystical practice, based in ancient Christian thought, is a major step in linking the most esoteric traditions of the East to the largely hidden esoteric traditions of the West.

In Search of Mystical Christianity

Riding with the Lion

This book is Professor Markides’s capstone work. It addresses his valiant and often turbulent struggles and riveting adventures to adapt to American society within the bounds of contemporary hyper secular academia. The result is an intellectual and spiritual odyssey that can inspire any reader interested in addressing life’s perennial questions.

A Quest for Spirit in a Skeptical Age

The Accidental Immigrant

  Calatorind vreme indelungata in intreaga lume in cautarea unei ghidari spirituale autentice, autorul il intalneste in final pe „parintele Maximos”, un duhovnic charismatic, fost Protos (guvernator) al Sfantului Munte Athos si totodata ucenic direct al unuia dintre cei mai sporiti „batrani” (Geronda) ai secolului trecut: Sfantul Paisie Aghioritul.

Sub indrumarea duhovniceasca a parintelui Maximos, „batran” in intelepciune, dar tanar de ani, autorul desluseste pas cu pas tainele „Caii Intreite” isihaste, fiind instruit in paza gandurilor, Rugaciunea lui Iisus si multe alte subiecte care tin de nevointa crestina (askesis).

Departe de a avea un ritm monoton si un ton arhaic, care poate fi uneori intalnit in lucrarile de acest gen, acest „jurnal isihast” este scris intr-un ton alert, modern, adresandu-se plin de intelegere laicului dezorientat al acestui mileniu, fie el si ateu pentru moment, urmarind sa-l convinga ca spiritualitatea autentica (dincolo de dogme si superstitii), spiritualitatea vie a Inimii, poate fi gasita si in propria sa vecinatate, nu neaparat pe meleaguri straine.


Muntele Tacerii: in cautarea spiritualitatii ortodoxe

Discusses the teachings of Daskalos and Kostas, two Greek Cypriot healers who use out-of-body travel to heal people in this and other dimensions

Healers, Sages, and Mystics

"In this vivd account, Kyriacos C. Markides introduces us to the rich and intricate world of Daskalos, the Magus of Strovolos. In what appears at first to be an exercise in fantasy, we see Daskalos draw on a seemingly unlimited mixture of esoteric teachings, psychology, reincarnation, demonology, cosmology and mysticism, from both the Eastern and Western traditions. But Daskalos is first and foremost a healer, whose work is firmly rooted in a belief in 'Holyspirit', or absolute love, and whose aim is the expansion of reason and spiritual evolution".-- Cover.

Kyriacos C. Markides

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