Every January millions of people crowd the seashore to receive the blessings of lemanja, goddess of the sea. All year long in terreiros in Brazil and around the world, Orixa worshipers revel in the divine presence of the living Gods, directly experiencing the sacred energy of the universe. Macumba is a way of life and belief that is followed by 15 million Brazilians, as well as millions more across the Western Hemisphere. Yet it-along with its sister-religions of Vodun, Santeria, and Ifa-remains a little known and largely misunderstood spiritual path. This book is a welcome introduction to a rich and profound tradition whose roots lie in ancient Africa. In a series of interviews, Maria José, a Mae de Santo (Mother of the Gods), explains the philosophy and practice of Macumba. She introduces the Orixas, a pantheon of deities who survived the Middle Passage to Brazil along with the African slaves. With humor and grace she describes the essence of Macumba, the divine interaction between humans and living gods, and the spiritual regeneration of its followers. Meet a fascinating Mother of Gods and discover another path to wisdom. Learn to listen to the drumbeat-heartbeat of the mystical universe as it continues to deepen and expand. Saravá Umbanda!

Macumba: The teachings of Maria-Jose, mother of the gods

Bramly, Serge

St.Martin's Press

Every January millions of people crowd the seashore to receive the blessings of lemanja, goddess of the sea. All year long in terreiros in Brazil and around the world, Orixa worshipers revel in the divine presence of the living Gods, directly experiencing the sacred energy of the universe.  Macumba is a way of life and belief that is followed by 15 million Brazilians, as well as millions more across the Western Hemisphere. Yet it-along with its sister-religions of Vodun, Santeria, and Ifa-remains a little known and largely misunderstood spiritual path. This book is a welcome introduction to a rich and profound tradition whose roots lie in ancient Africa.  In a series of interviews, Maria José, a Mae de Santo (Mother of the Gods), explains the philosophy and practice of Macumba. She introduces the Orixas, a pantheon of deities who survived the Middle Passage to Brazil along with the African slaves. With humor and grace she describes the essence of Macumba, the divine interaction between humans and living gods, and the spiritual regeneration of its followers.  Meet a fascinating Mother of Gods and discover another path to wisdom. Learn to listen to the drumbeat-heartbeat of the mystical universe as it continues to deepen and expand. Saravá Umbanda!

Macumba: The Teachings of Maria-Jose, Mother of the Gods

AVON.

The woman in Leonardo da Vinci's work gazes out from the canvas with a quiet serenity. But what lies behind the famous smile? Shrouded in mystery, the Mona Lisa has attracted more speculation and questioning than any other work of art ever created. This work provides an "aide memoire" of the world's most famous painting. The full-page colour plates portray the Mona Lisa in close-up photographs, while Serge Bramly, the author, explores its shadowy history and the fascination the painting has engendered.

MONA LISA

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Thames&Hudson

Macumba: The Teachings of Maria-José, Mother of the Gods

Religion & Spirituality

City Lights Publishers

The women of China are often pictured in the West with an outdated, stereotypical image of submissive and subjugated ladies, quietly waiting at the beck and call of men. But, as famed erotic photographer Bettina Rheims reveals in Shanghai, once visitors catch a glimpse of Shanghainese women, they will stand corrected.  Throughout China, the women of Shanghai are renowned for being beautiful and delicate creatures. But at home they are known as “tricky wives” who make their husbands do as they say. At the office, they are relentless professionals who display equal, if not more, competitiveness than the men. These women likewise take the lead all over China in fashion, displaying such decorous and audacious taste alike as to keep the country watching. Once a walled village, Shanghai has now become China’s leading industrial city, expanding in such a rush as to leave even its residents in a swirl of expectations. Shanghai is hip, trendy, and young, the city with the highest developing business rate in the world, a place of history and tomorrow and, as is amply evident in Shanghai, a very sexy place. In a tour de force through this ancient city and fabled culture, Rheims beautifully stages photographs of real women from all walks of life. Engaged in an ardent search for the spirit of Shanghai’s women, Rheims and writer Serge Bramly instead found a place so fast-paced, so quickly evolving, that their quest was rendered moot. Western eyes could not define or encapsulate the ineffable essence of Shanghai’s women. So much can be said of the women in Shanghai, the least of which is the ancient Chinese proverb: “Men have their say, but women have their way.”

Shanghai

Serge Bramly

Photography & Video

powerHouse Books

I.N.R.I.: Iesus Nazareus Rex Iuderoum; Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. The story of Jesus has been continually reinvented and reinterpreted, in fact and in fiction, over the course of the last two millennia. Yet the visual iconography has remained largely that of the Renaissance. Now, at the turn of the twenty-first century, writer Serge Bramly and photographer Bettina Rheims have turned to photography -- the most contemporary of art forms -- as well as to the original biblical texts and legends to present the life and death of Jesus in a series of stunning tableaux and an evocative, meaningful text. The words of the apostles are retold in contemporary and accessible language, at once a rereading, synthesis, transposition, and commentary on the four gospels. In the photographs, characters such as Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene are placed in sites ranging from the beautiful island of Majorca, Spain, to an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Paris. Jesus' birth occurs in a rough garage, where he is attended not only by the three kings but by people drawn from the surrounding streets; his miracles and cures address the ailments of all times; the Sermon on the Mount is a dramatic piece of performance art; and his crucifixion is that of every man, and every woman. Bramly and Rheims' re-creation of the ancient story is a true modern icon.

I.N.R.I.

Rheims, Bettina

Literature & Fiction

The Monacelli Press

Over 130 of the greatest depictions of the kiss in art are accompanied by insightful commentary in this handsome volume. The depiction of the kiss has held special significance throughout the history of art, from classical antiquity to the present. A symbol of erotic passion or maternal love but equally of betrayal and death, the kiss represents one of the greatest legendary motifs. Spanning the ages and the globe, this volume explores the emphasis placed by certain cultures and artists on "the meeting of lips." From Hayez’s medieval kissers to Klimt’s iconic symbolist painting, and from Ingres’s Francesca and Paolo to Picasso’s ethereal cubist couple, this book explains the passionate undertones of the world’s greatest masterpieces. The evocative text is illustrated by works ranging from Hokusai to Cindy Sherman via Mary Cassat, Brancusi, and Lichtenstein.

The Kiss: A Celebration of Love in Art

Flammarion

I.N.R.I (French Edition)

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

ALBIN MICHEL

Le Premier Principe, Le Second Principe (Littérature) (French Edition)

Literary

Livre De Poche

The woman in Leonardo da Vinci's work gazes out from the canvas with a quiet serenity. But what lies behind the famous smile? Shrouded in mystery, the Mona Lisa has attracted more speculation and questioning than any other work of art ever created. This work provides an "aide memoire" of the world's most famous painting. The full-page colour plates portray the Mona Lisa in close-up photographs, while Serge Bramly, the author, explores its shadowy history and the fascination the painting has engendered.

Mona Lisa, The Enigma (Memoire)

Assouline Publishing

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