Daily Kabbalah: Wisdom from the Tree of Life

By Gershon Winkler and Andrew Weil, M.D.

From sorcery to animal totems, buzzard feathers to hawk spirits, talking trees to magical stones, sacred circles to healing rituals, the Kabbalah brings readers a rich body of ancient wisdom that has been long neglected and even longer misunderstood. The Kabbalah celebrates a quality of consciousness that enables one to experience magic in the ordinary, miracles in the natural course of events, and spirituality in the physical. Its roots are as old and rich as most aboriginal shamanic traditions, sharing in common with many of them the belief that all of creation is alive, from animals and plants to the sun and the moon.The uniqueness of this book lies in its selections from this rare tradition of Jewish mystery wisdom. Culled from ancient and medieval Hebraic and Aramaic sources, much of this material has been hidden in dusty archives or obscure translations. These short selected readings are intended as contemplative, inspirational, and even entertaining extracts. As short as a few lines or as long as a page, they are translated and paraphrased here to render them accessible to readers of all backgrounds and spiritual paths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781583944790

Gershon Winkler

Gershon Winkler has been described as everything from a brazen trickster of folklore and a mischievous maverick (Intermountain Jewish News, Denver) to combining the wit of Robin Williams with the wisdom of the Baal Shem Tov (The Jerusalem Post). The Los Angeles Times called him a rarity, while the Wall Street Journal in a front-page feature described him as a man who travels an unusual path and ruffles feathers. Noted by Four Corners Magazine for his irrevent reverence, the author has won the hearts and boggled the minds of many through his books, lectures and articles for well over 40 years. Gershon grows corn, writes David Carson, Choctaw Elder and co-author of the bestselling Medicine Cards. He celebrates the wind. He is a friend of Spider, Magpie, and Lizard. He lives with storms, with the crash of lightning, with rainbows. He is a laughing Buddha and a Coyote Trickster. Author of fifteen books, mostly on Jewish history, mystery, law and lore, Winkler has lectured and served as Scholar-in-Residence at colleges and universities, and for intercultural conferences and retreats across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America and Israel. His is a powerful voice that tells a credible story, and with a wonderful sense of humor, writes Dr. Carl Hammerschlag, author of Theft of the Spirit and Dancing Healers. With wit and wisdom, says bestselling author and health guru Dr. Andrew Weil, Gershon renders user-friendly the more cryptic teachings of ancient source texts and oral traditions in a way that inspires and informs our lives.