Mitchell's IONS Celebrates 40 Years in 2013

As Cosimo looks to holiday celebrations and preparing for the new year, we are excited to congratulate our author Edgar Mitchell on the 40th anniversary of founding the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). Festivities officially begin on January 20, 2013, with a gala celebrating 40 years of consciousness research by the institute.

Mitchell, also an Apollo 14 astronaut, founded IONS in 1973 as an institute for researching beyond physical science. Psychic Explorations, his anthology on psychic research, was originally published the following year and offers insight into the issues explored by noetic sciences.

We wish Mitchell and IONS a great year of celebration and findings!

Happy Birthday Bram Stoker!

As the Google home page will attest, today is the 165th birthday of Bram Stoker, famous author of Dracula. Cosimo Classics carries the well-known and much-parodied book in both paperback and hardcover, as well as one of Stoker's many lesser-known nonfiction essays, Famous Impostors. Check them out in honor of Stoker's big day!

Barbara Bizou’s Joy of Family Ritual is May’s Book of the Month

With mother’s day around the corner, it made sense for us to choose a book about families and celebrating families for our book of the month.  Every day families are performing rituals: eating dinner together, celebrating birthdays, taking walks, and more. Most activities families do together become rituals for how they grow and live as a family. 

The Joy of Family Rituals: Recipes for Everyday Living is a recipe book for families who want to further enrich their lives with rituals. By reflecting on the significance of the everyday rituals and making them a part of daily life, families can strengthen their bond. Rituals help a family communicate, foster spiritual connections, and provide a secure foundation for growth. Though rituals are probably already a part of your family life, The Joy of Family Ritual can help incorporate even more rituals into your daily life.

BARBARA BIZIOU is an internationally acclaimed teacher of practical spirituality and global rituals. She is a life coach, voice dialogue facilitator, interfaith minister, and motivational speaker. She has lectured and taught around the world. She currently resides in New York managing her company, Blue Lotus Productions. You can visit her online at www.joyofritual.com. 

Saint Patrick's Day, more than just a break from lent

Saturday is Saint Patrick’s Day. A day that has become associated with leprechauns, beer, and corned beef, is really a celebration of Saint Patrick who was responsible for bringing Christianity to Ireland. His technique of using the Shamrock to describe the Holy Trinity is well-known and one of the reasons he was chosen as the Patron Saint of Ireland. 

Saint Patrick’s Day is traditionally celebrated with a church service in the morning, the color green, and an Irish Feast. Many countries now celebrate this holiday and each has their own way of doing so. Ireland has a five day festival that includes parades. Argentina holds an all night party and those in attendance drink nothing but beer. Canada celebrates with one of the longest running St. Patrick’s Day parades in North America. Even Japan celebrates this day with some parades and fun. The United States celebrates with the typical feast, drinking, green adorned celebrations, and of course parades. 

While all these celebrations are great in their own way, they all are focused on one thing: celebrating Saint Patrick, a man who many know very little about. If you’re an avid St. Patrick’s Day celebrator, then perhaps this year you’d like to know a little about the man you’re celebrating. Read The Life of St. Patrick and His Place in History by J.B. Bury to find out more about this fascinating saint who is more widely celebrated than any other saint.