| As one of the oldest magickal religions that never | | | | good and evil. By beginning each day in this way, |
| wavered from its traditional way of thinking, Hinduism | | | | they attune themselves with the Universe and |
| has survived onslaughts from the rest of the world | | | | validate their place in it. They are essential part of a |
| without swaying from its course over the millenniums | | | | greater whole." |
| of its existence and stands as a bright, shining | | | | Although Hindus believe in worshipping many Gods |
| beacon to the magickal people all over the world. | | | | and Goddesses, its important for anyone new to |
| Stephen Huyler, a photographer and cultural | | | | Hinduism to know that all Hindus believe in the Unity |
| anthropologist who has spent more than three | | | | of One great God: the Absolute, often knows as |
| decades traveling in India and documenting the | | | | Brahman. (Do not mistake the Brahman for "Brahmin", |
| contemporary spells and rituals of worship in Hinduism. | | | | which is only a caste in India.) |
| The 260 plus pages in the book have fascinating | | | | The Brahman, also known as the One is believed to |
| pictures that allow the reader to imagine life as it was | | | | be a cosmic Force. The universe is relative, ever |
| 4000 years ago because nothing much has changed | | | | changing, whereas its source, the Absolute, is the |
| in India with regards to the deep awareness of the | | | | only permanent thing that never changes but |
| sacred, spiritual component of all human activity, their | | | | manifests itself through the deities. |
| daily rituals and their ways of meeting the Divine. I | | | | Stephen takes the reader through many fascinating |
| quote: | | | | pictures of people in the process of Darshan (seeing |
| "Early in the morning, before the sun's first rays peek | | | | God). The mantras (spells) and poojas (rituals) are |
| above the sandy horizon, some of the followers take | | | | described vividly along with the descriptions of |
| three steps into waters of the Ganges, and pray to | | | | Karma, Dharma and Vedic rituals that originated 4000 |
| Goddess Ganga, while they visualize her magnificence, | | | | or more years ago. |
| her nurturing presence as the purifier and Mother of | | | | Dharma is the supreme law of righteousness, while |
| All Existence. As the sun's rays appear, they begin | | | | Karma is the law of cause and effect based on the |
| chanting to the Sun God, Surya, the Source of All | | | | fundamental belief that every action creates an equal |
| Energy, the Great Provider. In acknowledging the | | | | reaction. It is also called the doctrine of absolute |
| two (Water and Sun energy), they also acknowledge | | | | responsibility; everything we do or even think has its |
| the One, for in Hinduism, the supreme deity is the | | | | repercussions. This belief is also linked to |
| absolute component of opposites, of feminine and | | | | reincarnation, which states that the soul is eternal, |
| masculine, of dark and light, of wrong and right, of | | | | reborn continuously. |