"The social structure of contemporary Korea contains strong echoes of the hierarchical principles and patterns governing stratification in the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910): namely, birth and one’s position in the bureaucracy. At the beginning of Korea’s modern era, the bureaucracy continued to exert great influence, but developments undermined, instead of reinforced, aristocratic dominance. Furthermore, these changes elevated the secondary status groups of the Chosŏn dynasty, those who had belonged to hereditary, endogamous tiers of government and society between the aristocracy and the commoners: specialists in foreign languages, law, medicine, and accounting; the clerks who ran local administrative districts; the children and descendants of concubines; the local elites of the northern provinces; and military officials. These groups had languished in subordinate positions in both the bureaucratic and social hierarchies for hundreds of years under an ethos and organization that, based predominantly on family lineage, consigned them to a permanent place below the Chosŏn aristocracy. As the author shows, the political disruptions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, rewarded talent instead of birth. In turn, these groups’ newfound standing as part of the governing elite allowed them to break into, and often dominate, the cultural, literary, and artistic spheres as well as politics, education, and business."

Explaining how the planet’s myriad crises are actually the birth pangs of a new Earth, this inspired exploration is Barbara Marx Hubbard’s prophetic call for a planetary shift. It explores the aftermath of the coming planetary renaissance that she has heralded for decades, and introduces an established popular global movement to cocreate a massive transition around a symbolic “Planetary Birthday” event on December 22, 2012. This volume features 12 evolutionary pioneers’ commentary on the author’s key themes of collective birth and conscious evolution, aiming to foster the emergence of a sustainable planetary civilization. Featured contributors include Ervin Laszlo, Michael Beckwith, Jack Canfield, Jean Houston, and Neale Donald Walsch.

Many older women spend months, if not years, trying for motherhood, then endure an anxious pregnancy wondering if they are eating and exercising properly. Fitness expert Suzy Clarkson has been there. Her first pregnancy at the age of 38 was relatively trouble-free, but trying to get pregnant again a few years later was very different. Following fertility treatment, she finally gave birth to her second child at the age of 45. Qualified in physiotherapy, Suzy has now devised a practical guide to assist older women through their pregnancies, using her own experiences of motherhood to support her text. This easy-to-follow fitness program will take you through each trimester, showing suitable exercises and suggesting how to develop healthy habits to achieve a safe outcome, a successful childbirth and a speedy recovery afterwards. The book is fully illustrated with step-by-step photographs showing the exercises in detail. The information she provides is based on the latest research, and is endorsed by leading specialists in obstetrics and fertility. But the book is more than its exercises. Suzy is a 'real mum' who offers encouragement and a compassionate helping hand to all older mothers. Fit for Birth and Beyond is the guide you can trust and use with confidence.

‘Marie Louise is a dream come true for any parent with her uncanny ability to simplify the most important and complicated questions’ Emma Bunton, co-founder of Kit and Kin Whether you are planning for a baby, just found out you are pregnant or well into your third trimester, this book will help you to feel confident, informed and inspired about your exciting journey ahead. Through years of work with families, Senior Midwife Marie Louise reveals the key things that will make the biggest, most positive difference to you and your baby as you navigate these life-changing months. As well as this, Marie Louise is renowned for bringing complex science to life. You’ll discover fascinating facts that underpin everything you and your baby will go through, including - - How your nervous system is synced with your baby and why baby already knows a lot about you when they are born - The unique process your baby goes through to pass through the birth canal and how you work together in labour - Incredible facts about breast milk Packed with the most up-to-date findings and expert insights, you'll find everything you need to prepare for motherhood and, most importantly, understand and appreciate just how amazing you and your baby both are!

Along comes a global pandemic coronavirus, COVID-19, and our world is turned upside down. Can the idea of samsara shed any light on all this terrible suffering, turmoil and change? Are we all travelling around the ever-turning cycle of samsara, being born, dying, then reborn - again, and again, and again? Does our life, the things that happen to us, and our death, have any meaning? What do Hinduism, Buddhism, and samsara tell us about suffering, life and death? Could spiritual dimensions exist or do we live in a purely material universe? What is consciousness and does it die when our bodies die? Are rebirth or reincarnation even possible? Can we have spirituality without religion? What, if anything, might spirituality or religion mean in a turbulent and unpredictable twenty-first century? Do mysticism, psychedelics, science and quantum physics offer clues to any of these questions? Take a journey with the author through the fascinating cultures of Nepal, India, Bali and Cambodia and explore their rich traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and samsara. Part exploration of spirituality and religion, part travel adventure to places of astonishing diversity, this book will get you thinking about your own beliefs, life and death, and where those might fit in to a bigger picture.

Focusing on the entire journey; from pregnancy through to early parenthood, this guide to living mindfully for expectant mothers helps prepare you for birth and improve your wellbeing with the ancient practice of mindfulness. When we talk about making something, it usually refers to creating, manipulating, or forming a material. In pregnancy, our bodies are wrapped up in doing all of these things at once, and on a grand scale. But in the act of making space in ourselves through mindfulness, none of these things apply. In Mindful Pregnancy & Birth we engage in an act of "not doing". Of not changing, but of simply "being" in the experience of ourselves. Pregnancy is a phase in which to reconcile what has been, with what will become. It is a process, a time of change, and even more so for a first-time mother. It is a recognition of our dreams for the future being in transit, in gestation, in the making.

For more than 32 years, Stephen and Ondrea Levine have provided emotional and spiritual support to those who face life-threatening illness and their caregivers; deeply affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the process. The Healing I Took Birth For, which was begun after Ondrea’s own medical prognosis that foretold the end of a lifetime of spiritual exploration, is the culmination of her work. Their collaboration, in the service of the dying, especially during the height of the AIDS epidemic, set them both more deeply on the path of compassion—compassion for self, for others, for all. The Healing I Took Birth For is the heartfelt sharing of Ondrea’s life of service and a deeply inspiring example of how one faces illness and great personal difficulties, with a deep spiritual practice and grace. It is the most “intimate collaboration” she and Stephen have worked on and it will inspire readers to find their own way toward living a life of compassion.

The epoch of representation is as old as the West. Indeed, representation is the West, understood as what at once designates and expands its own limits. But what comes after the West? What comes after representation's disclosure of its own limit? The central problem posed in these essays, collected from over a decade of work, is how in the wake of Western ontologies to conceive the coming, the birth that characterizes being. We are now at the limit of representation, where objects as we experience them have been show to be merely objects of representation--or rather, of presentation, since there is nothing to (re)present. The first part of this book, "Existence," asks how, today, one can give sense of meaning to existence as such, arguing that existence itself, as it comes nude into the world, must now be our "sense." In examining what this birth to presence might be, we should not ask what presence "is"; rather we should conceive presence as presence to someone, including to presence itself. This birth is not the constitution of an identity, but the endless departure of an identity from, and from within, its other, or others. Its coming is not desire but jouissance, the joy of averring oneself to be continually in the state of being born--a rejoicing of birth, a birth of rejoicing. The second section, "Poetry," asks: What art exposes this? In writing, in the voice, in painting? And what if art is exposed to it? How does it inscribe (or rather, "exscribe," in a term the book develops) the coming existence as such? The author's trajectory in this book crosses those of Hegel, Schlegel, Baudelaire, Nietzsche, Freud, and Heidegger, in their comments on art and politics, existence and corporeality, everyday life and its modes of existence and ecstasy. An analysis that dares this crossing involves all the varied accounts of existence, political as well as philosophical, and all the realms of poverty.

Birth control offers women the opportunity to prevent pregnancy, plan and space their births, or have no births at all. And yet, in the United States, half of all pregnancies remain unintended, and access to birth control is beset by inequities in education, access, and coverage. Research indicates that women are familiar with the range of contraceptive methods available today. But the persistently high rates of unintended pregnancy, combined with common dissatisfaction and discontinuation, suggest that women's contraceptive needs continue to be unmet. Birth Control: What Everyone Needs to Know® will offer more than a user's guide to available means of contraception: it will examine how supported family-planning infrastructure impacts society as a whole. Through reviews of policy, scientific literature, and supplemental interviews with women, it will uncover women's concerns and apprehensions about contraception, as well as the ways birth control empowers women and increases access to educational and professional opportunities. It will provide an overview the history of birth control, the risks and benefits of contraception, the role of menstruation, and the future of birth control. The goal of this book is to provide accurate, unbiased scientific information about contraception in the context of women's lived experiences and the realities of how individuals make decisions about birth control.

PRACTICAL ASTROLOGY Know Your Future with or Without Birth Chart This book aims to empower you to navigate life with a deeper understanding of the celestial forces that shape your path. Whether you are seeking guidance on relationships, career decisions, or personal growth, "Practical Astrology" offers practical insights that can be applied in real-life scenarios. As you embark on this journey, remember that astrology is not about predicting a predetermined fate but understanding the energies at play and making conscious choices that align with your authentic self. So, whether you have your birth chart or not, embark on this exploration with an open mind, and may Practical Astrology be a guiding light on your path to self-discovery.