MSI Press Blog

  Religious conversion often evokes images of long personal journeys, doctrinal shifts, or community transitions. But what happens when transformation isn’t gradual, but immediate—ignited by a direct encounter with the sacred? In the language of Mircea Eliade, this breakthrough is called hierophany : the eruption of the sacred into the profane world, reshaping not just belief, but perception, identity, and purpose.🔍 What Is Hierophany? Hierophany (from the Greek hieros meaning sacred and phainein meaning to reveal) describes moments when the sacred reveals itself—whether through visions, natural phenomena, ritual acts, or sacred texts. These events break the normal flow of time and space, marking the moment as “other,” saturated with divine meaning. Think Moses at the burning bush, Paul on the road to Damascus, or even less-scripted, deeply personal revelations sparked by dreams, crises, or encounters with beauty so profound it borders on the eternal. ✨ Conversion Through Con...

  What is a  book jewel ? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Each month, we share near-daily, or as often as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is  Understanding the People around You , a classic by Ekaterina Filatova. Description: This book is a translation and update by the author of her popular Russian-language book on people types. The field of socionics (personality type along the lines of Jung's theories) is fully covered in this book for American readers; the author is one of the leading socionists in Russia/Europe. The examples and discussions are written at a lay level and are meant for ...

  Excerpt from Understanding the Analyst (Quinelle) -  WHO IS THE ANALYST The Analyst is an Intuitive Thinking Introvert (TII), who is also Rational. As such, he or she is a combination of the three expressed traits and the unexpressed trait, Rationality (emphasis on the Jungian definition, not the English language lay definition).  Some might say that he reminds one of Mr. Spock, of the television and movie series Star Trek . (The resemblance is clear enough that when my 10-year-old Analyst son was through-hiking the Appalachian Trail with his father, he was referred to by other through-hikers as “Spock,” though his official AT moniker was “Puff.”) Certainly, too, one would find many an Analyst in Silicon Valley; if one were to stereotype the geek world, it would contain mostly Analyst features.  Filatova describes the Analyst in the following way: The most notable attributes of Analysts are a lanky body and a hollow cheeked face, often with an elon...