Ancient religions and Mythologies Books

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Book SynopsisUncover the elusive spark that permeates all things, awaken your psychic senses, and tap into your creativity with the help of nature, magic, and the spirit world. Using philosophy, science, and experiential learning, Wonderment encourages you to embark on a journey of profound spiritual change. Author and travel journalist Amber C. Snider uses her personal journey as a framework to explore the link between esoteric concepts and spiritual experiences. Demonstrated through stories from New York City, Ireland, Hawaii, and other exciting locations, Amber helps you unlock your divine potential with tools like shadow work, smoke cleansing, color magic, and past-life regression hypnosis. This book?s insights on spellwork, chakras, Goddess worship, and other practices will rekindle your curiosity and inspire a deeply fulfilling life.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisWe use the word Celtic' fast and loose it evokes something mythical and romantic about our past but what exactly does it mean? Furthermore, why do people believe that there were Celts in Britain and what relationship do they have to the ancient Celts? This fascinating book focuses particularly on how the Celts were re-invented in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and how the legacy of mistaken interpretations still affects the way we understand the ancient sources and archaeological evidence.Table of ContentsJohn Collis is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, and is the leading British authority on the European Iron Age.

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Book Synopsis 20 notecards packaged in a magnetic-closure box, featuring the stunning illustrated plates from the 75th Anniversary edition of Mythology by Edith Hamilton.   Send written tales of love and adventure--or maybe just a short note--with this epic collection of 20 notecards illustrated with portraits and scenes of the gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines of Greek, Roman, and Norse Mythology. MYTHOLOGY NOTECARDS features 5 full-color illustrations specially commissioned and drawn for the 75th anniversary edition of the bestselling classic Mythology by Edith Hamilton, which has sold millions of copies throughout the world.   This set includes: 20 full-color matte-finish notecards (4 each of 5 designs). 20 full-color envelopes, printed on wood-free paper. Magnetic-closure box

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Book SynopsisA retelling of the stories of classical mythology by folklorist and historian, Helene Adeline Guerber.

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Book SynopsisHarness the power of lunar magic with 13 essential practices for the modern witch?one for each New Moon of the yearFresh, fierce, and unapologetically feminist, thisis both guidebook and rallying cry: an intersectional and inclusive magical praxis that resists, disrupts, and opens the door to nourishment, abundance, and transformation?for readers of Psychic Witch and The Spell Book for New WitchesIn New Moon Magic, Missing Witches authors Risa Dickens and Amy Torok offer Witchy practices to change your life and reshape the world, without falling prey to the commercialization that belies the true heart?and power?of magic.Witchcraft is praxis: how we do what we believe, and how we make those beliefs manifest. New Moon Magic is an offering to all witches, honoring the Craft?s roots in centuries of empowerment, survival, and resistance?despite capitalism?s attempts to co-opt and dilute its practice.Here, Dickens and Torok reclaim tools of witchcraft as the ways and means of enchantment, imbued with magic that resists commodification and capitalism. The authors introduce 13 New Moon practices, each paired with a Witch who embodies the Craft:Potions with Cerridwen andSt. Hildegard von BingenDivination with Lozen and Harriet TubmanThe Garden with Mayumi OdaRitual & Ceremony with GenesisP-OrridgeThe Circle with Audre LordeThrough historical research, interviews, and the authors? own raw personal stories, New Moon Magic offers wisdom and guidance from real Witches past and present. It shows you how to take up tools and practices, discover (or rediscover) your own magic, and nurture a Witchcraft that creates instead of consumes.

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Book SynopsisThis book describes and analyses the writings and records compiled by the notable linguist, T.G.H. Strehlow (1908-1978), on Australian Aboriginal religions, particularly as practised by the Arrernte of the central desert region. During numerous research trips between 1932 and 1966, the local Indigenous Arrernte Elders entrusted him with sacred objects, allowed him to film their secret rituals and record their songs, partly because he was regarded as one of them, an `insider’, who they believed would help preserve their ancient traditions in the face of threats posed by outside forces. Strehlow characterised Arrernte society as `personal monototemism in a polytotemic community’. This concept provides an important insight into understanding how Arrernte society was traditionally organised and how the societal structure was re-enforced by carefully organised rituals. Strehlow’s research into this complex societal system is here examined both in terms of its meaning and current application and with reference to how the societal structure traditionally was interwoven into religious understandings of the world. It exemplifies precisely how the `insider-outsider’ problem is embodied in one individual: he was accepted by the Arrernte people as an insider who used this knowledge to interpret Arrernte culture for non-Indigenous audiences (outsiders). The volume documents how Strehlow’s works are contributing to the current repatriation by Australian Aboriginal leaders of rituals, ancient songs, meanings associated with sacred objects and genealogies, much of which by the 1950s had been lost through the processes of colonisation, missionary influences and Australian governmental interference in the lives of Indigenous societies.Table of ContentsPreface Chapter One: The Context: Central Australia, T.G.H. Strehlow and His Detractors Chapter Two: Restoring the Chain of Memory: A Theory of Religion and Indigenous Religions Chapter Three: Eternity: Arrernte Myths of Creation Chapter Four: Personal Monototemism in a Polytotemic Community Chapter Five: Songs of Central Australia Chapter Six: `One Hour Before Sunset’: The Loss of Indigenous Religious Knowledge Chapter Seven: Strehlow the `Insider’ as a Phenomenologist of Religion Chapter Eight: T.G.H. Strehlow and the Repatriation of Knowledge in Central Australia Chapter Nine: Knowledge, Tradition and Authority

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Book SynopsisToday, conversion is a contested religious, political, and personal phenomenon, and that was also the case in the ancient world. Using several primary sources (Jewish and Christian) and case studies, this volume discusses what this change could have meant for various individuals or groups of people in the ancient world and argues that conversion can best be understood through an intersectional perspective, an approach that includes gender, class, ethnicity, and age, as well as political and economic elements in its analysis of conversion. The volume also acknowledges that a discussion of conversion benefits from taking into account conversion's history of reception. Case studies from the reception history as well as contemporary examples of contested conversions (for example, from Christianity to Islam or vice versa) are also brought to the table. In sum, the book addresses the complexity of conversion, using a range of cases, texts and theories, and initiates a dialogue between ancient sources and present concepts or practices. Close readings of ancient texts play a central role in the project. Yet, the book also considers how sacred texts and their receptions have influenced the way we generally think about conversation as religious change.Table of Contents1. What Is So Complex About Conversion? Marianne Bjelland Kartzow and Valérie Nicolet 2. Shedding Religious Skin: An Intersectional Analysis of the Claim that Male Circumcision Limits Religious Freedom Karin B. Neutel, University of Oslo 3. Complex Interactions: Conversion and Interreligious Dialogue in the Norwegian Context Anne Hege Grung, University of Oslo 4. Conversion in Mystery Religions? Theory Meets Mysteries and Conversion Gerhard van den Heever, University of South Africa 5. “Leap, Ye, Lame for Joy”: The Dynamics of Disability in Conversion Anna Rebecca Solevåg, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, Norway 6. Reading a Complex Identity in Conversion: Interpretations of the Ethiopian Eunuch Minna Heimola, Independent Scholar 7. Creating a New Sex: Women Bodies in Conversion Valérie Nicolet 8. Conversion in/to the Wilderness: The Case of the Egyptian Slave Girl Hagar in Early Christian and Jewish Texts Marianne Bjelland Kartzow 9. The Complexity of Aseneth’s Transformation Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen, University of Oslo 10. Leaving the Traditions of the Fathers: Perspectives on Conversion from a Christianity That Did Not Survive Kristine Toft Rosland, University of South-Eastern Norway / University of Oslo 11. Spatial Conversion and Christian Identity in Late Antiquity Anna Lampadaridi, Institut Protestant de Théologie (Paris) 12. Concluding Remarks Valérie Nicolet

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Book SynopsisSince the mid-twentieth century, religious movements identifying themselves as Paganism, shamanism, native faiths and others have experimented with two forms of indigeneity. One arises from claims to be reviving or re-presenting previously hidden religious practices from ancestral or pre-Christian times. The other form of indigeneity is found in lessons learnt (directly or indirectly) from Indigenous peoples (especially Native Americans and/or Siberians). In the last decade in particular these two trends have sometimes fused in what we call "indigenizing movements". This book tests the interpretive and methodological value of this. "Indigenizing" was coined by Paul C. Johnson in a discussion of lowland South American and Caribbean religious traditions as the opposite end of a continuum from "universalizing". The continuum recognises tendencies to emphasise resonance with and relevance to local and ancestral traditions (indigenizing) and tendencies to stress universality or global engagement. These need not be dualistically opposed and are most likely to be matters of stress. Those who conceive of themselves and their cultures as maintaining and enhancing discrete ethnic, cultural or religious communities may represent one trajectory. Others not only assert that they have something to say to the rest of the world but may also seek to revise "local ancestral" traditions in the light of more global traditions. We might recognise a tension here between "Indigenous" and "World" religions but the contributors to this volume contest the value of that categorisation of what are, in reality, more dynamic and fluid realities. The chapters test a differently conceived tension: that between indigenizing and universalizing. This experimentation is propelled by examining European originated movements in which engagements with Indigenous animistic, shamanistic or "nature venerating" traditions are employed in self-conceptions and in the discourses of identity formation, maintenance and dissemination. Seven main chapters test aspects of our key theme by focusing on specific movements or phenomena. These are followed by a responsive afterword considering the effects of applying a notion coined for the critical examination of Indigenous South American and Caribbean religions to the different context of European movements. The book aims to enhance understanding and enrich debate not only about evolving European movements but also about the concept and practice of Indigeneity, indigenizing and of scholarly practices in relation to such phenomena.

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Book SynopsisHumans throughout history have sought ways of understanding their place within the world. Religion, science and myth have been at the forefront of this quest for meaning. A Chaos of Delight examines how various cultures – from the early Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks to contemporary Western society – have looked at the same phenomena and devised totally different world views. The rise of modern science is examined, alongside questions of evolution and the origins of life. This comprehensive volume is an essential read for students and scholars interested in the history of ideas and the role of religion, science and myth in the development of Western thought.Trade Review"A remarkable panorama of the human understanding of the natural and metaphysical world from the first civilizations to the present day." John Baines, University of Oxford, UK"Breathtaking in its daring, the book explores the two ways which humanity has used to seek meaning and make sense of the world, namely religion and science. The result is a highly erudite summary of belief systems from early Sumerian to the monotheistic religions; and an eminently accessible history of science, particularly of the last 500 years." Sir Gustav Nossal, University of Sydney, Australia"It is definitely useful for teachers and students wanting to make a quick introductory acquaintance with decisive developments in modern science and a brief overview of mythopoetic and religious systems of thought in the West." Studies in Religion/Sciences ReligieusesTable of ContentsPreface 1. Science, Religion and Myth: Making Sense of the World 2. The Sumerians: Life among the Gods 3. Ancient Egyptians: Optimism and Opportunity 4. The Presocratics: From Myth to Reason 5. Classical Greece: Different Roads to Truth 6. Early Christianity: The Historical Road to One God 7. Medieval Christendom: Faith and Reason 8. Triumphant Rise of Western Science 9. The Big Bang: Starlight to Superstrings 10. Origins of Life: Molecules to Machines 11. Humankind's Evolutionary Origins and Emergence of Mind 12. Tradition at the Crossroads: Seeking Harmony in Diversity

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