Ancient religions and Mythologies Books
Penguin Random House India The Mahabharata
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£17.95
Penguin Books Ltd Life and Afterlife in Ancient China
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe story of China is written in the objects buried in its tombs over many millennia, but for most of us they are as hard to read as Chinese characters. Jessica Rawson is the master-interpreter. In a dozen tombs she tells the story of China across thousands of years, pointing out again and again the profound ways in which the Chinese are not like us. If you want to understand China today, start by visiting these twelve tombs in the enlightening company of Jessica Rawson. A dozen tombs - an underground journey to the heart of China. -- Neil MacGregorTime and time again, Jessica Rawson has demonstrated her extraordinary ability to explain the unfamiliar in terms that everyone can understand. Life and Afterlife in Ancient China is a perfect book for someone new to China. Unusually, it is also ideal for the more knowledgeable because it offers such an up-to-date portrayal of the complex relations between the ancient Chinese and their neighbors -- Valerie Hansen, author of The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World—and Globalization BeganNo book better attests to the most basic point of history - and not just China's - that we are profoundly shaped by our cultural heritages. Rawson's lucid and intimate account of the extraordinary contents of twelve ancient tombs stretching four millennia into the past brings readers inside Chinese culture and mentality in ways that instruct, surprise, and delight. A masterwork -- Timothy Brook, author of Vermeer's Hat and Great StateJessica Rawson understands the long history of China through a lifetime's engagement with its ancient sites and artefacts. Her book evokes both the internal dynamics and external influences of China's deep past with great clarity, allowing us to appreciate their continuing force and importance to the present -- Chris Gosden, Professor of European Archaeology, University of OxfordA distinguished art historian ... Rawson succeeds in distilling and animating a great deal of dry scholarship ... impressive and engaging. -- Robert Bickers * Literary Review *majestic history -- Andrew Robinson * nature *insightful ... Jessica Rawson has the ability to bring an unfamiliar subject to life ... rich ... an invaluable book for anyone wishing to learn more about the future of China by exploring its diversity and glorious ancient past. -- James Lin * BBC *
£34.00
Linden Publishing Co Inc Myths of Love: Echoes of Ancient Mythology in the
Book SynopsisDr. Ruth Westheimer, America'';s favorite sex therapist, analyzes ancient myth and its relevance to 21st century relationships in her new book Myths of Love: Echoes of Greek and Roman Mythology in the Modern Romantic Imagination. From humanity'';s earliest beginnings, people have puzzled over the dual nature of love. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, love was sweet, but it was also irrational, cruel, and often deadly. Faced with the terrible paradox of love, classical civilization produced some of the most psychologically insightful myths of all time - stories of classic archetypes such as Narcissus, Helen of Troy, and Venus and Adonis. Dr. Ruth and classical scholar Jerome E. Singerman insightfully examine the underlying psychology of the ancient myths and explain why their universal appeal has shaped the imagination of Western civilization for millennia. Myths of Love traces how these myths of endured in literature and art across the centuries and how they still influence how we think about sex and relationships today. Surveying a vast range of Greek and Roman literature from Homer to Ovid,''Myths of Love'' retells and reconsiders the full gamut of human sexual experience, from the tenderest expressions of married love to the savage, self-destructive passions of narcissism on jealousy. Bridging high culture and pop culture, ''Myths of Love'' reveals the secret connections between classic literature and today''s popular novels and films. A stimulating blend of art, science, ancient religion, and the passions and contradictions of the human heart, ''Myths of Love'' is a smart and sexy revisit to the roots of Western culture''s eternal fascination with love.
£16.19
Mandrake of Oxford Deep Magic Begins Here: Tales & Techniques of
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£13.49
Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd. Shiva
Book SynopsisIn this book, read three stories from Shiva''s adventure-filledife. Find out the tale behind the origin of the river Ganga and what role Shiva had to play in it; how the Shivaingam avatar of Shiva came about and how Shiva destroyed three demons with one arrow. Beautifully retold by Subhadra Sen Gupta and accompanied by Tapas Guha''s magnificent illustrations, this book will beoved by every child.
£9.34
Museum Tusculanum Press Lay Belief in Norse Society 1000-1350
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£45.89
Museum Tusculanum Press Lotus and Laurel: Studies on Egyptian Language
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£61.19
Museum Tusculanum Press Rethinking Religion: Studies in the Hellenistic
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£999.99
Oxford University Press Magika Hiera
Book SynopsisThis is a collection of essays by leading American and European scholars. Its purpose is to remedy the tendency among scholars working in Greek Religion to ignore the evidence for what have traditionally been called magical practices in ancient Greece. Because this neglect seems to arrive from adherence to a preconceived notion about a clear dichotomy between magical and religious ritual, the editors focus on the relationship between these two areas.Trade ReviewThis excellent and thought-provoking book will be indispensable to all who study Greek religion. It draws on a wealth of illuminating primary material and the bibliographies are a model of completeness. * Simon Pulleyn, Merton College, Oxford, The Classical Review, Vol. XLII, '92 *This useful and unusual work is highly technical and is aimed at a scholarly, not a general, audience ... highly recommended reading for classicists and students of religion and classical antiquity. * James E. Seaver, University of Kansas, History, Summer 1992 *
£41.79
Oxford University Press Dictionary of Roman Religion
Book SynopsisLong overshadowed by Greek mythology or treated peripherally in gernal texts on the ancient Roman world, Roman religion is finally accorded its due in this unique reference work. While perhaps most familiar in the context of Greek-influenced gods, Roman religious life in fact encompassed a tremendous variety of deities, rites, and belief systems. From the Celtic god Abandinus to the pagan historian Zosimus, Dictionary of Roman Religion contains more than 1,400 entries. Among the topics covered are deities and spirits, festivals, sacrifices, temples, altars, cult objects, burial rites, writers on religion, and historical religious events. Different religions within the Roman world, such as Mithraism, Druidism, Judaism, and Christianity, are also discussed. Entries range from brief definitions to concise essays reflecting important aspects of religious practice, and most include suggestions for further reading in addition to a complete bibliography.An essential reference for students, re
£14.99
Oxford University Press Greek Nymphs
Book SynopsisGreek Nymphs: Myths, Cult, Lore is the first comprehensive study of the nymph in the ancient Greek world. This well-illustrated book examines nymphs as both religious and mythopoetic figures, tracing their development and significance in Greek culture from Homer through the Hellenistic period. Drawing upon a broad range of literary and archaeological evidence, Jennifer Larson discusses sexually powerful nymphs in ancient and modern Greek folklore, the use of dolls representing nymphs in the socialization of girls, the phenomenon of nympholepsy, the nymphs'' relations with other deities in the Greek pantheon, and the nymphs'' role in mythic narratives of city-founding and colonization. The book includes a survey of the evidence for myths and cults of the nymphs arranged by geographical region, and a special section of the worship of nymphs in caves throughout the Greek world.Trade ReviewThe strength of Larson's project lies in its meticulous presentation of detail, her careful survey of the literary and epigraphical sources, and her clear translations of Greek material probably unfamiliar to most readers. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *
£47.02
Oxford University Press Polytheism and Society at Athens
Book SynopsisThis book is the first attempt that has ever been made to give a comprehensive account of the religious life of ancient Athens. The city''s many festivals are discussed in detail, with attention to recent anthropological theory; so too, for instance, are the cults of households and of smaller groups, the role of religious practice and argumentation in public life, the authority of priests, the activities of religious professionals such as seers and priestesses, magic, the place of theatrical representations of the gods within public attitudes to the divine. A long final section considers the sphere of activity of the various gods, and takes Athens as a uniquely detailed test case for the structuralist approach to polytheism. The work is a synchronic, thematically organized complement (though designed to be read independently) to the same author''s Athenian Religion: A History (Oxford 1996).Trade Review...[this book] points the way to future developments in the study of both Athenian and Greek religion...an important contribution which certainly deserves its 2005 Criticos Award. * Julia L. Shear, Journal of Hellenic Studies *...one of the best books I have read on ancient religion and one of the most useful. * James Davidson, London Review of Books *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; I ; 1. Ancestral Gods, Ancestral Tombs: The Household and Beyond ; 2. 'Those with whom I sacrifice' ; 3. Places of Cult: Athens and the Demes ; 4. International Religion ; 5. Who prays for Athens? Religion in Civic Life ; 6. 'Those who make a profession out of rites': Unlicensed Religion, and Magic ; 7. Religion in the Theatre ; II ; 8. Festivals and their Celebrants ; 9. Things Done at Festivals ; 10. The Festival Year ; 11. Parthenoi in Ritual ; 12. The Panathenaea ; 13. Women's Festivals: Thesmophoria and Adonia ; 14. The Anthesteria and other Dionysiac Rites ; 15. Eleusinian Festivals ; 16. Festivals, Rituals, Myths: Reprise ; 17. Gods at Work I: Protecting the City ; 18. Gods at Work II: The Growth of Plants and Men ; Epilogue
£75.05
Oxford University Press A Different Medicine
Book SynopsisDrawing on two years of ethnographic field research among the Navajos, this book explores a controversial Native American ritual and healthcare practice: ceremonial consumption of the psychedelic Peyote cactus in the context of an indigenous postcolonial healing movement called the Native American Church (NAC), which arose in the 19th century in response to the creation of the reservations system and increasing societal ills, including alcoholism. The movement is the locus of cultural conflict with a long history in North America, and stirs very strong and often opposed emotions and moral interpretations. Joseph Calabrese describes the Peyote Ceremony as it is used in family contexts and federally funded clinical programs for Native American patients. He uses an interdisciplinary methodology that he calls clinical ethnography: an approach to research that involves clinically informed and self-reflective immersion in local worlds of suffering, healing, and normality. Calabrese combined Trade ReviewA welcome addition to the literature ... Recommended. * G.R. Campbell, CHOICE *This book is an exceptional shift from earlier works. Calabrese's careful analysis of Navajo Native American Church Peyotists and his acquired respect for their ritual experiences is manifested when he explains in detail how he combines experiential with interpretive learning Calabrese makes a strong argument about the difference between contemporary drug use and the ritual use of peyote in the Native American Church. He investigates and argues with systematic rigor from his extensive clinical experience for the goal of accurately providing new interpretations that are informed by the collective and the personal, drawing attention to the various forms of suffering and healing during both colonial and postcolonial times Calabrese is concerned with how this collision of cultures and peoples came to assume its present form and writes eloquently about how different cultures orient themselves to their land. * Dr. Inés Talamantez, Mescalero Apache tribe, History of Religions *This remarkable 'clinical ethnography' provides a deep, experiential account of the Native American Church, its ritual forms, integration into the multi-generational lives of families, and therapeutic value in countering 'postcolonial disorders' in a Navajo community. The book provides a searing critique of the continued criminalization of the sacramental use of peyote in NAC rituals, demonstrating how the War on Drugs recalls and perpetuates the colonial Inquisition of native peoples associated with the American Indian holocaust. * Byron J Good, Professor of Medical Anthropology, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Department of Anthropology, Harvard University *Joseph D. Calabrese's A Different Medicine: Postcolonial Healing in the Native American Church is an excellent, thought-provoking study of Navajo Native American Church (NAC) members whose ceremonial activities involve ritual peyote use... This text is highly recommended for scholars and students of Indigenous religions, religion in America, religion and healing, and ritual studies. * Nova Religio *In summary this book is an excellent addition to the existing literature on the Native American Church, especially because it tries to acknowledge and circumvent existing cultural prejudices, in order to engender an analysis rooted in mutual respect. This is not only important for the use of a powerful psychedelic substance, but also to bring to light the negative impact of colonialism and to envision a world in which the pain that is still alive among Native Americans can be healed and overcome. * Pieter Stokkink, OPEN Foundation *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Preface: Hard to Swallow: The Challenge of Radical Cultural Differences ; PART 1. Anthropological and Clinical Orientations ; I Introduction: Peyote, Cultural Paradigm Clash, and the Multiplicity of the Normal ; II Expanding Our Conceptualization of the Therapeutic: Toward a Suitable Theoretical Framework for the Study of Cultural Psychiatries ; III Clinical Ethnography: Clinically-Informed Self-Reflective Immersion in Local Worlds of Suffering, Healing and Wellbeing ; PART 2. Cultural and Personal Healing in the Native American Church ; IV The Unfolding Cultural Paradigm Clash: Ritual Peyote Use and the Struggle for Postcolonial Healing in North America ; V Medicine and Spirit: The Dual Nature of Peyote ; VI The Peyote Ceremony: Psychopharmacology, Ritual Process, and Experiences of Healing ; VII Kinship, Socialization, and Ritual in Navajo Peyotist Families ; VIII Postcolonial Hybridity and Ritual Bureaucracy in New Mexico: Participant Observation in a Navajo Peyotist Healer's Clinical Program ; IX Decolonizing Our Understandings of the Normal and the Therapeutic ; References
£41.32
Oxford University Press Inc The Quran and Late Antiquity A Shared Heritage Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity
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£94.59
Yale University Press Paganism in the Roman Empire
£31.56
Yale University Press Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries
Book SynopsisAn investigation of the transformation from paganism to Christianity between the fourth and eighth centuries. It reassesses the triumph of Christianity, contending that it was neither tidy nor quick, and it shows that two religious systems were both valid during this interactive period.
£32.67
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Netherworld in Ancient Egypt and China
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£999.99
Joshua Free The Complete Book of Marduk by Nabu
£21.95
Green Dragon Publications Atheopaganism An Earthhonoring path rooted in science
£18.76
£18.34
Asphodel Press Wyrdwalkers Techniques of NorthernTradition Shamanism
£20.00
Intelligence Resources LLC Vikings Bok The Poetic Edda
£9.37
Sura Ondrunar Publishing The Ancient Religion of the Sun The Wisdom Bringers and The Lost Civilization of the Sun
£24.51
Sura Ondrunar Publishing Ancient Solstice
£28.47
Veleda Press Witches and Pagans
£19.99
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Oracles of the Ancient World A Complete Guide Duckworth Archaeology A Comprehensive Guide
Book SynopsisTrevor Curnow is a lecturer at St Martin's College, Lancaster. His previous publications include Wisdom, Intuition and Ethics (1999) and Thinking through Dialogue (2001).
£68.01
Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. Voodoo Tarot Spirit Box Kit
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£26.70
Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. Slava
£18.39
AEI PR Like Silicon from Clay
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£27.20
£63.65
£22.78
Copper Cauldron Publishing The Three Rays of Witchcraft
£17.10
Copper Cauldron Publishing The Plant Spirit Familiar
£17.10
Copper Cauldron Publishing The Gates of Witchcraft
£19.80
Copper Cauldron Publishing The Green Lovers
£17.10
£17.10
Goddess Ink Desert Priestess A Memoir
£17.95
Goddess Ink Stepping Into Ourselves
£38.18
Triplehood Stone Age Religion at Goebekli Tepe
£15.96
Daniel Bernardo Dwellings of the Philosophers
£37.00
Numen Books Primordial Traditions
£17.95
Four Jaguars Press The Shamans Guide to Power Animals
£18.95
Legare Street Press The Book of Enoch
£25.60
LEGARE STREET PR The Book of Enoch
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£17.95
LEGARE STREET PR Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans
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LEGARE STREET PR Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans
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LEGARE STREET PR Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches
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LEGARE STREET PR Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches
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