Search results for ""Pantheon""

Superhero phenomena exploded into 20th- and 21st-century popular culture by way of the visual medium of comic books. In an increasingly secular (yet spiritual) culture that has largely renounced “the gods” (and even religion), what does the return of the superhero through our own pop cultural mythologies say to us—or even about us? This collection of essays from leading and up-and-coming scholars in the fields of comparative mythology and depth psychology considers the return of the superhero as representative of our own unique emergent modern mythology: a wildly diverse pantheon that reflects back to us our most far-reaching hopes and (im)possible (super)human desires. In placing the interpretive tools of comparative mythology and depth psychology alongside the comic book phenomenon, a super-powered palette emerges that unveils the hidden potential of modern readers’ own heightened imaginations. The essays in this anthology examine select comic book and superhero characters from the “Silver Age” 1960s through contemporary 21st-century adaptations and innovations, as readers are invited to discover and uncover what the (re)emergence of these perennial gods and goddesses have to say about our own secret super selves today.

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No fantasy setting is complete without a pantheon of powerful deities for its characters to worship or fear. Whether you're a sneaky rogue asking the god of thievery for a blessing on your next heist or a valorous crusader calling the might of your patron down upon the forces of evil, faith and the forces behind it are key to every character's identity. Within this volume you'll find details on the gods and non-deific faiths of the Age of Lost Omens from the perspective of their clergy and lay worshipers. You'll also discover new domains, feats, and spells to customize your character, and an exhaustive index of hundreds of deities from the Pathfinder setting you can worship (and the mechanical benefits of doing so). An indispensable 136-page resource for both players looking to flesh out their characters' motivations and Game Masters aiming to bring the evil cults, zealous evangelists, and holy warriors of their campaigns to life, Pathfinder Lost Omens Gods & Magic is an essential addition to any Pathfinder Second Edition campaign! This deluxe special edition is bound in faux leather with metallic deboss cover elements and a bound-in ribbon bookmark.

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This is a historical study, taking as its narrative focus the life, death and posthumous fate of Vasil Levski (1837-1873), arguably the major and only uncontested hero of the Bulgarian national pantheon. The main title refers to the 'thick description' of the reburial controversy during the final phase of communist Bulgaria, which centered on the search for Levski's bones. The book gives a specific understanding also of the relationship between nationalism and religion in the post-communist period, by analyzing the recent canonization of Levski. The processes described, although with a chronological depth of almost two centuries, are still very much in the making, and the living archive expands not only in size but with the constant addition of surprising new forms they take.At another level, the book engages in a variety of general theoretical questions. It offers insights into the problems of history and memory: the question of public, social or collective memory; the nature of national memory in comparison to other types of memory; the variability of memory over time and social space; alternative memories; and, memory's techniques like commemorations, the mechanism of creating and transmitting memory.

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Relations between the sexes was a concern of ancient Greek thought and literature, extending from considerations of masculine and feminine roles in domestic and political spheres to the organization of the cosmos in a pantheon of gods and goddesses. This study explores the diversity and complexity of these interactions through the influential literary texts of the archaic and classical periods ranging from epic (Homer) and didactic poetry (Hesiod) to the theatrical productions of tragedy and comedy in 5th-century Athens. The author demonstrates the workings of gender as a major factor in Greek social, religious and cultural practices and in ideas about nature and culture, public and private, citizen and outsider, self and other, and mortal and immortal. Focusing on the prominence of female figures in these male authored texts, she enlarges perspectives on critical components of political order and civic identity by including issues of sexuality, the body, modes of male and female maturation, and speculations about parentage, kinship and reproductive strategies. Along with considerations of genre, poetics and theatrical mimesis, she points to the powerful myth-making capacities of Greek culture for creating memorable paradigms and dramatic scenarios that far exceed simple notions of male and female opposition and predictable enforcement of social norms.

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It's impossible to think of the heritage of music and dance in the United States without the invaluable contributions of African Americans. Those art forms have been touched by the genius of African American culture and have helped this nation take its important and unique place in the pantheon of world art.Steppin' on the Blues explores not only the meaning of dance in African American life but also the ways in which music, song, and dance are interrelated in African American culture. Dance as it has emanated from the black community is a pervasive, vital, and distinctive form of expression--its movements speak eloquently of African American values and aesthetics. Beyond that it has been, finally, one of the most important means of cultural survival. Former dancer Jacqui Malone throws a fresh spotlight on the cultural history of black dance, the Africanisms that have influenced it, and the significant role that vocal harmony groups, black college and university marching bands, and black sorority and fraternity stepping teams have played in the evolution of dance in African American life. From the cakewalk to the development of jazz dance and jazz music, all Americans can take pride in the vitality, dynamism, drama, joy, and uncommon singularity with which African American dance has gifted the world.

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For much of the last half of the twentieth century, W. G. Lambert devoted much of his research energy and effort to the study of Babylonian texts dealing with Mesopotamian ideas regarding creation, including especially Enuma Elish. This volume, which appears almost exactly 2 years after Lambert’s death, distills a lifetime of learning by the world’s foremost expert on these texts. Lambert provides a full transliteration and translation of the 7 tablets of Enuma Elish, based on the known exemplars, as well as coverage of a number of other texts that bear on, or are thought to bear on, Mesopotamian notions of the origin of the world, mankind, and the gods. New editions of seventeen additional “creation tales” are provided, including “Enmesharra’s Defeat,” “Enki and Ninmah,” “The Slaying of Labbu,” and “The Theogony of Dunnu.”Lambert pays special attention, of course, to the connection of the main epic, Enuma Elish, with the rise and place of Marduk in the Babylonian pantheon. He traces the development of this deity’s origin and rise to prominence and elaborates the relationship of this text, and the others discussed, to the religious and political climate Babylonia.The volume includes 70 plates (primarily hand-copies of the various exemplars of Enuma Elish) and extensive indexes.

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In the pantheon of freedom fighters, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has pride of place. His fame and influence extend far beyond India and are nowhere more significant than in South Africa. "India gave us a Mohandas, we gave them a Mahatma," goes a popular South African refrain. Contemporary South African leaders, including Mandela, have consistently lauded him as being part of the epic battle to defeat the racist white regime. The South African Gandhi focuses on Gandhi's first leadership experiences and the complicated man they reveal—a man who actually supported the British Empire. Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed unveil a man who, throughout his stay on African soil, stayed true to Empire while showing a disdain for Africans. For Gandhi, whites and Indians were bonded by an Aryan bloodline that had no place for the African. Gandhi's racism was matched by his class prejudice towards the Indian indentured. He persistently claimed that they were ignorant and needed his leadership, and he wrote their resistances and compromises in surviving a brutal labor regime out of history. The South African Gandhi writes the indentured and working class back into history. The authors show that Gandhi never missed an opportunity to show his loyalty to Empire, with a particular penchant for war as a means to do so. He served as an Empire stretcher-bearer in the Boer War while the British occupied South Africa, he demanded guns in the aftermath of the Bhambatha Rebellion, and he toured the villages of India during the First World War as recruiter for the Imperial army. This meticulously researched book punctures the dominant narrative of Gandhi and uncovers an ambiguous figure whose time on African soil was marked by a desire to seek the integration of Indians, minus many basic rights, into the white body politic while simultaneously excluding Africans from his moral compass and political ideals.

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Shiva, the most ancient and complex deity of the Hindu pantheon, has been portrayed in many contrasting lights: destroyer and benefactor, ascetic and householder, wild demon slayer and calm yogi atop Mount Kailash. Drawing from the Hindu sacred text the Shiva Mahapurana--said to be written by Shiva himself--Vanamali selects the essential stories of Shiva, both those from his dark wild side and those from his benevolent peaceful side. Vanamali discusses Shiva’s many avatars such as Shambunatha and Bhola, as well as Dakshinamurti who taught the shastras and tantras to the rishis. She explores Shiva’s relationships with Durga, Shakti, Sati, and Parvati and with his sons Ganesha and Kartikeya. Examining Shiva’s acceptance of outsiders, Vanamali explains why ghosts and ghouls are his attendants and why his greatest devotees are demon kings, like Ravana. She includes famous Shiva stories such as the Descent of the River Ganga and Churning the Milky Ocean as well as those that reveal the origin of the festival of lights, Diwali; his creation of the cosmic couple, or hierogamos; and how Shiva and Parvati taught the world the secrets of Kundalini Shakti. The author also draws upon Shaivite teachings to illustrate the differences between Western science and Vedic science and their explanations for the origins of consciousness. Integrating Shiva’s two sides, the fierce and the peaceful, Vanamali reveals that Shiva’s form depends on the needs of the devotee. Understanding his teachings allows one to see through the illusions at the root of all grief and alienation in human life, for Shiva is the wielder of mayawho does not fall under its spell. While Ganesha is known as the remover of obstacles, Shiva is the remover of tears.

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The history of Soul music has been defined, first and foremost, by a succession of exceptional vocalists. It is impossible to conceive of the genre without them. This does not mean, however, that those who back singers, those who play instruments - bassists; drummers; guitarists; keyboardists; saxophonists - were reduced to nothing other than walk on parts. If Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding were able to move audiences, then their band members and arrangers, the likes of King Curtis and Booker T. Jones, played a key role in creating tracks that had commensurate emotional depth and technical ingenuity. These lesser known figures have heightened our listening pleasure. In Soul Unsung Kevin Le Gendre celebrates the contribution of players of instruments to soul. He analyses, in forensic detail, the inspiring creativity and imagination that several generations of musicians have brought to black pop, and highlights how they have broadened its sound canvas by adopting unusual stylistic approaches and embracing the latest available technology. Furthermore, the book offers insights into the state of contemporary soul and its relationship with jazz, rock and hip-hop. It is precisely because soul has not evolved in a vacuum that it has a canon that is enviably rich in variety. Soul Unsung shines a light on the plethora of mesmerising sounds that constitute this heritage and explains why they affect the listener as much as a great singer. Placing the focus squarely on the band, Le Gendre sets out to change perceptions of one of the great forms of expression to have marked popular culture in the 20th century, so that those who play are given, alongside those who sing, their rightful place in the pantheon of contemporary music.

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Pierrot Barra and his wife Marie Cassaise are the most astonishing artists that the author of this fascinating book has encountered in more than a decade of researching Vodou in Haiti. He discovered them deep in the ramshackle Iron Market of downtown Port-au-Prince where they make and sell what he considers to be the most original Vodou art in the world. In the glitter and bustle of the market Barra and Cassaise discern the lurking forms of divinities they serve as both priests and artists. From rubber dolls, sunglasses, holy cards, barbecue forks, goats' horns, speedometers, rosaries, junk jewelry, compact mirrors, Christmas ornaments, crucifixes, sequins, and velour they assemble fantastic sculptures that portray the fiery and potent gods of Haiti. Inspired through dreams sent by his divine mentor Ogou - generalissimo of the Vodou pantheon - Pierrot tears apart these random commodities and brings them back to new life with pop-it beads and tinselcord. Displaying the power of a magician, he transforms heaps of rubble into glamorous repositories for the capricious and demanding gods who rule his life and guide his work. This volume focuses on how Barra and Cassaise redefine ancient African-American traditions of sacred art, even as they push those traditions in directions the author views as ""postmodern"" or ""outsider art."" The author warns, however, that no matter how their appreciators may choose to label their art, Pierrot Barra and Marie Cassaise remain deeply Haitian and profoundly Vodou. Their sculptures capture the cultural history of a country sustained by distant memories of Africa, haunted by the imagery of Catholic saints and Masonic regalia, and bewitched by imported Hollywood kitsch. For them, lithographs of the Virgin Mary nestle easily with plastic figurines of Bugs Bunny. Yet even within a tradition open to these sorts of commercial pentecosts, the liberties taken by the artists are breathtaking. Donald J. Cosentino is chair of the folklore program at UCLA and editor of African Arts magazine.

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The S&P futures pit is the ultimate arena for traders. It is a place where trading titans make split-second decisions on huge amounts of money, and fortunes appear and vanish with the blink of an eye. Successful day traders are brilliant, aggressive-and lucky. Lewis J. Borsellino is all three. And now he is telling his story. The nation's top S&P futures trader, Borsellino takes you inside the world of the day trader. Chronicling Borsellino's incredible run on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, The Day Trader offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at his everyday strategies and tactics. Raised to be a fierce and fearless competitor, Borsellino felt at home the first day he walked into the chaos and excitement of the Merc. In The Day Trader, he offers both a compelling story as well as an inside look at day trading and the S&P market. Borsellino outlines exactly what contributed to his unparalleled success-a rare blend of discipline, drive, intelligence, and an uncanny ability to read and interpret the market. The Day Trader is also a candid memoir of a second generation Italian American who learned tough life lessons from his father. The senior statesman of the S&P pit, Borsellino offers vivid firsthand accounts of the unique dynamics of the trading floor, the fortunes won and lost in the crash of 1987, the FBI investigation that rocked the futures trading industry, and the tense political battles between Merc titans Leo Melamed and Jack Sandner. He also shares war stories from the floor, many involving top traders such as Richard Dennis and George Soros. Finally, Borsellino chronicles the latest phase of his career, as he moves beyond the beloved trading pit to the challenges and opportunities of the electronic trading arena. More than the success story of one the nation's most respected traders, The Day Trader offers practical insights into the futures markets, pit trading, market psychology, fundamental and technical analysis, and risk. It is a rare opportunity to see inside the mind of one of today's most brilliant traders. LEWIS J. BORSELLINO is the top S&P futures trader in the United States with a career that has spanned an unprecedented 18 years. His long-term success puts him into the trading pantheon that features such luminaries as Paul Tudor Jones, Victor Niederhoffer, and bond trader Tom Baldwin. Borsellino is a frequent contributing commentator on CNN and CNBC where he is regarded as the "biggest and best trader" in S&Ps. PATRICIA CRISAFULLI COMMINS is a freelance business writer and former correspondent for Reuters America Inc. She has also written for The Christian Science Monitor and the Wall Street Journal.

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John Neff is a life-long contrarian, proving time-and-again over the past three decades that bucking the system can pay off big. During his illustrious career as a money manager, Neff flew in the face of conventional wisdom by consistently passing over the big growth stocks of the moment, in favor of inexpensive, under performing ones-and he usually won. During his thirty-one years as portfolio manager for Vanguard's Windsor and Gemini II Funds, he beat the market twenty-two times, through every imaginable stock market climate, while posting a 57-fold increase in an initial stake. When Windsor closed its doors to new investors in 1986, it was the largest mutual fund in the United States. Now retired from mutual fund management, Neff is finally ready to share the investment strategies that earned him international recognition as the "investor's investor," and made him the one to whom other money managers come to manage their money. In John Neff on Investing, Neff delineates, for the first time, the principles of his phenomenally successful low p/e approach to investing, and he describes the strategies, techniques, and investment decisions that earned him a place alongside Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch in the pantheon of modern investment wizards. Packed with solid advice and guidance for anyone who aspires to using Neff's unique brand of value investing, John Neff on Investing offers invaluable lessons on using price-earnings ratios as a yardstick, to zeroing in on undervalued stocks, interpreting earnings histories and anticipating new market climates. A narrative of Neff's early days-My Road to Windsor-reveals the extraordinary mindset and humble circumstances that shaped his winning investment philosophy. By reproducing excerpts from his personal investment diaries, this book offers a unique opportunity to watch Neff in action over the years. A faithful, quarter-in-quarter-out chronicle of a life on Wall Street, the diaries provide unprecedented insights into the thinking behind some of his best (and worst) investment decisions, while tracing the evolution of his innovative investment style. The first book to fully reveal the long-heralded investment strategies of a Wall Street genius, John Neff on Investing is must reading for investors, brokers, traders, and bankers of every kind. JOHN NEFF, until his retirement in 1995, was Senior Vice President and Managing Partner of the Wellington Management Company, the Windsor Fund's investment advisor. S.L. MINTZ, is New York Bureau Chief of CFO Magazine, a publication of the Economist Group dedicated to the latest financial thinking and how it is being implemented in today's markets. His other books include Beyond Wall Street (Wiley, 1998) and Five Eminent Contrarians.

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The S&P futures pit is the ultimate arena for traders. It is a place where trading titans make split-second decisions on huge amounts of money, and fortunes appear and vanish with the blink of an eye. Successful day traders are brilliant, aggressive-and lucky. Lewis J. Borsellino is all three. And now he is telling his story. The nation's top S&P futures trader, Borsellino takes you inside the world of the day trader. Chronicling Borsellino's incredible run on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, The Day Trader offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at his everyday strategies and tactics. Raised to be a fierce and fearless competitor, Borsellino felt at home the first day he walked into the chaos and excitement of the Merc. In The Day Trader, he offers both a compelling story as well as an inside look at day trading and the S&P market. Borsellino outlines exactly what contributed to his unparalleled success-a rare blend of discipline, drive, intelligence, and an uncanny ability to read and interpret the market. The Day Trader is also a candid memoir of a second generation Italian American who learned tough life lessons from his father. The senior statesman of the S&P pit, Borsellino offers vivid firsthand accounts of the unique dynamics of the trading floor, the fortunes won and lost in the crash of 1987, the FBI investigation that rocked the futures trading industry, and the tense political battles between Merc titans Leo Melamed and Jack Sandner. He also shares war stories from the floor, many involving top traders such as Richard Dennis and George Soros. Finally, Borsellino chronicles the latest phase of his career, as he moves beyond the beloved trading pit to the challenges and opportunities of the electronic trading arena. More than the success story of one the nation's most respected traders, The Day Trader offers practical insights into the futures markets, pit trading, market psychology, fundamental and technical analysis, and risk. It is a rare opportunity to see inside the mind of one of today's most brilliant traders. LEWIS J. BORSELLINO is the top S&P futures trader in the United States with a career that has spanned an unprecedented 18 years. His long-term success puts him into the trading pantheon that features such luminaries as Paul Tudor Jones, Victor Niederhoffer, and bond trader Tom Baldwin. Borsellino is a frequent contributing commentator on CNN and CNBC where he is regarded as the "biggest and best trader" in S&Ps. PATRICIA CRISAFULLI COMMINS is a freelance business writer and former correspondent for Reuters America Inc. She has also written for The Christian Science Monitor and the Wall Street Journal.

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John Neff is a life-long contrarian, proving time-and-again over the past three decades that bucking the system can pay off big. During his illustrious career as a money manager, Neff flew in the face of conventional wisdom by consistently passing over the big growth stocks of the moment, in favor of inexpensive, under performing ones-and he usually won. During his thirty-one years as portfolio manager for Vanguard's Windsor and Gemini II Funds, he beat the market twenty-two times, through every imaginable stock market climate, while posting a 57-fold increase in an initial stake. When Windsor closed its doors to new investors in 1986, it was the largest mutual fund in the United States. Now retired from mutual fund management, Neff is finally ready to share the investment strategies that earned him international recognition as the "investor's investor," and made him the one to whom other money managers come to manage their money. In John Neff on Investing, Neff delineates, for the first time, the principles of his phenomenally successful low p/e approach to investing, and he describes the strategies, techniques, and investment decisions that earned him a place alongside Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch in the pantheon of modern investment wizards. Packed with solid advice and guidance for anyone who aspires to using Neff's unique brand of value investing, John Neff on Investing offers invaluable lessons on using price-earnings ratios as a yardstick, to zeroing in on undervalued stocks, interpreting earnings histories and anticipating new market climates. A narrative of Neff's early days-My Road to Windsor-reveals the extraordinary mindset and humble circumstances that shaped his winning investment philosophy. By reproducing excerpts from his personal investment diaries, this book offers a unique opportunity to watch Neff in action over the years. A faithful, quarter-in-quarter-out chronicle of a life on Wall Street, the diaries provide unprecedented insights into the thinking behind some of his best (and worst) investment decisions, while tracing the evolution of his innovative investment style. The first book to fully reveal the long-heralded investment strategies of a Wall Street genius, John Neff on Investing is must reading for investors, brokers, traders, and bankers of every kind. JOHN NEFF, until his retirement in 1995, was Senior Vice President and Managing Partner of the Wellington Management Company, the Windsor Fund's investment advisor. S.L. MINTZ, is New York Bureau Chief of CFO Magazine, a publication of the Economist Group dedicated to the latest financial thinking and how it is being implemented in today's markets. His other books include Beyond Wall Street (Wiley, 1998) and Five Eminent Contrarians.

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