In The Complete Life of Krishna, Vanamali, a leading Krishna expert from a long line of prominent Krishna devotees, provides the first book in English or Sanskrit to cover the complete range of the avatar’s life. Drawing from the Bhagavad Purana, the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, and India’s sacred oral tradition, Vanamali shares stories from Krishna’s birth in a dungeon and early days as a merry trickster in Vrindavana, through his time as divine ruler at Dwaraka, to his final powerful acts as the hero Arjuna’s charioteer and guru in the Kurukshetra war. She explains how Krishna became a mahayogi, the greatest of all yogis, and attained complete mastery over himself and nature. By integrating the hero-child with the mahayogi, the playful lover with the divine ruler, Vanamali shows how the stories of Krishna’s life are expressed with such simplicity and humor that they enable anyone--man, woman, or child--to see the wisdom of his teachings. This complete biography of the man who was also a god provides a valuable meditative tool allowing Krishna’s lessons to illuminate from within.

     Full-color illustrations evoke the atmosphere of each myth and bring the stories to life. Color photographs illustrate the cultural background of the world's mythologies. A who's who of gods and goddesses, including the Greek and Norse pantheons, introduces important characters. A source of inspiration and delight for the whole family.

    Accompanied by appropriate quotes from Tennyson's poem.

    They told tales of giants in the hills, dragons in the lakes, marshes swarming with will-o’-the-wisps, and demons and wild folk in the mountains who enjoyed causing landslides, avalanches, and floods. They both feared and respected these entities, knowing the importance of appeasing them for safe travel and a prosperous homestead. Exploring medieval stories, folk traditions, spiritual place names, and pagan rituals of home building and site selection, Claude Lecouteux reveals the multitude of spirits and entities that once inhabited the land before modern civilization repressed them into desert solitude, impenetrable forests, and inaccessible mountains. He explains how, to our ancestors, enclosing a space was a sacred act. Specific rites had to be performed to negotiate with the local spirits and ensure proper placement and protection of a new building. These land spirits often became the household spirit, taking up residence in a new building in exchange for permission to build on their territory. Lecouteux explores Arthurian legends, folk tales, and mythology for evidence of the untamed spirits of the wilderness, such as giants, dragons, and demons, and examines the rites and ceremonies used to gain their good will. Lecouteux reveals how, despite outright Church suppression, belief in these spirits carried through to modern times and was a primary influence on architecture, an influence still visible in today’s buildings. The author also shows how our ancestors’ concern for respecting nature is increasingly relevant in today’s world.

    With depth and humor, Johnston tells how lasting tradition was brought to the Ojibway by four half-human brothers, including Nana'b'oozoo, the beloved archetypal being who means well but often blunders. He also relates how people are helped and hindered by other entities, such as the manitous of the forests and meadows, personal manitous and totems, mermen and merwomen, Pauguk (the cursed Flying Skeleton), and the Weendigoes, famed and terrifying giant cannibals.

    Notable for their magnificent, jewel-like color illustrations by Bilibin, these traditional tales include "The Frog Princess," "Vassilissa the Beautiful," and "The White Duck." Though Russian Fairy Tales in the Pantheon Folklore Library is a book for adults, it has sold over 30,000 copies.

    G. Jung wrote a great deal about the question of evil throughout his life and in scattered places in his work. In this book his position is pieced together from many sources. In his early work on the unconscious, for instance, he considered the role of evil in the mental processes of the severely disturbed. Later, he viewed the question of moral choice within the framework of his ideas about archetypes and discussions about moral choices, conscience, and the continual ethical reflection that is necessary for all of us. The material here includes letters to Freud and Father Victor White and selections from his writings ranging from his Answer to Job to his travel piece on North Africa.

    Perhaps you have in mind the beautiful lords and ladies of the round table. Or maybe you think of the Quest for the Holy Grail. Perhaps you think of the early Celtic legends about him. Whatever you associate with the stories that surround this legendary king, you are sure to agree that these myths have fascinated Westerners for up to 1500 years.The Tarot has been popular for only half that time, but it, too, has caught the fascination of people in the West. Now you can see how easily these two spiritual paths can be combined thanks to Anna-Marie Ferguson's A Keeper of Words. Although designed to accompany and enhance her Legend Tarot deck (available separately), this book is also a great way to get to the core of both the Arthurian myths and legends and the Tarot. The book is based upon Ferguson's amazing seventy-eight watercolor Legend illustrations (all are reproduced here in black-and-white). Each of the Tarot cards is associated with an event or person in the Arthurian legends. By combining the two you will have a new perspective on the Tarot and a deeper understanding of the mythic symbolism of the tales of King Arthur.For example, the book associates the Major Arcana card the Hierophant with Taliesin. The image shows Taliesin introducing children to his lady, the harp. You will learn that Taliesin encourages questions from all and fosters their creative, artistic talents. Thus, the meaning of the card is A person with experience he or she is willing to share. An authority. A kind and generous mentor who nurtures spiritual awareness. Reversed it means Rigid thinking with no room for growth.The description and symbolism for this and all seventy-eight images, as well as the meanings of the images in a Tarot reading, go into far more detail. In this way your readings become deeper, more intuitive and multilayered.For anyone interested in the Tarot (especially the Legend Tarot), or King Arthur, this book is a must.

    These mythical stories draw upon legends from eighteen Native American tribes and illustrate the importance of plant life in Native American traditions.

    Artist and scholar Adrian Morgan has spent twelve years collecting, studying, drawing, painting, observing, and eating his subjects. The result is a glorious feast for the eye as well as the intellect. An astonishing compendium of art history, cultural anthropology, pharmacology, herpetology, mycology, and serious conjecture. TOADS & TOADSTOOLS will delight and amaze any armchair biologist. Brimming over with almost 150 illustrations.

    In this six-part series, renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell introduces and explores the unifying themes and mythological symbolism in James Joyce's three greatest literary works--A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegan's Wake--arguing that these three major works were the precursors to a fourth, even greater novel that Joyce never got to write.

    He uses the comparative method to reconstruct traditional poetic formulae of considerable complexity that stretch as far back as the original common language. Thus, Watkins reveals the antiquity and tenacity of the Indo-European poetic tradition.Watkins begins this study with an introduction to the field of comparative Indo-European poetics; he explores the Saussurian notions of synchrony and diachrony, and locates the various Indo-European traditions and ideologies of the spoken word. Further, his overview presents case studies on the forms of verbal art, with selected texts drawn from Indic, Iranian, Greek, Latin, Hittite, Armenian, Celtic, and Germanic languages.In the remainder of the book, Watkins examines in detail the structure of the dragon/serpent-slaying myths, which recur in various guises throughout the Indo-European poetic tradition. He finds the signature formula for the myth--the divine hero who slays the serpent or overcomes adversaries--occurs in the same linguistic form in a wide range of sources and over millennia, including Old and Middle Iranian holy books, Greek epic, Celtic and Germanic sagas, down to Armenian oral folk epic of the last century. Watkins argues that this formula is the vehicle for the central theme of a proto-text, and a central part of the symbolic culture of speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language: the relation of humans to their universe, the values and expectations of their society. Therefore, he further argues, poetry was a social necessity for Indo- European society, where the poet could confer on patrons what they and their culture valued above all else: imperishable fame.

    Now in a one-volume edition, The Prophetic Vision of Merlin and The Mystic Life of Merlin comprise a complete working guide to the life and teachings of the famous prophet as based on the twelfth-century histories of Geoffrey of Monmouth.

    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, covering topics such as festivals, sacrifices, temples, burial rites, deities and spirits, and historical religious events. The different religions are also covered: Mithraism, Druidism, Judaism, and Christianity, which were all part of the Roman religious world. 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. Complete with illustrations and helpful cross-references, this dictionary is both comprehensive and essential for students and researchers. For those interested in ancient religions, myths and legends, Roman society, and classical studies, this dictionary is a welcome and novel edition to the vast library on ancient Roman life.

    Find a wealth of fascinating facts and a number of fun "spells" to try -- including a rhyme to say to the new moon for revealing the identity of your true love. For those who believe in "breaking a leg", or for anyone interested in folklore and popular culture, this is sure to be an entertaining read as well as an invaluable reference.

    Never completely opened. Tight spine, clear crisp pages, no writing, light cornerwear, smokefree.

    

    Together with its extensive commentary and illuminating notes, this unique translation draws the reader closer to the authentic living voice of the Bible

    While the Lenape have long attracted the attention of historians, ethnographers, and linguists, their oral literature has remained unexamined, and Lenape stories have been scattered and largely unpublished. This catalog of Lenape mythology, featuring synopses of all known Lenape tales, was assembled by folklorist John Bierhorst from historical sources and from material collected by linguists and ethnographers—a difficult task in light of both the paucity of research done on Lenape mythology and the fragmentation of traditional Lenape culture over the past three centuries. Bierhorst here offers an unprecedented guide to the Lenape corpus with supporting texts. Part one of the "Guide" presents a thematic summary of the folkloric tale types and motifs found throughout the texts; part two presents a synopsis of each of the 218 Lenape narratives on record; part three lists stories of uncertain origin; and part four compares types and motifs occurring in Lenape myths with those found in myths of neighboring Algonquian and Iroquoian cultures. In the "Texts" section of the book, Bierhorst presents previously unpublished stories collected in the early twentieth century by ethnographers M. R. Harrington and Truman Michelson. Included are two versions of the Lenape trickster cycle, narratives accounting for dance origins, Lenape views of Europeans, and tales of such traditional figures as Mother Corn and the little man of the woods called Wemategunis. By gathering every available example of Lenape mythology, Bierhorst has produced a work that will long stand as a definitive reference. Perhaps more important, it restores to the land in which the Lenape once thrived a long-missing piece of its Native literary heritage.

    Eliot, Wilfred Owen and Sylvia Plath. Hughes also expresses concerns about education, the environment, and the arts in general.

    

    Considerable recent interest has been focused on the role of goddesses in ancient societies, though not always with a clear eye on the actual source material. This book, written by one of the leading scholars of Celtic myth and religion, examines the significance of the female in Celtic belief and ritual as expressed in surviving archaeological remains and written sources. Divine and semi-divine females abound in Welsh and Irish myths, often associated with themes of virginity and sexuality, promiscuity and destruction. The concept of partnership is a prominent aspect of Celtic religion and myth, and it is possible to trace evidence of the divine marriage in both European iconography and Irish myth. Interestingly, the female is sometimes the dominant partner. Terrifying battle goddesses were invoked in times of war, often believed to change into raven-form as harbingers of death. A Mother Goddess was venerated, often in triple form, and supplicated for fertility of animals and crops. Goddesses were often linked with animals: birds, dogs, bears, pigs and snakes all had their divine protectresses. The great Celtic horse-goddess Epona even had a Roman festival dedicated to her. The transition from polytheistic paganism to monotheistic Christianity in the Celtic west is examined in a final chapter.

    

    Classic study of myths relating to creation, agriculture and rain, hunting rituals, coyote cycle, monstrous enemy stories, many more.

    The primary importance of this goddess is emphasized by the serpent coiled over the forehead of every pharaoh--the supreme symbol of royal power in ancient Egypt. The erotic vitality and fierce aggression of the goddess, qualities commonly perceived as masculine in nature, gives the reigning Pharaoh the capacity for dynamic leadership. The author explores the symbolism behind this and other manifestations of the goddess in Egyptian cosmology and provides new revelations on the rich tradition of feminine divinity in Egypt. Hathor Rising is the most important study of one of the world's oldest civilizations to appear in years.

    Rare Book

    Wilding's Latin Course for Schools is well established as an excellent introduction to thelanguage, providing details of grammar and syntax in an ordered and easily assimilable sequence. Continuous translation from original sources is used throughout the course from the earliest stages, both in order to give pupils a sense of progress and achievement and to instill a genuine interest in Latin.

    This book offers a wide range of information about Ganapati gathered from such diverse sources as hymns, poems, myths, shrines, practices, and theologies. It considers Ganapati's complexity: his transcendence of sectarian and territorial limits, his delayed but dramatic development into the religious pantheon, his paradoxical mythology, and his physical manifestation, an elephant's head on a human body.Ganapati: Song of the Self fosters an understanding from within a tradition. It presents a positive interpretation of the material and encourages an inner quest for spiritual truth.

    Myth blends with science in this inspiring story of one man's crusade to preserve the ancient and revered, yet recently threatened, yew tree.

    The enormous talent of celebrated Irish Padraic Fallon is demonstrated in this volume, which includes early poems (1930-1945), poems of maturity (1946-1959), late poems (1960-1974), and poems from plays, translations, and versions of Homeric Hymns and Ballads.

    Encouraging storytellers, librarians, and schoolteachers to be active in this magical process, Zipes proposes an interactive storytelling that creates and strengthens a sense of community for students, teachers and parents while extolling storytelling as animation, subversion, and self-discovery.

    

    In this catalogue, written to accompany an international travelling exhibition organized by the Walters Art Gallery, Reeder turns to classical Greek marbles, bronzes, terracottas and vases to help illustrate the ways in which women were perceived and how they lived. The discussion is enhanced through interpretive essays written for the catalogue by a group of eminent classicists and historians.

    Continuous translation from original sources is used throughout the course from the earliest stages, both in order to give pupils a sense of achievment and to instil in them a genuine interest in Latin.

    Springing from the same background as the more famous Kalevala, the Finnish 'national epic', the 148 poems in this book bring alive the vanished world of the hunters and fishermen of Karelia and the serfs of Ingria, bound to the land. From ancient myths about the origin of the universe to an eighteenth-century elegy sung to army recruits as they left home, the poems take the readers back to an age when shamanism was still prevalent and show how Christianity replaced the old beliefs. At the same time they are a testimony to the power of the human imagination and to man's need for art.

    This is an explanation of the Yoga Vasishtha.

    This is the first book to show that the worship of heroines, as well as of gods and heroes, was widespread in the Greek world from the eighth through the fourth centuries B.C.  Drawing upon textual, archaeological, and iconographic evidence as diverse as ancient travel writing, ritual calendars, votive reliefs, and Euripidean drama, Jennifer Larson demonstrates the pervasiveness of heroine cults at every level of Athenian society.    Larson reveals that a broad range of heroic cults existed throughout the Greek world, encompassing not only individuals but couples (Pelops and Hippodameia, Alexandra and Agamemnon, Helen and Menelaos) and families such as those of Asklepios and the Dioskouroi.  She shows how heroic cults reinforced the Greeks' gender expectations for both women and men through ritual status, iconography, and narrative motifs.  Finally, Larson looks at the intersection of heroine cults with specific topics such as myths of maiden sacrifice, the Amazons, the role of the goddess Artemis, and folk beliefs about female "ghosts."

    Ehwald with changes in readings, spellings, and punctuation)-- Line-by-line notes-- English summaries for each major section-- Fold-out in back with basic vocabulary

    Brilliant and luminous paintings by David Johnson, an Anishnawbe member of the Curve Lake First Nation, make this very popular book of Ojibwa tales a treasured gift.

    Bringing The Native Tradition and The Hermetic Tradition together for the first time in one volume, this classic text gives practical exercises to help us understand our own mystical awareness, reminding us of our connection to the Earth Mysteries.

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    The most famous names in the history and mythology of all races are those of heroes - Herakles and Samson, who fought with the lions; Lohengrin and Perseus, who rescued princesses; the Horatii, who saved Rome; the Samurai, warriors of Japan; Gagarin, conqueror of space; Zapata, defender of his people. Rightly used, the cult of the hero has led to the highest that a culture can conceive. Misused, it has led to tyranny, violence and death.

    The leading Jungian author on goddesses who personify energies existing not only in people but in all nature and spiritual reality.