Shamanism, a richly illustrated guide, looks at both historic and present-day manifestations, from the snowscaps of Siberia to the jungles of the Amazon.The book discusses visions, initiation rites, shamanic chants, shamanism and mental health, the shamanic use of plants, and the political and social background to the shaman’s work. Also covered are the links between the shaman’s sense of unity in nature and the recent growth of ecological consciousness in Western societies.* Includes more than 250 color illustrations that present a unique pictorial record of shamanism in practice and as represented in art and artifacts* Includes a detailed region-by-region survey of shamanism with full-color maps* Explores both spiritual and psychological aspects of the subject, as well as the relevance of shamanism to contemporary Western culture

    Turner demonstrates how the analysis of ritual behavior and symbolism may be used as a key to understanding social structure and processes. He extends Van Gennep's notion of the "liminal phase" of rites of passage to a more general level, and applies it to gain understanding of a wide range of social phenomena. Once thought to be the "vestigial" organs of social conservatism, rituals are now seen as arenas in which social change may emerge and be absorbed into social practice.As Roger Abrahams writes in his foreword to the revised edition: "Turner argued from specific field data. His special eloquence resided in his ability to lay open a sub-Saharan African system of belief and practice in terms that took the reader beyond the exotic features of the group among whom he carried out his fieldwork, translating his experience into the terms of contemporary Western perceptions. Reflecting Turner's range of intellectual interests, the book emerged as exceptional and eccentric in many ways: yet it achieved its place within the intellectual world because it so successfully synthesized continental theory with the practices of ethnographic reports."

    The Devas or Gods of the Vedic age were eternal enemies of the Asuras or Demonic races. How could the son of the preceptor of the Gods possibly hope to find love and happiness with the daughter of the preceptor of the Demons? Yet love flowers in the unlikeliest places and so Kacha and Devayani began to dream the impossible dream. Their love was doomed to end tragically but the how and wherefore of the tragedy is what makes their story so unforgettable. But the story doesn’t end there. Instead, it segues (after a gap of a few years) into another: the love triangle of Devayani, her former friend Sharmishtha, and the man they both loved, Yayati. After a quarrel with her friend Sharmishtha, Devayani used her father’s influence and power to force her friend Sharmishtha to live out the rest of her life as Devayani’s personal maidservant. One day, Devayani found herself trapped at the bottom of a well deep in the forest. Soon after, a stranger wandering through the forest, chanced across her.. On learning that he was Yayati, king of a powerful nation, she blackmailed him into a relationship. But unknown to Devayani, Yayati fell in love with Sharmishtha, resulting in a love triangle that presages the plots of countless present-day soap operas. Read on to see how Ashok’s storytelling shines brilliant light upon this gem pried loose from the mosaic of his own Mahabharata Series.

    Zolbrod's new translation renders the power and delicacy of the oral storytelling performance on the page through a poetic idiom appropriate to the Navajo oral tradition.Zolbrod's book offers the general reader a vivid introduction to Navajo culture. For students of literature this book proposes a new way of looking at our literary heritage.

    Foreword by Joseph Campbell This is the classic, intimate study, movingly written with the special insight of direct encounter, which was first published in 1953 by the fledgling Thames & Hudson firm in a series edited by Joseph Campbell. Maya Deren's Divine Horsemen is recognized throughout the world as a primary source book on the culture and spirituality of Haitian Voudoun. The work includes all the original photographs and illustrations, glossary, appendices and index. It includes the original Campbell foreword along with the foreword Campbell added to a later edition.

    Told from the perspective of the queen, Sita, it explores ideas of right vs. wrong, compassion, loyalty, trust, honor and the terrible price that war exacts from women, children, animals and the natural world.After Sita, Rama and his brother are banished from their kingdom, Sita is captured by the arrogant King Ravana and imprisoned in a garden across the ocean. Ravana tries to convince Sita to be his wife, but she steadfastly refuses his advances. Eventually, Rama comes to her rescue with the help of the monkey Hanuman and his army, magic animals and gods. But Rama is unable to trust Sita and forces her to undergo an ordeal by fire to prove herself to be true and pure . . .The Ramayana was first written in Sanskrit by the poet Valmiki around 300 B.C. It contains important Hindu teachings and has had great influence on Indian life and culture over the centuries.

    Other tellings can be found under "all editions," each credited to its respective storyteller.

    Can they summon their warriors and get them ready before it's too late?On the other side of the tumultuous country, young Sakthi, blissfully unaware about the danger that looms over the world, goes about her normal day of slaying demons in the quaint little village of Meghavazhi, and proving to her tribe that she stands leagues above the rest of her people – a feat quite unique, not only to her tribe, but to the rest of the waiting world. Her whole world, however, comes crumbling down on her when she unwittingly finds herself completing the triad, the three tasks which were set forth to identify her as one of the Chosen Hexad.Fear intermingled with the amorous charms of the wonderful land of Kumari Kandam brings forth a stimulating new experience for Sakthi as she gets completely taken in by the people, magic, and wealth of new changes that she has to face. Can she, a young innocent from an obscure village, navigate through the trials and tribunals to earn her place as a worthy member of the Chosen Hexad and stand with the Kings to face the wrath of the Greater Evil? What astounding adventures await the brave princess of Meghavazhi?

    In this volume I have followed one line only of anthropological enquiry, the survival of an indigenous European cult and the interaction between it and the exotic religion which finally overwhelmed it. I have traced the worship of the Horned God onwards through the centuries from the Paleolithic prototypes, and I have shown that the survival of the cult was due to the survival of the races who adored that god, for this belief could not have held its own against the invasions of other peoples and religions unless a stratum of the population were strong enough to keep it alive...Dr Margaret Alice Murray

    But the sources of our knowledge about these societies are relatively few, leaving the gods of the North shrouded in mystery. In compiling this dictionary Rudolf Simek has made the fullest possible use of the information available -Christian accounts, Eddic lays, the Elder Edda, runic inscriptions, Roman authors (especially Tacitus), votive stones, place names and archaeological discoveries. He has adhered throughout to a broad definition of mythology which presents the beliefs of the heathen Germanic tribes in their entirety: not only tales of the gods, but beings from lower levels of belief: elves, dwarfs and giants; the beginning and end of the world; the creation of man, death and the afterlife; cult, burial customs and magic - an entire history of Germanic religion. RUDOLF SIMEK is Professor of Medieval German and Scandinavian literature at the University of Bonn in Germany.

    From the early ninth century through the middle ages, to the Arthurian romances of Victorian times, the tales of this legendary figure have blossomed and multiplied. And in more recent times, there has been a continuous stream of books claiming to unlock the secret or the truth behind the "once and future king."The truth, as Guy Halsall reveals in this fascinating investigation, is both radically different - and also a good deal more intriguing. Broadly speaking, there are two Arthurs. On the one hand is the traditional "historical" Arthur, waging a doomed struggle to save Roman civilization against the relentless Anglo-Saxon tide during the darkest years of the Dark Ages. On the other is the Arthur of myth and legend, accompanied by a host of equally legendary people, places, and stories: Lancelot, Guinevere, Galahad and Gawain, Merlin, Excalibur, the Lady in the Lake, the Sword in the Stone, Camelot, and the Round Table. The big problem with all this, notes Halsall, is that "King Arthur" might well never have existed. And if he did exist, it is next to impossible to say anything at all about him. As this challenging new look at the Arthur legend makes clear, all books claiming to reveal "the truth" behind King Arthur can safely be ignored. Not only the fanciful pseudo-historical accounts - Merlin the Magician, the Lady in the Lake--but even the "historical" Arthur is largely a figment of the imagination. The evidence that we have, whether written or archeological, is simply incapable of telling us anything detailed about the Britain in which he is supposed to have lived, fought, and died.