In this riveting collection of fables and folktales from cultures across the globe, characters from beloved fairytales, cultural fables, ancient mythologies, and inspirational deities are brought to life, including Sleeping Beauty (Italy), Rapunzel (Germany), Jack and the Beanstalk (England), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico), Sun God Ra (Egypt), the Crane Wife (Japan), and dozens more.Lesser-known stories introduce characters such as the volcano goddess Pele from Hawaii; Mwindo, the wise and powerful king of the Nyanga people; and the strong and resilient Yennenga, mother of the Mossi people in Burkina Faso. The recurring themes of conquering evil, overcoming adversity, and finding love and companionship are woven throughout this collection.Yoshi Yoshitani's art style is fresh and unique, featuring diverse and multicultural characters. Each story will be featured opposite a correlating illustration, both lush and vibrant.

    Filled with hands-on exercises and deep meditations, Wild Magic will show you how to access the Otherworld and come into a profound connection with the divine in nature. Author Danu Forest explores the timeless animistic practices of the Celtic faerie faith, creating relationships with the faerie folk, green kin, the ancestors, and the spirits of the land. You will learn to call on your spirit cousins for protection, and practice magical techniques based on the elements, such as fire scrying and spells to raise the wind.Discover the secrets of ley lines, dragon lines, faery roads, and spirit paths that will transform your life in the here and now. Work with Danu's tips for wildcrafting and her unique recipes for making magical oils, salves, bundles, and ointments with common herbs. Drawn from authentic country wisdom and the folk traditions of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, the spells and rituals within are designed to channel your own modern wildness for the benefit of all.

    In Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, Charlene Spretnak recreates, the original, goddess-centered myths and illuminates the contemporary emergence of a spirituality based on our embeddedness in nature.

    Poets and bards created a secret sign language to describe the letters, each of which is named for a tree or a plant. For centuries this language was transmitted only orally in order to protect its secrets.Combining her extensive herbal knowledge and keen poetic insight, Ellen Evert Hopman delves deeply into the historic allusions and associations of each of the 20 letters of the Ogham Tree Alphabet. She also examines Native American healing methods for possible clues to the way ancient Europeans may have used these trees as healing agents. Druidic spiritual practices, herbal healing remedies, and plant lore are included for each tree in the alphabet as well as how each is used in traditional rituals such as the Celtic Fire Festivals and other celebrations. Hopman also includes a pronunciation guide for the oghams and information on the divinatory meanings associated with each tree.

    Here are traditional tales about the trees and plants that shape our landscapes and our lives through the seasons. They explore the complex relationship between people and plants, in lowlands and uplands, fields, bogs, moors, woodlands and towns.Suitable for all ages, this is an essential collection of stories for anyone interested in botany, the environment and our living heritage.

    Some are "Momotaro, "The Son of a Peach", "The Jellyfish and the Monkey", "The Mirror of Matsuyama", "The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child", "The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa."

    Filled with Halloween poems, games and tried and true ancient methods for divining the future (especially for discovering the identity of one's future spouse!), THE BOOK OF HALLOWE'EN opens a captivating window onto the past of one of today's most beloved holidays.

    First published in German in 1977, it has now been translated into English with the assistance of the author himself. A clearly structured and readable survey for students and scholars, it will be welcomed as the best modern account of any polytheistic religious system.Burkert draws on archaeological discoveries, insights from other disciplines, and inscriptions in Linear B to reconstruct the practices and beliefs of the Minoan–Mycenaean age. The major part of his book is devoted to the archaic and classical epochs. He describes the various rituals of sacrifice and libation and explains Greek beliefs about purification. He investigates the inspiration behind the great temples at Olympia, Delphi, Delos, and the Acropolis—discussing the priesthood, sanctuary, and oracles. Considerable attention is given to the individual gods, the position of the heroes, and beliefs about the afterlife. The different festivals are used to illuminate the place of religion in the society of the city-state. The mystery cults, at Eleusis and among the followers of Bacchus and Orpheus, are also set in that context. The book concludes with an assessment of the great classical philosophers’ attitudes to religion.Insofar as possible, Burkert lets the evidence—from literature and legend, vase paintings and archaeology—speak for itself; he elucidates the controversies surrounding its interpretation without glossing over the enigmas that remain. Throughout, the notes (updated for the English-language edition) afford a wealth of further references as the text builds up its coherent picture of what is known of the religion of ancient Greece.

    Nordic Tales is a collection of 16 traditional tales from the enchanting world of Nordic folklore.Translated and transcribed by folklorists in the 19th century, these stories are at once magical, hilarious, cozy, and chilling.Welcome to a world of mystical adventure—where trolls haunt the snowy forests, terrifying monsters roam the open sea, a young woman journeys to the end of the world, and a boy proves he knows no fear.• Offers a fascinating view into Nordic culture• The tales come alive alongside bold, contemporary art• Part of the popular Tales series, featuring Tales of Japan, Celtic Tales, Tales of India, and Tales of East AfricaNordic Tales will enthrall fans of fairytales and captivate those interested in the rich history of Nordic culture.Ulla Thynell's glowing contemporary illustrations accompany each tale, conjuring dragons, princesses, and the northern lights.• A visually gorgeous book that will be at home on the shelf or on the coffee table• A perfect gift for fairy tale and folklore lovers, fans of Nordic culture, people of Nordic ancestry, collectors of illustrated classics, and bibliophiles looking for a comforting wintertime read• Add it to the collection of books like D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths by Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, and Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton.People who love Greek mythology, roman mythology, Chinese mythology, Celtic mythology, and folklore and cultural studies from around the globe will love Nordic Tales.

    Davenport Adams (1828 – 91) established a reputation for himself as a popular science writer, translator and lexicographer. He also wrote several children's books. In this 1889 work, Adams gives a general introduction to alchemy in Europe and traces the development of magic and alchemy in England from the fourteenth century onwards. Initially the disciplines were persecuted by the Church and met with 'the prejudice of the vulgar', languishing throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.In Book 1 Adams portrays the English 'magicians' Roger Bacon, whom he considers to have been ahead of his contemporaries; John Dee and William Lilly, astrologists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, respectively; and the English Rosicrucians. Book 2 is a historical account of witchcraft in England and Scotland, from the middle ages to the witch trials of the seventeenth century, and includes a chapter on witchcraft in literature. This edition contains both Book 1 and Book 2. Description from Cambridge University Press.This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Our changing concept of time, and the surprising, often mysterious origins of the calendar, comes to life in this richly informative, beautifully written book.

    An intelligent popular history of the magically enchanting early English civilisation on which Tolkien based his world of Lord of the Rings.

    It will be used in reference to those countries and districtswhich, in historic times, have been at one time or other mainly of Celticspeech. It does not follow that all the races which spoke a form of theCeltic tongue, a tongue of the Indo-European family, were all of the samestock. Indeed, ethnological and archaeological evidence tends toestablish clearly that, in Gaul and Britain, for example, man had livedfor ages before the introduction of any variety of Aryan or Indo-Europeanspeech, and this was probably the case throughout the whole of Westernand Southern Europe. Further, in the light of comparative philology, ithas now become abundantly clear that the forms of Indo-European speechwhich we call Celtic are most closely related to those of the Italicfamily, of which family Latin is the best known representative. Fromthis it follows that we are to look for the centre of dissemination ofAryan Celtic speech in some district of Europe that could have been thenatural centre of dissemination also for the Italic languages. From thiscommon centre, through conquest and the commercial intercourse whichfollowed it, the tribes which spoke the various forms of Celtic andItalic speech spread into the districts occupied by them in historictimes. The common centre of radiation for Celtic and Italic speech wasprobably in the districts of Noricum and Pannonia, the modern Carniola,Carinthia, etc., and the neighbouring parts of the Danube valley. Theconquering Aryan-speaking Celts and Italians formed a militaryaristocracy, and their success in extending the range of their languageswas largely due to their skill in arms, combined, in all probability,with a talent for administration. This military aristocracy was ofkindred type to that which carried Aryan speech into India and Persia,Armenia and Greece, not to speak of the original speakers of the Teutonicand Slavonic tongues. In view of the necessity of discovering a centre,whence the Indo-European or Aryan languages in general could haveradiated Eastwards, as well as Westwards, the tendency to-day is toregard these tongues as having been spoken originally in some districtbetween the Carpathians and the Steppes, in the form of kindred dialectsof a common speech. Some branches of the tribes which spoke thesedialects penetrated into Central Europe, doubtless along the Danube, and,from the Danube valley, extended their conquests together with theirvarious forms of Aryan speech into Southern and Western Europe. Theproportion of conquerors to conquered was not uniform in all thecountries where they held sway, so that the amount of Aryan blood intheir resultant population varied greatly. In most cases, the familiesof the original conquerors, by their skill in the art of war and acertain instinct of government, succeeded in making their own tongues thedominant media of communication in the lands where they ruled, with theresult that most of the languages of Europe to-day are of the Aryan orIndo-European type. It does not, however, follow necessarily from thisthat the early religious ideas or the artistic civilisation of countriesnow Aryan in speech, came necessarily from the conquerors rather than theconquered. In the last century it was long held that in countries ofAryan speech the essential features of their civilisation, theirreligious ideas, their social institutions, nay, more, their inhabitantsthemselves, were of Aryan origin.

    Drawing on examples from diverse American groups and experiences, this text gives the student a strong foundation—from the field’s history and major terms to theories, interpretive approaches, and fieldwork.Many teachers of undergraduates find the available folklore textbooks too complex or unwieldy for an introductory level course. It is precisely this criticism that Living Folklore addresses; while comprehensive and rigorous, the book is specifically intended to meet the needs of those students who are just beginning their study of the discipline. Its real strength lies in how it combines carefully articulated foundational concepts with relevant examples and a student-oriented teaching philosophy.

    Every people or nation has its own way of experiencing this psychic reality, and so a study of the world's fairy tales yields a wealth of insights into the archetypal experiences of humankind. Perhaps the foremost authority on the psychological interpretation of fairy tales is Marie-Louise von Franz. In this book—originally published as An Introduction to the Interpretation of Fairy Tales —she describes the steps involved in analyzing and illustrates them with a variety of European tales, from "Beauty and the Beast" to "The Robber Bridegroom." Dr. von Franz begins with a history of the study of fairy tales and the various theories of interpretation. By way of illustration she presents a detailed examination of a simple Grimm's tale, "The Three Feathers," followed by a comprehensive discussion of motifs related to Jung's concept of the shadow, the anima, and the animus. This revised edition has been corrected and updated by the author.