But is it something more than myth? Solid facts have emerged through the recent work of archaeologists. This book examines the historical foundations of the Arthurian tradition, and then presents the results of excavations to date at Cadbury (reputed site of Camelot), Tintagel, Glastonbury and less-known places.

    With more than three decades of experience she has learned how to bring the teachings alive, combining modern with ancient, so you can better understand the true potential and depth of Witchcraft.Within the pages of this book you will find the secrets and techniques to become a Witch. These can be divided into three categories: philosophical disciplines, spiritual beliefs, and practical techniques. Each part gets a focus in this book.In the first section, you will:Learn meditation and how it can be used for ritual Discover the secrets of visualization, telepathy, and personal power Use the self-analysis techniques to discover who you are and never walk in anyone's shadowIn the second section you can:Uncover the essence of the God and Goddess Discover the festivals of Witchcraft Learn how to make and use the tools of Witchcraft Understand how to do rituals, including the rite of self-initiationAnd in the final section, you'll:Practice psychic protection, shapeshifting, and banishing Master astral projection Learn to interpret omens This really just barely covers some of the information you will find revealed in these pages. Written in a style that is clear and concise, this book will add to your knowledge of Witchcraft. Whether you are new to the Craft or have been practicing for some time, Witchcraft: Theory and Practice will impart wisdom that will fascinate and entice. You will be using this book for many years to come.

    Twenty-five years in preparation, this unique, comprehensive sourcebook focuses on mythology anthropology, religion, and sexuality to uncover precisely what other encyclopedias leave out or misrepresent. The Woman's Encyclopedia presents the fascinating stories behind word origins, legends, superstitions, and customs. A browser's delight and an indispensable resource, it offers 1,350 entries on magic, witchcraft, fairies, elves, giants, goddesses, gods, and psychological anomalies such as demonic possession; the mystical meanings of sun, moon, earth, sea, time, and space; ideas of the soul, reincarnation, creation and doomsday; ancient and modern attitudes toward sex, prostitution, romance, rape, warfare, death and sin, and more.Tracing these concepts to their prepatriarchal origins, Barbara G. Walker explores a "thousand hidden pockets of history and custom in addition to the valuable material recovered by archaeologists, orientalists, and other scholars."Not only a compendium of fascinating lore and scholarship, The Woman's Encyclopedia is a revolutionary book that offers a rare opportunity for both women and men to see our cultural heritage in a fresh light, and draw upon the past for a more humane future.

    In order to decipher the true meaning of these symbols, the student must approach the Tarot with an open mind and an open spirit.This new approach to the study of the Tarot provides a clear but profound method of exploring and discovering your own inner depths, a necessary prerequisite to a thorough understanding of the ancient symbols. In addition, this handbook relates the Tarot to other occult sciences such as astrology, the cabala, and numerology. Here you will find basic lessons and exercises, procedures, and fundamental esoteric philosophy which will open up new dimensions to the inquiring mind, and allow you to fully comprehend the tarot and its powers of enlightenment and divination.

    A Druid’s Herbal shows the reader how to use herbs when creating rituals to celebrate festivals and significant life passages such as births, house blessings, weddings, funerals, and naming ceremonies. Drawing on extensive research and a deep personal experience with Pagan traditions, Ellen Evert Hopman explores the history and folklore surrounding the eight major Celtic festivals: Samhain, Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltaine, Summer Solstice, Lugnasad, and Fall Equinox. Included in each discussion are complete instructions on the medicinal and magical uses of the herbs associated with each celebration. Using these Celtic traditions as examples, the author suggests ways to incorporate the symbolic and magical power of herbs into personal rituals that honor all phases of life from childbirth to last rites. Also included are chapters on how to prepare herbal tinctures, salves, and poultices; herbs used by the Druids; herbal alchemy and the planets; and the relationships between herbs and sacred places. Filled with practical information and imaginative suggestions for using herbs for healing, ceremony, and magic, this book is an indispensable and comprehensive guide to age-old herbal practices. A master herbalist, psychotherapist, and lay homeopath, Ellen Hopman is the author of Tree Medicine, Tree Magic and the video Gifts of the Healing Earth, and co-author of People of the Earth: The New Pagans.

            The stories are divided into three sections: The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes (first published in 1855); The Age of Chivalry (1858), which contains King Arthur and His Knights, The Mabinogeon, and The Knights of English History; and Legends of Charlemagne or Romance of the Middle Ages (1863). For the Greek myths, Bulfinch drew on Ovid and Virgil, and for the sagas of the north, from Mallet's Northern Antiquities. He provides lively versions of the myths of Zeus and Hera, Venus and Adonis, Daphne and Apollo, and their cohorts on Mount Olympus; the love story of Pygmalion and Galatea; the legends of the Trojan War and the epic wanderings of Ulysses and Aeneas; the joys of Valhalla and the furies of Thor; and the tales of Beowulf and Robin Hood. The tales are eminently readable. As Bulfinch wrote, "Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated. . . . Our book is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement."Thomas Bulfinch, in his day job, was a clerk in the Merchant's Bank of Boston, an undemanding position that afforded him ample leisure time in which to pursue his other interests. In addition to serving as secretary of the Boston Society of Natural History, he thoroughly researched the myths and legends and copiously cross-referenced them with literature and art. As such, the myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the nineteenth century; however, it is the vigor of the stories themselves that returns generation after generation to Bulfinch.

    . . and learning more about our lives.     By studying the hand's shape and lines of the palm, you can divine your own—or someone else’s—past, present, and future. Cassandra Eason lays out the basics of this ancient practice by discussing the importance of "life lines," "heart lines," and other truths written in our palms. It’s a fascinating way to discover more about our own lives and the lives of others.

    Harding provides a wealth of information about the worship of the Goddess Kali. This book gives an intimate and detailed description of Kolkata's famous Dakshineswar temple and Ma Bhavatarini, the form of Kali worshipped there. Learn about the temple's festivals & daily rituals, and discover inspiring accounts of some of this traditions ecstatic saints. A great introduction to Kali worship.

    Tom Cowan has pursued this theme in a lyrical cross-cultural exploration of shamanism and the Celtic imagination that examines the myths and tales of the ancient Celtic poets and storytellers, and outlines techniques used to access the shaman's world.Tom Cowan is the author of 'How to Top Into Your Own Genius' and coauthor of 'Power of the Witch and Love Magic'."An engrossing, intelligent, and shamanically well-informed work that is an important gift to all those Westerners seeking a knowledge of Celtic shamanism"MICHAEL HARNER, PH. D., author of 'The Way of the Shaman'"An important and fascinating work on Celtic shamanism. Highly recommended"SERGE KAHILI KING, author of 'Urban Shaman'"A fascinating and entertaining study…(illuminating) glimpses of an original Celtic shamanism that appears in British and Irish folklore and literary remains. 'Fire in the Head' also offers an account of Celtic supernaturalism in general, and unveils the mysterious background of certain folk heroes, such as Robin Hood"AKE HULTKRANTZ, author of 'Native Religions of North America'"A remarkable exploration of shamanism (using) cross-cultural myths to explain the history and roots of the Celtic spirit"SANDRA INGERMAN, author of 'Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self'

    It is a book of sense and common sense, not only about magick, but about religion and one of the most critical issues of today: how to achieve the much needed and wholesome relationship with our Earth. Cunningham presents Wicca as it is today: a gentle, Earth-oriented religion dedicated to the Goddess and God. Wicca also includes Scott Cunningham's own Book of Shadows and updated appendices of periodicals and occult suppliers.

    Enumerates and categorizes the various inhabitants of the world of fairy folklore from a cross-cultural perspective, viewing them both as lesser divinities and mythical archetypes.

    She takes us from the Paleolithic period and the myths of the hunters right up to the “Great Western Transformation” of the last five hundred years and the discrediting of myth by science. The history of myth is the history of humanity, our stories and beliefs, our curiosity and attempts to understand the world, which link us to our ancestors and each other. Heralding a major series of retellings of international myths by authors from around the world, Armstrong’s characteristically insightful and eloquent book serves as a brilliant and thought-provoking introduction to myth in the broadest sense—and explains why if we dismiss it, we do so at our peril.

    The Celts had a life-affirming, mystical way of viewing and living life, in tune with the forces of Nature and magic. Drawing upon Irish Celtic spiritual tradition, history, literature, and myth, this tried and true guidebook (formerly titled Glamoury, ) offers a holistic system that will help you reconnect with this enchanting realm--the Green World of the Celts.Magic of the Celtic Otherworld presents techniques for becoming attuned to the life forces of the Green World through seasonal rituals, visualizations, and practical magical workings. Learn how to find your way around the Otherworld, and gain an understanding of how each of us constantly shapes and affects the land on which we live. Most importantly, discover how to make contact with inhabitants of the Otherworld in order to deepen your spiritual practice and enrich your everyday life.

    Hatshepsut, the daughter of a general who took Egypt's throne without status as a king’s son and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty, was born into a privileged position of the royal household. Married to her brother, she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her inconceivable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of king in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular twenty-two year reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays with the veil of piety and sexual expression. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut had to shrewdly operate the levers of a patriarchal system to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh.Hatshepsut had successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt’s most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her images were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.

    Organizing data from cultures the world over, Eliade lays out the basic patterns of initiation: group puberty rites, entrance into secret cults, shamanic instructions, individual visions, and heroic rites of passage.