Showing titles in Customs & Traditions

At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives - identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic - celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole: three metaphors to help us understand our world, one that is assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a health crisis that has brought loneliness and isolation to an all-time high.

The Holy Grail, the kingdom of Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table, and the magical sword Excalibur are all key ingredients of the legends surrounding King Arthur. But who was he really, where did he come from, and how much of what we read about him in stories that date back to the Dark Ages is true? So far, historians have failed to show that King Arthur really existed at all, and for a good reason—they have been looking in the wrong place. In this book, Alistair Moffat shatters all existing assumptions about Britain's most enigmatic hero.

Here are the incredible true stories of some of the mortals who achieved notoriety in history and folklore through horrible means. Monsters of this sort - serial killers, desperate criminals and socially mobile people with much darker double lives - are, in fact, quite real...including H. H. Holmes, the infamous Chicago serial killer; William Brodie, the Edinburgh criminal mastermind who inspired The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; and Bela Kiss, a Hungarian tinsmith with a most disturbing hobby: collecting women in gasoline drums.

In the 10 lectures of Wolves and Werewolves in History and Popular Culture, author and teacher Shannon Scott will take you around the world to explore the many ways humans have created and shared stories of wolves, shape-shifting, and lycanthropy.

In this Very Short Introduction, Robert Segal introduces the array of approaches used to understand the study of myth. These approaches hail from disciplines as varied as anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, philosophy, science, and religious studies. Including ideas from theorists as varied as Sigmund Freud, Claude Levi-Strauss, Albert Camus, and Roland Barthes, Segal uses the famous ancient myth of Adonis to analyze their individual approaches and theories.

Do you long to explore a land filled with magical creatures, brave heroes, and ancient mysteries? This audiobook opens the door to a land where myths and history intertwine, revealing tales that have shaped the heart and soul of the Scottish people. From captivating fairies to daring warriors, these stories will whisk you away to a world of wonder and adventure.

Tauchen Sie ein in die Welt der nordischen Legenden und entdecken Sie das außergewöhnliche Leben von Lagertha, der legendären Schildmaid, deren Geschichte die Konventionen ihrer Zeit herausfordert. In "Lagertha" reisen Sie durch die Sagas und historischen Erzählungen, die die mutige Kriegerin zum Leben erwecken, die für ihre unvergleichliche Tapferkeit, strategische Gewandtheit und unbeugsamen Geist bekannt ist.

De todos colores, olores, nacionalidades y peinados, las brujas siempre han resultado personajes misteriosos, divertidos y estrafalarios. Así, tenemos desde la malvada vieja bruja de Blanca Nieves hasta la entrañable Madame Mim, de la adaptación cinematográfica de Disney, La espada en la piedra. Aunque las conozcamos y creamos saber todo sobre ellas, simplemente son de larga historia. En este libro de Dolores Carbonell, encontrarás respuesta a 13 preguntas que te llevarán por los laberintos de la vida brujil. Emocionante, ¿no?

Explore the enchanting world of Welsh fairy tradition as this guide unveils the enduring presence of these magical beings in Celtic myth and folklore. Join Welsh native Mhara Starling as she shares authentic Welsh beliefs, delves into the connection between magical practitioners and the fair family (Tylwyth Teg), and helps you incorporate these mystical entities into your own spiritual practice if you so choose.

Los mitos y leyendas aquí reunidos nos proponen un sorprendente recorrido por la explicación primitiva que se dieron los distintos pueblos americanos acerca del origen sagrado de todo cuanto les rodeaba y hacía parte de su experiencia vital. Un reencuentro con las raíces de nuestra identidad como continente y una aventura por mundos fascinantes que sólo sobreviven como referentes de nuestra cultura.

What are things made of?What is the sun?Why is there night and day, winter and summer?Why do bad things happen?Are we alone?Throughout history people all over the world have invented stories to answer profound questions such as these. Have you heard the tale of how the sun hatched out of an emu's egg?

Not so very long ago, Yuletide was as much a chilling season of ghosts and witches as it was a festival of goodwill. In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen.

Julius Evola's masterful overview of the political and social manifestations of our time, the "age of decline" known to the Hindus as the Kali Yuga.

Welcome to The Book of Japanese Folklore: a fascinating journey through Japan’s folklore through profiles of the legendary creatures and beings who continue to live on in pop culture today. From the sly kitsune to the orgrish oni and mischievous shape-shifting tanuki, learn all about the origins of these fantastical and mythical creatures. With information on their cultural significance, and how it’s been spun into today’s popular culture, this tome teaches you about the stories and histories of the beings that inspired characters in your favorite movies, animes, manga, and games.

The author of such acclaimed books as The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth discusses the primitive roots of mythology, examining them in light of the most recent discoveries in archaeology, anthropology, and psychology.

Demonic temptresses–from siren-mermaids to Lilith–are well known today, and their mythology focuses around the seductive danger they pose to men. But the root of these figures can be traced back 4,000 years and in their earliest incarnations they were in fact demons worshipped and feared by women.

From stories of resurrected mummies and thousand-year-old curses to powerful pharaohs and the coveted treasures of the Great Pyramids, ancient Egypt has had an unfaltering grip on the modern imagination. Now, in Egyptian Mythology, Geraldine Pinch offers a comprehensive introduction that untangles the mystery of Egyptian myth.

Folktales were humble stories, passed down generations by those on the fringes of society: women, peasants, outcast groups. Across the world, these ancient stories are filled with strange characters, complicated figures who hold up a mirror to the world that dreamt them up. From outspoken women cast as witches to anti-authority figures denounced as criminals, flawed heroes to relatable villains, Rebel Folklore celebrates 50 of these misfits and what they mean for us today.

This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of "basic stories" in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it reveals that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.

Myth is our wild way of telling the truth, of sharing stories that have our living earth speaking through them. There is an old insistence that we each have a twin we know nothing about. A wild, curious twin that was thrown out the window the night we were born, taking much of our energy with them. This story is a quest to find and court our wild twin, for they have something important to tell us. If there was something we were here to do in our few, brief years, we can be sure that the wild twin is holding the key.