Showing titles in Customs & Traditions

Stephen Fry angol író, színész, rendező és humorista, Britannia "nemzeti kincse", ahogy egyszer Károly, walesi herceg nevezte. Ezúttal sem fukarkodik a humorral, ebben a hangoskönyvben, az olümposzi rend létrejöttén, az emberi teremtésen keresztül Ámor és Pszükhé történetéig meséli újra a görög mitológiát.

Before Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492, no European had ever seen, much less tasted, tobacco or chocolate. Initially dismissed as dry leaves and an odd Indian drink, these two commodities came to conquer Europe on a scale unsurpassed by any other American resource or product. A fascinating story of contact, exploration, and exchange in the Atlantic world, Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures traces the ways in which these two goods of the Americas both changed and were changed by Europe.

Until very recently, no society had seen marriage as anything other than a conjugal partnership: a male-female union. What Is Marriage? identifies and defends the reasons for this historic consensus and shows why redefining civil marriage as something other than the conjugal union of husband and wife is a mistake. Originally published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, this book’s core argument quickly became the year’s most widely read essay on the most prominent scholarly network in the social sciences.

Did you know that a hippogriff is supposedly the offspring of a horse and a griffin? Or that a Greek sphinx generally has a male face, whereas an Egyptian one has a female visage? Where does the skunk ape roam, and how can you spot a kitsune in human form? Is Slenderman the most frightening mythical creature, or is that honor bestowed on the fearsome gashadokuro? This fantastic book introduces the listener to more than 100 mythical beasts and legendary creatures.

Passed down through generations, the Slavic practice of magic, witchcraft, and sorcery is still alive and well in Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus, as well as the Balkans and the Baltic states. There are still witches who whisper upon tied knots to curse or heal, sorceresses who shapeshift into animals or household objects, magicians who cast spells for love or good fortune, and common folk who seek their aid for daily problems big and small. Natasha Helvin explores in detail the folk history and practice of Russian sorcery and Eastern Slavic magical rites.

We have been connected to cats for more than 30 million years. To our prehistoricancestors cats were deadly predators of the night, and because of this ancient memory etched onto our DNA, cats epitomize our fear of the dark. Yet in addition to their connection to the dark and the shadows, their intelligence, sophisticated physical abilities, and finely tuned senses also led many cultures to view cats as connected to the spirit world.

Alaska’s recent history is one of massive changes: Western contact, colonization, climate change. But some stories have survived—including stories of mysterious creatures that may still be out there.

This revised, expanded, and updated edition of the 1979 landmark Breaking the Magic Spell examines the enduring power of fairy tales and the ways they invade our subjective world. In seven provocative essays, Zipes discusses the importance of investigating oral folk tales in their socio-political context and traces their evolution into literary fairy tales, a metamorphosis that often diminished the ideology of the original narrative.

Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.

Ever wondered if there's any truth behind planting by the moon? Or why wassailing is still a common folk practice in some parts of the world? In Gardener's Folklore, the record of these practices is unveiled, with plenty of tips and tricks to try in your own 21st century garden for blooming bushes and plentiful potatoes.

Eine starke Geschichte kann die Welt retten - oder sie zerstören. Sie kann Wahlen entscheiden, Menschenleben retten, aber auch Kriege auslösen und Ungerechtigkeit zementieren. Samira El Ouassil und Friedemann Karig verfolgen diese ambivalente Wirkungsmacht anhand wichtiger Narrative von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Und sie zeigen, welche Erzählungen uns heute gefährden und warum wir neue benötigen. Wie gelingt es, den Klimawandel so zu erzählen, dass er zum Handeln drängt? Aus welchen Überlegenheitsmythen entstehen Rassismus und Antisemitismus?

Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. They protect some, but guide spears, arrows, and sword blades into the bodies of others. Viking myths about valkyries attempt to elevate the banality of war - to make the pain and suffering, the lost limbs and deformities, the piles of lifeless bodies of young men, glorious and worthwhile. Rather than their death being futile, it is their destiny and good fortune, determined by divine beings.

Did you know that females are held in strong regard in the Norse mythology? In fact, goddesses are used to represent values other than beauty and fertility. In this book, we will learn about Gefion, Brunhilde, Gullveig, Hel, Frigga, Skadi, and Frejya. Learn about their stories and their importance in Nordic culture and society.

Finnish mythology is filled with stories from northern gods and goddesses, magical animals and feisty forest spirits. Finland was an agricultural society for hundreds of years and before that the inhabitants were hunter-gatherers. Our mythology and folktales are intertwined with the surrounding nature, clear lakes, northern lights and the forest, which was the home of all kinds of mysterious events. In this book you will become familiar with old Finnish gods and goddesses and ancient festivals.

This guide to Mexico takes you to the heart of Mexican society. It describes how people socialize and meet members of the opposite sex, the dynamics of daily life, the central importance of family, and the annual cycle of Catholic feasts and fiestas. For business travelers, there are key sections on the economy and vital insights into the general business culture. The third-largest country in Latin America, Mexico is hugely diverse, having both rural areas, where time seems to have stood still, and manic urban centers like Mexico City, one of the most exciting cities in the world.

This amazing audiobook of Chinese myths include many stories which could teach you moral lessons and entertain you at the same time. Become fascinated by the epic tales from ancient, oriental regions. The book covers Chinese gods, immortals that the ancient Chinese believed in, epic legend of T'ai Sui, myths, dragons and dragon gods, and so much more.

Army Wives goes beyond the sound bites and photo ops of military life to bring listeners into the hearts and homes of today's military wives. Biank tells the story of four typical Army wives who, in a flash, find themselves in extraordinary circumstances that ultimately force them to redefine who they are as women and wives.

Take your passion for event planning to the next level with in-the-trenches advice and tools you need to start, run, and grow a successful business. From writing a solid contract to finding reliable vendors, our experts help you identify your niche, teach you how to scout potential clients, evaluate the competition, market your business, and more.

When we turn our attention to the subject of elemental Intelligences or Nature-Spirits, we are confronted by this immediate difficulty, that we are led at the very beginning beyond and behind the world which we know through the channels of the senses. Sense perception does not help us at all in our study of that mysterious realm of life which constitutes the invisible background of physical manifestation. Madame Blavatsky warned us long ago that to describe Nature-Spirits or Elementals as having definite and corporeal form was likely to lead into great error.

The mythologies of the world are collective cultural dreams, and as such should be analyzed first from cultural perspectives. How do myths of the ancient Egyptians or Greeks, for instance, reflect the realities of the Egyptian and Greek cultures? When compared, however, mythologies reveal certain universal themes or motifs that point to larger trans-cultural issues such as the place of the human species in creation or the nature of deity as a concept. World Mythology: A Very Short Introduction is organized around the universal motifs.