Download or read book Nine Nights on the Windy Tree written by Martha Miller and published by Bold Strokes Books Inc. This book was released on 2014-11-01 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bertha Brannon is a lawyer who takes care of her grandmother and is usually broke because the work she often takes is pro bono or sliding scale for the domestic violence shelter or the public defender for juvenile cases. She has eighteen months of sobriety from a cocaine addiction. Late Friday afternoon, she’s looking forward to a long and peaceful weekend, when a woman comes into her office who wants to retain her for a murder she hasn’t yet committed. Bertha needs the rent money. Thus begins a living roller-coaster ride that includes betrayal, arson, and murder. While making trips back to the drug-using haunts, Bertha meets a police woman who wants her, but she’s not sure for what. Is it just sex or is there something more? Prequel to Widow

Download or read book Myths of the Pagan North written by Christopher Abram and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03-03 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the Vikings began to migrate overseas as raiders or settlers in the late eighth century, there is evidence that this new way of life, centred on warfare, commerce and exploration, brought with it a warrior ethos that gradually became codified in the Viking myths, notably in the cult of Odin, the god of war, magic and poetry, and chief god in the Norse pantheon. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when most of Scandinavia had long since been converted to Christianity, form perhaps the most important era in the history of Norse mythology: only at this point were the myths of Thor, Freyr and Odin first recorded in written form. Using archaeological sources to take us further back in time than any written document, the accounts of foreign writers like the Roman historian Tacitus, and the most important repository of stories of the gods, old Norse poetry and the Edda, Christopher Abram leads the reader into the lost world of the Norse gods.

Download or read book English Poetry and Old Norse Myth written by Heather O'Donoghue and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: English Poetry and Old Norse Myth: A History traces the influence of Old Norse myth - stories and poems about the familiar gods and goddesses of the pagan North, such as Odin, Thor, Baldr and Freyja - on poetry in English from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. Especial care is taken to determine the precise form in which these poets encountered the mythic material, so that the book traces a parallel history of the gradual dissemination of Old Norse mythic texts. Very many major poets were inspired by Old Norse myth. Some, for instance the Anglo-Saxon poet of Beowulf, or much later, Sir Walter Scott, used Old Norse mythic references to lend dramatic colour and apparent authenticity to their presentation of a distant Northern past. Others, like Thomas Gray, or Matthew Arnold, adapted Old Norse mythological poems and stories in ways which both responded to and helped to form the literary tastes of their own times. Still others, such as William Blake, or David Jones, reworked and incorporated celebrated elements of Norse myth - valkyries weaving the fates of men, or the great World Tree Yggdrasill on which Odin sacrificed himself - as personal symbols in their own poetry. This book also considers less familiar literary figures, showing how a surprisingly large number of poets in English engaged in individual ways with Old Norse myth. English Poetry and Old Norse Myth: A History demonstrates how attitudes towards the pagan mythology of the north change over time, but reveals that poets have always recognized Old Norse myth as a vital part of the literary, political and historical legacy of the English-speaking world.

Download or read book Gateway of the Gods written by Craig Hines and published by Stygian Press. This book was released on 2007-01-09 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ground-breaking and provocative book presents new and astonishing interpretations of ancient history, mythology and world religions that will call many established beliefs into question. In Gateway of the Gods, author Craig Hines invites readers to reconsider preconceived notions concerning Biblical theology in light of recent scientific discoveries and inquiries concerning the nature of the universe. This fascinating exploration reveals a number of ideas that have been suppressed and obscured behind layers of symbolism and misguided propaganda for thousands of years... until now. Why is it that so many world cultures share details of an event when fallen angels descended upon the earth and fathered hybrid offspring called the Nephilim? Is it possible that these beings used "gateway" technology housed within pyramids and holy temples to travel between the heavenly and earthly realms? Do the latest advances in theoretical physics lend credibility to the idea that otherworldly beings might reside in dimensions parallel to our own? Do the recorded voices of the "dead," known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), indicate that we may be able to communicate with these other realms? Was a secret message embedded within ancient texts that could only be revealed after we have attained the knowledge and technology necessary to understand it? Does this message offer a solution to the approaching environmental disaster that scientists warn will be more devastating to human civilization than any others in recorded history? Drawing from a variety of historical sources and years of meticulous research, the author weaves together a compelling argument involving a range of seemingly disparate topics that when considered together, formulate a radically new narrative concerning the history and destiny of the human race.

Download or read book The Wicca Handbook written by Eileen Holland and published by Weiser Books. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wicca Handbook is both a tutorial for new witches and an exceptionally well-organized reference book for experienced practitioners. It guides us through the first steps in becoming a witch and explores many Wiccan traditions, initiations, and magical practices. The Wiccan year-the eight Sabbats-along with many of its rituals and ceremonies are examined. Holland also provides the background of every facet of witchcraft, such as spells for every occasion, psychic protection, numerology, basic astrology, and the lore of stones, metals, candles, animals, and much more. High Priestess Eileen Holland's helpful guide is rooted in practicality and intended as a working handbook, not a simple beginner's guide. The information is rich; clear directions are given, and its range of content is extensive. Spells, circles, crystals, and color magic, herbs, health, and healing are all covered with abundant direction on how to do it, when to do it, and suggestions for seeking guidance from the deities. Those who have been on their path for a few years will find this a great reference book to refer to time and again.

Download or read book Germanic Origins written by Francis Barton Gummere and published by . This book was released on 1892 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Germanic origins written by F.B. Gummere and published by Рипол Классик. This book was released on with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Poetic Edda written by Edward Pettit and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2023-03-03 with total page 730 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an edition and translation of one of the most important and celebrated sources of Old Norse-Icelandic mythology and heroic legend, namely the medieval poems now known collectively as the Poetic Edda or Elder Edda. Included are thirty-six texts, which are mostly preserved in medieval manuscripts, especially the thirteenth-century Icelandic codex traditionally known as the Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda. The poems cover diverse subjects, including the creation, destruction and rebirth of the world, the dealings of gods such as Óðinn, Þórr and Loki with giants and each other, and the more intimate, personal tragedies of the hero Sigurðr, his wife Guðrún and the valkyrie Brynhildr. Each poem is provided with an introduction, synopsis and suggestions for further reading. The Old Norse texts are furnished with a textual apparatus recording the manuscript readings behind this edition’s emendations, as well as select variant readings. The accompanying translations, informed by the latest scholarship, are concisely annotated to make them as accessible as possible. As the first open-access, single-volume parallel Old Norse edition and English translation of the Poetic Edda, this book will prove a valuable resource for students and scholars of Old Norse literature. It will also interest those researching other fields of medieval literature (especially Old English and Middle High German), and appeal to a wider general audience drawn to the myths and legends of the Viking Age and subsequent centuries.

Download or read book Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia written by Michael D. J. Bintley and published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd. This book was released on 2015 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays on the depiction of animals, birds and insects in early medieval material culture, from texts to carvings to the landscape itself. For people in the early Middle Ages, the earth, air, water and ether teemed with other beings. Some of these were sentient creatures that swam, flew, slithered or stalked through the same environments inhabited by their human contemporaries. Others were objects that a modern beholder would be unlikely to think of as living things, but could yet be considered to possess a vitality that rendered them potent. Still others were things half glimpsed on a dark night or seen only in the mind's eye; strange beasts that haunted dreams and visions or inhabited exotic lands beyond the compass of everyday knowledge. This book discusses the various ways in which the early English and Scandinavians thought about and represented these other inhabitants of their world, and considers the multi-faceted nature of the relationship between people and beasts. Drawing on the evidence of material culture, art, language, literature, place-names and landscapes, the studies presented here reveal a world where the boundaries between humans, animals, monsters and objects were blurred and often permeable, and where to represent the bestial could be to holda mirror to the self. Michael D.J. Bintley is Senior Lecturer in Medieval Literature at Canterbury Christ Church University; Thomas J.T. Williams is a doctoral researcher at UCL's Institute of Archaeology. Contributors: Noël Adams, John Baker, Michael D. J. Bintley, Sue Brunning, László Sándor Chardonnens, Della Hooke, Eric Lacey, Richard North, Marijane Osborn, Victoria Symons, Thomas J. Williams

Download or read book Strindberg and the Poetry of Myth written by Harry G. Carlson and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-04-28 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

Download or read book David Jones written by Thomas Dilworth and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2017-04-15 with total page 651 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the revolutions of the last century, none was more important or potentially more lasting than the one in the arts called "Modernism". Among the giants of that movement were writers who changed our conceptions of poetry and prose forever. Now, well into the new century, we can look back to admire and reflect on figures from that period. Last year saw biographies of two monumental poets of Modernism: Robert Crawford's first volume on T. S. Eliot, and David Moody's concluding third volume on the life of Ezra Pound. We are excited to announce the first full–length critical biography of the third member, too often overlooked, of that extraordinary group. The beautifully illustrated David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poet by Thomas Dilworth will stand for generations as the great biography this wonderful artist deserves. Jones (1895–1974) was a painter, a wood– and copper–engraver and maker of painted inscriptions, but it was as a poet that he left his most lasting mark. Eliot called him "one of the most distinguished writers of my generation" and Dylan Thomas said he "would like to have done anything as good as David Jones has done." Auden praised his poem In Parenthesis as "the greatest book [ever] about the Great War", and The Anathemata as one of the "truly great poems in Western Literature." His work, the whole of it, enables him to stand alongside Eliot, Pound, and James Joyce as an incomparable figure in literary Modernism.

Download or read book Ritual Embodiment in Modern Western Magic written by Damon Zacharias Lycourinos and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-15 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Western world, magic has often functioned as an umbrella term for various religious beliefs and ritual practices that seek to influence events by harnessing supernatural power. The definition of these myriad occult and esoteric traditions have, however, usually come from those that are opposed to its practice; notably authorities in religious, legal and intellectual spheres. This book seeks to provide a new perspective, directly from the practitioners of modern Western magic, by exploring how a distinctive mode of embodiment and consciousness can produce a transition from an ‘ordinary’ to a ‘magical’ worldview. Starting with an introduction to the study of magic in the Western academy, the book then presents the author’s own participant observation of five ethnographic case studies of modern Western magic. The focus of these ethnographic case studies is directed towards ideas and methods the informants employ to self-legitimise and self-represent as ‘magicians’. It concludes by discussing the phenomenological implications and issues around embodiment that are inherent to the contemporary practice of magic. This is a unique insight into the lived experience of practitioners of modern magic. As such, it will be of keen interest to scholars of the Occult and New Religious Movements, as well as Religious Studies academics examining issues around the embodiment and the anthropology of religion.

Download or read book The Magician s Companion written by Bill Whitcomb and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 1993 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This "desk reference" is overflowing with a wide range of occult and esoteric materials on Eastern and Western magical systems. Over thirty-five magical models are compared and discussed. Begins with an introduction to magic, including a program of study so you can use any of the ninety-one systems described. Reveals the secrets of alchemy, magical alphabets, the chakras, the Tree of Life, astrology, and much more. It makes the ancient magical systems accessible, understandable and useful to modern magicians.

Download or read book Barbarian Rites written by Hans-Peter Hasenfratz and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-06-23 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the untamed paganism of the Vikings and the Germanic tribes prior to the complete Christianization of Europe • Explores the different forms of magic practiced by these tribes, including runic magic, necromancy (death magic), soul-travel, and shape-shifting • Examines their rites of passage and initiation rituals and their most important gods, such as Odin, Loki, and Thor • Looks at barbarian magic in historical accounts, church and assembly records, and mythology as well as an eyewitness report from a 10th-century Muslim diplomat • Reveals the use and abuse of this tradition’s myths and magic by the Nazis Before the conversion of Europe to Christianity in the Middle Ages, Germanic tribes roamed the continent, plundering villages and waging battles to seek the favor of Odin, their god of war, ecstasy, and magic. Centuries later, predatory Viking raiders from Scandinavia carried on similar traditions. These wild “barbarians” had a system of social classes and familial clans with complex spiritual customs, from rites of passage for birth, death, and adulthood to black magic practices and shamanic ecstatic states, such as the infamous “berserker’s rage.” Chronicling the original pagan tradition of free and wild Europe--and the use and abuse of its myths and magic by the Nazis--Hans-Peter Hasenfratz offers a concise history of the Germanic tribes of Europe and their spiritual, magical, and occult beliefs. Looking at historical accounts, church and assembly records, mythology, and folktales from Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, and Iceland as well as an eyewitness report of Viking customs and rituals from a 10th-century Muslim diplomat, Hasenfratz explores the different forms of magic--including charms, runic magic, necromancy, love magic, soul-travel, and shamanic shape-shifting--practiced by the Teutonic tribes and examines their interactions with and eventual adaptation to Christianity. Providing in-depth information on their social class and clan structure, rites of passage, and their most important gods and goddesses, such as Odin, Loki, Thor, and Freyja, Hasenfratz reveals how it is only through understanding our magical barbarian roots that we can see the remnants of their language, culture, and dynamic spirit that have carried through to modern times.

Download or read book In the Middle of the Middle West written by Becky Bradway and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2003-11-06 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 42 essays in this collection take their inspiration from the Midwest—not just from its physical terrain but from its emotional terrain as well. They come from writers of diverse backgrounds: poets, novelists, filmmakers, and journalists; some who came and stayed, some who came and left, and some who were born and raised in this place. The essays revolve generally around issues of conflict between place and identity, and the theme of diversity—be it religious, sexual, racial, artistic, cultural, occupational, or geographical—runs throughout. Writers featured in this collection include Maxine Chernoff, Stuart Dybek, Michael Martone, Cris Mazza, James McManus, Scott Russell Sanders, Mary Swander, and many others of national reputation.

Download or read book The Children of Odin written by Padraic Colum and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection brings us close to the magical legendary stories of Ancient Northern Europe, which remain one of the great myth cycles of Western civilization. Contents: The Dwellers in Asgard Far Away and Long Ago The Building of the Wall Iduna and Her Apples: How Loki Put the Gods in Danger Sif's Golden Hair: How Loki Wrought Mischief in Asgard How Brock Brought Judgment on Loki How Freya Gained Her Necklace and How Her Loved One Was Lost to Her How Frey Won Gerda, the Giant Maiden, and How He Lost His Magic Sword Heimdall and Little Hnossa: How All Things Came to Be The All-Father's Forebodings: How He Leaves Asgard Odin the Wanderer Odin Goes to Mimir's Well: His Sacrifice for Wisdom Odin Faces an Evil Man Odin Wins for Men the Magic Mead Odin Tells to Vidar, His Silent Son, the Secret of His Doings Thor and Loki in the Giants' City How Thor and Loki Befooled Thrym the Giant Ægir's Feast: How Thor Triumphed The Dwarf's Hoard, and the Curse that It Brought The Witch's Heart Foreboding in Asgard Loki the Betrayer Loki Against the Æsir The Valkyrie The Children of Loki Baldur's Doom Loki's Punishment The Sword of the Volsungs and the Twilight of the Gods Sigurd's Youth The Sword Gram and the Dragon Fafnir The Dragon's Blood The Story of Sigmund and Signy The Story of Sigmund and Sinfiotli The Story of the Vengeance of the Volsungs and of the Death of Sinfiotli Brynhild in the House of Flame Sigurd at the House of the Nibelungs How Brynhild Was Won for Gunnar The Death of Sigurd The Twilight of the Gods

Download or read book Robin Hood written by John Matthews and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2016-09-15 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration into the myths surrounding the figure of Robin Hood