Download or read book The Shamanic Themes in Armenian Folktales written by Michael Berman and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “In Marxist anthropological theory, shamanism represented one of the early forms of religion that later gave rise to more sophisticated beliefs in the course of human advancement … The premise of Marxism was that eventually, at the highest levels of civilization, the sacred and religion would eventually die out” (Znamenski, 2007, p.322). Though history has of course since disproved this, the theory clearly had a great bearing on what was written in the former Soviet Union about shamanism, and also on people’s attitudes in the former Soviet Republics towards such practices. On the other hand, it has been suggested that “all intellectuals driven by nationalist sentiments directly or indirectly are always preoccupied with searching for the most ancient roots of their budding nations in order to ground their compatriots in particular soil and to make them more indigenous” (Znamenski, 2007, p.28). Although this might apply to searching for the roots of Christianity in Armenia, when it comes to searching for the roots of pagan practices, interest on the part of the people of Armenia is generally speaking not so forthcoming. This impasse, coupled with the effects of the repressions against religions, including shamanism, unleashed by the Soviet government between the 1930s and 1950s, along with the recent surge of interest in the Armenian Orthodox church, a backlash to the seventy years of officially sanctioned atheism, makes research into the subject no easy business. However, hopefully this study will at least in some small way help to set the process in motion.

Download or read book The Shamanic Themes in Georgian Folktales written by Elliot D. Cohen and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “In Marxist anthropological theory, shamanism represented one of the early forms of religion that later gave rise to more sophisticated beliefs in the course of human advancement … The premise of Marxism was that eventually, at the highest levels of civilization, the sacred and religion would eventually die out” (Znamenski, 2007, p.322). Though history has of course since disproved this, the theory clearly had a great bearing on what was written in the former Soviet Union about shamanism, and also on people’s attitudes in the former Soviet Republics towards such practices. On the other hand, it has been suggested that “all intellectuals driven by nationalist sentiments directly or indirectly are always preoccupied with searching for the most ancient roots of their budding nations in order to ground their compatriots in particular soil and to make them more indigenous” (Znamenski, 2007, p.28). Although this might apply to searching for the roots of Christianity in Georgia, when it comes to searching for the roots of pagan practices, interest on the part of the people of Georgia is generally speaking not so forthcoming. This impasse, coupled with the effects of the repressions against religions, including shamanism, unleashed by the Soviet government between the 1930s and 1950s, along with the recent surge of interest in the Georgian Orthodox church, a backlash to the seventy years of officially sanctioned atheism, makes research into the subject no easy business. However, hopefully this study will at least in some small way help to set the process in motion.

Download or read book The Shamanic Themes in Chechen Folktales written by Michael Berman and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All intellectuals driven by nationalist sentiments directly or indirectly are always preoccupied with searching for the most ancient roots of their budding nations in order to ground their compatriots in particular soil and to make them more indigenous (Znamenski, 2007, p.28). In Chechnya, as in the neighbouring countries of Georgia and Armenia, these roots lie in shamanism and the stories in this collection clearly show this to be the case. The history of the Nokhchii (the name the Chechens have given themselves), and their land, is filled with rich and colourful stories, which have survived for thousands of years through oral traditions that have been passed down generation by generation through clan elders. However, legends have blended with actual events so that the true history is difficult to write. The 1994-1996 war destroyed most of Chechnya's treasured archaeological and historical sites, though fortunately ancient burial sites, architectural monuments and several prehistoric cave petroglyphs still remain in the mountains. These valuable relics, coupled with the histories and stories of the elders, provide the people with virtually the only remaining evidence of who their ancient ancestors were. This book contains both the texts of some of the tales and commentaries on them, focusing in particular on their shamanic elements.

Download or read book Georgia through Earth Fire Air and Water written by Michael P. Berman and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2012-05-25 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite being located on the extreme eastern boundary of Europe, and having been frequently conquered by invading people from Asia, including Arabs, Turks, Persians, Mongols, and more recently Russians, Georgians still regard themselves very much as Europeans and it is to becoming a future member state of the EU that the majority of the people now aspire. As for the traditional folk-tales from the region, one of their main characteristics is that they are packed with action: Whilst a written, “literary” novel or short story might devote paragraphs to descriptions of people or places, these tales usually settle for an adjective or two; “a thick impassable forest”, “a handsome stately man”, or a formula such as“not-seen-beneath-the-sun beauty”. Many of the heroes and heroines do not even have names (Hunt, 1999, p.8) Safely cocooned, or so we like to kid ourselves, in our sanitised western urban environment, we tend to take the elements for granted. However, tales from a time when the Earth was new help to jolt us out of our daily lethargy, as do the stories in this collection – a number of which have never been translated from Georgian direct into English before. ,

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Giants and Humanoids in Myth Legend and Folklore written by Theresa Bane and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-05-12 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every culture has in its folklore and mythology beings of immense size and strength, as well as other preternatural humanoids great or small who walk among us, serving the divine or fulfilling their own agendas. This book catalogs the lore and legends of more than 1,000 different humanoid species and individual beings, including the Titans, Valkyries, Jotnar, yōkai, biblical giants, elves, ogres, trolls and many more.

Download or read book Altering Consciousness written by Etzel Cardeña and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-05-18 with total page 838 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This authoritative, multidisciplinary overview of altered states of consciousness (ASC) shows how their study is necessary to gain a fundamental understanding of human culture, history, and biology. Altered consciousness is one of humanity's most mystical and life-altering aspects. These remarkable changes in mental state have understandably been a topic of general interest and scientific inquiry across time. Beyond simply satisfying our curiosity, however, studies focused upon altered consciousness can also bring valuable insights into our experience, biology, and culture. This unprecedented two-volume set will intrigue anyone interested in psychology, biology and neurology, science, history, arts and the humanities, and literature on consciousness, from general readers to scholars and researchers. An impressive collection of international contributors address altered states of consciousness from the perspectives of history, evolution, psychology, culture, literature, human biology, contemporary science, and society, seeking to illuminate the causes, effects, and meanings of altered consciousness. The first volume provides an introduction and centers on the importance of altered states in history, culture, and the humanities, while the second volume presents biological and psychological perspectives on altered consciousness and examines their potential for healing and pathology.

Download or read book The British National Bibliography written by Arthur James Wells and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 2744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Shamanic Journeys Through the Caucasus written by Michael Berman and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2009-12-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What were the religious beliefs and practices of the early inhabitants of the Caucasus? Some of the answers can be found by looking at the folktales from the region, which is what this book does.

Download or read book The Golden Maiden and other folk tales and fairy stories told in Armenia written by A. K. Seklemian and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2019-11-21 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A. K. Seklemian brings to life the rich tapestry of Armenian folklore in "The Golden Maiden, and other folk tales and fairy stories told in Armenia." These tales, steeped in tradition and cultural significance, offer readers a glimpse into the heart of Armenian storytelling. From enchanting fairy tales to profound folk stories, this collection is a treasure trove of Armenian literary heritage.

Download or read book The Golden Maiden and Other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories Told in Armenia written by A. G. Seklemian and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Armenian Folklore Bibliography written by Anne M. Avakian and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1994-01-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 00 This bibliography, with annotations, consists of almost 1380 citations derived from libraries in Berkeley, California, notably at the University of California. Most of the articles and books listed are in Armenian, but items in English, French, German, and Russian are also included. This book covers an area of study not heretofore presented in substantial length and will be of interest to folklorists throughout the world. This bibliography, with annotations, consists of almost 1380 citations derived from libraries in Berkeley, California, notably at the University of California. Most of the articles and books listed are in Armenian, but items in English, French, German, and Russian are also included. This book covers an area of study not heretofore presented in substantial length and will be of interest to folklorists throughout the world.

Download or read book Armenian Myths and Legends written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-06-19 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Armenia is considered to be one of the oldest cradles of civilization, with the area of historical Armenia roughly extending to the area stretching from the Euphrates River in the west, the region of Artsakh, parts of Caucasian Albania to the east, parts of the modern state of Georgia to the north, and its southern boundary abutting the northern tip of Mesopotamia. Armenia is a landlocked mountainous plateau which rises to an average of over 6,000 above sea level, and for this reason, the territory was commonly referred to as the Armenian Highlands. In these highlands, Armenian culture, as well as its language, started to develop. A rich cultural material, mythological and legendary tales, toponyms and names, as well as historical sources, serve as evidence that the Armenian Highlands have been inhabited by Armenians since the dawn of time. Like many other people all over the world, Armenian people also created their own mythology and heroes. The first pantheon of the Armenian pagan gods had gone through its formation parallel to the development of the Armenian people, as a consequence of the religious beliefs that the people bore. Before being the first kingdom to convert to and accept Christianity as its religion in the year of 301 AD, Armenians were pagan and believed in a multitude of gods and goddesses. These were attributed with many natural elements. The main sources that have conveyed the Armenian pagan myths and legends to the following generations are the Armenian historians of the 4-7th centuries, such as Agathangelos, Faustus the Byzantine, Movses Khorenatsi and Sebeos. Another prime source containing many clues which helps us grasp and comprehend these myths and legends is the Armenian national heroic epic Daredevils of Sassoun. Armenian Myths and Legends: The History of the Mythology and Folk Tales from Armenia looks at the stories that came from Armenia in ancient times, including their influences from other cultures. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Armenian mythology like never before.

Download or read book Shor Shamanic Epic Folktales written by Alexander Arbachakov and published by Moon Books. This book was released on 2019-04-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional Siberian shamanic tales from the largest and most long-standing genre of Shor indigenous folklore.

Download or read book THE GOLDEN MAIDEN AND OTHER STORIES FROM ARMENIA 29 stories from the Caucasus Corridor written by Anon E. Mouse and published by Abela Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2018-09-15 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Herein are 29 Armenian Fairy Tales and legends. Some of these stories may have a familiar ring and others will be entirely “new” to the reader despite them being millennia old. Here you will stories like: * The Golden Maiden * The Betrothed Of Destiny * The Fairy Nightingale * The Dreamer * The Bride Of The Fountain * Dyjhicon: The Coward-Hero * Zoolvisia * Dragon-Child And Sun-Child * The Magic Ring * Bedik And The Invulnerable Giant * The Maiden Of The Sea; and many, many more. A distinguished English student of folk-lore wrote: “Armenia offers a rich and hitherto almost untouched library of folklore.” Never before has such a true statement been made, for Armenia sits astride the main northern arm of the Silk Route – the one which runs north, from Persia and the ancient city of Persepolis through the valley of Ararat and the Caucasus corridor to the Black sea to the capitals of Northern Europe. It is along this axis that stories, goods and spices were traded. Initially this was an East – West trade, but as Europe grew and matured this became a two-way trade with European culture and customs travelling East and Eastern culture and customs travelling West, all through Armenia where a great deal of them were deposited and took root. So it is from this source that these tales have been drawn – and we’ve only just scratched the surface. 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. ============= KEYWORDS/TAGS: Armenia, folklore, legends, myths, fairy tales, fables, childrens stories, bedtime stories, country legends, golden maiden, Betrothed Of Destiny, Youngest, Three, Fairy Nightingale, Dreamer, dreams, dreamtime, Bride, Fountain, Dyjhicon, Coward, Hero, Zoolvisia, Dragon-Child, Sun-Child, Mirza, Magic Ring, Twins, Idiot, Bedik, Invulnerable, Giant, Simon, Friend Of Snakes, Poor Widow, Son, Niggardly, Companion, Maiden, Sea, Golden-Headed Fish, Husband, Wife, Wicked Stepmother, Tricks, Woman, Wise Weaver, Mind, Luck, World, Beauty, Salman, Rostom, Sparrow, Two Children, Old Woman, Cat, Sia-Manto, Guje-Zare

Download or read book Armenian Tales written by A G Seklemian and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-24 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of the finest classic Armenian folk tales and legends, passed down through the generations. These tales are "captivating," entertaining and full of wisdom, true-to-tradition, and easy to read.

Download or read book The Golden Maiden and Other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories Told in Armenia written by A. G. Seklemian and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2014-09-26 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE STORY-TELLER TO HIS AUDIENCE.If I were telling my stories to an audience composed of Armenians, as I told them years ago, I would begin without any preliminary remarks or introduction. But since the audience is made up of people who are comparatively unacquainted with my native land and its traditions, naturally they will like to know who the story-teller is, where he got his narratives, and by whom and how his tales were first told.About twenty years ago I was a boy living in a village on the heights of the Taurus Mountains in Cilicia, or Lesser Armenia, not far from the Mediterranean Sea. Like boys and girls all over the world, I was very fond of stories; but there were no story-books or other reading matter with which I and other children of my age could gratify our eager desire for stories. But better than these were the aged folks who told us all the interesting stories which our inquisitive childhood required. I had two grandmothers and half a dozen aunts, all unlettered country people, who took great delight in a rich store of folk-lore and fairy tales, and who told me the most entertaining and delightful stories that I have ever heard. In every village home there were one or two such old people, who entertained the youth of their respective homes. During the long winter evenings we boys and girls gathered together around the village hearth to listen to the old man or aged woman rehearsing tales of fairies, giants, genii, dragons, knights, winged beauties, captive maidens, and other thousand and one mysterious beings. I need not say how, with utmost interest, our youthful minds used to follow the details of these vivid and picturesque stories, drinking in every word with the greatest avidity. This was true not only of children but of grown-up people also, whose principal pastime, during the long and tedious winter nights, was the rehearsing of folk-tales and fairy stories, or listening to others as they told them.These circumstances gave me opportunity and power to commit to memory a great number of tales and rehearse them whenever there was a favorable occasion. By this means I improved and increased my store of tales so much that I became quite a noted story-teller in our village, at a time when I was but a mere lad. Subsequently, both during my college course in Aintab, Cilicia, and during the period when I was a teacher in Erzroom, of Armenia proper, I had the opportunity to travel a great deal and to study the life and manners of the Armenians in their primitive homes. I found the same fairy stories and folk-tales current everywhere, with such slight differences only as the people made when appropriating the tales to their own surroundings and to their fund of knowledge. At that time it occurred to my mind that it would be a good plan to make a collection of these tales in order to make use of them some day, and so I kept notes of the tales just as they were told by the common, unlettered country people.Bishop Sirwantzdiants, an Armenian clergyman, also made a collection of Armenian folk-tales, taking them from the mouth of the people just as they were told. He published his collection in two separate books. The first, “Manana” (Manna), was printed in Constantinople in 1876 by the Dindessian Printing-press (since closed), and the second, “Hamov-Hodov” (Delicious and Fragrant), was printed in Constantinople in 1884 by the Bagdadlian Printing-press.My personal notes of Armenian tales and these two books of Bishop Sirwantzdiants have furnished the material of the present volume. As the Bishop and myself made our collections independently in different districts of Armenia, our texts naturally differed from each other in some points. But the two being substantially the same, in putting the stories into English I have followed the one which I thought to be the most original, taking all the circumstances into consideration.

Download or read book Scholars Guide to Humanities and Social Sciences in the Soviet Union and the Baltic States written by Tigran Martirosyan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-21 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the years since the first edition of the "Guide" was published, the research institutions of the academies of sciences of the USSR and the republics have undergone several, sometimes radical, reorganizations and reaffiliations. This guide to academy institutions supplies names, addresses, and historical, research, and organizational profiles for each institution, with summary information on staffing, current projects, special facilities, and libraries. The end of the Cold War has brought with it many changes of attitude and policy in the political arena; however, nowhere has change been so emotionally charged as in the area of politically-based emigration. Refugee policy is the driving force behind many of today's headlines, influencing both foreign and domestic policy. In Desperate Crossings, authors Norman L. and Naomi Flink Zucker chronicle and analyze the phenomenon of mass escape that began with the Haitians, but exploded into the American consciousness in the spring of 1980 with the Mariel boatlift and the subsequent mass exodus from Central America, and was most recently manifested in the Haitian and Cuban exoduses of 1994. In a compelling and carefully documented narrative, they identify the troika of interests - foreign policy, domestic pressures, and costs - that have controlled and determined the American response to refugees since before the Second World War, continuing until today. Desperate Crossings concludes by proposing a comprehensive and politically palatable approach to future refugee flows, both in our hemisphere and for the world community-at-large - including Europe and Asia. The authors suggest how, by changing the course of its refugee policies and programs, the United States can better respond to both the needs of refugees and the demands of its citizens.