Download or read book The Pagan Writes Back written by Zhange Ni and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2015-05-21 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first book to consider the study of world religion and world literature in concert, Zhange Ni proposes a new reading strategy that she calls "pagan criticism," which she applies not only to late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century literary texts that engage the global resurgence of religion but also to the very concepts of religion and the secular. Focusing on two North American writers (the Jewish American Cynthia Ozick and the Canadian Margaret Atwood) and two East Asian writers (the Japanese Endō Shūsaku and the Chinese Gao Xingjian), Ni reads their fiction, drama, and prose to envision a "pagan (re)turn" in the study of world religion and world literature. In doing so, she highlights the historical complexities and contingencies in literary texts and challenges both Christian and secularist assumptions regarding aesthetics and hermeneutics. In assessing the collision of religion and literature, Ni argues that the clash has been not so much between monotheistic orthodoxies and the sanctification of literature as between the modern Western model of religion and the secular and its non-Western others. When East and West converge under the rubric of paganism, she argues, the study of religion and literature develops into that of world religion and world literature.
Download or read book The Final Pagan Generation written by Edward J. Watts and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling history of radical transformation in the fourth-century--when Christianity decimated the practices of traditional pagan religion in the Roman Empire. The Final Pagan Generation recounts the fascinating story of the lives and fortunes of the last Romans born before the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Edward J. Watts traces their experiences of living through the fourth century’s dramatic religious and political changes, when heated confrontations saw the Christian establishment legislate against pagan practices as mobs attacked pagan holy sites and temples. The emperors who issued these laws, the imperial officials charged with implementing them, and the Christian perpetrators of religious violence were almost exclusively young men whose attitudes and actions contrasted markedly with those of the earlier generation, who shared neither their juniors’ interest in creating sharply defined religious identities nor their propensity for violent conflict. Watts examines why the "final pagan generation"—born to the old ways and the old world in which it seemed to everyone that religious practices would continue as they had for the past two thousand years—proved both unable to anticipate the changes that imperially sponsored Christianity produced and unwilling to resist them. A compelling and provocative read, suitable for the general reader as well as students and scholars of the ancient world.
Download or read book A Book of Pagan Rituals written by Herman Slater and published by Weiser Books. This book was released on 1978-01-01 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of rituals, practices, and exercises has been drawn from ancient sources, some have been preserved and some rituals have been updated by scholars from various pagan groups. This deluxe one-volume edition is specially designed to be read by candlelight.
Download or read book Dancing with Dragons written by D.J. Conway and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2017-07-08 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do all cultures, distant and diverse, have similar tales of dragons? Universal wisdom confirms dragons have interacted with people since time immemorial—they call to us, pique our curiosity, and arouse our fears. These mystical beasts are real and their power, their influence, and especially their magick can be captured. Building upon rituals and drawing on their energy, learn to befriend these inspirational creatures and become partners with them on a spiritual journey. Move with them, learn from them, dance in perfect human/dragon syncopation. Praise: "A unique, one-of-a-kind tome and a welcome addition to the growing body of metaphysical lore."—Midwest Book Review "A personal devotion and an academic work of the highest order."—The Dragon Chronicle (UK) "Dragon-lovers everywhere will like this book."—Prediction
Download or read book Black Athena Writes Back written by Martin Bernal and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2001-09-20 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVThis book is Bernal’s response to criticisms to his 1987 book, BLACK ATHENA, which argued for an Afro-Asiatic origin for Greek civilization./div
Download or read book Pagan s Crusade written by Catherine Jinks and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In twelth-century Jerusalem, orphaned sixteen-year-old Pagan is assigned to work for Lord Roland, a Templar knight, as Saladin's armies close in on the Holy City.
Download or read book The Rest Write Back Discourse and Decolonization written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-06-17 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Rest Write Back interrogates the colonial legacies, the contemporary power structure and the geopolitics of knowledge production. It exhibits how “writing-back” can pave the way for a “dialogical and pluri-versal” world where the Rest can no longer be excluded.
Download or read book Confessions of a Born Again Pagan written by Anthony T. Kronman and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-28 with total page 1174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this passionate and searching book, Anthony Kronman offers a third way—beyond atheism and religion—to the God of the modern world We live in an age of disenchantment. The number of self-professed “atheists” continues to grow. Yet many still feel an intense spiritual longing for a connection to what Aristotle called the “eternal and divine.” For those who do, but demand a God that is compatible with their modern ideals, a new theology is required. This is what Anthony Kronman offers here, in a book that leads its readers away from the inscrutable Creator of the Abrahamic religions toward a God whose inexhaustible and everlasting presence is that of the world itself. Kronman defends an ancient conception of God, deepened and transformed by Christian belief—the born-again paganism on which modern science, art, and politics all vitally depend. Brilliantly surveying centuries of Western thought—from Plato to Augustine, Aquinas, and Kant, from Spinoza to Nietzsche, Darwin, and Freud—Kronman recovers and reclaims the God we need today.
Download or read book The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories written by Cynthia Ozick and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ozick is a kind of narrative hypnotist. Her range is extraordinary; there is seemingly nothing she can't do. Her stories contain passages of intense lyricism and brilliant, hilarious, uncontainable inventiveness.
Download or read book Spirited written by Fio Gede Parma and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2012-04-08 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Refreshingly real and practical, Spirited gets straight to the heart of Pagan living and Pagan spirituality today. Featuring real-life stories and first-hand experiences from the author and other young Pagans who've actually been there, this book gives you insight into the philosophy and spirituality of current Pagan rituals and practices. You'll get crucial advice on Witchcraft, spellcraft ethics, modern magic spells, coven and solitary work, magic theory and practice, dealing with discrimination and negativity, and incorporating your spiritual beliefs into all the important areas of your life: Love Sexuality Family Friends School Work
Download or read book Imagining the Pagan Past written by Marion Gibson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-02-11 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagining the Pagan Past explores stories of Britain’s pagan history. These tales have been characterised by gods and fairies, folklore and magic. They have had an uncomfortable relationship with the scholarly world; often being seen as historically dubious, self-indulgent romance and, worse, encouraging tribal and nationalistic feelings or challenging church and state. This book shows how important these stories are to the history of British culture, taking the reader on a lively tour from prehistory to the present. From the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, Marion Gibson explores the ways in which British pagan gods and goddesses have been represented in poetry, novels, plays, chronicles, scientific and scholarly writing. From Geoffrey of Monmouth to Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare to Seamus Heaney and H.G. Wells to Naomi Mitchison it explores Romano-British, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon deities and fictions. The result is a comprehensive picture of the ways in which writers have peopled the British pagan pantheons throughout history. Imagining the Pagan Past will be essential reading for all those interested in the history of paganism.
Download or read book On Being a Pagan written by Alain De Benoist and published by Arcana Europa Media. This book was released on 2018-04-23 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is paganism? In this penetrating and tightly argued manifesto, French philosopher Alain de Benoist seeks to answer this question with passionate intellectual vigor and a tremendous erudition. Arising out of the "monotheism vs. polytheism" debate that reverberated through Parisian intellectual circles in the late 1970s, this is neither a survey of ancient, pre-Christian religions, nor is it an argument on behalf of any modern neo-pagan sect. On Being a Pagan draws on Nietzsche, Heidegger, ancient philosophy and mythology, and biblical hermeneutics to articulate a pagan theology based on a common Indo-European foundation. In keeping with the critical tradition which hearkens back to the Greek philosopher Celsus, Benoist contrasts the heroic pagan worldview with Christianity's attempts to hobble everything that is beautiful and strong. He compares the cyclical pagan conception of time to the de-mythologizing, linear understanding of history favored by the prophets. Most disturbingly, he traces the roots of modern totalitarianism and intolerance--of both the left and the right--to the leveling ideology of ancient Judeo-Christian monotheism, with its underlying rejection of diversity and différence. Originally published to wide critical acclaim in 1981, Benoist's text is as relevant today as it was when it first appeared--and perhaps even more so for the English-speaking world. This newly revised translation now features an extensive interview with the author, and includes his reflections (both positive and negative) on the various groups and individuals that have attempted to resurrect the pagan spirit. Rather than simply dissecting the 2,000-year Christian interregnum, Benoist's greater purpose is to point the way forward to a world that could have been, and which may only now be in the first stages of being reborn.
Download or read book Pagan Britain written by Ronald Hutton and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2014-05-13 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain's pagan past, with its mysterious monuments, atmospheric sites, enigmatic artifacts, bloodthirsty legends, and cryptic inscriptions, is both enthralling and perplexing to a resident of the twenty-first century. In this ambitious and thoroughly up-to-date book, Ronald Hutton reveals the long development, rapid suppression, and enduring cultural significance of paganism, from the Paleolithic Era to the coming of Christianity. He draws on an array of recently discovered evidence and shows how new findings have radically transformed understandings of belief and ritual in Britain before the arrival of organized religion. Setting forth a chronological narrative, Hutton along the way makes side visits to explore specific locations of ancient pagan activity. He includes the well-known sacred sites—Stonehenge, Avebury, Seahenge, Maiden Castle, Anglesey—as well as more obscure locations across the mainland and coastal islands. In tireless pursuit of the elusive “why” of pagan behavior, Hutton astonishes with the breadth of his understanding of Britain’s deep past and inspires with the originality of his insights.
Download or read book Paganism written by River Higginbotham and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2013-05-08 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive guide to a growing religious movement If you want to study Paganism in more detail, this book is the place to start. Based on a course in Paganism that the authors have taught for more than a decade, it is full of exercises, meditations, and discussion questions for group or individual study. This book presents the basic fundamentals of Paganism. It explores what Pagans are like; how the Pagan sacred year is arranged; what Pagans do in ritual; what magick is; and what Pagans believe about God, worship, human nature, and ethics. For those who are exploring their own spirituality, or who want a good book to give to non-Pagan family and friends A hands-on learning tool with magickal workings, meditations, discussion questions, and journal exercises Offers in-depth discussion of ethics and magick
Download or read book Beyond the Burning Times written by Philip Johnson and published by Lion Books. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating dialogue between a Pagan and a Christian. Gus DiZerega, an American pagan and and an academic engages in debate with Philip Johnson, an Australian Christian theologian. The two debate questions such as the nature of spirituality, who or what is deity, how humans relate to the divine, the sacred feminine, gender and sexuality, and the teachings and claims of Jesus. At the end of the book another Pagan writer comments on what Philip Johnson has argued, and another Christian comments on what Gus DiZerega has argued. Paganism is acknowledged as the fastest growing 'religion' in western Europe and this book helps readers to engage with it and with orthodox Christian belief.
Download or read book The Pagan In Recovery The Twelve Steps From A Pagan Perspective written by Deirdre A. Hebert and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2011-06-11 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Twelve Steps developed by Alcoholics Anonymous are powerful tools to transform the lives of people who struggle with addiction, co-dependency, and compulsive behaviors. Unfortunately, Pagans in recovery are likely to struggle with the Christian assumptions and language found in many of these programs. This book is intended to support a Pagan's participation in any Twelve Step program, by showing that the effectiveness and relevance of these tools does not depend on a specific religious or spiritual tradition. This book attempts to bridge the gap between the Christian and Pagan understanding of the Twelve Steps, while remaining faithful to the original Twelve Step process. The Pagan in Recovery is the result of Deirdre Hebert's ability to live her Pagan faith in the midst of a program with a deeply Christian heritage, and demonstrates that anyone, of any faith, can experience freedom from addictions, compulsive or co-dependent behaviors through this process.
Download or read book Between Pagan and Christian written by Christopher P. Jones and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-31 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the early Christians, “pagan” referred to a multitude of unbelievers: Greek and Roman devotees of the Olympian gods, and “barbarians” such as Arabs and Germans with their own array of deities. But while these groups were clearly outsiders or idolaters, who and what was pagan depended on the outlook of the observer, as Christopher Jones shows in this fresh and penetrating analysis. Treating paganism as a historical construct rather than a fixed entity, Between Pagan and Christian uncovers the ideas, rituals, and beliefs that Christians and pagans shared in Late Antiquity. While the emperor Constantine’s conversion in 312 was a momentous event in the history of Christianity, the new religion had been gradually forming in the Roman Empire for centuries, as it moved away from its Jewish origins and adapted to the dominant pagan culture. Early Christians drew on pagan practices and claimed important pagans as their harbingers—asserting that Plato, Virgil, and others had glimpsed Christian truths. At the same time, Greeks and Romans had encountered in Judaism observances and beliefs shared by Christians such as the Sabbath and the idea of a single, creator God. Polytheism was the most obvious feature separating paganism and Christianity, but pagans could be monotheists, and Christians could be accused of polytheism and branded as pagans. In the diverse religious communities of the Roman Empire, as Jones makes clear, concepts of divinity, conversion, sacrifice, and prayer were much more fluid than traditional accounts of early Christianity have led us to believe.
