Between the years of 1898 and 1926, Edward Westermarck spent a total of seven years in Morocco, visiting towns and tribes in different parts of the country, meeting local people and learning about their language and culture; his findings are noted in this two-volume set, first published in 1926. The first volume contains extensive reference material, including Westermarck's system of transliteration and a comprehensive list of the tribes and districts mentioned in the text. The chapters in this, the second volume, explore such areas as the rites and beliefs connected with the Islamic calendar, agriculture, and childbirth. This title will fascinate any student or researcher of anthropology with an interest in the history of ritual, culture and religion in Morocco.

In the Hellenistic and Roman world intimate relations existed between those holding power and the cults of Isis. This book is the first to chart these various appropriations over time within a comparative perspective. Ten carefully selected case studies show that "the Egyptian gods" were no exotic outsiders to the Hellenistic and Roman Mediterranean, but constituted a well institutionalised and frequently used religious option. Ranging from the early Ptolemies and Seleucids to late Antiquity, the case studies illustrate how much symbolic meaning was made with the cults of Isis by kings, emperors, cities and elites. Three articles introduce the theme of Isis and the longue duree theoretically, simultaneously exploring a new approach towards concepts like ruler cult and Religionspolitik.

An array of original stories from around the world bring a new and exciting twist to one of the most beloved figures in fiction: witches. Witches! Whether you know them from Shakespeare or from WICKED, there is no staple more beloved in folklore, fairy tale, or fantasy than these magical beings. Witches are everywhere, and at the heart of stories that resonate with many people around the world. This dazzling, otherworldly collection gathers new stories of witches from all walks of life. Whether they be maiden, mother, crone, or other; funny, fierce, light and airy, or dark and disturbing; witches are a vital part of some of the greatest stories we have, and new ones start here! Bringing together twenty-nine stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today, including three tales from a BIPOC-only open submission period, THE BOOK OF WITCHES features Linda Addison, C.L. Clark, P Djeli Clark, Indrapramit Das, Amal El Mohtar, Andrea Hairston, Millie Ho, Saad Hossain, Kathleen Jennings, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Khaw, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, Ken Liu, Usman T. Malik, Maureen F. McHugh, Premee Mohammed, Garth Nix, Tobi Ogundiran, Tochi Onyebuchi, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Kelly Robson, Angela Slatter, Andrea Stewart, Emily Teng, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tade Thompson, and E. Lily Yu—and contains illustrations from three-time Hugo award-nominated artist Alyssa Winans throughout. This extraordinary anthology vividly breathes life into one of the most captivating and feared magical sorceresses and will become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales everywhere.

Non-sensationalist historical account of Nazi occultism Explores both prewar and postwar manifestations of this phenomenon Draws on a global set of examples and case studies

Having already published a bibliography on Annie Besant, Theodore Besterman in this book continued with the story of her life. She was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator who lived between 1847 and 1933. Originally published in 1934, this work is fascinating for anyone with an interest in Annie Besant's life specifically or in any of the areas in which she became a household name.

This comprehensive book outlines the life and works of an important revolutionary intellectual of the 16th Century. This book follows Bruno's life and the development of his thought in the order in which he declared it. Giordano Bruno was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. He was burned at the stake after the Roman Inquisition found him guilty of heresy but his modern scientific thought and cosmology became very influential. His writings on science also showed interest in magic and alchemy and those are outlined in this book alongside what he is most remembered for - his place in the history of the relationship between science and faith.

This was originally a two volume set which is now bound as one. Here is presented an investigation of the nature of the earliest extant records of the supposed communication with angels and spirits of John Dee (1527-1608) with the assistance of his two mediums or 'scryers', Barnabas Saul and Edward Kelly. Volume 2 of this work is a transcription of the records in Dee's hand contained in Sloane MS 3188, which has been transcribed only once before, by Elias Ashmole in 1672. Volume 1 is an introduction and thorough commentary to the text which is primarily explaining its many obscurities. The author describes the physical state of the manuscript and its history then continues with a biography of Dee and his scryers and some background to Renaissance occult philosophy. Further chapters address the arguments that the manuscript represents a conscious fraud or a cryptographical exercise and describe the magical system and instruments evolved during the communications or 'Actions'. The last, fascinating chapter examines Dee's motives for believing so strongly in the truth of the Actions and suggests that a principal motive was the conviction, not held by Dee alone, that a new age was about to dawn upon earth.

"This varied collection of essays traces the intertwining of modern Paganisms with popular music through a wide variety of genres. An important contribution to our understanding of emergent Pagan cultures, and a very exciting book." - Sabina Magliocco, California State University "Pop Pagans: Paganism and Popular Music is a crucial contribution to the study of spirituality and music. The wide-ranging coverage and theoretical perspectives presented here provide an essential baseline for approaching this dynamic intersection of expressive forms." - Holly Everett, Memorial University, Canada Paganism is rapidly becoming a religious, creative, and political force internationally. It has found one of its most public expressions in popular music, where it is voiced by singers and musicians across rock, folk, techno, goth, metal, Celtic, world, and pop music. With essays ranging across the US, UK, continental Europe, Australia and Asia, Pop Pagans assesses the histories, genres, performances, and communities of pagan popular music. Over time, paganism became associated with the counter culture, satanic and gothic culture, rave and festival culture, ecological consciousness and spirituality, and new ageism. Paganism has used music to express a powerful and even transgressive force in everyday life. Pop Pagans examines the many artists and movements which have contributed to this growing phenomenon.

"This varied collection of essays traces the intertwining of modern Paganisms with popular music through a wide variety of genres. An important contribution to our understanding of emergent Pagan cultures, and a very exciting book." - Sabina Magliocco, California State University "Pop Pagans: Paganism and Popular Music is a crucial contribution to the study of spirituality and music. The wide-ranging coverage and theoretical perspectives presented here provide an essential baseline for approaching this dynamic intersection of expressive forms." - Holly Everett, Memorial University, Canada Paganism is rapidly becoming a religious, creative, and political force internationally. It has found one of its most public expressions in popular music, where it is voiced by singers and musicians across rock, folk, techno, goth, metal, Celtic, world, and pop music. With essays ranging across the US, UK, continental Europe, Australia and Asia, Pop Pagans assesses the histories, genres, performances, and communities of pagan popular music. Over time, paganism became associated with the counter culture, satanic and gothic culture, rave and festival culture, ecological consciousness and spirituality, and new ageism. Paganism has used music to express a powerful and even transgressive force in everyday life. Pop Pagans examines the many artists and movements which have contributed to this growing phenomenon.

From Mythos to Logos: Andrea Palladio, Freemasonry and the Triumph of Minerva explores how myth was used to encode architecture and frescoed interiors with insights that promote peace, freedom and kindness as ways of being in the world. The author, Michael Trevor Coughlin argues that Freemasonry took root in the Italian city of Vicenza as early as 1546, and that its precepts, conveyed through the intersection of myth and philosophy, were disseminated widely in buildings and images, as well as texts, prescribing tolerance and an understanding of the divine that exists in each and everyone.

Kentucky has a rich legacy of ghostly visitations. Lynwood Montell has harvested dozens of tales of haunted houses and family ghosts from all over the Bluegrass state. Many of the stories were collected from elders by young people and are recounted exactly as they were gathered. Haunted Houses and Family Ghosts of Kentucky includes chilling tales such as that of the Tan Man of Pike County, who trudges invisibly through a house accompanied by the smell of roses, and the famed Gray Lady of Liberty Hall in Frankfort, a houseguest who never left. Montell tells the story of a stormy night, shortly before Henry Clay's death, when the ghost of the statesman's old friend Daniel Boone calls upon him, and then recounts the more modern story of the ghouls that haunt the rehearsal house of the band The Kentucky Headhunters.

Included are accounts of haunted libraries, mansions, bedrooms, log cabins, bathrooms, college campuses, apartments, furniture, hotels, and distilleries, as well as reports of eerie visitations from ghostly grandmothers, husbands, daughters, uncles, cousins, babies, slaves, Civil War soldiers, dogs, sheep, and even wildcats. Almost all of Kentucky's 120 counties are represented. Though the book emphasizes the stories themselves, Montell offers an introduction discussing how local history, local character, and local flavor are communicated across the generations in these colorful stories.

Reissuing seminal works originally published between 1916 and 1995, Routledge Library Editions: Alchemy (7 volume set) offers a selection of scholarship covering various facets of alchemical traditions. Some texts examine alchemy itself while some offer insight into the motives for alchemical research and others outlay portraits of people such as Giordano Bruno and John Dee.

Of interest to interdisciplinary historians as well as those in various other fields, this book presents the first publication of 14 poems ranging from 12 to 3,000 lines. The poems are printed in the chronological order of their composition, from Elizabethan to Augustan times, but nine of them are verse translations of works from earlier periods in the development of alchemy. Each has a textual and historical introduction and explanatory note by the Editor. Renaissance alchemy is acknowledged as an important element in the histories of early modern science and medicine. This book emphasises these poems' expression of and shaping influence on religious, social and political values and institutions of their time too and is a useful reference work with much to offer for cultural studies and literary studies as well as science and history.

This comprehensive annotated bibliography, first published in 1990, guides the user helpfully through where to find information on various elements on alchemy when researching. Divided into categories to aid finding the right area of interest, this book forms a unique reference tool.