This book presents rich information on Romanian mythology and folklore, previously under-explored in Western scholarship, placing the source material within its historical context and drawing comparisons with European and Indo-European culture and mythological tradition. The author presents a detailed comparative study and argues that Romanian mythical motifs have roots in Indo-European heritage, by analyzing and comparing mythical motifs from the archaic cultures, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Sanskrit, and Persian, with written material and folkloric data that reflects the Indo-European culture. The book begins by outlining the history of the Getae-Dacians, beginning with Herodotus' description of their customs and beliefs in the supreme god Zamolxis, then moves to the Roman wars and the Romanization process, before turning to recent debates in linguistics and genetics regarding the provenance of a shared language, religion, and culture in Europe. The author then analyzes myth creation, its relation to rites, and its functions in society, before examining specific examples of motifs and themes from Romanian folk tales and songs. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of folklore studies, comparative mythology, linguistic anthropology, and European culture.

This book provides an overview of the history, culture, and society of Namibia, a country on which little information in English exists. Namibia is a sizeable and significant country in southern Africa that is little known to the outside world. A vast country of startling beauty with a storied history, including one of the world's worst genocides and a war of independence that lasted nearly a quarter century, this "land between two deserts" is a fascinating result of its African, German, and English influences. Culture and Customs of Namibia is one of very few English language works written about Namibia's history, culture, and society. The book reveals details about Namibian daily life, gender relations, modern youth culture, and the influence of traditional cultures that allow readers to appreciate this country's unique character. A section on tourism explains how Namibia-an extremely arid country with an immense number and diversity of wildlife-is on the cutting edge of ecotourism. Provides a chronology of key events in the history of Namibia Includes photographs of natural Namibian settings, such as the desert, colonial architecture, unique plant and animal life, and Namibia's cultural life An interdisciplinary bibliography-drawn from history, politics, gender, law and other relevant fields-provides suggestions for further reading A glossary contains terms used commonly in contemporary Namibia

The volume was developed to address conceptual, relational and formational questions around the phenomena of creativity and spirituality from a multidisciplinary perspective. We acknowledge the complexity of each phenomenon, and the need for multiple perspectives, in a number of ways. First, different chapters are written from psychological, theological or philosophical perspectives. Second, multiple research perspectives are considered across empirical and phenomenological methods of inquiry. Finally, multiple associations between creativity and spirituality are evaluated. From such multiple perspectives the theme of this volume emerges. Both creativity and spirituality are important for individual and societal flourishing but we know little about fostering both in the 21st century. Some ways of fostering them are psychologically harmful and need to be avoided. New ways of protecting people as they engage in creative and spiritual endeavours are needed. In particular, formal training in both creativity and spirituality within the sphere of higher education should be developed in the light of current research. However, new research that integrates multiple perspectives and examines creativity and spirituality together is needed for training that avoids harm and promotes individual and social flourishing. The book will be valuable for educators in all disciplines of higher education because it justifies and explicates training in creativity and spirituality within all areas of higher education. Further, it discusses how such training might best be included within andragogical practice. The book will be useful for researchers of creativity and spirituality because it gives an overview of contemporary research issues and findings, and proposes a new philosophical? theological perspective for integrative research in these areas. Students in fields of creativity, theology and spirituality will use the book as a synthesis of contemporary theories and research relating to both creativity and spirituality and for direction in post?graduate research. More broadly, Christians and others who appreciate the creative and performing arts will find much to challenge their thinking and deepen their awareness of spirituality within human creativity.

After enjoying years as a popular journalist and poet, intellectual and freethinker Gerald Massey turned his vast studies in the field of Egyptology into A Book of the Beginnings, a bold statement that the origin of all civilization lays in ancient Egypt. His assertions, radical at the time-indeed, almost a century before the discovery of three-million-year-old human remains in Africa-resonate loudly today, when molecular biology is making corresponding discoveries alongside the still-raging creation-versus-evolution controversy. In Volume II, Massey intelligently argues an Egyptian origin for Biblical symbology, lexicography, and mythology. Here, he not only asks if the oldest Jewish and Christian axioms were really born on the banks of the Nile, he offers a stalwart and profound "Yes " British author GERALD MASSEY (1828-1907) published works of poetry, spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known works are in the realm of Egyptology, including The Natural Genesis and Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World.