Native American Myths is a wide-ranging examination of mythology among the First Nations people in Canada and the USA, featuring examples from Apache, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Cree, Inuit, Lakota, Navajo, Sioux, Tlingit, and many other tribes. Arranged by region and tribe, the book includes creation myths and heroic journeys, and features a huge range of characters from benign harvest spirits to fearsome sea beasts, from ominous disembodied heads to invisible woodland creatures. There are famous figures, too, such as the trickster Coyote, the mighty Thunderbird and the cannibalistic Algonquian monster Wendigo. Ranging from the Inuits in the North to the Apache in the South, from Tlingit in the West across to Algonquin in the East, the book delves deeply into the folklore of North America's indigenous peoples, exploring the importance of features such sweat lodge ceremonies, the concept of balance in The Four Directions, totem poles and the idea of the upper world and an underworld. Illustrated with 180 photographs and artworks, Native American Myths is both an exciting and an enlightening exploration of the cultural beliefs of North America's First Nations peoples.

According to the Dinka people of the Southern Sudan, man and his creator were originally close together. They became separated, like the earth and sky, when the first man and woman acted with human independence. Dinka religious practice follows from that separation. Divinity and Experience, now reissued for the first time in paperback, has, since its first publication in 1961, acquired the status of a minor classic of social anthropology. In the first section, the various divinities of the Dinka are described with their complex range of meaning and imagery, and related to the Dinka's own experience of the conditions of life and death. They may be interpreted, it is suggested, as images arising out of that experience. The second part discusses the role of the priests, the `masters of the fishing spear', who interested Fraser in his study of divine worship. Sacrifices are described and their meaning analysed, and finally their rites at the death of priests, some of whom may enter the grave alive, are examined. Translations of hymns, prayers, and myths are also provided, which serve as a good introduction to the thought and beliefs of the Dinka for those interested in religion and its interpretation.

Research of Mongolion folk-religion has been the subject of special attention in recent years. Editions and translations of extant texts have appeared, providing detailed descriptions of the rituals. This book examines a very special ritual of folk-religion, the ceremony of calling back the soul of the dead. Among the Mongols it was commonly believed that illness and death were caused by the absence of the soul, so a special ritual was required to call back the wandering soul. The research for this volume has been based on texts preserved in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. A background is given by observations of researchers who have visited the relevant areas and personal communications of Mongols. These rituals are still living and carried out by Mongolians and their neighbouring peoples. The very old ceremony, must have belonged to an early layer of folk-religion. It has now become a ritual of the Lamaist church. Influence of Tibetan Buddhism is found. A special chapter is devoted to evil spirits. The volume is richly illustrated.

Black Elk was one of the greatest religious thinkers produced by native North America, and the Sun Dance the central religious ritual of his Lakota tradition. Beginning with a review of the recent critical work on Black Elk by Paul B. Steinmetz, Julian Rice and Michael K. Steltenkamp, Holler reconstructs the history and development of the Lakota Sun Dance, essential background for understanding Black Elk's thought. His analysis is a comprehsnive study of the dance, which was banned by the government in 1883. Holler shows how Black Elk adapted the dance to the conditions and circumstances of reservation life, reinterpreting it in terms commensurate with Christianity. His firsthand account of the dance associated with Frank Fools Crow at Three Mile Camp near Kyle, South Dakota, shows how the contemporary Sun Dance reflects Black Elk's vision. Holler's book offers a philosophical engagement with native North American religion, carried out in close dialogue with anthropology. Readers who were captivated by John G. Neihardt's gripping portrait of Black Elk in ""Black Elk Speaks"" may be surprised to learn that he was a vital and creative leader until his death in 1950, not the broken, despairing old man made famous by Neihardt. Holler establishes that Black Elk was both a sincere traditionalist and a sincere Christian, seeing the two religious traditions as expressions of the sacred. Students of religion should be stimulated by Holler's interpretation of Black Elk as a creative thinker, rather than a passive informant on his people's past. Those interested in Native Americans, especially the Lakota, should appreciate his authoritative reconstruction of the Sun Dance, which proposes new understandings of this central Lakota religious ritual. The book also includes a glossary of terms.

Discover the secrets of animal totems and their sacred, transformative powers.

Among traditional Native Americans and other tribal peoples, totems are the enduring animal symbols that allow these peoples to explore the mysteries of life and the spirit world. from the graceful Antelope to the aggressive Cougarto the wise and peaceful Turtle, each animal embodies certain strengths and attributes that the spiritual seeker can embrace and follow on the path of self -exploration. Now, Totems offers each of us the tools we need to tap into thepower of sacred animal totems by finding our own personal symbol and experiencing its energy firsthand.

Drawing upon his long association with native teachers, as well as guidance from his own spirit helper, author Brad Steiger has created a fascinating, informative, and thorough guide to this ancient Spiritual practice. Filled with the wisdom of many different tribes and cultures, Totems provides exercises and techniques for: