This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition.

The study of Norse or Germanic mythology has long been the guarded province of scholars. Unfortunately, few breakthroughs in terms of new interpretations have been forthcoming in recent years. Neopagan groups referring to themselves as Asatruar, literally those who believe in the Aesir or "Gods," have charted their own course in regards to deciphering the symbols and motifs found embedded in Norse myth, but these approaches, though admirable in intent, have often yielded wildly undisciplined or simplistic and naive analyses. The present volume strives to achieve a "middle ground" between the severe strictures of academia and the ever-evolving and very individualistic belief systems of modern-day spiritual Vikings. It is with this goal in mind that the author presents thirty essays that he hopes will serve to fill the void in critical yet creative approaches to the unresolved problems posed by key elements of Norse myth.

The Living Goddesses crowns a lifetime of innovative, influential work by one of the twentieth-century's most remarkable scholars. Marija Gimbutas wrote and taught with rare clarity in her original--and originally shocking--interpretation of prehistoric European civilization. Gimbutas flew in the face of contemporary archaeology when she reconstructed goddess-centered cultures that predated historic patriarchal cultures by many thousands of years. This volume, which was close to completion at the time of her death, contains the distillation of her studies, combined with new discoveries, insights, and analysis. Editor Miriam Robbins Dexter has added introductory and concluding remarks, summaries, and annotations. The first part of the book is an accessible, beautifully illustrated summation of all Gimbutas's earlier work on "Old European" religion, together with her ideas on the roles of males and females in ancient matrilineal cultures. The second part of the book brings her knowledge to bear on what we know of the goddesses today--those who, in many places and in many forms, live on.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1822 Edition.

An elegant and entertaining account of the transformations of the Greek gods across the ages, from antiquity to the Renaissance and the present day

The gods of Olympus are the most colorful characters of Greek civilization: even in antiquity, they were said to be cruel, oversexed, mad, or just plain silly. Yet for all their foibles and flaws, they proved to be tough survivors, far outlasting classical Greece itself. In Egypt, the Olympian gods claimed to have given birth to pharaohs; in Rome, they led respectable citizens into orgiastic rituals of drink and sex. Under Christianity and Islam they survived as demons, allegories, and planets; and in the Renaissance, they triumphantly emerged as ambassadors of a new, secular belief in humanity. Their geographic range, too, has been little short of astounding: in their exile, the gods of Olympus have traveled east to the walls of cave temples in China and west to colonize the Americas. They snuck into Italian cathedrals, haunted Nietzsche, and visited Borges in his restless dreams.

In a lively, original history, Barbara Graziosi offers the first account to trace the wanderings of these protean deities through the millennia. Drawing on a wide range of literary and archaeological sources, "The Gods of Olympus" opens a new window on the ancient world and its lasting influence.

Religion. When you hear this word, what comes to mind? War, power, greed, brainwashing? Maybe other words which have their place in history: inquisition, witch-hunting, burning, torture? Or words we hear in our own history: jihad, extremist, suicide bomber? And there are other words spoken by dreamy-eyed gurus: peace, love, unity, consciousness, or words from those who consider themselves above religion: science, evidence, delusion, superstition, myths and fairytales. Religious history is full of such words and questions. Who were the Aryans? Why did they use hallucinogenic drugs to call on their gods? Who built the great ziggurats which stand on opposite sides of our world, in Iran and Central America? Did the ancients worship and serve giant beings which walked among them, demanding human sacrifice? Shamans, priests, prophets and magicians, servants of the gods, mediums of power, or frauds? Yahweh, Mithra, Horus and Agni, Lucifer, Allah and Ra, what do they have in common? Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Elena Blavatsky and L. Ron Hubbard, who were these people? Are all religions equally useful or useless? Do they all point to the same goal, share the same mysteries. Religion: History and Mystery explores the ancient and modern religions which have dominated the world for 6000 years. 22 religions, examined, exposed and deciphered. Is there one absolute truth, one infinite God? Religion: History and Mystery exposes the contradictions, uncovers the mysteries, and reveals the truth of who and what we are.

JEREMIAH CURTIN took the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Harvard College in 1863, having been a member of the last college class that studied their required mathematics under me as Assistant Professor. I found young Curtin's personal appearance and his mental processes unusual and interesting. He was a good scholar in general, with an extraordinary capacity for acquiring languages. In his autobiography (unpublished) he states that seven months and a half before he entered Harvard College he did not know one word of Latin or Greek, but at the admission examination he offered more of each language than was required. At the time of his death, 1906, he knew more than sixty languages and dialects, and spoke fluently every language of Europe and several of the languages of Asia. He was Secretary of Legation of the United States in Russia from 1864 to 1870, during which period he was acting consul-general for one year, 1865-1866. He was connected with the Bureau of Ethnology in the Smithsonian Institution from 1883 to 1891, and later was employed from time to time by the Bureau for special work. In Siberia, during the journey which this volume describes, he studied the Buriat language with a Buriat who knew Russian, and hard as it was to acquire a strange language without the aid of books, he accomplished the feat in a few weeks. At sixty he learnt a new language as quickly as he did when a Harvard student. Having acquired a language, Curtin always wished to learn the history, principal achievements, myths, folk-lore, and religious beliefs and usages of the people who spoke that language. Hence his great learning, and his numerous publications on myths and folk-tales. Curtin is also known to the learned world by his translations from the Polish of Quo Vadis and eight other works of Henry Sienkiewicz. He published many valuable translations from the Russian and the Polish.

The conditions of our knowledge of the native religion of early Rome may perhaps be best illustrated by a parallel from Roman archaeology. The visitor to the Roman Forum at the present day, if he wishes to reconstruct in imagination the Forum of the early Republic, must not merely 'think away' many strata of later buildings, but, we are told, must picture to himself a totally different orientation of the whole: the upper layer of remains, which he sees before him, is for his purpose in most cases not merely useless, but positively misleading. In the same way, if we wish to form a picture of the genuine Roman religion, we cannot find it immediately in classical literature; we must banish from our minds all that is due to the contact with the East and Egypt, and even with the other races of Italy, and we must imagine, so to speak, a totally different mental orientation before the great influx of Greek literature and Greek thought, which gave an entirely new turn to Roman ideas in general, and in particular revolutionised religion by the introduction of anthropomorphic notions and sensuous representations

Paganism, which has its roots in the ancient nature religions, is one of the fastest growing movements in the West today. As such, it is a collection of "spiritual paths" that express their beliefs in subtly different ways, explored here in this illuminating guide. Discover the natural beliefs and practices of Wicca, Hedgewitch traditions, Druidry, Shamanism, Asatru, Mystery Groups, and Eclectic Paganism--as well as the Pagan approach to magic and the significance of sacred lives. Learn how to lead a Pagan lifestyle, and explore the growing role of Paganism in today's world. Whether you're setting out on a Pagan path for the first time, or have been committed to one for many years, this informative book will help you in expressing your own beliefs and understanding those of others.

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