Compiled From Historical Documents And Family Papers. This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

Many would dismiss the idea of Christianity before Christ as being ridiculous without looking at any evidence. Yet some church fathers have admitted that the Christian religion did in fact exist before the Christian era, including St. Augustine himself who said, "The very thing which is now called the Christian religion existed among the ancients also, nor was it wanting from the inception of the human race until the coming of Christ in the flesh, at which point the true religion which was already in existence began to be called Christian." This is an important book for those interested enough to look at valid research. It approaches the subject from a general church view and a Gnostic point of view, plus chapters on The Hebrew Scriptures, Non-Jewish Evidence, The Sun-God of the New Testament, and Sun-God Worship in the Days of the Fathers. A man named Jesus may still have existed, but a number of pagan mythologies involving the sun may have been added into the story of his life in order to bring the more stubborn pagans of the time into the Christian fold. This timeless story should not diminish Christianity, but should enhance it with a deeper spiritual value for those willing to shed a strict dogmatic viewpoint. It can be difficult to fully understand our older religions because of their age and the changes that occur over time, but this book goes back to uncover some of the more interesting elements that are shown to exist. It fits well for the more modern world, as we continue to gain a better understanding of ourselves and the origins of our beliefs.

Paganism is held to be the fastest growing 'religion' in Britain today. Pagan identities and constructions of sacredness contest assumptions of a 'closed' past and untouchable heritage, within a socio-politics in which prehistoric archaeology -- the stone circles, burial cairns and rock art of the British Isles -- is itself subject to political and economic threats. Pagans see prehistoric monuments in a living, enchanted landscape of deities, ancestors, spirits, 'wights' and other non-human agencies engaged with for personal and community empowerment. From all areas of Britain and indeed worldwide, people come to sacred sites of prehistory to make pilgrimage, befriend places, give offerings, act as unofficial 'site guardians', campaign for 'site welfare'. Summer solstice access at Stonehenge attracts tens of thousands of celebrants; threats of quarrying near Derbyshire's Nine Ladies stone circle or Yorkshire's Thornborough Henges lead to protests and campaigns for the preservation of sacred landscapes and conservation of plant and animal species. Pagans can be seen as allies to the interests of heritage management, yet instances of site damage and recent claims for the reburial of non-Christian human remains disrupt the preservation ethos of those who manage and study these sites, and the large-scale celebrations at Stonehenge and Avebury are subject to continual negotiation. In this book an anthropologist (Blain) and archaeologist (Wallis) examine interfaces between paganisms and archaeology, considering the emergence of 'sacred sites' in pagan and heritage discourse and implications of pagan involvement for heritage management, archaeology, anthropology -- and for pagans themselves, as well as considering practical guidelines for reciprocal benefit.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

The Eightfold Path is a wheel of eight roads to opening the mind and soul, eight paths of altered states. From rhythm to utiseta to fasting to ordeal, this book covers the ways that the ancient shamans of the Northlands used these paths to open themselves to the Wights. The fourth book in the Northern-Tradition Shamanism series, this book includes spirit-taught lessons from many different spirit-workers and the Gods that they serve and revere.

From dealing with Gods and spirits, to mastering the elements to reading the Threads of Wyrd, this book is a primer for the basic skills of a northern-tradition shaman or shamanic practitioner. The third book in the Northern-Tradition Shamanism series, this book includes spirit-taught lessons from many different spirit-workers and the Gods that they serve and revere.

The Pathwalker's Guide to the Nine Worlds is the first written exploration of the ancient Norse/Germanic cosmology not by academics and mythologists, but by the experiences of northern-tradition spirit-workers astrally visiting the Cosmos of the World Tree and the Nine Worlds that surround it. Written as a travelogue and etiquette-primer for would-be worldwalkers, and centered around the author's experiences on a nine-day walking tour of the Nine Worlds, this is the first book of its kind ever published.

With An Introduction On Hebrew Paleography And The Ancient Versions And Facsimiles Of Inscriptions.

With A Supplementary Chapter On Remains Of Lake-Dwellings In England.

One of the masterpieces of Latin and, indeed, world literature, Virgil's Aeneid was written during the Augustan "renaissance" of architecture, art, and literature that redefined the Roman world in the early years of the empire. This period was marked by a transition from the use of rhetoric as a means of public persuasion to the use of images to display imperial power. Taking a fresh approach to Virgil's epic poem, Riggs Alden Smith argues that the Aeneid fundamentally participates in the Augustan shift from rhetoric to imagery because it gives primacy to vision over speech as the principal means of gathering and conveying information as it recounts the heroic adventures of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome.

Working from the theories of French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Smith characterizes Aeneas as a voyant-visible, a person who both sees and is seen and who approaches the world through the faculty of vision. Engaging in close readings of key episodes throughout the poem, Smith shows how Aeneas repeatedly acts on what he sees rather than what he hears. Smith views Aeneas' final act of slaying Turnus, a character associated with the power of oratory, as the victory of vision over rhetoric, a triumph that reflects the ascendancy of visual symbols within Augustan society. Smith's new interpretation of the predominance of vision in the Aeneid makes it plain that Virgil's epic contributes to a new visual culture and a new mythology of Imperial Rome.

This lively translation of "Devins, Dieux et Demons" is the first English-language edition of Jean-Rene Jannot's highly informative examination of Etruscan religion. Jannot tackles this elusive subject within three major constructs--death, ritual, and the nature of the gods--and presents recent discoveries in an accessible format. Jane K. Whitehead's translation updates Jannot's innovative text and introduces readers of all types--students, scholars, and the general audience--to this thorough overview of ancient Etruscan beliefs, including the afterlife, funerary customs, and mythology.
Provocative insights and thoughtful discussions contribute to an understanding of the prophetic nature of Etruscan culture. Jannot investigates the elaborate systems of defining space and time that so distinctly characterize this ancient society. "Religion in Ancient Etruria" offers a unique perspective that illuminates the origins of some of our own "modern" religious beliefs.
This updated edition includes more than 100 illustrations that demonstrate early temples, statues, mirrors, tablets, and sculptures.
1998 French edition, Picard

This edition of Books I & II of St Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only edition in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Goths, Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the fall of Rome to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.

1899. The object of this work is to give the reader an account of the principal facts concerning Babylonian religion and mythology. The text is based on the cuneiform inscriptions that have been excavated in Mesopotamia during the last 55 years and the writings of the Semitic peoples of the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates revealing their religious beliefs and superstitions. Contents: The Gods of Babylon; Heaven, Earth, and Hell; The Legends of Creation; The Story of the Deluge; Tales of Gods and Heroes; and The Duty of Man to his God and to his Neighbor. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Contents: origin and progress of idolatry; on barrows; origin and extent of druidism; Silbury Hill; on the serpent at Abury; temples at Abury; temples of Mercury and Venus; ancient British trackway; St. Ann's Hill, remarks on the feudal system; temples of Mars and Jupiter; Stonehenge; names of Stonehenge; on the Fosse of Stonehenge and the stones located on it; Stonehenge and the conjoint Temple of Saturn and the Sun; Platonic cycle; summary of the foregoing arguments and conclusion.

In this study, Eric Orlin examines the process through which new temples were vowed, built, and dedicated as a way of examining key features of the interrelated political and religious systems of Republican Rome. He suggests the Senate, in addition to individual magistrates, played a significant role in the construction of new temples. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The author draws on textual readings, archaeological and historical data, and epigraphy to determine what may be known about the Israelite religions during the Iron Age (1200 - 586 BCE). The evidence is synthesized within the structure of an Israelite worldview and ethos involving kin, tribes, land, traditional ways and places of worship, and a national deity. Professor Zevit originated this interpretive matrix through insights, ideas and models developed in the academic study of religion and history within the context of the humanities. He is original, for instance, in his conclusions about the pre-canonical history of many psalms, the two-stage history of Israelite altars, and the unrecognised religious significance of some Hebrew inscriptions and archaeological sites. Throughout the book, the author has set a precedent which should encourage dialogue and co-operative study between ancient historians and archaeologists, but particularly between Iron Age archaeologists and biblical scholars. The work challenges many conclusions of previous scholarship about the nature of Israelite religion, even as it presents scholars with new data, new interpretations of old data, and suggestions for new questions for research.

Sacred mysteries among the Mayas and the Quiches 11,500 years ago and their relation to the sacred mysteries of Egypt, Greece, Chaldea and India; Freemasonry in times anterior in the Temple of Solomon. The author presents to the reader some of the historical facts that have been brought to light by deciphering bas-reliefs and mural inscriptions, by means of the ancient hieractic Maya alphabet discovered by the author. He presents only facts that can be proven by well-known ancient and modern writers and by the inscriptions carved on stone by the Mayan people.

First published in 1898, this guide to the primitive lore of Scandinavia recounts the creation of the world from the earliest fog-country and fire-land, the birth of the gods, their ascendancy, and their twilight. It profiles the chief gods and their attendant myths, including the all-wise Odin, father of the gods; hammer-wielding Thor; Baldur, the beautiful and wise; and malicious Loki, the devil of the North. It chronicles forms of worship and religious life, plus the most famous of the hero sagas: the Volsungs, the Helgi sagas; Volund the smith; the Hjathningar, and Beowulf. Unbridged republication of the A. Clinton Crowell translation as published by Thomas Y. Crowell Company. New York, 1913.

Norse Mythology explores the magical myths and legends of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Viking-Age Greenland--outlining along the way the prehistoric tales and beliefs from these regions that have remained embedded in the imagination of the world.

The book begins with an Introduction that helps put Scandinavian mythology in place in history, followed by a chapter that explains the meaning of mythic time, and a third section that presents in-depth explanations of each mythological term. These fascinating entries identify particular deities and giants, as well as the places where they dwell and the varied and wily means by which they forge their existence and battle one another. We meet Thor, one of the most powerful gods, who specializes in killing giants using a hammer made for him by dwarfs, not to mention myriad trolls, ogres, humans and strange animals. We learn of the ongoing struggle between the gods, who create the cosmos, and the jotnar, or giants, who aim to destroy it. In the enchanted world where this mythology takes place, we encounter turbulent rivers, majestic mountains, dense forests, storms, fierce winters, eagles, ravens, salmon and snakes in a landscape closely resembling Scandinavia. Beings travel on ships and on horseback; they eat slaughtered meat and drink mead.

Spanning from the inception of the universe and the birth of human beings to the universe's destruction and the mythic future, these sparkling tales of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, gods and heroes will entertain readers and offer insight into the relationship between Scandinavian myth, history, and culture.

The Commentaries translated here, dating from the sixth century, show the persisting survival of Greek learning in an increasingly Christianised world. The work takes the form of a series of explanations and glosses of classical references in Gregory's original Sermons. Although the author uses an elementary technique of the schools to structure his text, which has little in the way of eloquence or literary art, there is a striking single-mindededness and confidence in his explanations. Some of the information given is inaccurate, and the author is not averse to rewriting texts that he cannot explain. Nonetheless, the work displays a lively interest in Greek learning, and presents a fascinating insight into the attitude of one particular Christian to its continuing validity.

Tertullian is a primary source for a modern understanding of the issues that once confronted -- and still confront -- Christians living in a non-Christian world. Unfortunately, his writings have often been cast aside as too difficult to read. In this volume, Robert D. Sider undertakes a judicious pruning of the original texts and brings a fresh accessibility to the important writings of Tertullian.

Among ancient Greek deities, none has enjoyed as rich a life as Athena - goddess of war, wisdom and the arts - and she continues to fascinate and challenge today.
This volume sheds light on the goddess more comprehensively than has previously been attempted. It brings together the latest research, centring on Greek and Roman religion, literature and archaeology, yet also encompassing ancient Near Eastern, Indo-European, and modern interpretations. Cults and myths are explored, as are political, social, and gendered roles, and art historical and etymological developments. Recurrent themes are investigated, as are the many dividing lines and contradictory aspects which characterise representations of the goddess.
The volume will enhance our understanding of Athena, and will be a source of inspiration for new ideas and interpretations for years to come.