Though nearly everyone is familiar with the great mythological figures such as Hercules, Icarus and Medusa, readers may wonder what relevance these ancient tales hold for them. This unique reference book brings mythology to life for students by exploring the connections between ancient myths and contemporary culture. The delightful introductory essay sets the tone, with its overview of the myriad areas of human endeavors that have been influenced by mythology including the arts, science, psychology, language and literature, consumer products and other aspects of popular culture. The user-friendly volume is comprised of 50 narrative essays, that offer a lively retelling of the myth, and then trace the cultural connections. Readers will discover, for example, the fascinating derivation of Freudian psychoanalysis from the myth of Oedipus. Fans of popular film and fiction may be surprised to learn the mythological inspiration for works like Beauty and the Beast, The Matrix, or Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead. This engrossing book is enhanced with 25 original illustrations. Five fact-filled appendices offer glossaries and interesting mythological etymologies of commonplace words in nature, science, and everyday consumer products like Nike shoes and Olympus cameras. Whether for research or pure enjoyment, this accessible and informative book reveals the many unrecognized references to mythology that impact our lives.

A miracle happened that now reveals many secrets of the earth, the universe. Many great mysteries, never before known, will be told in this incredible story, a true phenomenal series of spectacular events. All of mankind is on a well-planned scientific journey. It is a known fact that the sun is traveling or darting through space at a constant speed of 700,000 miles per hour. The earth is being pulled along with the other planets in an exact positioned filing order. The sun is the engine, which controls these planet formations. Their destination will surprise you. This story is so powerful the weak may not be able to follow through to its conclusion. You will come to know and understand this force. There are many forces in the universe and they are sometimes referred to as laws. Such awesome and controlling powers as time, gravity, perpetual energy, and nature are some of the great controlling forces that surround man. Logic and reason should impress the senses that their existence is far more reaching and purposeful than the mere fact of their existence. The knowledge gained through the miracle will indeed show a spectacular reason, that all things have purpose.

This book is another example of the New Thought movement where the author looks at the law of attrac-tion in the sense of thought with the respect of the power of mind. Atkinson points out the similarities between the law of gravitation and the mental law of attraction. He ex-plains that thought vibrations are as real as those manifesting as light, heat, magnetism and electricity. The difference is in the vibratory rate which also ex-plains the fact that thought vibrations cannot usually be perceived by our five senses. The author, rather skillfully, argues that there are huge gaps in the spectrum of light and sound vibrations, wide enough to include other worlds. It is logical that these activities would be perceived by sense organs at-tuned to them. Increasingly sophisticated scientific instruments are able to register more and more of these hidden frequencies.

Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World by William Walker Atkinson

In this New Thought classic, Atkinson looks at the law of attraction in the thought world. He points out the similarities between the law of gravitation and the mental law of attraction. He explains that thought vibrations are as real as those manifesting as light, heat, magnetism and electricity. The difference is in the vibratory rate which also explains the fact that thought vibrations cannot usually be perceived by our 5 senses.

Contents: Law of attraction in the thought world; Thought-waves and their power of reproduction; About the mind; Mind building; Secret of the will; How to become immune to injurious thought attraction; Transmutation of negative thought; Law of mental control; Asserting the life force; Training the habit mind; Psychology of the emotions; Developing new brain cells; Attractive power-desire force; Law, not chance.

Your Invisible Power by Genevieve Behrend

This is a really inspiring book. It gets you focused on your dreams and goals with very simple to understand directions. I encourage everyone to read and apply the information with a spirit of enthusiasm and watch your life change

This book discusses erotic and magical goddesses and heroines in several ancient cultures, from the Near East and Asia, and throughout ancient Europe; in prehistoric and early historic iconography, their magical qualities are often indicated by a magical dance or stance. It is a look at female display figures both cross-culturally and cross-temporally, through texts and iconography, beginning with figures depicted in very early Neolithic Anatolia, early and middle Neolithic southeast Europe--Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia--continuing through the late Neolithic in East Asia, and into early historic Greece, India, and Ireland, and elsewhere across the world. These very similar female figures were depicted in Anatolia, Europe, Southern Asia, and East Asia, in a broad chronological sweep, beginning with the pre-pottery Neolithic, ca. 9000 BCE, and existing from the beginning of the second millennium of this era up to the present era. This book demonstrates the extraordinary similarities, in a broad geographic range, of depictions and descriptions of magical female figures who give fertility and strength to the peoples of their cultures by means of their magical erotic powers. This book uniquely contains translations of texts which describe these ancient female figures, from a multitude of Indo-European, Near Eastern, and East Asian works, a feat only possible given the authors' formidable combined linguistic expertise in over thirty languages. The book contains many photographs of these geographically different, but functionally and artistically similar, female figures. Many current books (academic and otherwise) explore some of the female figures the authors discuss in their book, but such a wide-ranging cross-cultural and cross-temporal view of this genre of female figures has never been undertaken until now. The "sexual" display of these female figures reflects the huge numinosity of the prehistoric divine feminine, and of her magical genitalia. The functions of fertility and apotropaia, which count among the functions of the early historic display and dancing figures, grow out of this numinosity and reflect the belief in and honoring of the powers of the ancient divine feminine.

"At sea, when the nets are out and the pipes are lit, then will some ancient hoarder of tales become loquacious, telling his histories to the tune of the creaking of the boats. Holy-eve night, too, is a great time, and in old days many tales were to be heard at wakes. But the priest have set their faces against wakes. . . ." From the celebrated poet, William Butler Yeats, a volume of folk and fairy tales to stir the Irish soul.

This book provides students, instructors, and lay-readers with a cross-cultural understanding of storytelling as an art form that has existed for centuries, from the first spoken and sung stories to those that are drawn and performed today. This book serves as an indispensable resource for students and scholars interested in storytelling and in multicultural approaches to the arts. By taking an evolutionary approach, this book begins with a discussion of origin stories and continues through history to stories of the 21st century. The text not only engages the stories themselves, it also explains how individuals from all disciplines, from doctors and lawyers to priests and journalists, use stories to focus their readers' and listeners' attention and influence them. This text addresses stories and storytelling across both time (thousands of years) and geography, including in-depth descriptions of storytelling practices occurring in more than 40 different cultures around the world. Part I consists of thematic essays, exploring such topics as the history of storytelling, common elements across cultures, different media, lessons stories teach us, and storytelling today. Part II looks at more than 40 different cultures, with entries following the same outline: Overview, Storytellers: Who Tell the Stories, and When, Creation Mythologies, Teaching Tales and Values, and Cultural Preservation. Several tales/tale excerpts accompany each entry. Describes the earliest evidence of storytelling, which dates back thousands of years, and discusses how we can learn about our ancestors and their lives and concerns going all the way back to the stories depicted in the cave art they left behind Discusses how the content of stories has changed over time, influenced by such things as the development of agriculture, the establishment of the first urban centers, the invention of the printing press, widespread literacy, the industrial revolution, and scientific discoveries Explains how our response to storytelling-why stories interest us and why we continue to tell and listen to stories-is an inheritance from our ancient ancestors Investigates storytelling practices from more than 40 different culture groups around the world Incorporates text and translations of original stories told across cultures, almost verbatim, for thousands of years

Pasta, cappuccino, olive oil Italian food culture is a prominent feature of Western society in our cafes, restaurants and homes. But what is the history of Italian cuisine? And where do we get our notions about Italian food? Garlic and Oil is the first comprehensive history of food habits in modern Italy. Chronicling the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, the author argues that politics dramatically affected the nature of Italian cuisine and food habits. Contrary to popular belief, the Italian diet was inadequate and unchanging for many decades. Drawing on the writings of scientific professionals, domestic economists, government officials, and consumers, the author shows how the miserable diet of so many Italians became the subject of political debate and eventually, the target of government intervention. As successive regimes liberal, fascist, democratic struggled with the question of how to improve peoples eating habits, their actions purposefully and inadvertently affected what and how much Italians ate, shaping not only the foundations of Italian cuisine, but also the nature of Italian identity. Garlic and Oil is a popular national food history that offers a new perspective on the history of consumerism and food studies by examining how political change affects food consumption habits.