Customs & Traditions

Campbell outlines the Hero's Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world's mythic traditions....

Unearths the stories of the little-known but powerful elder women in European myth and folklore, inspiring listeners to radically reimagine the last decades of their lives as the most dynamic of all....

Discover everything you’ve ever wondered about the legendary spirits, creatures, and figures of Japanese folklore including how they have found their way into every corner of our pop culture from the creator of the podcast Uncanny Japan. Welcome to The Book of Japanese Folklore: a fascinating...

Funerary rituals show us what people thought about mortality; how they felt about loss; what they believed came next. From Roman cremations and graveside feasts, to deviant burials with heads rearranged, from richly furnished Anglo Saxon graves to the first Christian burial grounds in Wales...

Have Yourself a Very British Christmas is a 12-stage sleigh ride through the best, worst, strangest and funniest aspects of the Christmas holiday....

With unflinching gaze and uncompromising intensity Julius Evola analyzes the spiritual and cultural malaise at the heart of Western civilization and all that passes for progress in the modern world. As a gadfly, Evola spares no one and nothing in his survey of what we have lost and where we are...

Listeners of this book will gain a clear understanding of what makes the Japanese, and their society, tick....

For centuries, clothing has been a wearable status symbol; fashion, a weapon in struggles for social change; and dress codes, a way to maintain political control....

Santa Muerte (Holy Death or Saint Death) is considered to be the female personification of death. Santa Muerte is a complete ritual guide to working with this famous - and infamous! - Mexican folk saint....

This audiobook, narrated by William Roberts, explores the evolution of consciousness through the archetypes and myths that are universal to all humanity....

Selkies, trowies and fairy wolves. Witches, clan chiefs and the King of the Cats. Within this audiobook are the little-known stories of Scotland, collected and retold by an oral storyteller who performs them throughout the world.

Brought to you by Penguin. This rich and enjoyable book by the acclaimed author of Japan Story explores the many ways in which Asia has influenced Europe and North America over centuries of tangled, dynamic encounters From the time of the ancient Greeks onwards the West's relationship with Asia...

Well-known journalist and presenter Mike McRoberts opens up about his experiences of reconnection to te ao Māori and learning te reo, and encourages others to do the same. 'Mike has bravely given voice to the inner conflicts and deep-seated longing many of us feel as we seek the power of...

The Argonautica, also known as Jason and the Golden Fleece or Jason and the Argonauts, is the only surviving epic poem from Hellenistic Greece. Virgil and other later poets were greatly influenced by it....

How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead....

This collection of fourteen reimagined Grimm's fairy tales from award-winning author Mark Russell offers a biting new perspective while proving the classics never go out of style. In the two hundred years since Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm first published their collection of fairy tales, things...

Compelling and profound, The Lakota Way gives a fresh outlook to those searching for a new perspective on spiritual and ethical living....

Myth is our wild way of telling the truth, of sharing stories that have our living earth speaking through them. There is an old insistence that we each have a twin we know nothing about....

At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives - identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic - celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole to help us understand our world....

Finally sort out who’s who in Greek mythology—from gods, goddesses, heroes, monsters, and everyone in between! Greek mythology continues to appear in popular movies and books today but have you ever wondered about where these characters started out? Discover the origins of your favorite...

In this third volume of The Masks of God - Joseph Campbell’s major work of comparative mythology - the preeminent mythologist looks at the pagan religions of Greece, Rome, and the Celts, as well as the Abrahamic religions - Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam....

Why did the Vikings sail to England? Were they indiscriminate raiders, motivated solely by bloodlust and plunder? One narrative, the stereotypical one, might have it so.

Explore the legends, gods, and cosmic cycles that defined one of the most powerful civilizations in the Americas. Far from a dry academic text, Myths, Gods, and Rituals of Aztec Mythology brings these ancient stories to life with vivid detail and cultural insight.

Ernest Hemingway's classic exploration of the history and pageantry of bullfighting, and the deeper themes of cowardice, bravery, sport and tragedy that it inspires. Still considered one of the best books ever written about bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon reflects Hemingway's belief that...

Stories of how the world came to be the way it is, stories of heroism and perfidy, stories about animals and birds, and stories about love and hate all have parts to play in the wide array of myths, legends, and tales created by Indigenous Australians....

Una docena de mitos de la historia de España, definidos y desmontados por el autor, desde el paraíso perdido de Al-Ándalus hasta el supuesto páramo cultural durante el franquismo.

In Creation Stories of the Americas, you will join expert art historian Khristin Montes to encounter—and often reconstruct—creation myths across the Western hemisphere, zeroing in on cultures like the Pueblo, Mexica, Mixtec, Maya, Dine, and more. You will examine popular motifs within creation stories, from murky waters to journeys into the underworld. And you will contextualize these stories in the societies and environments from which they came, whether that’s the Caribbean, where cultures collided, or in the arctic, a place where scarcity enveloped everyday life.

Turkey—Culture Smart! is an invaluable guide to the intricate ins and outs of this culturally rich and complex society. This updated edition outlines the complex history of Anatolia, provides key insights into contemporary Turkish values and attitudes, describes important customs and traditions, and reveals what life is like for the Turks at home, at work, and at play.

Unsuspecting outsiders often assume that Canadians are just like their American neighbors, if perhaps a little more modest. However, there is much more to it than that. Canadian society is a complex mosaic of distinct cultural identities that vary from province to province, and with high levels of immigration, it is one of the most multicultural societies in the world.

Deep in the mist-shrouded mountains of Eastern Europe, where ancient castles crumble into forgotten valleys and village elders still whisper warnings after dark, lies the truth behind humanity's most enduring nightmare. Eastern European Shadows takes you on a chilling journey through newly discovered historical documents, archaeological evidence, and testimonies that will make you question everything you thought you knew about vampire folklore.

A sweeping natural history of the most valuable trees on earth that have quietly transformed our economies, cultural traditions, and collective imagination for millennia. Every December, homes, offices, and town squares around the world are adorned with lavishly decorated evergreens to ring in...

From a distance, Saudi Arabia may seem a subdued, or even dull place; but for those who take a closer look it emerges as a fascinating country, not necessarily because of its political and economic importance, but because of its people. Reticent perhaps but, on closer acquaintance, charming and warm, the Saudis form a far less monolithic society than one might expect.

USA: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture takes you on a tour of the core influences and ideals that have shaped this great country and have driven the behavior and attitudes found on Main Street and in the workplace. It looks at Americans at work, at home, and at play, and provides the visitor with an up-to-date cultural road map of this dynamic, multifaceted society.

The field of folklore studies is over two centuries old, and it's full of amazing insights about human behavior, creativity, and community. Folklore studies is as interdisciplinary as it gets, squished somewhere between anthropology and linguistics and religious studies and comparative literature and more. It’s all about the informal human interactions, the million tiny acts and stories and beliefs and arts that function as social glue even if they seem beneath notice.

In the 1990s, a teenage Steve Higgins was obsessed with UFOs. He spent his weekends cutting out newspaper clippings, watching 'The X-Files', and tramping through Wiltshire fields in search of crop circles. Decades later, he sets out to see if that old spark is still there. 'My UFO Youth' follows Steve's journey across Britain as he revisits the places that defined his teenage fascination — from Rendlesham Forest and Avebury to the hills above Warminster.

Le isole greche sono terre del mito. Sono palcoscenici per avventure di eroi e divinità. L'Egeo è un mare di prodigi, un paesaggio di labirinti e di colossi, di vulcani e di palazzi. Ospita terre sacre, come la divina Delo, isola-ninfa che ha propiziato la nascita miracolosa di Apollo. Accoglie luoghi arcani, come Santorini, spezzata in due da un cataclisma, in tempi remoti, ma anche patria, secondo il folklore moderno, dei primi vampiri. Ogni isola ha la sua mitologia: a Creta è cresciuto Zeus, a Naxos si sono amati Arianna e Dioniso, a Serifos è apparsa la testa di Medusa.

Together, we’ll explore the psychology, folklore, and emotional forces that keep this mystery alive. From the birth of the “Bigfoot” name in a 1950s logging camp to Hollywood’s transformation of the legend into a cultural icon, you’ll discover why belief endures and what it reveals about human nature itself. Exploring the Mind isn’t just for Bigfoot enthusiasts; it’s for anyone who loves a good mystery, is intrigued by the unseen corners of the human psyche, and still believes there’s a little magic left in the world.

In The Hidden Bloodlines of Bigfoot: Book Two, author Shawn Thomas takes you deeper beyond the veil where ancient lore, energy, and unseen influences intertwine. We’re not just chasing footprints anymore. We’re exploring the pulse of something that feels alive, intelligent, and connected to us in ways science can’t explain.

Christmas Traditions in the Spanish-Speaking World is a warm, beautifully written guide to how Hispanic communities celebrate the season across Latin America and Spain. It blends history, food, music, and faith with the small, familiar details that make December feel like casa. Plus, the research behind this collection also highlights traditions from many other Spanish-speaking countries, revealing the beautiful diversity of how Christmas is celebrated across the Hispanic world.

رحلة مؤثِّرة ومثيرة إلى جزيرة سُقُطْرى، أو جزيرة السندباد المفقودة، يأخذنا إليها جوردي إستيفا في جولة معاصرة، مستعيداً أزمنة مضيئة من تاريخ قديم. هذا الكتاب نتاج خمس رحلات قام بها الرحَّالة الإسباني إلى سُقُطْرى في الفترة ما بين عامَي 2005 - 2011، تنقَّل فيها بين الماضي والحاضر، وقابل سَحَرة، واستمع إلى حكايات كبار السن، وجال بين روائح البخور والمر والقات، ومخلَّفات الجِمال وأغاني الواوا. يرسم المؤلف، فـي رهبـة وبشكل توثيقـي، جغرافية الجزيـرة الطبيعيّـة والأسطوريّـة والروحيّـة، وينقل قصص سكانها؛ لنتعرَّف بذلك على عالمٍ من الأعاجيب ربما أوشك على الاندثار.