Showing titles in Customs & Traditions

Drawing from her work as a psychoanalyst and cantadora (keeper of old stories), Dr. Estes uses myths and folktales to illustrate how societies systematically strip away the feminine spirit. Through an exploration into the nature of the wild woman archetype, Dr. Estes helps listeners rediscover and free their own wild nature.

From stories of resurrected mummies and thousand-year-old curses to powerful pharaohs and the coveted treasures of the Great Pyramids, ancient Egypt has had an unfaltering grip on the modern imagination. Now, in Egyptian Mythology, Geraldine Pinch offers a comprehensive introduction that untangles the mystery of Egyptian myth.

Since its release in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced millions of readers by combining the insights of modern psychology with Joseph Campbell's revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In this book, Campbell outlines the Hero's Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world's mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.

Demonic temptresses–from siren-mermaids to Lilith–are well known today, and their mythology focuses around the seductive danger they pose to men. But the root of these figures can be traced back 4,000 years and in their earliest incarnations they were in fact demons worshipped and feared by women.

The blue-skinned old woman who made the mountains. Finfolk, selkies, and the Makers of Dreams. Within these sections are the little-known stories of Scotland, collected and retold by an oral storyteller who performs them throughout the world. From folk-tales and local legends to ancient epics, these stories will astonish and delight listeners everywhere. Daniel Allison is a USA Today best-selling author and acclaimed oral storyteller who performs everywhere from schools and prisons to global festivals.

From her first day at Westwind Cremation & Burial, 23-year-old Caitlin Doughty threw herself into her curious new profession. Coming face-to-face with the very thing we go to great lengths to avoid thinking about, she started to wonder about the lives of those she cremated and the mourning families they left behind, and found herself confounded by people's erratic reactions to death. Exploring our death rituals - and those of other cultures - she pleads the case for healthier attitudes around death and dying.

Edith Hamilton's mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern listener the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture—the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.

The legend of Atlantis is one of the most captivating and enduring stories ever told. For over two thousand years, it has stirred the imagination of philosophers, explorers, mystics, and dreamers. A city swallowed by the sea in a single day and night, a mighty civilisation punished for its hubris, a radiant island where power and beauty thrived before vanishing without a trace — Atlantis is both a cautionary tale and a timeless riddle. But what do we really know about it?

You scream, but no one hears you. The coffin swallows every sound. The soil presses down, heavy and final. Your chest burns, your arms cannot rise, your legs cannot move. Death is not a quiet sleep — it is a prison without escape. For centuries, people have feared one fate above all others: being buried alive. From ancient myths and medieval plagues to safety coffins, graveyard bells, and real-life cases of the “dead” awakening beneath the earth, this book uncovers the chilling history of premature burial. Step into the shadows of folklore, superstition, and science.

A perfect gift, this book will take you room by room to discover global traditions, remedies, folklore, and rituals hiding in your house. Uncover the folklore and rituals hiding in your own home. If you’ve ever wondered which windowsill herbs repel the supernatural, which way you should hang up a horseshoe, or whether your dog can talk, crack open this book and take a tour around the beliefs and traditions that lurk under the stairs, inside the cracks and behind every cobweb of your home.

Here in North America, there be monsters! Jason Offutt takes you on a thrilling adventure across all twenty-three countries―as well as every state and territory of the US, Canada, and Mexico―to meet one or more monsters in each location.

When a large, winged humanoid with glowing red eyes was spotted in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, the Mothman legend was born. Since that fateful November night, the flying cryptid has become one of the most famous monsters of all time. Richard Estep and renowned Mothman researcher Tobias Wayland document firsthand witness accounts and conduct detailed investigations with the hope of seeing the iconic cryptid themselves. This book chronicles their discoveries, which include large concentrations of sightings in the Chicago and Lake Michigan area.

Finally, the truth about vampires.Vampires are the most fearsome and fascinating of all creatures of folklore. For the first time, detailed accounts of the vampire and how its tradition developed in different cultures are gathered in one volume by eminent folklorist Alan Dundes.

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It is of immense importance to the culture of the Indian subcontinent and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (artha or 'purpose', kama or 'pleasure', dharma or 'duty' and moksha or 'liberation') takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'self') and the workings of karma.

Welcome to The Book of Japanese Folklore: a fascinating journey through Japan’s folklore through profiles of the legendary creatures and beings who continue to live on in pop culture today. From the sly kitsune to the orgrish oni and mischievous shape-shifting tanuki, learn all about the origins of these fantastical and mythical creatures. With information on their cultural significance, and how it’s been spun into today’s popular culture, this tome teaches you about the stories and histories of the beings that inspired characters in your favorite movies, animes, manga, and games.

This fascinating audiobook is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time.

This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of "basic stories" in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it reveals that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.

Raise a glass to the Great British tradition of booze, and the twelve drinks that made it what it is today! CHEERS! The history of Britain, perhaps more so than any other country, is defined by its drinking culture. Built on a foundation of pubs, clubs and watering holes, the UK has remained in...

Brought to you by Penguin. Award-winning classicist and historian Emily Hauser takes readers on an epic journey to uncover the astonishing true story of the real women behind ancient Greece’s greatest legends, and the real heroes of those ancient epics, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . . . Contrary...

Why have societies all across the world feared witchcraft? This book delves deeply into its context, beliefs, and origins in Europe's history. The witch came to prominence - and often a painful death - in early modern Europe, yet her origins are much more geographically diverse and historically deep. In this landmark book, Ronald Hutton traces witchcraft from the ancient world to the early modern state.