Nekromanteia


Book Description

In the depths of space a little known district harbours a terrible secret. Long known as a place of death, it claims thousands more lives as a great corporate space-fleet goes to war.







Greek and Roman Necromancy


Book Description

In classical antiquity, there was much interest in necromancy--the consultation of the dead for divination. People could seek knowledge from the dead by sleeping on tombs, visiting oracles, and attempting to reanimate corpses and skulls. Ranging over many of the lands in which Greek and Roman civilizations flourished, including Egypt, from the Greek archaic period through the late Roman empire, this book is the first comprehensive survey of the subject ever published in any language. Daniel Ogden surveys the places, performers, and techniques of necromancy as well as the reasons for turning to it. He investigates the cave-based sites of oracles of the dead at Heracleia Pontica and Tainaron, as well as the oracles at the Acheron and Avernus, which probably consisted of lakeside precincts. He argues that the Acheron oracle has been long misidentified, and considers in detail the traditions attached to each site. Readers meet the personnel--real or imagined--of ancient necromancy: ghosts, zombies, the earliest vampires, evocators, sorcerers, shamans, Persian magi, Chaldaeans, Egyptians, Roman emperors, and witches from Circe to Medea. Ogden explains the technologies used to evocate or reanimate the dead and to compel them to disgorge their secrets. He concludes by examining ancient beliefs about ghosts and their wisdom--beliefs that underpinned and justified the practice of necromancy. The first of its kind and filled with information, this volume will be of central importance to those interested in the rapidly expanding, inherently fascinating, and intellectually exciting subjects of ghosts and magic in antiquity.




The Invocations


Book Description

From the author of New York Times bestseller House of Hollow comes a darkly seductive witchy thriller where, though both men and demons lurk in shadows, girls refuse to go quietly into the night. AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose . . . Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider—that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave—even trading in the occult. Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It’s a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she’s glimpsed what’s beyond the veil, Jude’s desperate to find someone to undo the damage she’s done to herself. Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset—her invocations—to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer. When Emer’s clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why—and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can’t give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul.




Dreams, Nature, and Practices as Signs of the Future in the Middle Ages


Book Description

A great number of historical examples show how desperate people sought to obtain a glimpse of the future or explain certain incidents retrospectively through signs that had occurred in advance. In that sense, signs are always considered a portent of future events. In different societies, and at different times, the written or unwritten rules regarding their interpretation varied, although there was perhaps a common understanding of these processes. This present volume collates essays from specialists in the field of prognostication in the European Middle Ages. Contributors are Klaus Herbers, Wolfram Brandes, Zhao Lu, Rolf Scheuermann, Thomas Krümpel, Bernardo Bertholin Kerr, Gaelle Bosseman, Julia Eva Wannenmacher (†), Matthias Kaup, Vincent Gossaert, Jürgen Gebhardt, Matthias Gebauer, Richard Landes.




Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions


Book Description

This book offers an ethnological study on the Druids and their religion.




Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition


Book Description

Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition explores the theme of visits to the underworld in the ancient Greek and Byzantine traditions from a broad perspective including written sources, iconography and archaeology.




Irish Druids


Book Description

Ireland, whether viewed from an antiquarian or an ethnological point of view, is one of the most interesting countries in the world. It is curious that its literary treasures have been so long neglected. The author of this book sheds light on Irish Paganism and Druidry. Throughout this book he discusses many of the concepts which later would be utilized by the Wiccan movement to construct Celtic Neo-Paganism. Contents: Irish Druids Who Were The Druids? Welsh Or British Druidism Irish Druidism St. Patrick and the Druids Opinions On Irish Druids Irish Bards Isle Of Man Druidism French Druidism German Druidism Druidical Magic Neo-Druidism Druidical Belief Druidical Mysticism Early Religions Of The Irish Irish Superstitions Irish Magic, and Tuatha De Danaans Irish Gods Idol-Worship Serpent Faith Sun-Worship Fire-Worship Stone-Worship Animal Worship The Shamrock, and Other Sacred Plants Well-Worship Holy Bells Irish Crosses The Sacred Tara Hill Round Tower Creed Ossian the Bard The Culdees of Druidical Days The Future Life, or Land of the West Ancient Irish Literature The Lia Fail, or the Stone of Destiny




Magic and Divination in the Ancient World


Book Description

This collection of essays focuses on divination across the Ancient World from early Mesopotamia to late antiquity. The authors deal with the forms, theory and poetics of this important and still poorly understood ancient phenomenon.




An Encyclopedia of Tolkien


Book Description

List of illustrations -- Introduction -- A dictionary of sources -- Charts -- Battles -- Three primary ring legends -- Tolkien's ring -- Index of sources -- Index.