Author : Erwann Claivoyant
Publisher : BoD - Books on Demand
Page : 32 pages
File Size : 43,53 MB
Release : 2023-06-22
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 2322483842
Welcome to the darkest and most mysterious corners of the city of London, where wandering spirits mingle with the living. n this book, entitled "The Rituals of the Ghosts of London: Supernatural Explorations in the Depths of the English Capital", we invite you on a fascinating journey into the heart of the paranormal and the rituals related to the spirits haunting the streets of this legendary metropolis.
Author : Richard Lloyd Parry
Publisher : MCD
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 25,55 MB
Release : 2017-10-24
Category : History
ISBN : 0374710937
Named one of the best books of 2017 by The Guardian, NPR, GQ, The Economist, Bookforum, and Lit Hub The definitive account of what happened, why, and above all how it felt, when catastrophe hit Japan—by the Japan correspondent of The Times (London) and author of People Who Eat Darkness On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake sent a 120-foot-high tsunami smashing into the coast of northeast Japan. By the time the sea retreated, more than eighteen thousand people had been crushed, burned to death, or drowned. It was Japan’s greatest single loss of life since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It set off a national crisis and the meltdown of a nuclear power plant. And even after the immediate emergency had abated, the trauma of the disaster continued to express itself in bizarre and mysterious ways. Richard Lloyd Parry, an award-winning foreign correspondent, lived through the earthquake in Tokyo and spent six years reporting from the disaster zone. There he encountered stories of ghosts and hauntings, and met a priest who exorcised the spirits of the dead. And he found himself drawn back again and again to a village that had suffered the greatest loss of all, a community tormented by unbearable mysteries of its own. What really happened to the local children as they waited in the schoolyard in the moments before the tsunami? Why did their teachers not evacuate them to safety? And why was the unbearable truth being so stubbornly covered up? Ghosts of the Tsunami is a soon-to-be classic intimate account of an epic tragedy, told through the accounts of those who lived through it. It tells the story of how a nation faced a catastrophe, and the struggle to find consolation in the ruins.
Author : Irving Finkel
Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton
Page : 358 pages
File Size : 13,24 MB
Release : 2021-11-11
Category : History
ISBN : 1529303273
'It's enthralling stuff, mixing the scholarly with the accessible and placing storytelling right at the heart of the human experience.' - History Revealed 'A fascinating journey' - Yorkshire Post 'Marvellous...Finkel is an expert in Mesopotamian cultures at the British Museum, and is one of the most clever, and nicest, of people it has ever been my pleasure to encounter...A fascinating journey' - The Scotsman There are few things more in common across cultures than the belief in ghosts. Ghosts inhabit something of the very essence of what it is to be human. Whether we personally 'believe' or not, we are all aware of ghosts and the rich mythologies and rituals surrounding them. They have inspired, fascinated and frightened us for centuries - yet most of us are only familiar with the vengeful apparitions of Shakespeare, or the ghastly spectres haunting the pages of 19th century gothic literature. But their origins are much, much older... The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies takes us back to the very beginning. A world-renowned authority on cuneiform, the form of writing on clay tablets which dates back to 3400BC, Irving Finkel has embarked upon an ancient ghost hunt, scouring these tablets to unlock the secrets of the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians to breathe new life into the first ghost stories ever written. In The First Ghosts, he uncovers an extraordinarily rich seam of ancient spirit wisdom which has remained hidden for nearly 4000 years, covering practical details of how to live with ghosts, how to get rid of them and bring them back, and how to avoid becoming one, as well as exploring more philosophical questions: what are ghosts, why does the idea of them remain so powerful despite the lack of concrete evidence, and what do they tell us about being human?
Author : Sarah Tarlow
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 17,82 MB
Release : 2010-11-22
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1139492969
Drawing on archaeological, historical, theological, scientific and folkloric sources, Sarah Tarlow's interdisciplinary study examines belief as it relates to the dead body in early modern Britain and Ireland. From the theological discussion of bodily resurrection to the folkloric use of body parts as remedies, and from the judicial punishment of the corpse to the ceremonial interment of the social elite, this book discusses how seemingly incompatible beliefs about the dead body existed in parallel through this tumultuous period. This study, which is the first to incorporate archaeological evidence of early modern death and burial from across Britain and Ireland, addresses new questions about the materiality of death: what the dead body means, and how its physical substance could be attributed with sentience and even agency. It provides a sophisticated original interpretive framework for the growing quantities of archaeological and historical evidence about mortuary beliefs and practices in early modernity.
Author : Roy A. Rappaport
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 566 pages
File Size : 25,86 MB
Release : 1999-03-25
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780521296908
Roy Rappaport argues that religion is central to the continuing evolution of life, although it has been been displaced from its original position of intellectual authority by the rise of modern science. His book, which could be construed as in some degree religious as well as about religion, insists that religion can and must be reconciled with science. Combining adaptive and cognitive approaches to the study of humankind, he mounts a comprehensive analysis of religion's evolutionary significance, seeing it as co-extensive with the invention of language and hence of culture as we know it. At the same time he assembles the fullest study yet of religion's main component, ritual, which constructs the conceptions which we take to be religious and has been central in the making of humanity's adaptation. The text amounts to a manual for effective ritual, illustrated by examples drawn from anthropology, history, philosophy, comparative religion, and elsewhere.
Author : David Hicks
Publisher : Rowman Altamira
Page : 538 pages
File Size : 21,28 MB
Release : 2010-03-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0759118574
Ritual and Belief: Readings in the Anthropology of Religion is a collection of 41 readings in religion, magic, and witchcraft. The choice of readings is eclectic: no single anthropological approach or theoretical perspective dominates the text. Theoretical significance, scholarly eminence of the author, and inherent interest provide the principal criteria, and each reading complements its companion chapters, which are pedagogically coherent rather than ad hoc assemblages. Included among the theoretical perspectives are structural-functionalism, structuralism, Malinowskian functionalism, cultural materialism, and cultural evolutionism; also included are the synchronic and diachronic approaches. The book offers a mixture of classic readings and more recent contributions, and the 'world religions' are included along with examples from the religions of traditionally non-literate cultures. As diverse a range of religious traditions as possible has been embraced, from various ethnic groups, traditions, and places.
Author : J. Rasmus Brandt
Publisher : Oxbow Books
Page : 481 pages
File Size : 32,74 MB
Release : 2014-07-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1782976426
The forms by which a deceased person may be brought to rest are as many as there are causes of death. In most societies the disposal of the corpse is accompanied by some form of celebration or ritual which may range from a simple act of deportment in solitude to the engagement of large masses of people in laborious and creative festivities. In a funerary context the term ritual may be taken to represent a process that incorporates all the actions performed and thoughts expressed in connection with a dying and dead person, from the preparatory pre-death stages to the final deposition of the corpse and the post-mortem stages of grief and commemoration. The contributions presented here are focused not on the examination of different funerary practices, their function and meaning, but on the changes of such rituals – how and when they occurred and how they may be explained. Based on case studies from a range of geographical regions and from different prehistoric and historical periods, a range of key themes are examined concerning belief and ritual, body and deposition, place, performance and commemoration, exploring a complex web of practices.
Author : Donald Tyson
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 45,78 MB
Release : 1992
Category : Magic
ISBN : 9780875428352
Ritual Magic, by Donald Tyson, provides a historical, theoretical, and practical introduction to the astonishing world of magic--not mere myth and delusion nor tricks and illusion, but real magic. In Ritual Magic you will learn what is possible with magic. Can magic bring rains from a clear sky? Can it calm stormy seas? Can real magic change the outcome of great battles? Can you use magic to improve your life? The answers to these and many other questions will be found in Ritual Magic. Explore the roots of magic - its complete history Get answers to questions frequently asked by those approaching magic for the first time Discover how magic works Learn the similarities and differences among different magical paths, including Golden Dawn, Shamanism, Wicca, Thelema, Druidism, and more Receive complete instructions for rituals to awaken magical awareness and to accomplish a willed purpose Deepen your knowledge of ritual magic, with suggested programs of study and reading material Learn how and why magic can become an important part of your life Whatever you own particular occult interest, Ritual Magic will help you learn what it is about, where it comes from, and how to do it correctly. By using this book as a road map of Western occultism, you will discover the truth about magic and use it to improve your life.
Author : Deirdre McKay
Publisher : Indiana University Press
Page : 206 pages
File Size : 26,40 MB
Release : 2016-12-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0253024986
A study of Filipino caregivers in London and what it says for migrant workers and the networks they build in the global marketplace. Focusing on the experience of Filipino caregivers in London, some of whom are living and working illegally in their host country, Deirdre McKay considers what migrant workers must do to navigate their way in a global marketplace. She draws on interviews and participant observations, her own long-term fieldwork in communities in the Philippines, and digital ethnography to present an intricate consideration of how these caregivers create stability in potentially precarious living situations. McKay argues that these workers gain resilience from the bonding networks they construct for themselves through social media, faith groups, and community centers. These networks generate an elaborate “archipelago of care” through which migrants create their sense of self. “A beautifully written ethnography of Filipino migrants in the UK and their experience of living their lives within and across the UK and the Philippines, mediated by physical space, institutions and a series of digital media.” —Heather Horst, coauthor of Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practices “Deirdre McKay takes a novel approach to key concepts undergirding globalization and transnationalism today—citizenship, surveillance, and security. She makes us think differently about the negotiation of belonging in a digital and hyper-securitized age.” —Jennifer Burrell, author of Maya After War: Conflict, Power, and Politics in Guatemala
Author : James L. Watson
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 362 pages
File Size : 18,6 MB
Release : 1988
Category : Family & Relationships
ISBN : 9780520060814
During the late imperial era (1500-1911), China, though divided by ethnic, linguistic, and regional differences at least as great as those prevailing in Europe, enjoyed a remarkable solidarity. What held Chinese society together for so many centuries? Some scholars have pointed to the institutional control over the written word as instrumental in promoting cultural homogenization; others, the manipulation of the performing arts. This volume, comprised of essays by both anthropologists and historians, furthers this important discussion by examining the role of death rituals in the unification of Chinese culture.
