Blue Scorpion - Last Flight of the Ancients


Book Description

Few women in Simas would take up hard labor, and very few would wield a weapon. So when Evanna settled in the outpost, Drone, standing up to the warlord Salem’s men with a weapon and earning her living as a blacksmith, she drew the attention of many from near and far. Among those who heard her renown were the crown prince of Simas and his high knight who were traveling the area on another assignment. Their unexpected visit to Drone brought about changes in fortune for this forlorn outpost, and Evanna took on a commission upon their invitation in the royal palace for the king’s birthday. In the palace, she forged friendships with the jovial Sir Torias, the playful but mysterious Sir Matthias, and the noble Sir Endor and learned the story of her past. In the city, she met an old beggar who had the blood of the Nephilim in him, sitting at the palace gates. But the wheels of the age were turning fast, and things were not always as they appeared. A seemingly diplomatic visit from a princess of the neighboring kingdom of Adar turned into an encounter with the murderer of Evanna’s mother many years ago. The thwarting of the Adarian coup was only the beginning of revelations of the terrible plans of an ancient enemy who most thought was dead. As Simas and its allies became embroiled in the war in their region, Evanna returned to the remnant of her people to raise them to battle and revive the old alliances. Leading five Simasian representatives through the forest into the mountains where her people were hiding, the secret that Evanna had been keeping was finally revealed. And with this alliance, she journeyed toward a battle toward the twisted plot of deception and bloodshed that would unravel in the very city where she was the rightful queen.




Apotropaia and Phylakteria: Confronting Evil in Ancient Greece


Book Description

The belief in the existence of evil forces was part of ancient everyday life and a phenomenon deeply embedded in popular thought of the Greek world. Stemming from a conference held in Athens in June 2021, this volume addresses the apotropaia and phylakteria from different perspectives: via literary sources, archaeological material, and iconography.




Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt


Book Description

An A-Z reference providing concise and accessible information on Ancient Egypt from its predynastic cultures to the suicide of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony in the face of the Roman conquest. Annotation. Bunson (an author of reference works) has revised her 1991 reference (which is appropriate for high school and public libraries) to span Egypt's history from the predynastic period to the Roman conquest. The encyclopedia includes entries for people, sites, events, and concepts as well as featuring lengthy entries or inset boxes on major topics such as deities, animals, and the military. A plan and photograph are included for each of the major architectural sites.




Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya


Book Description

A growing interest in all things Maya brings an increasing number of visitors to prehistoric Maya ruins and contemporary Maya communities in Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, western Honduras, the Yucatán Peninsula, and the southern areas of Chiapas and Tabasco, Mexico. For these visitors and indeed everyone with an interest in the Maya, this field guide highlights nearly 100 species of plants and animals that were significant to the ancient Maya and that continue to inhabit the Maya region today. Drawing from the disciplines of biology, ecology, and anthropology, Victoria Schlesinger describes each plant or animal's habitat and natural history, identifying characteristics (also shown in a black-and-white drawing), and cultural significance to the ancient and contemporary Maya. An introductory section explains how to use the book and offers a concise overview of the history, lifeways, and cosmology of the ancient Maya. The concluding section describes the collapse of ancient Maya society and briefly traces the history of the Maya region from colonial times to the present.




Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs


Book Description

"A comprehensive look at WMD's antecedents, from flamethrowers of the Peloponnesian War to plague-bearing booby traps.... Rich and entertaining." -Newsweek Featuring a new introduction by the author. Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease... are these terrifying agents and implements of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. Weapons of biological and chemical warfare have been in use for thousands of years, and Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs, Adrienne Mayor's fascinating exploration of the origins of biological and unethical warfare draws extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs will catapult readers into the dark and fascinating realm of ancient war and mythic treachery-and their devastating consequences.




Taiping Guangji; A Collection of Ancient Novels in China; The Volume of “Strange Men and Aliens” (Vol. 81 – 101)


Book Description

"Taiping Guangji" (太平广记) is the first collection of ancient classical Chinese documentary novels. The book has 500 volumes with 10 catalogues . It is a kind of book based on the documentary stories of the Han Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. 14 people including Li Fang, Hu Mongolian ﹑ Li Mu , Xu Xuan , Wangke Zhen , Song white , Lv Wenzhong worked under Song Taizong Emperor’s command for the compilation. It began in the second year of Taiping Xingguo (977 A.D) and was completed in the following year (978 Ad.). This book is basically a collection of ancient stories compiled by category. The book is divided into 92 categories according to the theme, and is divided into more than 150 details. The story of the gods and spirits in the book accounts for the largest proportion, such as the fifty-five volumes of the gods, the fifteen volumes of the female fairy, the twenty-five volumes of the gods, the forty volumes of the ghosts, plus the Taoism, the alchemist, the aliens, the dissidents, the interpretation and Spirit vegetation of birds and so on, basically belong to the weird story of nature, represents the mainstream of Chinese classical story. The book includes the Volume of“Strange Men and Aliens” (Vol. 81 - 101) from Tai Ping Guang Ji.




Charles Seliger


Book Description

This lavish illustrated volume presents a visual history of Seliger's commitment to biomorphic abstraction and documents his extraordinary career from his auspicious beginnings as the youngest artist exhibiting with the original artisit of the Abstract Expressionist movement, through the development of his signature style of complex and intimate abstractions. 217 colour illustrations




Mind Flight


Book Description

With great honesty, and both drama and romance, Mind Flight weaves together personal narrative and intellectual odyssey, taking readers along on the authors pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment, his search for love, and his quest for an inspiring vision of the future. Encyclopedic in scope, the book pulls together Plato, Freud, Spinoza, Nietzsche, and other epochal historical figures with Pink Floyd, the Hippies, the Sexual Revolution, A Clockwork Orange, the Yin-Yang, the madhouse world of mental health, and the fantastical visions of science fiction. What results in this grand saga is not only a chronicle of one mans journey from industrial, middle-class Americawhere weightlifting and fist fighting define virtue and valueto the philosophical life in the mystical expanse of the Southwest, but a profound exploration of the archetypal themes of order and chaos; good and evil; truth and beauty; passion and reason; and science and God. Mind Flight draws the reader into the vast wonders and possibilities of the future, and is a stunning example of living the examined life.




The Wicca Handbook


Book Description

Witch. What a powerful word it is. It attracts, it repels, it frightens, it fascinates. It offers hope to those who do not know where to turn. Modern witches -- following the traditions of our earliest ancestors -- are the shamans and healers of the 21st century. They practice the ancient art of sacred magic in the modern world. The Wicca Handbook is both a tutorial for new witches and an exceptionally well-organized reference book for experienced practitioners. It guides us through the first steps in becoming a witch, explores many Wiccan traditions, initiations, and magical practices. The Wiccan year -- the eight Sabbats -- along with many of its rituals and ceremonies are examined. You will learn about spell casting, sex magic, and the techniques used to raise power. One of the most outstanding features of this book is Eileen Holland's extensive correspondence tables which cover virtually every facet of witchcraft: creativity, fertility, healing, love, magic, finances, psychic protection, astral projection, wisdom, heavenly bodies, animals, colors, metals, rocks and gemstones, the alphabet, and numbers. With so much information, this is bound to become a dog-eared favorite in any witch's library.




The Flight of the Iguana


Book Description

From the award-winning author of The Tangled Tree and The Song of the Dodo comes a collection of essays in which various weird and wonderful aspects of nature are examined. From tales of vegetarian piranha fish and voiceless dogs to the scientific search for the genes that threaten to destroy the cheetah, Quammen captures the natural world with precision. Throughout, he illuminates the surprising intricacies of the natural world, and our human attitudes towards those intricacies. A distinguished essayist, Quammen’s reporting is masterful and thought provoking and his curiosity and fascination with the world of living things is infectious.