The Nart sagas are to the Caucasus what Greek mythology is to Western civilization. Tales of the Narts presents a wide selection of fascinating tales preserved as a living tradition among the peoples of Ossetia in southern Russia, a region where ethnic identities have been maintained for thousands of years in the face of major cultural upheavals.A mythical tribe of tall, nomad warriors, the Narts were courageous, bold, and good-hearted. But they were also capable of cruelty...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Delve into the spellbinding world of Harry Potter with this comprehensive guide to the magic, mythology, and history of the seven-volume series.Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t, who did?Millions of readers around the world have been enchanted by the mag...

Joseph M. Marshall’s thoughtful, illuminating account of how the spiritual beliefs of the Lakota people can help us all lead more meaningful, ethical lives.Rich with storytelling, history, and folklore, The Lakota Way expresses the heart of Native American philosophy and reveals the path to a fulfilling and meaningful life. Joseph Marshall is a member of the Sicunga Lakota Sioux and has dedicated his entire life to the wisdom he learned from his elders. He...

The folklore of the Scottish Highlands is unique and very much alive. Dr Anne Ross was a Gaelic-speaking scholar and archaeologist who lived and worked in crofting communities. This enabled her to collect information first hand and to assess the veracity of material already published.In this revised new edition of a modern classic work, Ross portrays the beliefs and customs of Scottish Gaelic society, including seasonal customs deriving from Celtic festivals; the f...

Drawing from obscure manuscripts and the rich esoteric traditions of alchemy, this 1893 collection by Arthur Edward Waite presents a series of rare and enigmatic treatises that illuminate the deeper symbolic and philosophical dimensions of the alchemical arts.Rooted in the Western occult tradition, these texts reflect the arcane language and spiritual allegories characteristic of alchemical literature, offering insight into the discipline's historical pursuit of transformation, bot...

Selkie, wee people, elves, fauns, mogwai -- no matter what you call them, virtually every cultural tradition has created a type of being that is analogous to the Western concept of the fairy. In this fascinating analysis, scholar Edwin Sidney Hartland delves into the inner workings of the ubiquitous fairy myth and traces its impact across many cultures.

The amazing story of Akhnaton (Amenhotep IV ), Pharaoh of Egypt 1360 B.C. This is not just the fascinating story of a man’s life— it is far more. It raises the curtain on man’s emerging from superstition and idolatry. Against the tremendous opposition of a fanatical and politically corrupt priesthood, Akhnaton brought about the world’s first spiritual revolution. He was the first to declare a “sole God.” In the words of Sir Flinders Petrie (History of Egypt). “Were it invented to satisfy o...

In the remote highlands of the country of Georgia, a small group of mountaindwellers called the Khevsurs used to express sexuality and romance in ways that appear to be highly paradoxical. On the one hand, their practices were romantic, but could never lead to marriage. On the other hand, they were sexual, but didn't correspond to what North Americans, or most Georgians, would have called sex. These practices were well documented by early ethnographers before they disappeared completely by...

Since the publication of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, authors, filmmakers, and theatrical producers have been retelling and reinventing this uniquely American fairy tale. This volume examines six especially significant incarnations of the story: Baum's original novel, the MGM classic The Wizard of Oz (1939), Sidney Lumet's African American film musical The Wiz (1978), Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witc...

Anaconda Canoe concludes a remarkable spiritual journey undertaken in volumes one and two, in which Turtle dives to the floor of the abyss to recover hidden intuitions about the world in a journey from ignorance to knowledge, darkness to light, from paradise lost to paradise regained. This third and final volume derives from an Amazonian myth in which, on the first morning of the world, a woman of defining importance for religion and culture ascends the primeval river in an Anaconda Canoe....

‘The Babes in the Wood’ is a traditional children’s tale, telling the touching story of two innocents, abandoned in the woods. First published as an anonymous broadside ballad, printed by Thomas Millington in Norwich in 1595, the tale has since been reworked in many forms. ‘The Babes in the Wood’ frequently appears as a ‘Mother Goose Rhyme’, but is here adapted and beautifully illustrated (in full-colour), by Randolph Caldecott. This edition was originally published in 1879 as part of Cald...

The striking resemblance which the Yoruba religious system bears to that of the ancient Greeks can scarcely have escaped notice. Olorun, the sky-god proper, now being gradually displaced by the more anthropomorphic Obatala, resembles Uranus, who was displaced by Kronos. In Greek mythology Kronos married his sister Rhea, the earth, and the Yoruba myth makes Obatala marry Odudua, who also represents the earth, though the qualities of Aphrodite appear to predominate. Olokun answers to Poseido...