Mythology Anthropology

What if the world was built from the body of a giant—and we’ve been chasing that legend ever since? From the dawn of civilization to the digital age, humankind has been haunted by stories of enormous beings. The Hidden History of Giants by Leif Harren is a sweeping exploration of these myths and mysteries—tracing how ancient faith, emerging science, and modern imagination have shaped our fascination with creatures larger than life. Across continents and centuries, giants appear as gods, heroes, villains, and metaphors. They build worlds, guard treasures, challenge the gods, and ...

This insider's look at inherited wealth in the United States explores the complex meanings of money and success in American society with a new introduction that examines whether America's privileged class will be willing or able to play a leadership role in the twenty-first century.

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.

At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives - identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic - celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole: three metaphors to help us understand our world, one that is assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a health crisis that has brought loneliness and isolation to an all-time high.

Hercules, Zeus, Thor, Gilgamesh - these are the figures that leap to mind when we think of myth. But to David Leeming, myths are more than stories of deities and fantastic beings from non-Christian cultures. Myth is at once the most particular and the most universal feature of civilization, representing common concerns that each society voices in its own idiom.

Ever familiar and instructive, Davis shows why the ancient tales of gods and heroes, from Mount Olympus to Machu Picchu, from ancient Rome to the icy land of the Norse, continue to speak to us today, in our movies, art, language, and music. For mythology novices and buffs alike, and for anyone who loves a good story, Don't Know Much About Mythology is a lively and insightful look into the greatest stories ever told.

The human mind needs monsters. In every culture and in every epoch in human history, from ancient Egypt to modern Hollywood, imaginary beings have haunted dreams and fantasies, provoking in young and old shivers of delight, thrills of terror, and endless fascination. In Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors, anthropologist David D. Gilmore explores what human traits monsters represent and why they are so ubiquitous in people's imaginations and share so many features across different cultures.

While doing fieldwork on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, anthropologist Gregory Forth came across people talking about half-apelike, half-humanlike creatures that once lived in a cave on the slopes of a nearby volcano. Over the years he continued to record what locals had to say about these mystery hominoids while searching for ways to explain them as imaginary symbols of the wild or other cultural representations. We follow Forth on the trail of this mystery hominoid, and the space they occupy in islanders' culture as both natural creatures and as supernatural beings.

Rich in detail derived from the author's fieldwork and the anthropological literature, this work paints a picture of possession as one of the usually positive and most widespread of human religious experiences. It also details the ritual of exorcism, which is applied when things go wrong.

Overlooking the Border continues the dialogue surrounding the social history of Jerusalem. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book juxtaposes Israeli and Palestinian personal narratives about the past with contemporary museum exhibits, street plaques, tourism, and real estate projects that are reshaping the city since the decline of the peace process and the second intifada. As sites of memory, Jerusalem's homes, streets, and natural areas form the setting for emotionally charged narratives about belonging and rights to place.

Sophia Kingshill has written here the history of a unique family tree, travelling back 3,000 years to discover the enduring myths and the vibrant folklore that continue to enchant us and ensure the mermaid's survival.

Cómo convertirte en nahual: Poderes ancestralesPor Dr. Manuel Kilbourne Un viaje fascinante hacia los secretos olvidados de la transformación espiritual De niño en los bosques de Wisconsin, el Dr. Manuel Kilbourne tuvo un encuentro inexplicable con una criatura que la ciencia moderna niega. Décadas después, este respetado antropólogo revela por primera vez las enseñanzas secretas que recibió en las profundidades de México durante los años 60. "Cómo convertirte en nahual" es un extraordinario testimonio de primera mano que documenta el antiguo arte de la transformación espiritual...

- It is the call for animals with horns that brought out the snail. Meaning: there are pretenders or imitators among us. - The chameleon said that the forest being on fire cannot make him forsake the walk style of his grandparents. Meaning: Don’t allow your circumstances to control you, rather control your circumstances Words of Wisdom (A Collection of African Proverbs with Categorizations and Meanings) is right from elder's mouth and wisdom.Many biblical proverbs have parallels in ancient Greece. “A soft answer turneth away wrath” was known to Aeschylus as well as to Solomon, and “...