Folklore & Mythology

This book explores the history of the so-called Royal Art, from its mysterious beginnings in Egypt and China, through the Hellenistic world and the early years of Islam and into mediaeval Europe. Some of the greatest minds of the Middle Ages, figures such as Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon and Thomas Aquinas were drawn to alchemy, and legendary alchemists such as Nicholas Flamel were thought to have actually succeeded in finding The Philosopher’s Stone. During the Renaissance, Paracelsus and his followers helped revolutionise medicine, and during the seventeenth century, alchemy played a major role in paving the way for modern science. During the twentieth century, it became a focus of interest for the psychologist Carl Jung and his followers, who believed that the alchemists had discovered the unconscious. more...

Price: $14.99

A national bestseller in India, Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet is the fictional memoir of a wise Indian princess, who recalls the ways the women of the Indian court found friendship, faith, and love through their beauty traditions. We journey with her as she recounts a lifetime of comforting rituals, tantalizing textures, colors, and fragrances, exquisite jewels and adornments, and assorted beauty and health secrets passed through generations of women by word of mouth. In Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet , Sharada Dwivedi, a native of India, and Shalini Devi Holkar, an Indian princess by marriage, draw on the oral histories of privileged Indian women to capture and revive their many wonderful and wise beauty traditions. The result is a rich cultural tapestry, filled with ancient remedies, recipes, and tonics used to soften skin, silken hair, enrich the body, and lift the spirit like no store-bought products can. Additionally, the book offers a glossary of plants, flowers, spices, and grains and simple home remedies for women in all stages of life—from puberty to pregnancy to menopause—including:.:.; Almond-Saffron for cleansing and exfoliation.; Papaya-Mint-Tea for acne and pimples.; Cream & Honey for dry skin and wrinkles.; Cress & Rosewater for post-natal strength.; Tulsi Kadha (Basil Tea) for coughs or morning sickness. Replete with gorgeous photos and illustrations from a bygone era, Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet is a treasure trove of time-honored health and beauty customs that will delight the senses of modern women everywhere. more...

Price: $21.99

In United States culture, myth has played a significant role in representing the dominant ideologies of the nation as it emerged from colonial dependence to self-created superstate. In the period following the Vietnam War, however, such foundation myth has been radically challenged by the emergence of a range of new myths that set out to express America’s multicultural ethos. This essay collection questions the legacy of triumphalist mythology and explores the emergence of a more pluralistic, syncretic mythology that is central to the continual re-imagining of American communities. The thirteen essays focus mainly on prose fiction, but also consider recent poetry. Using a variety of critical approaches, they investigate how contemporary American literature uses mythology, for example, to redirect debate over issues of race, ethnicity and gender. Above all, this book opens up ways to redefine how myths influence American writing and re-establishes mythology as an essential critical and theoretical framework for literary interpretation. more...

Price: $85.00

Western civilization began with the Greeks. From the highpoint of the 5th century BC through the cultural triumphs of the Alexandrian era to their impact on the developing Roman empire, the Greeks shaped the philosophy, art, architecture and literature of the Mediterranean world. Beginning with the Homeric period, once believed to be a realm of myth, Mike Paine takes the reader on a journey through twelve centuries and more of Greek culture. He shows what archaeologists have revealed of the Trojan Wars and Mycenae, outlines the glories of Athens at its height and provides a gripping narrative of the struggle between the Greeks and the mighty Persian empire. The careers of great political and military leaders like Pericles and Alexander the Great are highlighted and the importance of the great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle is demonstrated. Dramatists and demagogues, stoics and epicureans, aristocrats and helots all take their place in the unfolding story of the Greek achievement. more...

Price: $19.99

In this collection of essays Nicholas Brooks explores some of the earliest and most problematical sources, both written and archaeological, for early English history. In his hands, the structure and functions of Anglo-Saxon origin stories and charters (whether authentic or forged) illuminate English political and social structures, as well as ecclesiastical, urban and rural landscapes. As well as previously published essays, Anglo-Saxon Myths: State and Church, 400-1066 includes a new account of the English origin myth and a review of the developments in the study of Anglo-Saxon charters over the last twenty years. more...

Price: $150.00