Showing titles in Customs & Traditions

The Himalaya has always been a land of folklore, carried across generations in the voices of its people. Villagers by a bonfire, grandmothers at the hearth with grandchildren at their knees, wandering bards, fakirs and mystics have all shaped a vast oral tradition. This is a world where rivers...

Through regressive hypnosis, a lost legend of the history of mankind has been retrieved from the recesses of time. Did the American Indians descend from the inhabitants of an alien spacecraft that crashed in the Alaska-Canada region thousands of years ago? Keepers of the Garden told the story of the original seeding of the planet Earth by aliens from outer space. Starcrash indicates that aliens continue to come to Earth, some intentionally and some by accident, throughout our history.

Ever since he was given a copy of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World for his ninth birthday, Dom has been obsessed with the world of cryptozoology—monster hunting—and in Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, he heads to six completely different destinations to investigate local monster sightings. Are the monsters all the product of fevered minds, or is there a sliver of truth somewhere in the madness? Either way, the search gives Dom an excuse to dive into six fascinating destinations on a gloriously nutty adventure.

Dive into the timeless tales of gods and heroes in this bestselling A-to-Z encyclopedia detailing classic myths and legends—perfect for curious readers and academics alike. Edith Hamilton's mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman and...

Sometimes, the questions can be more interesting than the answers. The Search in Extraterrestrial Intelligence [SETI] has recently hotted up, with a whole new wave of research going to show that we will always be fascinated by what we don't understand. Was 'The Wow Signal' a radio transmission from deep space? Or was it the resonating frequency of a passing comet? Often, it can feel as if professional explainers of all stripes want to put an end to anything mysterious in life.

The Poetic Edda is the most important collection of Norse-Icelandic mythological and heroic poetry, covering the creation of the world and the coming of Ragnarok, The Doom of the Gods.

India is often reputed to be the home of the fairy tale. Here are some of the best from the sub-continent, from the Jatakas to the folktales of Kashmir. You'll hear stories about the evil magician Punchkin, the magic fiddle, and more.

Bear witness to the quiet courage of the women who endured one of English history’s darkest chapters. Step into the shadowy world of seventeenth-century England with Widdershins, a haunting historical novel that lays bare the terror of the 1650 Newcastle witch trials. Jane Chandler is a natural healer whose knowledge of herbal remedies leaves her vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft in a society consumed by superstition. In pursuit of her is John Sharpe, a witchfinder whose relentless crusade against witches is forged by religious zealotry. 

'A groundbreaking reclamation of the forgotten women who slay dragons. A must-read for dragon fans' Professor Daniel Ogden A seminal chronicle of the hidden history and mythology of female dragon slayers from ancient world expert and author of Goddess with a Thousand Faces Jasmine Elmer. The...

In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys—on foot and through medieval texts—from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the listener an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world.

Follow Your Imagination back to the DivineOnce upon a time, long before the age of AI and smartphones, the world was thick with mystery. Forests hid natural wonders, backyards held endless adventures, and ordinary objects carried sacred weight. We engaged our imaginations and told stories to...

When prize-winning war correspondent Tony Horwitz leaves the battlefields of Bosnia and the Middle East for a peaceful corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he thinks he's put war zones behind him. But awakened one morning by the crackle of musket fire, Horwitz starts filing front-line dispatches...

A groundbreaking and celebratory collection of 75 African myths and legends, beautifully retold. There’s an African proverb that says, ‘until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.’ So here we are, telling our stories. Myths and legends are powerful. They shape our...

What are angels? Many people believe in angels, but few can define these enigmatic spirits. Now visionary theologian Matthew Fox and acclaimed biologist Rupert Sheldrake - pioneers in modern religious thinking and scientific theory - launch a groundbreaking exploration into the ancient concept of the angel and restore dignity, meaning, and joy to the time-honored belief in these heavenly beings.

The enchanted life has nothing to do with escapism or magical thinking: it is founded on a vivid sense of belonging to a rich and many-layered world. It is creative, intuitive, imaginative. It thrives on work that has heart and meaning. It respects the instinctive knowledge, ethical living and playfulness, and relishes story and art. Taking the inspiration and wisdom that can be derived from myth, fairy tales and folk culture, this book offers a set of practical and grounded tools for reclaiming enchantment in our lives, giving us a greater sense of meaning and of belonging to the world.

Escaping from Eden will take you on a journey around the world and into the mythologies of ancient Sumeria, Mesoamerica, India, Africa, and Greece, to reveal a profound secret, hidden in plain sight in the text of the Bible.

A fascinating guide to the monsters that are part of our collective psyche, from the host of the hit podcast Lore. They live in shadows - deep in the forest, late in the night, in the dark recesses of our minds. They're spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives' tales, passed down through generations. And yet no matter how wary and jaded we have become, as individuals or as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them.

Hex is a visceral depiction of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a king's violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day.

Atticus the Storyteller is determined to take part in the great Storytelling Festival near Troy. He leaves his family in Crete and sets off on a year-long journey round Greece with his donkey, Melissa; and wherever he goes he tells his favourite myths to anyone who'll listen. The 100 myths...

Lords of Chaos focuses on the scene surrounding the extreme heavy metal subgenre black metal in Norway in the early 1990s, with a focus on the string of church burnings and murders that occurred in the country around 1993.