Dealing with Dieties

Dealing with Dieties PDF Author: Raven Kaldera
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781938197024
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description

Dealing with Dieties

Dealing with Dieties PDF Author: Raven Kaldera
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781938197024
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description


Dealing with Deities

Dealing with Deities PDF Author: Selva J. Raj
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791482006
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Drawing on original field research, Dealing with Deities explores the practice of taking ritual vows in the lives of ordinary religious practitioners in South Asia. The cornerstone of lay religious activity, vow rituals are adopted by Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs who wish to commit themselves to ritually enacted relationships with sacred figures in order to gain earthly boons and spiritual merit. The contributors to this volume offer a fascinating look at the varieties and complexities of vows and also focus on a unique characteristic of this vow-taking culture, that of resorting to deities and shrines of other religions in defiance of institutional directives and religious boundaries. Richly illustrated, the book explores the creativity of South Asian devotees and their deeply felt convictions that what they require, they can achieve faithfully—and independently—by dealing directly with deities.

Hekate

Hekate PDF Author: Sorita D'Este
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781905297351
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
A collection of devotional essays on working with Hekate.

Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses

Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses PDF Author: Michael Jordan
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438109857
Category : Goddesses
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
Presents brief entries describing the gods and goddesses from the mythology and religion of a wide variety of cultures throughout history.

Encyclopedia of Gods

Encyclopedia of Gods PDF Author: Michael Jordan
Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media, LLC
ISBN: 9781648372254
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This reference book offers a comprehensive survey of gods and goddesses from cultures across the globe, with each entry covering specific cultures, dates of worship, the role the god played, and defining characteristics and symbols.

Sacred Play

Sacred Play PDF Author: Selva J. Raj
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438429819
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Explores the significance of levity and humor in South Asian religious traditions.

Religion of the Gods

Religion of the Gods PDF Author: Kimberley Christine Patton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199723281
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 513

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Book Description
In many of the world's religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, a seemingly enigmatic and paradoxical image is found--that of the god who worships. Various interpretations of this seeming paradox have been advanced. Some suggest that it represents sacrifice to a higher deity. Proponents of anthropomorphic projection say that the gods are just "big people" and that images of human religious action are simply projected onto the deities. However, such explanations do not do justice to the complexity and diversity of this phenomenon. In Religion of the Gods, Kimberley C. Patton uses a comparative approach to take up anew a longstanding challenge in ancient Greek religious iconography: why are the Olympian gods depicted on classical pottery making libations? The sacrificing gods in ancient Greece are compared to gods who perform rituals in six other religious traditions: the Vedic gods, the heterodox god Zurvan of early Zoroastrianism, the Old Norse god Odin, the Christian God and Christ, the God of Judaism, and Islam's Allah. Patton examines the comparative evidence from a cultural and historical perspective, uncovering deep structural resonances while also revealing crucial differences. Instead of looking for invisible recipients or lost myths, Patton proposes the new category of "divine reflexivity." Divinely performed ritual is a self-reflexive, self-expressive action that signals the origin of ritual in the divine and not the human realm. Above all, divine ritual is generative, both instigating and inspiring human religious activity. The religion practiced by the gods is both like and unlike human religious action. Seen from within the religious tradition, gods are not "big people," but other than human. Human ritual is directed outward to a divine being, but the gods practice ritual on their own behalf. "Cultic time," the symbiotic performance of ritual both in heaven and on earth, collapses the distinction between cult and theology each time ritual is performed. Offering the first comprehensive study and a new theory of this fascinating phenomenon, Religion of the Gods is a significant contribution to the fields of classics and comparative religion. Patton shows that the god who performs religious action is not an anomaly, but holds a meaningful place in the category of ritual and points to a phenomenologically universal structure within religion itself.

Gods of Fire and Thunder

Gods of Fire and Thunder PDF Author: Fred Saberhagen
Publisher: JSS Literary Productions, LLC
ISBN: 1937422216
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
Haraldur the northman once joined Jason on his fabled quest for the Golden Fleece, but now he wants nothing more to do with gods and adventure. Returning to his homeland for the first time in many years, he hopes only to settle down on a farm of his own—until he comes across an impenetrable wall of eldritch fire and a lovesick youth determined to breach the wall at any cost. Behind the towering flames, he is told, lies a beautiful Valkyrie trapped in an enchanted sleep, as well as, perhaps, a golden treasure beyond mortal reckoning. It is the gold that tempts Hal to agree, against his better judgment, to assist the youth in his quest. But to find a way past the fiery wall, they must first brave gnomes, ghosts, and the wrath of the gods themselves. For a mighty battle is brewing, and Hal soon finds himself caught up in a celestial conflict between Thor the Thunderer, Loki the Trickster, and most powerful of all, Wodan, the merciless Lord of Battles!

Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities

Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities PDF Author: Charles Russell Coulter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135963908
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description
The history of the divine is the history of human thought. For as long as men and women have pondered the mysteries of their existence, they have answered their own questions with stories of gods and goddesses. Belief in these deities shaped whole civilizations, yet today many of their names and images lie buried. The Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities makes those names available to the general reader as well as the scholar. This reference work lists all the known gods through recorded history. Alphabetically arranged entries provide the name of each deity (with alternate spellings), as well as notes on names that may be linguistically or functionally related. The tribe or culture that worshiped the deity is identified, and the god's origins and functions are explained. An extensive bibliography provides opportunities for further research and an exhaustive index provides access to the entries through virtually all names, forms and kinds of deities.

The Deities Are Many

The Deities Are Many PDF Author: Jordan Paper
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791483622
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
The Deities Are Many is a lively and learned introduction to polytheism. Drawing from both his scholarly research and his personal experience, author Jordan Paper is the ideal guide into this milieu. Paper was drawn to polytheism through his love of nature, seeing it as a source of the divine. In this book he focuses on Chinese and Native American religious traditions, as well as West African, African-Brazilian, Hindu, Polynesian, and circum-Polar traditions, to describe the theology of polytheism. The book provides a topology of polytheistic deities, focusing on the cosmic couple, Father Sky and Mother Earth; animal, plant, and mineral deities; ancestral spirits; divine ghosts; and culture heroes and tricksters. Paper also shows how monotheists misunderstand polytheism and provides a polytheist perspective on what it means to be human when the "deities are many." This is a fascinating, illuminating book, especially for those raised in monotheistic societies.