Divine Fertility

Divine Fertility PDF Author: Sada Mire
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429769245
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
This book uniquely explores the impact of indigenous ideology and thought on everyday life in Northeast Africa. Furthermore, in highlighting the diversity in pre-Christian, pre-Islamic regional beliefs and practices that extend beyond the simplistic political arguments of the current dominant narratives, the study shows that for millennia complex indigenous institutions have bound people together beyond the labels of Christianity and Islam; they have sustained peace through cultural exchange and tolerance (if not always complete acceptance). Through recent archaeological and ethnographic research, the concepts, landscapes, materials and rituals believed to be associated with the indigenous and shared culture of the Sky-God belief are examined. The author makes sense, for the first time, of the relationship between the notion of sacred fertility and a number of regional archaeological features and on-going ancient practices including FGM, spirit possessions, and other physically invasive practices and the ritual hunt. The book explores one of the most important pilgrimage centres in Somaliland and Somalia, the sacred landscape of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, founded ca. 12th century AD. It is believed to be the burial place of the rulers of the first Muslim Ifat and Awdal dynasties in this region, and potentially the lost first capital of Awdal kingdom before Harar. This ritual centre is seen as a ‘microcosm’ of the ancient Horn of Africa with its exceptional multi-religious heritage, through which the author lays out a locally appropriate archaeological interpretational framework, the "Ritual Set," also applied here to the Ethiopian sites of Tiya, Sheikh Hussein Bale, Aksum and Lalibela, setting these places against a wider historical background of indigenous Sky-God belief. This archaeological study of sacred landscapes, stelae traditions, ancient Christian and medieval Muslim centres of Northeast Africa is the first to put forward a theoretical and analytical framework for the interpretation of the shared regional heritage and the indigenous archaeology of the region. It will be invaluable to archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and policymakers interested in Africa and beyond.

Divine Fertility

Divine Fertility PDF Author: Sada Mire
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429769245
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Get Book

Book Description
This book uniquely explores the impact of indigenous ideology and thought on everyday life in Northeast Africa. Furthermore, in highlighting the diversity in pre-Christian, pre-Islamic regional beliefs and practices that extend beyond the simplistic political arguments of the current dominant narratives, the study shows that for millennia complex indigenous institutions have bound people together beyond the labels of Christianity and Islam; they have sustained peace through cultural exchange and tolerance (if not always complete acceptance). Through recent archaeological and ethnographic research, the concepts, landscapes, materials and rituals believed to be associated with the indigenous and shared culture of the Sky-God belief are examined. The author makes sense, for the first time, of the relationship between the notion of sacred fertility and a number of regional archaeological features and on-going ancient practices including FGM, spirit possessions, and other physically invasive practices and the ritual hunt. The book explores one of the most important pilgrimage centres in Somaliland and Somalia, the sacred landscape of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, founded ca. 12th century AD. It is believed to be the burial place of the rulers of the first Muslim Ifat and Awdal dynasties in this region, and potentially the lost first capital of Awdal kingdom before Harar. This ritual centre is seen as a ‘microcosm’ of the ancient Horn of Africa with its exceptional multi-religious heritage, through which the author lays out a locally appropriate archaeological interpretational framework, the "Ritual Set," also applied here to the Ethiopian sites of Tiya, Sheikh Hussein Bale, Aksum and Lalibela, setting these places against a wider historical background of indigenous Sky-God belief. This archaeological study of sacred landscapes, stelae traditions, ancient Christian and medieval Muslim centres of Northeast Africa is the first to put forward a theoretical and analytical framework for the interpretation of the shared regional heritage and the indigenous archaeology of the region. It will be invaluable to archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and policymakers interested in Africa and beyond.

Marriage and Fertility

Marriage and Fertility PDF Author: Theodore K. Rabb
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400854415
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
In this volume the articles are primarily on European history, but their subject matter indicates the remarkable variety, both of the marriage and fertility patterns of past societies, and of the methods scholars have used to investigate them. Originally published in 1981. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Africa's Social and Religious Quest

Africa's Social and Religious Quest PDF Author: Randee Ijatuyi-Morphé
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 0761862684
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 647

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Book Description
This well-crafted book probes the key dimensions of Africa’s existential predicament. It constitutes an intellectual response to a gnawing “African situation”—the starting point for grasping Africa’s social and religious quest. Beyond split explanations of external versus internal factors (e.g., colonization/slavery vs. leadership/cultural values), this study accounts more comprehensively for emergent issues shaping this situation. The situation reflects a gamut of problems in traditional African religion and material culture, which hitherto defines African communality, polities, and destinies vis-à-vis the cosmos and nature. Thus, African religion and communities, each with its own attendant values, do not operate by critical engagement with larger issues of society and civilization, especially those shaped by the advent of (post-) modernity. Rather, they operate via adaptation. The communal drive for natural and social harmony inevitably produces a preservationist view of culture (“leaving things as they are”). This study takes an integrative approach to religion, society, and civilization; eschews dichotomies; and broadly defines and re-signifies life and wholeness as a true end of Africans’ quest today.

Change across Cultures

Change across Cultures PDF Author: Bruce Bradshaw
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441206973
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
C. S. Lewis compared the task of ethical inquiry to sailing a fleet of ships; the primary task is avoiding collisions. When introducing cultural change, such collisions are inevitable. Bruce Bradshaw provides expert instruction for navigating these cultural clashes. Bradshaw contends that lasting change comes only through altering the stories by which people live. The Bible is the metanarrative whose altering theme of redemption forms a transcultural ethical basis. Aspects of God's redemption story can change how local cultures think and behave toward the environment, religions, government, gender identities, economics, science, and technology. However, effective change takes place only in a context of reconciliation, Christian community, and mutual learning. A must read for anyone engaged in or preparing for cross-cultural ministry, relief, or development work. The book is also relevant to students of ethics, philosophy, and theology. Numerous real-life examples illustrate the inevitable tensions that occur when cultures and narratives collide.

The Secret Life of Money

The Secret Life of Money PDF Author: Tad Crawford
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 162153605X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
The Secret Life of Money leads readers on a fascinating journey to uncover the sources of our monetary desires and, by understanding why money has the power to obsess us, free ourselves from destructive patterns and discover riches of the soul. This wide-ranging treatment of how money secretly influences our lives includes chapters on the many forms of money, why money is so easily worshipped, why money sometimes feels more important than life, hoarding money, the source of riches, inheritance, and the stock market. Crawford, a teller of entertaining tales, gathers stories and myths from around the world that help us understand why money is so much more than the useful tool that we may think it to be. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Aphrodisiacs, Fertility and Medicine in Early Modern England

Aphrodisiacs, Fertility and Medicine in Early Modern England PDF Author: Jennifer Evans
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
ISBN: 0861933249
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
An investigation into aphrodisiacs challenges pre-conceived ideas about sexuality during this period.

Does God Send Sickness?

Does God Send Sickness? PDF Author: Troy J. Edwards
Publisher: Troy Edwards
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
“God is said in Scripture to send what he can (but doth not) hinder from being sent.” – Edward Bird (1726)God has been taking the blame for sickness and disease for centuries. We have been told that He sends sickness as an aid to spiritual growth and piety or as a punishment for sin. Vast amounts of Scripture have been cited to support this claim.This idea has contributed to the lack of faith prevalent in the church today for healing and deliverance. After all, if God gave a person sickness then His willingness to heal is questionable. Faith can only be present where the will of God is known. However, if sickness is seen as an enemy of God then faith in God’s willingness to heal is more likely to rise.Numerous apologetic books have been written in support of divine healing, but most have not dealt completely with the many Biblical passages that appear to make God the direct cause of sickness. This book is different in that it will look at these difficult Bible passages in light of the permissive idiom of the ancient Hebrew language, in which God is often said to do the things that He merely allowed or permitted to happen. Those passages in both the Old and New Testaments that make God appear to be a cold and cruel dispenser of sickness and disease will be seen in a new light. You will see God’s loving character vindicated, your Bible will be a fresh source of blessing, and your faith in God for health and healing will soar.

Fertility and Jewish Law

Fertility and Jewish Law PDF Author: Ronit Irshai
Publisher: UPNE
ISBN: 1611682401
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
A comprehensive comparative study of Jewish law on contemporary reproductive issues from a gender perspective

Fertility and Pleasure

Fertility and Pleasure PDF Author: William R. Lindsey
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824830369
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
As their ubiquitous presence in Tokugawa artwork and literature suggests, images of bourgeois wives and courtesans took on iconic status as representations of two opposing sets of female values. Their differences, both real and idealized, indicate the full range of female roles and sexual values affirmed by Tokugawa society, with Buddhist celibacy on the one end and the relatively free sexual associations of the urban and rural lower classes on the other. The roles of courtesan and bourgeois housewife were each tied to a set of value-based behaviors, the primary institution to which a woman belonged, and rituals that sought to model a woman’s comportment in her interactions with men and figures of authority. For housewives, it was fertility values, promulgated by lifestyle guides and moral texts, which embraced the ideals of female obedience, loyalty to the husband’s household, and sexual activity aimed at producing an heir. Pleasure values, by contrast, flourished in the prostitution quarters and embraced playful relations and nonreproductive sexual activity designed to increase the bordello’s bottom line. What William Lindsey reveals in this well-researched study is that, although the values that idealized the role of wife and courtesan were highly disparate, the rituals, symbols, and popular practices both engaged in exhibited a degree of similitude and parallelism. Fertility and Pleasure examines the rituals available to young women in the household and pleasure quarters that could be employed to affirm, transcend, or resist these sets of sexual values. In doing so it affords new views of Tokugawa society and Japanese religion. Highly original in its theoretical approach and its juxtaposition of texts, Fertility and Pleasure constitutes an important addition to the fields of Japanese religion and history and the study of gender and sexuality in other societies and cultures.

The Family Romance of Martyrdom in Second Maccabees

The Family Romance of Martyrdom in Second Maccabees PDF Author: Naomi Janowitz
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1315464322
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- List of classical works -- Introduction -- The terminology of martyrdom -- The ancient theologies of martyrdom -- 1 The psychoanalytic study of martyrdom -- The psychoanalytic analysis of political power -- The specific family romance of Second Maccabees -- 2 The family romance as victory story -- Second Maccabees as triumphalist history -- Persecution as a triumphalist strategy -- 3 Theologies of martyrdom recast authority and cult -- The problem of too many kings -- Temple cult in Second Maccabees: hierarchies of sacredness and power -- 4 Rereading sacrifice: human blood as a sign -- How did blood become a sign? -- 5 The martyr's new sacrifice: solving the Maccabean sacrifice crisis -- Killing within the family: reworking priestly taboos -- 6 The happy ending of two wishes fulfilled -- Wish #1: Male mothers and child-bearing fathers -- Wish #2: The family reunites -- Conclusions -- Appendix 1: 2 Maccabees 7 :1-6, 20-42 -- Appendix 2: A speculative note on displacing women in religious myths and rites -- Bibliography -- Index