Some Present-day Superstitions

Some Present-day Superstitions PDF Author: Pramatha Nath Bose
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description

Some Present-day Superstitions

Some Present-day Superstitions PDF Author: Pramatha Nath Bose
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description


Superstition: A Very Short Introduction

Superstition: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Stuart Vyse
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192551310
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Get Book Here

Book Description
Do you touch wood for luck, or avoid hotel rooms on floor thirteen? Would you cross the path of a black cat, or step under a ladder? Is breaking a mirror just an expensive waste of glass, or something rather more sinister? Despite the dominance of science in today's world, superstitious beliefs - both traditional and new - remain surprisingly popular. A recent survey of adults in the United States found that 33 percent believed that finding a penny was good luck, and 23 percent believed that the number seven was lucky. Where did these superstitions come from, and why do they persist today? This Very Short Introduction explores the nature and surprising history of superstition from antiquity to the present. For two millennia, superstition was a label derisively applied to foreign religions and unacceptable religious practices, and its primary purpose was used to separate groups and assert religious and social authority. After the Enlightenment, the superstition label was still used to define groups, but the new dividing line was between reason and unreason. Today, despite our apparent sophistication and technological advances, superstitious belief and behaviour remain widespread, and highly educated people are not immune. Stuart Vyse takes an exciting look at the varieties of popular superstitious beliefs today and the psychological reasons behind their continued existence, as well as the likely future course of superstition in our increasingly connected world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Believing in Magic

Believing in Magic PDF Author: Stuart A. Vyse
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019999692X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this fully updated edition of Believing in Magic, renowned superstition expert Stuart Vyse investigates our tendency towards these irrational beliefs.

Signs, Omens and Superstitions

Signs, Omens and Superstitions PDF Author: Astra Cielo
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1528763017
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 113

Get Book Here

Book Description
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Albion's Seed

Albion's Seed PDF Author: David Hackett Fischer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019974369X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 981

Get Book Here

Book Description
This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

13

13 PDF Author: Nathaniel Lachenmeyer
Publisher: Plume Books
ISBN: 9780452284968
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
Triskaidekaphobia: fear of the number 13 If thirteen people sit down at a table, will one die within a year? Why did five U.S. presidents join the Thirteen Club? What is the only major New York hotel that has a thirteenth floor? In 13, a fascinating cultural history-cum-detective story, Nathaniel Lachenmeyer gets to the root of how one superstition—the fear of the number 13—developed among wildly divergent societies. A book about mythmaking, 13 explores why people believe what they believe, and the real reason Friday the 13th is the most unlucky day in the world.

Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions

Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions PDF Author: Martin Lings
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781901383027
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Drawing upon his wide knowledge of world religions the author in this book strikes at the root of everything that makes it difficult for people today to believe wholeheartedly in religion and in doing so, it shows modern man to be, in his own peculiar twenty-first century way, the embodiment of superstition in its most dangerous form. We are faced in the modern world with a situation similar to that in the fable of the Emperor's new clothes. This book aims to speak the truth about the modern outlook especially concerning science and metaphysics, in order to dispell the illusion that prevents the intellect from seeing things as they really are.

Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore

Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore PDF Author: Charles Hardwick
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 367

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore" by Charles Hardwick. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

The Complete Book of Superstition, Prophecy, and Luck

The Complete Book of Superstition, Prophecy, and Luck PDF Author: Leonard R. N. Ashley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Get Book Here

Book Description
Strange beliefs and even stranger omens have liferated through the ages. Here is a ripe collection which might change minds about broken mirrors, black cats and other ingrained beliefs.

Magic and Superstition in Europe

Magic and Superstition in Europe PDF Author: Michael David Bailey
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742533875
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book Here

Book Description
The only comprehensive, single-volume survey of magic available, this compelling book traces the history of magic and superstition in Europe from antiquity to the present. Focusing mainly on the medieval and early modern era, Michael Bailey also explores the ancient Near East, classical Greece and Rome, and the spread of magical systems_particularly modern witchcraft or Wicca_from Europe to the United States. He explains how magic was understood, constructed, and frequently condemned and how magical beliefs and practices have changed over time yet also remain vital even today.