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Africa : the most distinctive land mass on the surface of the earth. Yet for all its majesty it is a country whose historical and religious wealth remains a mystery to all but a very few of Western observers. How many people know anything at all about pre-Colonial Africa? The Aquarian Guide to African Mythology is the first comprehensive overview of the beliefs, myths and cosmology of African peoples. It deals not only with traditional stories woven around a pantheon of gods and mythical figures but also with legends, fables and more general subjects that played a part in African mythology and African life. The wide range of entries include religious concepts, prophets, the best-known tribes, mystical phenomena, spirits and demons, and the many animals that played such a large part in African mythology. Dr Jan Knappert's alphabetical guide is founded on his many years of personal experience in Africa. Its very accessible style makes it ideal not only as a reference work for students of anthropology but as a sample for general readers wishing to dip in and be informed on any subject that appeals to them. The book is illustrated with examples of African art.
Originally published: New York: Arcade Pub.: Distributed by Little, Brown and Company, c1998.
Throughout history, humans have pondered the question of their existence. In nearly every society, part of the answer has included some form of god or goddess. For the Mayans, one such deity was Ajtzak, who tried to create humans from wood; for the Yorubas of Africa, Shango controlled the thunder and lightning. The Chinese of the Shang dynasty era worshipped Shang Ti. Evil deities were also part of the answer, as in the case of the Kuvera, the Hindu chief of evil in the Vedic period, and Tu, the Persian or Islamic demon of fatal accidents. All of the known ancient gods, many heretofore obscure or known only from mythological literature, are included in this exhaustive reference work. The focus is on their origins, histories, and functions. The people who believed in each deity are identified, along with alternate names or spellings both old and modern. The descriptions that follow are of the functions, origins and physical nature of the deities. Extensive cross references are provided for alternate spellings and names.
Thefield guide to some of the most horrific and fascinating creatures found in mythology and...
Folktales can be described as fictional prose narratives that are not confined to any particular culture. A folktale may appear in a slightly different form in a culture that is geographically nearby, or it may appear in a culture that is quite far removed from its original source. In The Zebra’s Stripes and other African Tales, Dianne Stewart has retold a collection of folk tales that have their origins all over Africa. Aimed at children and adults, these tales include legends such as ‘How Lion and Warthog became Enemies’ from the Lamba people of Togo, ‘How Giraffe Acquired his Long Neck’ from East Africa, ‘Why Hippopotamus Lives in the Water’ from Nigeria and ‘Monkey The Musician’ from South Africa. There are tales from the San, Zulu, Zambia, Congo and West Africa, et al. Each section is devoted to a type of animal, and concludes with some facts about the animal in question, adding educational to the stories. Proverbs from various cultures provide additional insight. Throughout, Kathy Pienaar’s beautiful illustrations show great attention to detail.
This exhaustive volume catalogs nearly three thousand demons in the mythologies and lore of virtually every ancient society and most religions. From Aamon, the demon of life and reproduction with the head of a serpent and the body of a wolf in Christian demonology, to Zu, the half-man, half-bird personification of the southern wind and thunder clouds in Sumero-Akkadian mythology, entries offer descriptions of each demon's origins, appearance and cultural significance. Also included are descriptions of the demonic and diabolical members making up the hierarchy of Hell and the numerous species of demons that, according to various folklores, mythologies, and religions, populate the earth and plague mankind. Very thoroughly indexed.
This unique encyclopedia explores the historical and contemporary controversies between science and religion. It is designed to offer multicultural and multi-religious views, and provide wide-ranging perspectives. "Science, Religion, and Society" covers all aspects of the religion and science dichotomy, from humanities to social sciences to natural sciences, and includes articles by theologians, religion scholars, physicians, scientists, historians, and psychologists, among others. The first section, General Overviews, contains essays that provide a road map for exploring the major challenges and questions in science and religion. Following this, the Historical Perspectives section grounds these major questions in the past, and demonstrates how they have developed into the six broad areas of contemporary research and discussion that follow. These sections - Creation, the Cosmos, and Origins of the Universe; Ecology, Evolution, and the Natural World; Consciousness, Mind, and the Brain; Healers and Healing; Dying and Death; and Genetics and Religion - organize the questions and research that are the foundation of the enormous interest, and controversy, in science and religion today.
Of all the anomalous phenomenon reported, ghost sightings are by far the most common. The words "ghost" and "spirit" are used interchangeably in American English but in other cultures the lingering souls of the departed are not to be confused with ancestral spirits, demonic spirits, numens or poltergeists. This encyclopedia lists hundreds of entities of the spirit realm--from aatxe to zuzeca--from world mythology and folklore.
Reflects what traditional proverbs used in Christian catechetical, liturgical, and ritual contexts reveal about Tanzanian appropriations of and interpretations of Christianity.