Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume One

Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume One PDF Author: Robert Hazel
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527542920
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 567

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Book Description
This two-volume publication offers an in-depth analysis of ophidian symbolism in Eastern Africa, while setting the topic within its regional and historical context: namely, with regards to the rest of Africa, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Greek world, ancient Palestine, Arabia, India, and medieval and pre-Christian Europe. Through the ages, most of those areas have connected with Eastern Africa in a broad sense, where ophidian symbolism was as “rampant” and far-reaching, if not more so, as anywhere else on the continent, and perhaps in past civilisations. Much as in the wider context, snakes were held to be long-lived, closely related to holes, caverns, trees, and water, life and death, and credited with a liking for milk. Even though ophidian symbolism has always been developed out of the outstanding biological and ethological features of snakes, the process of symbolisation, which plays a crucial role in the elaboration of cultural systems and the shaping of human experience, was inevitably at work. This first volume deals with snakes as a zoological category; snake symbolism as perceived by encyclopaedists and psychologists; and ophidian symbolism as it occurred in ancient civilisations. It explores the traditional African scene in general with a view to set the scene for a more proximate baseline for comparison. The divide between animals and humans was porous, and snakes had a more or less equal footing in both the animal realm and the spiritual world. Key features of snake symbolism in traditional Eastern Africa are then examined in detail, especially phantasmagorical snakes, the rainbow serpent, snake-totems, and snake-related witches and ritual leaders, among others. In Eastern Africa, the meanings attributed to snakes were multifaceted and paradoxical. Overall, the two volumes of this publication show that African snake symbolism broadly echoed the diverse representations of ancient civilisations. The widely acknowledged assimilation of snakes to death and Evil is therefore unrepresentative, both historically and culturally.

Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume One

Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume One PDF Author: Robert Hazel
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527542920
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 567

Get Book

Book Description
This two-volume publication offers an in-depth analysis of ophidian symbolism in Eastern Africa, while setting the topic within its regional and historical context: namely, with regards to the rest of Africa, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Greek world, ancient Palestine, Arabia, India, and medieval and pre-Christian Europe. Through the ages, most of those areas have connected with Eastern Africa in a broad sense, where ophidian symbolism was as “rampant” and far-reaching, if not more so, as anywhere else on the continent, and perhaps in past civilisations. Much as in the wider context, snakes were held to be long-lived, closely related to holes, caverns, trees, and water, life and death, and credited with a liking for milk. Even though ophidian symbolism has always been developed out of the outstanding biological and ethological features of snakes, the process of symbolisation, which plays a crucial role in the elaboration of cultural systems and the shaping of human experience, was inevitably at work. This first volume deals with snakes as a zoological category; snake symbolism as perceived by encyclopaedists and psychologists; and ophidian symbolism as it occurred in ancient civilisations. It explores the traditional African scene in general with a view to set the scene for a more proximate baseline for comparison. The divide between animals and humans was porous, and snakes had a more or less equal footing in both the animal realm and the spiritual world. Key features of snake symbolism in traditional Eastern Africa are then examined in detail, especially phantasmagorical snakes, the rainbow serpent, snake-totems, and snake-related witches and ritual leaders, among others. In Eastern Africa, the meanings attributed to snakes were multifaceted and paradoxical. Overall, the two volumes of this publication show that African snake symbolism broadly echoed the diverse representations of ancient civilisations. The widely acknowledged assimilation of snakes to death and Evil is therefore unrepresentative, both historically and culturally.

Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume One

Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume One PDF Author: Robert Hazel
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 9781527537675
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 567

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Book Description
This two-volume publication offers an in-depth analysis of ophidian symbolism in eastern Africa, all the while setting the topic within its regional and historical context: namely, the rest of Africa, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Greek world, ancient Palestine and Arabia, medieval and pre-Christian Europe, as well as ancient and contemporary India. Through the ages, most of those areas must have had connections with eastern Africa. This first volume deals with snakes as a zoological category, snake symbolism as perceived by encyclopaedists and psychologists, symbolisation as a basic cultural process, and ophidian symbolism as it occurred in ancient civilisations and on the traditional African scene in general. Like other forms of animal representation, ophidian symbolism has always been elaborated out of the key biological and ethological characteristics of snakes. Inevitably at work here, however, was the process of symbolisation, an ongoing process that plays a crucial role in the elaboration of cultural systems and the shaping of human experience. Volume One ends with an array of glimpses of ophidian symbolism recorded in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa aside from eastern Africa, thereby setting the scene for a more proximate baseline for comparison. In the works of encyclopaedists, in ancient Mesopotamia, and in western Africa, the constellation of meanings attributed to snakes is multifaceted and typically paradoxical. As underscored by a few scholars, the widely acknowledged assimilation of snakes to death and Evil is clearly unrepresentative, both historically and culturally. Overall, these two volumes show that African snake symbolism broadly echoed the diverse representations of ancient civilisations.

Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume Two

Snakes, People, and Spirits, Volume Two PDF Author: Robert Hazel
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527550451
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
This two-volume publication offers an in-depth analysis of ophidian symbolism in Eastern Africa, while setting the topic within its regional and historical context: namely, with regards to the rest of Africa, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Greek world, ancient Palestine, Arabia, India, and medieval and pre-Christian Europe. Through the ages, most of those areas have connected with Eastern Africa in a broad sense, where ophidian symbolism was as “rampant” and far-reaching, if not more so, as anywhere else on the continent, and perhaps in past civilisations. Much as in the wider context, snakes were held to be long-lived, closely related to holes, caverns, trees, and water, life and death, and credited with a liking for milk. Even though ophidian symbolism has always been developed out of the outstanding biological and ethological features of snakes, the process of symbolisation, which plays a crucial role in the elaboration of cultural systems and the shaping of human experience, was inevitably at work. This second volume focuses on southern Abyssinia, an area of Eastern Africa latu senso where the connection between snakes and paramount religious leaders was especially far-reaching. Their clans were said to be the outcome of sexual encounters between a young woman and an ophidian. These leaders bred and fed snakes. Some of them buried dead snakes in their compounds. Their curse was likened to the bite of a deadly serpent. This volume is devoted to a few communities of southern Abyssinia, notably the Oromo, an important group that has fascinated European travellers, missionaries, and social science specialists over a period of 150 years. The rich Oromo ethnographic record lends itself to full-circle analysis. This volume represents a significant contribution to the study of the mysterious “snake priests” of the Oromo, Hoor, Konso, and Burji peoples. In Eastern Africa, the meanings attributed to snakes were multifaceted and paradoxical. Overall, the two volumes of this publication show that African snake symbolism broadly echoed the diverse representations of ancient civilisations. The widely acknowledged assimilation of snakes to death and Evil is therefore unrepresentative, both historically and culturally.

Don't Sleep, There are Snakes

Don't Sleep, There are Snakes PDF Author: Daniel Everett
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847651224
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Although Daniel Everett was a missionary, far from converting the Pirahs, they converted him. He shows the slow, meticulous steps by which he gradually mastered their language and his gradual realisation that its unusual nature closely reflected its speakers' startlingly original perceptions of the world. Everett describes how he began to realise that his discoveries about the Pirah language opened up a new way of understanding how language works in our minds and in our lives, and that this way was utterly at odds with Noam Chomsky's universally accepted linguistic theories. The perils of passionate academic opposition were then swiftly conjoined to those of the Amazon in a debate whose outcome has yet to be won. Everett's views are most recently discussed in Tom Wolfe's bestselling The Kingdom of Speech. Adventure, personal enlightenment and the makings of a scientific revolution proceed together in this vivid, funny and moving book.

A Snake Falls to Earth

A Snake Falls to Earth PDF Author: Darcie Little Badger
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 1646141148
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She's always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories. Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he's been cast from home. He's found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake. Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli's best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven't been in centuries. And there are some who will kill to keep them apart. Darcie Little Badger introduced herself to the world with Elatsoe. In A Snake Falls to Earth, she draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.

Salvation on Sand Mountain

Salvation on Sand Mountain PDF Author: Dennis Covington
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458766276
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
For Dennis Covington, what began as a journalistic assignment - covering the trial of an Alabama preacher convicted of attempting to murder his wife with poisonous snakes - would evolve into a headlong plunge into a bizarre, mysterious, and ultimately irresistible world of unshakable faith: the world of holiness snake handling, where people drink strychnine, speak in tongues, lay hands on the sick, and, some claim, raise the dead. Set in the heart of Appalachia, Salvation on Sand Mountain is Covington's unsurpassed and chillingly captivating exploration of the nature, power, and extremity of faith - an exploration that gradually turns inward, until Covington finds himself taking up the snakes. University.

Bigfoot to Mothman

Bigfoot to Mothman PDF Author: Margo DeMello
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
This one-volume encyclopedia introduces readers to the world's cryptids-those hidden or secret animals believed to exist at the margins of human society-including Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Mothman. Comprehensive in its scope, this book is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to know more about well-known creatures of myth and legend, such as the Chupacabra and the Jersey Devil, and discover lesser-known animals, such as the Bunyip of Australia and the Mamlambo of South Africa. Rather than purport to prove or deny the existence of these creatures, however, this volume classifies them within their respective cultural, historical, and social contexts, allowing readers to appreciate cryptids as cultural artifacts important to societies around the globe. Finally, this book goes beyond the study of the unknown to investigate who believes in cryptids, why they do, and why the study of cryptozoology is as much about understanding cryptids as it is about understanding ourselves.

The Spirit of Python

The Spirit of Python PDF Author: Jentezen Franklin
Publisher: Charisma Media
ISBN: 1621362205
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
New York Times best-selling author Jentezen Franklin is back with a message that will inspire you to break free and reclaim a life of passion, purpose, and praise.

The Legend of the Spirit Serpent

The Legend of the Spirit Serpent PDF Author: Adaiah Sanford
Publisher: Reycraft Books
ISBN: 9781478875178
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
This modern retelling of a traditional Kalinago legend from the Caribbean island of Dominica recounts the story of a huge serpent who once guarded the indigenous people. This book is the winner of the 1st Annual Caribbean Writer's Contest sponsored by Reycraft Books and the Ducreay Foundation.

The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer

The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer PDF Author: Andrew David Naselli
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433568004
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Although a story with a serpent, a damsel in distress, and a serpent slayer may sound like just another fairy tale, it is, in fact, part of the greatest true account ever told—the Bible. Epic tales resonate with readers because they echo the greatest story. In this new addition to the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series, Andrew David Naselli traces the theme of snakes and dragons from the serpent in the garden to the devouring dragon in Revelation, culminating with the return of the King. New and seasoned Christians alike will experience afresh the captivating unifying narrative behind all stories as they embark on a journey through the Bible with a trusted biblical scholar.