Showing titles in Customs & Traditions

ശബരിമല എന്നും വിവാദങ്ങളുടെ കേന്ദ്രമാണ്. ഒന്നല്ലെങ്കില്‍ മറ്റൊന്ന് എന്ന നിലയില്‍ വിവാദങ്ങളുടെ പെരുമഴ ഇന്നുവരെ അവിടെ തോര്‍ന്നിട്ടില്ല. ലോകത്ത് ഇത്രയധികം ആരാധനാലയങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടായിട്ടും എന്തുകൊണ്ട് ശബരിമലമാത്രം വിവാദ ങ്ങളുടെ കേന്ദ്രമാകുന്നു എന്നത് ചിന്തിക്കപ്പെടേണ്ട ഒരു കാര്യം ആണ്. ക്ഷേത്രം തീവെപ്പ്, ഉടമസ്ഥതയെച്ചൊല്ലിയുള്ള അവകാശതര്‍ക്കം, കൊടിമരവിവാദം, യുവതീപ്രവേശനമുള്‍പ്പെടെയുള്ള ആചാരസംബന്ധിയായ പ്രശ്‌നങ്ങള്‍ ഇങ്ങനെ നോക്കിയാല്‍ വിവാദങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ഒരു ക്ഷാമവുമില്ല. ഈ കാണുന്ന എല്ലാ വിവാദങ്ങള്‍ക്കും ആണിക്കല്ലായ ഒരു പ്രശ്‌നം ശബരിമലയെക്കുറിച്ച് നിലനില്‍ക്കുന്നുണ്ട്.

The perfect gift book, featuring the writing of Meryl Streep, Bill Bailey, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, Caitlin Moran, Richard Ayoade, Emily Watson and others, to coincide with the upcoming movie Last Christmas, starring Emma Thompson, Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. When you think back to Christmases past, what (if anything) made it magical? This is a beautiful, funny and soulful collection of personal essays about the meaning of Christmas, written by a unique plethora of voices from the boulevards of Hollywood to the soup kitchens of Covent Garden.

UAE - Culture Smart! will help you turn your visit - whether it's for business or pleasure - into a memorable and enriching experience. Its contents include: local customs and traditions; the impact of history, religion, and politics; the Emiratis at home, work, and play; eating and drinking, Emirati style; dos, don'ts, and taboos; business practices; communication, spoken and unspoken; and many practical tips for managing the unexpected.

This insider's look at inherited wealth in the United States explores the complex meanings of money and success in American society with a new introduction that examines whether America's privileged class will be willing or able to play a leadership role in the twenty-first century.

Authoritative and immediate, this is the classic account of the most powerful of the American Indian tribes. T. R. Fehrenbach traces the Comanches' rise to power, from their prehistoric origins to their domination of the high plains for more than a century until their demise in the face of Anglo-American expansion.

Sita, the beloved princess of Mithila, is one of the most revered women in Indian history; so well known, yet probably the least understood. At every crossroad of her life, she chose acceptance and grace over self-pity. Her life was filled with sacrifice yet wherever she was, there was abundance...

Becoming Baba Yaga provides an in-depth look at the Baba Yaga mythos and history through Slavic folklore. Filled with historical and cultural context, analyses, and the stories themselves that add depth to the conversation. A comprehensive resource for anyone hoping to learn more about this ambiguous character and how her multifaceted presence still ripples through the present day, Becoming Baba Yaga is as thoughtful as it is illuminating.

"Among the many whose labour has been laid under contribution in the following pages there are certain scholars whose published work, or personal advice, has been specially illuminating, and to whom specific acknowledgment is therefore due. Like many others I owe to Sir J. G. Frazer the initial inspiration which set me, as I may truly say, on the road to the Grail Castle."

All of us are familiar with the fairy tales of youth where the young hero and heroine fall in love, defeat their enemies, marry, and live happily ever after. The fairy tales gathered here are about what happens next, when the Prince goes bald and the Princess has a midlife crisis. They portray middle-aged men and women facing the special issues dealing with crisis, aging and mortality, and the desire for renewal.

The great myths of Ancient Greece have inspired mankind for centuries. Each of the heroes has to undergo trials of strength and courage to prove his valor against a host of monsters - the Minotaur, half man, half bull; Hydra, the many-headed serpent; Medusa the Gorgon. Meanwhile, the gods, lead by Zeus the Thunderer from his seat on Mount Olympus, watch, encourage, help - and sometimes hinder.

In the captivating audiobook "Whispers Of The Huldufólk: Uncovering the Secrets of Iceland's Hidden People", you'll be transported to the secluded village of Seyðisfjörður, where Detective Sara Jónsdóttir grapples with a series of inexplicable disappearances. But this isn't just any mystery– it's a tale woven with ancient curses, supernatural forces, and the chilling presence of the Huldufólk, Iceland's hidden people.

Of all the ghostly lore that bedevils Sleepy Hollow, none terrifies more than the galloping spectre of the Headless Horseman. Few in the haunted glen are as susceptible to the tale as the superstitious schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane. But just as bewitching - and bewildering - to Ichabod is the elusive coquette Katrina Van Tassel. On an autumn eve, Ichabod attends a harvest party, hoping to finally woo the woman of his dreams. Instead, he sees his worst nightmares come true.

Voodoo hoodoo is the unique variety of Creole voodoo found in New Orleans. This rich compendium includes more than 300 authentic voodoo and hoodoo recipes, rituals, and spells for love, justice, luck, prosperity, health, and success. Cultural psychologist and root worker Denise Alvarado, who grew up in New Orleans, draws from a lifetime of recipes and spells learned from family, friends, and local practitioners.

The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, journalist Hooman Majd is uniquely qualified to explain contemporary Iran's complex and misunderstood culture to Western listeners. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ provides an intimate look at a paradoxical country that is both deeply religious and highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet informed by a history of democratic and reformist traditions.

This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of "basic stories" in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it reveals that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.

In this fourth volume in The Masks of God series - Joseph Campbell’s major work of comparative mythology - the preeminent mythologist looks at the birth of the modern, individualistic mythology as it developed in Europe beginning in the 12th century AD up through the modernist art of the 20th century. The Masks of God is a four-volume study of world religion and myth that stands as one of Joseph Campbell’s masterworks.

What if Batman knew your name and wanted to be friends with you? What if you were the one that Tony Stark died to save? What if it was you that Luke Skywalker would stop at nothing to redeem? Hollywood Heroes will awaken you to these questions and help you to see a God who stops at nothing to redeem you. Fictional stories about heroes help us realize that there is evil to fight, souls to be won, and growth to be achieved. It helps us recognize - regardless of religious or cultural beliefs - that sacrificing your life for another’s is a powerful and beautiful display of love.

One of Joseph Campbell’s most popular, most quoted works, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration, thought-provoking in its depth, poetic in its scope. Drawn from a month-long workshop at the world-famous Esalen Institute, the Joseph Campbell Companion captures Campbell at his best: wise, funny, intelligent, and inspiring.

He's the destroyer of evil, the pervasive one in whom all things lie. He is brilliant, terrifying, wild and beneficent. He is both an ascetic and a householder, both a yogi and a guru. He encompasses the masculine and the feminine, the powerful and the graceful, the Tandava and the Laasya, the...

How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior.