Author: Sada Mire Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 0429769245 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 327
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.
Author: David Leeming Publisher: Reaktion Books ISBN: 1780235380 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 178
Book Description
For as long as we have sought god, we have found the goddess. Ruling over the imaginations of humankind’s earliest agricultural civilizations, she played a critical spiritual role as a keeper of nature’s fertile powers and an assurance of the next sustaining harvest. In The Goddess, David Leeming and Christopher Fee take us all the way back into prehistory, tracing the goddess across vast spans of time to tell the epic story of the transformation of belief and what it says about who we are. Leeming and Fee use the goddess to gaze into the lives and souls of the people who worshipped her. They chart the development of traditional Western gender roles through an understanding of the transformation of concepts of the Goddess from her earliest roots in India and Iran to her more familiar faces in Ireland and Iceland. They examine the subordination of the goddess to the god as human civilizations became mobile and began to look upon masculine deities for assurances of survival in movement and battle. And they show how, despite this history, the goddess has remained alive in our spiritual imaginations, in figures such as the Christian Virgin Mother and, in contemporary times, the new-age resurrection of figures such as Gaia. The Goddess explores this central aspect of ancient spiritual thought as a window into human history and the deepest roots of our beliefs.
Author: DK Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 0593958586 Category : Design Languages : en Pages : 354
Book Description
Since when did certain hand gestures become offensive? And why are scales a symbol of justice? For thousands of years, humans have communicated through a language of signs and symbols. From uniforms to body adornment and corporate logos, symbols are everywhere, and this book is your guide to their secret meanings and history. The Sun as well as the night sky with its stars and planets has long been used to symbolize supernatural forces. Learn about this and also how humans have used patterns, numbers, clothing, and more to signal authority, kinship, and status. Signs & Symbols decodes over 2000 emblems, explaining the visual language of architecture, heraldry, religion, and death. It answers questions such as why, for example, Christianity is symbolized by a fish, or how the Chinese use the crane bird to signify longevity. This comprehensive book also explores how certain gemstones or flowers became linked to personal qualities and how the alphabet and national flags came into being. Signs & Symbols will open your eyes to the fascinating world of symbolism that is embedded in every area of our lives.
Author: Mother Louise Margaret Claret de la Touche Publisher: TAN Books ISBN: 150510341X Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 267
Book Description
Messages given by Our Lord to Mother Louise Margaret (1868-1915) about the burning love of the Sacred Heart for men. 274 short extracts from her intimate notes; conferences and letters. Says God demands docility to His will and absolute confidence in His paternal love and that His very essence is "Infinite Love." These writings have been translated into many languages and been spread far and wide.
Author: Stephen L. Cook Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 056737484X Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 232
Book Description
This collection of essays focuses on the book of Job, exploring the complex interplay of methodology and hermeneutics. There are two major parts: approaches that are primarily historical, i.e. the recovery of what the text 'meant'; and those that are contextual, i.e. that take seriously the context of reading. Both approaches engage the theological issue of how this reading helps us to better appropriate what the text 'means'. Contributors include the editors, Mark S. Smith, Douglas J. Green, Victoria Hoffer, Ellen F. Davis and Claire Matthews McGinnis.An introductory essay surveys the contents and outcomes of the various contributions and proposes new directions for the question of integrating methods.
Author: William M. Thompson Publisher: Paulist Press ISBN: 9780809130801 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 388
Book Description
This work provides an introduction to the history and major themes of the 17th-century French School of Spirituality and its contemporary relevance. Included are works of Pierre de Berulle (1575-1629), Madeleine de Saint-Joseph, Jean-Jacques Olier and John Eudes.
Author: Eileen B. Leonard Publisher: Fordham Univ Press ISBN: 9780823213528 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 276
Book Description
In Search of Community is a collection of thirteen essays by former students of Dr. Werner Stark, influential historian of social thought. The work opens with an introduction succinctly relating an outline of Stark's life's work encompassing the historical framework that influences him, and the personal events that shape his outlook and scholarship. The essayists address the entire range of central subjects of the sociological discipline by focusing on four areas of scientific debate: the epistemic (Sociology of Knowledge), the theoretical (Social Thought), the societal (Social Bond), and the religious (Sociology of Religion). Those four areas were also of substantive concern to Werner Stark and his extraordinary range and depth of knowledge is reflected in this collection of essays.
Author: Worthy Books Publisher: Worthy Books ISBN: 1617950521 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 756
Book Description
In a pluralistic culture with competing beliefs and values, there is a desire to get back to basics-the classic expressions of the Christian faith. This 365-day devotional introduces readers to the minds and hearts of many of the most influential thinkers in church history. Each reading, modernized for today's audience, takes readers through two millennium of riches-from the early church fathers through the Medieval thinkers and the great councils, and on into the Reformation, the Renaissance, and the birth of the modern mind. An elegant edition for the nightstand, the desktop, or the coffee table, How Great Is Our God is one part historical tour, one part devotional, one part guide for living, and one part gift book. It will appeal to every Christian who wants to hear the hearts and discover the classic voices of Christianity through the ages.
Author: Nina Vale Publisher: Vellaz Publishing ISBN: Category : Body, Mind & Spirit Languages : en Pages : 210
Book Description
Anunnaki Gods of the Earth and Heavens Hidden within the oldest accounts of humanity, the enigma of the Anunnaki reverberates through time, offering glimpses of a disquieting past: ancient beings who descended from the heavens and altered the course of life on Earth. In the plains of Sumer, where humanity took its first steps toward civilization and writing, it is said that the Anunnaki—immortal gods—found a primitive species and, through sophisticated genetic mutations, infused their own DNA, creating humankind. This book unveils a long-forgotten ancestral knowledge—a mystical fusion between the divine and the earthly that shaped human nature. As you delve into the power and mysteries of the Anunnaki, the stories of Enlil, the guardian of the heavens, and Enki, the master of creation and wisdom, emerge as hidden codes that may hold answers to our greatest existential questions. What do these ties to beings from other realms mean? And what destiny was reserved for us by those who shaped our DNA? In a narrative that intertwines archaeology and myth, readers are invited to uncover a truth that challenges modern understanding, drawing closer to the origins of our essence—a journey that promises to transform not only the past but the very idea of what it means to be human.
Author: Sada Mire
Author: David Leeming
Author: DK
Author: Seth Daniel Kunin
Author: Mother Louise Margaret Claret de la Touche
Author: Stephen L. Cook
Author: William M. Thompson
Author: Eileen B. Leonard
Author: Worthy Books
Author: Nina Vale