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Beckoning Fortune

Author: Krystyna Chabros

Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 9783447032629

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Maneki Neko

Author: Susan Lendroth

Publisher: Shen's Books

Published: 2016-02-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781885008923

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The Japanese legend of Maneki Neko, the beckoning cat, who is a symbol of good luck and good fortune in many Asian countries. In a small Japanese village, a poor monk and his cat Tama live a simple life at the Kotoku Monastery. One day, a great storm passes through the village, and Tama is caught in the rain outside the temple. She waits under the eaves of a small shrine, cleaning her face and whiskers as best she can with her paw. A noble samurai is also passing through, and stops his horse under the cover of a large tree. But through the rain, what does he see? A cat with a raised paw, beckoning him forward? Curious, the samurai urges his horse forward. Just then, a bolt of lightning flashes and strikes the tree behind him, splitting it in two. The beckoning cat has saved his life. In his gratitude, the samurai brings riches to the small temple and the monk, who shares his wealth with the village. So goes the Japanese legend of Maneki Neko, the beckoning cat. And to this day, the cat with raised paw beckoning guests is a symbol of good luck and good fortune in many Asian countries.

Fortune and the Cursed

Author: Katherine Swancutt

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 085745482X

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Innovation-making is a classic theme in anthropology that reveals how people fine-tune their ontologies, live in the world and conceive of it as they do. This ethnographic study is an entrance into the world of Buryat Mongol divination, where a group of cursed shamans undertake the 'race against time' to produce innovative remedies that will improve their fallen fortunes at an unconventional pace. Drawing on parallels between social anthropology and chaos theory, the author gives an in-depth account of how Buryat shamans and their notion of fortune operate as 'strange attractors' who propagate the ongoing process of innovation-making. With its view into this long-term 'cursing war' between two shamanic factions in a rural Mongolian district, and the comparative findings on cursing in rural China, this book is a needed resource for anyone with an interest in the anthropology of religion, shamanism, witchcraft and genealogical change. Katherine Swancutt is a Research Fellow in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. She has carried out fieldwork on shamanic religion across Inner Asia, working among Buryats in northeast Mongolia and China since 1999, and among the Nuosu of Southwest China since 2007.

Luck, Fate and Fortune

Author: Esther Eidinow

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2011-01-04

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 085771953X

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The impulse to try to anticipate the future, and make sense of apparently random events, is irrepressible. Why and how the ancient Greeks tried to foretell the outcome of the present is the subject of Esther Eidinow's lively appraisal, which explores the legacy of ancient Greek notions of luck, fate and fortune in our own era, drawing on approaches to cognitive anthropology. Perhaps the most famous of all sites of prediction is the Oracle at Delphi. But the Delphic Oracle is only the best-known example from a landscape covered by oracular sanctuaries; while across the literary genres of antiquity there are myriad tales - such as that of doomed Oedipus - which wrestle with the cruel vicissitudes of fate and fortune. Exploring some of the key ideas of ancient Greek culture that resonate with modern conceptions of destiny, Eidinow examines the ancients' notion of luck as a means to explain daily experiences. Focusing on writers such as Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and Demosthenes, the author shows how concepts of fate in antiquity changed over time, in response to social and political currents. She draws too on modern cultural texts like "Terminator 2" and "Lawrence of Arabia", demonstrating how the recurring questions 'what if?' and 'why me?' are fundamental to the human relationship with an uncertain future, whether it be in the ancient past or the present day.

Fear and Fortune

Author: Mette M. High

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2017-05-09

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1501708112

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Mongolia over the last decade has seen a substantial and ongoing gold rush. The widespread mining of gold looks at first glance to be a blessing for a desperately poor and largely pastoralist country where people's lives were disrupted by the end of the USSR and tens of millions of livestock were killed in devastating droughts in the early 2000s. Volatility and uncertainty as well as political and economic turmoil led many people to join the hopeful search for gold. This activity, born out of uncertain times, poses an intense moral problem; in the "land of dust," disturbing the ground and extracting the precious metal is widely believed to have calamitous consequences. With gold retaining strong ties to the landscape and its many spirit beings, the fortune of the precious metal is inseparable from the fears that surround mining. Tracing the continuities and discontinuities between human and nonhuman worlds, Mette M. High follows the paths of gold as it is excavated and converted into "polluted money," entering local shops and Buddhist monasteries, joining the illegal gold trade, and returning as "renewed" money for the "big bosses" of the gold mines. High has done several years of fieldwork in Mongolia, spending time with the "ninjas," as the miners are known locally, as well as the people who disapprove of their illegal activities and warn of the retribution that the land and its inhabitants may suffer as a result. This book is about radical change, or as many Mongolians put it, when life becomes "strange" and "chaotic." High has gained a deep understanding of the processes by which Mongolians square a morally questionable activity with the lure of profit. How do they involve themselves with tainted sources of money, and can it ever be cleansed and made usable? Addressing how our lives and those of others are intimately intertwined, Fear and Fortune offers an expansive and capacious approach to understanding the high stakes involved in human economic life.

Practically Religious

Author: Ian Reader

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1998-10-01

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 9780824820909

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Praying for practical benefits (genze riyaku) is a common religious activity in Japan. Despite its widespread nature and the vast numbers of people who pray and purchase amulets and talismans for everything from traffic safety and education success to business prosperity and protection from disease, the practice has been virtually ignored in academic studies or relegated to the margins as a uh_product of superstition or an aberration from the true dynamics of religion. Basing their work on a fusion of textual, ethnographic, historical, and contemporary studies, the authors of this volume demonstrate the fallacy of such views, showing that, far from being marginal, the concepts and practices surrounding genze riyaku lie at the very heart of the Japanese religious world. They thrive not only as popular religious expression but are supported by the doctrinal structures of most Buddhist sects, are ordained in religious scriptures, and are promoted by monastic training centers, shrines, and temples. Benefits are both sought and bought, and the authors discuss the economic and commercial aspects of how and why institutions promote practical benefits. They draw attention to the dynamism and flexibility in the religious marketplace, where new products are offered in response to changing needs. Intertwined in these economic activities and motivations are the truth claims that underpin and justify the promotion and practice of benefits. The authors also examine the business of guidebooks, which combine travel information with religious advice, including humorous and distinctive forms of prayer for the protection against embarrassing physical problems and sexual diseases. Written in a direct and engaging style, Practically Religious will appeal to a wide range of readers and will be especially valuable to those interested in religion, anthropology, Buddhist studies, sociology, and Japanese studies.

Japanese Tattoos

Author: Brian Ashcraft

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2016-07-12

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 146291859X

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Thinking of getting a Japanese-style tattoo? Want to avoid a permanent mistake? Japanese Tattoos is an insider's look at the world of Japanese irezumi (tattoos). Japanese Tattoos explains the imagery featured in Japanese tattoos so that readers can avoid getting ink they don't understand or, worse, that they'll regret. This photo-heavy book will also trace the history of Japanese tattooing, putting the iconography and kanji symbols in their proper context so readers will be better informed as to what they mean and have a deeper understanding of irezumi. Tattoos featured will range from traditional tebori (hand-poked) and kanji tattoos to anime-inspired and modern works--as well as everything in between. For the first time, Japanese tattooing will be put together in a visually attractive, informative, and authoritative way. Along with the 350+ photos of tattoos, Japanese Tattoos will also feature interviews with Japanese tattoo artists on a variety of topics. What's more, there will be interviews with clients, who are typically overlooked in similar books, allowing them to discuss what their Japanese tattoos mean to them. Those who read this informative tattoo guide will be more knowledgeable about Japanese tattoos should they want to get inked or if they are simply interested in Japanese art and culture.

Time Spells Beckon Collection Volume One

Author: Kathryn Kaleigh

Publisher: KST Publishing Inc

Published: 2022-06-25

Total Pages: 971

ISBN-13:

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TIME SPELLS BECKON — VOLUME ONE Time Spells Beckon is a series of interconnected, full-length standalone novels. Twist of Fate, When the Stars Align, Once in a Blue Moon, Once Upon a Christmas, and A Wish Upon a Star. About the books: Twist of Fate. A modern woman, Erika Becquerel returns home to find her grandfather's life in danger. But she soon finds herself in a world that could not exist. A Harvest Moon Ball in her grandfather's home? A colonial man, Charles Becquerel faces a life already laid out for him by his family. But when Erika appears in his life, he senses an unexpected change. An inevitable change? The silent grandfather clock chimes the hour. A dangerous thunderstorm rages outside while the world inside turns upside down. Trapped between two timelines, Erika faces an impossible choice. Lives hang in the balance. She must choose… When the Stars Align. She beckoned him from the past... An early evening storm settles over the city of New Orleans. Bradley finds shelter in a smoke-filled tavern. Little does he know the mystery this tavern holds. A hauntingly romantic time travel romance of two people caught on different sides of time. The second novel in an unforgettable standalone time travel romance series. Once in a Blue Moon. Arabella Becquerel inherited an antebellum plantation house from her great-grandmother. A house overrun with Civil War re-enactors adamant about staying in character and insisting that the year is 1863. She discovers secrets in the past that could change her life forever. Colonel Augustus Townsend of the Confederate army watched as his men turned the immaculate grounds of a plantation house into an army camp. All the while, he had no idea a beautiful woman waited inside the house. When Arabella and Augustus begin to work together, sparks fly. Will Arabella and Augustus believe in the impossible soon enough to find true love? Once Upon a Christmas. Born centuries apart, would love bring them together? Vaughn Dupre woke disoriented. Nothing unusual. She woke disoriented every day. When Indians attacked her traveling party, only she survived. But today Vaughn wakes in 1969—a most perplexing world. With a handsome, charming man who used strange words. When a strange woman, confused and perplexing, appears in his house, Jonathan Becquerel falls in love at first sight. But will it take more than love to hold them together? A Wish Upon a Star. What if Cinderella's night at the ball left her with more than a lost slipper? Anna Becquerel. A logical, practical scientist with an overactive curiosity about all things related to time. Devoted to her work, she sets out to finally test her groundbreaking invention. Every last detail planned and executed. Zachary Champlain needed a wife. But the young ladies in his social circle either talked too much or otherwise just didn't suit him. When a scandalously dressed young lady, more beautiful than any goddess, lands in his arms, he believes his problem solved. Would one encounter on a moonlit evening change the way they saw their worlds? All Time Spells Beckon books stand alone.