Hawaiian legends of Ghosts and Ghost-Gods
Author: William Drake Westervelt
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Published: 1985-01-01
Total Pages: 273
ISBN-13: 1465580956
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Of Gods, Gifts and Ghosts
Author: Terence Heng
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-12-02
Total Pages: 298
ISBN-13: 0429792778
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow do individuals inscribe their spiritual identities and diasporic ethnicities in the city? Through a series of sociological and photographic essays, Terence Heng maps the various rituals, collectives, individuals and events that characterise Chinese religion practices in Singapore. From spirit mediums to the Hungry Ghost Festival, each chapter engages with the social, the spatial and the ephemeral, and in so doing it will explore the significance and relevance of Chinese religion in a secular nation-state; reveal the strategies and tactics used by diasporic individuals to perform and retain their identities; uncover the importance of flow and fluidity in the making of sacred space; and evidence the value and efficacy of the use of photographs in social research. Of Gods, Gifts and Ghosts is a ground-breaking exploration into the intersections between visual sociology, cultural geography and creative photographic practice. A visual monograph that gives equal importance to image and text, it interrogates the tensions between sacred and profane, official and unofficial, state and individual, physical and spiritual, peeling away the myriad layers of the spiritual imagination.
Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters
Author: Avron Boretz
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 2010-10-31
Total Pages: 289
ISBN-13: 0824860713
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDemon warrior puppets, sword-wielding Taoist priests, spirit mediums lacerating their bodies with spikes and blades—these are among the most dramatic images in Chinese religion. Usually linked to the propitiation of plague gods and the worship of popular military deities, such ritual practices have an obvious but previously unexamined kinship with the traditional Chinese martial arts. The long and durable history of martial arts iconography and ritual in Chinese religion suggests something far deeper than mere historical coincidence. Avron Boretz argues that martial arts gestures and movements are so deeply embedded in the ritual repertoire in part because they iconify masculine qualities of violence, aggressivity, and physical prowess, the implicit core of Chinese patriliny and patriarchy. At the same time, for actors and audience alike, martial arts gestures evoke the mythos of the jianghu, a shadowy, often violent realm of vagabonds, outlaws, and masters of martial and magic arts. Through the direct bodily practice of martial arts movement and creative rendering of jianghu narratives, martial ritual practitioners are able to identify and represent themselves, however briefly and incompletely, as men of prowess, a reward otherwise denied those confined to the lower limits of this deeply patriarchal society. Based on fieldwork in China and Taiwan spanning nearly two decades, Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters offers a thorough and original account of violent ritual and ritual violence in Chinese religion and society. Close-up, sensitive portrayals and the voices of ritual actors themselves—mostly working-class men, many of them members of sworn brotherhoods and gangs—convincingly link martial ritual practice to the lives and desires of men on the margins of Chinese society. This work is a significant contribution to the study of Chinese ritual and religion, the history and sociology of Chinese underworld, the history and anthropology of the martial arts, and the anthropology of masculinity.
Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes
Author: Mark Hunnemann
Publisher: Aviva Pub
Published: 2011-12
Total Pages: 251
ISBN-13: 9781935586227
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" documents the explosive rise of interest in ghosts, and how this is affecting tens of millions of Americans concept of spirituality. Despite the fact that ghosts have become ensconced in our culture and contributed to the change in the spiritual landscape in the last few years, the church and media have taken a dismissive posture towards this issue. But the main focus of the book is to answer the question: do ghosts exist? Science,logic,and a biblical worldview are used to analyze this question-a unique methodology is employed which unearths evidence and issues never before discussed. Comprehensive and compelling new paranormal and scientific evidence that answers beyond a reasonable doubt the question of whether ghosts exist. The author proposes an empirically verifiable hypothesis which would PROVE his perspective on ghosts. Lastly, titanic issues are at stake in this debate.
A Time of Lost Gods
Author: Emily Ng
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Published: 2020-05-12
Total Pages: 223
ISBN-13: 0520972635
DOWNLOAD EBOOKTraversing visible and invisible realms, A Time of Lost Gods attends to profound rereadings of politics, religion, and madness in the cosmic accounts of spirit mediumship. Drawing on research across a temple, a psychiatric unit, and the home altars of spirit mediums in a rural county of China’s Central Plain, it asks: What ghostly forms emerge after the death of Mao and the so-called end of history? The story of religion in China since the market reforms of the late 1970s is often told through its destruction under Mao and relative flourishing thereafter. Here, those who engage in mediumship offer a different history of the present. They approach Mao’s reign not simply as an earthly secular rule, but an exceptional interval of divine sovereignty, after which the cosmos collapsed into chaos. Caught between a fading era and an ever-receding horizon, those “left behind” by labor outmigration refigure the evacuated hometown as an ethical-spiritual center to come, amidst a proliferation of madness-inducing spirits. Following pronouncements of China’s rise, and in the wake of what Chinese intellectuals termed semicolonialism, the stories here tell of spirit mediums, patients, and psychiatrists caught in a shared dilemma, in a time when gods have lost their way.
Ghosts of Gods
Author: Sydney Allen
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: 2019-01-29
Total Pages: 308
ISBN-13: 9781795190138
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe gods have had their time to shine. Now it's my turn.When I catch a god's servant trying to steal my nephew's life force, I trap her and learn that gods are only kept immortal by having their minions steal life forces before death's time. I can still rescue my nephew, but doing so will change my life in unimaginable ways. What follows is a tale of godly proportions with harem elements and downright dirty deeds.
Gods, Men and Ghosts
Author: Lord Dunsany
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Published: 2014-07-28
Total Pages: 305
ISBN-13: 0486780716
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIrish writer Edward J. M. D. Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, ranks among the twentieth century's great masters of supernatural and science fiction. An outstanding dramatist whose supernatural plays anticipated the theater of the absurd, Dunsany was also a virtuoso writer of short stories and essays. This selection presents the finest of his works, gathered from long-out-of-print sources. Contents include the famous "Three Sailors' Gambit," possibly the best chess story ever written; the remarkable trilogy about Nuth and the Gnoles, Thangobrind the Jeweller, and the Gibbelins; exploits of the Gods, including both "The Gods of Pengana" and adventures from other books; and favorite adventures of Jorkens, prince of liars. Dunsany's spellbinding tales are complemented by the remarkable visions of Sidney H. Sime, whose delicate illustrations form an indispensable complement to the stories.
Whispers of Ghosts
Author: L. James Rice
Publisher:
Published: 2020-07-04
Total Pages:
ISBN-13: 9781951068073
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSpirit Legends
Author: Quincy Allen
Publisher: Runewright LLC
Published: 2011-08-29
Total Pages: 386
ISBN-13: 9780983278238
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhat worlds stand beyond the land of the living? In the wide open spaces beyond this existence, there is an infinite number of possible interpretations of ghosts, demigods and gods. It is within such impossible settings that the stories of "Spirit Legends" take place. Picture a Titans of ancient Greek mythology facing down a weary pantheon and try to stop man's destruction at the hands of Zeus. Imagine Aztec gods battling for supremacy in the city streets of your hometown. A Celtic legend will come out of the moonlight and rescue a woman from her murderous husband, and the ghost of a young girl will exact her retribution against the man who murdered her father. This anthology explores that which lies beyond this mortal coil, with a multitude of pantheons represented, including Greek, Incan, Celtic, Christian, Native American and Norse. There are tales of sadness and despair, of retribution and triumph. Mixed into every story is an expression of humanity that often touches or torments the soul. Each one of us must face our own mortality, and we frequently choose to make our way through life connecting with things greater than ourselves to help overcome the travails and challenges of existence. In many respects, that's what "Spirit Legends" is all about. Whether you believe in God, a god or gods, or none of the above, the stories herein will take you to new notions of "the great beyond" and perhaps help you understand your own existence just a little better.
Hawaiian Legends of Ghosts and Ghost-Gods
Author: W. D. Westervelt
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
Published: 2021-08-03
Total Pages: 132
ISBN-13: 1513297392
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHawaiian Legends of Ghosts and Ghost-Gods (1915) is a collection of Hawaiian folktales and myths by W. D. Westervelt. Connecting the origin story of Hawaii to the traditions of other Polynesian cultures, Westervelt provides an invaluable resource for understanding the historical and geographical scope of Hawaiian culture. Drawing on the work of David Malo, Samuel Kamakau, and Abraham Fornander, Westervelt, originally from Ohio, became a leading authority on the Hawaiian Islands, publishing extensively on their legends, religious beliefs, and folk tales. “The legends of the Hawaiian Islands are as diverse as those of any country in the world. They are also entirely distinct in form and thought from the fairy-tales which excite the interest and wonder of the English and German children. The mythology of Hawaii follows the laws upon which all myths are constructed.” Part ethnography, part geological description, Westervelt’s work is a powerful celebration of the cultural traditions of the Hawaiian Islands. In these legends, ghosts and gods interact with the environment and the daily lives of islanders, shaping human society and the land itself. Highlights include the story of the Wauhaula heiau, or temple, the legend of the enraged Hau-pu and the Rock of Kauai, and the tale of Nanaue, the shark-man of Waipio Valley. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of W. D. Westervelt’s Hawaiian Legends of Ghosts and Ghost-Gods is a classic of Hawaiian literature reimagined for modern readers.
