Best books on fairy tales according to redditors
We found 143 Reddit comments discussing the best books on fairy tales. We ranked the 73 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 143 Reddit comments discussing the best books on fairy tales. We ranked the 73 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
It wasn't meant to be taken literally. It was a fertility symbol.
Edit: this blew up a bit. I love ancient cultures, especially goddess studies. I'm not an expert, but I did read this book - The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140192921/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_U-dxDbTGMJ85E
Highly recommend if you want to learn more!
This is from the book "Magic mushrooms in religion and alchemy" By Clark Heinrich. I'll let folks decide for themselves about his credibility, but I will say that (having read the book) he seems like a level headed and intelligent guy. Had to post this just because of the large discussion the topic started here: http://www.reddit.com/r/Psychonaut/comments/2g3or2/ram_dass_gives_his_guru_lsd/
I thoroughly recommend the book, by the way! One of the most interesting and perspective changing books I have come across. Will make you want to eat amanitas.
I third this. I'm Irish and all I have from my school days are a few words, and the following sentences: "An bhfuil cead agam dul go dti an leithreas?" & "Ba bhrea liom cupán tae!" (Can I go to the toilet? & I'd love a cup of tea!").
If you want to incorporate Gaelic elements, I would recommend focusing on mythology, and instead of the language, maybe use a few words here and there. Check out the writings of W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory also - they wrote during the Irish Literary Revival, and you get a real feeling of "Irishness" from that period.
Here are a few books to check out:
Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth (Yeats)
Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, Edited by W.B.Yeats, Social Science, Folklore & Mythology
A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Yeats & Gregory)
Lady Gregory's Complete Irish Mythology
Biddy Early: The Wise Woman of Clare (Biddy was a real woman, with lots of magical stories surrounding her. Apparently she could foresee things, and cure anything - all with her bottle. Even if not for world-building, I'd recommend this).
Inventing Ireland: The Literature of a Modern Nation: Literature of the Modern Nation by Declan Kiberd.
I recently read a book by Elizabeth Barber, "[When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth]," (https://www.amazon.com/When-They-Severed-Earth-Sky/dp/0691127743) which explores how humans use language to pass learning from one generation to the next, and how the learning stories change over time as the circumstances of the given group or tribe change.
She particularly explores Native American myths from the western tribes, where they have lived with active volcanoes for millennia. The stories that have described volcanoes erupting and how to act when they do have remained reasonably true to their origins, in that the imagery is clearly discernible.
She contrasts that to people who have left the land where their learning stories were first created to live in a different environment--for instance, a group that was living near volcanoes that ended up migrating into a flatter area with no volcanoes but different natural forces.
They still tell their original stories, but over time they morph to better reflect the new reality of the landscape they're in.
I'm probably mangling this information, but you might be interested in reading it.
Okay so:
Read our FAQ first if you haven't. This will help orient you to our site here.
Read through Seeking. While you already have an interest on a cultural background, it is useful to explore more information for someone getting into Pagan religious practice.
I really recommend picking up a copy of John Michael Greer's A World Full of Gods: An Inquiry Into Polytheism, where you can find it used cheaply. If you're coming from a non-polytheistic background it helps orient you towards that.
Now, the next question is: which Celtic religion? This is a lot more nuanced than people think. What I'm going to do is assume that you mean Gaelic/Irish Celtic, because that's what most people who aren't in relevant fields of study think of when they think of Celtic. Assuming you meant Irish, the following are useful sources that are all pretty standard and good:
All of these are pretty standard for initial inquiry.
If I assumed wrong, and you're interested in the other two big Celtic traditions that are out there (Brythonic and Gaulish), I'll dig sources up for those, too.
Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics https://www.amazon.com/dp/090779162X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_QJ4EDbB3R1DCY
Secret Drugs of Buddhism https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652817/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wK4EDb733CREK
Entheogens, Myth, and Human Consciousness https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579511414/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_CM4EDb7WCZCJJ
The Effluents of Deity: Alchemy and Psychoactive Sacraments in Medieval and Renaissance Art https://www.amazon.com/dp/161163041X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_PN4EDbMCDQ1CQ
Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy https://www.amazon.com/dp/0892819979/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_gO4EDb3KYSGN5
The Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist https://www.amazon.com/dp/089089924X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_FO4EDbH0C12RD
Krishna in the Sky with Diamonds: The Bhagavad Gita as Psychedelic Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00770DJRW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_2Q4EDb7AEKZ2F
I'm far from an expert on this, but I recall from a Russian folktale class I once took that many of the saints of Eastern Orthodoxy more or less supplanted the traditional pagan gods, even in legend. If anyone wants to do further reading, we were using this book by Linda Ivanits as one of our textbooks.
Here's an interesting excerpt from the book about the "double faith" they practiced by merging Christianity with pagan traditions.
I bet you would like this a lot - there's actually a subset of researchers that are convinced that Christianity was actually a mushroom cult and that Jesus himself was a
hypoallergenichallucinogenic mushroom - that's stretching it way too far but either way there are references in the bible to hallucinogen use which the book points out.Anyways, these potent little suckers grow all over that region and John was exiled to Patmos, where he wrote Revelations. Presumably he did some foraging. The thing seriously reads like a trip report on erowid, haha. I heard this theory first on a BBC 4 program about Revelations, then on a podcast (I believe it was Reasonable Doubts), and I have come across it a number of times since.
EDIT: Struckthrough, spellcheck sucks sometimes
It depends on what you're drawn to. Are you more interested in interpretation of story for your own personal growth? Or interpretation of films? Or are you looking to create stories?
The best books I know on this subject at least on interpretive myth include:
In my experience, after Campbell people usually begin to drift toward what their personal myths are. So you have some people who get really into film and get caught on Vogler or Bonnet's work, others who want to go help returning veterans and end up getting really into Odysseus in America. Or people begin focusing on different cultures and religions and move from there.
You should try low doses of psilocybin mushrooms and work your way up as you become more comfortable; you'll definitely appreciate it. When I say low, I mean .25g, .5g, etc; continue until you sense that level of detachment you don't desire.
I also suggest reading Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy, by Clark Heinrich, and Food of the Gods, by Terrence McKenna(almost all his books are related and interesting, but this one is most relevant). I recommend these two because they deal with the influence of mushrooms, not exclusively psilocybin, on religion(theoretical, of course). The first, Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy, completely captivated me and initially inspired my entire interest in Philosophy, Religion, and drugs.
edit: I'd also like to point out that freaking out once due to smoking too much doesn't necessarily mean that you always will, it's purely psychological and you just have to be comfortable and feel safe.
I recommend this book for a good treatment of Irish mythology, found it in Charlie Bryne's in Galway years ago: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Over-Nine-Waves-Irish-Legends/dp/057117518X
Nice! I believe your theory here fits with a few others I've read, it really gets to the point: out with the old and in with the new, but not without a little bloodshed.
You'd probably really like When They Severed Earth From Sky by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Myth: A Very Short Introduction by Robert A. Segal
I can't imagine why she would publish false information, but I guess maybe-possibly-potentially she did this to further an agenda of some sort? I haven't read much of her work as I'm not Wiccan, but it's enough to know she and people like Koetting (A grim-dark edgy emo occult author who charges like 800$ for his books) are to be avoided like the plague.
Any other books I could suggest?
I have other suggestions as well, but they're much more specified to trad craft, like Liber Nox, The Visions of Isobel Gowdie, Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits, or New World Witchery's Blog, but I think you've got a good handle so far!
Good luck on your path. :)
You could try Robert Graves' accounts:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Greek-Myths-Complete-Definitive/dp/0241952743/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369646616&sr=8-1&keywords=greek+myths
Or more contemporary: Apollodorus, a Hellenistic scholar who tried to collate the myths in one volume:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Library-Mythology-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199536325/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369646747&sr=1-1&keywords=apollodorus
Bear in mind though that many of the myths were continually changed, evolving and being re-written. There are no definitive versions.
You should probably also steer clear of calling them parables, as the word doesn't really apply.
A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore is a collection of W.B. Yeates' Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry and Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne, been recommended to me a few times but I haven't started it yet. Heard it's pretty definitive though.
YES! I studied Irish mythology in University, so here a few of my favorite texts :)
The Tain is a lovely translation of the Tain Bo Cuailnge ^(sounds like "toy'n bo cool") which is the primary source of written mythology. It's dense.
Over Nine Waves is also, in my opinion, an imperative supplementary text on the myths and legends as well. It feels less academic.
The Lore of Ireland is just that - a book of Irish lore.
As for Samhain ^(I can't figure out how to properly give you a "sounds like" since I don't have little phoneme symbols - but basically like "sahwin") itself, I'm not sure whether holidays are out-right discussed in these texts. I will say, if you do find it - it'll be mostly in lore as opposed to myth or legend. Most Celtic holidays are focused on the changing of the seasons (like all holidays, really) and their connection to the Land of Eternal Youth (Tir na nOg - you can actually pronounce this one like you might expect it to be said) and the Tuatha De Danann ^(sub a "w" for the "th").
If you're looking specifically for myths dealing with faeries, they'll also be in lore. Myths/legends usually refer to the great heroes like Cuchulain ^("cuh-cul-lin") (there's a statue of him in the post office of downtown Dublin in honor of the Easter Uprising during the Irish revolution! Probably one of, if not the, most important myth/legend. In the war between gods and man, he almost single-handidly defeated Madb ^("mave") and her sons in a battle that last weeks/months/yeards depending the variation. He tied himself to a post as he was dying in order to look like he was still alive and held off attacks until crows landed on his shoulders and started eating his body. Basically. It's way better than my telling lol..) and gods and the cycles of power over the land itself.
Okay, fine, I'm done. Sorry for being so long-winded!
Oh! If you're looking for less heady material, I would also recommend Lady Gregory and Yeats. They were mythology nerds and wrote tons of plays/poems/retellings. L.Gregory's Grania is my favorite retelling of Grania and Diarmuid! I actually got a tattoo of one of the lines from the play in Ireland the first time I visited :)
Happy reading!
https://www.amazon.com/Masks-Misrule-Horned-Cult-Europe/dp/1898307679
https://www.amazon.com/Horned-Piper-Nigel-Aldcroft-Jackson/dp/1898307091
Good place to start.
Good starting point for Greek Mythology is Apollodorus's Library, which usually is lumped together with Hyginus' Fabulae. That's if you want a book. You can find Apollodorus for free in the Perseus digital library of classics here.
If you're wondering why the Iliad doesn't start at the beginning of the war (which I think is what you're asking), it's because the Iliad isn't about the Trojan war. The Trojan war is just the setting for the Iliad. As it says in the beginning of the story, "Sing, O Goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans..." The Iliad is about The Wrath of Achilles. Note that the story ends with the funeral of Hektor. The Wrath of Achilles is over, so the poem is over as well.
The stories themselves are part of oral traditions that had been passed around since the "Dark Ages."
> On Asatru.
You could start as I did; I read one of those "Everything you need to know about..." books on Paganism. It spoke of beliefs, rituals, codes, dogma (if any), and had a broad overview of the myths. From there I just continued reading which is the most important thing. One book doesn't cut it. It should be an ongoing education.
This book is by far my favourite I own and show it to anyone interested.
And if you find it difficult to get immersed into the myths, read This originally written as a children's book, it's become a very popular Norse Mythology read.
And since you asked, here is my shop.
I learned quite a bit from the Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom by Caitlin and John Matthews.
Some speculate that Norse berserkers used "magic mushrooms".
>Berserkers (or berserks) were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested in numerous Old Norse sources. Most historians believe that berserkers worked themselves into a rage before battle, but some think that they might have consumed drugged foods.
>
> . . .
>
>Modern scholars believe certain examples of berserker rage to have been induced voluntarily by the consumption of drugs such as the hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita, or massive amounts of alcohol. While such practices would fit in with ritual usages, other explanations for the berserker's madness have been put forward, including self-induced hysteria, epilepsy, mental illness or genetic flaws
The notion that A. muscaria was used to produce their berserker rages was first suggested by the Swedish professor Samuel Ödman, who based his theories on reports about the use of fly agaric among Siberian shamans, in 1784, though there is nothing in the old sagas suggesting that was the source for their battle frenzy, so many dispute the idea.
In The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross: A study of the nature and origins of Christianity within the fertility cults of the ancient Near East, the author, John Allegro, speculates that Christianity was founded on a secret Jewish mushroom cult. John Charles King disputes that assertion in A Christian View of the Mushroom Myth.
There's also Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy in which the
author, Clark Heinrich, states ancient cultures used them in rituals meant to bring them into direct contact with the divine and links them to to the symbols of ancient Judaism, Christianity, and the Grail myths. He argues that miraculous stories such as the burning bush of Moses and the raising of Lazarus from the dead can be attributed to the use of such mushrooms.
I would recommend looking at some of Dr. Clarissa Pinola Estes' work (author of "Women Who Run With Wolves"), in particular her "Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype" series like "Mother Night". I'm in the process of reading through her material now, she's a Jungian, and covers a lot about this this archetype and more.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0345396812
The only thing I would suggest, as you are doing your research, not to take too much of a black or white view. Figures such as Baba Yaga may be terrifying, but she represents more than just "devouring mother" or "destruction". The witch represents also things such as creation, intuition, crossroads, and magic.
Ah, for science! Yes, that's the reason I used to buy them, it was for research :)
If you plan on the kind of science I think you're implying, be sure to heat treat them first. Heat causes a chemical reaction which decarboxylates the ibotenic acid that's present, converting it to muscimol in the fruitbody. Muscimol is the active component and is a fairly safe and entertaining way to spend the day. Ibotenic acid is not good for you so it is really an advisable idea to heat it. Every Fly Agaric I ever bought from a vendor was heat treated for this very reason, there is a HUGE difference between heat treated Fly Agarics and ones that are not.
The pioneering mycologist Gordon Wasson recommended roasting them over a flame, and traditionally they have been treated by stringing them up and letting sunlight do its thing on them. Apparently the UV rays help with the process, as does the CO2 in campfires. Many believe that the process can be done with baking and boiling as well, but my chemist friend insists this is not very effective. Here's a good bit of info, and if you feel like it try reading Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy, a book that explores the entire twelve thousand year history of this mushroom, all the way back to the holy texts of one of humanity's first religions, where monks would write about the best way to prepare the mushroom in order to merge with the mind of God. Easily one of the most fascinating books I have ever read.
Good for super brief introductions/overview:
World Mythology in Bite-sized Chunks
Myths and Legends: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins and Meanings
Essential Visual History of World Mythology
More comprehensive, but still introductory:
World Myth
The World of Myth: An Anthology (This focuses more on common mythic themes than on specific cultures)
Parallel Myths (This focuses more on common mythic themes than on specific cultures)
Well muffins you’re right. I saw someone else mention it so I thought there was (on mobile so can’t see it directly)
Here’s a general list. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3421.The_Best_Pagan_Books
For something beyond 101, you might like http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/michael-lloyd/bull-of-heaven-the-mythic-life-of-eddie-buczynski-and-the-rise-of-the-new-york-pagan/paperback/product-20287061.html. A friend wrote this and spent over a decade interviewing people and gathering information. It’s beefy but if you’re curious about the NY pagan scene and gay culture in the 70s and 80s it’s definitely worth checking.
I’m into Celtic stuff, if you are too you may dig The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom. I’ve read a few books by Caitlin and/or John Matthews, and I dig their scholarship.
I would also suggest going super old school and seek out sources of myth. If you’re into Celtic/Welsh seek out books that deal with 11-13 century myth. Some stuff was being rewritten with Christian themes around then but you can still find interesting symbolism and nuggets to meditate on. You can find copies of The Mabinogion and Lady Gregory's Complete Irish Mythology is also good to start on. Also don’t forget to check poetry. W.B. Yates touched on lots of pagan themes and so did his contemporaries
For reading material in general you may find you’ll have to look more and more into other sections of literature than the pagan section. The modern movement didn’t really get going since the 70s, and with so much to cover there’s just not a whole heck of a lot of books out there that go deep beyond the 101 stuff
Oh and one more thing. This is more of a hint. Get your favorite pagan books and look who they source. You’ll find lots of reading material that way.
I hope that helps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdhKHI1iz3s Awesome stop-motion animation, whether you know Russian or not.
Maybe this book would be interesting to you: http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Folk-Belief-Linda-Ivanits/dp/0873328892
It's actually a kind of ritual that started thousands of years ago. Joseph Campbell wrote (among other great works) Primitive Mythology and Oriental Mythology which show a development from simple religion to more complex ones.
If I remember correctly, for a long while, most cultures valued the goddess who was represented by the moon's cyclical change. Their leader was also cyclical, a king who would rule for a season and then be ritually slaughtered. Then, they developed into a more patriarchal sun worship. In this case, the ruler was also a god. They began to make a play of the slaughter. The God-King Pharoah would make a pilgrimage leading up to his death and would disappear into a temple to be killed..... but he would return instead with permission from the underworld to return to life and continue ruling.
It was a pageant way before Jesus ever got involved.
I think it's because people run from their old faith, they don't want to understand it. When I look back I'm sure I wasn't really a believer at no point, I simply did what my parents wanted me to (going to church etc) and made the best of it, I had a lot of fun being a ministrant, found a lot of friends blahblah. But I never really believed those things. So I never even had to start asking my faith. Then we had religious courses at high school, and the teachers taught us mostly christianity, the other religions were only shortly mentioned and treated like potentionally dangerous cults. That was a rebelious time in my life, so I started to look into different religions and ask the teachers questions. Needless to say, I wasn't very popular with our religious teachers. But it was growth, as you put it.
The most objective sources I would recommend you are not Hitchens or Dawkins, those are biased. Try to look up books on comparative religion. I'd highly recommend the four volume History of Religious Ideas by Mircea Eliade, or Masks of God by Joseph Campbell. And you might want to read a history of the Catholic Church, it's always good to know one's history.
From my experience one of the best ways to proceed with books is to actually leave behind the new age section. That could be because I'm focusing a lot of personal research on reconstructionism, but I am finding some amazing resources that come from more academic and historical works. The two I just got are The Year in Ireland and Healing Theads after seeing them recommended from a site I've found to be very reliable. Neither are meant specifically for the pagan crowd and both authors have a good amount of research to back up their books.
If there is something in particular you are interested in, it's best to get more specific. There are books and historical accounts of specific pantheons, herbalism, folklore, etc.
The book I'm reading right now, entitled The Mysteries: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks may interest you.
Took a class on Russian mythology, folk tales, and whatnot in college. Dug up the old syllabus, and found some book titles for you:
Russian Fairy Tales by Aleksander Afanasev
Russian Folk Belief by Linda Ivanits
First is a compilation of folk tales, fairy tales, and myths, collected from across Russia and most of them are pretty entertaining. Second is a more academic look at Russian folk tales.
Not sure if this is really what you are looking for, but hopefully it will point you in the direction you wanna go.
Relevant: Vampires, Burial, and Death. It's a book about the actual origins of vampire myths. TL;DR Sometimes corpses don't decay like you'd expect. And if a lot of people are dying in your village, and you've never heard of the germ theory of disease, vampires are a reasonable explanation.
No, it wasn't just about getting high. Look into R. Gordon Wasson, there's also books on the subject that draw parallels between religious visions and the psychedelic experience throughout history.
Mushrooms and Mankind: The Impact of Mushrooms on Human Consciousness and Religion
Oh yeah, read this a few years back:
https://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Burial-Death-Folklore-Reality/dp/0300048599
Fascinating stuff and amazing the number of ways you could be considered a vampire.
First off, not a plant! Is fungus.
Heat is the key to converting the ibotenic acid into muscimol. The difference, allegedly, is a nausea/coma vs a religious experience. Not deadly, though is a bit of a risk. Legend has it the heat of your body's metabolism is enough to make that conversion, and has been theorized as the method by which Jesus Christ turned water into wine, as well as raised Lazarus from the dead (wasn't dead, just prepared his mushrooms wrong). "Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy" by Clark Heinrich is an interesting read, definitely recommended before attempting this mysterious fungi.
Yes! Bonfires figure prominently in many Irish calendrical observances, though particularly with the midsummer fires of St John's Eve (the centrality of fire-customs being well-illustrated by the Irish nomenclature: Oiche an teine chnáimh or Teine Féil' Eóin). A fine resource on the subject would be Kevin Danaher's The Year in Ireland, which features an extensive chapter on Midsummer, from which I can briefly excerpt:
>The midsummer ceremonies were almost all connected with the Midsummer fire, and in the greater part of Ireland were observed on 23 June, the eve of the feast of St John the Baptist.
>It is clear that a distinction can be made between two fire traditions. On the one hand a large communal fire lit by the inhabitants of the whole townland or village, or of several townlands or even of the whole parish. Such communal fires were lit, in the past, in places in every county in Ireland.
>On the other hand there were small fires lit by the members of each household, or on each farm at which ceremonies, to be describe below, were performed for the benefit of that particular household or farm. These, two, were lit in most parts of Ireland, but were, at least in recent tradition, not as widely known as the large communal fires...
>...In general it may be said that the large communal fires were mainly celebrated noisily by music, dancing, singing and similar merrymaking, with other ceremonies as a preliminary or a sequel, while the family fire was a quiet affair in which the protective ceremonies were the main concern of those present, and the only merrymaking was the playing of the younger children about the small fire.^1
There is also material from the National Folklore Collection regarding Midsummer, Bonfire Night, and St John's Eve available on Duchas. With Lá Fhéile Eoin approaching there is also likely to be material on the subject posted on the NFC Twitter so I recommend following them in the days to come.
**
^^1 ^(Kevin Danaher. The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs*. Dublin: Mercier Press, 1972. pp.137-139)
A great intro to Irish mythology and legend is "Over Nine Waves" by Marie Heaney.
It gives a great overview of the mythological cycle, the Fenian cycle and the Ulster cycle, as well as some legends of the Irish saints. Basically your best starting point to know the major characters and myths before delving into the more minute details in the epics and dryer texts.
This is a great book about the Mystery Religions: http://www.amazon.com/The-Mysteries-Papers-Eranos-Yearbooks/dp/0691018235
This is a great read. I own it myself and go back to it about once a month, the author is also super nice.
Check out the book Over the Nine Waves
My high school has a Quiz Bowl team and in order to learn more about the world and get ready for competitions, I want to read some books on a wide range of topics. There are a lot of mythology, world history, chemistry, geography, art, and music questions.
For mythology, a friend and fellow quiz bowl member let me borrow his book, so I figured I'd get myself a copy. This is it.
Could anyone suggest me some books about the other topics? Thanks in advance.
Ronald Hutton's Blood and Mistletoe
Really anything by Philip Carr-Gomm
A often-overlooked author, John Matthews. He has lots of books on Celtic shamanism and Druidry. A Celtic Reader, Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom, The Bardic Source Book, The Druid Source Book, and The Song of Taliesin: Stories and Poems from the Book of Broceliande just to name a few.
Also, if you haven't, you should read The Mabinogion for it's worth of Welsh mythology. I like the Jeffrey Gantz translation, but it's missing what I consider a crucial story prevalent to modern Druidry, the story of Ceridwen and Taliesin. You can find it in Lady Charlotte Guest's translation though, which is the original translation from Welsh to English.
Oh, and Joanna van der Hoeven's The Awen Alone. and I haven't read this one yet, but I read the author's other book, Zen Druidry. Both are short books packed with a ton of information, and the former is about practicing Druidry solitarily, something with which many of us here (and maybe especially you at the moment) can connect.
How much of my response did you read? I thought I made it clear that 1) I am not the author 2) I don't think these similarities definitively prove anything 3) I make no claims, I simply take issue with your "rebuttal" which accuses the blogger of "grasping at straws."
Again, my point is this: parallels are being drawn between diverse cultures and civilizations on account of similar symbolic imagery all the time. This doesn't prove anything as far as the Book of Mormon is concerned, but connections are there and some may be worth exploring for other reasons.
Scholarship:
For starters, I already referenced the mythologist, Joseph Campbell. In "The Mythic Image," Campbell briefly examines parallels between this "Rattlesnake Disc" and Tibetan imagery.
Amira E. Sonbol is a professor of Islamic history at Georgetown. She wrote a book called, "Beyond the Exotic: Women's Histories in Islamic Societies" where she links the Hamsa to the Hand of Fatima, to the Mano Pantea (which I referenced before) and other ancient representations of the symbol from remote cultures.
Charles Orser explored the connections between the Spanish "figa," Victorian good luck fists, and plantation slave charms... arguing that they are likely descendants of the hamsa or Hand of Fatima.
Dagmar Painter, the curator of Gallery Al Quds at the Jerusalem Fund in Washington DC, has discussed hand iconography in the Middle East and even in Native American cultures. See a video of her discussing these links.
Again, this doesn't prove anything. But given some of the examples I provided above, I think it's safe to say that your dismissal is too heavy-handed. So the hand in the "Rattlesnake Disc" doesn't hold the Eye in its palm... The Mano Pantea often doesn't hold the Eye at all... the Figa is merely a fist, and the hamsa (which is undoubtedly an earlier form of the Hand of Fatima), often looks nothing like a hand... but by your standards and lack of expertise, these connections would be disregarded on grounds of "pseudoscience."
This book does contain a general overview of Greek Mythology, you may have to piece together any references that are alluded to by modern authors, but at worst it is a decent starting point:
http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Essential-History-Mythology/dp/142620373X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319133440&sr=8-1
Nnnn . . . anna u nīpu. Krasskova and Kaldera do refer to "Northern Tradition" more broadly as a "Paganism" and describe it as a polytheistic system.
The "Northern Tradition Shamanism" abutu is mostly Kaldera's, though Krasskova has contributed here and there, if I recall correctly. Same situation with the "Neolithic Shamanism" abutu.
I'm a pretty well-confirmed athiest at this point. I tend to view the current manifestations of religion as following in a long tradition of mythmaking by human cultures.
With that in mind, you might look into some psychology in addition to your religious research. I'm a writer, which is how I came by Jung and Campbell and Booker -- but I think the idea of underlying patterns of thought that guide our own mythmaking is of broader use than simply helping me understand storytelling better.
I've read the following, and suggest you do as well!
Jung
The Basic Writings of CG Jung
Man and His Symbols
The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
Psychology and Religion
Campbell
The Hero With A Thousand Faces
The Masks of God (Vols. 1 - 3)
Myths to Live By
Booker
The Seven Basic Plots
There are a lot more, but those are the ones I'd start with. As an undergrad, I majored in English and Rhetoric, and minored in both Religion and Poetry -- this cultural storytelling stuff is important to me.
As a library science graduate student, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that you can get all of these books from your local library -- and can enlist the aid of the reference desk in finding more material for your research. Believe me, there's nothing a reference worker likes more than an interesting topic -- i.e. something that doesn't involve directing people to the bathroom, or helping people find books on filing their taxes. We're trained to help with real research! Use us!
https://www.amazon.com/Greek-Myths-Complete-Definitive/dp/0241952743
Robert Graves "The Greek Myths"
this one? Campbell was wrapping up an illustrated multi volume encyclopedia of world religions when he died. I wonder if that's part of it or some sort of conciliatory annotation.
Yeah I got ahold of ebert on borgface and he responded two weeks later and lol because I was asking him if his talks were available anywhere in one place. He answered the important question but forgot to answer that one and I didn't want to ask him again so thanks!!
I would point to Robert Graves' "The Greek Myths" it has extensive annotations which help greatly in understanding what's going on. I see from an Amazon search that Penguin seem to have combined several volumes into one book. It's a long read akin to a Labour of Heracles (one of the 10 - or was that 12? ;) ) but very worthwhile indeed, in my opinion.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Greek-Myths-Complete-Definitive/dp/0241952743/277-3880124-2288040?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
I would get this one: http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Tales-Deluxe-Slipcase-Edition/dp/0007542925/ref=tmm_hrd_title_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1407020487&sr=1-1
I'm trying to get a full Tolkien set of that edition and I'd highly recommend them.
is this the first edition you've mentioned?
http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Tales-Numenor-Middle-earth-Tolkien/dp/0395299179/ref=tmm_hrd_title_4?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1407020487
I have also found this, "featuring Tolkien's own painting of the dragon Glaurung on the cover"
http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Tales-Middle-Earth-J-Tolkien/dp/026110215X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_3?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1407020487
The only deluxe edition I can find seem to be this
http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Tales-Deluxe-Slipcase-Tolkien/dp/0007542925/ref=tmm_hrd_title_6?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1407020487
Seems like I'll be saving up for the deluxe edition
edit: spacing
Thanks! I'll give them a try. I also recommend:
Dancing Naked In A Mind Field - Kary Mullis
The Mayan Factor - Jose Arguelles
Uriel's Machine - Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas
Sort of. :D
http://analogicalplanet.com/Pages/ContentPages/Sidebars/BurneyRelief.html
Innana, Ishtar, or Lilith, fine woman all the same. ;)
https://www.amazon.com/Inanna-Queen-Heaven-Earth-Stories/dp/0060908548
https://www.amazon.com/Hebrew-Goddess-3rd-Enlarged/dp/0814322719
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Goddess-Evolution-Image/dp/0140192921
http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/descent-inanna-underworld-5500-year-old-literary-masterpiece-007296
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna
She's not quite yet forgotten by history. Transformed, twisted and turned, but always around in one form or another. One eras angel, anothers demon, and so it goes.
But the ones who strike down the malignant of those with the will to power.. Just shadows in the darkness. Eaters of tainted souls. Sometimes they get mixed up with various demon/devil myths.
The Erinyes live in Erebus and are more ancient deities than any of the Olympians. Their task is to hear complaints brought by mortals against the insolence of the young to the aged, of children to parents, of hosts to guests, and of householders or city councils to suppliants - and to punish such crimes by hounding culprits relentlessly. The Erinyes are crones and, depending upon authors, described as having snakes for hair, dog's heads, coal black bodies, bat's wings, and blood-shot eyes. In their hands they carry brass-studded scourges, and their victims die in torment
Colorful certainly, not always 100% accurate, but good campfire stories rarely are.
Take the ending of one particularly rotten pair of apples.
He says he promised the leader each day that he and his wife would be moved to Bucharest for a proper trial.
But his superiors had other plans. They hastily arranged a military trial at the base that was video-recorded.
The museum director says the day before, a Romanian official came from Bucharest and told his colleagues: "We'll do them here." Carstina says it proves the decision to execute the Ceausescus was made beforehand.
Kemenici was also bothered by the lack of any evidence during the trial. "The only thing on the table were the glasses of the chief judge," he says.
He adds that Ceausescu didn't believe he was getting due process either, calling it a conspiracy by Kemenici's superiors and other opponents. To this day, some Romanians still think the entire revolution was a planned coup d'etat, especially since many members of the communist regime became part of the new government.
"He didn't believe they were doing this on their own," Kemenici says. "He told me that the Americans and Russians got together to do this."
The trial, which began on Christmas Day, lasted less than an hour, Carstina says, adding that the chief military judge, Gica Popa, delivered the verdict after only minutes of deliberation.
He declared both Ceausescus guilty of genocide and sentenced them to death.
Video footage shows it wasn't until paratroopers assigned to carry out the execution arrived that the couple finally grasped what was about to happen.
Nicolae Ceausescu shouted: "I have the right to do what I want!"
His wife, Elena, struggled and cursed at the soldiers. She shouted: "Don't tie us up!" and "Don't offend us!"
They were hauled outside, lined up against a wall and shot dead by one of the paratroopers. Carstina says it happened before the camera could be turned on.
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/12/24/369593135/25-years-after-death-a-dictator-still-casts-a-shadow-in-romania
Perhaps a bit rushed, but sometimes its best to hit the delete key rather than risk tainting things even further. Such is life. ;)