Best mythology & folk tales books according to redditors

We found 1,820 Reddit comments discussing the best mythology & folk tales books. We ranked the 419 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Subcategories:

Books on Mythology
Books on Folklore
Books on Fairy Tales

Top Reddit comments about Mythology & Folk Tales:

u/w_v · 277 pointsr/AcademicBiblical

The original authors (and later editors and redactors) weren't children of the Enlightenment like us. There's nothing to suggest they would have seen these as “plot holes” the way we do.

One scholarly perspective is that the authors intended to demythologize already familiar Sumerian myths in order to generate Yahweh-centric backstories for themselves—consistency be damned. See: From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends.

That's why questions such as “Where did Cain get his wife?” make little sense. That type of world-building isn't found in the original Farmer vs Shepherd myths (e.g. Dumuzid and Enkimdu) and isn't a concern for the Genesis authors either. By the way, the answer is that Cain got his wife from the same place all unjustified plot devices come from: Out of the writer's own ass. In modern times we call this sloppy storytelling and that's okay because this isn’t modern literature.

According to Assyriologist Samuel Kramer, this Sumerian baggage is most apparent when examining Eve in light of Ninti, goddess of childbirth, as found in the story Enki and Ninhursanga which presents many themes later incorporated into Genesis: a utopian garden, forbidden plants, and the creation of entities from various body parts.

At the end of Enki and Ninhursanga is a pun-filled section where eight deities are extracted from eight body parts—each body part sharing a core syllable with the deity's name. Ninti (whose name means Giver of Life) comes from Enki's rib because ti is also the word for rib.

This pun is completely lost in Hebrew which is why Eve's creation is such a head-scratcher for those who don't read Sumerian literature. The mystery disappears when you understand Eve as a demythologized Hebrew Ninti.

The following quote is from Janet Smith's Dust or Dew: Immortality in the Ancient Near East and in Psalm 49:

> “Eve has subsumed Ninti's identity as the Mother of all the Living [but] it would be an error to think that a simple borrowing has occurred here. The borrowing is polemical which deliberately modifies the old tradition in order to establish a new paradigm. It is unique to Israelite theology that Eve is a human, representing Yahweh and is no goddess.”

These traditions may represent some of the narrative commitments that the authors of Genesis were saddled with when crafting the Adam and Eve story.

u/BrumbleMuffins · 94 pointsr/me_irl
u/novagenesis · 60 pointsr/Fantasy

This is cool, but pretty derivative of this: http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Dragons-Peter-Dickinson/dp/0879518391

Ironically, the true story about the book and the movie are more exciting than the book itself, here.

u/WanderingWayfarer · 22 pointsr/Fantasy

Some of my favorite books available on Kindle Unlimited:

They Mostly Come Out At Night and Where the Waters Turn Black by Benedict Patrick

Paternus by Dyrk Ashton

Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes

The Half Killed by Quenby Olson

A Star Reckoners Lot by Darrell Drake

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe

Jaeth's Eye by K. S. Villoso


Here are some that I haven't read, but have heard mostly positive things about:

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes

Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan

Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher

A Warrior's Path by Davis Ashura

Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher

Faithless by Graham Austin-King. He also has another series, The Riven Wyrde Saga, beginning with Fae - The Wild Hunt

Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer

Path of Man by Matt Moss

Threat of Madness by D.K. Holmberg

To Whatever End by Claire Frank

House of Blades by Will Wight

Path of Flames by Phil Tucker

The Woven Ring by M. D. Presley

Awaken Online: Catharsis by Travis Bagwell

Wolf of the North by Duncan M. Hamilton

Free the Darkness by Kel Kade

The Cycle of Arawn Trilogy by Edward W. Robinson

Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw

Benjamim Ashwood by AC Cobble

The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson

The Queens Poinsoner by Jeff Wheeler

Stiger's Tigers by Marc Alan Edelheit 

Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell 

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

Devil's Night Dawning by Damien Black


Here are some older fantasy and sci-fi books that I enjoyed:

Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany - African inspired S&S by an extremely talented writer.

Witch World as well as other good books by Andre Norton

Swords and Deviltry The first volume of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber - Many of the tropes of the rogue/thief came from this legendary duo created by Leiber. And it's worth noting that Leiber actually coined the term Sword & Sorcery. This collection contains 3 stories, two average origin stories for each character and the final story is the Hugo and Nebula winning novella "Ill Met in Lankhmar" detailing the first meeting of Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser.

Swords Against Darkness - A '70s S&S anthology. It has few stinkers, a few mediocre stories, and a some really good ones. Poul Anderson and Ramsey Campbell both have awesome stories in this anthology that are well worth checking out. For some reason, there were quite a few typos in this book, it was slightly distracting, but may have been fixed since I read it.

The Best of C. L. Moore by C. L. Moore. I read this earlier this year and I absolutely loved it. The collection is all sci-fi and one Jirel of Joiry story, which is her famous female Sword & Sorcery character. I was suprised by how well her sci-fi stories held up, often times pulp sci-fi doesn't age well, but this collection was great. Moore was married to the writer Henry Kuttner, and up until his death they wrote a bunch of great stories together. Both of their collections are basically collaborations, although I'm sure a few stories were done solo. His collection The Best of Henry Kuttner features the short story that the movie The Last Mimzy was based on. And, if you are into the original Twilight Zone TV series there is a story that was adapted into a memorable season 1 episode entitled "What You Need". Kuttner and Moore are two of my favorite pulp authors and I'm not even that into science fiction, but I really enjoy their work.

u/darrelldrake · 21 pointsr/Fantasy

It seems like a busy thread to me! Suppose it has been busier, though. Linking one from each:

/u/ksvilloso Jaeth's Eye

The minor characters in an epic story are often forgotten, relegated to the dusty corners of a text; footnotes in a biased account that draws focus on the privileged, the named, and the powerful. This is a story from those shadows.

The lives of a mercenary, a seamstress, and a merchant converge. Kefier, who is picking up the pieces of his life after his brother’s accident, finds himself chased down by former associates for his friend’s death. Already once branded a murderer, he crosses paths with his friend’s sister, Sume, whose only desire is to see her family through troubled times. In the meantime, young, arrogant Ylir takes a special interest in Kefier while he himself is entangled in a battle with a powerful mage, one whose name has been long forgotten in legend. At the crux of their conflict is a terrible creature with one eye, cast from the womb of a witch, with powers so immense whoever possesses it holds the key to bring the continent to its knees.

Jaeth’s Eye introduces an epic fantasy tale of revenge and lost kingdoms, but also of grief, love, hope, and a promise for tomorrow. The Agartes Epilogues gets to the heart of epic fantasy from the sidelines.

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/u/benedictpatrick They Mostly Come Out At Night

The villagers of the forest seal themselves in their cellars at night, whispering folktales to each other about the monsters that prey on them in the dark. Only the Magpie King, their shadowy, unseen protector, can keep them safe.

However, when an outcast called Lonan begins to dream of the Magpie King’s defeat at the hands of inhuman invaders, this young man must do what he can to protect his village. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to convince them to trust him again.

They Mostly Come Out At Night is the first novel from Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld series. Straddling the line between fantasy and folklore, this book is perfect for fans of the darker Brothers Grimm stories.

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/u/undyrk Paternus

The gods of myth, monsters of legend, heroes and villains of lore.

They're real -- and they're coming back to finish a war that's been waged since the dawn of time.

Fi Patterson and Zeke Prisco's daily routine of caring for the elderly at a local hospital is shattered when a catatonic patient named Peter unwittingly thrusts them into a conflict between ageless beings beyond reckoning. A war of which he is the primary target, and perhaps the cause.

In order to survive, Fi and Zeke must forget everything they know about the world and come to grips with the astonishing reality of the Firstborn. Only then can they hope to learn the secrets locked in Peter's mind, help stave off an ancient evil that's been known by many names and feared by all, and discover truths about themselves perhaps best left hidden.

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/u/tanniel The Eagle's Flight

Peace in the Seven Realms of Adalmearc is only as strong as those who rule them. With the death of the high king and his heir too young to assume the throne, political intrigues fill the landscape as the leading noble families scheme and plot their way to power. Meanwhile, enemies abroad sense the changes and make their own preparations.

Standing as a safeguard against both foreign foes as well as enemies closer to heart are the Order and its knights. Keeping the realms of Adalmearc united and at peace is their foremost duty. But when the strife turns political and the enemy is difficult to discern, when alliances shift and allegiances are torn, even the hitherto unassailable honour of a knight may become stained.

The Eagle's Flight compiles the first three of the Chronicles of Adalmearc. It is a journey into the world of Adal, its realms, peoples, cultures, and conflicts.

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/u/stevenkelliher Valley of Embers

For hundreds of years, the flame-wielding Embers have been the last line of defense against the nightmare creatures from the World Apart, but the attacks are getting worse. Kole Reyna guards Last Lake from the terrors of the night, but he fears for his people’s future.

When Kole is wounded by a demon unlike any they have seen before, the Emberfolk believe it is a sign of an ancient enemy returned, a powerful Sage known as the Eastern Dark.

Kole has never trusted in prophecy, but with his people hanging on the precipice, he reluctantly agrees to lead the Valley’s greatest warriors in a last desperate bid for survival. Together, they will risk everything in search of a former ally long-thought dead, and whether Kole trusts him or not, he may be the only one capable of saving them.

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/u/stevethomas Klondaeg Omnibus

Monsters killed his parents, and Klondaeg is out for revenge. Armed with a double-headed battle-axe with a split personality, Klondaeg travels the world, teaming up with its mightiest adventurers to battle every monster he can find. Klondaeg is the greatest monster hunter in all of history, but the world needs more than a monster hunter. It needs a lord of heroes.

This omnibus edition collects all of Klondaeg’s outrageous adventures, including “Klondaeg The Monster Hunter,” “Klondaeg Saves Fromsday,” “Klondaeg and the Klondaeg Hunters,” and “Klondaeg: Lord of Heroes.”

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/u/salaris Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Five years ago, Corin Cadence’s brother entered the Serpent Spire — a colossal tower with ever-shifting rooms, traps, and monsters. Those who survive the spire’s trials return home with an attunement: a mark granting the bearer magical powers. According to legend, those few who reach the top of the tower will be granted a boon by the spire’s goddess.

He never returned.

Now, it’s Corin’s turn. He’s headed to the top floor, on a mission to meet the goddess.

If he can survive the trials, Corin will earn an attunement, but that won’t be sufficient to survive the dangers on the upper levels. For that, he’s going to need training, allies, and a lot of ingenuity.

The journey won’t be easy, but Corin won’t stop until he gets his brother back.

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/u/ashearmstrong A Demon in the Desert

Grimluk is an orc with one purpose: hunting demons.

The Wastelands mining town of Greenreach Bluffs is deteriorating: with each passing day its inhabitants grow more fearful and paranoid, plagued by...something. They suffer nightmares and hallucinations, there are murders at the mine; the community is on the brink of madness and ruin and, as events escalate, realization dawns: the town has a demon problem. Two attempts at hunting it down fail, Greenreach Bluffs is at breaking point...and then Grimluk the Orc strides in out of the Wastes to answer their call for salvation.

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/u/pirateaba The Wandering Inn

An inn is a place to rest, a place to talk and share stories, or a place to find adventures, a starting ground for quests and legends.

In this world, at least. To Erin Solstice, an inn seems like a medieval relic from the past. But here she is, running from Goblins and trying to survive in a world full of monsters and magic. She’d be more excited about all of this if everything wasn’t trying to kill her.

But an inn is what she found, and so that’s what she becomes. An innkeeper who serves drinks to heroes and monsters–

Actually, mostly monsters. But it’s a living, right?

This is the story of the Wandering Inn.

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/u/michaelrfletcher Ghosts of Tomorrow

The children are the future.
And someone is turning them into highly trained killing machines.

Straight out of school, Griffin, a junior Investigations agent for the North American Trade Union, is put on the case: Find and close the illegal crèches. No one expects him to succeed, Griffin least of all. Installed in a combat chassis Abdul, a depressed seventeen year old killed during the Secession Wars in Old Montreal, is assigned as Griffin's Heavy Weapons support. Nadia, a state-sanctioned investigative reporter working the stolen children story, pushes Griffin ever deeper into the nightmare of the black market brain trade.

Deep in the La Carpio slums of Costa Rica, the scanned mind of an autistic girl runs the South American Mafia's business interests. But she wants more. She wants freedom. And she has come to see humanity as a threat. She has an answer: Archaeidae. At fourteen, he is the deadliest assassin alive. Two children against the world.

The world is going to need some help.

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/u/will_wight Unsouled

Sacred artists follow a thousand Paths to power, using their souls to control the forces of the natural world.

Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan.

When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond anything he's ever known...and forge his own Path.

u/WastedP0tential · 20 pointsr/DebateAnAtheist

You wanted to be part of the intelligentsia, but throughout your philosophical journey, you always based your convictions only on authority and tradition instead of on evidence and arguments. Don't you realize that this is the epitome of anti – intellectualism?

It is correct that the New Atheists aren't the pinnacle of atheistic thought and didn't contribute many new ideas to the academic debate of atheism vs. theism or religion. But this was never their goal, and it is also unnecessary, since the academic debate is already over for many decades. If you want to know why the arguments for theism are all complete nonsense and not taken seriously anymore, why Christianity is wrong just about everything and why apologists like Craig are dishonest charlatans who make a living out of fooling people, your reading list shouldn't be New Atheists, but rather something like this:

Colin Howson – Objecting to God

George H. Smith – Atheism: The Case Against God

Graham Oppy – Arguing about Gods

Graham Oppy – The Best Argument Against God

Herman Philipse – God in the Age of Science

J. L. Mackie – The Miracle of Theism

J. L. Schellenberg – The Wisdom to Doubt

Jordan Sobel – Logic and Theism

Nicholas Everitt – The Non-Existence of God

Richard Gale – On the Nature and Existence of God

Robin Le Poidevin – Arguing for Atheism

Stewart Elliott Guthrie – Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion

Theodore Drange – Nonbelief & Evil



[Avigor Shinan – From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0827609086)

Bart Ehrman – The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings

Bart Ehrman – Jesus, Interrupted

Bart Ehrman – Misquoting Jesus

Burton L. Mack – Who Wrote the New Testament?

Helmut Koester – Ancient Christian Gospels

John Barton, John Muddiman – The Oxford Bible Commentary

John Dominic Crossan – Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography

Karen Armstrong – A History of God

Mark Smith – The Early History of God

Randel McCraw Helms – Who Wrote the Gospels?

Richard Elliott Friedman – Who Wrote the Bible?

Robert Bellah – Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age

Robert Walter Funk – The Gospel of Jesus

u/Moxxface · 13 pointsr/Psychonaut

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.

u/Hydrael · 13 pointsr/Hydrael_Writes

Enjoy!

Weird Theology is on Amazon |
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I have a discord now!You can get notified when the serial of your choice updates - check it out:

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u/coick · 12 pointsr/todayilearned

There is a really cool book called The Flight of Dragons that attempts to prove that dragons used to exist in reality. The author uses the traits described in folklore and fiction to show how they flew and why there are no existing fossils. His theory was that they flew by producing hydrogen from the reaction of hydrochloric acid on calcium. The dragon produces acid that pores onto fast growing but porous bone in flight cavities in its body. This is why they were so large but their body was actually very delicate (due to the lightness required for flight and the weakness of the bone). He uses this as the basis for all other known traits of the dragon - why they live in caves (to protect their delicate bodies), why they hoard precious items (a byproduct of the hydrogen producing process is the continual leeching out of corrosive chemicals from their bodies which would only leave inert elements), fire breathing (a necessity for controlling hydrogen levels and he uses the Bombardier Beetle as an example of how nature evolves seemingly impossible processes) and even their preference for aristocratic maidens (bred to be lady-like rather than peasant girls or men who were more likely to fight and damage their delicate bodies). It is definitely worth a read.

u/Pell331 · 11 pointsr/AdviceAnimals
u/brojangles · 10 pointsr/AcademicBiblical

Not necessarily with heroes conceived of as human, but as humanized versions of mythic tropes about gods. Elijah, for example, seems to have some parallels to sun god tropes (Ignaz Goldzhier, Mythology among the Hebrews and its historical development). Also try From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends by Avigdor Shinan and Yair Zakovitch

u/BeloitBrewers · 9 pointsr/lotr

Yeah, it is real! These "American Voices" features are almost always based on something real. It's just the reactions that are fake.

One real source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/13/jrr-tolkien-the-fall-of-gondolin-to-be-published-in-august.html
... and it's already on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Gondolin-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/1328613046 - release of August 30. You can even order now.

u/witchdoc86 · 8 pointsr/DebateEvolution

My recommendations from books I read in the last year or so (yes, these are all VERY STRONG recommends curated from ~100 books in the last year) -

​

Science fiction-

Derek Kunsken's The Quantum Magician (I would describe it as a cross between Oceans Eleven with some not-too-Hard Science Fiction. Apparently will be a series, but is perfectly fine as a standalone novel).

Cixin Lu's very popular Three Body Problem series (Mixes cleverly politics, sociology, psychology and science fiction)

James A Corey's The Expanse Series (which has been made into the best sci fi tv series ever!)

Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief series (Hard science fiction. WARNING - A lot of the early stuff is intentionally mystifying with endless terminology that’s only slowly explained since the main character himself has lost his memories. Put piecing it all together is part of the charm.)

​

Fantasy-

James Islington's Shadow of What was Lost series (a deep series which makes you think - deep magic, politics, religion all intertwined)

Will Wight's Cradle series (has my vote for one of the best fantasy series ever written)

Brandon Sanderson Legion series (Brandon Sanderson. Nuff said. Creative as always)

​

Manga -

Yukito Kishiro's Alita, Battle Angel series (the manga on what the movie was based)

​

Non-Fiction-

Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind - Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (and how we are not as rational as we believe we are, and how passion works in tandem with rationality in decision making and is actually required for good decisionmaking)

Rothery's Geology - A Complete Introduction (as per title)

Joseph Krauskopf's A Rabbi's Impressions of the Oberammergau Passion Play, available to read online for free, including a fabulous supplementary of Talmud Parallels to the NT (a Rabbi in 1901 explains why he is not a Christian)

​

Audiobooks -

Bob Brier's The History of Ancient Egypt (as per title - 25 hrs of the best audiobook lectures. Incredible)

​

Academic biblical studies-

Richard Elliot Friedman's Who Wrote The Bible and The Exodus (best academic biblical introductory books into the Documentary Hypothesis and Qenite/Midian hypothesis)

Israel Finkelstein's The Bible Unearthed (how archaelogy relates to the bible)

E.P. Sander's Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63BCE-66CE ​(most detailed book of what Judaism is and their beliefs, and one can see from this balanced [Christian] scholar how Christianity has colored our perspectives of what Jews and Pharisees were really like)

Avigdor Shinan's From gods to God (how Israel transitioned from polytheism to monotheism)

Mark S Smith's The Early History of God (early history of Israel, Canaanites, and YHWH)

James D Tabor's Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity (as per title)

Tom Dykstra's Mark Canonizer of Paul (engrossing - will make you view the gospel of Mark with new eyes)

Jacob L Wright's King David and His Reign Revisited (enhanced ibook - most readable book ever on King David)

Jacob Dunn's thesis on the Midianite/Kenite hypothesis (free pdf download - warning - highly technical but also extremely well referenced)

u/leahlionheart · 8 pointsr/books

I strongly urge you to look at Mythology by Edith Hamilton (you can see it here )

Someplace in my apartment, I have a copy of Nordic Gods and Heroes by P. Colum; that was my first introduction to the subject.
Norse Mythology by John Lindow is also excellent.

I very much second the recommendation of Joseph Campbell -- he's written extensively (and very accessibly - laypeople and scholars alike find his work useful and respectable) on myths.

u/AtiWati · 7 pointsr/Norse

You will get more out of them without question, but is that "more" worth the effort? I don't think so, unless you want to really nerd out and/or pursue the subject academically. Get some good, recent translations by folks like Jackson Crawford or Carolyne Larrington. And then if you are still looking to squeeze some "more" out of the texts, go get some good, thorough introductive litterature to contextualize the sagas and poems you are reading, like The Vikings, A Handbook to Eddic Poetry, Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs, The Viking World etc.

And this is coming from someone who do know Old Norse.

u/[deleted] · 7 pointsr/atheism

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 hypoallergenic hallucinogenic 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

u/Phallus · 7 pointsr/philosophy

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.

u/oorraannggeess · 7 pointsr/Psychonaut

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

u/punxx0r · 6 pointsr/Showerthoughts

Please go get yourself a copy of "The Flight of Dragons" by Peter Dickinson. He is a naturalist who set out to prove (with his limitations plainly in sight) that dragons could have existed in the natural world without violating any of the biological constants of evolution.

It's a magnificent book, one of my favorite things to read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Flight-Dragons-Peter-Dickinson/dp/0879518391

u/heresyourhardware · 6 pointsr/ireland

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

u/BryceOConnor · 6 pointsr/Fantasy

Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko

Chronicles of the Black Gate by Phil Tucker

The Aching God by Mike Shel

The Castes and the OutCastes by Davis Ashura

Paternus by Dyrk Ashton

​

I could keep going all day, but here's some starters, ha!

u/DavisAshura · 6 pointsr/Fantasy

Dyrk Ashton's Paternusseries. It's urban fantasy that's more epic than most epic fantasies.

u/Inorai · 5 pointsr/Inorai

xD ok this will be a long message bear with me.

  1. Is there a synopsis of each story available?

    Yes! Every serial I write has a home page, and every home page has:

  • Links to every part that is released

  • A brief 'blurb' for the series, normally what I'd put on the back of the hardcopy :)

  • Links to any artwork I've been sent or purchased of the series

  • Links to any other media, like audio files or videos

    For my serials, the home pages are as follows:

    Flameweaver Saga

    Halfway to Home


  1. I want to read other stuff

    From a quick browse-through of your comments I didn't see you crossing paths with any other serial authors - If you haven't read any of his stuff, I highly, highly recommend /u/Hydrael's work, over at /r/Hydrael_Writes! His Dragon's Scion and Small Worlds projects are exceptional! Small worlds is also published on Amazon!

  2. I want to read traditional novels

    I can help with that! Some quick recommendations that I personally love - these are loosely ranked in order of how I'd recommend them, but the fact that they're here at all means they've got my support :)

    Fantasy novels:

    The October Daye series:

  • Urban fantasy

  • Awesome worldbuilding

  • Is where I learned how to write twists, and where I picked up my penchant for chekov's guns

    Trickster's Choice/Trickster's Queen

  • Traditional fantasy

  • Wonderful politics and intrigue

  • Influenced how gods are handled in Flameweaver

  • Both written easily enough for young readers to understand, and complex enough for adults to enjoy

    Graceling

  • Traditional fantasy

  • A bit more well-known, but a surprisingly solid upper-YA read. Kind of a guilty pleasure book of mine haha

    Scifi Novels:

    Agent to the Stars and Old Man's War

  • John Scalzi is the author I modeled my own writing style after. So if you like my style, you might like his too.

  • Darkly humerous. Realistic and gritty, without being overpoweringly grim.

  • Wickedly sarcastic

    The Ender Quartet

  • A bit wordier/harder to read, after Ender's Game. The last book (Children of the Mind) is probably one of the most challenging books I've ever read. But rewarding.

  • Long-running, intricate plotline

    The Ship Series

  • Indie series I happened across a few years ago

  • Upper YA. Younger characters, but dark content

  • Well-written, relatable characters
u/electricbowie · 4 pointsr/mythology

Neil Gaiman “Norse mythology”, and this book Norse mythology book

u/probablyanorange · 4 pointsr/books

This is pretty comprehensive in terms of major pieces of Norse mythology. But also, American Gods by Neil Gaiman is great for modern stuff.

u/WildWeazel · 4 pointsr/civclassics

Do not read this terrible book! Communist lies!

u/darksier · 4 pointsr/rpg

If your a big fan of Japanese mythos and especially their monster lore, I suggest picking up the Japandemonium. It's the translated works of Toriyama Sekai who wrote and drew the book I mentioned. Chances are if you've seen an old drawing of a yokai in a book or website somewhere, it was his work.

There's also a modern version that's pretty decent, especially as a player friendly monster guide. Used it as a prop for my players in a L5R game.

u/distess_caloris · 3 pointsr/mycology

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.

u/TangPauMC · 3 pointsr/booksuggestions

My favorite wizard/druid series ever is The Pendragon Cycle by: Stephen Lawhead here is a link to the first one --
https://www.amazon.com/Taliesin-Pendragon-Cycle-Book-1/dp/038070613X/

u/sab_eth · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

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!

u/Maple-Whisky · 3 pointsr/asatru

> 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.

u/Foob70 · 3 pointsr/Fantasy

A lot of translated reincarnation stories (specifically Wuxia and Xianxia) are about this. Not all of them are about becoming the strongest in the world but it's a very common theme.

There are a few western published novels that are very much in the style of Xianxia or Wuxia like [The Blue Phoenix series] (https://www.amazon.com/Riluo-City-Blue-Phoenix-Book-ebook/dp/B01CMK67BG/ref=la_B01D3B6IX0_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478536776&sr=1-3), The Divine Elements and The Beginning After The End.

u/Skollgrimm · 3 pointsr/asatru

Our Troth Volume II is a good resource for beginners looking to develop a praxis.

u/aleglad · 3 pointsr/asatru

As a bit of an investment, you might want to consider The Troth's two volume set Our Troth (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2). They aren't flawless and some content is worthy of criticism (as all things are, really) but there is a lot of good history and lore in there and a lot of good guidance on how to go about doing things and things to think about. Our Troth primarily puts forth the methodology of The Troth and is only one perspective but they are good books. It's a great deal better than "The Rites of Odin," that's for sure (please, don't buy that piece of crap, it's REALLY bad).

Also, take a look for books by Swain Wodening, James Hjuka Coulter, and Garman Lord. They offer more ideas and different perspectives on things. There are plenty of other respectable authors out there as well.

u/RedactedDude · 3 pointsr/books

This is probably a good starting point. It's basically a retranslated telling of the myths from the Eddas. If you want the actual stories from Norse mythology, this should help.

u/NoseDragon · 3 pointsr/tolkienbooks

Holy crap, dude, I don't think you have a grasp at how large of a book you are asking for.

First off, there is no book that combines the Hobbit and the LOTR. The reason there is a single copy LOTR book is because it was originally written as one book, but was only broken into smaller books at the request of the editor. The reason they don't sell one book containing both The Hobbit and LOTR is because they are very much separate books in every sense of the word. They have a few similar characters, but almost everything from the story to the intended audience is different.

Second, you want the history and the untold stories?

There is literally a 12 book series called The History of Middle Earth that is well over 3500 pages. And that isn't even including the book Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth that is another 300 pages.

On top of that, you have the summarized history, the Silmarillion, that is a couple hundred pages itself. That's the actual "Bible" of Middle Earth that adds lore and expands on things in LOTR and the Hobbit. And then there's the Children of Hurin, which expands on a small part of the Silmarillion.

So, in order for what you are asking, you'd need a book that would be approximately 6000 pages long.

It doesn't exist. What you currently have is the closest to what you are asking for. After the Return of the King, there should be a pretty good sized Appendix that has a ton of extra material relevant to LOTR, but if you want the Middle Earth creation story, the history of Morgoth and his effects on ME, the legends of the first great Men of ME like Hurin and kin, and stories of Gondolin... You're going to need to buy additional books.

Good news is a lot of them are cheap! You can get the Silmarillion and Children of Hurin for a good price, and there are some beautiful hardcover editions (illustrated by Alan Lee). That should cover a good deal of what you're asking for. From there, for additional history and info, there's that massive 12 volume collection, which I believe can be purchased in a 3 book set.

I'd say the best you could do if you want to cover all the necessary Middle Earth history and Lore is the Hobbit, LOTR, Silmarillion, and Children of Hurin. That should suffice.

u/JoNightshade · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

IMO, listening to an audiobook is in no way "inferior" to reading the words on the page.

However, for fantasy I'd suggest a classic: The Once and Future King by T.H. White. It's the King Arthur/Camelot story, and it's one I've got on my shelf to share with my boys when they're old enough.

Oh, also, for relatively easy reading I would suggest Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park, Sphere, etc.

u/MoonPoint · 3 pointsr/science

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.

u/TheKnightDemon · 2 pointsr/tipofmytongue

Could it be the book The Flight of Dragons - Peter Dickenson

It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, here is the start of it if you are interested; shows many of the dragon designs
Flight of Dragons Movie Intro

The movie itself is about the author of the book being transported into the world of dragons from our world. He subsequently finds the magic of the dragon world is nothing more but science the people of that world don't know.

u/ckingdom · 2 pointsr/IrishHistory

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.

u/orsr · 2 pointsr/atheism

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.

u/Glaurunga · 2 pointsr/skyrim
  • Volsung, one of the dragon priests is named after a king in Norse mythology.

  • And then the Sigurd guy in Whiterun, shares a name with Sigurd, the grandson of Volsung. His tragedy is said to have occurred shortly before Ragnarok. (At least that's how it was in the Norse Mythology book I read)

  • There's also a giant whom Thor and Loki meet called Skyrmir, but I think the similarity is unrelated.

  • Another similarity that probably is just coincidental is that of Ysmir, and Ymir. Ymir was a giant who was slain by Odin, his brothers, and his father, in a joint effort. The remains of his body were used to make the universe and earth.

    If anyone is interested, I just recently wrapped up reading this http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Gods-Heroes-Padraic-Colum/dp/0486289125 . It's a very easy read, and there are even pretty pictures. But consequently, it does skip out on many other stories. I intend on picking up a more thorough version in the future.
u/acheiropoieton · 2 pointsr/Nioh

Cool, thank you! I own a copy of a similar book, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, and I'd certainly recommend it; particularly because it has full-colour illustrations of all the featured Yokai.

u/jaundicemanatee · 2 pointsr/Fantasy
u/snipe4fun · 2 pointsr/whatsthisplant

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.

u/energirl · 2 pointsr/atheism

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.

  • Note: I highly recommend reading the books. I actually read them quite a while ago and may have gotten some of the details out of order or slightly wrong.
u/voxhyphen · 2 pointsr/history

As far as Mythology is concerned, if you are looking for a good non-fiction place to start, I would reccomend "Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs" by John Lindow

If you are interested in the History and Culture from a non-fiction standpoint, I started with "A History of the Vikings" by Gwyn Jones

u/SmallFruitbat · 2 pointsr/Fantasy

I was mostly coming up short, but then I remembered The Silmarillion. Plenty of music woven through that, though scarce on the details.

Some more tangential suggestions:

  • The short story Hisses and Wings by /u/TFrohock and Alex Bledsoe has a large focus on music with fantasy creatures (more urban setting).

  • Fairest is a kid's book (companion to Ella Enchanted) and takes place in a kingdom where everything is conducted in song. An ugly, accidental lady-in-waiting is required to lend her voice to the new queen (a big no-no).

  • Another kid's book: in The Ranger's Apprentice #5, Will goes undercover as a traveling jongleur/bard with plenty of music-related details.
u/wifofoo · 2 pointsr/Fantasy

Have you read The Once and Future King? It inspired the Disney movie "The Sword and the Stone."

u/Princess_King · 2 pointsr/whatsthatbook
u/white_wales · 2 pointsr/booksuggestions

Ok so kind of strange to recommend a book I haven’t read but I see this one get brought up in discussions about American Gods every now and then. Looks like something he might like?

https://www.amazon.com/Paternus-Rise-Gods-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01CXPD8T4

u/kyrie-eleison · 2 pointsr/books

This encyclopedia is great; not quite Bulfinch's cousin, but very informative.

For something more like Bulfinch, this book is a damn good introduction.

u/AlecHutson · 2 pointsr/Fantasy

I'm so thrilled you enjoyed The Raveling! Makes me happy. The third book was just released, if you hadn't seen that yet.


Have you read The Aching God? I think it's a really terrific book. I've heard good things about the Rhenwar Saga. I also loved Paternus, though that might be classed as urban fantasy.


https://www.amazon.com/Aching-God-Iconoclasts-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07C9DBKB6


https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Rhenwars-Saga-Fantasy-Pentalogy-ebook/dp/B07KLXCH5X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rhenwars&qid=1575089953&s=digital-text&sr=1-1


https://www.amazon.com/Paternus-Rise-Gods-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01CXPD8T4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=paternus&qid=1575089982&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

u/TurtleMe93 · 2 pointsr/selfpublish

Hello everyone, I'm posting here for the first time. I just self-published the fourth volume of my series would love everyone to check it out.

Goodread

Title: The Beginning After The End
Current Volume Count: 4
Author: TurtleMe (pen name)

Link: Volume 1 on Amazon

Description:
Solitude is said to linger closely behind those with great power. Underneath the glorified shell of a king with unrivaled strength, status and fame was but a man who lay drowned in his shallow throne with no purpose or will.

With a second chance to right his wrongs and fulfill his regrets, the former king is reincarnated into a world where magic and monsters are a norm. Follow him as he lives his new life in world where great change is occurring.


u/ManaSmoker · 2 pointsr/WTF

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

u/virtualRefrain · 2 pointsr/movies

Also look into this series, which includes sourcing essays in the back of each book detailing the mythic origin of each plot point, which makes it an amazing, in-depth introduction to British folklore. Also the first book in the series is possibly my favorite book of all time.

u/awkward_armadillo · 2 pointsr/exchristian

ME

Hey! Funny, I had tacos for dinner last night. Now that I'm not working in [city], it's a lot harder to get out there for taco tuesday, but you're right, we do need to meet up, and doing so with tacos would be great! I just looked at my calendar...I don't have an open tuesday until freaking NOVEMBER. We'll have to plan something different....how do your weekends usually look? Maybe we can meet up for a Saturday morning breakfast or something.

>How about this, how can the solution to so many problems that people have and have had for years not be real?

Are there not a countless number of other solutions that people have attempted and been successful at? Are there not mental tricks that work in pulling people out of personal slumps? Is the placebo effect not real? Is the "God" solution really that special of a solution?

>I know you say you haven't had much personal experience with God working in your life but I know I have and I know rooms full of people who share their experiences and testimonies reversing the course of their lives through God when nothing else worked.

Have you looked into testimonials or experiences of people who have made significant changes without God? If not, then this is simply confirmation bias. If you continually go to rooms full of Christians claiming God changed their life and you don't go to the rooms where the Buddhist says Buddha changed his life, then OF COURSE all you're going to see is God changing lives.

>I really feel the evidence is in the transformation of these people's lives and my own and comes through the spiritual plane that you referenced. I know you would say it's a combination of chemical factors in brain activity but it still took introducing God into the equation that triggered those reactions changes that are very real.

Is the feeling that something is evidence good enough to lead to there actually being evidence? Again, people have had transformations for plenty of reasons, God being one of them, but it's not the only reason. What if I had a life changing transformation because I chose to accept that Krishna was the ultimate creator? If I accept that sure, my life sucks now, but if I strive to be good, ultimately I'll be reincarnated into a better situation? Say I've sat in rooms full of people talking about how they've been reincarnated into better people, or people describing how their life changed once they accepted that they will be reincarnated, and I feel that those transformations are the evidence for that being true, does that make it actually true? Furthermore, now that I've witnessed transformation accounts from the Christian, the Hindu, and the Buddhist, how do I make a determination on which one is actually true? Are they all true? Is one of them true? Maybe none are true? How would I know? Because they all access this "spiritual plane" as their source of divine improvement...obviously, they can't all be right, but how do we figure out which one is?

>The second thought I had was what about prophecy? I know you have talked about the history of the Bible being unreliable in some ways but like how do you reconcile Daniel and his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream and then Alexander the Great coming in dividing that Kingdom and then it being divided again into the four kingdoms Daniel spoke about. Obviously that's one example of hundreds but has been historically proven.

This is actually a very interesting topic to look into. So, what ABOUT prophecy? With Daniel, there is more literary evidence leading us to believe that it was written much, much later than the events being written about than there is evidence for it being actually prophetic in nature. The Wikipedia article on Daniel does a decently thorough job of summarizing the scholarly consensus and the reasons why it's a literary construct of a much later time. There is a ton devoted to Daniel within Biblical scholarship, so if you want some reading recommendations beyond the wiki page, I can pull together some material for you. On prophecies in general, there is an entire RationalWiki page dedicated to that as well. I personally went through the Matthean prophecies of the birth account and cited OT sources with my own commentary on why they don't hold. This was a project I started probably a year or two ago, which ultimately died as I got pulled into other interests, but if you'd like that spreadsheet I can dig it up as well. As far as prophecies being "historically proven"...you might want to dig a bit deeper into that statement. For every christian source describing the fulfillment of a prophecy, look up the scholarly commentary as well and compare the two. I guarantee that as you do that, each prophecy will look more and more suspicious.

Really, to look into this more broadly, you'd want to look into the dating of the biblical books and why we think they're dated as such. You'll find yourself pulled into the Documentary Hypothesis, Dueternomistic History, etc. Actually, I was listening to a lecture series on Audible, "The World of Biblical Israel", which goes into some detail on why scholars on the whole believe the Bible didn't really begin it's composition until after the Israelites were captured by the Babylonians.

On somewhat of a related note, a book I just finished that I found very interesting/enlightening was Avigdor Shinan's "From gods to God". This book gives a very thorough scholarly treatment to a lot of the hmmmm moments of the OT, tying out passages to potential sources. If you're interested in reading it, send me your address and I'll buy you a copy :)

As usual, it's great talking with you. Let me know if you want to do a Saturday breakfast or something, I have a greater chance of getting that to happen than I do making Taco Tuesday happen.
__

>[We met up for a Saturday breakfast and I passed off a book by John Loftus, "Why I Became an Atheist"
__
ME

Thought I'd forward along where [preacher] and I are currently at. It's the same document as before, just longer now. It picks up on page 9 with his response. I'm left ultimately disappointed in his arguments, for various reasons I'm sure you'll pick up on. Anyways, how's the book?? (If you've cracked it yet, that is).
__
FRIEND

Thanks Bud, honestly it's hard for me to read this stuff and not get a headache but I'm glad to have some insight into your brain working things out. As I said I'm not much of a reader but I am working to do a little more of it. Sorry that [preacher]'s answers aren't satisfying. Did you ever finish the video I sent you? I found another one that I've had to listen to a few times to wrap my head around and thought you might like it if you want I'll send it to you. Not sure what your schedule is looking like for October but we should try for breakfast again in the next 3 or 4 weeks. Hope you guys are in good health . Talk to you soon.

P.s what are your thoughts on subatomic particles? They're supposed to make up the entire universe but nobody's ever seen one so do they exist?
__
ME

I will say: if my conversations with [preacher] make your head hurt...boy, you’re in for a treat with that book lol Listen, if there’s anything I’ve said that you want clarification on, please let me know. I don’t want you to come away thinking I said one thing when I meant something different, you know? Did it at least make sense WHY his arguments were unsatisfying?

As to finishing the video, are you talking about the Ravi Zacharius one? If so, yes, and I’ve watched a handful more of his talks as well. I will say that he is a very entertaining speaker and I get some enjoyment from listening to him, however his arguments are the same old ones simply rehashed and elongated to fit his speaking style. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before, which means it’s still unconvincing. When it comes to apologetics, there is never really any new way of saying anything, it’s simply said a different way in hopes that it may sneak by someone’s suspicions.

As far as meeting up, I’d love to at some point. Let me look at my schedule and get back to you.
__
>[This is where the email exchange ends. We've exchanged a few messages via text and we've met up for another Saturday breakfast, but at that point he hadn't cracked the book yet. As of today, we haven't connected for about 6 months.

u/BeingUnoffended · 2 pointsr/lordoftherings

August 301th - you can pre-order it on Amazon right now!
https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Gondolin-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/1328613046

u/Auzi85 · 1 pointr/TheSilmarillion

We aren't going to be doing anything specific to a certain version or publisher. This one is a great edition that is illatrated by Ted Nasmith. But this one will also work fine.

u/anathemas · 1 pointr/TrueAtheism

Wow, this is amazing, thank you for taking the time to put all this together.

Since you mentioned taking recommendations, I didn't see From Gods to God. It looks at the origins of the myths in the Hebrew Bible and shows how the authors appropriated them for their own purposes. Here's a PDF you can review.

u/loonybinjones · 1 pointr/tipofmytongue
u/OneUglyDogAndMe · 1 pointr/AskReddit

The Flight of Dragons is a beautifully illustrated book that deals with this question. The authors lay out assorted explanations for common features in dragon lore. Flight, fire-breathing, size, and so forth. Tons of scientific / biological explanations and possibilities. It's not a book arguing that dragons exist, but rather approaches it as though the authors walked up on a "typical" mythological dragon and said, "Huh! Wonder how this thing works?"

u/clydetorrez · 1 pointr/Norse

A very comprehensive book in encyclopedic format is John Lindow's Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs. Again, no narrative, but an excellent reference work. Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Mythology-Heroes-Rituals-Beliefs/dp/0195153820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321988188&sr=8-1

u/UnDyrk · 1 pointr/Fantasy

Hi all! Released May 1, ratings & reviews are rolling in for Paternus. 5 stars on Amazon, 4.74 on Goodreads. Humbled, honored, and a bit shocked, to be honest.

"Mythology and history with a modern twist ... Witty, feisty and passionate. This was a fantastic debut done right. Action is nonstop with unexpected inventive adventures. Can't wait to read his next book. I am hooked!"

"Paternus takes you on a grand mythological journey spanning time and the entire globe ... The broad cast of characters is a world-building marvel..."

"Fun, frightening, thrilling, and thought provoking..."

"For fans of Lord of the Rings mixed with Beautiful Creatures and crossbred with American Gods... Yeah, all that ... The history and mythology were amazing, but so were the modern characters, stuck in a wild world of violent gods and monsters. Also, let us not forget to mention Ashton's stellar sense of humor, use of dialogue, and handle on suspense. I was freaking out from page one..."

Contemporary Mythic Fantasy / Mythic Fiction / Action-Adventure

Thanks!
D

u/jhcopp · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

This sums them all up pretty well.

In all seriousness, you might want to give a little more specificity here. Are you looking go learn more about the events in the book? Do you just want to see what everyone thinks is important? There's a whole lot covered and a whole lot to summarize.

u/natarey · 1 pointr/reddit.com

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!

u/TsaristMustache · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

Check out the book Over the Nine Waves

u/The_Lost_King · 1 pointr/writinghelp

I've enjoyed thumbing through An Encyclopedia of Fairies for ideas for my world that uses a mix of Celtic and Christian mythology(possibly some Norse later).

This encyclopedia of spirits interested me, but I didn't end up grabbing it because it also focuses on using these spirits and like to do spells and that wasn't what I was interested in.

Frankly, finding any book that compiles legends together will give monsters. For my the afore mentioned world I'm using The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends to learn about Celtic mythology and it's creatures.

/r/mythology might also be helpful to ask as it's a subreddit about such things.

u/HiuGregg · 1 pointr/Fantasy

Paternus by Dyrk Ashton (/u/UnDyrk)

>The gods and monsters of myth have returned. In a breathtaking story that takes place in a single day, Fi and Zeke are caught up in the final battle of a war that's been waged since the dawn of time.

>Gods, monsters, angels, devils. Call them what you like. They exist. The epic battles between titans, giants, and gods, heaven and hell, the forces of light and darkness. They happened. And the war isn't over.

>17 year old Fi Patterson lives with her stuffy English uncle and has an internship at a local hospital for the aged. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, misses her dead mother, wonders about the father she never knew. One bright spot is caring for Peter, a dementia-ridden old man whose faraway smile can make her whole day. And there's her conflicted attraction to Zeke -- awkward, brilliant, talented -- who plays guitar for the old folks. Then a group of very strange and frightening men show up for a "visit"...

>Fi and Zeke's worlds are shattered as their typical everyday concerns are suddenly replaced by the immediate need to stay alive -- and they try to come to grips with the unimaginable reality of the Firstborn.

>"Keep an open mind. And forget everything you know..."

Dyrk has also offered to gift the book to up to 10 randomly-drawn folks for whichever month his book has been chosen. If you ever see the man, buy him a beer. Unless he doesn't drink... in which case, I dunno... Chuck a lettuce at him.

u/ArgentStonecutter · 1 pointr/furry
u/millicow · 1 pointr/Celtic

Amazon has a Kindle version here. I don't know how it works or if you will get a PDF, but it is a digital copy either way.

u/Quadell · 1 pointr/AcademicBiblical

A lot of people have left some excellent suggestions here. I just want to point out that "From Gods to God" is just $21.46 for the paperback or $9.99 for the Kindle edition, on Amazon. But really, that book is more of an entertaining look at different biblical stories and what we can tell about how they developed, rather than a comprehensive overview like Mark Smith or Karen Armstrong give.

u/surfnaked · 1 pointr/AdviceAnimals
u/Jamessonia · 1 pointr/lotr

I got The Hobbit and LOTR in that art style from Barnes & Noble. I found both the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales in the same style on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0544338014/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1QXTFDF6E1WXL&coliid=I3NTWYDF0H4I6S).

u/D0ntEatPaper · 1 pointr/ProgressionFantasy

Sure. Theres six books in the series, and a fair bit of progression. https://www.amazon.com/Early-Years-Beginning-After-Book-ebook/dp/B01B1DNB3C

u/UnaccompaniedMinor · 1 pointr/booksuggestions

Nicobobinus by Terry Jones.

It's been a while since I read it but I do remember liking it a lot. And I love The Enchanted Forest Chronicles!

Edit to add: Not a novel but if you like dragons you should check out The Flight of the Dragons by Peter Dickinson

u/Erra-Epiri · 1 pointr/pagan

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.

u/failed_novelty · 1 pointr/playitforward

There is a book, called The Flight of Dragons which postulates a way in which dragons could have evolved, explaining many of the myths associated with them.

Essentially, they were gigantic gas bags, filled with hydrogen. They produced a potent acid which ate away at a calcium-rich structure in their bodies (which they replenished when they fed) to produce hydrogen. This gave them flight, and powered their firey breath.

It's well worth a read.

This, however, is always well worth a watch/listen.

Finally, I'd just like to point out that I've never played Skyrim, so I have no good dragon stories from there :(

u/Talmor · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

In addition to the excellent recommendations already given (Particularly Malory!), I would recommend Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle, starting with Taliesin. They're not really the classic stories, and only vaguely coincide with actual history, but they're a fascinating take on the mythos.

My first take on the story of Arthur was (The Sword and the Circle)[https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Circle-Arthur-Knights-Round/dp/0140371494/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QFY46WBNPPC43B2KVRSQ] by Rosemary Sutcliff. I remember it being "kid friendly" in that it was written for younger readers, but certainly not "kiddified"--the violence and incest and all that is still present, just not hyper-focused on More of a traditional retelling.

u/Pickleburp · 1 pointr/asatru

I'm currently learning to read runes, I've been doing Tarot cards for a few years, and I'm a guy. I know there are sources that call it ergi for a man to learn magic, but I also believe that Asatru is a "best guess" religion - with limited sources, we can do our best to reconstruct what it was, but the reality is we need to build a religion that is constructed as much on the old ways as we can, but it needs to function in our world today as well. That also applies to those who claim the runes have no magic properties. My belief (and this is just mine) is that anything we use as a magical device, emblem, etc. and that we put our faith in as such becomes magic through the process. So again, there is ample evidence that our ancestors put some faith in the magical abilities of runes, and regardless of what other scholars might say, if you put your faith in it then it will be so. That might be a Wiccan attitude, but it is what it is.

By the way, when I say I'm learning to read runes, I mean in a sense of learning the language better. I have a set of runes and a bag, but after a little experimentation I felt like this is the type of thing I really needed to familiarize myself with the basis of before doing divination with them. That is part of my goal, along with understanding rune-bindings, but for now I'm content to study the runes themselves.

There are a number of books out there on the topic of Norse magic. The one I see mentioned the most that has sparked my interest is Teutonic Magic by Kendalf Gundarsson. I'm reading Our Troth: Living the Troth by Gundarsson and other authors, and it's good stuff, but so far I haven't seen anything on magical practices (other than citing the other book).

I know there are more on the topic, maybe /u/aleglad can get a better list, his library link is currently not working or I'd reference you there.

u/ToiletMaestro · 1 pointr/Norse

This is a great read. I own it myself and go back to it about once a month, the author is also super nice.

u/extispicy · 1 pointr/DebateAChristian

The book "From Gods to God" suggests something about the Babel narrative which - given the tone of the rest of the book - I suspect it is a bit of midrashy apologetics, so I'd like to hear what you have to say about it. The author's premise is that Jacob's visions of the ladder leading to heaven in Bethel is meant to parallel the story of Babel; as if to say you can only reach God from Canaan, not Babylon.

I'd only ever heard it was an etiological tale for the origins of the name 'Bethel', so I would be curious to find out if there is more to the story.

u/TheManicMonocle · 1 pointr/booksuggestions

If you want celtic myths, this is the one that I’ve read and it was very good!

u/luukdeman111 · 1 pointr/lotr

Actually, I believe the version shown here is the not quite matching one. It doesn’t have the colored ‘arch’ on the lower half of the spine. I know this since I have the exact same versions, and was slightly disappointed when I found they didn’t quite match.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0544338014/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

I think this is the actual matching version of silmarillion. Since it has the same dimensions (the one pictured is smaller than the box-set) and has the same golden accents on the cover that the boxed LotR/Hobbit and Children of Húrin books have you mention.

u/osarusan · 1 pointr/yokai

If you're a fan of yokai.com, I'd also recommend the books The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons and The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits.

u/wockyman · 0 pointsr/reddit.com

Good review. It's been a good while since I read HDM, but a friend of mine read them recently and expressed some of the same feelings about Lyra.

I think that Ropemaker trumps them both. It covers many of the same themes, but more succinctly and personally. But I might just have a soft spot for Peter Dickinson, cause I loved Flight of Dragons as a kid.