Explaining Mantras explores the intersection of poetry and magic in the mantras or verbal formulas of Hindu Tantra. The author reveals how mantras work in light of both the esoteric tradition of Tantra and a general semiotic theory of ritual. Mantras mimic the act of sexual reproduction and the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction. A mantra that imitates creation is believed to be more creative and effective in producing a real-world result. Drawing from linguistics, semiotics, anthropology and philosophy, as well as the history of religions, the author argues that mantras and other...
Explaining Mantras explores the intersection of poetry and magic in the mantras or verbal formulas of Hindu Tantra. The author reveals how mantras wor...
This book examines how an elite group of traditionalists, historians and theologians shaped Muslims' perceptions of their prophet, their community and their behaviour by retelling and interpreting the story of Muhammad's ascent to heaven (the mi'raj). Although the 'facts' surrounding Muhammad's ascent are lost to historians, the legacy of his journey remains, and has contributed greatly to the construction of shared Islamic history, memory and meaning. Focusing on issues of interpretation, this book collects and translates a number of medieval mi'raj accounts. The narratives of Muhammad's...
This book examines how an elite group of traditionalists, historians and theologians shaped Muslims' perceptions of their prophet, their community and...
For more than a millennium, the fox has been a ubiquitous figure at the margins of the Japanese collective imagination. In the writings of the nobility and the motifs of popular literature, the fox is known as a shapeshifter, able to assume various forms in order to deceive others. Focusing on recurring themes of transformation and duplicity in folklore, theology, and court and village practice, The Fox's Craft explores the meanings and uses of shapeshifter fox imagery in Japanese history. Michael Bathgate finds that the shapeshifting powers of the fox make it a surprisingly fundamental...
For more than a millennium, the fox has been a ubiquitous figure at the margins of the Japanese collective imagination. In the writings of the nobilit...
Steel City Gospel tells the complex story of Pittsburgh citizens' struggle to define and eliminate the problems plaguing their city during the Progressive Era. Despite liberal churches' desire to stay out of politics, Pittsburgh's socially conscious Protestant laity undertook and promoted the city's most significant reform.
Steel City Gospel tells the complex story of Pittsburgh citizens' struggle to define and eliminate the problems plaguing their city during the Progres...
