the-encircled-serpent

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Serpent and dragon symbolism is ubiquitous in the art and mythology of premodern cultures around the world. Over the centuries, conflicting hypotheses have been proposed to interpret this symbolism which, while illuminating, have proved insufficient to the task of revealing a singular meaning for the vast majority of examples. In The Serpent Symbol in Tradition, Dr. Dailey argues that, in what the symbolist Rene Guenon and the historian of religions Mircea Eliade have called 'traditional' or 'archaic' societies, the serpent/dragon transculturally symbolizes matter, a state of being that is constituted by the perception of the physical world as chaotic in comparison to what traditional peoples believed to be the 'higher' meta-physical source of the physical world or 'nature.' In the course of Dr. Dailey's investigations into the meaning of traditional serpent/dragon symbolism, the following contributions have proved invaluable: 1) Guénon's interpretation of the language of traditional symbolism and the metaphysics that underlies it, as well as his interpretation of the terminology of the 'Hindu Doctrines,' 2) Eliade's interpretation of traditional/archaic societies by means of his concepts of chaos, creation, Axis Mundi (World Axis), and 'Sacred and Profane,' and 3) the insights of various other researchers of serpent/dragon symbolism. Beyond purporting to resolve some of the mystery of the ancient and varied symbolism of the serpent/dragon, The Serpent Symbol in Tradition strives to serve the related functions of interpreting the symbolic meanings of a wide variety of premodern artifacts and narratives as well as providing a study of the origination, and ancient human awareness, of the mentioned state of matter.

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Literary quotes and folk tales supplement facts on the behavior, physicial characteristics, and reproductive habits of several snake species.

1900. An illuminating account of the most widespread, comprehensive, persistent, and oldest of all Symbols ever conceived by man. A classic in the field, The Encircled Serpent, offers, in readable and accessible form, esoteric information unobtainable elsewhere. A must read for students and research workers in all fields, particularly the Occult, Psychiatry, Symbolism, Folklore, Religion and History, and for the general reader. See other works available by this author from Kessinger Publishing.

On the plains of Wiltshire in England lie the remains of ancient giant stones. Exactly which people built these stones remains the eternal question. Just like the pyramids of Egypt its origins remain shrouded in mystery. Various theories have been put forward as to the race or otherwise of these builders, but still, much uncertainty remains. The evidence is simply overwhelming that the earliest inhabitants of Britain and Ireland were Blacks. Mythological, archeological, linguistic and other sources have substantiated this remarkable fact. Candid authorities like the British Egyptologists Gerald Massey and Albert Churchward, the Scottish historian David Mac Ritchie, and the British antiquarian Godfrey Higgins, have done exhaustive research and brought many facts to our knowledge. Tacitus, Pliny, Claudian and other writers have described the Blacks they encountered in the British Isles as "Black as Ethiopians," "Cum Nigris Gentibus," "nimble-footed blackamoors," and so on. This book reveals much about the Black presence in the early British Isles, including the "mysterious" builders of Stonehenge. We learn about the Black Fomorians, Partholonians, Nemedians, Firbolgs, Tuatha De Danann, Black Danes, Black Douglases, the giants or Cyclopes and so on. We also learn about the Black serpent-worshiping Druids who built serpentine monuments like those at Avebury and Carnac, as well as the builders of the Round Towers of Ireland. The fact remains, that Blacks have played a very important role in the early history, traditions, religion and so on, of early Britain and elsewhere than is generally known and acknowledged. This is a must-read book.

Just as fetishism was for a long time accepted as a generic term covering all that was nefarious in the customs of the West African tribes, so in the popular mind today, Voodoo and Obeah are interchangeable and signify alike whatever is weird and eerie in the practices of the descendants of these same tribes as they are found throughout the West Indies and the southern portion of the United States. And yet technically, not only are Voodoo and Obeah specifically distinct, one from the other, both in origin and in practice, but if we are to understand the true force and influence which they originally exercised over their devotees, we must dissociate them from the countless other forms of magic, black or white, that have gradually impinged themselves upon them as so many excrescences.

Magic is all around us - in stones, flowers, stars, the dawn wind and the sunset cloud. All we need is the ability to see it, understand it, and apply it. Natural Magic explains how to practise the age-old white magic that village wise women have used for centuries. It deals with the magic of herbs and flowers, of the four elements, of numbers and colours, amulets and talismans, how to read cards, how to interpret dreams, and much more. There are chapters on the secrets of sex magic, and on the use of traditional spells. If you want to learn to charm warts, to cast a love spell, or to plant a magical garden, this book will tell you how. An essentially practical treatise, which sets out to show how magic can be for everyone, and how, indeed, it has always been inherent in human life and nature. Both those who are new to the practice of magic and those with experience will find it delightful reading and an informative handbook for use in daily life.

Friedrich Nietzsche has emerged as one of the most important and influential modern philosophers. For several decades, the book series Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung (MTNF) has set the agenda in a rapidly growing and changing field of Nietzsche scholarship. The scope of the series is interdisciplinary and international in orientation reflects the entire spectrum of research on Nietzsche, from philosophy to literary studies and political theory. The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that undergo a strict peer-review process. The book series is led by an international team of editors, whose work represents the full range of current Nietzsche scholarship.

Understanding the psychodynamics of madness is essential to the therapy of most patients, including those who are not diagnosed as mad in the literal sense. This volume draws on Freud, Jung, recent object relation and self psychologies, and, particularly, the work of Winnicott, Bion and Elkin. It describes and critiques the basic ideas on the dynamics of psychoses and provides a framework for interpretation.

"Sets the stage for an ethnography of menstruation beliefs and will, I predict, be viewed as the opening work of a whole ethnographic tradition . . . will be widely cited."—Anna Meigs, Macalester College "Provides a concise and complete critique of the literature and thinking on menstrual practices and introduces new analyses and concepts with regard to previously unknown material."—Ann L. Wright, University of Arizona

The Caduceus, two entwined snakes set upon a rod, was the ancient symbol of Hermes, the Greek god of merchants. Today, it is a common and popular symbol of the medical and allied professions. This book traces the use of the caduceus symbol and answers the question of how it came to be the symbol of medicine. The book covers its origins in the Greco-Roman world, its use by a medical publisher in the early 19th century, the U.S. army's adoption of the symbol in 1902, and its widespread use after World War I.

This study examines plants associated with ritual purity, fertility, prosperity and life, and plants associated with ritual impurity, sickness, ill fate and death. It provides detail from history, ethnography, religious studies, classics, folklore, ethnobotany and medicine.

The Legends of many cultures claim that the world was once destroyed in a cataclysmic flood. Many cultures also claim that someday the world will again be destroyed in a similar fashion. In the Bible we are told that the disciples once asked Jesus if there would be a warning sign prior to this destructive event. He said that there would indeed a sign. Jesus said that whatever was happening in the Days of Noah will happen again before the end of this age. The Bible has only a few verses about Noah's Flood. So we are forced to turn to the ancient flood legends of over 350 other cultures to learn more about this prophecy. But Noah's days did not end with the flood, he lived for many years afterward. He saw the creation of a tower in Babylon. This is interesting because the Freemasons claim that their Order originated here. Here is the most thorough examination of Freemasonry ever undertaken, using their own texts, to solve the Days of Noah prophecy.

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