Stories From An Ancient Land

The Wa people have a rich civilization of their own, and a deep history in the mountains of Southeast Asia. Their mythology suggests their land is the first place inhabited by humans, which they care for on behalf of the world. This book introduces aspects of Wa culture, including their approach to the world’s troubles and the lessons others might learn from it. It also presents a new interpretation of Wa headhunting, questioning explanations that see it as a primitive custom, and instead placing it within the fraught history of the last few centuries.

Many of the world's first written records have been found in the area of the Ancient Near East, in what is today known as the Middle East. While many people are familiar with the ancient Israelite literature recorded in the Hebrew Bible, most Near Eastern literature remains a mystery. From an Antique Land lifts the veil from these fascinating writings, explaining the ancient stories in the context of their cultures. From the invention of writing through the conquest of Alexander the Great, expert scholars examine literature originally written in Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Canaanite, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Each chapter includes an overview of the culture, a discussion of literary genres, and descriptions and short analyses of the major literary works. Photos of archaeological remains further illustrate these people and their writings.

A vexatious shapeshifter walks among humans. Shadowy beasts skulk at the edges of the woods. A ghostly apparition haunts a lonely stretch of highway. Spirits and legends rise and join together to protect the north. Land-Water-Sky/Ndè-Tı-Yat’a is the debut novel from Dene author Katłıà. Set in Canada’s far north, this layered composite novel traverses space and time, from a community being stalked by a dark presence, a group of teenagers out for a dangerous joyride, to an archeological site on a mysterious island that holds a powerful secret. Riveting, subtle, and unforgettable, Katłıà gives us a unique perspective into what the world might look like today if Indigenous legends walked amongst us, disguised as humans, and ensures that the spiritual significance and teachings behind the stories of Indigenous legends are respected and honored. We acknowledge the support of Arts Nova Scotia.

Follows four young dreamers and outcasts through time and space, from 1453 Constantinople to the future, as they discover resourcefulness and hope amidst peril.

In today's society it is generally the written word that holds the authority. We are more likely to trust the words found in a history textbook over the version of history retold by a friend – after all, human memory is unreliable, and how can you be sure your friend hasn't embellished the facts? But before humans were writing down their knowledge, they were telling it to each other in the form of stories. The Edge of Memory celebrates the predecessor of written information – the spoken word, tales from our ancestors that have been passed down, transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next. Among the most extensive and best-analysed of these stories are from native Australian cultures. These stories conveyed both practical information and recorded history, describing a lost landscape, often featuring tales of flooding and submergence. These folk traditions are increasingly supported by hard science. Geologists are starting to corroborate the tales through study of climatic data, sediments and land forms; the evidence was there in the stories, but until recently, nobody was listening. In this book, Patrick Nunn unravels the importance of these tales, exploring the science behind folk history from various places – including northwest Europe and India – and what it can tell us about environmental phenomena, from coastal drowning to volcanic eruptions. These stories of real events were passed across the generations, and over thousands of years, and they have broad implications for our understanding of how human societies have developed through the millennia, and ultimately how we respond collectively to changes in climate, our surroundings and the environment we live in.

In this volume you will find a collection of 11 romances from old Japan rendered into English by Yei Theodora Ozaki. This volume is full of tales of honor, adventure, tragedy, and romance. Not only are these good stories, and well told to boot, this volume will, without a doubt, give anyone interested in Japanese culture and literature an insightful and pleasurable experience. To accompany the stories and bring them to life are 15 colour illustrations, plus 16 grey-scale illustrations exquisitely drawn by an unknown illustrator. Herein you will find the stories of: The Quest Of The Sword The Tragedy Of Kesa Gozen The Spirit Of The Lantern The Reincarnation Of Tama The Lady Of The Picture Urasato, Or The Crow Of Dawn Tsubosaka Loyal, Even Unto Death; Or The Sugawara Tragedy How Kinu Returned From The Grave A Cherry-Flower Idyll The Badger-Haunted Temple The volume also contains numerous footnotes which help give readers a greater understanding of the story and the Japanese culture. ========== KEYWORDS/TAGS: folklore, fairy tales, myths, legends, children’s stories, Japan, Japanese, Nippon, romances. illustrated, bedtime stories, quest, sword, tragedy, kesa gozen, spirit, lantern, reincarnation, tama, lady, picture, urasato, crow of dawn, tsubosaka, loyal, unto death; sugawara tragedy, kinu, return, from the grave, cherry-flower idyll, badger-haunted, temple

This travel journal is about my experiences of living with families in Japan for a month in 2006. I experienced so many different changes in one month on an emotional and spiritual level, to different lifestyles, islands and scenery. Living in a family environment, the communication difficulties and the culture of a country 1000’s of years old. This journal speaks of the people I came to know, the food, the scenery, tourist spots, and the culture. All the memories I have will stay forever in my head and heart.