The Risen Goddess

Since the early 1990s, the shrine of Ba Chua Xu, the Lady of the Realm, has become the most visited religious site in southern Vietnam, receiving more than a million visitors annually. Mother, benevolent creditor, healer, relationship advisor, business consultant, the Lady of the Realm is one of a group of goddesses whose shrines attract devotees from all corners of rural and urban society. Goddess on the Rise follows these pilgrims' pathways, taking readers on a journey through a cultural landscape of popular rites, beliefs, and exegesis into a world where female deities reign supreme. Philip Taylor's in-depth study of pilgrimage introduces readers to the practical expectations, passions, and controversies that surround the goddesses, bringing to life the effervescence, creativity, and flux of modern Vietnamese religion. He offers important insights into people's everyday experience of the profound economic, cultural, and social transformations underway in this socialist country.

This book explores the rise of the Great Goddess by focusing on the development of saakti (creative energy), maya (objective illusion), and prakr(materiality) from Vedic times to the late Puranic period, clarifying how these principles became central to her theology.

How much would you sacrifice to free the one you love from a dark curse of evil and hate? Your destiny? Your existence? Everything? FINALIST - BOOK AWARD - PAGE TURNER AWARDS 2021 In a world older than time, a portal stirs from its long slumber. From out of its cerulean mists, the warship of the scion of darkness and destroyer of worlds emerges. With its gods long gone, Elati is a world ripe for the taking. Marduk intends to take it all. Corrupted by Marduk's devices, Sethi succumbs to the grip of evil. A brutal, merciless commander, he oppresses the kingdoms of Elati, his violence awakening a weapon of the deepest darkness. Poisoned by lies and tainted by hate, he thirsts for its power to obliterate the light of the one he once loved beyond all reason. Desperate to reprieve Sethi from his corruption, Istara pursues her last hope, risking everything to retrieve powerful artifacts of Thoth's, her light her only defense against the growing darkness-and the one determined to annihilate her. Bound by love and driven by duty, Urhi-Teshub reaches the threshold of his destiny, where he faces the horrifying price he must pay to protect Istara. And at the heart of an abandoned island of gods, surrounded by an endless storm, an eternal tower awaits. Caught in the crosshairs of a primordial war for supremacy, Sethi and Istara must face each other one final time. Darkness and light. Enemies. Lovers. Gods. The Rise of the Goddess is the final book in the Transcendence series.

An innovative and multidimensional account of translocal religious practice, this sophisticated study, the first of its kind for Vietnam, blurs disciplinary boundaries and disrupts preconceived images of Vietnamese society.

Deep in the wildwood, an old power is stirring… Alise thought she was ready for anything, until Otherworld almost undid her. Drake watched it happen, and now he can’t seem to forget. He’s as surprised as anyone when he can’t get the raven-haired witch out of his mind. He’s accustomed to being the irresistible one. Alise understands magic. She lives and breathes it. But she’s never dealt with anything like the magic in Otherworld. Not until she rushed to her best friend’s rescue and almost lost her wits to the Land of the Young. When she wakes up in Otherworld, a mysterious connection to the place haunts her. Her former life seems so far away…unreachable. And she has a more immediate concern. She would never have expected to find Drake, notorious agent of the Sidhe Authority, sitting vigil for her. While she’s grateful, she’s not at all interested in that look in his eyes. They’ve always clashed. The man doesn’t have a loyal bone in his body. And Alise isn’t the forgiving sort. But things are different now. Peril hides in every Otherworld shadow, and a dangerous presence lurks in every strange dream… Continue the Of the Blood series with Alise and Drake's romance -- otherworld adventure awaits! Search terms: fantasy romance, paranormal romance, PNR, magic, fantasy love, love, fae, sidhe, portal, otherworld, underworld, celtic, faery, gods, goddesses, pixie dust, myth, myths, adventure, romance, romance ebook, romance novel, romance series

Provides the first critical evaluation by a qualified scholar of the theological, anthropological, and historical claims of the "Goddess" movement, the most influential form of radical feminist spirituality, As its acolytes both within and without traditional churches grow in number, Goddess spirituality is one of the striking religious success stories of our day. Yet few have examined its purported ancient pedigree or its promises of sexual justice and social harmony, claims now exposed as a ridiculous but dangerous sham.