Pagan History

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

In recent years many claims have been made and questions asked about the origins of our Easter traditions. Was the holiday based on Pagan traditions? Was Easter created by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Nicaea? Where did Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny come from? How did Lent get started? Should Christians celebrate Easter, or should we be celebrating Passover? In this book we try to go back to the origins of these traditions and examine the historical evidence available to us to see where all of these traditions got started. Starting with the Bible as our guide, we work our ...

Maat is an ancient Egyptian goddess who represents truth, justice, and balance. She is often associated with the concept of Maat, which is the principle of truth, order, justice, and balance in the Universe. Followers of Maat believe that it is our responsibility to uphold these principles in our own lives and the world around us.

A father cleans up after his toddler and imagines a cup that won't spill. An engineer watches people using walkie-talkies and has an idea. A doctor figures out how to deliver patients to the operating room before they die. By studying inventions like these—the sippy cup, the cell phone, and an ingenious hospital bed—we can learn how people imagine their way around "impossible" problems to discover groundbreaking answers. Pagan Kennedy reports on how these enduring methods can be adapted to the twenty-first century.

Have you ever wanted to understand the sophisticated belief systems of ancient religions? Have you always been intrigued by the intricate mythologies of Greece and Rome? Were you compelled toward the mysterious and spiritual nature of the universe but did not know how to access it? If so, then you've found the right audiobook! You can learn about the history and diversity of Paganism and how Paganism exists today.

In the late 1880s, Pleasant Valley, Arizona, descended into a nightmare of violence, murder, and mayhem. By the time the Pleasant Valley War was over, 18 men were dead, four were wounded, and one was missing, never to be found. Valley of the Guns explores the reasons for the violence that engulfed the settlement, turning neighbors, families, and friends against one another.

The year is AD641 and the great Oswald of Northumbria, bretwalda over England, must battle against an alliance of the old Britons and the Saxons led by Penda of the Hwicce, the victor of Hæ∂feld nine years before, the only Saxon leader seemingly immune to Oswald's beguiling talk of the new Christianity spreading through England from both the north and the south.

This comprehensive book will teach you all about Wicca and witchcraft, including how to practice alone; useful tools and supplies; best ways to find a join a coven; blessings, charms, and spells; and more.

Sabbats, or Wiccan holidays, are timed the Earth's rhythms and seasons. Sabbats celebrate the Earth's journey around the sun, also known as the Wheel of the Year, while Wiccans commemorate Sabbats as Turning the Wheel. Wiccans normally celebrate eight Sabbats each year. Take advantage of this great opportunity to learn all you ever wanted to know about the Wiccan and Pagan holidays. Listen to learn more! Blessed be!

Although many have heard of the Crusades and some of the more famous orders like the Templars, few know about the Livonian Crusade or the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. This organization was one of many Catholic military orders that sprung up during the Middle Ages in response to the papacy’s call for holy war, and the Livonian Crusade is the term used to group together dozens of military actions undertaken by German knights in Eastern Europe. The order was also significant for consolidating the power of the Holy Roman Empire in Eastern Europe.

Joseph McCabe (1867-1955) was a Catholic priest and scholar who abandoned his faith in the 1890s and later became a very prominent secular activist. He published over 250 books and pamphlets, covering a wide range of genres, including history, politics, biography, and popular science.

This two-volume history of the supernatural, first published in 1863, is a staggering feat: extending his work across almost a thousand pages, William Howitt attempts to describe the engagement with the supernatural in all ages and all parts of the world in order to identify a common link between them. Howitt (1792-1879), a well-known writer in his day, published over 50 books in his lifetime, some in collaboration with his wife, writer and translator Mary Howitt. His interest in the supernatural was precipitated by the untimely deaths of two sons.

There is no exact explanation of the word “pagan” - no explanation that you could understand in less than a month. To properly understand the depths of Paganism, you need to know where it all started - and how it developed throughout generations. Ultimately, it is thanks to this book that you will either satisfy your curiosity, or get a better idea of where your beliefs lie. Hence, you need not wait any longer!

With little more than a run-down Jeep and their newborn baby in tow, author Micah Perks' parents set out in 1963 to build a school and a utopian community in the mountains. The school would become known as a place to send teens with drug addictions and emotional problems, children with whom Micah and her sister would grow up. This complex memoir mixes a moving celebration of the utopian spirit and its desire for community and freedom with a lacerating critique of the consequences of those desires - especially for the children involved.

Wicca is for everyone who desires to be one with nature. there are a lot of reasons as to why people convert to the wiccan belief, all of which will be discussed in this book. With this book at the palm of your hand, we will guide you through your journey - from learning all about the history of the said religion, dispelling any myths surrounding its principles, the basics of Witchcraft, the tools and devices used by the followers of the Wiccan religion and modern paganism, and so forth.

A businessman struggles with his luggage at an airport and pioneers the wheeled suitcase. An engineer watches people using walkie-talkies and dreams up the mobile phone. A printer is frustrated by his unpredictable inks and creates the Pantone colour system. Why were these particular people able to identify problems, and how did they discover the solutions that everyone else missed? Where exactly did their great ideas come from, and how did they go about making them into reality?

In this third and final part of The Commandment Trilogy, two "casualties of life," Zachary, the failed hermit, and Leila, the ostracized nun, travel from the the Nile valley on a final life journey, this time together. Set in exotic but little-known fourth-century A.D. Egypt, their journey sheds a unique light on the early development of Christianity -- both its good and its bad sides.