Discover the celestial myths and cosmic rituals of ancient priests and kings . . . Drawing on intimate knowledge of the more than 1,300 ancient sites he has visited, E. C. Krupp, acclaimed writer and preeminent researcher, takes you to the world's essential sacred places and celestial shrines. Join him on a rich narrative journey to see where the rulers of old communed with the gods of the sky. "Highly recommended to everyone interested in the culture of astronomy and those peoples who practiced it in their own ways."-Sky & Telescope "A lively account of the ways in which our ancestors conceived of and used the heavens."-New Scientist "There can be no doubt that this imaginative and readable work by a widely read and widely traveled author will strike a chord in the minds of a great many modern readers."-Isis "The fact that the book is written by an expert in his field comes through on every page, as does his enthusiasm for the subject."-Astronomy Now "Krupp's indispensable volume is fascinating, well-illustrated, and covers much territory."-Parabola

Discover the celestial myths and cosmic rituals of ancient priests and kings . . . Drawing on intimate knowledge of the more than 1,300 ancient sites he has visited, E. C. Krupp, acclaimed writer and preeminent researcher, takes you to the world's essential sacred places and celestial shrines. Join him on a rich narrative journey to see where the rulers of old communed with the gods of the sky. ""Highly recommended to everyone interested in the culture of astronomy and those peoples who practiced it in their own ways.""-Sky & Telescope ""A lively account of the ways in which our ancestors conceived of and used the heavens.""-New Scientist ""There can be no doubt that this imaginative and readable work by a widely read and widely traveled author will strike a chord in the minds of a great many modern readers.""-Isis ""The fact that the book is written by an expert in his field comes through on every page, as does his enthusiasm for the subject.""-Astronomy Now ""Krupp's indispensable volume is fascinating, well-illustrated, and covers much territory.""-Parabola

Shamanism can be defined as the practice of initiated shamans who are distinguished by their mastery of a range of altered states of consciousness. Shamanism arises from the actions the shaman takes in non-ordinary reality and the results of those actions in ordinary reality. It is not a religion, yet it demands spiritual discipline and personal sacrifice from the mature shaman who seeks the highest stages of mystical development.

Sarah Milledge Nelson’s bold thesis is that the development of states in East Asia—China, Japan, Korea—was an outgrowth of the leadership in smaller communities guided by shamans. Using a mixture of historical documents, mythology, archaeological data, and ethnographic studies of contemporary shamans, she builds a case for shamans being the driving force behind the blossoming of complex societies. More interesting, shamans in East Asia are generally women, who used their access to the spirit world to take leadership roles. This work challenges traditional interpretations growth of Asian states, which is overlaid with later Confucian notions of gender roles. Written at a level accessible for undergraduates, this concise work will be fascinating reading for those interested in East Asian archaeology, politics, and society; in gender roles, and in shamanism.

The seven sisters of the Pleiades are known throughout the world and appear again and again in stories from many cultures. Beginning with her grandmother's tale, Munya Andrews takes the reader to the stars, around and across the planet through Indigenous North America, Australia, Japan and the Pacific, and back through time to Ancient Egypt, India, Greece and South America. She explores the commonalities of legends to discover our common human origins. The Subaru from Japan share much with the young women depicted as birds in the stories from Greece and Indigenous Australia. The Pleiades have been the source of much mythology, wisdom and science over many millennia. The book is also an examination of culture and how culture is expressed through symbols and stories related to stars and other astronomical phenomena. Her work is distinguished from other studies in the field because she brings to it an Indigenous perspective which enriches its interpretative power. No other writer has captured the richness of this mysterious constellation.

The story of unmanned space exploration, from Viking to today Dreams of Other Worlds describes the unmanned space missions that have opened new windows on distant worlds. Spanning four decades of dramatic advances in astronomy and planetary science, this book tells the story of eleven iconic exploratory missions and how they have fundamentally transformed our scientific and cultural perspectives on the universe and our place in it. The journey begins with the Viking and Mars Exploration Rover missions to Mars, which paint a startling picture of a planet at the cusp of habitability. It then moves into the realm of the gas giants with the Voyager probes and Cassini's ongoing exploration of the moons of Saturn. The Stardust probe's dramatic round-trip encounter with a comet is brought vividly to life, as are the SOHO and Hipparcos missions to study the Sun and Milky Way. This stunningly illustrated book also explores how our view of the universe has been brought into sharp focus by NASA's great observatories—Spitzer, Chandra, and Hubble—and how the WMAP mission has provided rare glimpses of the dawn of creation. Dreams of Other Worlds reveals how these unmanned exploratory missions have redefined what it means to be the temporary tenants of a small planet in a vast cosmos.

A study of archaeological evidence for Shamanism in North America and how it links to the archaeology of the mind. Visit our website for sample chapters!