In this illuminating and evocative exploration of the origin and function of storytelling, the author goes beyond the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, arguing that mythmaking evolved as a cultural survival strategy for coping with the constant fear of being killed and eaten by predators. Beginning nearly two million years ago in the Pleistocene era, the first stories, Trout argues, functioned as alarm calls, warning fellow group members about the carnivores lurking in the surroundings. At the earliest period, before the development of language, these rudimentary "stories" would have been acted out. When language appeared with the evolution of the ancestral human brain, stories were recited, memorized, and much later written down as the often bone-chilling myths that have survived to this day. This book takes the reader through the landscape of world mythology to show how our more recent ancestors created myths that portrayed animal predators in four basic ways: as monsters, as gods, as benefactors, and as role models. Each incarnation is a variation of the fear-management technique that enabled early humans not only to survive but to overcome their potentially incapacitating fear of predators. In the final chapter, Trout explores the ways in which our visceral fear of predators is played out in the movies, where both animal and human predators serve to probe and revitalize our capacity to detect and survive danger. Anyone with an interest in mythology, archaeology, folk tales, and the origins of contemporary storytelling will find this book an exciting and provocative exploration into the natural and psychological forces that shaped human culture and gave rise to storytelling and mythmaking.

In this illuminating and evocative exploration of the origin and function of storytelling, the author goes beyond the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, arguing that mythmaking evolved as a cultural survival strategy for coping with the constant fear of being killed and eaten by predators. Beginning nearly two million years ago in the Pleistocene era, the first stories, Trout argues, functioned as alarm calls, warning fellow group members about the carnivores lurking in the surroundings. At the earliest period, before the development of language, these rudimentary "stories" would have been acted out. When language appeared with the evolution of the ancestral human brain, stories were recited, memorized, and much later written down as the often bone-chilling myths that have survived to this day. This book takes the reader through the landscape of world mythology to show how our more recent ancestors created myths that portrayed animal predators in four basic ways: as monsters, as gods, as benefactors, and as role models. Each incarnation is a variation of the fear-management technique that enabled early humans not only to survive but to overcome their potentially incapacitating fear of predators. In the final chapter, Trout explores the ways in which our visceral fear of predators is played out in the movies, where both animal and human predators serve to probe and revitalize our capacity to detect and survive danger. Anyone with an interest in mythology, archaeology, folk tales, and the origins of contemporary storytelling will find this book an exciting and provocative exploration into the natural and psychological forces that shaped human culture and gave rise to storytelling and mythmaking.

101 Weapons of Spiritual Warfare Never in the history of the world has there been an era of war, both physical and spiritual, like this era. This is a tougher era of warfare.More people are under bondage now, more than in any other period of human history. There are cases of deep bondage, uncommon attacks against the family and horrendous occurrences in the lives of individuals. The devil has wreaked a lot of havoc upon humanity. The bible has described in vivid terms that God is aware of the high spate of demonic hostilities. Hence the Holy Spirit has released the prophetic revelations in this book in order to place us in good stead for a unique role in this end times. This manual is the first of its kind. This is the apex of deliverance. We are the threshold of a revival of spiritual warfare. The sweeping and the far reaching effect shall be best described as awesome!

Folk riddles, emblems, charms, and chants are a few of the traditional forms examined by Andrew Welsh to discover the means by which poetic language achieves its powerful effects. His book shows how the roots of lyric are embodied in primitive verse forms, how they are raised to higher powers in poetry from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, and how an awareness of them can illuminate our reading of the poetry of any age. Andrew Welsh is Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University. Originally published in 1978. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

‘This book can help us trace the secrets of our own body, to see it as a wonder of creation, and to marvel at it time and again with reverence and gratitude...’ – Prof. Dr Volker Fintelmann At a time of increasing volatility in healthcare provision, we are all having to become more responsible for our own well-being. This book – an imaginative, practical and accessible guide to our inner organs – is written for anyone who wants to improve their health and develop resiliency against illness. Although trained as a medical doctor, Olaf Koob has the vision and experience of a holistic physician. He has surveyed diverse medical systems – orthodox medicine, naturopathy, homeopathy, Chinese, ayurvedic and anthroposophic medicine – and found their common substance. Using this knowledge, he relates the essence of each human organ: its position, colour, form, embryonic development, function and characteristic attributes. Thus, the organs begin to tell their own stories, revealing their ‘biography’, physiognomy and the illnesses they are prone to. Inspired by esoteric wisdom, Koob creates living images of the pancreas and the hormone system and shows how the spleen, liver, gall bladder, heart, kidneys, lungs and reproductive organs relate to the wider cosmos. He describes the nature of poison and detoxification, good and bad nutrition and the importance of secretion and elimination. If the Organs Could Speak is a unique work that enables us to think more creatively about our bodies and how they function, and to help us cope with crises, suffering and pain.

While topics such as death, funerary cult, and the netherworld have received considerable scholarly attention in the context of the Ugaritic textual corpus, the related concept of life has been relatively neglected. Life and Mortality in Ugaritic takes as its premise that one cannot grasp the significance of mwt (“to die”) without first having wrestled with the concept of ḥyy (“to live”). In this book, Matthew McAffee takes a lexical approach to the study of life and death in the Ugaritic textual corpus. He identifies and analyzes the Ugaritic terms most commonly used to talk about life and mortality in order to construct a more representative framework of the ancient perspective on these topics, and he concludes by synthesizing the results of this lexical study into a broader literary discussion that considers, among other things, the implications for our understanding of the first-millennium Katumuwa stele from Zincirli. McAffee’s study complements previous scholarly work in this area, which has tended to rely on conceptual and theoretical treatment of mortality, and advances the discussion by providing a more focused lexical analysis of the Ugaritic terms in question. It will be of interest to Semitic scholars and those who study Ugaritic in particular, in addition to students of the culture of the ancient Levant.

This latest commentary in the Belief series looks at Paul's theological wrestling with the divisions facing the early church in Corinth. These divisions arose for many reasons, among them the practices of the community: baptism,the Lord's Supper, preaching, and the exercise of spiritual gifts. The contemporary church in North America is likewise dealing with divisions of various sorts. Who can preach? Who can celebrate Communion? Who can marry whom? With this commentary Charles L. Campbell helps preachers understand how to better respond to those questions in their own settings.

I was going through some bizarre experiences and experiencing sustained witchcraft attacks for about forty-two years. I was not prepared for these bizarre encounters and so didnt understand what was happening. I only felt the pain, hurt, and social ostracism associated with the attacks. God took over my battles; He taught me how to pray in warfare, sustained me in the trial, took over my battles, and uplifted me in sustained victories. The world must hear my story and know that God is alive, the same yesterday, today, and forever, so that someone else somewhere, going through similar unexplained problems would find succor and solutions to their problems. Through these experiences, I explored the linkages of such attacks to the better understanding, management, and treatment of mental health and behavioral problems of today, and the respective roles for churches, parents and individuals.