This rare first-hand account, accompanied by 175 photographs of the setting, sacred tools, and costumes, follows each step of the shanar-a Siberian shaman dedication ritual. The Buryats are indigenous people of eastern Siberia, an area which gave rise to the languages from which the term 'shaman' is derived. Shamanism is dependent upon intimate connections to specific places and cultures, and this account of a ceremony celebrates that relationship, while using the ritual as an entry point to explore the living culture of a people obscure to most Western readers. This accessible and authentic guide to true shaman practice reveals the personalities involved and respects the complexities of the Buryat community, thereby achieving greater depth than conventional anthropological studies.

A new and expansive official history of the USPG commissioned to mark the tercentenary in 2001. The first half tells a compelling global story from the mission to the Americas in the 18th century, through the North China Mission in the late 19th century to today's Social Development Programme in Bangladesh. There is a particular focus on the post-1945 period of decolonization, development and dialogue with other religions. The second half is a collection of essays that give a wide range of themes and perspective from a history of missionary wives by Deborah Kirkwood to a discussion of the evolving role of the church in Zambia by Musonda Mwamba.Three Centuries of Mission emphasizes the key instrumentality of the USPG in the emergence of a worldwide network of Churches in the Anglican Communion and their significance in the world at the beginning of the new century.

On July 21, 2020, Thomas Yeoman leaves a cushy office job as a forest service worker and decides to take on the challenge of becoming a demon hunter. Using a special ring, he travels into a small town outside of Las Vegas Nevada, bringing all the tools that his great grandfather used decades before him. When he arrives he befriends an elderly man by the name of Carl Holkin. He is a hunter that has used a special book to seek out and destroy demons as his ancestors did before his time. In the Following months Carl and Thomas work side by side and destroy demons that were created by ancient medicine men of the tribes of Arizona. The book itself has a long list of demons yet to be destroyed and put out of harm?'s way.The first real challenge comes when Thomas and Carl find that Gary Ridgeway has broken out of the prison in Walla Walla Washington. He finds the means to travel to Cerbat and is given an offer that he can t refuse. The Green River Killer decides to let a very powerful demon use his body as a vessel to cause a reign of terror on the citizens of Cerbat, Arizona. The demon itself could best be described as a creature with two big wings that were black and also had an orange colour similar to that of a Phoenix. It had two big fangs and appeared to be very powerful. Anyone that came into its path would surely die. It mentioned in the book of demons as Firewalker. Knowing that they need help, Carl calls upon an old flame that he knew years ago that was a practicing white witch. Thomas Yeoman and Carl Holkin decide to let Olivia Harrington join as a member of their newly formed team. Years ago, Firewalker had slaughtered her husband and child, which made the dealings with this demon personal. Does Thomas and his team-mates come out to the victor in the battle against the most prolific and brutal killer of the 21th Century? You will have to read this work and find out.One day a helicopter flies into a secret lab inside of the mountain of Cerbat. It carries a wounded soldier that was near death. Two scientists by the name of Hans Lokner and Kamran Dolchanez repairs the soldier?'s body with cybernetic technology which has been funded by the Department of Defence. The government wanted them to create an ultimate soldier that was stronger and faster than any of the enemies of the United States. They do the unthinkable and create a man that is able to run hundreds of miles an hour and able to shoot a laser out of his eye. Just when the cyborg is ready to be turned back over the government, Hans uses the cyborg to brutally murder Kamran Dolchanez and use the cyborg for other reasons.Hans, a practitioner of black magic is able to create a way to place the souls of brutal serial killers inside of his newly created cyborg?'s body. The cyborg consumes the souls of John Wayne Gasey, Lizzie Borden and Jeff Dahmer. Hans knew that he needed more souls for his cyborg. Hans and the cyborg travel to Corcoran State Prison in California. The powerful cyborg snaps the neck of an eighty six year old inmate by the name of Charlie Manson and readily consumes his soul. Hans has done the unthinkable; he decides that he wants to create a homemade demi god. With the power to travel in time, Hans and the cyborg decide to travel to different parts of history and consume souls, which makes his cyborg more powerful each time he consumes a soul.Thomas finds another teammate by the name of Drina Calvert. With Carl, Drina and Olivia by his side, they fight to save humanity and put a kink in the plans for Hans to create his demigod. Is Hans Lokner successful or does Thomas and his newly formed team come out as the victors in this fight? You will have to find out by reading this masterfully written work.

Ezidi people (Yezidi/Yazidi) and their culture suffered greatly at the hands of Daesh before, during, and after the 2014 Sinjar (Shingal) Genocide. Since the resulting forced migration, the Ezidi ­community as one of the most marginalised societies in the Middle East has undergone a significant amount of society-wide transformation. New avenues for agency have opened, and Shingali Ezidi women have taken these opportunities to express transformed identities, filling spaces previously unavailable, and altering “traditional” gender roles. This first extensive ethnographic work ever conducted with Ezidi women examines origins and developments of transformations in their female identity and agency. The analysis of their expressions and performances is particularly notable because of the subaltern position under numerous layers of minority, e.g. ethnicity, geography, religion, politics, culture, language, as well as gender. The aim of this study is to investigate the utilisation of subaltern identity to actualise agency among women after genocide.

Inhalt: Christliche und islamische Ausbreitung vom fruehen 18. Jahrhundert bis 1918/19: Mit Beitr�gen von Andreas Feldtkeller, Alex Carmel, Ejal Jakob Eisler, Frank Foerster, Klaus Hock, Viera Pawlikov�-Vilhanov�, Michael Pesek, Sigvard von Sicard, Werner Ustorf, Henry C. Jatti Bredekamp, Ernst Dammann, Hans Heese, Irving Hexham, Ulrich van der Heyden, Elfriede H�ckner, Gunther Pakendorf, Christoff Martin Pauw, Karla Poewe, Johannes W. Raum, Kathrin Roller, Andrea Schultze, Harri Siiskonen, Ursula Trueper. Mission und Gewalt in Asien: Mit Beitr�gen von Michael Bergunder, Albrecht Frenz, Vera Mielke, C. S. Mohanavelu, Andreas Nehring. Christliche Mission und deutsche Kolonialherrschaft in Afrika: Mit Beitr�gen von Cuthbert K. Omari, Ingrid Grienig, Kari Miettinen, Paul Nzacahayo, Gabriel K. Nzalayaimisi, Adja� Paulin Oloukpona-Yinnon, Joseph W. Parsalaw, Sara Pugach, Harald Sippel, Holger Weiss.

Too often are the ideas of religion and science considered mutually exclusive. This short, but powerful manuscript focuses on investigating some of the most important questions surrounding human existence, which multiple philosophers, religions and science have struggled to answer. Where did the universe come from? Does God exist? What is the purpose of human life? These are questions that many do not ponder until the later years of their lives. Others avoid them entirely in fear of the answers. Brought to you by a biologist and medical student with a background in philosophy and Christian theology, this book offers readers an exploration of complex and ever-important scientific, theological, and philosophical concepts blended together in a light-hearted and thought provoking journey towards truth.

An intimate account of an ancient shamanic ritual of Siberia • Illustrated with vivid, full-color photographs throughout • Details the many preparations and ritual objects as well as the struggles of the shamans to complete the ceremony successfully Near the radiant blue waters of Lake Baikal, in the lands where Mongolia, Siberia, and China meet, live the Buryats, an indigenous people little known to the Western world. After seventy years of religious persecution by the Soviet government, they can now pursue their traditional spiritual practices, a unique blend of Tibetan Buddhism and shamanism. There are two distinct shamanic paths in the Buryat tradition: Black shamanism, which draws power from the earth, and White shamanism, which draws power from the sky. In the Buryat Aga region, Black and White shamans conduct rituals together, for the Buryats believe that they are the children of the Swan Mother, descendants of heaven who can unite both sides in harmony. Providing an intimate account of one of the Buryats’ most important shamanic rituals, this book documents a complete Shanar, the ceremony in which a new shaman first contacts his ancestral spirits and receives his power. Through dozens of full-color photographs, the authors detail the preparations of the sacred grounds, ritual objects, and colorful costumes, including the orgay, or shaman’s horns, and vividly illustrate the dynamic motions of the shamans as the spirits enter them. Readers experience the intensity of ancient ritual as the initiate struggles through the rites, encountering unexpected resistance from the spirit world, and the elder shamans uncover ancient grievances that must be addressed before the Shanar can be completed successfully. Interwoven with beautiful translations of Buryat ceremonial songs and chants, this unprecedented view of one of the world’s oldest shamanic traditions allows readers to witness extraordinary forces at work in a ritual that culminates in a cleansing blessing from the heavens themselves.