Myths determine the way cultures understand themselves. The papers in this volume examine culturally specific myths in Britain and the German-speaking world, and compare approaches to the theory of myth, together with the ways in which mythological formations operate in literature, aesthetics and politics ‐ with a focus on the period around 1800. They enquire into the consequences of myth-oriented discourses for the way in which these two cultures understand each other, and in this way make a significant contribution to a more profound approach to intercultural research.

According to the Bible, the number (8) has a special meaning for God, as He chose the 8th day to mark the beginning of the new week. Everything that has a new beginning in the Bible has the number (8) associated with it. Number (8) is the personal number of Jesus. When we add together the (letter values) of the name Jesus in Greek, we get 888. Jesus was called The Christ, the (numerical value) of this title is 1480 (185 x 8). He was Saviour which has the value of 1408 (2 x 8 x 88). Messiah has a (numerical value) of 656 (82 x8). Jesus also called himself the Son of man. The term occurs 88 times and is valued at 2960 (370 x 8). Jesus said, "I am the truth": the (numerical value) of "the truth" is 64 (8 x 8). The last book in the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which has exactly 888 Greek words.

Identifying quickly illusion with deception, we tend to oppose it to the reality of life. However, investigating in this collection of essays illusion's functions in the Arts, which thrives upon illusion and yet maintains its existential roots and meaningfullness in the real, we might wonder about the nature of reality itself. Does not illusion open the seeming confines of factual reality into horizons of imagination which transform it? Does it not, like art, belong essentially to the makeup of human reality? Papers by: Lanfranco Aceti, John Baldacchino, Maria Avelina Cecilia Lafuente, Jo Ann Circosta, Madalina Diaconu, Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei, Brian Grassom, Marguerite Harris, Andrew E. Hershberger, James Carlton Hughes, Lawrence Kimmel, Jung In Kwon, Ruth Ronen, Scott A. Sherer, Joanne Snow-Smith, Max Statkiewicz, Patricia Trutty-Coohill, Daniel Unger, James Werner.