This 2-volume study examines the reality of Hindu worship in northern India from the perspective of its popular manifestation. In rural areas, practical Hinduism differed dramatically from organized Vedic Hinduism and included cult worship of a multitude of local deities which were not formally recognized by the Vedas but exerted a greater influence on the rhythms, meanings and decisions of day-to-day life. Crooke's study may have been the first to look at the religion through eyes other than those of missionaries or the Hindu elite, seeking to fill a gap in European intellectual knowledge of India by documenting living traditions in a serious and accessible manner._x000D_ Volume 1:_x000D_ The Godlings of Nature_x000D_ The Heroic and Village Godlings_x000D_ The Godlings of Disease_x000D_ The Worship of the Sainted Dead_x000D_ Worship of the Malevolent Dead_x000D_ Volume 2:_x000D_ The Evil Eye and the Scaring of Ghosts_x000D_ Tree and Serpent Worship_x000D_ Totemism and Fetishism_x000D_ Animal-Worship_x000D_ The Black Art_x000D_ Some Rural Festivals and Ceremonies

Reproduction of the original: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India by W. Crooke

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus of Nazareth makes reference to one of the oldest beliefs in the ancient world - the malignity of an Evil Eye. The Holy Scriptures in their original languages contain no less than twenty-four references to the Evil Eye, although this is obscured by most modern Bible translations. John H. Elliott's Beware the Evil Eye describes this belief and associated practices, its history, its voluminous appearances in ancient cultures, and the extensive research devoted to it over the centuries in order to unravel this enigma for readers who have never heard of the Evil Eye and its presence in the Bible. This is the first of a four-volume work on the Evil Eye.

This exhaustive volume catalogs nearly three thousand demons in the mythologies and lore of virtually every ancient society and most religions. From Aamon, the demon of life and reproduction with the head of a serpent and the body of a wolf in Christian demonology, to Zu, the half-man, half-bird personification of the southern wind and thunder clouds in Sumero-Akkadian mythology, entries offer descriptions of each demon's origins, appearance and cultural significance. Also included are descriptions of the demonic and diabolical members making up the hierarchy of Hell and the numerous species of demons that, according to various folklores, mythologies, and religions, populate the earth and plague mankind. Very thoroughly indexed.

This volume is a study of Chinese food from a cultural and historical perspective. Its focus is on traditional China before establishment of the People's Republic. It identifies and provides comprehensive information on a broad range of Chinese food plants and animals for general readers, as well as for specialists whose interests have led them to