Hockey stars Mike "Crazy" Keats and his new friend, Dakota, are caught in a web of violence which makes winning a championship the least of their concerns. Dakota Smith is in trouble. But Mike "Crazy" Keats doesn't care. He is new to the Seattle Thunderbirds, and Dakota seems like a good guy to have for a friend. Unfortunately, not everyone accepts Dakota's Native North American heritage so easily.

Early humans recognized a profound and spiritual kinship with other species. Hunters gave thanks and even apologies to their prey. And when shamans made their inner journeys between human and spirit realms to bring back healing wisdom they applied on behalf of the tribe, animals often served as their guides and their companions. In more recent times the idea of the animal daemon has been popularized by Philip Pullman in his internationally bestselling trilogy of novels, His Dark Materials. This illuminating book explains how to connect with and channel the unique powers of 50 different spirit animals - a menagerie of creatures, from the wise owl and crafty fox to the tranquil turtle and bold lion. Each entry provides a detailed description of the animal's personality, mythology and innate powers. Helpful text provides readers with clues and meditations for discovering their own spirit animal, as well as information on how other animals can be called on to help with specific aims - from overcoming fear to finding your true destiny. This book is the perfect primer for those seeking access to the wisdom of the animal kingdom

The Nebula Award–winning author of the Alex Benedict novels and the Priscilla Hutchins novels returns to the world of Ancient Shores in a startling and majestic epic. A working stargate dating back more than ten thousand years has been discovered in North Dakota, on a Sioux reservation near Devils Lake. Travel through the gate currently leads to three equally mysterious destinations: (1) an apparently empty garden world, quickly dubbed Eden; (2) a strange maze of underground passageways; or (3) a space station with a view of a galaxy that appears to be the Milky Way. The race to explore and claim the stargate quickly escalates, and those involved divide into opposing camps who view the teleportation technology either as an unprecedented opportunity for scientific research or a disastrous threat to national—if not planetary—security. In the middle of the maelstrom stands Sioux chairman James Walker. One thing is for certain: Questions about what the stargate means for humanity’s role in the galaxy cannot be ignored. Especially since travel through the stargate isn’t necessarily only one way...

This text describes Ojibway, Sauk, and Winnebago (Ho Chunk) Creation Legends, Indian Mounds, and artifacts to describe an east-west trade theory that reflects the development of the Sauk Tribe in America, China, and India. It also describes the use of Indian Mounds as astronomical clocks that physically describe their legends.

This book constitutes the selected papers from the scientific satellite events held in conjunction with the19th International Conference on Service-Oriented Computing, ICSOC 2021. The conference was held Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November 2021. This year, these satellite events were organized around three main tracks, including a workshop track, a demonstration track, and a tutorials track. The ICSOC 2021 workshop track consisted of the following three workshops covering a wide range of topics that fall into the general area of service computing. • International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) • 3rd Workshop on Smart Data Integration and Processing (STRAPS 2021) • International Workshop on AI-enabled Process Automation (AI-PA 2021)

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.

The breathtaking scenery of the Pacific Northwest hides a myriad of dark secrets. From sightings of the Columbia River Sea Serpent, nicknamed "Colossal Claude," to tales of Bigfoot encounters dating back to 1865, strange creatures lurk both on land and at sea. Shipwrecks, drownings, shanghaiing, and nautical superstitions abound. The restless settler spirits of those who lived and died on the Oregon Trail are said to linger alongside apparitions of adventurers and soldiers, while others, including the 1920's-era ghost of a woman in white and a man in top hat haunt places like the Columbia Gorge Hotel. Join author Ira Wesley Kitmacher as he takes you on a journey through one of the most haunted regions in America.

Micah Blueby Amarinda Jones A demon has been waiting one hundred and twenty years for the next chosen one who commands the power of the sapphire. He will stop at nothing to make that woman his own. He needs her power to survive. When a fortuneteller gave Micah Blue a lump of blue rock, the drought in her sex life came to a screaming halt. Dark, erotic dreams of a stranger haunt her nights and a tattooed builder drives her wild with lust during the day. Both men are wicked. One wants to enslave her and one just wants to love her. Ned Langford will do whatever it takes to thwart the demon and keep Micah at his side. Sapphire Teaseby Marilu Mann Ever have your clothes removed by a sexy man as punishment? What if you were trying to steal from him and he is determined to teach you a heated intimate lesson you will never forget? Cath Monroe learns just how much she can take from the man she mistakenly marks as an easy target. Kentaro Ramon introduces the lovely thief to more than his mastery of weapons in this very erotic game of cat and mouse. Winning Bessby Marissa Alwin 1847 Ireland was a place of hardship and devastation, and Bess and her father wouldn't have been able to escape without Colm Devaney. But Bess' feelings for Colm go well beyond gratitude. Now they find themselves together in an immigrant neighborhood in New York City, sharing close quarters. And Bess wants to get even closer. Three things aid Colm's survival-a small bit of savings, his ready fists and his desperate desire to have Bess...in every way possible. Every night he spends in their cramped shack, trying to force himself not to peek at her luscious body as she bathes, is pure torture. The few stolen minutes of passion they finally share are heavenly but leave them both fraught for more. Determined to win Bess and take her far from their dirty, dangerous life, Colm sets his eyes on another prize-an exquisite sapphire that goes to the winner of the fiercest prizefight in Five Points. Lia's Warriorby Natasha Moore As Guardian of the Sapphire Moon, a crystal globe with a sacred sapphire embedded in the center, Lia must witness couples mating after they receive the Moon's blessing. But she can never enjoy the pleasures of the flesh herself. Weary warrior Roark has come back home to try to forget the horrors he's lived through. He always believed Lia was his true mate and his body heats with desire for her. Then he's told it's forbidden to mate with the Guardian. How can he ignore the lust rising between them? But a warrior doesn't take no for an answer. Plaything by Rena Marks Plaything follows Boy Toy but can be read as a standalone story. Jessie has no idea why she agreed to help Silver's sister Scarlett, but something sends her off to a strange city. When her best friend Nina shares with her the story of Silver giving her a magical pendant that controls a boy toy for his birthday month, Jessie wants the same. Yet voodoo creeps her out-you can't trust it. Then she meets Levi Garrett, the resident boy toy. Mr. Alpha Male to a fault, Jessie would love to tell him where to go after telling him exactly how to please her. She has the sapphire pendant but instead of getting a boy toy, Jessie becomes the plaything.

Describing sacred waters and their associated traditions in over thirty countries and across multiple time periods, this book identifies patterns in panhuman hydrolatry. Supplying life’s most basic daily need, freshwater sources were likely the earliest sacred sites, and the first protected and contested resource. Guarded by taboos, rites and supermundane forces, freshwater sources have also been considered thresholds to otherworlds. Often associated also with venerated stones, trees and healing flora, sacred water sources are sites of biocultural diversity. Addressing themes that will shape future water research, this volume examines cultural perceptions of water’s sacrality that can be employed to foster resilient human–environmental relationships in the growing water crises of the twenty-first century. The work combines perspectives from anthropology, archaeology, classics, folklore, geography, geology, history, literature and religious studies.