Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's first Saint-Germain novel, Hotel Transylvania, was recently nominated as Vampire Novel of the Century. Her Saint-Germain cycle, now comprised of more than twenty-five books, is a masterwork of historical horror fiction. The vampire Count Saint-Germain has crisscrossed the world many times, seeking love and the blood of life and seeing humanity at its best and worst. In Night Pilgrims, Saint-Germain is living in a monastery in Egypt when he is hired to guide a group of pilgrims to underground churches in southern Egypt. The vampire finds a companion in a lovely widow who later fears that her dalliance with the Count will prevent her from reaching Heaven. The pilgrims begin to fall prey to the trials of travel in the Holy Lands; some see visions and hear the word of God; others are seduced by desires for riches and power. A visit to the Chapel of the Holy Grail brings many quarrels to a head; Saint-Germain must use all his diplomacy and a good deal of his strength to keep the pilgrims from slaughtering one another. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Trapped during a storm in a ferry terminal with no food, no electricity, and no cellular signal, these pilgrims of the night pass the time sharing salacious tales that range from adultery to a biblical flood. "In the six tales of PILGRIMS OF THE NIGHT, and in the framing narrative, Jenkin explores many of the raw nerve ends in our society; the deep need to believe an absolute, while at the same time reveling in the gratification of the present; the difference between titillation and satisfaction; the bizarre nature of reality; and the real nature of the bizarre." -Times (Seattle) "Jenkin's PILGRIMS OF THE NIGHT is a wonderful combination of innocence and guile, primitive impulses and sophisticated craft. Zombies, a headless woman, an island paradise, an erotically frustrated fry cook, a psychopathic neurosurgeon, a silver fairy, and a formerly live deer all make memorable impressions." -Post-Intelligencer (Seattle)

This book investigates religious rituals and gender in modern and ancient Greece, with a specific focus on women’s role in connection with healing. How can we come to understand such mainstays of ancient culture as its healing rituals, when the male recorders did not, and could not, know or say much about what occurred, since the rituals were carried out by women? The book proposes that one way of tackling this dilemma is to attend similar healing rituals in modern Greece, carried out by women, and compare the information with ancient sources, thus providing new ways of interpreting the ancient material we possess. Carrying out fieldwork—being present during, often, enduring rituals within cultures, despite other changes—teaches one whole new ways of looking at written and pictorial records of such events. By bringing ancient and modern worlds into mutual illumination, this text also has relevance beyond the Greek context both in time and space.

Robert Ward has always enjoyed travelling, especially on foot. When he discovered the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago in Spain, he felt compelled to walk and experience this historic road. From his first journey along the Camino de Santiago, Ward fell in love with the pace, landscape, history, art, and romance of this old pilgrimage path. Above all, however, Ward fell in love with the people of the Camino – both the welcoming Spaniards and the pilgrims who come from all over the world to find out what it means to travel five hundred miles, one step at a time. In All the Good Pilgrims, Ward returns to Spain to walk the Camino for the fifth time. He thinks he knows what he’s getting into but, as his many Camino journeys have taught him, the Camino never runs out of surprises. Each day brings new lessons, friendships, questions, memories, gifts and challenges, reminding Ward that it isn’t the pilgrim who walks the Camino – it’s the Camino that walks the pilgrim. An engaging travel narrative, All the Good Pilgrims is a personal and insightful tour of the Camino de Santiago, as Ward takes readers on a secular pilgrimage in which he reflects on his past journeys and contemplates the mysterious and enduring allure of this ancient and historic road.

Translated from the German from Groote's edition of 1860 and edited with notes and an introduction This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1946.

Forever There is a historical fantasy novel set in Varanasi. The protagonists belong to the family of ‘The weavers of the Gods’. The story revolves around their family, who find themselves embroiled in upheavals and wars amid an extremely tumultuous period in Kashi when skirmishes and destruction were the order of the day. The protégés, mere children, join a band of Warrior Monks to help protect the culture of the land. We see history through the eyes of The Four as they transform into warriors – head of the Elite Forces of the Warrior Monks – battle-scarred, wielding weapons of destruction – feared by the enemy, loved and missed by their family. Be transported to a period when every day brings new adventures to your doorstep. The book looks at history anew, even as value systems change and cultural plates shift. What values must one imbibe? Is diversity positive or negative? Should the world be in only one colour, or should it be in many hues and shades? Do acts of violence upon community and culture destroy the inherent essence of civilisation and culture? Contemporary, poignant, and engaging, this unputdownable book will set your heart aflutter.

Religious heritage and sacred sites offer an opportunity for visitors to explore a community's cultural knowledge. However, it is important to consider the role of interpretation, meaning, experience and narrative. This book is a timely re-assessment of the increasing interconnections between the management of diversity and religious tourism, and secular spaces on a global stage. It explores key learning points from a range of contemporary case studies on religious and pilgrimage activity; these relate to ancient, sacred and emerging tourist destinations, and new forms of pilgrimage, faith systems and quasi-religious activities. By providing a conceptual framework, the book demonstrates the symbolism of sacred spaces within religious traditions and the relationships developed between them. It offers explanations on how to manage and communicate religious diversity and provides a solid overview of: Religious tourism as a tool for intercultural dialogue; Interpretation of religious heritage for tourism; Cross-cultural contacts. This book will provide a valuable resource for those researching and practising tourism management, pilgrimage and religious tourism.

First published in 1978, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture is a classic work examining the theological doctrines, popular notions, and corresponding symbols and images promoting and sustaining Christian pilgrimage. The book examines two major aspects of pilgrimage practice: the significance of context, or the theological conditions giving rise to pilgrimage and the folk traditions enabling worshippers to absorb the meaning of the event; and the images and symbols embodying the experience of pilgrimage and transmitting its visions in varying ways. Retelling its own tales of "mere mortals" confronted by potent visions, such as the man Juan Diego who found redemption with the Lady of Guadalupe and the poor French shepherdess Bernadette whose encounter with the Lady at Lourdes inspired Christians across the globe, this text treats religious visions as both paradox and empowering phenomena, tying them explicitly to the times in which they occurred. Offering vivid vignettes of social history, it extends their importance beyond the realm of the religious to our own conceptions of reality. Extensively revised throughout, this edition includes a new introduction by the theologian Deborah Ross situating the book within the work of Victor and Edith Turner and among the movements of contemporary culture. She addresses the study's legacy within the discipline, especially its hermeneutical framework, which introduced a novel method of describing and interpreting pilgrimage. She also credits the Turners with cementing the link between mysticism, popular devotion, and Christian culture, as well as their recognition of the relationship between pilgrimage and the deep spiritual needs of human beings. She concludes with various critiques of the Turners' work and suggests future directions for research.