Christianity has been in Japan for five centuries, but embraced by less than one percent of the population. It’s a complicated relationship, given the sudden appearance in Japan of Renaissance Catholicism which was utterly unlike the historic faiths of Shinto and Buddhism; Japan had to invent a word for “religion” since Japan did not share the west’s reliance on faith in a personal God. Japan’s views of this “outsider” religion resemble America’s view of the “outsider” Islamic faith. Under...

"Prepare for a sampling of Japanese ghosts and spirits, from sources that include the worlds oldest novel, the urban legends of contemporary Japanese schoolchildren, movies both classic and modern, anime, manga, and more." For hundreds of years Japan has lived in a reality consisting of the real world and the spirit world; sometimes the wall between the two worlds gets thin enough for spirits to cross over. In such a reality, ghost stories have been popular for centuries. Patrick Drazen, a...

well-reviewed survey book now updated with current information and reviewsadopted as college text at Vanderbilt in Nashville, and U of Missouri St. Louisone of the few non-academic books that takes a generalist view of the subject, making it ideal for educators and people still new to the genre or looking for a generous overviewall artwork will be accessed via internet links from publisher's website, making hundreds of more illustrations available than the previous ...

Behind your familiar astrological chart lurks another chart entirely, one whose existence you may never have suspected. It carries your treasures and your wounds. Where the astrologer s predictions and the realities of your life might not in all honesty have lined up, this chart-behind-the-chart will help you see why. This second, hidden chart tells the tale of who you were in a prior lifetime. It speaks of what wounded you then and what work you left undone. It warns of old ghosts that ha...

Humans have been meditating on the Moon since the beginning of our time on earth. As long as there has been anything we could call astrology, it has been central to all theories of celestial influence. But why do astrologers pay so little attention to its phases? In these pages, Steven Forrest, bestselling author of The Inner Sky, shows how we have been blinded to the lunar phases by a set of cultural attitudes now drifting into extinction. He demonstrates that our Celtic ancestor...

See Dragon Ball with new eyes. This book is your cultural tour guide of Dragon Ball, the world’s most recognized anime and manga series.Over 11 years in development, at over 2,000 pages of content, and featuring over 1,800 unique terms, Dragon Ball Culture is a 7 Volume analysis of your favorite series. You will go on an adventure with Son Goku, from Chapter 1 to 194 of the original Dragon Ball series, as we explore every page, every panel, and every sentence, to reveal the hidden ...

All of us have wondered what our birth date says about us, and now The Birthday Oracle can reveal its full significance. With a reading for every day of the year, this fascinating book combines astrological expertise with numerology and tarot to reveal your personality profile and identify your strengths and weaknesses. Consult The Birthday Oracle for insight and direction in all areas of your life:Love and relationshipsWork and careerFriends and social lifePer...

Gahl Sasson's second book, Cosmic Navigator, is like a GPS for the soul. It combines Astrology, the map of where and who we are, with Kabbalah the navigation system that tells us how to get to our goal and avoid those traffic patterns and areas of gridlock in our lives. This three part text is the first book of its kind. Not only is it the first book to use Astrology as a resource for self help, it also weds the wisdom of ancient Kabbalisitic truths with the powerful archetypes of...

The thought-provoking, aesthetically pleasing animated films of Hayao Miyazaki attract audiences well beyond the director's native Japan. Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away were critically acclaimed upon U.S. release, and the earlier My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service have found popularity with Americans on DVD. This critical study of Miyazaki's work begins with an analysis of the visual conventions of manga, Japanese comic books, and anime; an overview of Japanese animated fi...

The year is 2202, and Japan has become the land of moe. Aspiring author Gin Imose and his little sister Kuroha are traveling to TOKYO to meet with the world famous author, Gai Odaira. Kuroha is uninterested in his orthodox literary style, and amazingly is able to read ancient modern Japanese books written in kanji!This fateful encounter sets off a chain of events that could change the course of literary history. Could it be that, long ago, books could be about more than little sist...

Through a simple and effective approach, you are shown how to unlock the vast resources of the intuitive mind. You will learn how to create your own positive readings and interpretations for practical daily use. Everything you need to be your own intuitive astrologer! Whether beginner or advanced practitioner, this book will open new and exciting territories.

Planets in Play is the first foundational book that lets the reader reimagine his or her inner life through the self-exploratory language of astrology. Author Laurence Hillman-a widely respected astrologer with a loyal following and a formidable online presence-reconnects the planets with the character traits given them by the ancients.Whether one accepts astrology as being "real," its language and concepts can go a long way toward helping us see the archetypes that play o...