Folklore category: 2054 books

‘Perrault’s Fairy Tales’ is a wonderful collection of some true classics of children’s literature. Perrault (1628 – 1703) was among the first writers to bring magical children’s stories into the literary mainstream, proving to his original seventeenth century readers that such works were...

I have been looking on, this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled...

The chief disciple of C. G. Jung, analyst Marie-Louise von Franz uses her vast knowledge of the world of myths, fairy tales, visions, and dreams to examine expressions of the universal symbol of the Anthropos, or Cosmic Man—a universal archetype that embodies humanity's personal as well as collective...

Discover the history of this Wisconsin county known for shipwrecks—and spirits . . . photos included!   Because Door County received its name from “Death’s Door,” the perilous strait with more freshwater shipwrecks than anywhere else in the world, it should be no surprise that the idyllic...

Renowned psychoanalyst Erich Fromm investigates the universal language of symbols, expressed through dream and myths, and how it illuminates our humanity. In this study, Erich Fromm opens up the world of symbolic language, “the one foreign language that each of us must learn.” Understanding...

Bad clowns—those malicious misfits of the midway who terrorize, haunt, and threaten us—have long been a cultural icon. This book describes the history of bad clowns, why clowns go bad, and why many people fear them. Going beyond familiar clowns such as the Joker, Krusty, John Wayne Gacy, and Stephen...

These are wonderful examples of early Hindu writing, with tales showing people how to live ideal lives as husbands, wives kings and servants. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing...

From the international bestselling author of Red Herrings and White Elephants—a curious guide to the hidden histories of classic nursery rhymes. Who was Mary Quite Contrary, or Georgie Porgie? How could Hey Diddle Diddle offer an essential astronomy lesson? Do Jack and Jill actually represent...

The fairy tales collected by the brothers Grimm are among the best known and most widely-read stories in western literature. In recent years commentators such as Bruno Bettelheim have, usually from a psychological perspective, pondered the underlying meaning of the stories, why children are so enthralled...

This volume contains mystical writings of Max Heindel on the little understood subject of Nature Spirits and Nature Forces. To speak of ethers as an avenue of forces conveys no meaning to the average mind, because force is invisible. But to an occult investigator the forces are not merely names such...

Interested in learning more about the religious rites, beliefs and practices of different cultures around the world? Check out W. H. Davenport Adams' Curiosities of Superstition. This important early work of comparative religious study highlights similarities and differences of sacred practices throughout history and around the globe.

The Big Book of Fairy Tales holds true to the rule, that sometimes – the oldest fairy tales are the best! Here is a collection of some of the finest stories from around the globe, including classics from Arabian Nights such as ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Sinbad the Sailor’, Hans Christian Andersen’s...

Wendy Doniger's foundational study is both modern in its engagement with a diverse range of religions and refreshingly classic in its transhistorical, cross-cultural approach. By responsibly analyzing patterns and themes across context, Doniger reinvigorates the comparative reading of religion, tapping...

"Throughout the whole vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet [looked upon] with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious...