Product Description
A collection of beautifully illustrated myths from different parts of the world ... Read more

Product Description
"ACCORDING to a well-known law of our nature, effects suggest causes; and another law, perhaps equally general, impels us to ascribe to the actual and efficient cause the attribute of intelligence. The mind of the deepest philosopher is thus acted upon equally with that of the peasant or the savage; the only difference lies in the nature of the intelligent cause at which they respectively stop. The one pursues the chain of cause and effect, and traces out its various links till he arrives at the great intelligent cause of all, however he may designate him; the other, when unusual phenomena excite his attention, ascribes their production to the immediate agency of some of the inferior beings recognised by his legendary creed..."

360 pages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Useless Without Table of Contents
The Kindle edition is very disappointing - it has no Table of Contents.

The actual book's Table of Contents is lengthy and divided into the mythologies of many places. The Fairy Mythology isn't the sort of book you read cover to cover, but read in small doses, or to look up a particular myth. That's impossible in this edition.

I'm holding on to my dtb until a table of contents is added.
... Read more

Product Description
Some account of the religious beliefs of the West African Negroes, particularly of the Yoruba tribes of Southern Nigeria. ... Read more

Product Description
This study seeks an understanding of one result of the syncretism of Southern African Christianity, namely, the increasing evidence among African Christians of ancestor veneration, belief in possession by alien spirits, dance-induced trancing, and witch beliefs. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This volume examines the Judeo-Christian concept of prophetism from the tenth century BCE to the first century CE and modern African prophetism from the 18th to 20th centuries. It analyzes five main themes: the cosmological significance of the sacred mountain, socio-religious and politico-economic significance of the cosmic mountain, the prophet's role, pilgrimage of eschatological hope motif, and Afro-Israelite common socio-religious and political traditions. ... Read more

Product Description
This text consists of essays on how the African Independent/Indigenous Churches experience and interpret their religion, their relationship to the Black experience, and the effectiveness of religious expression with regard to their needs. Topics include oral history in the Nazareth church, the Iviyo LoFakazi BakaKristu and other renewal movements, theological issues in African Independent Churches, healing, exorcism, and involvement and creative development. ... Read more

Product Description
This text seeks to demonstrate a continuity between Christianity and the Akan/African religio-cultural traditions, by working with the Christian biblical metaphor of the Kingdom of God. It proceeds in five steps: the problem of cultural alienation in contemporary Africa; the way the Kingdom of God functions as a symbol in the preaching of Jesus; an examination of the Akan belief in the Kingship of Onyame, 'God'; the possibility of proclaiming the Christian symbol of the Kingdom to the Akan; and drawing various theological conclusions to demonstrate the affirmation of substantive continuity between Christian and African traditions to pave the way for a Christian theology reflecting an African ethos. ... Read more

Product Description
In a changing South Africa, recovering the meaning and power of African tradition is a matter of crucial importance. This work participates in that recovery by providing a comprehensive guide to research on the indigenous religious heritage of this dynamic country. Detailed reviews of over 600 books, articles, and theses are offered along with introductory essays and detailed annotations that define the field of study. This work plus two forthcoming volumes, Christianity in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography and Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography will become the standard reference work on South African religions. Scholars and students in Religious Studies, Social Anthropology, History, and African Studies will find this set particularly useful. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good Effort
I recommend this book for those who desire an introduction to African approaches to religion. With his anthropological methodology, Fisher attempts to remain objective. The reader will also appreciate the study guides at the end of the chapters that help to reinforce the material.

While simply written, I did catch a couple factual errors: Cecil Rhodes was the capitalist baron of South Africa, not "East Africa" (164); and the term "negritude" is more closely associated with Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.

I also found that Fisher's view of reality is obscured by his assumptions about the normalcy of European culture. It is obviously implicit that he sees his evolutionary assumptions about life in Africa as "scientific" (14), but relegates the etiological stories of the Akan to "myth" (43). Also, I am surprised that a work that utilized an impressive amount of secondary sources did not incorporate the monumental study of Kofi Owusa Mensa (Saturday God and Adventistm in Ghana. Frankfurt: Lang, 1993). In fact, even in discussing the significance of days (22), Fisher never once mentions that Onyame, the supreme being of the Akan, is also known as Onyame Kwame-the Saturday God. He says there are no "shrines to Nyame" (49), but do shrines have to be physical? Can they be temporal? Hopefully a second edition will fill these significant lacunae.

Excellent coverage of an interesting subject.
I have been scouring Amazon for books on the Akan peoples of Western Africa and came up with this one.What a find!Culture, traditional religious beliefs, proverbs, Christianity, and Islam are all here, tied together with a historical perspective that is just what I was looking for. One of the most interesting things was that he uses the book "Things Fall Apart" for much of his discussion.Reading that book at the same time as this one enriched my understanding of both.Definitely worth the time spent. ... Read more