Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits

Download Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN 13 : 9780472107902
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (79 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits by : Georg Luck

Download or read book Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits written by Georg Luck and published by American Mathematical Soc.. This book was released on 2000 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the psychological motivators of early humans

Hellenismos

Download Hellenismos PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
ISBN 13 : 0738743755
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (387 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Hellenismos by : Tony Mierzwicki

Download or read book Hellenismos written by Tony Mierzwicki and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2018-08-08 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heed the Call of the Greek Gods and Goddesses The religion of the ancient Greeks has lain dormant for too long. In Hellenismos, Tony Mierzwicki shows how to bring it back in all of its primal glory. Learn how to forge personal relationships with the ancient Greek deities. Recreate the practices of the Greeks and enjoy the richness of their spiritual practices. Explore this accessible introduction to Greek reconstruction and discover: Ancient Greek history and culture Deities, Daimones, and Heroes Simple daily observances and personal practice The lunar cycle and festival observances Controversial issues regarding Greek reconstruction Praise: "I, for one, welcome Tony Mierzwicki's marvelous work, Hellenismos. In a single volume, it not only fills a vacuum in my education, it clearly and concisely provides fascinating insights into a world to which we are all indebted—a world of gods, and heroes, and spirits, and magick, and all that is great, judicious, and distinct in the western soul."—Lon Milo DuQuette, author of Homemade Magick and Low Magick "Communion with the gods is grounded in everyday practice. Hellenismos provides the reader with the necessary tools to quickly enter into Pagan Greek religion. The book combines an accurate historical understanding with practices updated for today's needs."—Brandy Williams, author of For the Love of the Gods and The Woman Magician "Mierzwicki has succeeded in combining fine scholarship with deep vision to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of Grecian polytheistic theory and practice. His offering brings to life an ancient tradition made relevant for modern times."—Kristoffer Hughes, author of The Book of Celtic Magic, From the Cauldron Born, and The Journey Into Spirit "Hellenismos is an excellent guide to practicing ancient Greek polytheism. Advancing from daily, personal practices, to the sacred lunar month, and finally to the annual festival cycle, Tony gently draws the reader deeper into Hellenic polytheism."—John Opsopaus, author of The Oracles of Apollo and The Pythagorean Tarot "Hellenismos makes an open and shut case for the need to modify the ancient Greek religion to suit the modern world, rather than recreating it faithfully...The author provides a wonderful guide to crafting your own personal path of venerating the ancient Greek gods and goddesses while remaining true to the spirit of the time."—Karen Tate, author of Walking An Ancient Path "In Hellenismos author Tony Mierzwicki provides an invaluable resource for both novice and experienced practitioners of ancient Greek religion...With instructions for holding daily, monthly, and annual observances, this book is nothing less than a toolkit for building your personal Hellenic path."—Alaric Albertsson, author of A Handbook of Saxon Sorcery and Magic and To Walk a Pagan Path

Nature Loves to Hide: An Alternative History of Philosophy

Download Nature Loves to Hide: An Alternative History of Philosophy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 : 0359197906
Total Pages : 476 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (591 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Nature Loves to Hide: An Alternative History of Philosophy by : Paul S. MacDonald

Download or read book Nature Loves to Hide: An Alternative History of Philosophy written by Paul S. MacDonald and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-04-05 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An alternative history of philosophy has endured as a shadowy parallel to standard histories, although it shares many of the same themes. It has its own founding texts in the late ancient Hermetica, from whence flowed three broad streams of thought: alchemy, astrology, and magic. These thinkers' attitude toward philosophy is not one of detached speculation but of active engagement, even intervention. It appeared again in the European Middle Ages, in the Renaissance with Rabelais, Paracelsus, Agrippa, Ficino, and Bruno; and in the early modern period with John Dee, Robert Fludd, Jacob Böhme, Thomas Browne, Kenelm Digby, van Helmont, and Isaac Newton. In the 18th-19th centuries, this book considers Lichtenberg's Fragments, Berkeley's Siris, Swedenborg, Hegel, von Baader, and great Romantics such as Novalis, Goethe, S. T. Coleridge, and E. A. Poe, as well as Nietzsche; and in the 20th century it turns to the great modernist literature of Fernando Pessoa, Robert Musil, Ernst Bloch, and P. K. Dick.

The Philosophizing Muse

Download The Philosophizing Muse PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1443869856
Total Pages : 382 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (438 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Philosophizing Muse by : David Konstan

Download or read book The Philosophizing Muse written by David Konstan and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-10-17 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PIERIDES III, Editors: Myrto Garani and David Konstan Despite the Romans' reputation for being disdainful of abstract speculation, Latin poetry from its very beginning was deeply permeated by Greek philosophy. Philosophical elements and commonplaces have been identified and appreciated in a wide range of writers, but the extent of the Greek philosophical influence, and in particular the impact of Pythagorean, Empedoclean, Epicurean and Stoic doctrines, on Latin verse has never been fully in...

An Introduction to the Ancient World

Download An Introduction to the Ancient World PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134047924
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (34 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis An Introduction to the Ancient World by : Lukas de Blois

Download or read book An Introduction to the Ancient World written by Lukas de Blois and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-10-24 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Integrating the results of scholarly work from the past decade, the authors of An Introduction to the Ancient World, Lukas de Blois and R.J. van der Spek, have fully-updated and revised all sixteen chapters of this best-selling introductory textbook. Covering the history and culture of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome within the framework of a short narrative history of events, this book offers an easily readable, integrated overview for students of history, classics, archaeology and philosophy, whether at college, at undergraduate level or among the wider reading public. This revised second edition offers a new section on early Christianity and more specific information on the religions, economies, and societies of the ancient Near East. There is extended coverage of Greek, Macedonian and Near Eastern history of the fourth to second centuries BC and the history of the Late Roman Republic. The consequences of Julius Caesar’s violent death are covered in more detail, as are the history and society of Imperial Rome. This new edition is: comprehensive: covers 3,000 years of ancient history and provides the basis for a typical one-semester course lavishly illustrated: contains maps, line drawings and plates to support and supplement the text, with updated captions clearly and concisely written: two established and respected university teachers with thirty years' experience in the subject areas well-organized: traces the broad outline of political history but also concentrates on particular topics user-friendly: includes chapter menus, an extensive and expanded bibliography organized by subject area and three appendices, an improved introduction and the addition of an epilogue.

Arcana Mundi: A Collection of Ancient Texts

Download Arcana Mundi: A Collection of Ancient Texts PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 0801888972
Total Pages : 859 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Arcana Mundi: A Collection of Ancient Texts by : Georg Luck

Download or read book Arcana Mundi: A Collection of Ancient Texts written by Georg Luck and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2006-05-06 with total page 859 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover a different way to see classical civilization in this collection of ancient Greek and Roman texts on magic and the occult. Magic, miracles, daemonology, divination, astrology, and alchemy were the arcana mundi, the “secrets of the universe,” of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this path-breaking collection of Greek and Roman writings on magic and the occult, Georg Luck provides a comprehensive sourcebook and introduction to magic as it was practiced by witches and sorcerers, magi and astrologers, in the Greek and Roman worlds. In this new edition, Luck has gathered and translated 130 ancient texts dating from the eighth century BCE through the fourth century CE. Thoroughly revised, this volume offers several new elements: a comprehensive general introduction, an epilogue discussing the persistence of ancient magic into the early Christian and Byzantine eras, and an appendix on the use of mind-altering substances in occult practices. Also added is an extensive glossary of Greek and Latin magical terms. In Arcana Mundi Georg Luck presents a fascinating?and at times startling?alternative vision of the ancient world. “For a long time it was fashionable to ignore the darker and, to us, perhaps, uncomfortable aspects of everyday life in Greece and Rome,” Luck has written. “But we can no longer idealize the Greeks with their “artistic genius” and the Romans with their “sober realism.” Magic and witchcraft, the fear of daemons and ghosts, the wish to manipulate invisible powers?all of this was very much a part of their lives.” “An excellent translation of ancient texts on the subject, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a glimpse into the minds of the everyday people of the times and what made them turn, what made them stop, what made them look over their shoulders.” —Courier-Gazette,(Rockland, Maine) “No one currently at work in ancient magic or related fields can remotely compare with Luck for the breadth and profundity of his knowledge of the literary texts . . . or for the humility and lightness of touch with which he conveys his scholarship.” —Daniel Ogden, author of Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds

Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World

Download Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110376997
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (13 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World by : Jan N. Bremmer

Download or read book Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World written by Jan N. Bremmer and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2014-07-28 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient Mysteries have long attracted the interest of scholars, an interest that goes back at least to the time of the Reformation. After a period of interest around the turn of the twentieth century, recent decades have seen an important study of Walter Burkert (1987). Yet his thematic approach makes it hard to see how the actual initiation into the Mysteries took place. To do precisely that is the aim of this book. It gives a ‘thick description’ of the major Mysteries, not only of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries, but also those located at the interface of Greece and Anatolia: the Mysteries of Samothrace, Imbros and Lemnos as well as those of the Corybants. It then proceeds to look at the Orphic-Bacchic Mysteries, which have become increasingly better understood due to the many discoveries of new texts in the recent times. Having looked at classical Greece we move on to the Roman Empire, where we study not only the lesser Mysteries, which we know especially from Pausanias, but also the new ones of Isis and Mithras. We conclude our book with a discussion of the possible influence of the Mysteries on emerging Christianity. Its detailed references and up-to-date bibliography will make this book indispensable for any scholar interested in the Mysteries and ancient religion, but also for those scholars who work on initiation or esoteric rituals, which were often inspired by the ancient Mysteries.

Living and Cursing in the Roman West

Download Living and Cursing in the Roman West PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350103012
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (51 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Living and Cursing in the Roman West by : Stuart McKie

Download or read book Living and Cursing in the Roman West written by Stuart McKie and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-03-10 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the Roman west, this book examines the rituals of cursing, their cultural contexts, and their impact on the lives of those who practised them. A huge number of Roman curse tablets have been discovered, showing their importance for helping ancient people to cope with various aspects of life. Curse tablets have been relatively neglected by archaeologists and historians. This study not only encourages greater understanding of the individual practice of curse rituals but also reveals how these objects can inform ongoing debates surrounding power, agency and social relationships in the Roman provinces. McKie uses new theoretical models to examine the curse tablets and focuses particularly on the concept of 'lived religion'. This framework reconfigures our understanding of religious and magical practices, allowing much greater appreciation of them as creative processes. Our awareness of the lived experiences of individuals is also encouraged by the application of theoretical approaches from sensory and material turns and through the consideration of comparable ritual practices in modern social contexts. These stimulate new questions of the ancient evidence, especially regarding the motives and motivations behind the curses.

Small Finds and Ancient Social Practices in the Northwest Provinces of the Roman Empire

Download Small Finds and Ancient Social Practices in the Northwest Provinces of the Roman Empire PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxbow Books
ISBN 13 : 1785702572
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (857 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Small Finds and Ancient Social Practices in the Northwest Provinces of the Roman Empire by : Stefanie Hoss

Download or read book Small Finds and Ancient Social Practices in the Northwest Provinces of the Roman Empire written by Stefanie Hoss and published by Oxbow Books. This book was released on 2016-07-31 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small finds – the stuff of everyday life – offer archaeologists a fascinating glimpse into the material lives of the ancient Romans. These objects hold great promise for unravelling the ins and outs of daily life, especially for the social groups, activities, and regions for which few written sources exist. Focusing on amulets, brooches, socks, hobnails, figurines, needles, and other “mundane” artefacts, these 12 papers use small finds to reconstruct social lives and practices in the Roman Northwest provinces. Taking social life broadly, the various contributions offer insights into the everyday use of objects to express social identities, Roman religious practices in the provinces, and life in military communities. By integrating small finds from the Northwest provinces with material, iconographic, and textual evidence from the whole Roman empire, contributors seek to demystify Roman magic and Mithraic religion, discover the latest trends in ancient fashion (socks with sandals!), explore Roman interactions with Neolithic monuments, and explain unusual finds in unexpected places. Throughout, the authors strive to maintain a critical awareness of archaeological contexts and site formation processes to offer interpretations of past peoples and behaviors that most likely reflect the lived reality of the Romans. While the range of topics in this volume gives it wide appeal, scholars working with small finds, religion, dress, and life in the Northwest provinces will find it especially of interest. Small Finds and Ancient Social Practices grew out of a session at the 2014 Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference.

Magic and Superstition in Europe

Download Magic and Superstition in Europe PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 9780742533875
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (338 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Magic and Superstition in Europe by : Michael David Bailey

Download or read book Magic and Superstition in Europe written by Michael David Bailey and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only comprehensive, single-volume survey of magic available, this compelling book traces the history of magic and superstition in Europe from antiquity to the present. Focusing mainly on the medieval and early modern era, Michael Bailey also explores the ancient Near East, classical Greece and Rome, and the spread of magical systems_particularly modern witchcraft or Wicca_from Europe to the United States. He explains how magic was understood, constructed, and frequently condemned and how magical beliefs and practices have changed over time yet also remain vital even today.

A History of Light

Download A History of Light PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1474254209
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (742 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A History of Light by : Junko Theresa Mikuriya

Download or read book A History of Light written by Junko Theresa Mikuriya and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When was photography invented, in 1826 with the first permanent photograph? If we depart from the technologically oriented accounts and consider photography as a philosophical discourse an alternative history appears, one which examines the human impulse to reconstruct the photographic or "the evoking of light†?. It's significance throughout the history of ideas is explored via the Platonic Dialogues, Iamblichus' theurgic writings, and Marsilio Ficino's texts. This alternative history is not a replacement of other narratives of photographic history but rather offers a way of rethinking photography's ontological instability.

Religious Diversity in Late Antiquity

Download Religious Diversity in Late Antiquity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9047444531
Total Pages : 579 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (474 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Religious Diversity in Late Antiquity by :

Download or read book Religious Diversity in Late Antiquity written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2010-05-17 with total page 579 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume in the ongoing Late Antique Archaeology series draws on material and textual evidence to explore the diverse religious world of Late Antiquity. Subjects include Jews and Samaritans, orthodoxy and heresy, pilgrimage, stylites, magic, the sacred and the secular.

Magic and Paganism in Early Christianity

Download Magic and Paganism in Early Christianity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Fortress Press
ISBN 13 : 9781451409390
Total Pages : 156 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (93 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Magic and Paganism in Early Christianity by : Hans-Josef Klauck

Download or read book Magic and Paganism in Early Christianity written by Hans-Josef Klauck and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers: College, university, and seminary students; New Testament scholars

Arcana Mundi

Download Arcana Mundi PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 9780801883460
Total Pages : 572 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (834 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Arcana Mundi by : Georg Luck

Download or read book Arcana Mundi written by Georg Luck and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2006-05-06 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magic, miracles, daemonology, divination, astrology, and alchemy were the arcana mundi, the "secrets of the universe," of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this path-breaking collection of Greek and Roman writings on magic and the occult, Georg Luck provides a comprehensive sourcebook and introduction to magic as it was practiced by witches and sorcerers, magi and astrologers, in the Greek and Roman worlds. In this new edition, Luck has gathered and translated 130 ancient texts dating from the eighth century BCE through the fourth century CE. Thoroughly revised, this volume offers several new elements: a comprehensive general introduction, an epilogue discussing the persistence of ancient magic into the early Christian and Byzantine eras, and an appendix on the use of mind-altering substances in occult practices. Also added is an extensive glossary of Greek and Latin magical terms. In Arcana Mundi Georg Luck presents a fascinating—and at times startling—alternative vision of the ancient world. "For a long time it was fashionable to ignore the darker and, to us, perhaps, uncomfortable aspects of everyday life in Greece and Rome," Luck has written. "But we can no longer idealize the Greeks with their 'artistic genius' and the Romans with their 'sober realism.' Magic and witchcraft, the fear of daemons and ghosts, the wish to manipulate invisible powers—all of this was very much a part of their lives."

Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic

Download Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 900444758X
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (44 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic by : Jesper Sørensen

Download or read book Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic written by Jesper Sørensen and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-05-03 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic ten leading scholars of religion provide up-to-date investigations into these classic domains from historical, anthropological, cognitive, philosophical and theoretical perspectives.

Drawing Down the Moon

Download Drawing Down the Moon PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691230218
Total Pages : 504 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Drawing Down the Moon by : I. I. I. Radcliffe G. G. Edmonds III

Download or read book Drawing Down the Moon written by I. I. I. Radcliffe G. G. Edmonds III and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unparalleled exploration of magic in the Greco-Roman world What did magic mean to the people of ancient Greece and Rome? How did Greeks and Romans not only imagine what magic could do, but also use it to try to influence the world around them? In Drawing Down the Moon, Radcliffe Edmonds, one of the foremost experts on magic, religion, and the occult in the ancient world, provides the most comprehensive account of the varieties of phenomena labeled as magic in classical antiquity. Exploring why certain practices, images, and ideas were labeled as “magic” and set apart from “normal” kinds of practices, Edmonds gives insight into the shifting ideas of religion and the divine in the ancient past and later Western tradition. Using fresh approaches to the history of religions and the social contexts in which magic was exercised, Edmonds delves into the archaeological record and classical literary traditions to examine images of witches, ghosts, and demons as well as the fantastic powers of metamorphosis, erotic attraction, and reversals of nature, such as the famous trick of drawing down the moon. From prayer and divination to astrology and alchemy, Edmonds journeys through all manner of ancient magical rituals and paraphernalia—ancient tablets, spell books, bindings and curses, love charms and healing potions, and amulets and talismans. He considers the ways in which the Greco-Roman discourse of magic was formed amid the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, including Egypt and the Near East. An investigation of the mystical and marvelous, Drawing Down the Moon offers an unparalleled record of the origins, nature, and functions of ancient magic.

On Roman Religion

Download On Roman Religion PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501706799
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis On Roman Religion by : Jörg Rüpke

Download or read book On Roman Religion written by Jörg Rüpke and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-19 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provocative reading for anyone interested in Roman culture in the late Republic and early Empire.― Religious Studies Review Was religious practice in ancient Rome cultic and hostile to individual expression? Or was there, rather, considerable latitude for individual initiative and creativity? Jörg Rüpke, one of the world’s leading authorities on Roman religion, demonstrates in his new book that it was a lived religion with individual appropriations evident at the heart of such rituals as praying, dedicating, making vows, and reading. On Roman Religion definitively dismantles previous approaches that depicted religious practice as uniform and static. Juxtaposing very different, strategic, and even subversive forms of individuality with traditions, their normative claims, and their institutional protections, Rüpke highlights the dynamic character of Rome’s religious institutions and traditions. In Rüpke’s view, lived ancient religion is as much about variations or even outright deviance as it is about attempts and failures to establish or change rules and roles and to communicate them via priesthoods, practices related to images or classified as magic, and literary practices. Rüpke analyzes observations of religious experience by contemporary authors including Propertius, Ovid, and the author of the "Shepherd of Hermas." These authors, in very different ways, reflect on individual appropriation of religion among their contemporaries, and they offer these reflections to their readership or audiences. Rüpke also concentrates on the ways in which literary texts and inscriptions informed the practice of rituals.