Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 1403 items
Dangerous Games to Play in the Dark
By Lucia Peters. 2019
What begins as a test of bravery or a sleepover activity—chanting in front of a mirror, riding an elevator alone,…
taking pictures in the dark—can become something . . . dangerous. This compendium collects the most spine-chilling games based on urban legends from around the world. Centuries–old games such as Bloody Mary and Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board are detailed alongside new games from the internet age, like The Answer Man, a sinister voice that whispers secrets to whomever manages to contact him with a cellphone. With step-by-step instructions, historical context, and the stakes for each game, this black handbook is the ideal gift for anyone looking for a late-night thrill—but beware who, or what, may come out to play.Ghosts in a Photograph: A Chronicle
By Myrna Kostash. 2022
In Ghosts in a Photograph, award-winning nonfiction writer Myrna Kostash delves into the lives of her grandparents, all of whom…
moved from Galicia, now present-day Ukraine, to Alberta at the turn of the twentieth century. Discovering a packet of family mementos, Kostash begins questioning what she knows about her extended families’ pasts and whose narrative is allowed to prevail in Canada.This memoir, however, is not just a personal story, but a public one of immigration, partisan allegiance, and the stark differences in how two sets of families survive in a new country: one as homesteaders, the other as working-class Edmontonians. Working within the gaps in history—including the unsolved murder in Ukraine of her great uncle—Kostash uses her remarkable acumen as a writer and researcher to craft a probable narrative to interrogate the idea of straightforward and singular-voiced pasts and the stories we tell ourselves about where we come from.Rich in detail and propelled by vital curiosity, Ghosts in a Photograph is a determined, compelling, and multifaceted family chronicle.The Astrology of Love & Sex: A Modern Compatibility Guide
By Annabel Gat. 2019
Bringing the ancient matchmaking tool of astrology into the 21st century, The Astrology of Love & Sex explores the romantic…
and sensual sides of the zodiac. In 12 detailed chapters, astrologer Annabel Gat divulges how each sign likes to flirt, date, and fool around. Going beyond traditional heteronormative gender roles, the book candidly explores love and lust in today's sexually fluid world. From love philosophies to sexual inclinations, readers will enjoy dissecting and analyzing each passage. With unique compatibility profiles matching every sign and a quiz to identify your star match—wrapped in an all-foil case wtih gilded page edges—this is a fun and comprehensive guide to finding true cosmic love.30 Real Signs from the Afterlife: Recognizing and Understanding Messages from Lost Loved Ones
By Melissa St. Hilaire. 2024
Discover signals from the spirit world and connect with those you've lostSigns of the spirit world are all around us—…
which means contacting loved ones and pets who have passed on is possible. This guide shows you how to communicate with the afterlife by noticing and decoding the signs and messages it sends. Author Melissa St. Hilaire explains the essential steps to sensing and understanding spirit energy, setting good intentions before contacting spirits, making a connection, and maintaining that connection for as long as you want.Know the signs — Be ready when the spirits reach out by exploring 30 different ways they make contact, including paranormal activity, a sudden animal appearance, or targeting your senses.Commune and connect — Learn how to keep communication open with meditation, séances, mementos, and more. Then, learn to strengthen those connections through conduits like candles or crystal balls.The meaning in the message — From phantom flavors to psychic visions and temperature changes, learn how to interpret each sign and understand the guidance it is offering you.Record what you receive — Keep track of your messages from your loved ones with fill-in pages that offer space to describe the details of every sign you encounter and what it meant to you.Open yourself up to the spirits that surround you with help from the 30 Real Signs From the Afterlife.Celtic Druidry: Rituals, Techniques, and Magical Practices
By Ellen Evert Hopman. 2024
• Explains how to make and use the essential tools of a Celtic Druid and how to create Druid rituals…
for seasonal rites, blessings, and other sacred observances • Details Druidic magical techniques and divination practices, as well as plant spells for performing magic with herbs • Explores the Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic pantheon, Druidic cosmology, and the Druidic festivals that occur throughout the year In this authentic handbook for the Celtic Druid path, Ellen Evert Hopman shares lessons, rituals, and magical techniques drawn from the ancient wisdom teachings of the Celts as well as a modern Druid Order created by the leading minds of 20th-century Celtic Reconstructionism. Hopman begins by exploring what we know about the original ancient Druids, citing Druid-contemporary sources such as Caesar and Diodorus Siculus as well as transcriptions of Druid oral teachings. She explains the basic tools and clothing of a Celtic Druid, including instructions for making the essential tools of the craft, such a Crane Bag, the Serpent Staff, and the Apple Branch, the tool used to open a Druid rite. She explores meditation techniques based on ancient texts and discusses the Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic pantheon, Druidic cosmology, and the Druidic festivals that occur throughout the turning of the year. She shares hymns to the Moon and the Sun as well as invocations for connecting with specific deities and elements. She also outlines the basics of Druidic liturgy, enabling you to create Druid rituals for seasonal rites, baby blessings, house blessings, hand-fastings, funerals, and other sacred observances. Detailing Druidic magical techniques, Hopman shares charms and incantations for abundance, protection, and healing as well as plant spells for performing magic with herbs. She discusses many forms of Druidic divination, including interpreting omens and divining with the ancient Irish alphabet, Ogham. Exploring the special connection between humans and Nature, a core component of Druidic practice, the author explains how to bond with Nature and the sacred land as well as examining the connection between Druids and trees. Revealing how to become a modern Druid, this concise yet detailed guide presents everything you need to know to start your journey on the Druidic path.Cannabis Therapy: A Complete Guide
By Wendy Read. 2024
• Examines the endocannabinoid system and explains how cannabis medicine affects the major systems of the body• Looks at more…
than 20 marijuana medicines, describing each medicine&’s time of onset, duration of effect, target areas, and conditions treated• Shares recipes for making simple marijuana medicines as well as detailed instructions for making psychoactive and non-psychoactive teas, tinctures, oils, salves, and aromatherapy remediesIn this in-depth guide to cannabis therapy, written for both health practitioners and those looking for self-care methods, herbalist and holistic healer Wendy Read provides a complete look at why marijuana medicine works, its medical and spiritual uses throughout history, and how to develop a personalized healing plan. She explores the endocannabinoid system (ECS) of the body and how phytocannabinoids interact with it. She addresses the myths and confusion around cannabis, which stem from its history of persecution and propaganda.Looking at cannabis as whole plant medicine, the author examines the many healing components throughout the plant, from flowers to roots, from cannabinoid acids to alkaloids. Outlining how to develop a personalized cannabis therapy plan for yourself or others, the author presents a comprehensive list of more than 20 marijuana medicines for various conditions, including anxiety, PTSD, depression, opioid addiction, Alzheimer&’s Disease, and cancer. The author also shares recipes for making simple marijuana medicines at home as well as detailed instructions for psychoactive and non-psychoactive teas, tinctures, oils, salves, and aromatherapy remedies.Revealing the vast benefits of cannabis therapy, this step-by-step guide shows you how to use marijuana medicine to help restore the balance of mind, body, and spirit.The Occult Sylvia Plath: The Hidden Spiritual Life of the Visionary Poet
By Julia Gordon-Bramer. 2024
• Decodes the alchemical, Qabalistic, hermetic, spiritual, and Tarot-related references in many of Plath&’s poems• Based on more than 15…
years of research, including analysis of Plath&’s unpublished personal writings from the Plath archives at Indiana University• Examines the influences of Plath&’s parents, her early interests in Hermeticism, and her and husband Ted Hughes&’s explorations in the supernatural and the occultSharing her more than 15 years of compelling research—including analysis of Sylvia Plath&’s unpublished calendars, notebooks, scrapbooks, book annotations, and underlinings as well as published memoirs, biographies, letters, journals, and interviews with Plath and her husband, friends, and family—Plath scholar Julia Gordon-Bramer reveals Sylvia Plath&’s enduring interest and active practice in mysticism and the occult from childhood until her tragic death in 1963. She examines Plath&’s early years growing up in a transcendentalist Unitarian church under a brilliant, if stern, Freemason father and a mother who wrote her master&’s dissertation on the famous alchemist Paracelsus. She reveals Plath&’s early knowledge of Hermeticism, how she devoured books on the occult throughout her life, and how, since adolescence, Plath regularly wrote of premonitory dreams. Examining Plath&’s tumultuous marriage with poet Ted Hughes, she looks at their explorations in the supernatural and Hughes&’s mentoring of Plath in meditation, crystal-gazing, astrology, Qabalah, tarot, automatic writing, magical workings, and use of the Ouija board.Looking at Plath&’s writing and her evolution as a person through mystical, political, personal, and historical lenses, Gordon-Bramer shows how Plath&’s poems take on radically new, surprising, and universal meanings—explaining why Hughes perpetually denied that Plath was a &“confessional poet.&” Contrasting the versions in Letters Home with those held in the Plath archives at Indiana University, the author also shows how all occult influences have been rigorously excised from the letters approved for publication by the Plath and Hughes estates. Revealing previously undiscovered meanings deeply rooted in her mystical and occult endeavors, the author shows how Plath&’s writings are much broader than the narrow lens of her tragic autobiography.Zhou Enlai: A Life
By Jian Chen. 2024
The definitive biography of Zhou Enlai, the first premier and preeminent diplomat of the People’s Republic of China, who protected…
his country against the excesses of his boss—Chairman Mao.Zhou Enlai spent twenty-seven years as premier of the People’s Republic of China and ten as its foreign minister. He was the architect of the country’s administrative apparatus and its relationship to the world, as well as its legendary spymaster. Richard Nixon proclaimed him “the greatest statesman of our era.” Yet Zhou has always been overshadowed by Chairman Mao. Chen Jian brings Zhou into the light, offering a nuanced portrait of his complex life as a revolutionary, a master diplomat, and a man with his own vision and aspirations who did much to make China, as well as the larger world, what it is today.Born to a declining mandarin family in 1898, Zhou received a classical education and as a teenager spent time in Japan. As a young man, driven by the desire for China’s development, Zhou embraced the communist revolution as a vehicle of China’s salvation. He helped Mao govern through a series of transformations, including the disastrous Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Yet, as Chen shows, Zhou was never a committed Maoist. His extraordinary political and bureaucratic skill, combined with his centrist approaches, enabled him to mitigate the enormous damage caused by Mao’s radicalism.When Zhou died in 1976, the PRC that we know of was not yet visible on the horizon; he never saw glistening twenty-first-century Shanghai or the broader emergence of Chinese capitalism. But it was Zhou’s work that shaped the nation whose influence and power are today felt in every corner of the globe.Gunboat Command: The Biography of Lieutenant Commander Robert Hichens DSO* DSC** RNVR
By Antony Hichens. 2014
This biography draws heavily on the personal diaries of the subject, Robert Hichens (or Hitch as he was universally known).After…
a brief description of his early life, time at Oxford, his motor racing achievements (including trophies at Le Mans in his Aston Martin) and RN training, the book focuses on his exceptional wartime experiences. Hitch was the most highly decorated RNVR officer of the war with two DSOs, three DSCs and three Mentions in Despatches. He was recommended for a posthumous VC. We read of his early days in vulnerable minesweepers and the Dunkirk Dynamo operation, (his first DSC).In late 1940 he joined Coastal Forces serving in the very fast MGBs, soon earning his own command and shortly after command of his Flotilla. He was the first to capture an E-Boat. His successful leadership led to many more successes and his reputation as a fearless and dynamic leader remains a legend today.The book contains detailed and graphic accounts of running battles against the more heavily armed E-boats. Tragically he was killed in action in April 1943, having refused promotion and a job ashore.Louis XIV: The Real Sun King
By Aurora Von Goeth, Jules Harper. 2018
A concise, straightforward biography of the seventeenth-century French monarch and his seventy-two-year reign. Innovator. Tyrant. Consummate showman. Passionate lover of…
women. After the death of King Louis XIII in 1643, the French crown went to his first-born son and heir, four-year old Louis XIV. In the extraordinary seventy-two years that followed, Louis le Grand—France&’s self-styled &“Sun King&”—ruled France and its people, leaving his unique and permanent mark on history and shaping fashion, art, culture and architecture like none other before. This frank and concise book gives the reader a personal glimpse into the Sun King&’s life and times as we follow his rise in power and influence: from a miraculous royal birth no one ever expected to the rise of king as absolute monarch, through the evolution of the glittering Château de Versailles, scandals and poison, four wars and many more mistresses . . . right up to his final days. Absolute monarch. Appointed by God. This is Louis XIV, the man. We will uncover his glorious and not-so-glorious obsessions. His debilitating health issues. His drive and passions. And we will dispel some myths, plus reveal the people in his intimate circle working behind the scenes on the Louis propaganda machine to ensure his legacy stayed in the history books forever. This easy-to-read narrative is accompanied by a plethora of little-known artworks, so if you&’re a Louis XIV fan or student, or just eager to know more about France&’s most famous king, we invite you to delve into court life of seventeenth-century French aristocracy, the period known as Le Grand Siècle—&“The Grand Century.&”How Churchill Waged War: The Most Challenging Decisions of the Second World War
By Allen Packwood. 2019
An analytical investigation into Prime Minister Winston Churchill&’s decision-making process during every stage of World War II. When Winston…
Churchill accepted the position of Prime Minister in May 1940, he insisted in also becoming Minister of Defence. This, though, meant that he alone would be responsible for the success or failure of Britain&’s war effort. It also meant that he would be faced with many monumental challenges and utterly crucial decisions upon which the fate of Britain and the free world rested. With the limited resources available to the UK, Churchill had to pinpoint where his country&’s priorities lay. He had to respond to the collapse of France, decide if Britain should adopt a defensive or offensive strategy, choose if Egypt and the war in North Africa should take precedence over Singapore and the UK&’s empire in the East, determine how much support to give the Soviet Union, and how much power to give the United States in controlling the direction of the war. In this insightful investigation into Churchill&’s conduct during the Second World War, Allen Packwood, BA, MPhil (Cantab), FRHistS, the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, enables the reader to share the agonies and uncertainties faced by Churchill at each crucial stage of the war. How Churchill responded to each challenge is analyzed in great detail and the conclusions Packwood draws are as uncompromising as those made by Britain&’s wartime leader as he negotiated his country through its darkest days.Lady Under Fire on the Western Front: The Great War Letters of Lady Dorothie Feilding MM
By Andrew Hallam, Nicola Hallam. 2010
When Britain went to war in 1914 many people rallied to the cause, determined to join the colors or be…
useful in some other way. Lady Dorothie Mary Evelyn Feilding was one of the latter. ‘Lady D spent almost three years on the Western Front in Belgium driving ambulances for the Munro Motor Ambulance Corps, an all-volunteer unit. During her time in Flanders her bravery was such that she received the Belgian Order of Leopold, the French Croix de Guerre and was the first woman to be awarded the British Military Medal. She wrote home to Newnham Paddox, near Rugby, almost daily. Her letters reflect the mundane, tragedy and horror of war and also the tensions of being a woman at the front contending with shells, gossip, funding, lice, vehicle maintenance and inconvenient marriage proposals. Though Dorothie was the daughter of an Earl and from a privileged upbringing she had an easy attitude that transcended social boundaries and that endeared her to all that she came in to contact with whether royalty or the ordinary fighting man.To Hell and Back: The Classic Memoir of World War II by America's Most Decorated Soldier
By Audie Murphy. 1949
The classic bestselling war memoir by the most decorated American soldier in World War II. Originally published in 1949, To…
Hell and Back was a smash bestseller for fourteen weeks and later became a major motion picture starring Audie Murphy as himself. Many decades later, this classic wartime memoir is just as gripping as it was then. Desperate to see action but rejected by both the marines and paratroopers because he was too short, Murphy eventually found a home with the infantry. He fought through campaigns in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Although still under twenty-one years old on V-E Day, he was credited with having killed, captured, or wounded 240 Germans. He emerged from the war as America's most decorated soldier, having received twenty-one medals, including our highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor. To Hell and Back is a powerfully real portrayal of American GI's at war.Simply because no two brides (or astrological signs) are ever the same. . . .Congratulations, bride-to-be! You're newly engaged, you've…
flashed your ring to all your neighbors, and you've called all your friends and family with the exciting news—so what do you do next? Read your horoscope, of course! You've been following the stars ever since you can remember, and now you can use astrology as a tool to plan the biggest day of your life! Never Throw Rice at a Pisces helps you use the powers of your astrological sign to make your wedding relaxed, romantic, and magically memorable. Astrologer Stacey Wolf gives smart, easy-to-use sign-specific advice on topics such as:• Vows to inspire a Scorpio bride and Cancer groom• How to talk a headstrong Aries groom into just about anything• The perfect cake for a whimsical Gemini bride• A heavenly honeymoon for an Aquarius/Libra couple• What a Sagittarius bride should avoid for a stress-free weddingPeppered with fun sidebars, stories from other astrobrides, and quick tips based on the twelve zodiac signs to solve last-minute dilemmas, Never Throw Rice at a Pisces will help you plan the perfect wedding and honeymoon you were born to have!In a narrative both panoramic and intimate, Tom Chaffin captures the four-decade friendship of Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de…
Lafayette.Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette shared a singularly extraordinary friendship, one involved in the making of two revolutions—and two nations. Jefferson first met Lafayette in 1781, when the young French-born general was dispatched to Virginia to assist Jefferson, then the state’s governor, in fighting off the British. The charismatic Lafayette, hungry for glory, could not have seemed more different from Jefferson, the reserved statesman. But when Jefferson, a newly-appointed diplomat, moved to Paris three years later, speaking little French and in need of a partner, their friendship began in earnest. As Lafayette opened doors in Paris and Versailles for Jefferson, so too did the Virginian stand by Lafayette as the Frenchman became inexorably drawn into the maelstrom of his country's revolution. Jefferson counseled Lafayette as he drafted TheDeclaration of the Rights of Man and remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution, even after he returned to America in 1789. By 1792, however, the upheaval had rendered Lafayette a man without a country, locked away in a succession of Austrian and Prussian prisons. The burden fell on Jefferson, along with Lafayette's other friends, to win his release. The two would not see each other again until 1824, in a powerful and emotional reunion at Jefferson’s Monticello. Steeped in primary sources, Revolutionary Brothers casts fresh light on this remarkable, often complicated, friendship of two extraordinary men.Royalty, revolution, and scientific mystery---the dramatic true account of the fate of Louis XVII, son of Marie Antoinette, and an…
extraordinary detective story that spans more than two hundred years.Louis-Charles, Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five years he was to lose everything. Drawn into the horror of the French Revolution, his family was incarcerated and their fate thrust into the hands of the revolutionaries who wished to destroy the monarchy.In 1793, when Marie Antoinette was beheaded at the guillotine, she left her adored eight-year-old son imprisoned in the Temple Tower. Far from inheriting a throne, the orphaned boy-king had to endure the hostility and abuse of a nation. Two years later, the revolutionary leaders declared Louis XVII dead. No grave was dug, no monument built to mark his passing.Immediately, rumors spread that the prince had, in fact, escaped from prison and was still alive. Others believed that he had been murdered, his heart cut out and preserved as a relic. As with the tragedies of England's princes in the Tower and the Romanov archduchess Anastasia, countless "brothers" soon approached Louis-Charles's older sister, Marie-Therese, who survived the revolution. They claimed not only the dauphin's name, but also his inheritance. Several "princes" were plausible, but which, if any, was the real heir to the French throne?The Lost King of France is a moving and dramatic tale that interweaves a pivotal moment in France's history with a compelling detective story that involves pretenders to the crown, royalist plots and palace intrigue, bizarre legal battles, and modern science. The quest for the truth continued into the twenty-first century, when, thanks to DNA testing, the strange odyssey of a stolen heart found within the royal tombs brought an exciting conclusion to the two-hundred-year-old mystery of the lost king of France.Abigail Adams: A Biography
By Phyllis Lee Levin. 2001
Wife of one president and mother of another, Abigail Adams was an extraordinary woman living at an extraordinary time in…
American history. A tireless letter writer and diarist, her penetrating and often caustic impressions of most of the major persons of her day--including Ben Franklin, George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and King George III, among others--provide one of the best first-hand accounts of the American Revolution. This biography, researched and written over a fourteen-year period, is a fascinating portrait of a brilliant woman at the center of the founding of the American republic.How to Spot a Bastard by His Star Sign: The Ultimate Horrorscope
By Adèle Lang, Susi Rajah. 2002
The Ultimate HorrorscopeJoin the women around the world whose love lives have been transformed by the astro-guide that pulls no…
punches when it comes to the dark side of men and their star signs.Use it to... -Deride, ridicule, and annoy the hell out of men - Speed up the dating process by using star sign elimination - Avoid dating complete scum - Keep current boyfriends/husbands in their places - Keep conversation going at dinner parties - And much, much more!Discover who you are destined not to date...A match made in heaven or the relationship from hell? Find out which zodiac couplings are the least likely to result in derision, depression, divorce, or death! - Are you good enough for a LEO? - Can you put up with PISCES? - Will you get along with GEMINI? - Do you have the skills necessary to cope with VIRGO? Put yourself to the test with our 12 compatibility quizzes - each one carefully designed to ensure you know exactly which bastards to avoid in the future.Now men will cringe when you ask them what their star signs are!Lucid Dreams in 30 Days: The Creative Sleep Program (In 30 Days)
By Keith Harary, Pamela Weintraub. 1989
With Lucid Dreams in 30 Days you will learn to explore the mysteries of your sleeping self. Beginning with simple…
steps such as keeping a dream journal to record your dreams, Keith Harary, Ph.D., and Pamela Weintraub take you step-by-step, day-by-day through the lucid dreaming process. You advance to realizing when you are in a dream state, waking up "in" your dreams, and eventually, actually controlling the content of your dreams.The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science
By Philip Ball. 2006
Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, who called himself Paracelsus, stands at the cusp of medieval and modern times. A…
contemporary of Luther, an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, an army surgeon, and a radical theologian, he attracted myths even before he died. His fantastic journeys across Europe and beyond were said to be made on a magical white horse, and he was rumored to carry the elixir of life in the pommel of his great broadsword. His name was linked with Faust, who bargained with the devil.Who was the man behind these stories? Some have accused him of being a charlatan, a windbag who filled his books with wild speculations and invented words. Others claim him as the father of modern medicine. Philip Ball exposes a more complex truth in The Devil's Doctor—one that emerges only by entering into Paracelsus's time. He explores the intellectual, political, and religious undercurrents of the sixteenth century and looks at how doctors really practiced, at how people traveled, and at how wars were fought. For Paracelsus was a product of an age of change and strife, of renaissance and reformation. And yet by uniting the diverse disciplines of medicine, biology, and alchemy, he assisted, almost in spite of himself, in the birth of science and the emergence of the age of rationalism. "Ball produces a vibrant, original portrait of a man of contradictions:" - Publishers Weekly