Serpents in the Garden

Serpents in the Garden
Author: Alexander Cockburn
Publisher: AK Press
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2004
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781902593944

The latest in the award-winning Counterpunch series detonates an explosion of voracious, opinionated and witty fireworks on the unexpected intersections of politics, art, music, architecture and sex. This book showcases essays from the nation's most exciting and radical cultural critics.

Serpent in the Garden

Serpent in the Garden
Author: James A. Cates
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1421438739

The first book to examine the complexity of sexual identity, philosophy, and behavior in Amish culture. The Amish offer a startling contrast to the postmodern view of sexuality and gender roles. After the sexual revolution of the 1960s, mainstream American culture never looked back. Meanwhile, the Amish never looked forward. In twenty-first-century Amish communities, heteronormative sexuality is still based on a unifying principle: an understanding of sexuality as emerging from a divine plan. In the eyes of the Amish, sex is squandered by those who embrace it as hedonistic or who carve out a sexual identity that moves them away from that singular, God-given purpose. But this communal emphasis on sex for procreation does not mean that the Amish do not possess a complex range of sexual identities and opinions. In Serpent in the Garden, clinical psychologist James A. Cates breaks new ground in the study of Amish sexuality by examining this shrouded, rarely discussed subject. The first book to bring Amish sexuality into primary focus, this volume argues that, because the Amish are a sexual minority, queer theory is the ideal framework from which to observe their views on sex, sexuality, and gender. The book offers a broad view of sexuality in Amish culture that includes the challenges that gays and lesbians face in the community, as well as an exploration of Amish gender roles, their views toward intimacy, their responses to cases of child sexual abuse, and the role of fetishes among the Amish. Cates draws from multiple perspectives and years of research on the Amish themselves. He also looks at pushback against alternative behaviors or identities, as well as Amish success in keeping mainstream values at bay. With this book, Cates establishes Amish sexuality as a topic worthy of professional attention. Offering readers a more sophisticated understanding of the Amish and of sexual expression among cultures, Serpent in the Garden will appeal to scholars working on gender and sexuality, the Amish, and social service professionals who serve the Amish community.

The Serpent Garden

The Serpent Garden
Author: Judith Merkle Riley
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2008-01-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307395367

In the court of Henry VIII, there are many secrets—and some people will kill to keep them hidden.Susanna Dallet is the daughter of a Flemish painter and wife to a philandering husband, living in the court of Henry VIII. When her husband is murdered, Susanna is suddenly left with a household to provide for and nothing to her name. Her days of anonymity are over when Susanna finds that guild rules preventing women from working do not apply at the king’s court, and she manages to secure a position as a miniature-portrait painter. Before long, she has not only made a name for herself, she is close to those who surround Princess Mary. But even in this lofty company, Susanna is not safe. An old manuscript that she has inherited turns out to hold the keys to an age-old mystery, and the forces that claimed her husband are closing in. As danger looms, Susanna joins with Robert Ashton, secretary to Henry’s cunning and ruthless adviser Archbishop Wolsey, and together they must fight a fearsome society in league with a demon.Combining heartpounding action, sly humor, romance, and supernatural twists, The Serpent Garden is the story of a creative and resourceful woman who unwittingly finds herself in a dangerous—and deadly—game of hide-and-seek.

The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden

The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden
Author: Harriet I. Flower
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2017-09-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691175004

The most pervasive gods in ancient Rome had no traditional mythology attached to them, nor was their worship organized by elites. Throughout the Roman world, neighborhood street corners, farm boundaries, and household hearths featured small shrines to the beloved lares, a pair of cheerful little dancing gods. These shrines were maintained primarily by ordinary Romans, and often by slaves and freedmen, for whom the lares cult provided a unique public leadership role. In this comprehensive and richly illustrated book, the first to focus on the lares, Harriet Flower offers a strikingly original account of these gods and a new way of understanding the lived experience of everyday Roman religion. Weaving together a wide range of evidence, Flower sets forth a new interpretation of the much-disputed nature of the lares. She makes the case that they are not spirits of the dead, as many have argued, but rather benevolent protectors—gods of place, especially the household and the neighborhood, and of travel. She examines the rituals honoring the lares, their cult sites, and their iconography, as well as the meaning of the snakes often depicted alongside lares in paintings of gardens. She also looks at Compitalia, a popular midwinter neighborhood festival in honor of the lares, and describes how its politics played a key role in Rome’s increasing violence in the 60s and 50s BC, as well as in the efforts of Augustus to reach out to ordinary people living in the city’s local neighborhoods. A reconsideration of seemingly humble gods that were central to the religious world of the Romans, this is also the first major account of the full range of lares worship in the homes, neighborhoods, and temples of ancient Rome.

Lord of Embers

Lord of Embers
Author: C N Crawford
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2022-01-06
Genre:
ISBN:

Once, I was a broke college student. Now, it seems I'm destined to rule as the Lightbringer--queen of the demon realm. Except I have competition in the form of Orion, the Lord of Chaos. Like me, he has been marked as a leader. We can't keep our hands off each other, even if he swore an oath to kill me. It seems we both want the same thing--the crown. And in this battle of wills, only one of us will be left standing.

Boarding the Enterprise

Boarding the Enterprise
Author: David Gerrold
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2016-05-17
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1942952155

Rereleased for Star Trek: The Original Series ' 50th Anniversary, this in-depth analysis of the groundbreaking TV show features an updated introduction by Robert J. Sawyer and foreword by David Gerrold Trekkies and Trekkers alike will get starry-eyed over this eclectic mix of essays on the groundbreaking original Star Trek, one of the most culturally impactful TV shows of the last 50 years. Star Trek scriptwriters D. C. Fontana, David Gerrold, Norman Spinrad, and Howard Weinstein, science fiction writers including Allen Steele and Lawrence Watt-Evans, and various academics share behind-the-scenes anecdotes, discuss the show's enduring appeal and influence, and examine some of the classic features of the series. Inside: Communications and media theorist Paul Levinson shows how the unprecedented success of the "seventy-nine jewels" in syndication changed the way we look at television forever. Star Trek writer D. C. Fontana remembers Gene Roddenberry and what it was like on the set and behind the scenes. Hugo Award–winning author Allen Steele explores the strong science fiction tradition that made the show so great. Cultural theorist Eric Greene details the show's complex dialogue with the Vietnam War, highlighting the evolving stances on interventionist politics. Science fiction novelist DON Debrandt contends that the famously logical Spock isn't quite as rational as Star Trek's writers would have you believe. Scientist Robert A. Metzger proves that Scotty's ability to lie makes him the most valuable member of the Enterprise crew. Fanfiction author Melissa Dickinson explains why we still feel compelled to write our own stories about Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the show's memorable characters.

The Book of Sea Monsters

The Book of Sea Monsters
Author: Bob Eggleton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 122
Release: 1998
Genre: Marine animals
ISBN: 9780879518608

Explores the myth, legend, scientific documentation, and fiction inspired by sea monsters.

Serpent-handling Believers

Serpent-handling Believers
Author: Thomas G. Burton
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1993
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780870497889

Burton seeks to present a balanced view of the remote churches of East Tennessee where believers take literally the words of Saint Mark: "and they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them."

The Silvered Serpents

The Silvered Serpents
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2020-09-22
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1250144590

Returning to the dark and glamorous 19th century world of her New York Times instant bestseller, The Gilded Wolves, Roshani Chokshi dazzles us with another riveting tale as full of mystery and danger as ever in The Silvered Serpents. They are each other’s fiercest love, greatest danger, and only hope. Séverin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but victory came at a terrible cost — one that still haunts all of them. Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long lost artifact rumored to grant its possessor the power of God. Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into the icy heart of Russia where crystalline ice animals stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders makes the crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all. As hidden secrets come to the light and the ghosts of the past catch up to them, the crew will discover new dimensions of themselves. But what they find out may lead them down paths they never imagined. A tale of love and betrayal as the crew risks their lives for one last job.