Together with Thomas Wrights, Worship of the Generative Organs in Medaevil Western Europe, an almost complete picture is drawn displaying how much embedded religion can endure despite duress. I believe it is from this model, and that of Alexander Hislop, that Joseph Campbell built the foundations of his prolific career. The importance of symbols in ancient culture was absolute. To an illiterate populace, or one without written language for that matter, symbols of worship were a unifying commonality (as well, a method of control by those who interpretted those symbols) as much as language and media are to cultures today. The glaring question remains though. How could the widespread practice of one religion with exact means of worship occur considering the current stance of historians and anthropologists? If one were to weigh the evidence with the scales of scientific reasoning the balance would surely tip in favour of the opposition to the modern understanding of cultural derivation. Read it. Enjoy it. See its relevancy today.

A complete study of the practice of sexual superstition in ancient times and during the middle ages. A classic work.

Kessinger Publishing has at least done the world a favor in resurrecting archaic texts like Payne Knight's "Discourse on the Worship of Priapus," many of which had indeed been out of print for decades or even centuries and were largely unavailable to the interested layman. The quality of their publications, however, leaves much to be desired. I've ordered a few titles from Kessinger that are/were otherwise extinct, including the present work; and while beggars can't be choosers, it is nonetheless disappointing to receive a poorly-bound sheaf of Xeroxes for my money. As a graphic designer I actually do enjoy being able to see the way the original edition was typeset and laid out, and I do get some residual sense of the character of the old book; but I'm still looking at photocopied 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of paper glued into a cheap laminated sleeve. Oh well. I can live with it I suppose.

Anyway, on to the book itself. Probably most people interested in Knight's "Discourse" have been referred hither by notorious Aleister Crowley, who lauded it as "invaluable to all students" in his "Magick in Theory and Practice." It's easy to see why he was interested. Very few scholars had dared broach the subject of "phallicism" or "fertility religion" in Crowley's day, in spite of the mounting testimony of the still-nascent discipline of archaeology to the fact that practically all peoples in all times and climes have developed certain beliefs and evolved certain rites and practices along these lines. Knight's rare work on the subject had first been published way back in 1786, and, as a Deist philosophical extrapolation from scholarly opinion as to the significance of the thousands of extraordinarily "obfcene" religious artifacts and monuments then on record from all periods of Western culture, it had predictably scandalized his contemporaries and was quickly suppressed. The plates in particular, rife with phalli engraved from depictions on old medals in Knight's personal collection, were deemed unfit to be circulated. But if his fellows were unable to maintain their composure when confronted with the subject of sacred sexuality, or simply found it politically convenient to wax righteous on grounds of propriety, Knight's work itself is eloquent testimony to the fact that he was a scholar of singular sincerity and sobriety - hoodwinked though he may have been by his at-times naive and presumptuous philosophical fancies, which were probably more a reflection on the fashionable ideas of the Dilettanti (of which he was a prominent member and under whose aegis the "Discourse" was originally published) than on any "Mystic Theology of the Ancients." But the topic had at least been addressed; the silence had been broken in church, so to speak. Maugre the objections of puerile minds, the pioneering value of Knight's work was recognized by many respected antiquaries both in his day and afterwards; and in 1865 a new edition appeared, complete with a supplementary essay, ascribed to the scholar Thomas Wright, "on the Worship of the Generative Powers during the Middle Ages of Western Europe."

This then is the book that Crowley recommended, and Kessinger photocopied. It has always been extremely rare, the first limited edition mostly recollected by the author, subsequent editions swiftly exhausted to private collections. It was the topic of undue controversy in its day, and has often been unfairly dismissed as little more than the quaint academic dalliance of an eighteenth-century English "gentleman connoisseur" of naughty antiques. Its text deals frankly yet deferentially with the subject of "phallic worship" in Old Greece and Egypt, traces this worship through the Middle Ages, and in fact supplies evidence that it continued practically up to the time of writing, under the semblance of orthodox Catholicism, in such rural rituals as those described in the appended "Lettera da Isernia" of 1780. All of these qualities of Knight's book doubtlessly appealed to The Beast.

It goes without saying that the "Discourse on the Worship of Priapus" ought to be taken with a grain of salt. All books, all points-of-view, ought to be taken with a grain of salt. Sir Richard Payne Knight (in company with countless others) believed that he had reconstructed the ancient "Symbolical Language" out of the pithy archaeological tokens of bygone civilizations; but it is only another pretension (after all) to insist that he was mistaken. Or, supposing he was, that his "Reconstruction" should thus necessarliy be lacking in intrinsic merit!

This book is positive and different in terms of race in America. The chapter on the Social Construction of Race is especially enlightening. The chapter on the Military is a good "how-to" piece.

I am looking for someone that knows something about old books like the home garden handbook published in 1927

I am a heavy duty user of Excel and I support users of the application too. This is one of the best books I have seen on Excel's most powerful features. The chapters on array formulas and range names are the best I have read on the subject. This book is outstanding. I am here writing this review because I was hoping to order a copy for work.

One of the excellent book of Excel. However it is out of stock. I lent it from the library and can't find it from any book store. I hope the publisher will re-printed it.

This book focuses on the Goma Fire Ritual in Shingon practice, as well the as other ritual uses of fire in Japanese religion. The Goma is examined in depth as it related to the Shido Kegyo, or Training in Four Stages, the four main practices learned by Shingon Buddhist priests. A lot of time and detail were put into this work, and it will serve as a wonderful reference for students of Shingon Buddhism.

I have been a fan of Mr Howard for nearly 12 years now, which in my opinion, makes me a bit of a connoisseur, and frankly this book was a bit of a disappointment. Undoubtedly the contributing writers are well-respected and immensely able but their writing lacked the Howardian flavour I have come to love. Ghor's sudden personality shifts are hard to follow and the various ideas in the story lack sufficient depth. This book is not the way Mr Howard would have written it. Nevertheless, this should be read because the original idea belonged to the great REH.

Ghor is a nice blend of Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos together. Abandoned as a child because of a deformity, Ghor is adopted by a pack of wolves. Raised by them, he adopts the ways of the wolf, yet when he meets up with humanity joins them. Constantly struggling with his wolf upbringing and his human surroundings, Ghor becomes a mighty war hero wherever he goes.

This is an excellent adventure book that takes a Conan like hero and plots him against all sorts of evil (and good), including some Cthulhu creations as well.

Originally Ghor was an unfinished story by Conan creator Robert Howard. Upon finding this unfinished story, a magazine decided to finish it. What they did was have a different chapter every month written by a different top fantasy writer. It made the reading interesting.

While most of the chapters were great. Some were excellent. Unfortunately there were a couple chapters that I just wanted to get through to reach the next writers' chapter. Overall a really good read.

I WAS VERY SUPRISED ABOUT HOW WELL THIS STORY CAME OFF. THE VARIUOS WRITERS DID AN EXCELLENT JOB IN WRITING AN EXCITING BOOK THAT FLOWED SMOOTHLY. IT DID NOT COME OFF AS A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ROBERT E. HOWARD FANS, AND FANS OF FANTASY IN GENERAL.