New Releases by John Matthews

Learn about the history of DVDs and how and where they are manufactured.

An illustrated collection of tales featuring notable trickster characters such as Raven and Hare, from the folk traditions of many countries.

With The Grail Tarot, John Matthews and Giovanni Caselli join forces to bring to together the elements of the grail legend in a wonderfully conceived and beautifully designed new tarot. The grail legend is one of the most famous and enduring mysteries of all time. At the story''s center is a group of knights on a quest to find the ancient relic. The Grail Tarot relates this search for the sacred Christian relic to our desire to understand the puzzle of our own lives. The Knights Templar have long been linked with the Grail, and they and other archetypal figures associated with the Templar mysteries - as well as well-known Grail figures such as Galahad - take their place in the Major Arcana of the deck. The suits are represented by the four Hallows of the Grail: cup, spear, sword and stone.

At the outset of the twentieth century, malaria was Italy''s major public health problem. It was the cause of low productivity, poverty, and economic backwardness, while it also stunted literacy, limited political participation and undermined the army. In this book Frank Snowden recounts how Italy became the world centre for the development of malariology as a medical discipline and launched the first national campaign to eradicate the disease. Snowden traces the early advances, the setbacks of world wars and Fascist dictatorship and the final victory against malaria after World War II. He shows how the medical and teaching professions helped educate people in their own self-defence and in the process expanded trade unionism, women''s consciousness and civil liberties. He also discusses the antimalarial effort under Mussolini''s regime and reveals the shocking details of the German army''s intentional release of malaria among Italian civilians - the first and only known example of bioterror in twentieth-century Europe. Comprehensive and enlightening, this history offers important lessons for today''s global malaria emergency.

Beneath the orthodox religions that lay claim to the soul of Western man runs an esoteric current that has preserved the lore and hermetic traditions of our ancestors. "Walkers Between the Worlds" explores the ancient earth wisdom of the shaman, and the Gnostic and Egyptian mysteries of the East. Practical exercises drawn from these traditions are included.

Merlin, best known to us as the advisor of young King Arthur, is the most famous and familiar image of the magician that we possess. Acclaimed Arthurian expert John Matthews examines the many guises of this popular figure—as seer, prophet, magician, and inspiration to people from all walks of life. He explores the possible historic origins of Merlin as a Celtic king, the later literary forms of his legend in the myths of King Arthur, and his more recent manifestations in visionary works, as the prototype for characters such as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars films, and other characters in TV and fantasy writing. Drawing on a wealth of sources from Celtic, medieval, and Renaissance times, this is the first, fully-illustrated book on Merlin, the man.

Restores Gawain to his true role as the honorable representative and servant of the Goddess.

`This book is a tremendous resource for any early years setting. It enables us and encourages us to explore the process of artistic development through a fresh and inclusive lens′ - Nursery World `This book is a welcome update of an informative text describing the process of children′s mark making as a visual, physical and interactive process urging us to consider how we as adults perceive and support young children′s mark making activities both at home and school. John Matthews demonstrates the cognitive function of this early mark making in relation to general individual development′ - Early Years `A thought-provoking and informative book, this is essential reading for anyone involved in the education of young children′ - Times Educational Supplement - Teacher `Drawing and Painting is a fascinating and delightful read for tutors, practitioners and students and is highly recommended an essential text for early years courses at level 3 and above′- Under Five This book has been revised to reflect recent developments in early childhood education, in developmental psychology and in our understanding of children′s development in the arts. The author shows how this new model of children′s development in visual representation has important implications for education. The author examines children′s development in visual expression and suggests how this development might be supported. The book takes issue with the inherited wisdom about children′s development in visual representation. The traditional approach describes children′s development in terms of supposed deficits in which children progress from `primitive′ earlier stages to `superior′ ones, until the `defects′ in their representational thinking are overcome and they arrive at an endpoint of `visual realism′. This approach is the pervasive influence on curricular planning, in arts education and in early years education. The author explains recent different models of development in visual expression. Instead of measuring children′s efforts against an adult paradigm, the new models identify the modes of representation used by children as consequences of children′s own intentions, motivations and priorities. The writing is accessible and assumes no specialist knowledge of psychological theory, art, its history or interpretation. This book is essential reading for early childhood educators, at nursery and pre-school level, for other professionals who work with very young children and parents, as well as students and tutors on early years courses. This is a revised edition of Helping Children to Draw and Paint: Children and Visual Representation, originally published in 1994.

Throughout the ages and across the world in many shapes and guises, as healers, mystics and literary figures, wizards have played an important part in real-life communities and in the imagination of many cultures. Often illuminating the future and explaining the past, wizards have always had a very powerful role. This text traces the origins and legends of wizards, charting their myriad expressions through time and across cultures. It also includes a number of meditations and practices at the end of each chpater that enable us to make use of some of the legendary skills of the wizard.

Looks at myths, legends, and ceremonies that honor the sun, and includes a history of ancient cultures that worshiped the sun and songs, meditations, and activities for various festivals.

This companion to Celtic folklorist John Matthews'' The Song of Taliesin (Quest 2001) features seventeen stories never before published in book form, interspersed with the author''s original poetry in the style of the ancient past whence the tales spring. The book is a stunning retelling of legends, myths, and folktales drawn from the Welsh Mabinogion, the Taliesin tradition, The Book of Leinster, the story of Perceval, Malory''s Morte d''Arthur, and other traditional sources. The stories are accompanied by excellent endnotes explaining sources and elucidating points of difficulty, but they stand beautifully on their own. Taken as a whole, they present the characters, themes, and events of Celtic, Grail, and Arthurian lore in an authentic literary voice that makes for great reading and great telling. The Ancient Wisdom flows forward in many forms. One of its streams is surely found in the Arthurian "quest for the Grail"---which is, at its core, the quest for enlightenment and spiritual mastery. Matthews'' lucid refashioning of these tales is informed by his deep understanding of their esoteric center. Through them, the reader may clearly see the Ancient Wisdom shine.

Explores the theme of the Green Man in mythology, folklore, and literature throughout history, in such guises as Merlin, Robin Hood, Herne the Hunter, the Green Knight, Enkidu, and Cernunnos.

"A gathering of well-informed scholars provides a sober, sensible, and fascinating overview of the history of the Rosicrucian movement, still one of the most controversial and least understood byways of European philosophy and thought. The volume includes four of the foundational documents of the original Rosicrucians from the early 17th century and carries the Rosicrucians'' influence down to the later 19th century."--Publisher''s description.

The text is composed of research on the development of representational thinking from infancy through to adolescence. It makes a contribution to the theory of children''s development and to practitioners'' understanding.

This volume tells in exciting detail the story of four great warlords from the early medieval era.

Many people long for an alternative to the commercial industry Christmas has become. This illustrated, full-color book, brimming with folklore, stories, recipes, games, activities, decorating ideas, and songs, will help families who are burned out on Christmas create celebrations more in keeping with the heartful spirit of the original Winter Solstice festivals.

A thrilling and inspiring tale of a journey and a vision - the quest for the Grail. In this book, noted Arthurian specialist John Matthews has created an casily understood survey of the origins and merging of the epic themes and legends concerned with the Holy Grail. With a great wealth of illustration and specially created colour plates, King Arthur and the Grail Quest provides a fascinating survey as well as including five of the traditional stories, retold by the author. In addition, there is a full summary of all sources and an extensive bibliography.

Traces how the grail has been portrayed in the various forms of the familiar Arthurian legend.

In The Eyeball Killer, investigating cop John Matthews with journalist Christine Wicker, exposes the private demons that turned one man''s sick fantasies into one of the most appalling murder sprees in the annals of Texas crime. And in his jail cell, where he has been imprisoned for life, Charles Albright still paints pictures of women''s eyes. Photos.

In this stunning gift edition, Celtic experts Caitlin and John Matthews present inspirational primary material, rich in ancient wisdom, lore, and mythology. For readers who are fascinated by Celtic traditions, and spiritual heritage, this unique reference introduces several new translations of powerful Celtic literature, including stories, poems, and visionary writing -- many dating from the 7th century. Brimming with invaluable ancestral knowledge and previously unavailable texts, this invaluable sourcebook offers readers a rare insight into shamanic memory, druidic divination and prophecy, shape-shifting myths, stories about soul loss and restoration, legendary magic, and healing traditions.

Aimed at engineers, technologies, and architects, this professional tutorial offers sound guidance on the analysis and design of building power and illuminations systems.

Of all the Germanic peoples who were later to carve out successor kingdoms to the Roman empire, much more is known of the Goths than of any other group in the period before the great migrations of the late fourth and early fifth centuries. The Goths are thus of unique importance in our evaluation of the kinds of changes that these migrations worked upon the tribal neighbors of the Roman empire, as well as upon the Roman empire itself. This volume brings together many of the most important historical texts, the majority of them not previously available in English translation. Also included are representative selections, with commentary, from the Gothic New Testament, and, with ample illustration, the archaeological evidence unearthed by Soviet and Romanian scholars from the so-called Sîntan de Mures/Cernjachov culture associated with Gothic occupation of the trans-Danubian regions in the third and fourth centuries.

Defines then explores all aspects of what this tradition represents, its symbolic figures and places.