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Daemons Are Forever

Contacts and Exchanges in the Eurasian Pandemonium
By David Gordon White
Series: Silk Roads
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Dæmons Are Forever offers a richly illustrated exploration of over six thousand years of history, focusing on the complex relationships between humans and protean spirit beings known as dæmons. Author David Gordon White traces the exchanges of dæmonological knowledge across Eurasia, from the Indo-European migrations through the Silk Road era. The work examines both "inner demons" inhabiting humans and "outer dæmons" found in enchanted landscapes, advocating a "connected histories" approach that repositions history at the centre of religious studies.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for scholars, advanced students, and readers interested in historical religion, Eurasian studies, and mythology, especially those seeking a comprehensive and scholarly approach to dæmonology and cultural exchanges across vast regions and eras.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A richly illustrated tapestry of interwoven studies spanning some six thousand years of history, Dæmons Are Forever is at once a record of archaic contacts and transactions between humans and protean spirit beings—dæmons—and an account of exchanges, among human populations, of the science of spirit beings: dæmonology.

Since the time of the Indo-European migrations, and especially following the opening of the Silk Road, a common dæmonological vernacular has been shared among populations ranging from East and South Asia to Northern Europe. In this virtuoso work of historical sleuthing, David Gordon White recovers the trajectories of both the “inner demons” cohabiting the bodies of their human hosts and the “outer dæmons” that those same humans recognized each time they encountered them in their enchanted haunts: sylvan pools, sites of geothermal eruptions, and dark forest groves.

Along the way, he invites his readers to reconsider the potential and promise of the historical method in religious studies, suggesting that a “connected histories” approach to Eurasian dæmonology may serve as a model for restoring history to its proper place, at the heart of the history of religions discipline.

Series: Silk Roads

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  • Daemons Are Forever
    Daemons Are Forever
    A richly illustrated tapestry of interwoven studies spanning some six thousand years of history, Dæmons Are Forever is at once a record of archaic contacts and transactions between humans and protean spirit beings—dæmons—and an account of exchanges, among human populations, of the science of spirit beings: dæmonology. Since the time of the Indo-European migrations, and especially following the opening of...
    By David Gordon White
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as one of the most significant recent contributions to academic religious studies, Dæmons Are Forever impresses with its vast geographical and temporal scope, covering Eurasian interactions from prehistoric myths to contemporary ethnography. Reading Religion highlights its potential for future insights into Eurasia's interconnected histories, while the Journal of the American Academy of Religion regards it as an excellent resource for advanced students and researchers, both a capstone of a scholarly career and a foundation for future work.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780226714905

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 January 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: University of Chicago Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 360

Collections

Ancient & Classical History Asian History David Gordon White History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Religion & Spirituality Series: Silk Roads

About the Author

David Gordon White is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of several books, including The Alchemical Body, Kiss of the Yogini, and Sinister Yogis, all published by the University of Chicago Press.

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