Ancient Cults

A world abandoned by the gods, mystifying cosmic forces, unimaginable power for those willing to ascend, and a hero who would rather . . . go fishing??? When summoned to a fantastical world and granted powers by a broken System, most freshly minted protagonists would strap on their big-boy boots...

Mystery cults are one of the most intriguing areas of Greek and Roman religion. In the nocturnal mysteries at Eleusis, participants dramatically reenacted the story of Demeter's loss and recovery of her daughter Persephone; in the Bacchic cult, bands of women ran wild in the Greek countryside to honor Dionysus; in the mysteries of Mithras, men came to understand the nature of the universe and their place within it through frightening initiation ceremonies and astrological teachings.

In a series of fast-paced essays, Leaky Aqueducts, War Pigeons, and Mystery Cults answers 36 questions that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has been asked in the classroom and through his popular YouTube channel ToldinStone. As in the previous books in Ryan's fun and fascinating series, the emphasis is on the curious details of daily life in the classical world.

Power is returning to the world after millennia, ancient constructs are stirring back to life, and one man is doing his best to ignore all that noise. Fischer has everything he needs in life: blossoming friendships, a menagerie of cute animal companions, a waterfront property with easy access to...

Where did God come from? What do the bible stories really tell us? Who or what was Jesus Christ? This audiobook challenges everything we think we know about the nature of religion.

Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside them? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of cult leaders and the people who join them? Based on the hit podcast Cults, this is essential reading for any true crime fan. Cults prey...

In The Culting of America, cult survivor, military veteran, and bestselling author of Uncultured Daniella Mestyanek Young delivers a gripping investigation into the invisible systems of control shaping our lives. Raised in the notorious sex cult the Children of God, she escaped to America as a teenager—only to find herself inside another rigid institution: the U.S. Army. Years later, as a Harvard-trained expert in organizational psychology, she began asking a dangerous question: What if we’re all in cults—and America is built to keep us there?

An empire has fallen, another blooms in its wake, and one man— who would rather be fishing, thank you very much—has finally accepted his role as its leader. Thanks to overwhelming might, a cadre of violent animals, and a weaponized fish or two, Tropica has wiped Gormona's royal forces from...

The people of ancient Sumer are gathered to celebrate the rite of the Sacred Marriage, a joyous and glorious testament to the unity of Goddess and Man. Times are tough, crops are failing, and this year’s ceremony holds special significance. But for the priestess Simi, the fertility rite is very personal. Because it is Simi who will be locked in a room with a stranger to carry out the blessed responsibilities. Only this time, the stranger is no stranger at all....

An “engrossing, unputdownable” (Amanda Montell, New York Times bestselling author) pop history that explains why the eccentric doomsday beliefs of our Puritan founders are still driving American culture today, contextualizes the current rise in far-right extremism as a natural result of our...

In a world where godhood is within reach for those willing to claw their way to the top, only one man has the resolve to reject power and go . . . fishing? Again? Try as he might, Fischer still can't catch a break. Tropica's forces have just perpetrated the fantasyland equivalent of crashing the...

A long time ago, in a suburban high school not so far away, a closeted nerd (me) and a closeted soccer star (Hutch) fell in love and planned to make their public debut at prom. Until Hutch bailed at the last minute, leaving me with a broken heart and unworn tuxedo. Tale as old as time, right? I spent the past ten years working to forget Hutch, returning to our old high school to teach and make new memories that could erase ones of him. I thought Hutch was ancient history, off living his professional athlete life. 

From the national best-selling author of Racing Weight, Matt Fitzgerald exposes the irrationality, half-truths, and downright impossibility of a "single right way" to eat and reveals how to develop rational, healthy eating habits.

When Toru Narazaki's girlfriend, Ryoko, disappears, he tries to track her down, despite the warnings of a private detective he's hired to find her. Ryoko's past is shrouded in mystery, but the one concrete clue leads him to a compound in the heart of Tokyo, with a group that seems to be a cult led by a charismatic guru. Narazaki plunges into the secretive world of the cult, ready to expose himself to any of the guru's brainwashing tactics if it means he can learn the truth about Ryoko. But the cult isn't what he expected, and he has no idea of the bubbling violence beneath its surface.

Part of the popular Fundamentals of Philosophy series, Ancient Philosophy is an ideal resource for beginning students as well as for advanced students wishing to hone their understanding of the philosophies of the ancient world. Clear and engaging, this book covers a representative selection of major ancient thinkers, movements, and schools of thought, including the Sophists and other significant Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophy, the Stoics, the Skeptics, and early Judeo-Christian philosophy up to Augustine. 

Before temples and official rituals, there were places people avoided after sunset. In the hills of ancient Anatolia, long before Rome ruled the Mediterranean, villagers gathered around stones they believed were alive. They were not there to recite prayers. They came because something unsettled them, and gathering together made it bearable. Drums carried across the valleys. Some people swayed, some watched, some stayed at the edge. A presence was felt before anyone gave it a name. Later it would be called Cybele. This book follows the Great Mother through the lives of ordinary people.

Trapped in an underwater cave, a group of academics must face a series of deadly, supernatural trials—each one demanding they confront their darkest sins—in this chilling aquatic cult horror debut from Megan Bontrager. Grad student Caro has no idea what she wants to do with her life, but...

Two starred reviews! A girl hated by her town for her father’s crimes must decide whether to save it or burn it all down when a dying god in the woods warns her of an impending catastrophe in this “enthralling, unsettling, no-holds-barred YA folk horror” (The Guardian) from “a lush...

Vampire siblings challenge the unholy powers of destiny to save a multitude of worlds from mass destruction in the third book of this apocalyptic adventure.

A bold new portrait of Livia, ancient Rome’s first First Lady, who shaped the empire from behind the throne Livia was no ordinary Roman woman. As wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius―the first and second Roman emperors―she stood at the heart of the first imperial dynasty, wielding...