Visible Ink Press

Why do conflicts in the name of God persist—even though religious scholars agree that all great religions are based on love, not carnage? What do different faiths have to say about God? About the afterlife?

The spiritual world we live in today is a diverse and sometimes highly individualized mixture of religious practices and beliefs. The physical world is a much smaller place, often secular in appearance but still very much fueled by religious beliefs and conflict in the name of God. The Handy Religion Answer Book is an easy-to-use comparative guide for anyone seeking a greater understanding of the world's religious beliefs, customs, and practices. It provides solid descriptions of major beliefs and rituals worldwide, affording the reader an understanding of contemporary religion.

This book contains detailed descriptions of the history, beliefs, symbols, rituals, observations, customs, membership, leaders, and organization of the world’s eight major religious traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto.

Clearly and eloquently written by a scholar with over 40 years of study and teaching experience, The Handy Religion Answer Book is an engaging guide for anyone seeking basic religious literacy and intellectual history.

This handy primer contains a wealth of information and answers more than 1,000 questions, such as ...

Plus, it includes questions concerning religion and violence and suborganizations that claim affiliation with the major faith communities. A glossary of religious terminology and maps of the general coverage areas for each religion are also included.

Enlightening and educational, The Handy Religion Answer Book clears up misinformation and misconceptions, and helps explain cultural and historical differences, providing the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the world’s great religions.

Monsters have been spotted everywhere, not just slithering under a child’s bed or lurking in the closet. Paranormal researcher extraordinaire Brad Steiger, an author of thousands of books and articles on the mysterious and unknown, collects some of the scariest, most unbelievable but true monster stories in his latest collection, Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters and Beasts from the Darkside.

From slightly demented humans to spine-tingling paranormal encounters, each outlandish occurrence is detailed with thorough research and recounted with a storyteller’s crafted voice. This bold telling of verified monster sightings taken from historical records and first-person accounts features:

Dreams have fascinated the human mind throughout recorded history. Some believe that dreams have healing powers, spark creative inspiration, or warn us of things to come. The Dream Encyclopedia ponders these ideas and much more. Learn how how factors such as self-healing, ESP, literature, religion, sex, cognition and memory, and medical conditions can all have an effect on dreams. Dream symbolism and interpretation is examined in detail, while a special section—with over 1,000 symbols and explanations—interprets dream symbols and helps readers understanding the phenomena of dreaming. Among the dream symbols unraveled are:

Death and immortality, sexual prowess and surrender, intimacy and alienation, rebellion and temptation. The allure of the vampire is eternal, and The Vampire Book explores it all. The historical, literary, mythological, biographical, and popular aspects of one of the world's most mesmerizing paranormal subject. This vast reference is an alphabetical tour of the psychosexual, macabre world of the soul-sucking undead.

In the first fully revised and updated edition in a decade, Dr. J. Gordon Melton (president of the American chapter of the Transylvania Society of Dracula) bites even deeper into vampire lore, myths, reported realities, and legends that come from all around the world. From Transylvania to plague-infested Europe to Nostradamus and from modern literature to movies and TV series, this exhaustive guide furnishes more than 500 essays to quench your thirst for facts, biographies, definitions, and more.

Paranormal researcher extraordinaire and author of hundreds of books on the mysterious and unknown, Brad Steiger provides an alarming chronicle of zombie history, and stories of first-person encounters. Along with the bloodcurdling stories, Real Zombies, the Living Dead, and Creatures of the Apocalypse explores spells and hexes; ceremonies and initiations; ghouls and wendigos; sacred zombie and voodoo-related sites; zombies and monsters of the Bible; and zombie traditions in China, Japan, the Pacific, India, Persia, and Native America. Some of the topics and stories chewed over in this fascinating book include…

Angels, whose principal employment is the protection and encouragement of human beings, are more popular than ever. In this age of uncertainty, it is easy to understand why the concept of angels is so comforting. While much has been written about angels throughout history, no single source examines them as thoroughly or as thoughtfully as Angels A to Z.

Written by an “angel expert” and a recognized authority on nontraditional religious movements, this enlightening resource is one of the most comprehensive books on angels and angel-related topics currently available. More than 300 entries, drawn from multiple religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Hindu traditions, as well as from pop culture, are included.

Celebrity angels, obscure angels still waiting for their big break, classifications of angels, guardian angels, fallen angels, biblical figures associated with angels, angels in art and architecture, and angels in the media and literature, how ancient, contemporary, and pop cultures represent angels in their mythology, folklore, architecture, art, literature, religion, and so much more.

Angels A to Z explores a wide assortment of topics, including …

Environmental disasters, ebola outbreaks, war in the Middle East, political riots and upheavals may all be signs that the end times are coming. The timeless notion that the end is near is once again exerting a powerful influence on politics, religion, and pop culture. Omens and prophecies, asteroid collisions and nuclear war, global warming and virus pandemics, alien intervention, act of God or human folly, doomsday prophecies abound within the pages of Armageddon Now: The End of the World A to Z as we speculate how we might soon greet the eve of destruction.

From alpha to omega and predictions from Nostradamus to the ancient Mayans, this tome is packed with 200 entries, 100 illustrations, and an extensive index. Satan, saints, survivalists, and evangelical preachers known for their views on biblical prophecies receive their due. The End has never been so thoroughly covered as in Armageddon Now. It’s the last word for the end user. So, don’t be left behind. Save yourself by buying this book.

Have you ever wondered about mythical and legendary worlds such as the lost continent of Atlantis? Have you ever heard of Mu and the Lemurians, who some say still exist among us? Respected researcher of unexplained phenomena, Jerome Clark, provides a comprehensive and trustworthy look at ancient mysteries, fictional fantasy lands, and extraterrestrial civilizations in his book, Hidden Realms, Lost Civilizations, and Beings from Other Worlds.

Claims of supernatural realms, parallel worlds, and legendary, lost civilizations are put to the test in this well-researched guide to the unexplained. Firsthand accounts and historical documents are explored, and in-depth coverage is provided on the mysteries of imagination, culture, perception, consciousness and more. Beliefs, doctrines, experiences, and places are described and explored in this truly comprehensive guide to the wacky, weird, and otherworldly, including:

Weather. We all talk about it – some more expertly than others. With The Handy Weather Answer Book, anyone can master this compelling conversation starter, whether it’s weather basics, climate change, the science of meteorology, or the history of weather forecasting. You will come to understand hurricanes, tornadoes, global warming, and such fascinating weather-related phenomena as the northern lights and El Niño.

This comprehensive reference addresses all aspects of weather in an accessible question-and-answer format. Relationships between weather and oceanography, geology, and space science are expertly covered, including answers to such questions as …

Climate change and weather affect us all, and The Handy Weather Answer Book, with its hard science facts, fascinating trivia, and accessible Q&A dialog, ensures that readers will understand the complexities of our planet’s dynamic atmosphere a lot better. This resource is an ideal reference for everyone from students to teachers to amateur meteorologists. With more than 100 color photos and illustrations, this tome is richly illustrated, and its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.

This massive 928-page tome is the definitive work on celestial forces and the influence of the stars and other heavenly bodies on human personality, behavior, and fate. The Astrology Book: The Encyclopedia of Heavenly Influences defines and explains more than 800 astrological terms and concepts from air signs to Zeus and everything in between.

Students of the sun and stars and the laypeople interested in knowing more about those passionate Scorpios or intuitive Pisceans can examine the total astrology culture, famous astrologers, heavenly bodies, explanations, and interpretations of every planet in every house and sign—even pesky technical terms. And to further them on their star quest, The Astrology Book includes a special section on casting a chart. It also includes a table of astrological glyphs and abbreviations, a helpful bibliography, an index, and a list of organizations, books, periodicals, and websites dedicated to the study of the influences reigning from the heavens.

The wealth of information it contains makes it is one of the most useful guides to astrology available today.

You’ll find a blood-curdling assortment of the “criminal elite” in American Murder: Criminals, Crime and the Media, a rogue’s gallery of our most famous killings, killers and other scoundrels (and some that ought to be more famous than they are). A collection of high-profile murderers, gangsters, assassins, psychopaths, such as O.J., Amy Fisher, Robert Blake, Susan Smith, Claus Von Bulow, the Menendez brothers, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, Al Capone, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bugsy Siegel, Jesse James, John Dillinger, Charles Manson, Albert Fish, T. Cullen Davis, Ronald DeFeo, Jr., Edmund Kemper, Beulah Annan, Bonnie and Clyde, Billy the Kid, Charlie Starkweather, as well as an assortment of lesser known killers with some incredible tales!

With numerous photos and illustrations, this tome is richly illustrated, and its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. American Murderexplores the legends as depicted in movies, stories, and songs. You’d not want to meet any of them in person – either the real or Hollywood versions!

Visions of Mary and glimpses of God. Miraculous apparitions witnessed by hundreds in parking lots, along freeways, and at the world’s holiest sites. Weeping statues, exorcisms, near-death experiences, mystical labyrinths, and more than 250 other unusual and unexplained phenomena, apparitions, and extraordinary experiences rooted in religious beliefs are explored in The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena.

J. Gordon Melton, the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, takes readers on a tour among angels, Marian apparitions, and religious figures such as Jesus, the Buddha, Muhammad, and Tao Tzu. Melton reports on dreams, feng shui, statues that bleed, snake handling, speaking in tongues, stigmata, relics—including the Spear of Longinus and the Shroud of Turin—and sacred locales such as Easter Island, the Glastonbury Tor, the Great Pyramids, Mecca, Sedona, and much more.

Each entry includes a description of a particular phenomenon and the religious claims being made about it as well as a discussion of what scientists say about it. Transcending the mundane, the entries take no sides on who is right or wrong: the journey is the experience and the experience is the journey. This fascinating encyclopedia is illustrated with 100 pictures and includes a detailed index and additional reading recommendations. It lets you experience the marvels of weeping statues and icons; exorcisms and ecstasy; the grilled cheese sandwich kit for making your own Virgin Mary image; and so much more.