Conflicting Identities and Multiple Masculinities takes as its focus the construction of masculinity in Western Europe from the early Middle Ages until the fifteenth century, crossing from pre-Christian Scandinavia across western Christendom. The essays consult a broad and representative cross section of sources including the work of theological, scholastic, and monastic writers, sagas, hagiography and memoirs, material culture, chronicles, exampla and vernacular literature, sumptuary legislation, and the records of ecclesiastical courts. The studies address questions of what constituted male identity, and male sexuality. How was masculinity constructed in different social groups? How did the secular and ecclesiastical ideals of masculinity reinforce each other or diverge? These essays address the topic of medieval men and, through a variety of theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary approaches, significantly extend our understanding of how, in the Middle Ages, masculinity and identity were conflicted and multifarious.

The most complete guide to the ancient world-wide system of celestial metaphor, sometimes called Astro-theology, which forms the foundation for virtually all of the scriptures, myths, and sacred stories of humanity -- including the texts we call the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible. Explore the scriptures and myths of humanity in a new light as you learn to hear the language in which they are all actually speaking: the language of the stars. Star Myths of the World and How to Interpret Them is a series of volumes exploring the amazing evidence of an ancient, world-wide system of metaphor which underlies all of the world's myths, and points to the conclusion that they are all closely related. Learn how to understand the clues and symbols in the stories which point to specific constellations, and how the constellations fit into the larger heavenly cycles, all of which are used by the ancient wisdom given to our ancestors as a precious inheritance, with information for our benefit and blessing. Volume One explored evidence that this system is worldwide, sampling a few representative myths and stories from ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, ancient India, ancient China and Japan, and myths from various cultures in Australia, Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific. Volume Two explored the massive evidence that the Greek myths are built on the same worldwide system, examining specific myths, gods, and goddesses -- as well as both the Iliad and Odyssey in depth, for their celestial patterns. Volume Three provides a broad survey of the celestial foundations of some of the most well-known stories and characters in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, complete with hundreds of full-color illustrations and star charts.