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The Tibetan Book of the Dead is the English translation of the Tibetan texts known as bar-do thos-grol (Bardo Thodol) – “Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State” – and serves as a guide for the soul of...

The Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) refers to a period when robbery on the high seas and at colonial ports reached an unprecedented level. Although not all historians agree on the precise time frame, it is generally applied...

Sleipnir is the eight-legged horse ridden primarily by the god Odin in Norse mythology. He is the son of the god Loki (in the form of a mare) and the stallion Svadilfari who belonged to the jötunn that built the walls of Asgard. In...

Captain Benjamin Hornigold was a British pirate active in the Caribbean and North Atlantic from 1716 to 1717. Hornigold’s greatest claim to fame (or infamy) is that he taught the pirating ropes to Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard...

Henry Every (b. 1653), also known as Henry Avery, Benjamin Bridgeman, ‘Long Ben’ and (incorrectly) John Avery, was one of the most savage and successful pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy. Capturing a treasure ship of the Mughal...

Kikimora (pronounced Kih-kee-mora) is a female house spirit from Slavic lore who can be helpful or malevolent depending on the behavior of the homeowner. In differing versions of her stories, there are two kinds of spirit, one generally...

Jean Lafitte (also spelt Laffite, c. 1780 to c. 1820 CE) was a Franco-American leader of pirates and privateers who captured merchant vessels of various states in the Gulf of Mexico from 1810 to 1820. Lafitte proved an invaluable...

John Calvin (l. 1509-1564) was a French Reformer, pastor, and theologian considered among the greatest of the Protestant Reformation along with Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) and Huldrych Zwingli (l. 1484-1531). Calvin synthesized the...

The Ghent Altarpiece, otherwise known as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, is a painted panel altarpiece created in 1432 for the Vijd Chapel in the church of St. John the Baptist, now St. Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. The...

Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet (l. c.1715-1774) was a British military officer, diplomat, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He was instrumental in aligning the Native Americans of New York with the British during the...