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snake worship

(Encyclopedia)snake worship. The snake has been variously adored as a regenerative power, as a god of evil, as a god of good, as Christ (by the Gnostics), as a phallic deity, as a solar deity, and as a god of death...

yoga

(Encyclopedia)yoga yōˈgə [key] [Skt.,=union], general term for spiritual disciplines in Hinduism, Buddhism, and throughout S Asia that are directed toward attaining higher consciousness and liberation from ignor...

Cohen, Leonard Norman

(Encyclopedia)Cohen, Leonard Norman, 1934–2016, Canadian songwriter, singer, and poet, b. Montreal, B.A. McGill Univ., 1955. He initially wrote poetry, publishing his first collection, Let Us Compare Mythologies,...

Ginsberg, Allen

(Encyclopedia)Ginsberg, Allen gĭnzˈbûrg [key], 1926–97, American poet, b. Paterson, N.J., grad. Columbia, 1949. An outspoken member of the beat generation, Ginsberg is best known for Howl (1956), a long poem a...

Lhasa

(Encyclopedia)Lhasa or Lasa lä-sŭ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 118,000), capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, SW China. It is on a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) at an altitude of c.11,800 ft (3,600 ...

Kalmykia

(Encyclopedia)Kalmykia or Republic of Kalmykia-Khalmg-Tangeh, constituent republic (1990 est. pop. 329,000), c.29,400 sq mi (76,150 sq km), SE European Russia, on the Caspian Sea. Elista is the capital. A semino...

Tuva Republic

(Encyclopedia)Tuva Republic or Tyva Republic both: to͞oˈvə, Rus. to͞oväˈ, Tuvan to͞owäˈ [key], constituent republic (1990 est. pop. 366,000), 65,830 sq mi (170,500 sq km), extreme S Siberian Russia, on the...

Yüan

(Encyclopedia)Yüan yüän [key], Mongol dynasty of China that ruled from 1271 to 1368. It was a division of the great empire conquered by the Mongols. Kublai Khan, who adopted the Chinese dynastic name Yüan in 12...

Herzog, Werner

(Encyclopedia)Herzog, Werner, 1942–, German director, screenwriter, and producer; originally named Werner Stipetic. A leading contemporary German filmmaker, Herzog is known for his vivid and poetic films. He made...

Harijans

(Encyclopedia)Harijans hârˈĭjănzˌ [key] [children of God], in India, individuals who are at the bottom of or outside the Hindu caste system. They were traditionally sweepers, washers of clothes, leatherworkers...