The Tibetan district of Tsari with its sacred snow-covered peak of Pure Crystal Mountain has long been a place of symbolic and ritual significance for Tibetan peoples. In this book, Toni Huber provides the first thorough study of a major Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage center and cult mountain, and explores the esoteric and popular traditions of ritual there. The main focus is on the period of the 1940s and '50s, just prior to the 1959 Lhasa uprising and subsequent Tibetan diaspora into South Asia. Huber's work thus documents Tibetan life patterns and cultural traditions which have largely disappeared with the advent of Chinese colonial modernity in Tibet. In addition to the work's documentary content, Huber offers discussion and analysis of the construction and meaning of Tibetan cultural categories of space, place, and person, and the practice of ritual and organization of traditional society in relation to them.

When a weaver dreams of a lush land, she works tirelessly to recreate the place in a beautiful tapestry. But she and her three sons barely have time to admire her handiwork when the tapestry is stolen by jealous fairies. First Leon, the strong eldest son, then Blaine, the intellectual second son, vow to retrieve the tapestry. Yet neither Leon’s strength nor Blaine’s intelligence is enough to carry them to the tapestry’s whereabouts—high atop a shimmering crystal mountain. When his brothers fail to return, Perrin, the youngest son, sets off to recover the tapestry. Perrin’s determination and talent help him outwit the fairy thieves—proving that the mightiest hero is often the most unlikely. Ruth Sanderson weaves a magical spell in this retelling of an enchanting tale.

'Crystal Mountains' tells the story of the early crystal hunters who roamed the mountains and glens of the Cairngorms during the 18th and 19th centuries in search of Scotland's famous gem - the smoky quartz or cairngorm. It provides a comprehensive history of this arduous and uncertain quest, and explains the geological background to the occurrence of the gem minerals, and is illustrated with numerous photographs of the Cairngorms National Park and previously unpublished photographs of mineral specimens, gemstones and artefacts made from them.