More than just a litany of artifacts, rituals, and symbols, this valuable book provides a cultural bridge for emergency responders. It places the information in a relevant context and offers crucial keys to communication, assessment, and treatment in culturally sensitive situations. Beginning with the importance of trans-cultural communication, the book separates fact from fantasy regarding Neo-Paganism, Santeria, Bantu religion (Palo Mayombe), Voodoo, and Curanderismo. Promoting functional cultural competency, this book provides the tools to properly assess situations, open lines of communication, protect cultural diversity, and provide effective emergency treatment.

A woman lays unconscious on the floor surrounded by charcoaled symbols, burning candles, a bowl of viscous red liquid, and an array of dried herbs. Was this a healing ritual gone wrong or just straightforward foul play? Increasingly, first responders must deal with foreign practices and cultures that are often disturbing in their unfamiliarity. Und

Veterinary Forensics, Second Edition is a practical reference on applying veterinary forensic findings in animal cruelty cases. Now providing a greater focus on findings in animals, the second edition continues to offer guidance with more detailed information on crime scene investigation, forensic testing and findings, handling evidence, and testifying in court. Key changes to the new edition include new chapters on abuse in large animals, poultry, and birds; a standalone chapter on entomology; a new section on large scale cruelty investigation; an expanded section on pain and suffering; more pathology information; and more photos, forms, and information throughout. Logs and workbooks from the book are available on a companion website at www.wiley.com/go/vetforensics, allowing readers to download, customize, and use these forms in forensics investigations. Veterinary Forensics is an essential resource for veterinarians, pathologists, attorneys, and investigators working on animal abuse cases.

Blood Sacrifices contributors: Dawn Perlmutter, Ph.D. Robert J. Bunker, Ph.D. Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D. Paul Rexton Kan, Ph.D. Lt.Col. Lisa J. Campbell, B.A., SME Beheadings Tony M. Kail, B.A., SME Esoteric Religions Pamela Ligouri Bunker, M.Litt., M.A. Charles Cameron, B.A., SME Religious Violence SA Andrew Bringuel, II, M.A., SME Criminal Extremism Jose de Arimateia da Cruz, Ph.D. Mark Safranski, M.A., M.Ed. Alma Keshavarz, M.P.P., Ph.D. Student Pauletta Otis, Ph.D. The acknowledgment that blood sacrifice, particularly human sacrifice, actively occurs in the 21st century is a pivotal triumph in scholarly research. Twenty years ago, this book could not have been published. In most universities, think tanks, and government research facilities, characterizing any type of murder as sacrificial was viewed at best as a secondary motive and at worst as junk science. - Dr. Dawn Perlmutter

Finalist for the 2014 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions presented by the Journal of Africana Religions This is the first collection of essays to analyze intersectional religious and cultural practices surrounding the deity Yemoja. In Afro-Atlantic traditions, Yemoja is associated with motherhood, women, the arts, and the family. This book reveals how Yemoja traditions are negotiating gender, sexuality, and cultural identities in bold ways that emphasize the shifting beliefs and cultural practices of contemporary times. Contributors come from a wide range of fields—religious studies, art history, literature, and anthropology—and focus on the central concern of how different religious communities explore issues of race, gender, and sexuality through religious practice and discourse. The volume adds the voices of religious practitioners and artists to those of scholars to engage in conversations about how Latino/a and African diaspora religions respond creatively to a history of colonization.

Designed to be used either as a primary text or with any Law and Religion or First Amendment text, Law and Religion: Cases in Context presents descriptions and discussions of the landmark cases in law and religion and the First Amendment. Cases are selected from the leading religion and First Amendment casebooks, and the authors provide insights into the significance of each while revealing its context and, for many, details about what happened after the case was concluded. This unique text will intrigue students and engage their interest with: - Accessible prose and interesting illustrations; - Cases that involve issues that continue to confound the courts: creation science and evolution; public religious symbols like the cross and the crèche; private religious clothing like the yarmulke and the khimar; tax policy and religion; - Engaging characters, such as: Guy Ballard, who told customers that he was chosen by Saint Germain as a divine messenger and possessed supernatural healing powers that they could purchase; Officer and Doctor Simcha Goldman, who wore a yarmulke to the psychology clinic until an irritated military attorney complained to Goldman's superiors that the yarmulke was not permitted under Air Force regulations; Kimberlie Webb, a Philadelphia police officer who lost her efforts to wear a headscarf while in uniform and on duty; Ronald Rosenberger, who successfully challenged the University of Virginia's denial of funding to his evangelical publication, Wide Awake; - Insights from leading law and religion scholars of diverse professional, religious, geographical, and institutional backgrounds. In her role as editor, Leslie C. Griffin, who holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University as well as a J.D. from Stanford Law School, has brought together an impressive group of contributors to create Law and Religion: Cases in Context.

Those who know about how spirituality plays into the world of drug smuggling have likely heard of Santa Muerte, Jesus Malverde, and Santer but the details of the more obscure African religions and Latin American folk saints and cults often remain a mystery. While the vast majority of these religions are practiced by law-abiding citizens with no co