‘A Tale Of Genji’ Is Widely Believed To Be The First Novel Ever Written — And The Author Is A Woman The word “novel” quite literally means “new.” As in a “new story” or a “new way of writing.” And while it’s true that popular novels as we know them are fairly “new,” the modern novel as an art form is actually quite old. There were more than a few proto-novels that popped up in Ancient Greece, Rome, and India; long-form stories that sort of came close to being book-length, and that dealt with a fictional character in fictional circumstances living their fictional life. But then came the Lady Murasaki Shikibu, in 11th Century Japan, to…

During the 1960’s, the ‘hippies’ ushered in a counter-culture movement of peace, free love, and good times that left the world forever changed. And while many of us may not believe it, our grandparent’s generation was most likely a part of that amazing revolution of love. In a series of pictures, it becomes clear that without drugs, good music, and activism, we would not have the best aspects of the modern world we live in. A Couple Standing in the Midst of Woodstock 1969 1967, Woburn Abbey, Hippies enjoy themselves at the 1967 Woburn Abbey Love In A hippy is pictured topless in the crowd at Knebworth rock festival in…

Growing up with a sister is an experience that you can only truly understand if you did it yourself. When you have a sister, you always have someone to hang out with…or argue with, depending on the day. But in many cases, as the two of you grow older, your relationship matures and you find yourself with a best friend who’s known you for pretty much your whole life. And in that case, you might want to get a tattoo to document your very special bond. Here are 20 sister tattoos that perfectly capture what it’s like to have a sister. Groß passt auf Klein auf💕👭 #sister #sistertattoos #cat #love…

Did you know that thousands of years before the existence of bounded books, different ancient cultures were aware how important it was to keep records of events through their history? Thousands of years ago, ancient cultures built incredible, massive libraries, that acted as giant forts of knowledge. These great temples of knowledge served not only to safeguard ancient clay tablets and scrolls but as a center of culture and learning. In this article, we take a look at three legendary ancient libraries and why they were an important cultural center for ancient humankind. One of the theories suggests that Library of Alexandria was burned down. ‘The Burning of the Library…

“Through this ancient manuscript…the reader could attract and channel the energy of the cosmos so that a certain event develops according to the will of the practitioner, zodiacal magic; which is said to help master and dominate with accuracy—through the force of the universe—nature and its surroundings.” Picatrix explains not only how to create and ensoul magical statues and talismans, but even speaks of whole cities constructed using the principles of astrological magic. The Pixatrix—as it’s called today—is an ancient, 400-page magical grimoire of originally written in Arabic under the title غاية الحكيم Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm. Experts believe it was composed in the 11th century although some argue it was created…

The Martin McDonagh directed film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, has been nominated for a host of awards at some of the biggest events such as the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes. In the film, a grieving mum pays to have messages attached to three abandoned billboards that criticise the local police force for not finding the person who raped and murdered her daughter.   It highlighted how a simple message could send shockwaves through a community if its done in the right way and since the film debuted in September last year, activists around the world have been inspired by the plot. Street artist Sabo, called unsavoryagents on Twitter, has installed…

The familiar guitar chords in the intro, followed by the broken weather-beaten vocals, culminating in a crescendo of piano keys. Hurt has come to symbolise the twilight years of the late-great Johnny Cash – who would have been celebrating his 86th birthday today –  the iconic country singer who’s deep baritones on songs like Walk The Line and Ring Of Fire made him a household name. For those steeped in pop culture, Hurt has become almost synonymous with TV montages and films. For wrestling fans, they’d mostly associate it with WWE‘s video tribute to the late-great Eddie Guerrero [I’m Your Papi!] – watch it on YouTube and tell me you didn’t shed a tear: What may come as a surprise…