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Superstitions of the Sea

A Digest of Beliefs, Customs, and Mystery

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Superstitions of the Sea

By: James G. Clary
Narrated by: John Rayment
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About this listen

Jim Clary presents a compelling and riveting digest of beliefs, customs, and mystery in Superstitions of the Sea. Clary focuses on the vast array of strange, mythical, and often comical beliefs of mariners from ancient times to the present. Collecting the various topics for years, Clary found that maritime superstition was weaved throughout every fabric of his study. The folklore was so interesting that it often lured him far away from his subject search and held him spellbound for hours at a time.

Clary offers a unique and encompassing classification of maritime superstitions, including anecdotes on: animals, burial, charms, demons, evil eyes, figureheads, ghost ships, hexes, icebergs, Jonahs, knots, launchings, myths, navigation, omens, people, romance, shipwrecks, triangles, the unexplained, Vikings, and weather phenomena. He combed through countless age-old volumes and interviewed today's sailors to bring to the listener incredible yarns and unbelievable recorded facts enshrouded in mystery.

©1994 James Clary (P)2015 James G. Clary Ancient Customs & Traditions Maritime History & Piracy Social Sciences Spirituality World
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This is a very comfortable listen. None stop ghost stories and superstitions.
So many you will be dipping in and out forever.

An excellent download.

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Clear narration, interesting topic, a good book for background listening whilst cooking or otherwise tasking

An easy listen

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Surprising anyone would ever set foot on a ship, if every superstition was to be believed and adhered to. An interesting book.

My black cat liked her section.

Surprising anyone ever sets foot on a ship.

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Better narrative flow and more lively narration

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The book consists of brief notes about maritime traditions and folklore with no linking between them. Combined with the very monotonous narration this makes it rather like listening to someone reading out a phone directory.

How could the performance have been better?

Better narrative flow and more lively narration

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Well researched, plenty of content

Potentially interesting subject poorly presented

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