Chapter 6 explores the interconnection between natural philosophy and liberation from rebirth, arguing first that knowledge of the world is necessary to change one’s being from mortal to divine nature and, second, that purifications play a central role in knowledge acquisition. After a consideration of epistemic reflections at Empedocles’ time and the role of initiation in attaining true knowledge, it is shown that Empedocles explains the change of being into divine nature at the level of the elements. Indeed, in processes of perception and knowledge acquisition, elements coming from external effluvia interact with elements in the body and thereby modify the mind’s mixture. It follows that the revelation of Empedocles’ philosophy can change our mind to the point that it will become a divine mind. The possibility of becoming divine through knowledge of the world goes along with the training one must undergo to be adequately prepared to receive it. This training coincides with processes of purification, and Empedocles explains from a physiological standpoint how these enable the structure of the elements of our mind to be enhanced to the point where it becomes attuned to the divine.

Although there have been attempts to make relationship science more diverse and inclusive, as it stands, the external sociocultural forces that impact relationships have not been at the forefront of research. We argue that romantic relationships cannot be divorced from the sociocultural context in which they exist. This chapter reviews the literature to explain the “context problem” faced by relationship science, highlighting the importance of including intersectional, context-driven research in the field. We then provide an overview of each chapter in the volume.

This chapter introduces relationship initiation, the process by which people come to mutually identify themselves as in a romantic relationship. The chapter first describes how relationship readiness, romantic motives, and sociosexuality affect relationship initiation. Then, the chapter outlines the strategies and tactics that facilitate initiation (e.g., conspicuous consumption, altruistic acts), the gender roles that influence which strategies people use, and the major barriers that hinder relationship initiation (e.g., access to partners, shyness, low self-esteem). The chapter also reviews the stages that often occur as relationships develop, as well as divergent initiation paths. Lastly, the chapter covers the surprisingly influential role that other people play in shaping initiation trajectories and the reasons why most “could-be” relationships do not become relationships (e.g., rejection, ineffective initiation approaches).

Chapter 3 is devoted to the origin, initiation, and modeling of sound change. It begins withtheories of why sound change exists and discusses the teleological and nonteleological approaches. It then connects various models of sound change to these initiation stages. The most pressing question in these models is whether they build on the notion of accumulation of errors, or the involvement of social context such that social interpretation lies at the heart of change initiation. From the micro perspective, the chapter then discusses how change propagates in the individual speaker or listener and how sound change may lead to phonologization as its final stage. It contrasts Neogrammarian sound change with lexical diffusion. It further connects exemplar theories and sound change by extending exemplar knowledge to social meaning. The chapter then addresses the state of the art in /str/-retraction research. It spans the entire linguistic attention to /str/-retraction, from Labov’s early fieldnotes, to Shapiro and Lawrence’s theoretical accounts, to later phonetic and sociolinguistic approaches. Based on the theoretical backdrop provided before and the state of the art in /str/-centered linguistic research, the research hypotheses of the study are then introduced.

Part V explores how Batswana manage interdependencies and distinctions between kinship and politics on local, national, and transnational levels. It takes in three major events: in Chapter 13, a family party; in Chapter 14, a homecoming celebration for the first age regiment to be initiated in a generation; and in Chapter 15, an opening event held by a respected national NGO. Chapter 13 argues that family celebrations are catalysts for conflict, performing familial success and distinguishing home from village by demonstrating an ability to manage dikgang. In Chapter 14, families prove pivotal to regenerating the morafe (tribal polity), and initiation proves pivotal in re-embedding Tswana law in families – equipping them to better engage dikgang. NGO, government, and donor performances of success also rely on the performance of kinship; in Chapter 15’s opening ceremony, idioms and ideals of kinship legitimise the work of government and civil society agencies, establishing their precedence over the families they serve. But their everyday work is also permeated – even generated – by unmarked, conflicting kinship dynamics. In their interventions, these agencies unsettle both the interdependencies and distinctions Batswana customarily make between kinship and politics; and, in doing so, they may create more profound challenges than the AIDS epidemic.

Kgotla ke agiwa ka losika.

Chapter 12 describes the multiple notification requirements contained in the Agreement on Safeguards on domestic regulations on safeguard measures as well as on key aspects of specific safeguard actions. The chapter explains the consequences of these notifications and the specific actions that other Members may take to defend their commercial interest. It also discusses the question of the adequate opportunity to hold consultations under Article 12.3 of the agreement, and the question of cross-notifications to be made by third Members. The Chapter presents statistics on the use of safeguard investigations, safeguard measures and rebalancing actions in the light of the notifications made by WTO Members between 1995 and 2020.

We are creative primates who evolved from creative primates and as our cognition increased, so did the complexity of our creative trance. In the evolutionary history of our symbolic communication, even early works suggest altered states and transformation of the self. There are archaic artifacts with symbols that intimate initiation and life after death, prehistoric images on cave walls intended to influence both affect and reality, and talismanic objects linked to altered states, rituals, pain relief, and healing. Our toolmaking evolved from simple Lomekwian and Oldowan stone tools, to the increased aesthetic choices of Acheulean handaxes, to Paleolithic ritual objects with archetypal symbolism encoding spiritual rebirth. As humans progressed, their repeated cultural interchanges through the ratchet effect transformed a five-thousand-year-old Near Eastern hammered dulcimer into the modern grand piano. Beginning with everyday needs, our creativity advanced to plans that could alter civilizations, expanding human cognitive capacity with external memory devices like alphabets, computers, and the digital cloud.

This chapter begins by tracing the implications of Empedocles’ philosophy for poetry, arguing that he valorises the medium against criticisms expressed by earlier Presocratics. His cosmology provides systematic explanation for poetic beauty as deriving from Love. He uses the imagery of craftsmanship for the composition of his poetry, making it seem analogous to the products of Love, the divine craftswoman. This point is significant for the history of Greek poetics, since some scholars have argued that the artisanal conception of poetry emerges only at a later period. The chapter then focuses on Empedocles’ use of narrative, arguing that two particular plot-types structure the surviving fragments: the wandering exile who arrives in triumph at a new destination and the process of mystic initiation. Finally, it explores the significance and effects of Empedocles’ use of these narratives. He expands to cosmic proportions the familiar pattern of the blood-exile who achieves purification on arrival at a new location through the instigation of new institutions. The process of being ‘initiated’ into Empedocles’ philosophy involves an initially fearsome but ultimately exhilarating and sublime emotional trajectory which results in the student/initiate gaining a deeper insight into the workings of the universe.

The arguments put forth by Parmenides’ goddess have some marked implications for language: mortal terms are deceptive and what truly ‘is’ seems hard to capture in ordinary language. This chapter argues that Parmenides uses poetry in a variety of ways to bypass these difficulties. Verse could be a notoriously deceptive form of discourse in causing its recipients to forget their immediate surroundings and enter into an imagined and potentially illusory mimetic world. In the Doxa section of the poem, Parmenides highlights this quality of his verse to illustrate the wider deceptiveness of mortal sensory experience. On the other hand, the transportive qualities of verse render it a means by which to provide a taster of the ineffable and sublime emotional-cum-cognitive experience of contemplating that which truly is. Moreover, through alluding to meta-literary episodes such as Hesiod’s Theogony proem and the Sirens episode of the Odyssey, Parmenides engages in an ongoing discussion concerning the nature and function of song. His contribution can be regarded as an important moment in the emergence of the Classical conception of poetry: in presenting the Doxa as a poetic world deriving from mortal opinion, Parmenides comes close to Platonic conceptions of literary mimesis.

The ancient Athenians held two major Panhellenic festivals: the Great Panathenaia in celebration of the goddess Athena and the Great Mysteries in honor of Demeter. This chapter compares and contrasts the rituals of these two festivals in relation to the topography and monuments of Athens, focusing on how the celebrations drew together different parts of the community of Athens.

This chapter examines the dynamics of meandering rivers, including the initiation of meandering in straight channels; the development of bar units; and the relation of these units to pools, riffles, and point bars. It reviews theories of pool-riffle development and maintenance; flow through meander bends, including the influence of channel curvature and the point bar on flow structure; and the relation of the spatial pattern of shear stress in curved channels to patterns of erosion and deposition, to the development of bar unit topography, and to patterns of bank erosion. Mechanisms of bank erosion are introduced, emphasizing that bank erosion occurs in different types of rivers. Modes of planform deformation on meandering rivers are explored, as well as the factors that influence planform migration dynamics in meandering rivers. The discussion includes a basic introduction to numerical models of meandering rivers and attempts to integrate models of flow and sediment transport in curved channels with models capable of simulating bank erosion and lateral migration of meandering rivers. The chapter also briefly discusses meandering of mixed bedrock-alluvial rivers.