Åbo Akademi: Open Journal Systems
Not a member yet
892 research outputs found
Sort by
The symbolism of liminality
No full textIn this paper, the author discusses different understandings of the symbolism of liminality. According to Van Gennep’s definition, rites de passage are rites which accompany every change of place, state, social position and age. In primitive communities these changes are generally made public and their importance is hallowed by rites which follow a pattern. From the structural point of view, the liminal stage could also be regarded as a crucial phase in the sequence of the ritual drama. When rites of pas-sage are investigated as structured symbolic behaviour, it is also possible to find and isolate smaller units of analysis. Ritual behaviour is always the communication of the symbols which transmit some religious or other messages to the participants aware of their meanings
The religious message in action - a case study
No full textWe understand a religious message to be the product of a religious movement. In studying such a message, it is very much to the purpose to place it in the context in which it operates. The cultural and social context of a religious message is some religious movement. Hence, the message should be examined against that framework. Each message has a certain structure, and its detection is of prime importance. Messages are not only part of the tradition, but themselves unique in their respective communicative situations. Thus, in our view, structural analysis does not have analytical use-value unless the message's symbols are set into their communicative context. The aim of this paper is dual: On the one hand, we intend to analyze and clarify the structure of a religious message of the Laestadian movement, how the message operates, also how the members of that movement respond to the codes of the message, and what kind of functions it fulfills; on the other, to develop and test an analytical model which would combine structural and interactional analysis
Eric Hermelin and mystical hermeneutics: interpretation beyond itself
No full textEric Hermelin (1860-1944) translated more than 10.000 pages Persian Sufi poetry, German texts by Jakob Böhme and Latin texts by Emmanuel Swedenborg. In the translation process Hermelin shaped his strategies and perceptions in ways which served their patterns of desire, and what they constructed reflected and served their own unique identity. Added up, the devices which constitute strategies of reading set in motion by the selfs defense of its identity are: Defenses, Expectations, Fantasies, and Transformations. Hermelin's mystical hermeneutics produced not only understanding of texts, but often no less produced an increased awareness, with appropriate hermeneutical sensitivity, of self-perception and self-identity. A self-awareness and a strengthening of an individual and corporate identity as one who has a stake in the texts and that to which they bear witness constitutes an important reader-effect in this case of Sufi poetry. But without any principle of suspicion, in Gadamer's terminology a premature fusion of horizons will take place before Hermelin has listened in openness with respect for the tension between the horizons of the text and the horizon of Hermelin. The textual horizon has col-lapsed into that of Hermelin's narrative biography, and is unable to do more than to speak back his own valnes and desires. Something socio-pragmatical was after all woven into the controversial bon vivant, when he used literary works to replicate himself. At the same time, the texts spoke from beyond the self
Possession as a clinical phenomenon: a critique of the medical model
No full textThe focus of this article is on the individual's specific experience of his personality being possessed, either partially or completely, momentarily or for an extended period of time, by evil spirits. It must be seen as necessary to supplement the narrow medical model for interpreting states of possession. The clinically interested psychologist of religion, in particular, needs consider aspects of the phenomenology of religion and clinical psychology in order to gain a broader understanding of this phenomenon. To declare that possession experiences are "nothing but psychosis, mania, epilepsy or schizophrenia, are examples of this type of over-simplification. The structure of possession can above all be understood as an interaction between a cognitive, linguistic level, and an emotional, affective level. Only if one unites these two levels can one attain a deeper understanding of the individual's possession experience. It is, in other words, important to remember that to increase understanding of the structure of possession, we must relate the individual's (bio-chemically conditioned) intensive feeling experience to the surrounding subculture's way of defining these intensive feelings. Religious language provides one way of dealing verbally with the unstructured and terrifying aspects of a developing psychosis. It is, for example, possible to describe the personal transformation as a dynamic relationship between the verbal representatives for evil or the Evil One in the world of mythological language, and the intrapsychic, anxiety-filled emotive state, regardless of whether this inner state is considered to be the result of neurosis, psycho-sis, or the consequence of intensive suggestion
Postmodern messiahs: the changing saviours of contemporary popular culture
No full textThe messiah myth is alive and well in the modern world. Contemporary science fiction film has taken the myth to heart and given us an endless stream of larger than life heroes. The heroes of the present are, however, not exactly the same as the heroes of the past. A changing world demands new things of its saviours. Using a textual and narrative analysis based on insights gained from feminist film theory and cultural studies, this article looks closely at the messiah theme in science fiction films and TV series from the last three decades. The study explores the changes that have occurred in relation to images of the body, the attitudes and personalities of modern heroes, gender, questions of power and ideas of the transcendent. The article then discusses what these changes both between newer and older heroes and between contemporary heroes and the traditional messiah story might say about religion and spirituality in the modern world. Finally the article explores the question of why the messiah myth still finds an audience today
Aschw. Lytis- in Ortsnamen: ein kultisches Element oder ein profanes?
No full textThis article deals with the Old Swedish name Lytis, which figures in five place names in the eastern parts of Sweden. Previous research has suggested that they are related to the God name Lytir and that the names thus may refer to ancient cultic places. The article supports this idea and suggests that the most probable connection would be to the deity Frö
Fragments of the past: how to study old Norse religion
No full textThe state of the sources of the Old Norse religions presents a great problem. Most of them were written down two hundred or even three hundred years after the Christianization of the North, based on an oral tradition going back to the pre-Christian ages. This situation has led to an intense discussion about the Christian influence or even interpolations in the text or what are genuine proofs of Old Norse religion. The examples represent varying methods of overcoming source problems show that it is necessary to put new questions to the source material such as: What was the purpose of the sacrifice? Who sacrificed and who received it? Which sacrifices took place in calendar rites, in rites of passage or in crisis? And what are the areas of purification or avoidance in the sacrificial situation? A combination of methods encompassing both the comparative and the linguistic aspect provides an opportunity to overcome the difficulties encountered by the students of Old Norse mythology, especially the problems with the sources
Strategic Engagement and Religious Peace-building: a case study of religious peace work in Jerusalem
No full textThis article argues for the importance of a dialogue for strategic engagement and presents an analytical approach to it with reference to three different peacebuilding strategies in terms of conflict resolution theories. As a case study example, the article presents three religious organizations engaged in peacebuilding in Jerusalem and explores the different strategies utilized by them. The article further argues that each single strategy possesses a danger of going wrong, at the same time as each single strategy is a vital component as part of a parallel process along with the others – to achieve the common goal of conflict transformation
