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The Ghriba pilgrimage in the island of Jerba: the semantics of otherness
No full textThis article examines the Jewish pilgrimage to the Ghriba Synagogue on the island of Jerba (or Djerba) in Tunisia, with a focus on the semantics of otherness as it is condensed in the devotion to the Ghriba, the eponymous local saint of the synagogue. The author explores the semantics of the pilgrimage to the Ghriba (the ‘stranger saint’) and in particular, the polysemy of the name and the ambivalence of otherness in the Tunisian context, in particular in representations through discourse in the Tunisian Arabic language as shared by Muslims and Jews. She argues that this complex and ambivalent representation is the central meaning of the ritual of the Ghriba pilgrimage, as the negative connotations of otherness are reversed and amplified into the affirmation of a positive, healing ritual, dedicated to the stranger saint as a symbolic allegory of the otherness of the Jewish community as a whole, or as an allegory of the alienated, exiled, marginalized self.
Defining Theosophy in the Twenty-First century
No full textThe concept theosophy has been used by different theological and philosophical positions with different meaning throughout western history. The concept can therefore not be understood as a trans-historical or universal one, but must be specified whenever it is applied, since several theosophies have existed over time. Nonetheless, a specification is seldom provided when the term is and has been applied in recent decades by scholars as well as the general public. Most often when used today, the term is applied as synonymous to the theosophy introduced by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–91), co-founder of the Theosophical Society (TS) established in 1875; consequently tending to include only the TS as tradition when evaluating a given theosophical theme. However, focussing on tradition rather than on theology—that is, focussing on the founding tradition rather than also including groups practising according to theosophical dogma—can give rise to a number of problems, particularly when considering the theosophical situation today. Using a wider perspective when evaluating the theosophical situation today reveals a different picture—one that shows that theosophy is not dying out, but rather, experiencing a renaissance. One obvious question evolving from these reflections is whether this theosophy experiencing a renaissance is the same theosophy as the Blavatskian or ‘modern’ theosophy, as Emely B. Sellon and Renée Weber have classified it, or if it is to be considered as a new type or kind. The aim of this article is to discuss this question, looking at how theosophy has developed in Denmark over the last century; a country in which a theosophical renaissance has indeed been observed in recent years
Charisma, volatility and violence: assessing the role of crises of charismatic authority in precipitating incidents of millenarian violence
No full textIn this article the author develops some of the points he has made elsewhere regarding the role of what may be termed ‘crises of charismatic authority’ in producing volatility or even violence within marginal apocalyptic religious groups. The last quarter of the twentieth century witnessed several incidents where such groups engaged in violent actions against themselves, others in the outside world, or typically both (among them the Peoples Temple in Guayana in 1978, Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas in 1994, Order of the Solar Temple in Switzerland, Quebec and France in 1997, Aum Shirinkyo, Japan in 1995, Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, Uganda in 2000). This notion of ‘crises of charismatic authority’ has in many ways become a central, recurring theme in the author's analysis of these incidents. While accepting that such crises were typically not sufficient in themselves to have precipitated each of the dramatic denouements the author has examined, he has come to the conclusion that they did play a major role in each; such crises played a much more significant role than that played by external opposition in almost all of the cases the author examined (the case of the Branch Davidians being perhaps the exception that proves the rule). In this article, the author discusses what he means by crises of charismatic authority (an important task in itself due to the diverse understandings of ‘charisma’ found within the literature) and presents a comparative analysis of some of the ways in which these crises can occur
On the continuity of old Saami religion
No full textThe purpose of my paper is to draw attention to the fact that old Saami religion is not entirely extinct. For example, sacrificial traditions, continued to live on long after the arrival of missionaries and other such activities among the Saamis. The question now is whether such sacrificing customs and similar traditions were current even later than what research has suggested and if so, how late in time. I wish to cast some light on this problem by presenting a number of examples taken in part from the literature about the Saamis, in part from personal communications from other scholars and in part from my own interviews observations in the field. What we can note is that certain traditional elements of Saami religion—at least in a few individual cases and in part perhaps in somewhat changed form—have continued to exist right up to quite recent times and, indeed, still live on, above all in the southerly parts of the region inhabited by the Lapps. In cases where the practice of making offerings ceased, the people still continued to show respect and veneration for the religious sites and could even experience something of the force emanating from them. They therefore felt a need to shield themselves from these forces and consequently followed the traditional practices. Early Saami religion and Christianity undoubtedly continued to exist side by side. It is possible that in their traditional livelihoods and even in life in general they resorted to their former well-tried religion, especially when all else failed
Shamanic Rites Seen from a Shamanic Perspective
No full textMost of the previously practiced methods of investigating the shamanic rite have only shown half the picture. For a deeper understanding, it is also necessary to examine the rite's content. Taking the shaman's point of view into consideration, listening to how the shaman describes his experiences, and honoring that description as valid, is the first step.The work of the shaman has always been a matter of experience, experience which outside observers could not accept as being "real" because of their own limited understanding of reality, and so they labeled it as religious faith, imagination, beliefs, superstitions, insanity, or even play-acting
Defiled and deified: profane and sacred bodies in Caitanya Vaisnava theology
No full textIt is well known that there is no dearth of stereotypes when it comes to religion and the body. Christianity is a body-negative religion, Judaism is body-positive, ascetic practices automatically lead to a negative view of the body, and Eastern religions are more positive towards the body than Christianity. Such truisms are of little value. Still, they are voiced often enough to warrant occasional replies. In this article one instance is highlighted, from within the Hindu tradition, that offers an interesting take on how the conception of the body may vary greatly within one and the same religious tradition. Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism, also known as Bengali or Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, is the devotional movement of Kṛṣṇa-bhakti begun by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (1486–1533) in Bengal, India. Kṛṣṇadāsa’s work may be used as an entrance into the theology of Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism. What, then, does Kṛṣṇadāsa have to say about the body? The body may be anything, from an obstacle to divine service, to its instrument, both in this life and the next. It is also an object of worship—in fact, by far most of the instances of words in Sanskrit or Bengali indicating body in the texts of Kṛṣṇadāsa refer to the forms of Caitanya and Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, that are described with loving, painstaking detail. The differences between these types of bodies may or may not be apparent to an outsider, and indeed, the body need not be physical at all. This example from the Hindu tradition, highlights some of the complexities inherent in terms such as ‘the body’, or ‘body-negative spirituality’
“Conjuring up spirits of the past”: identifications in public ritual of living persons with persons of the past
No full textApproximisation refers to milieu/space and synchronisation to time. Such approximation/synchronisation requires a special mode of expression, which makes the replacement of room and the reversal of time plausible to the spectator. This mode of expression is myth/ritual or theatre, or both. Here we face both. We face the imitation of an original symbolic act, the handing over of sovereignty, but on a theatre-like stage, the "Court" around the present President of Lanka in 1995. Here the sober borders between theatre and ritual become blurred. The author gives an example of a recent approximisation/ synchronisation by representatives of the PA Government of Lanka in the 1990s. The event is the conquering of Yalppanam (Jaffna) by the Lankan armed forces in November/December 1995. This event is approximated to, and synchronised with, the event of conquering of Yalppanam by the war hero Sapumal Kumaraya in the 15th century. On the modern political stage, the role of King was taken up by the President Chandra Kumaranatunga-Bandaranayka, and the role of Sapumal Kumaraya by her General Anuruddha Ratwatte. The role of the conquered King Kanakacuriyan is by implication ascribed to the present leader of the Ilavar, to Veluppillai Pirapakaran, who also leads his military organisation known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamililam (LTTE). The Ilavar are those who go for independence or autonomy of Tamililam. Lankans are those who go for a unitary or united state of Lanka. The aim of the ritual public performance on the highest state level is to eliminate an experience of contingency surrounding war in a Buddhist country, killing to conquer an area, and establish a unitary state in a country that is already mentally fragmented
Facebook as a monastic place? The new use of internet by Catholic monks
No full textAlthough Catholic monasteries are theoretically out of the world, monks and nuns more and more use the internet, both for religious and non-religious reasons. While society at large often takes it for granted that monks are out of modernity, monastic communities have been adopted media from relatively early on, and we cannot say that they have come late to its use. The internet can offer monasteries a lot of advantages because it allows monks to be in the world without going out of the cloister. Nevertheless, the introduction of this new media in monasteries also raises a lot of questions about the potential contradictions it poses with other aspects of monastic life. The paper seeks to research the use of the medium by monks and nuns even in their daily lives, and attempts especially to investigate the potential changes it brings to monastic life
Post-secular religious practices entering traditional religion
No full textNowadays we can observe complex interactions between the religious and secular spheres. Several different processes take place simultaneously: the traditionally religious elements function in the secular sphere as if they were part of secular culture; elements of the secular sphere build a specific kind of post-secular religiosity; finally, this post-secular religiosity influences traditional religions. This article focuses on the last stage of these changes. The author's purpose is to describe and interpret the practices we can observe. Because of the complexity of this issue, the analyses are limited to examples taken from the Catholic Church in Germany, where this process seems to be as popular as it is paradoxical. Catholicism realises that the post-secular forms of religiosity are very popular and that many people choose them instead of the traditional Church. It could offer them spirituality based on ages of experience. But instead of making its own spiritual tradition competitive on the spiritual market, Catholicism seems to offer Christianised post-secular goods, or its own traditional elements represented in a secularised form. It seems difficult to predict how it will all end. However, we observe an interesting encounter and interaction between an ‘old’ religion and a new religiosity, which will certainly have impact on further presence of the Church in the society
The place of Emanuel Swedenborg in the spiritual saga of Scandinavia
No full textBetween 1749 and 1771 the Swede Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) wrote and published eighteen religious works in Latin that he claimed were the foundation of a new Christian religion. He wrote that he had been called by God to unlock the spiritual secrets of the Bible through the doctrine of correspondences; to reveal the nature of the spiritual world based on experience in that realm; and to explain the keys to living a heavenly life. Stating in his last work, True Christianity (paragraph no. 779) that he was called only to write and publish, Swedenborg never attempted to found a church. Swedenborg published his books in Amsterdam and London, and if his 1758 print runs of 1,000 for five different works are typical, he had thousands of books available to distribute throughout Europe and he did so. However, the number of books in Scandinavia at the time of his death was probably fairly small. In 1772 there were less than a dozen readers in all of Europe, and only a small handful in Scandinavia. While awareness, education, and access are necessary prerequisites to the possibility of responding to these works, interest is essential. From the beginning, and over the years since their publication, individuals motivated to explore them seem to fall into the following categories: religious virtuosi/seekers; philosophers; occultists; artists, poets, and, writers. In this article the author, after a few remarks about issues on scholarship, turns her attention to three men with three different relationships to Swedenborg‘s religious writings, they are Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Søren Kierkegaard (1813–55), and August Strindberg (1850–1912). Then she makes an assessment of Swedenborg’s contribution to Scandinavia