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Some psycho-physiological aspects of ecstasy in recent research
No full textThe intention of this article is to present some psycho-physiological perspectives of recent date concerned with the phenomenon of ecstasy. As almost none of this research has yet been assimilated by comparative religion, the focus here is on illustrating some of the background for renewed speculation on the relationship between psyche and soma. Traditional Western science has usually operated with a distinction between external and internal processes. Perhaps owing to this idea of the independence of our internal processes from our intentional consciousness, reports from other cultures such as those concerning the extraordinary achievements of holy men (e.g. their capacity to lie buried for days, or survive unclothed at very low temperatures) have tended to be ignored as fantastic rumours (which, to some extent, is certainly true) and myths. In a similar way the varieties of religious ecstatic states have often been countered with a shrug by psychiatrists. The recently renewed interest in consciousness within general psychology, together with what may be called marginal psychology and the drug revolt of youth culture have, however, provoked new speculation concerning human potential, speculation which in due time might also benefit comparative religion. From the perspective of comparative religion the primary concern is with cultural tradition and interpretation. Among our many new potential methods for better understanding ecstatic phenomena by means of experimental methods, biofeedback has been the most sensational one. It is above all the research in biofeedback that has forced many scientists to reconsider their view of the autonomic nervous system as a system completely independent of human will and control
Old and New Testament figures in Mandaean version
No full textThe religion which is commonly called the Mandaean is certainly a most complex entity. There is no standardized doctrine. Neither anthropology, cosmogony nor soteriology have reached that stage of doctrinal clarity which in the West is regarded as desirable. In all these fields of doctrine there are a number of important differences, e.g. as regards such an essential doctrine as the kind or degree of dualism. But however great the doctrinal freedom has been, it has not been too great to prevent Mandaeism from being incorporated into the great flock of Gnostic systems. Some basic features of Mandaean history are known and we are aware to some extent of the components making up the system. Obviously there is a large proportion of biblical, especially Old Testament material, but equally obvious are the Iranian influences. The latter seem to be partly derived from the West, together with the Old Testament and Jewish traditions, and partly incorporated in the tradition when the Mandaeans or Protomandaeans had already settled east of the river Jordan and in Mesopotamia
The veto on images and the aniconic God in Ancient Israel
No full textThroughout the long history Israel was quite familiar with the phenomenon of cultic images, a familiarity which it acquired by contact with other cultures. From the pre-monarchic period we have the traditions—which in all probability were originally neutral—about the bronze serpent and Aaron's bull; the polemic in the latter narrative appears not to be original. We may here include the stories of Gideon's ephod and Micah's image as well. The official Jerusalem cult was undoubtedly aniconic, but the absence of images had scarcely taken on the character of a command in a fixed prohibition. The ark had not yet been rationalized into a mere container for the tablets of the testimony. In the Northern Kingdom the bull image in Bethel (and in Dan?) escaped prophetic criticism for one and a half centuries. Jehu's reforms did not alter this fact, nor do Elijah and Elisha seem to have expressed misgivings. First in the eighth century the prophetic polemic against images is formulated by Hosea immediately in its full force. The prohibition is one expression of the reaction against Canaanite culture and religion which found its most extreme form in the Rechabites' stubborn fight for nomadic ideals and their consequent refusal to live in houses, take up agriculture, or drink wine (Jer 35,6-7). When the prohibition is seen in this perspective, the question becomes little more than academic whether the ban was directed against images of foreign gods or representations of Israel's God. It is directed against both, the intention being to prohibit all cultic images. Its place in the decalogue is thus quite appropriate: it forms the transition from the prohibition of other gods to the commands regarding the divine name and the sabbath, both of which refer to the JHWH cult. The prohibition is of course not to be understood in an exclusively negative sense, as a safe-guard against syncretism. It may also be understood as positively expressing the distinctive character of Israel's understanding of the deity
Forced Migration and Muslim Rituals: An Area of Cultural Psychology?
No full textThe psychological foundation of rites de passage have long been debated within the history of religion and related areas. The significance of such rites in facilitating emotional readjustment to a new life situation have been particularly stressed. Emotional reactions on the individual level largely remain outside the competence of anthropologists, despite their awareness of the general influence of culture on this as on other areas of human endeavour. Focusing on traumatized female refugees from Iran, a critical question is whether the changing living conditions which have provoked traumatic experiences in the lives of these refugees have been in any way related to Muslim ritual requirements or rites de passage
Praising as bodily practice: the neocharismatic culture of celebration
No full textRhythmic body movements and dancing, as well as singing, have been used as a means and inspiration for both individual and communal spiritual experience throughout the history of religions. This article takes a tentative look at the contemporary neocharismatic culture of celebration as a means of aiming at religious experience through collective bodily practice; namely praising, which is generally understood to take the form of singing but is, in fact, expressed also in bodily movements such as dancing. In the neocharismatic context, a celebration means a certain type of a meeting with a special focus on contemplative worship and prayer, accompanied with lively music of praise. First, the historical background of the neocharismatic branch is outlined shortly. Secondly, the tradition of praise itself within this context is described – what are the insider definitions and what kinds of forms praise in the culture of celebration actually includes, especially in Finland. The description is basically based on internet material and the author's previous field experiences in the Word of Life congregational meetings and other charismatic Christian events. In conclusion, acts of praise as a source of religious experience are discussed
Power play: ritual rivalry and targeted tradition in Glastonbury
No full textGlastonbury, a small town in the south-west of England, is considered significant by a wide variety of spiritual seekers, including Christians of various denominations, pagans, Druids, Goddess devotees, self-styled ‘New Agers’, Buddhists, Sufis, earth energies researchers, healers and others who feel that they have in some way been ‘called’ or ‘drawn’ to the town. Although, for the most part, groups and individuals of very different religious persuasion co-exist comparatively peacefully and a largely laissez-faire attitude to pluralism has developed in the town, increasingly some rivalries and differences in worldview are being played out publicly in ‘traditional’ forms such as processions, rituals and calendar customs. While such traditional religious means are used on occasion to express concord rather than conflict, proclaiming and reclaiming are very much part of the ethos of ritual and processional activity in Glastonbury at present, with pageantry and calendar customs regarded as valuable tools in establishing presence and priority in both overt and subtle ways. The extent to which rival claims to territorial and spiritual supremacy are being played out in the (re)creation of rituals and other forms of public display are examined here briefly through two sets of case studies which feature vernacular religious forms being used in relation to contemporary spirituality. The first set involves the Christian Glastonbury Pilgrimage processions and their pagan counterpart the Goddess in the Cart Procession; the second involves the Glastonbury Thorn Ceremony and the Chalice Well Winter Solstice Celebration. The focus here is on the comparative and tactical aspects of these events
Opening address at the Symposium on Encounters between Religions in Old Nordic Times and on Cultic Place-Names, arranged by the Donner Institute 19-21 August 1987
No full textThis paper broadly discusses the topics presented at the symposium
Totem and taboo in the grocery store: quasi-religious foodways in North America
No full textThis article focuses on food proscriptions such as veganism and gluten-free eating, and prescriptions such as the Paleolithic diet, focusing on the North American context. These quasi-religious foodways serve as means for individuals to engage in discourses of community, personal and group identity, and boundary-marking. Through the daily practice of eating, those who follow quasi-religious foodways mark their identities, literally consuming who they are. These quasi-religious foodways therefore function to allow contemporary consumer-oriented individualistic Americans to engage in discourses of community, identity, and meaning in a highly vernacular manner, that of the marketplace. They also point to the manner in which identity and community have expanded well outside of religious categories
Ecstasy from a physiological point of view
No full textThe biological study of man is one of today's most rapidly advancing sciences. There is no reason for not utilizing these methodologies of research and the knowledge already gained when studying ecstasy and other similar religious phenomena. Drugs have been used in all parts of the world as an ecstasy technique. Since mental states and physiological correlates always accompany each other, it is obvious that the human mind can be affected by external means, for instance by drugs. But the opposite is also true; mental changes affect the body, as they do in the case of psychosomatic diseases. Ecstasy is often described as an extremely joyful experience; this pleasure must necessarily also have a physiological basis. It is of course too early to say anything for certain, but the discovery of pleasure centres in the brain might offer an explanation. It is not far-fetched to suggest that when a person experiences euphoric ecstasy, it might, in some way or other, be connected with a cerebral pleasure center. Can it be, for example, that religious ecstasy is attained only by some mechanism triggering off changes in the balance of the transmitter substances? Or is it reached only via a change in the hormonal balance, or only by a slowing down of the brain waves, or is a pleasure centre activated? When a person is using an ecstasy technique, he usually does so within a religious tradition. When he reaches an experience, a traditional interpretation of it already exists
Discovering the two faces of religious charismatic action – traditional and modern: a model
No full textIn this paper, the author examines the issue of charisma and prophecy in secularized societies. In traditional society the charismatic personality or the prophet brought a universalizing and rationalizing message which simultaneously expanded and penetrated the sphere of external order in the world, giving people the ability to manipulate and control the natural world. The disenchanted world is the end product of this process, when no more mysterious forces come into play, and when one can in principle master all things through rational calculation. The gift of rationality almost randomly bestowed in the ancient world becomes, for Weber, the rightful inheritance of the modern individual. Clarity brought by charisma in a dark and foreboding world loses its brilliance and its ability to beckon when the world is filled with light. In investigating charisma in only traditional societies, Weber saw charisma as one dimensional, solely as the force of rationality. So envisioned, charisma dissipates in the very act of realizing itself through the transformation of the world. Given Weber's analysis, therefore, one would not expect to find genuinely new religions emerging within our transformed and rational modern society. In the examination of the founding something that is best identified by the sociological term charisma, though obviously in modern guise, is clearly evident. This points to the possibility that charisma is not static but has the dynamic capacity to be responsive to the structural characteristics of the society in which it operates