Åbo Akademi: Open Journal Systems
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A matter of balance in a fast paced society: performing Ayurvedic health counseling
No full textThis paper concerns the practice of so called ‘Ayurvedic health counselling’ in Sweden today. It is a case study involving semi-structured interviews with six practitioners in the Stockholm area. The focus is on how the practitioners construe the therapeutic processes involved in their practice. The aim of the case study is to develop theoretical interpretations of these processes in terms of a performance perspective based upon Catherine Bell’s concept of ‘ritualization’. The client’s participation can be interpreted as a ritualized agency with a sense of practical mastery of the specific ritualized space. The cause and cure of the illness is attributed to concrete factors through the emphasis on body and habits, a contextualization and embodiment of the illness. By being recognized as a person that is active in relation to her/his life problems, a person with responsibility and control of the illness, the client’s engagement in (and recognition of ) the ritualized space is made an integral part of the ritualization
Decoding the Hermetic Discourse in Salomon Trismosin's Splendor Solis - A Semiotic Study of Three Ways of Reading
No full textAlchemy and the Hermetic Art are terms that denote a most interesting transitional space, circumscribing an opaque region of human cultural history, shared between matter and psyche, between phantasmagoric reveries and practical experiments, between sincere natural theology and conscious fraud. This is an area of human experience that has been notoriously difficult to define and understand, and which has triggered off contradictory interpretations that are, in their own, of semiotic interest. It has been said that a text — in our case Splendor Solis, and the Hermetic–alchemical texts at large — is a picnic, a Dutch party, in which the author provides the words and the reader, especially a reader with too much or too little erudition, comes up with the meaning of the words. In this article, the author tries to give an overview of the general interpretations of alchemy that have been put forward, and apply Umberto Eco's intentional approach to these interpretations, viz. consider them as various sorts of intentions. The author uses a pseudonymous alchemical tractate from the sixteenth century, Salomon Trismosin's treatise Splendor Solis as an opportunity to picture and evaluate the three main decodings of alchemy that have been attempted; a chemical, a religious—soteriological and a psychological. The author also explores the intertextual web in the Hermetic discourse, and see if its mapping can generate usable knowledge about what has, since the Middle Ages, been called alchemy: a term acknowledging the taking up of a science or art which had been cultivated by Muslim and Nestorian scholars, but with its fountain head in Late Antiquity.
Investigation of thermal and viscoelastic properties of polymers relevant to hot melt extrusion, I: Polyvinylpyrrolidone and related polymers
Get PDFPolymers are essential components of melt extruded products. The objective of the paper was to generate physicochemical data on polyvinylpyrrolidone-based polymers and copolymers that are relevant to hot melt extrusion (HME). It also highlights the importance of viscoelastic analysis to predict HME processing conditions. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of polymers were recorded to determine the physical nature of polymers. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were conducted to determine their glass transition temperature (Tg) and weight loss due to degradation (Td) respectively. Rheological studies were conducted to quantitate storage modulus (G´), loss modulus (G˝), tan δ and complex viscosity (η) of the polymers at various temperatures. Powder XRD analyses showed that all polymers were amorphous in nature, with distinct single or dual halos. DSC ascertained that the amorphous polymers had single Tg values. The conversion of the polymers from solid to liquid forms with an increase in temperature was established by the tan δ = 1 values. The overall complex viscosity for all polymers decreased with an increase in temperature. The complex viscosity of one of the polymers, Soluplus®, was correlated with torque analysis by HME to establish an extrudable temperature range. The results will help the selection of polyvinylpyrrolidone-based polymers for HME
Quantum Biology: harnessing nanotechnology's last frontier using modified excipients and food ingredients
Get PDFEmerging evidence indicates that quantum phenomena may be operational in biological systems despite unfavorable temperatures and environmental noise. It is possible that protein quaternary architecture may be conducive to sustaining quantum entanglement and coherence. Models ranging from quantum resonant recognition, proton tunneling in DNA, radiation wave therapy and the magnetic isotope effect have been proposed that validate the importance of the wave-particle duality of matter in persisting in and modulating biological processes. The ability of food ingredients and pharmaceutical excipients to manipulate bioeffector mechanisms via quantum effects is discussed. It is hoped that this new perspective will provide impetus for further research in this field
Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem
No full textThis article intends to contribute to the understanding of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The author studies the entry, which is found in all the Gospels, in its Jewish context. The author argues that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on an ass is to be understood as a prophetic sign which was primarily meant to convey a message to the Jews
Vernacular Religion, Contemporary Spirituality and Emergent Identities: Lessons from Lauri Honko
No full textThis article examines lessons which can still be learned from Professor Lauri Honko’s research and writings, particularly for those working at the interstices of folklore and religious studies who appreciate the mutually enriching relationship between the two fields which has been the hallmark of modern Finnish and Nordic scholarship. Three broad areas are considered here by way of illustration: the importance of studying belief and the continuing utility of genre as a tool of research; the use of folklore and material culture in the formation of cultural and spiritual identities in the contemporary milieu; and tradition ecology in relation to Celtic spirituality
Pentecostal currents and individual mobility: visiting church services in Stockholm County
No full textThe classification of Pentecostal currents and organizations has been widely debated within Pentecostal studies. In contemporary Sweden, the disintegration of historically important boundaries (denominational, practical and theological), as well as increased mobility between Pentecostal organizations, illustrates that the issue deserves further attention. If many of the old boundaries are being suspended, how may we distinguish between different Pentecostal varietie-s, and what role do such differences play for today’s mobile practitioners? The present article, which consists of a case study of Stockholm County, approaches the matter from a Bourdieu-influenced perspective, where differences are understood in terms of habitus. The study draws upon fieldwork in 16 congregations, carried out between 2009 and 2013, and concludes that three variations of the habitus can in fact be distinguished in the Pentecostal movement of Stockholm County; low key, grand and informal. The differences between these forms in fact impacts upon patterns of mobility among individual Pentecostalists; most prefer congregations of the same variety, even though there are examples of practitioners who visit other forms of organizations as well
A Sacred Landscape: an enquiry into the 'cubas' of southern Portugal
No full textThe purpose of this article is to study cubas – small architectural structures known for their whitewash-painted domes – and specifically, those located in the kûra of Beja in Portugal. Although we can pinpoint the existence of many of these buildings in the Beja territorial area, many questions remain about them, such as: What was the purpose of the cubas-? When were they built? What is their origin?In order to try and answer these questions, I will be following two methods of analysis. First, I will focus onthe correlation that exists between these buildings and the landscape in which they are located. This can shed some light on the rationale behind their construction and the purpose of this type of structure.Secondly, I willanalyse the buildings themselves – with special attention being given to metric and structural analysis – in order- to clarify the period in which they were constructed and the origin of their architectural typology.By means of this project I also aim to raise awareness, both within the academic community and amongst political decision-makers of the existence of these buildings and their importance for an understanding of Iberian-Islamic culture. Perhaps this will eventually inspire political action that will lead to the development of policies to ensure the preservation of this important part of our architectural and cultural heritage.
In the Footsteps of Bagira: ethnicity, archaeology, and ‘Iron I ethnic Israel’
No full textThis article has two aims. The first is to show that the search for ethnicity in archaeology is dependent on the way ethnicity is defined and on written sources. The second is to review studies of Iron Age I ‘ethnic Israel’. There is an ongoing, heated debate between ‘maximalists’ and ‘minimalists’, trying to prove or refute such identity. Which side in this debate is right
