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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > General
This volume argues that ancient Greek girls and early Christian
virgins and their families made use of rhetorically similar
traditions of marriage to an otherworldly bridegroom in order to
handle the problem of a girl's denied or disrupted transition into
adulthood. In both ancient Greece and early Christian Rome, the
standard female transition into adulthood was marked by marriage,
sex, and childbirth. When problems arose just before or during this
transition, the transitional girl's status within society became
insecure. Walker presents a case for how and why the dead Greek
virgin girl, depicted in Archaic through Hellenistic sources, in
both texts and inscriptions, as a bride of Hades, and the life-long
female Christian virgin or celibate ascetic, dubbed the bride of
Christ around the third century CE, provide a fruitful point of
comparison as particular examples of strategies used to neutralize
the tension of disrupted female transition into adulthood. Bride of
Hades to Bride of Christ offers a fascinating comparative study
that will be of interest to anyone working on virginity and
womanhood in the ancient world.
From the shelves of mainstream bookstores and the pages of teen
magazines, to popular films and television series, contemporary
culture at the turn of the twenty-first century has been fascinated
with teenage identity and the presence of magic and the occult.
Alongside this profusion of products and representations, a global
network of teenage Witches has emerged on the margins of adult
neopagan Witchcraft communities, identifying themselves through
various spiritual practices, consumption patterns and lifestyle
choices. The New Generation Witches is the first published
anthology to investigate the recent rise of the teenage Witchcraft
phenomenon in both Britain and North America. Scholars from
Theology, Cultural Studies, Sociology, History and Media Studies,
along with neopagan commentators outside of the academy, come
together to investigate the experiences of thousands of adolescents
constructing an enabling, magical identity through a distinctive
practice of Witchcraft. The contributors discuss key areas of
interest, inspiration and development within the teen Witch
communities from the mid 1990s onward, including teenage Witches'
magical practices and beliefs, gender politics, the formation and
identification of communities, forums and modes of expression,
media representation and new media outlets. Demonstrating the
diversification and expansion of neopaganism in the twenty-first
century, this anthology makes an exciting contribution to the field
of Neopagan Studies and contemporary youth cultures.
'Destiny Learning', a path of adult education conceived and
developed by Coenraad van Houten (based on the work of Rudolf
Steiner), is here expanded to show a threefold way of working with
karma: understanding, transforming and ordering. This threefold
approach opens new vistas for healing relationships and conflicts,
for developing creative faculties for community building, and for
taking initiatives based on freedom. The author widens and deepens
his previous work on the theme, showing that learning from destiny,
as well as awakening the forces of will, are ongoing processes. He
offers practical advice that is directly applicable to everyday
life. Although this book can be studied on its own, it is also a
development and completion of themes from van Houten's earlier
works, Practising Destiny and Awakening the Will. Crucial aspects
of the threefold path of 'destiny learning' are here discussed and
explained in greater detail. Anyone seeking to take their personal
development in hand will find many nuggets of spiritual wisdom,
based on a lifetime's work, in this short book.
`[The student] should look at the world with keen, healthy senses
and quickened power of observation, and then give himself up to the
feeling that arises within him... This feeling penetrates the
superficial aspect of things and in so doing touches their
secrets.' - Rudolf Steiner How can one progress from the ordinary,
everyday vision of the senses to a perception of the subtle life-
and spiritual forces around us - the very forces that shape nature?
Basing his work on the research of both J. W. Goethe and Rudolf
Steiner, Roger Druitt begins with the fundamental question, `What
can you see?' He presents a series of practical exercises for
observing nature which, through diligent practise, allow for the
maturation of subtle capacities of perception. Considering multiple
species of leaves, for example, leads to the concept of `leaf'
itself. After this basic groundwork is established, steps can be
taken towards a comprehension of further aspects, such as
metamorphosis, gesture and type. Druitt demonstrates how this
method - what he calls `anthroposophical phenomenology' - can be
applied in other fields of nature observation, opening the way for
its use in all areas of life. In each case, whether working with
bees, rocks, stars or colour, he shows how one can access the
`individuality' manifested in what is studied. Through a thorough
step-by-step process we are led to the ultimate task: that of
redeeming the beings of nature and of the earth itself.
As demonstrated by the contents of this book, Rudolf Steiner was
able to speak to the British in a very direct and lively way. He
did not need to give a long introductory build-up to his main
theme, as was expected of him in Germany for instance, but could
refer immediately to esoteric ideas.
The intention of this volume is to give a fuller picture of
Rudolf Steiner's work in Britain, and his approach to esoteric
ideas while on British soil. Although the major lecture series he
gave in Britain have been previously published, this book gathers
together various lectures, addresses, question-and-answer sessions,
minutes of important meetings and articles -- a good deal of which
has been unavailable in English until now. It also features a
complete list of all the lectures and addresses Steiner gave in
Britain, making it a valuable reference book for students of Rudolf
Steiner's work.
In his latest book, William Egginton laments the current debate
over religion in America, in which religious fundamentalists have
set the tone of political discourse-no one can get elected without
advertising a personal relation to God, for example-and prominent
atheists treat religious belief as the root of all evil. Neither of
these positions, Egginton argues, adequately represents the
attitudes of a majority of Americans who, while identifying as
Christians, Jews, and Muslims, do not find fault with those who
support different faiths and philosophies. In fact, Egginton goes
so far as to question whether fundamentalists and atheists truly
oppose each other, united as they are in their commitment to a
"code of codes." In his view, being a religious fundamentalist does
not require adhering to a particular religious creed.
Fundamentalists-and stringent atheists-unconsciously believe that
the methods we use to understand the world are all versions of an
underlying master code. This code of codes represents an ultimate
truth, explaining everything. Surprisingly, perhaps the most
effective weapon against such thinking is religious moderation, a
way of believing that questions the very possibility of a code of
codes as the source of all human knowledge. The moderately
religious, with their inherent skepticism toward a master code, are
best suited to protect science, politics, and other diverse strains
of knowledge from fundamentalist attack, and to promote a worldview
based on the compatibility between religious faith and scientific
method.
There has long been a debate about implications of globalization
for the survival of the world of sovereign nation-states, and the
role of nationalism as both an agent of and a response to
globalization. In contrast, until recently there has been much less
debate about the fate of religion. 'Globalization' has been viewed
as part of the rationalization process, which has already relegated
religion to the dustbin of history, just as it threatens the
nation, as the world moves toward a cosmopolitan ethics and
politics. The chapters in this book, however, make the case for the
salience and resilience of religion, often in conjunction with
nationalism, in the contemporary world in several ways. This book
highlights the diverse ways in which religions first and foremost
make use of the traditional power and communication channels
available to them, like strategies of conversion, the preservation
of traditional value systems, and the intertwining of religious and
political power. Nevertheless, challenged by a more culturally and
religiously diversified societies and by the growth of new
religious sects, contemporary religions are also forced to let go
of these well known strategies of preservation and formulate new
ways of establishing their position in local contexts. This
collection of essays by established and emerging scholars brings
together theory-driven and empirically-based research and
case-studies about the global and bottom-up strategies of religions
and religious traditions in Europe and beyond to rethink their
positions in their local communities and in the world.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that during the last
century, most especially during and since the 1960s, the language
of spirituality has become one of the most significant ways in
which the sacred has come to be understood and judged in the West,
and, increasingly, elsewhere. Whether it is true that
'spirituality' has eclipsed 'religion' in Western settings remains
debatable. What is incontestable is that the language of
spirituality, together with practices (most noticeably spiritual,
complementary, and alternative medicine), has become a major
feature of the sacred dimensions of contemporary modernity. Equally
incontestably, spirituality is a growing force in all those
developing countries where its presence is increasingly felt among
the cosmopolitan elite, and where spiritual forms of traditional,
complementary, and alternative medicine are thriving. This new
four-volume Major Work collection from Routledge provides a
coherent compilation of landmark texts which cannot be ignored by
those intent on making sense of what is happening to the sacred as
spirituality-more exactly what is taken to be spirituality-develops
as an increasingly important lingua franca, series of practices,
and as a humanistic ethicality.
‘Development in the science of the spirit will always … involve
what we may call developing the inner meaning and inner
configuration of our language.’ – Rudolf Steiner Our
present-day language cannot easily convey spiritual concepts.
Rudolf Steiner’s search for the words and style to bring to
expression a contemporary spiritual worldview epitomises this. In
seven organically developing chapters, this little book presents
Martina Maria Sam’s long-standing research into this subject. As
a writer, editor and lecturer she observed the increasing
difficulty that many people – particularly those with an academic
training – have with Steiner’s style. However, this style was
something that Rudolf Steiner developed very deliberately. As she
states: ‘What was most important for me in this was to point out
Rudolf Steiner’s intentions in his specific and often original
linguistic forms and, consequently, to create the introductory
basis for a deeper understanding.’ Gaining such understanding,
she says, can in turn enable us to develop insight into the spirit.
Sam begins by quoting some of Steiner’s contemporaries, who
criticized his ‘grating’ style. She describes why he had to
create new forms of expression and examines the specific character
of his lectures. She considers two comprehensive stylistic
principles that permeate Steiner’s entire body of work, and his
special handling of the pictorial element in language. Close
attention is paid to Rudolf Steiner’s construction of meditative
verses and mantras, and the development of an artistic,
linguistically-creative element that will only be possible in the
future.
"This valuable collection will introduce readers to ongoing
scholarship on previously understudied modes of esotericism, and
fills a conspicuous gap in the literature." - Olav Hammer,
University of Southern Denmark The study of contemporary esoteric
discourse has hitherto been a largely neglected part of the new
academic field of Western esotericism. Contemporary Esotericism
provides a broad overview and assessment of the complex world of
Western esoteric thought today. Combining historiographical
analysis with theories and methodologies from the social sciences,
the volume explores new problems and offers new possibilities for
the study of esoterica. Contemporary Esotericism studies the period
since the 1950s but focuses on the last two decades. The wide range
of essays are divided into four thematic sections: the intricacies
of esoteric appeals to tradition; the role of popular culture,
modern communication technologies, and new media in contemporary
esotericism; the impact and influence of esotericism on both
religious and secular arenas; and the recent 'de-marginalization'
of the esoteric in both scholarship and society.
This collection of special prayers is a wonderful companion for
parents and caregivers and will help guide children on their
journey to adulthood. It includes verses for every occasion?for
parents to recite as the incarnating soul prepares for birth, for
the baby after birth, and for children of all ages. Also included
are prayers for morning and evening and graces for mealtimes. A
lecture by Rudolf Steiner provides context for the prayers,
offering insight into the greater cosmic relationships in which
individuals are immersed before birth, during life, and after
death.
Our world today is increasingly characterized by speed, movement
and flux. There is often a lack of sufficient time to do 'what
needs to be done', and life seems to be marked by change, upheaval
and revolution. But in the midst of this turmoil, say the authors,
people are having conscious and semiconscious experiences of the
etheric world - the world that comprises the forces of life.
However, this growing sensitivity to the etheric realm only
intensifies experiences of movement and upheaval. To counter such
feelings, we should take hold of our inner life and strengthen the
'I' - our true self. Featuring essays supplemented with a
substantial amount of source material from Rudolf Steiner and other
authors, this book is an invaluable resource for inner development
and the beginnings of true spiritual vision. We learn to practise
the ability to add to every physical perception - whether of stone,
plant, animal or another person - the etheric reality associated
with that entity. This process leads us to become more aware of the
'after-image' and to become conscious within the etheric realm.
Baruch Urieli comments that this 'is not an esoteric path but is,
rather, an endeavour to bring the beginnings of a natural
consciousness of the etheric to full consciousness and, hence,
under the rulership of the ego'.
Prokofieff draws on the whole extent of Rudolf Steiner's work and
combines it with his own original spiritual research to form an
intricate picture of the cosmic forces at play between Christmas
and Epiphany. We are led on a tour through the circle of the zodiac
and spiritual hierarchies, and shown how they form a path from
Jesus to Christ. The author further explains that the Starry Script
is a key to anthroposophical Christology, and shows how it relates
to the conception of the First Goetheanum. Prokofieff guides us
imaginatively through the interior of Steiner's architectural
masterpiece, destroyed by fire in 1922, whose structure and
decorations are seen to constitute a coherent esoteric map. Our
task now, he suggests, is to build the First Goetheanum in
ourselves and, through a new schooling of the self, strive for a
truly modern path of initiation. Supplementary essays focus on the
cosmic aspects of Sophia as well as the being of Michael.
Prokofieff's seminal study offers a rich source of inspiration for
those wishing to penetrate the mysteries of the Twelve Holy Nights
and their relation to spiritual beings.
Hermann Beckh (1875-1937) was one of the co-founders of The
Christian Community. A remarkable linguist and universal scholar,
he mastered six European and six Oriental languages and published
more than twenty works on the humanities, dealing with Christology,
Cosmology and Musicology. Having first studied Law, he later
channeled his extensive research of Hinduism and Buddhism into a
renewal of sacramental Christianity. 'Without the Professor', wrote
his colleague Rudolf Meyer, the beginnings of the new religious
movement were 'unthinkable'. Gundhild Kacer-Bock - daughter of
Beckh's priest-colleague and fellow author Emil Bock - creates a
lively picture of a unique personality. Beginning with his birth in
Nuremberg and education in Munich, she reviews Beckh's manifold
studies and writings, his meeting with Rudolf Steiner in 1911, the
founding of the Movement for Religious Renewal in Stuttgart in
1922, and the seminal Christmas Conference in Dornach in 1923.
Having known Beckh personally, she builds on her own memories as
well as Beckh's recorded memoirs, and utilizes newly-discovered
letters and documents. This new edition contains Beckh's fairy-tale
'The Story of the Little Squirrel, the Moonlight Princess and the
Little Rose' (with colour illustrations by Tatjana Schellhase),
with additional appreciations of the author and an illustrative
plate section. --- 'A University Professor, who had been a Judge
and Orientalist, now became a priest with us. He actively took part
in carrying the birth of the new ritual words; he was an expert in
the mysteries of language... An abundance of books came into
existence whose significance perhaps will only be properly
appreciated in the future.' - Emil Bock (1959)
The American public's perception of New Religious Movements (NRMs)
as fundamentally harmful cults stems from the "anticult" movement
of the 1970s, which gave a sometimes hysterical and often distorted
image of NRMs to the media. At the same time, academics pioneered a
new field, studying these same NRMs from sociological and
historical perspectives. They offered an interpretation that ran
counter to that of the anticult movement. For these scholars in the
new field of NRM studies, NRMs were legitimate religions deserving
of those freedoms granted to established religions. Those scholars
in NRM studies continued to evolve methods and theories to study
NRMs. This book tells their story. Each chapter begins with a
biography of a key person involved in studying NRMs. The narrative
unfolds chronologically, beginning with late nineteenth- and
early-twentieth century perceptions of religions alternative to the
mainstream. Then the focus shifts to those early efforts, in the
1960s and 1970s, to comprehend the growing phenomena of cults or
NRMs using the tools of academic disciplines. The book's midpoint
is a chapter that looks closely at the scholarship of the anticult
movement, and from there moves forward in time to the present,
highlighting themes in the study of NRMs like violence, gender, and
reflexive ethnography. No other book has used the scholars of NRMs
as the focus for a study in this way. The material in this volume
is, therefore, a fascinating viewpoint from which to explore the
origins of this vibrant academic community, as well as analyse the
practice of Religious Studies more generally.
This anthology consists of fourteen topically arranged essays that,
according to recent polls, more and more Americans find themselves
uncomfortable maintaining traditional religious beliefs and moral
commitments—a trend driven in large part by Millennials and one
likely to continue with subsequent generations. As a professor who
has regular interactions with students of this generation, the
author has discovered that those who neither wish to affiliate with
one particular religious tradition or community nor drop religion
altogether fear that there are few if any truly attractive
alternatives—alternatives that would help them find meaning,
offer sound moral guidance, and navigate life’s most challenging
times. In the fourteen essays in this book, James A. Metzger shows
that both meaning and resources for crafting a philosophically
sound moral compass can be found outside the sacred canopy.
Arranged topically, these essays explore a form of humanism
characterized by epistemic humility, a progressive ethical
orientation, as well as a respect for the positive features of
religion. The author’s own journey from mainline Protestant
Christianity to secular humanism followed the onset of a serious
autoimmune illness, which forced him to confront various issues in
philosophy of religion, particularly the problem of suffering and
evil. The author weaves his own experiences into several chapters
in order to show that in a postmodern milieu we can no longer
attribute major worldview shifts to solitary, dispassionate
rational inquiry. Although the essays have been composed in such a
way that each may stand alone, a feature that allows readers to
approach chapters in any order they choose, they nevertheless have
been arranged into four sections that reflect the author’s
personal journey: Chronic Illness and the Death of God, Epistemic
Limitations and Respect for Persons, A Humanist Approach to Reading
the Bible, and Advantages of Ethical Reasoning without God.
The remarkable discussions in this volume took place between Rudolf
Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland. The varied
subject-matter was chosen by his audience at Rudolf Steiner's
instigation. Steiner took their questions and usually gave
immediate answers. The astonishing nature of these responses -
their insight, knowledge and spiritual depth - is testimony to his
outstanding ability as a spiritual initiate and profound thinker.
Accessible, entertaining and stimulating, the records of these
sessions will be a delight to anybody with an open mind. In this
particular collection, Rudolf Steiner deals with topics ranging
from limestone to Lucifer! He discusses, among other things,
technology; the living earth; natural healing powers; colour and
sickness; rainbows; whooping cough and pleurisy; seances; sleep and
sleeplessness; dreams; reincarnation; life after death; the
physical, ether and astral bodies and the 'I'; the two Jesus
children; Ahriman and Lucifer; the death, resurrection and
ascension of Christ; Dante and Copernicus.
Arguably no modern ideology has diffused as fast as Socialism. From
the mid-nineteenth century to the last quarter of the twentieth
socialist ideals played a crucial part not only in the political
sphere, but also influenced the way people worked and played,
thought and felt, designed and decorated, hoped and yearned. By
proposing general observations on the relationship between
socialism, imagination, myth and utopia, as well as bringing the
late nineteenth century socialist culture - a culture imbued with
Biblical narratives, Christian symbols, classic mythology, rituals
from freemasonry, Viking romanticism, and utopian speculations -
together under the novel term 'socialist idealism', The Style and
Mythology of Socialism: Socialist Idealism, 1871-1914 draws
attention to the symbolic, artistic and rhetorical ways that
socialism originally set the hearts of people on fire.
In October 1994, fifty-three members of the Order of the Solar
Temple in Switzerland and Quebec were murdered or committed
suicide. This incident and two later group suicides in subsequent
years played a pivotal role in inflaming the cult controversy in
Europe, influencing the public to support harsher actions against
non-traditional religions. Despite the importance of the Order of
the Solar Temple, there are relatively few studies published in
English. This book brings together the best scholarship on the
Solar Temple including newly commissioned pieces from leading
scholars, a selection of Solar Temple documents, and important
previously published articles newly edited for inclusion within
this book. This is the first book-length study of the Order of the
Solar Temple to be published in English.
Most people who have a sense of reverence for life also have a
sense of there being a strong feminine principle at the heart of
life and not just the familiar male God. White Eagle, a spiritual
teacher of enormous influence, speaks of a divine Feminine who
neither supplants the masculine God nor is dominated by him. Most
books on this subject are either academic or polemical. White Eagle
On Divine Mother, The Feminine, And The Mysteries is neither.
Rather, it will inspire. Included in this book is a substantial
amount of teaching about ancient worship, Mary, the myth of Isis
and Osiris and the stone monuments that are to be found all around
the world. It is, also, a book about initiation on a path that is
rich with understanding of all that life brings.
In 1917 Annie Besant (1847-1933), a white Englishwoman, was elected
president of the Indian National Congress, the body which, under
the guidance of Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), would later lead India
to independence. Besant - in her earlier career an active atheist
and a socialist journalist - was from 1907 till her death the
president of the Theosophical Society, an international spiritual
movement whose headquarters' location in Madras symbolized its
belief in India as the world's spiritual heart. This book deals
with the contribution of the Theosophical Society to the rise of
Indian nationalism and seeks to restore it to its proper place in
the history of ideas, both with regard to its spiritual doctrine
and the sources on which it drew, as well as its role in giving
rise to the New Age movement of the 20th century. The book is the
first to show how 19th century Orientalist study dramatically
affected the rise of the Theosophical ideology, and specifically
demonstrate the impact of the work of the Anglo-German scholar,
Friedrich Max Muller (1833-1900) on Mme Blavatsky (1831-1891), the
founder of the Theosophical Society.
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