Gain greater depth of understanding of end-of-life spiritual issues for older adults The period of time when a person approaches death is always difficult both for the patient and the caregiver. Aging, Spirituality, and Palliative Care discusses best practices in aged and palliative care while addressing patients' diverse spiritual needs. Leading authorities' presentations from the Third International Conference on Ageing and Spirituality in Adelaide, Australia, in 2004 explore practical, sensitive spiritual approaches to help older patients deal with aging, illness, and approaching death. Aging, Spirituality, and Palliative Care carefully examines what can be the most spiritually meaningful time in the life of an aging personconfronting illness and death. Though they may be unafraid of dying, older people many times fear the pain and suffering that may accompany it. The process of dying is presented with care and reverence, while providing effective approaches to increase comfort, spirituality, and quality of life. Each chapter is extensively referenced, and many include tables and figures that enhance understanding of research data. Topics in Aging, Spirituality, and Palliative Care include: helping older people to 'sustain the self' to allow them freedom to do personal spiritual work helping patients cope with changing circumstances providing a sense of direction the opposition of spiritual values by contemporary social policy caring for each person as an 'ensouled body' and 'embodied soul' assessing spiritual needs a positive approach to dementia spiritual reminiscence as exploration of life meanings study comparison of traditional religiousness versus de-institutionalized spiritual seeking the pain associated with dyingand spirituality's place in it addressing the multiple aspects of suffering clowning as care of the spirit Buddhist and Christian approaches to understanding aging, death, and spirituality caregivers adapting to the world of the patient the spiritual aspect of palliative care in residential aged care personal competence and operational competence in student learning intimate, professional, and communal fidelity Aging, Spirituality, and Palliative Care is meaningful, valuable reading for chaplains, pastoral workers, palliative care providers, social care providers, nurses, diversional therapists, and other workers who care for the aged.

Utilizing contemporary scholarship on secularization, individualism, and consumer capitalism, this book explores religious movements founded in the West which are intentionally fictional: Discordianism, the Church of All Worlds, the Church of the SubGenius, and Jediism. Their continued appeal and success, principally in America but gaining wider audience through the 1980s and 1990s, is chiefly as a result of underground publishing and the internet. This book deals with immensely popular subject matter: Jediism developed from George Lucas' Star Wars films; the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, founded by 26-year-old student Bobby Henderson in 2005 as a protest against the teaching of Intelligent Design in schools; Discordianism and the Church of the SubGenius which retain strong followings and participation rates among college students. The Church of All Worlds' focus on Gaia theology and environmental issues makes it a popular focus of attention. The continued success of these groups of Invented Religions provide a unique opportunity to explore the nature of late/post-modern religious forms, including the use of fiction as part of a bricolage for spirituality, identity-formation, and personal orientation.

As China strengthens its links with its neighbours through its Belt and Road initiative, there is growing interest in the indigenous peoples of China's western and southwestern borderlands. This book, based on extensive original research, considers the indigenous peoples of Yunnan province, which is a major gateway between China and the countries of south and south-east Asia. Unlike many books on China's indigenous peoples which are written by foreigners who have lived for a while in China, this book is comprised of the work of Chinese scholars, many of them members of ethnic minorities themselves, and considers the issues from a Chinese perspective.

Based on never previously explored personal accounts and archival documentation, this book examines life and death in the Theresienstadt ghetto, seen through the eyes of the Jewish victims from Denmark. "How was it in Theresienstadt?" Thus asked Johan Grun rhetorically when he, in July 1945, published a short text about his experiences. The successful flight of the majority of Danish Jewry in October 1943 is a well-known episode of the Holocaust, but the experience of the 470 men, women, and children that were deported to the ghetto has seldom been the object of scholarly interest. Providing an overview of the Judenaktion in Denmark and the subsequent deportations, the book sheds light on the fate of those who were arrested. Through a micro-historical analysis of everyday life, it describes various aspects of social and daily life in proximity to death. In doing so, the volume illuminates the diversity of individual situations and conveys the deportees' perceptions and striving for survival and 'normality'. Offering a multi-perspective and international approach that places the case of Denmark into the broader Jewish experience during the Holocaust, this book is invaluable for researchers of Jewish studies, Holocaust and genocide studies, and the history of modern Denmark.

This volume, - is an introspective read on Krishnamurti as a radical philosopher, - discusses the possibilities of change through education, the school and the school culture as catalysts for transformation - will be of great interest to students and researcher of philosophy, education, South Asia studies, and the social sciences.

In this fascinating book, Caroline Blyth takes a close look at Bibles marketed to teen girls and asks how these might perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes that lie at the heart of rape culture. The author considers the devotionals, commentaries, and advice sections placed throughout these Bibles, which offer teen girl readers life advice on topics such as friendships, body image, and how to navigate romantic relationships. Within these discussions, there is a strong emphasis on modesty, purity, and sexual passivity as markers of young women's 'godliness'. Yet, as the author argues, these gendered ideals are prescribed to readers using rape-supportive discourses and the tactics of coercive control. Moreover, the placement of these various editorial inserts within the pages of sacred scripture gives them considerable power to reinforce deeply harmful ideologies about gender, sexuality, and sexual violence. Given the seeming popularity of these Bibles among Christian teen girls, the need to dismantle their damaging rhetoric is especially urgent. This book will be of particular interest to those studying the Bible, religion, gender, and theology, as well as the general reader.

This book formulates a new pedagogy of death with regard to Northeast India and shows how this pedagogy offers an understanding of alternative knowledge systems and epistemes. In documenting a range of customs and practices pertaining to death, dying and the afterlife among the diverse ethnic communities of Northeast India, the book offers new soteriological, epistemological, sociological and phenomenological perspectives on death. Through an examination of these eschatological practices and their anthropological, theological and cultural moorings, the book aims to reach an understanding of notions of indigeneity with regard to Northeast India. The contributors to this book draw upon a range of subjects— from songs, literary texts, monuments, relics and funerary objects to biographies to folktales to stories of spirit possessions and supernatural encounters. It collates the research of scholars primarily from Northeast India, but also from Eastern India and offers an interdisciplinary analysis of these various belief systems and practices. This book will of interest to those researchers and scholars interested in South Asia in general and Northeast India in particular, and also to those interested in the social anthropology of religion, cultural studies, indigenous studies, folklore studies and Himalayan studies.

Spirit Possession and Communication in Religious and Cultural Contexts explores the phenomenon of spirit possession, focusing on the religious and cultural functions it serves as a means of communication. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of philosophers, anthropologists, historians, linguists, and scholars of religion and the Bible, the volume investigates the ways that spirit possession narratives, events, and rituals are often interwoven around communicative acts, both between spiritual and earthly realms and between members of a community. This book offers fresh insight into the enduring cultural and religious significance of spirit possession. It will be an important resource for scholars from a diverse range of disciplines, including religion, anthropology, history, linguistics, and philosophy.

Reweaving the Relational Mat is an integrative response to the problem of violence against women which grounds theological and sociological analysis in the praxis of Oceanian Christian women's experiences of violence. It focuses on the collusion of the church in the problem of violence against women by critiquing the ways in which its theology and practices have contributed to 'power-over' ways of relating. Employing the Oceanian metaphor of weaving the mat, the analysis 'unravels' the 'patriarchal relational mat,' paving the way for a constructive 'reweaving' of a Christocentric 'egalitarian relational mat.' The study begins by unravelling the correlation between violence and the ideology of patriarchy. It then highlights the various strands of violence against women, and examines the complex mosaic of socio-cultural sources and manifestations of violence against women in Oceania. This leads to an analysis of the interwoven strands of religion and violence, focusing particularly on the church's captivity to patriarchy. The ensuing explication of problematic theological and biblical interpretations and church practices ends with a critique of male clergy power, particularly as it functions in the Oceanian context. This leads to an examination of the relationship between flawed theological education and violence against women. Case studies of violence against women in the Oceanian theological education setting are analysed. The subsequent 'reweaving of the relational mat' issues forth in specific challenges to church leaders, theological educators and church women.

A fully interdisciplinary exploration of Irish Studies' development since the end of the Celtic Tiger (contributors include scholars from literary studies, history, sports studies, performance studies, music studies, language studies, politics, economics, media studies, art and visual culture, gender studies, and more) Includes essays from scholars and practitioners in Ireland, the US, and the UK Includes several essays that consider Irish studies in relation to ecological crisis, including the global pandemic Includes essays from both emerging and well-established scholars Addresses intersections between Irish studies and diverse theoretical frameworks, including queer theory, ecocriticism, critical race studies, feminist theory, disability studies, postcolonial theory, and queer theory.

Spiritual Healing from Sexual Violence: An Intersectional Guide is a collection of essays from survivors, scholars, activists, spiritual leaders, and social justice practitioners that offers numerous intersectional and culturally competent options for women, men, and non-binary conforming adults to create their own safe healing conditions and establish pathways for recovery. These chapters provide a wide range of survival stories that raise awareness of the issues involved in healing after sexual assault and also provide inspiration for reforming negative societal issues and patterns. In a classroom setting, these chapters deliver both the culturally grounded knowledge and the skillsets necessary for recovery. This is a vital guide for students and practitioners in counseling, social work, theology, and gender studies.

Islam in India: History, Politics and Society is based on the historical and contemporary relevance of the religion and its related culture(s) in India. Besides being a major religious doctrine, Islam has been the main political ideology for many dynasties in India such as Delhi Sultanate (1206-1451); the Illbaris Turks (also known as Mamluk 1206-90); Khiljis (1290-1320); Tughlaqs (1320-1414); Sayyids (1414-51), Afghans and the Mughal Empire. Islam played a pivotal role in shaping the polity and society during the period of each dynasty. This book argues that Islam in India ought to be seen not only as a political and religious ideology of the dynasties, but also as a significant force that shaped the cultural fabric of the country. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)

Black magic, occult practices and witchcraft still evoke huge curiosity, interest and amazement in the minds of people. Although witchcraft in Europe has been a widely studied phenomenon, black magic and occult are not yet a popular theme of academic research in India, even though India is known as a land of magic, tantra and occult. The Indian State of Assam was historically feared as the land of Kamrup-Kamakhya, black magic, witch craft and occultic practices. It was where different Tantric cults as well as other occult practices thrived. This book is one of the rare collections where such practices are recorded and academically analyzed. It combines studies of all three practices of Black Magic, Witchcraft and Occult into a single book. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)

This book combines insights from sociology of religion and theology to consider the fundamental changes that have taken place in how people think about God in contemporary Western society. It can be said that God has become irrelevant for many people, often as a result of well-grounded ethical critique of churches. Here the authors argue for the necessity of rethinking God-talk in a pluralist and changing context and for thinking critically about hegemonic ways of speaking about God from a moral and experiential perspective, not only from the point of view of abstract theology. Drawing on empirical material from a Norwegian setting, the book advocates a critical-constructive theology with a notion of God that takes human experience and social change seriously. It depicts a God who is an enabler of moral maturity rather than an authoritarian moral instructor, a God who is on the side of the marginalized and poor, and a challenge to unjust hierarchies.

This thesis examines the doctrinal grounds and different approaches to working out this "new Buddhist tradition," a startling contrast to the teachings of non-violence and compassion which have made Buddhism known as a religion of peace. In scores of articles as war approached in 1936-37, new monks searched and reinterpreted scripture, making controversial arguments for ideas like "compassionate killing" which would justify participating in war.

A comprehensive and authoritative collection containing forty-five original chapters from a team of international contributors. Contains substantial thematic articles on a variety of topics on the dynamic living experiences of the global Sikh community. An outstanding and accessible reference source on all topics of relevance, concern, and interest to students of Sikh studies, South Asian studies, and religious studies.

This book is an analysis of the philosophical chapters of the Tattvarthadhigama (TA), a foundational text for the Jaina tradition and the first text that presented the Jaina worldview in a clear and systematic way. The book also includes the first English translation of its oldest commentary, the Tattvarthadhigamabhasya (TABh). Focusing on the philosophical sections of the TA and TABh, which deviate from the traditional views and introduce several new concepts for the Jaina tradition, the analysis suggests that the TA and the TABh were written by different authors, and that both texts contain several historical layers. The texts reflect aspects of the concurrent intellectual movements, and the textual analysis includes comparisons with the views of other schools, such as the Nyaya and Vaisesika traditions, and offers an in-depth analysis of the philosophical content of these works. The appendix contains an English translation from the original Sanskrit text of the TA and provides the first English translation of the commentary on these passages from the TABh. Situating the text in the wider history of Indian philosophy, the book offers a better understanding of the role of the Jainas in the history of Indian thought. It will be of interest to those studying Indian philosophy, Indian thought and Asian Religions.

Regional Sufi Centres in India: Significance and Contribution sets out to explore and understand the hundreds of years old multi-religious sect of India, "Sufism," which advocates humane and global outlook for entire mankind and regards humanity as a brotherhood. Sufism came to India from its Arabic Turkic and Persian homes, instead of remaining confined to palaces and mosques. It spread out to all over India establishing regional Centres and Dargahs often known by the surnames of the families which sustained it, like Khanqah-e-Niazia, in Bareilly (UP), Khanqah Gesu Daraz in Gulbarga, and Firdausi in Bihar. The authors of this volume discuss some of the regional Sufi Centres in India and their contribution in the social emancipation of the society. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)

An ideal book for those coming to the anthropology of drugs for the first time, filling a surprisingly big gap in the literature Includes many case studies, such as drug tourism, the opioid crisis and 'county lines' in the UK as well as global examples from the Philippines, Mexico, North America and Europe Helps connect the anthropology of drugs to issues highly relevant to professional working in drug treatment, health, social work and mental health

Martin Buber's I and Thou argues that humans engage with the world in two ways. One is with the attitude of an 'I' towards an 'It', where the self stands apart from objects as items of experience or use. The other is with the attitude of an 'I' towards a 'Thou', where the self enters into real relation with other people, or nature, or God. Addressing modern technological society, Buber claims that while the 'I-It' attitude is necessary for existence, human life finds its meaning in personal relationships of the 'I-Thou' sort. I and Thou is Buber's masterpiece, the basis of his religious philosophy of dialogue, and among the most influential studies of the human condition in the 20th century.

The Mystical Exodus in Jungian Perspective explores the soul loss that results from personal, collective, and transgenerational trauma and the healing that unfolds through reconnection with the sacred. Personal narratives of disconnection from and reconnection to Jewish collective memory are illuminated by millennia of Jewish mystical wisdom, contemporary Jewish Renewal and feminist theology, and Jungian and trauma theory. The archetypal resonance of the Exodus story guides our exploration. Understanding exile as disconnection from the Divine Self, we follow Moses, keeper of the spiritual fire, and Serach bat Asher, preserver of ancestral memory. We encounter the depths with Joseph, touch collective grief with Lilith, experience the Red Sea crossing and Miriam's well as psychological rebirth and Sinai as the repatterning of traumatized consciousness. Tracing the reawakening of the qualities of eros and relatedness on the journey out of exile, the book demonstrates how restoring and deepening relationship with the Sacred Feminine helps us to transform collective trauma. This text will be key reading for scholars of Jewish studies, Jungian and post-Jungian studies, feminist spirituality, trauma studies, Jungian analysts and psychotherapists, and those interested in healing from personal and collective trauma. Cover art: 'Radiance' by Elaine Greenwood

this volume is the first to bring together an extensive interdisciplinary engagement with the multiple ways in which the concepts and practices of translation and religion intersect. contributions from a range of leading international specialists. an indispensable scholarly resource for researchers in translation studies and the study of religions.

The religious imagination is alive and well in the movies. Contrary to those who criticize Hollywood, popular movies very often have metaphorically represented God on the screen. From Clint Eastwood as an avenging angel in "Pale Rider and "Nicolas Cage as a love-sick angel in "City of Angels, "to Jessica Lange as an angel of death in "All That Jazz, "and from George Burns as God in "Oh God "to Audrey Hepburn in "Alwaysto "pure white light in "Fearless "and "Flatliners, "God is very much present in the movies. Images of angels and God used by movie makers are explored here.

This intelligent, insightful volume is an exercise in urban anthropology. Religious imagination is the subject and the movie house is its location. The authors show that the religious imagination is irrepressible, and shows up in our best-known example of popular cultures, movies. Contrary to conservative opinion that suggests that Hollywood is anti-religious, Greeley and Bergesen find just the opposite. Ordinary movies, not explicitly about religion and not made by particularly religious individuals often demonstrate some basic religious theme, point, or message. "God in the Movies "does not judge or approve, recommend or criticize; the authors simply alert the reader to the great variety of metaphors for God, angels, heaven, and hell, from beautiful women to white light at the end of the tunnel to Groundhog Day. They are not concerned with explicitly religious movies. This is not a study of "Ben Huror The Last Temptations of Christ, "but rather of ordinary mass-release movies, including "Field of Dreams, Always, All That Jazz, Commandments, Babette's Feast, Fearless, Breaking the Waves, Jacob's Ladder, Flatliners, Ghost, Pale Rider, Star Wars, 2001, Dogma, "and even Japanimation, like "Ghost in the Shell."

The authors' vivid explication of various cinematic metaphors for God is accompanied by an analysis of what these movies tell about our sociological attitudes toward life and death. They also discuss the social conditions that give rise to various kinds of imagery and forms of movies. In a real sense, this book is for both the professional concerned with religion, sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, media and cinema studies, and the layperson interested in how popular movies also contain religious imagery.

Edmund Rubbra's music has given him a reputation as a 'spiritual' composer, who had an interest in Eastern thought, and a mid-life conversion to Roman Catholicism. This book takes a wide and detailed view of 'spiritual' dimensions or strands that were important in his life, positioning them both biographically and within the context of contemporaneous English culture. It proceeds to interpret through detailed analysis the ways these spiritual aspects are reflected in specific compositions. Thematical treatment of these spiritual issues, touching on Theosophy, dance, Eastern religions and thought, nature, the evolutionary theory of Teilhard de Chardin and the Christ figure, presents a multi-faceted view of Rubbra's life and music. Its contribution to a scholarly re-evaluation of his place within twentieth-century British music and culture engages and meshes with several areas of current scholarly research in the arts and humanities, including academic interest in Theosophy, modernism and the arts, experimental dance and the Indian cultural renaissance and East-West musical interactions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also adds to a burgeoning body of writings on music and spirituality, fuelled by the popularity of later twentieth-century and contemporary composers who make more overt spiritual references in their music.

Based on ethnographic research among African Pentecostal Christians living in the UK, this book addresses themes of migration and community formation, religious identity and practice, and social and political exclusion. With attention to strained kinship relationships, precarious labour conditions, and struggles for legal and social legitimacy, it explores the ways in which intimacy with a Pentecostal God - and with fellow Christians - has been shaped by the challenges of everyday life for Africans in the UK. A study of religious subjectivity and the success of the so-called 'prosperity' gospel, African Pentecostalism in Britain examines the manner in which the presence of God is realised for believers through their complex and often-fraught relationships of trust and intimacy with others. As such, it will appeal to sociologists and anthropologists with interests in migration and religion.