Gina Gertrud Smith is an associate researcher at the at Centre of African Studies and the Centre of European Islamic Thinking, University of Copenhagen. In this book she presents a Toucouleur and Peul (Fulani) society in Casamance, part of the Sufi brotherhood Tijaniyya. She describes the foundations of the society in the special charisma or baraka of the shaykh, his Islamic knowledge, and the Islamic educational system. She also debates how the system is being challenged by the secular Senegalese state and Islamism.

This collection of essays was presented to Professor Soren Giversen on his 65th birthday, 9 January 1993. Their common theme is ancient Gnosticism and its importance to the social, cultural and religious development of the Mediterranean world from Hellenistic to Roman times. Our knowledge of Gnosticism has recently been enriched by the discovery of previously unknown Gnostic texts preserved in Coptic manuscripts and published by Soren Giversen and others. These texts form the point of departure for several of the essays; others deal with Marcion, early Christianity and Judaism and their attitude to crucial Gnostic issues.

"Ritual og praksis" er en komparativ, religionshistorisk introduktion til studiet af religiose praksisformer, helt overvejende ritualer og mystik. Bogen argumenterer for en retorisk tilgang: opgaven er at redegore for udformningen af de religiose udtryk, som bade rituel og meditativ praksis betjener sig af.

En komparativ indf ring i divination og samtidig et fors g p en ny, samlende synsvinkel p de forskellige divinationsformer: Ifa-divinationen i Vestafrika, Yijing, Oldbabylonske levervarsler, Det delfiske Orakel, Tarotkort, Dr mmetydning mv. Bogen er forsynet med en tekst- og eksempelsamling.

En introduktion til gyptisk religion i oldtiden, t nkt som l rebog for universitetsstuderende, men ogs for den alment religionshistorisk eller gyptologisk interesserede. En kort kronologiske oversigt og en liste over guder og religi se symboler g r bogen nyttig ogs for museumsg sten og turisten i gypten.