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Prem Rawat and Counterculture
Ron Geaves demonstrates how the convergence of Prem Rawat, formerly known as Guru Maharaj Ji, and Glastonbury Fayre in 1971 was a key event in understanding the jigsaw that came to be known as 'New Age' spirituality. The book charts the discovery of Prem Rawat in India in 1969 by a small number of British and North American 'hippies', and explores how his arrival in Britain in June 1971, as well as his speech from the pyramid stage at the Fayre at just 13 years old, escalated his activities to make him one of the key influencers of 1970s counterculture spirituality. Both Glastonbury and Prem Rawat have gone on to re-emerge in significantly different identities to the ones presented in 1971. The meeting between the two demonstrates how alternative spiritualities were being formed in the 1960s and how some strands went on to develop into the 'New Age' counterculture that eventually permeated mainstream cultures in Britain and the USA.
False Dawn
The interfaith movement, which began with the 1893 World¿s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, has grown worldwide. Although this movement has been largely unknown to the public, it now provides a spiritual face for globalization, the economic and political forces leading us all from nationalism to ¿One World¿. The most ambitious organization in today¿s interfaith movement is the United Religions Initiative (URI), founded by William Swing, the Episcopal Bishop of California. Investigative reporter Lee Penn, a Catholic ex-Marxist, exhaustively documents the history and beliefs of the URI and its New Age and globalist allies, the vested interests that support these movements, and the direc...
Contemporary Esotericism
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.
Ritual Embodiment in Modern Western Magic
In the Western world, magic has often functioned as an umbrella term for various religious beliefs and ritual practices that seek to influence events by harnessing supernatural power. The definition of these myriad occult and esoteric traditions have, however, usually come from those that are opposed to its practice; notably authorities in religious, legal and intellectual spheres. This book seeks to provide a new perspective, directly from the practitioners of modern Western magic, by exploring how a distinctive mode of embodiment and consciousness can produce a transition from an ‘ordinary’ to a ‘magical’ worldview. Starting with an introduction to the study of magic in the Western...
The Re-Enchantment of the West
As a book about emergent spirituality in the contemporary West, this books focuses on the nature, evolution and significance of new forms of religion and alternative spiritualities. Part One of the book provides the theoretical background and guides the reader through some of the principal debates. After an overview of the secularization thesis, which argues that the West is becoming increasingly disenchanted, the second chapter turns to the sociological analysis of new religions and alternative spiritualities. Particular attention is given to the ideas of the sociologist of religion Ernst Troeltsch, especially his enigmatic analysis of the emergence mystical religion, which presciently provides helpful insights into understanding the contemporary alternative religious milieu. Against sociologists such as Bryan Wilson and Steve Bruce, this and the subsequent chapter argues that, rather than being insignificant, new forms of spirituality are actually proving to be a significant part of Western re-enchantment. Chapter 3 constructs a general theory of the re-enchantment of the West.
Enchanted Socialist Modernity
Central and Eastern Europe, a meeting place of diverse cultural traditions, remains a little-known area in terms of the relationship between art, spirituality and modernity. This pioneering book aims to change this situation. It was written in response to the question of what role alternative forms of spirituality—such as Eastern religions, esotericism and mysticism—played in artistic practices shaped by imposed secularization and Marxist ideology in post-war socialist countries. The articles collected in this volume reveal the complexity and ambiguity of these connections, shedding light on forgotten artists, works and themes. Through this book, we invite you to take part in the enchantment of exploring a previously unknown chapter in the history of modern art.
The Sacred & the Digital
Video game studies are a relative young but flourishing academic discipline. But within game studies, however, the perspective of religion and spirituality is rather neglected, both by game scholars and religion scholars. While religion can take different shapes in digital games, ranging from material and referential to reflexive and ritual, it is not necessarily true that game developers depict their in-game religions in a positive, confirming way, but ever so often games approach the topic critically and disavowingly. The religion criticisms found in video games can be categorized as follows: religion as (1) fraud, aimed to manipulate the uneducated, as (2) blind obedience towards an invisible but ultimately non-existing deity/ies, as (3) violence against those who do not share the same set of religious rules, as (4) madness, a deranged alternative for logical reasoning, and as (5) suppression in the hands of the powerful elite to dominate and subdue the masses into submission and obedience. The critical depictions of religion in video games by their developers is the focus of this special issue.
Introduction to World Religions
A leading textbook for world religion, this new edition is designed to help students in their study and research of the world's religious traditions. Known and valued for its balanced approach and its respected board of consulting editors, this text addresses ways to study religion, provides broad coverage of diverse religions, and offers an arresting layout with rich illustrations. The second edition has new and extended primary source readings, a stronger section on the Religions of South Asia, additional maps, a new full-color, student-friendly format, and more.
The Sommerset Roll
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High Culture
History is littered with evidence of humanity's fascination with drugs and the pursuit of altered states. From early Romanticism to late-nineteenth-century occultism and from fin de siècle Paris to contemporary psychedelic shamanism, psychoactive substances have playedcatalyzing people. Yet serious analysis of the religious dimensions of modern drug use is still lacking. the use of drugs and the pursuit of transcendence from the nineteenth century to the present day. Beginning with the Romantic fascination with opium, it chronicles the discovery of anesthetics, the psychiatric and religious interest in hashish, the bewitching power of mescaline and hallucinogenic fungi, the more recent uses of LSD, as well as the debates surrounding drugs and religious experience. This fascinating and wide-ranging sociological and cultural history fills a major gap in the study of religion in the modern world and our understanding of the importance of countercultural thought, offering new and timely insights into the controversial relationship between drugs and mystical experience.
