 | Henrik Bogdan
Challenging the Morals of Western Society: The use of ritualised sex in
contemporary occultism - Listen
now
 | Occultist spirituality is, to a certain extent,
characterized by antinomian traits which often challenge the morals
and ethics of Western society. One of these traits is the use
of ritualized sex which today is often referred to as "Sex
Magick" or "Western Tantra". In this paper the
historical roots of the use of ritualized sex in contemporary
occultism will be discussed, with special focus on the teachings of
Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) and Gerald B Gardner (1884-1964).
Furthermore, the questions to what extent the Western ritualized use
of sex is influenced by Buddhist and Hindu tantra, and how and when
tantra enterred the scene of western occultism, will be
addressed. Finally, it will be discussed how the use of
ritualized sex can be interpreted as a form of religious antinomism,
that is, as a way to challenge the accepted norms of society.
By contextualising ritualized sex I intend to address the
problematic issue of the relationship of occultist spirituality with
religious change in modern Western society. |
|
| Anja Hallacker
Secrets and Knowledge - Listen
now
| The inquiry in "estoeric identity"
reveals a field of research as important for the single adherent as
for philosophy of history. The fascination of esoteric
movements for European scholars - for instance of the Rosicrucians
at the beginning of the 17th century - not only results from the
individual longing for wisdom, wealth and immortality, but also from
the philosophical idea of an ancient tradition of wisdom, secretly
passed over to posterity, as a philosophia perennis or
interrupted series of insights. Critical to this worldview is
the direct participation knowledge of a hidden secret, which has
been in the world from its beginning and that will reinstall it to a
prelapsarian state. Sharing this secret wisdom is not only
supposed to bear the promise for power, but also an enormous
potential concerning the meaning of one's own life. This paper
presents a "master narrative", emphasizing the importance
of secrecy in esoteric movements in the 16th/17th century. |
|
| Daren Kemp
New Age: Escapism of Activist New Socio-Religious Movement? - Listen
now; presentation
slides
| New Age is often criticised as an escapist
worldview with little impact on modern society. Such critiques are
briefly reviewed before analysing ways in which New Age can in fact
be seen to be socially engaged with modern society. New Age is
understood as a broad-based new socio-religious movement that is
increasingly accepted in the mainstream, with links to, for example,
holistic health movements, environmental movements, anti-capitalist
movements and movements for corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Examples of socially engaged activities undertaken by New Agers are
given, with an emphasis on New Age influence on local, governmental
and supra-national regulation. It is suggested that New Agers are
playing an increasingly central role in contemporary society. The
ways in which such activities may affect public perceptions of New
Age is examined - especially in relation to current notions of New
Age escapism. |
| Published as New
Age: Narcissistic Spirituality of the Self, or Altruistic New
Socio-Religious Movement? pp126-141 in The
Practice of Altruism: Caring and Religion in Global Perspective,
Ruben Habito and Keishin Inaba (eds), Cambridge Scholars Press, 2006 |
|
| Chris Miles
Journeying into the Neither-Neither: The "Death Posture" of
Austin Osman Spare and the Establishment of Neo-Shamanic Identity - Listen
now
| The English artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare
(1888-1956) created a dense and problematic body of work that is
unique within the Western occult revival in that it prides itself on
its lack of lineage. Spare's texts and accompanying art works
are a mixture of practical grimoire, revelatory exhortations,
satirical diatribes upon established religion and calm exegesis of
his esoteric theory; yet the technique of the "Death
Posture" stands as a central touchstone throughout.
The paper will analyze Spare's various presentations of his physical
techniques for inducing a state of "neither-neither" and
track their central influence across his body of published work,
focusing on the manner in which Spare links the destruction of
identity with the cultivation fo a matter-of-fact not-caringness.
It then goes on to identify similarities between Spare's highly
individualistic methodology and long-recorderd shamanistic
techniques. |
|
| Hai Ran Woo
The New Age in South Korea - Full
transcript
| One of the recent cultural developments in South
Korea is the rapid spreading of thoughts and practices that relate
to the New Age. Following on from a brief discussion of the
"New Age" terminology in general and specifically to the
use of this term for non-western cultures, this paper reports on the
activities and organizations of New Age providers and focuses
especially on a new development, namely the
"industrialization" of New Age business. With
respect to the entire spectrum of the New Age meaning system, some
criteria are sought, according to which thoughts and practices of
foreign cultural origin as well as of traditional religious culture
are selected and integrated in the New Age. Finally,
ethnocentric messages the New Age comprises, as well as hostile
attitudes of the majority of Korean Christian churches toward the
New Age, are analyzed in the light of globalization and reactions
relevant to the local culture. |
| To be published as New
Age in South Korea in the Journal of Alternative
Spiritualities and New Age Studies. |
|
| Michael York
Contemporary Spiritual Cultures in the UK - Listen now
| Present-day religiosity in the United Kingdom
conforms to the increasing Western emphasis on spirituality over
religion. This paper explores the significance of this shift
in terms of New Religious Movements, the contemporary growth of
evangelical Christianity and such amorphous movements as New Age,
Goddess Spiritualities and contemporary Western paganism. More
broadly, the framework to be used for understanding and analysing
the various forms of spirituality in this paper are the theological
ideal types of Abrahamic, dharmic, secular and pagan. |
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