Share

Encounters of Body and Soul in Contemporary Religious Practices

2011-09-01 Social Science
Download Encounters of Body and Soul in Contemporary Religious Practices PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2011-09-01
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 088/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Encounters of Body and Soul in Contemporary Religious Practices by : Anna Fedele

Download or read book Encounters of Body and Soul in Contemporary Religious Practices written by Anna Fedele. This book was released on 2011-09-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social scientists and philosophers confronted with religious phenomena have always been challenged to find a proper way to describe the spiritual experiences of the social group they were studying. The influence of the Cartesian dualism of body and mind (or soul) led to a distinction between non-material, spiritual experiences (i.e., related to the soul) and physical, mechanical experiences (i.e., related to the body). However, recent developments in medical science on the one hand and challenges to universalist conceptions of belief and spirituality on the other have resulted in “body” and “soul” losing the reassuring solid contours they had in the past. Yet, in “Western culture,” the body–soul duality is alive, not least in academic and media discourses. This volume pursues the ongoing debates and discusses the importance of the body and how it is perceived in contemporary religious faith: what happens when “body” and “soul” are un-separated entities? Is it possible, even for anthropologists and ethnographers, to escape from “natural dualism”? The contributors here present research in novel empirical contexts, the benefits and limits of the old dichotomy are discussed, and new theoretical strategies proposed.

Spirituality

1997-04 Body, Mind & Spirit
Download Spirituality PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 1997-04
Genre : Body, Mind & Spirit
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 163/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Spirituality by : Carl McColman

Download or read book Spirituality written by Carl McColman. This book was released on 1997-04. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A visionary, nondogmatic exploration of spirituality. Topics covered include: wonder, serendipity, and other spiritual qualities; what prayer is, and why it's important; the earthy dimension of spirituality; finding the Divine in other people; why we turn to nature for spiritual sustenance; the characteristics of a mature spirituality."--Page 4 of cover

The Social Life of Spirits

2013-11-22 Social Science
Download The Social Life of Spirits PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2013-11-22
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 632/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Social Life of Spirits by : Ruy Blanes

Download or read book The Social Life of Spirits written by Ruy Blanes. This book was released on 2013-11-22. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirits can be haunters, informants, possessors, and transformers of the living, but more than anything anthropologists have understood them as representations of something else—symbols that articulate facets of human experience in much the same way works of art do. The Social Life of Spirits challenges this notion. By stripping symbolism from the way we think about the spirit world, the contributors of this book uncover a livelier, more diverse environment of entities—with their own histories, motivations, and social interactions—providing a new understanding of spirits not as symbols, but as agents. The contributors tour the spiritual globe—the globe of nonthings—in essays on topics ranging from the Holy Ghost in southern Africa to spirits of the “people of the streets” in Rio de Janeiro to dragons and magic in Britain. Avoiding a reliance on religion and belief systems to explain the significance of spirits, they reimagine spirits in a rich network of social trajectories, ultimately arguing for a new ontological ground upon which to examine the intangible world and its interactions with the tangible one.

Reiki Practice and Surrender

2021-01-25
Download Reiki Practice and Surrender PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2021-01-25
Genre :
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 706/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Reiki Practice and Surrender by : Dori-Michelle Beeler

Download or read book Reiki Practice and Surrender written by Dori-Michelle Beeler. This book was released on 2021-01-25. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors discuss the religious spiritual healing practice Reiki, revealing components of it that help transform the message held by the alleged life-force called reiki energy into meaning expressed in efficacy for the recipient's body, mind and spirit. Components that are analyzed include but are not limited to, touch, symbols, initiation, and precepts. The practitioner's surrender to a combination of internal and external authority - with reiki energy being part of that - is a crux in Reiki practice and one means with which practitioners speak of beneficial effect. This work contributes to academic knowledge about how practicing a religious or spiritual practice may contribute to one's well-being and flourishing life. Moreover, it explores the question of the nature of Reiki in academic definitions of religion.

Devotional Fitness

2017-01-05 Social Science
Download Devotional Fitness PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2017-01-05
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 231/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Devotional Fitness by : Martin Radermacher

Download or read book Devotional Fitness written by Martin Radermacher. This book was released on 2017-01-05. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines evangelical dieting and fitness programs and provides a systematic approach of this diverse field with its wide variety of programs. When evangelical Christians engage in fitness and dieting classes in order to “glorify God,” they often face skepticism. This book approaches devotional fitness culture in North America from a religious studies perspective, outlining the basic structures, ideas, and practices of the field. Starting with the historical backgrounds of this current, the book approaches both practice and ideology, highlighting how devotional fitness programs construe their identity in the face of various competing offers in religious and non-religious sectors of society. The book suggests a nuanced and complex understanding of the relationship between sports and religion, beyond ‘simple’ functional equivalency. It provides insights into the formation of secular and religious body ideals and the way these body ideals are sacralized in the frame of an evangelical worldview.

You may also like...