Religion Commons^™

War Of The Worlds: Music And Cosmological Battles In The Balinese Cremation Procession, Michael B. Bakan

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Abstract

This article explores processional action as a form of cosmological intervention in Hindu-Balinese cremation processions, focusing on the multiple and intersecting functions of a particular type of Balinese instrumental music ensemble: the gamelan beleganjur. It explores the alternately “enlivening and protective aspects” (DeVale 1990, 62) that underlie the use of beleganjur music in the ngaben, or cremation ritual, showing how beleganjur’s sonic power and rhythmic drive serve to combat malevolent spirit beings, strengthen and inspire processional participants in their efforts to meet challenging ritual obligations, and grant courage to the souls of deceased individuals embarking on their …

Dreaming In Two Worlds And Two Languages: Bilingual Dreams And Acculturation Challenges, Winifred K. Lum, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This study investigated the significance of first and second languages in the bilingual dreams of immigrant participants. A purposive sample of nine women and six men aged 20 to 71 whose first languages were Spanish, Thai, Italian, Tagalog, and French, and later acquired English, participated in semi-structured, open-ended interviews recalling a dream featuring both languages. Transcripts were thematically analyzed individually and across cases. The most important theme was the ambicultural self in the dream, referring to a culturally flexible dream figure able to speak the dreamer’s first and second languages to bridge between the protagonist’s two cultures to accomplish the …

Courage In Politics: The Challenge For Christian Politicians, Egbert Schuurman

Pro Rege

Editor’s Note: This article was presented by Dr. Egbert Schuurman as the annual Groen van Prinsterer Lecture for 2011, sponsored by the ChristenUnie or Christian Union, a political party in the Netherlands. The lecture series is named after Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801–1876), the father of modern Dutch Christian politics. Egbert Schuurman, P.Eng., Ph.D., was senator for the Christian Union in the Dutch parliament from 1983 through 2011.

This text was translated by Herbert Donald Morton and edited by Harry Van Dyke.