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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Anthropology
Soul Quest Church Of Mother Earth: Ayahuasca Decriminalization And The Struggle Of An Institution To Become A Church, Tarryl Janik
Soul Quest Church Of Mother Earth: Ayahuasca Decriminalization And The Struggle Of An Institution To Become A Church, Tarryl Janik
Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation examines the process by which Soul Quest Church of Mother Earth Inc., an ayahuasca church, in Orlando, Florida, seeks to become a legal church in order to be exempted from the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 which classifies DMT, the psychedelic by-product of the boiled ayahuasca vine and chacruna leaf, as an illicit substance. The three-year study charts the process by which Soul Quest undertakes to demonstrate their practice and belief in terms that will conform to the State’s idea of what “church-ness” looks like and how sincere belief should be demonstrated in terms the law will find …
Interpreting The Socio-Symbolic Value Of Jet And Amber Artifacts As Markers Of Religious Transformation In Early Christian Britain, Rachel C. Strohl
Interpreting The Socio-Symbolic Value Of Jet And Amber Artifacts As Markers Of Religious Transformation In Early Christian Britain, Rachel C. Strohl
Theses and Dissertations
During the Medieval period in Britain, changes in the lived materiality of religion aided in the reinforcement of new ideologies. Christian missionaries and foreign invaders introduced new religious structures and cultural paradigms from the Continent that included novel symbolic forms and material markers. In pre-Christian contexts, jet and amber are thought to have been used for religious purposes due to their presumed magical properties, such as burning and generating a static charge. These materials also served as lucrative exports throughout Europe and beyond before the introduction of Christianity. Textual records from the Mediterranean as well as archaeological evidence for the …
"Making God's Love Manifest": American Expressions And Productions Of Charisma In Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi's Global Following, Karen Margaret Esche-Eiff
"Making God's Love Manifest": American Expressions And Productions Of Charisma In Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi's Global Following, Karen Margaret Esche-Eiff
Theses and Dissertations
While situating it in a changing American religious landscape marked by increasing participation in metaphysical religion, this dissertation examines the appeal of contemporary Indian godperson, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), to Americans. Although replete with portraits of individual Indian spiritual leaders’ charisma, the anthropology of religion literature seldom addresses the processes whereby such figures’ charisma gets produced. Drawing on thirteen months of multi-sited ethnographic research conducted between 2015-2016, this dissertation uses Max Weber’s theory of charisma to answer the following questions: what extraordinary capacity do American devotees attribute to Amma; what is the process whereby they and she co-produce this …
A Return To Dark Shamans: Kanaima & The Cosmology Of Threat, Tarryl Janik
A Return To Dark Shamans: Kanaima & The Cosmology Of Threat, Tarryl Janik
Theses and Dissertations
Kanaima in Amazonia has been theorized within anthropology as “assault sorcery,” “dark shamanism,” and “anti-structure.” Among the Patamuna Indians of Guyana kanaima have been theorized as “cultural expression” of “hyper-traditionality” in response to an encroaching state, its industry and development, evangelism, and modernity (Whitehead; 2002). Kanaima is a mode of terror and violence, of healing, enhancing power, and performing masculinity—a symbol that operates in Patamuna mythology, cosmology, and place-making. Kanaima is intimately entangled with jaguar identity and the wildness of the Pakaraimas, functioning as the ultimate symbol of terror and control over the Patamuna and outsiders. The threat of kanaima …
Enlightening The Bats: Sound And Place Making In Burmese Buddhist Practice, Andrew Dicks
Enlightening The Bats: Sound And Place Making In Burmese Buddhist Practice, Andrew Dicks
Theses and Dissertations
In Burma (Myanmar), the Abhidhamma, a rigorous and abstract soteriological treatise situated within the vast Pali Buddhist canon, is the focus of both monastic and lay practitioners’ close study and popular veneration. In particular, the Paṭṭhāna, the last and most complex volume of the Abhidhamma, is envisioned as a keystone in the long-term preservation of the Buddha’s teachings, which are also understood to inevitably disappear. As a result of these conditions and understandings, a popular ritualized and amplified recitation of this difficult text has developed in order to maintain the text’s presence in popular consciousness. This is a conscientious move …
An Early Christian Reliquary In The Shape Of A Sarcophagus In The University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Art Collection, Anne O'Connor
An Early Christian Reliquary In The Shape Of A Sarcophagus In The University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Art Collection, Anne O'Connor
Theses and Dissertations
This paper seeks to introduce a relatively unknown example of a small fifth or sixth century AD reliquary object in the shape of a sarcophagus now in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Art Collection. Its material - mostly likely Prokonnesian marble - a highly prized stone in the Roman Empire - speaks to strength, permanence, endurance, and the concept of romanitas. The form, as derived from Roman burial practice, provides apotropaic powers for the viewer and for the holy person whose remains were contained within. Its design also facilitates the offering of votives and veneration, as well as requests for intercessions …