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- Bogdan, Henrik, 1972, et al.
(författare)
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Research on Esotericism in Scandinavia
- 2008
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Ingår i: Western Esotericism. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - 0582-3226. ; XX, s. 38-49
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on Papers Read at the Symposium on Western Esotericism held at Åbo, Finland, on 15-17 August 2007
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| 2. |
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| 4. |
- Gray, Billy, 1961-
(författare)
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Rumi, Sufi Spirituality and Western Sufism in Elif Shafak's The Forty Rules of Love
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - Åbo Finland : Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - 0582-3226 .- 2343-4937. ; 29, s. 124-146
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In William Patrick Patterson’s Struggle of the Magicians, a detailed study of the relationship between the prominent figures of Western esotericism, G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky, he writes ‘Only in a time as confused as ours could one think that the teacher–student relationship – an archetypal and sacred form – exists as an option, rather than a necessary requirement, a station on the way’ (1997: 92). My paper examines the numerous ways in which the famous teacher–disciple relationship that existed between Muhammad Jalal ad-Din, known to the anglophone world as Rumi, and his spiritual guide and mentor, Shams of Tabriz, is represented in Elif Shafak’s novel The Forty Rules of Love (2010) and how her depiction of this relationship is predicated upon her knowledge of, and belief in, the general principles of what can be termed ‘Western Sufism’. Although she had previously thematised elements of Sufi dialectics in her earlier fiction and clear, if minor, references to Sufi philosophy permeated novels such as The Bastard of Istanbul (2007), Shafak’s fascination with the teachings of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz reaches its culmination and most significant artistic expression in The Forty Rules of Love. Published in 2010, the novel situates a fictionalised representation of the relationship between Rumi and Shams at the centre of the narrative and provides an overt depiction of the emanationalist, perennialist and universalist ethics contained within Sufi dialectics. In addition, given that Shafak’s text represents one of the more prominent and commercially successful contributions to what Amira El-Zein (2010: 71–85) has called ‘the Rumi phenomenon’ my paper examines how, in privileging the aesthetics and the interests of American readers over conveying a more complete and more nuanced image of Sufism, Shafak succumbs to the oversimplification and decontextualisation of Rumi’s teachings perpetrated by the Western popularisers of his work.
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| 5. |
- Hornborg, Anne-Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Are you content with being just ordinary? Or do you wish to make progress and be outstanding?
- 2012
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Ingår i: Post-Secular Religious Practices. - 0582-3226. - 9789521227004 ; 24, s. 110-127
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper examines the emergence and features of new therapeutic and coaching practices in contemporary Sweden, offering to the individual therapy or coaching in order to find his or her “inner potential” as a means to achieve health, self-realization and success in life as well as in work. This focus on the inner self and the formation of a new, late modern selfhood demands new ritual creativity, responding to the individual longing for intense experiences of transformations and the authentic self. The development of a new outlook on the self is thus in focus in these practices, i.e. the individual is creating new ways to stage him- or herself. In this construction of a new self, or at least the image of an ideal self, the neospiritual therapist or coach is very much in demand and the discourse is most often couched in a combination of spiritual and science-like concepts.
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| 7. |
- Magrinyà Badiella, Carles
(författare)
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Experiencing the limits : The cave as a transitional space
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - : Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - 0582-3226 .- 2343-4937. ; 29, s. 147-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The meaning of the cave is ancestral. It is a transitional space that functions as a threshold between the real, the mystical, and the imaginary. Experiences in caves are highly important in the history of religions and literature, and have been adopted transculturally by mystics, esoteric organizations, alchemical treatises, and many literary forms, such as the Greek novel, Dante’s Commedia, and chivalric romances. In my paper, I will first give an interdisciplinary overview of representations of this space in different traditions and literary works up to the Renaissance. I will then focus on how Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote updates these representations, and study how the visions and experiences of the knight in a cave are crucial in his recovery from insanity.
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| 8. |
- Melder, Cecilia A, Lektor, 1966-
(författare)
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The epidemiology of lost meaning : A study in the psychology of religion and existential public health
- 2012
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Ingår i: Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - : Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - 0582-3226 .- 2343-4937. ; 24, s. 237-258
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The existential dimension of spirituality has proven to be of great importance over the last two decades when it comes to studies of self-rated health and quality of life. We see the positive effects it has on blood pressure, depression and life expectancy for chemotherapy and HIV patients, to mention just a few examples. In the public health sector, it is interesting to note that this existential/spiritual dimension had already been present in the early years when the term public health first came into the Swedish language. In the year 1926 public health was defined as ‘a people’s physical and spiritual health’. During the intervening years of major medical and scientific technical improvements in the field, the existential/spiritual perspective had been put aside, but now once again this dimension has come into focus. The central question is, how does the existential dimension of health, understood as a person’s ability to create and maintain functional meaning making systems, affect the person’s self-rated health and quality of life? The working theories and basic perspectives in this article are drawn from health research with attention to the existential dimension, public health from the perspective of the psychology of religion, and object relations theory.
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| 9. |
- Plank, Katarina, 1970-
(författare)
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The sacred foodscapes of Thai Buddhist temples in Sweden
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - Åbo, Finland : The Donner Institute. - 0582-3226 .- 2343-4937. ; 26, s. 201-224
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thai Buddhist communities are by far the fastest-growing Buddhist establishments in Sweden, and – contrary to other Buddhist congregations that are mainly clustered in the cities – Thai Buddhist temples can be found in sparsely-populated areas and rural parts of Sweden. This article aims to document and analyse the ‘foodscape’ of diasporic Thai Buddhism in Sweden. In particular the article identifies and discusses five different strategies used by local communities- in order to support their temples in urban as well as rural areas: 1) local support, 2) pre-cooking and freezing, 3) pre-organised almsgiving in nearby cities, 4) change of food gifts, 5) change of the nikaya. A temple’s location in a rural area can drive forward a reinterpretation and adaptation of the monk’s rules, and contribute to a changing composition of food gifts. Food performs several functions. In addition to the religious functions that are associated with almsgiving, food can also serve as a means of generating bonding and bridging civic social capital, and providing economic income to temples.
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| 10. |
- Portin, Fredrik, 1980
(författare)
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Legitimacy for Some: Right-Wing Populist Rationality and Antagonistic Politics
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - : Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. - 0582-3226 .- 2343-4937. ; 28, s. 30-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to examine under what conditions the disruptive character of right-wing populism can be perceived as a positive element within a functioning democracy. Using the thinking of philosophers Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe I argue that the disruptive character of right-wing populism gives the marginalised concerns of ‘the people’ public legitimacy. However, right-wing populism is also criticised for excluding, in a similar fashion, certain social actors from the public sphere. Instead of enabling a more inclusive society, I therefore argue that right-wing populism enables a society that is distinguished by antagonism. To make it possible for all social actors’ concerns to gain public legitimacy without promoting antagonism, I argue that a new political reality needs to be imagined. In conclusion I therefore offer a theoretical framework for such a reality through the political philosophy of Bruno Latour.
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