Search Results (122)

This study examines the complex process of Islam’s localization in Sudan, focusing on how hospitality, Sufi dhikr, and Mawlid celebrations integrate with Islamic practices. Drawing on three years of qualitative fieldwork, it demonstrates how Sudan’s geography, ethnic diversity, and historical heritage enable the blending of core religious principles with local customs. Sufi brotherhoods—particularly Qādiriyya, Tījāniyya, Shādhiliyya, and Khatmiyya—play a pivotal role in local culture by incorporating traditional musical, choreographic, and narrative art forms into their rituals, resulting in highly dynamic worship and social interaction. In Sudan, hospitality emerges as a near-sovereign social norm, reflecting the Islamic ethics of charity and mutual assistance while remaining deeply intertwined with local traditions. Islam’s adaptability toward local customs is further illustrated by the vibrant drumming, chanting, and dancing that enhance large-scale Mawlid al-Nabi celebrations, uniting Muslims under a religious identity that goes beyond dogmatic definitions. Beyond their spiritual meanings, these Sufi practices and networks also serve as tools for social cohesion, often functioning as support systems in regions with minimal state presence. They help prevent disputes and foster unity, demonstrating the positive impact of a flexible Islam—one that draws on both scripture and local traditions—on peacebuilding in Sudan. While highlighting the country’s social realities, this study offers insights into how Islam can function as a transformative force within society. Full article

This paper discusses the Chart of the Taoist Rituals of Lord Lao, or “chart of Lord Lao” for short, a document drawn up, preserved, and utilized by a local Taoist altar in the border region of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces in southeastern China. This chart illustrates the body of the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun), with various parts labelled with sacred spaces, deity names in textual form, and ritual instructions. As such, the document elucidates the interconnectedness between the body, cosmos, and rituals within local Taoist beliefs. This article aims to analyze the chart of Lord Lao by comparing it with ritual texts, the liturgical tradition of the Taoist altar, and texts from the Ming dynasty Taoist Canon. Through this analysis, it becomes evident that the chart of Lord Lao and its associated practices reflect an intricate relationship between different layers of Taoist traditions. This includes the connections between classical Taoism and the emerging ritual traditions of exorcism during the Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as the interplay between these emerging traditions, such as the Correct Rites of the Heart of Heaven, and more local traditions of exorcism, such as the Rites of Mount Lü. Full article

Oral narratives play a crucial role in shaping the historical consciousness of Indigenous communities in Northeast India, where history writing is a relatively recent phenomenon. Among the Mizos, Nagas, Khasis, Kuki-Chins, and other Indigenous tribes of Northeast India, including the Bodos, the Garos, the Dimasas, or the Karbis of Assam, much of what is considered written history emerged during British colonial rule. Native historians later continued it in postcolonial India. However, written history, especially when based on fragmented colonial records, includes interpretive gaps. In such contexts, oral traditions provide complementary, and frequently, more authoritative frameworks rooted in cultural memory and collective transmission. Oral narratives, including ritual poetry, folk songs, myths, and folktales, serve as vital mediums for reconstructing the past. Scholars such as Jan Vansina view oral narratives as essential for understanding the histories of societies without written records, while Paul Thompson sees them as both a discovery and a recovery of cultural memory. Romila Thapar argues that narratives become indicative of perspectives and conditions in societies of the past, functioning as a palimpsest with multiple layers of meaning accruing over generations as they are recreated or reiterated over time. The folk narratives of the Mizos and Angami Nagas not only recount their origins and historical migrations, but also map significant geographical and cultural landmarks, such as Khezakheno and Lungterok in Nagaland, Rounglevaisuo in Manipur, and Chhinlung or Rih Dil on the Mizoram–Myanmar border. These narratives constitute a cultural understanding of the past, aligning with Greg Dening’s concept of “public knowledge of the past,” which is “culturally shared.” Additionally, as Linda Tuhiwai Smith posits, such stories, as embodiments of the past, and of socio-cultural practices of communities, create spaces of resistance and reappropriation of Indigenous identities even as they reiterate the marginalization of these communities. This paper deploys these ideas to examine how oral narratives can be used to decolonize grand narratives of history, enabling Indigenous peoples, such as the Mizos and the Angamis in North East India, to reaffirm their positionalities within the postcolonial nation. Full article

The Guyang Cave contains an extensive collection of late Northern Wei (late fifth to early sixth century) statue and stele combinations. While existing scholarship has recognized the exceptional nature of these statue–stele pairings, their systematic stylistic classification and contextual interpretation have yet to receive sustained scholarly attention. This investigation analyzes ten paradigmatic cases, organized into three distinct stylistic groups. The discussion subsequently focuses on four particularly representative examples that epitomize divergent approaches to stele implementation. These stylistic differentiations emerge as direct responses to specific spatial contingencies within the cave’s architecture. Instead of being merely decorative, these innovative configurations served as ritual instruments, amplifying patrons’ devotional objectives within the cave’s competitive environment. Ultimately, this study contributes to the theoretical discourse on “ritual art” by revealing how spatial negotiations between patrons manifested as a dynamic ritual process—one that both informed and was sustained by artistic creation in the Guyang Cave. More broadly, in the late Northern Wei period, artistic expression and ritual practice emerged as mutually constitutive elements in the dynamic formation of religious and cultural traditions. Full article

Ritual slaughter—understood as the killing of animals without prior stunning for religious purposes—constitutes a legally and ethically intricate domain, situated at the intersection of animal welfare, freedom of religion, public health, and consumer protection. This review offers a critical examination of the influence exerted by international and supranational jurisprudence—most notably the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union—on the regulatory landscape governing ritual slaughter. While the right to religious freedom enjoys robust protection under European constitutional and human rights frameworks, recent judicial decisions have affirmed the legitimacy of national legislative measures mandating pre-slaughter stunning, insofar as such measures pursue objectives of animal welfare and transparency in the public interest. Particular attention is devoted to seminal rulings originating in Belgium and within the broader EU context, with a focus on the application of the principle of proportionality as a legal mechanism for balancing colliding fundamental rights. The analysis further engages with the scientific and ethical discourse surrounding animal suffering and the legal obligations tied to consumer information and labeling. Taken together, these developments reveal an emergent trajectory within EU law toward the progressive tightening of regulatory standards governing ritual slaughter, shaped by an evolving jurisprudential understanding of animal welfare imperatives. Full article

Salvation through Refinement (liandu 鍊度) is a distinctive Daoist rite aimed at rescuing the souls of the deceased from hell, enabling their rebirth, and ultimately facilitating their transcendence. The Golden Writings on the Great Achievement of Deliverance by the Numinous Treasure of Highest Clarity (Shangqing Lingbao Jidu Dacheng Jinshu 上清靈寶濟度大成金書), compiled by Zhou Side 周思得 (1359–1451), preserves a wealth of material related to Salvation through Refinement. This content can be divided into two parts: the ritual procedures of Salvation through Refinement and the associated internal practices (neishi 内事). Zhou explicitly stated that the Salvation through Refinement ritual originated from the Golden Book of Salvation according to the Lingbao Tradition (Lingbao Lingjiao Jidu Jinshu 靈寶領教濟度金書), compiled by Lin Lingzhen 林靈真 (1239–1302), whereas the internal practices are not attributed to any specific source. Comparative analysis confirms that the section on internal practices derives from the Brief Discussions of Inner Method of Taiji for Sacrificing to and Sublimating [the Souls of the Deceased] (Taiji Jilian Neifa Yilüe 太極祭鍊內法議略), compiled by Zheng Sixiao 鄭思肖 (1241–1318). Zheng Sixiao’s Salvation through Refinement method centers on Visualization and Actualization (cunxiang 存想), with the entire process taking place internally within the ritual master’s body. Building upon this foundation, Zhou Side incorporated additional ritualized actions and recitations, striving to integrate external ritual with internal practice. In doing so, he constructed a model of Salvation through Refinement characterized by the union of inner methods and outer rites. Inner Sublimation emerged during the Southern Song period, likely influenced in both principle and method by the then-prevalent School of the Mind (xinxue 心學). It sought to counter the increasing complexity of ritual practices at that time. Meanwhile, the continued practice of traditional forms of Retreats (zhai 齋) and Offerings (jiao 醮) reflected the Ming (1368–1644) rulers’ emphasis on the didactic function of such rituals. In his compilation, Zhou cited the views and materials of others under the name of Tian Sizhen 田思真 (fl. early 12th century) to articulate the inner meanings and core doctrines of the Numinous Treasure (lingbao 靈寶) rites. By positioning Tian Sizhen as an intermediary, Zhou not only established a line of transmission between the rites he compiled and the orthodox Numinous Treasure lineage represented by Lu Xiujing 陸修靜 (406–477) but also affirmed his conscious identification with the Daoist ritual tradition and his stance regarding its lineage. Full article

This study examines how South Korea’s 1970s Protestant democratization movement embodied Hans Joas’s concept of the “sacralization of the person” during the authoritarian Yushin regime. Challenging binary narratives of human rights origins as exclusively secular or religious, the research analyzes how Korean Protestant activists created institutions, rituals, and theological frameworks that infused human dignity with sacred character. The study demonstrates how religious actors effectively bridged religious and secular boundaries in human rights advocacy through historical analysis of the National Council of Churches in Korea’s Human Rights Committee, Thursday Prayer Meetings, and the development of Minjung theology. The findings reveal a distinctive process of sacralization that evolved from individual to collective understandings of human dignity, culminating in the radical Minjung Messiah theory. This case study illustrates how Joas’s affirmative genealogy operates in non-Western contexts, showing that sacralization emerges through dynamic interactions between religious conviction, historical events, and cultural transformation rather than through abstract reasoning alone. The Korean experience demonstrates that universal human rights gain moral force when diverse traditions collaborate to uphold human dignity across ideological divides. Full article

Since China’s accession to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2004, private shamanism, centered around the sacred belief of “connecting heaven and earth”, has for the first time been incorporated into the national heritage management system with legal legitimacy, becoming regulated public heritage on the condition of avoiding religious attributes. Through fieldwork and historical analysis, this paper examines the interaction between public heritage and private belief in contemporary Northeast Chinese shamanism. The research reveals the mutual influence between the public and private domains of shamanic ritual practices, with a new synthesis or symbiotic relationship emerging across these domains, which is manifested in two main aspects: first, the “generation of the public from the private”, exemplified by the emergence of the public heritage associated with shamanism, and second, the “promotion of the private by the public”, where the sacred private belief expands its existential space with the assistance of newly recognized public heritage. This bidirectional interaction model challenges the conventional notion that “heritagization leads to the decline of faith”, offering a novel interpretive framework for understanding the contemporary transformation of ritual systems. Full article

This paper examines local knowledge, perceptions, and responses to changing climes in the Trans-Himalayan region of Dolpa in Nepal. Rooted within the environmental humanities and shaped by emerging understandings of faith-based ecospirituality, our research partnership focuses on the experiences of the indigenous Tarali Magar people of Gumbatara and neighbouring Shaharatara in the Tichurong valley. Through place-based engagements and drawing on various disciplinary threads and intellectual traditions, we review the effects of changing cultural, climatic, and ritual patterns on the lives and livelihoods of the Tarali Magar community. We explore how (i) agricultural practices are changing and adapting in response to wider systemic transformations; (ii) in what ways physical changes in the weather, clime and climate are experienced and imagined by Taralis through the lens of the Tarali concepts of nham (weather) and sameu (time); and (iii) local knowledge and embodied understandings about the natural and cultural worlds are embedded within Tarali spiritual traditions and religious worldviews. In reckoning with shifts in ecological patterns that disrupt long-standing agricultural practices and the cultural and religious knowledge systems that guide them, we demonstrate that Taralis are indigenous environmental humanists and empirical scientists. Through our study, we uplift culturally grounded, location-specific religious practices in the Tichurong valley and show how members of the Tarali community are contributing to global imaginaries for sustainable futures in our more-than-human world. Full article

As individuals grow older, they experience notable shifts in their health conditions, social positions, and personal identity. Studies show that finding meaning in life correlates with healthier lifestyle choices and enhanced overall well-being. This sense of meaning functions as a protective factor against life’s challenges, strengthening resilience during later years. The research utilized thematic analysis within a qualitative methodology to investigate the subjective sources of meaning among elderly people living in Romanian institutional settings. The analysis revealed several interconnected themes. Religiosity and spirituality emerged as a fundamental anchor, with participants often mentioning God, Divinity, and Higher Power in their narratives. They typically conceptualized life as a sacred gift and emphasized the importance of religious practices such as prayer and church attendance as essential to their sense of purpose. The intergenerational transmission of values also proved significant, with elderly individuals finding meaning in passing down moral and spiritual principles to younger family members, viewing this as their enduring legacy. Interpersonal connections played a crucial role as well, with quality relationships with family and friends fostering a sense of belonging, while broken relationships or isolation negatively impacted well-being. Daily life objectives, including short-term goals like maintaining routines or anticipating family visits, along with preserving functional independence, provided structure and immediate purpose for many participants. The research distinguished between religiosity and spirituality as related but separate concepts: while formal religious rituals offered community-based meaning, those less engaged with organized religion discovered transcendence through personal spiritual experiences such as connecting with nature. This study highlights cultural specificities, particularly how Orthodox Christian traditions shape existential narratives among Romanian elderly, and proposes practical interventions for retirement facilities to incorporate activities focused on spiritual engagement, relationship building, and opportunities for elders to share their wisdom with younger generations. Full article

Energy healing refers to a globalising market of healing rituals that aim to stimulate the clients’ self-healing process. In the context of healing, the term ‘energy’ has multi-layered meanings and may denote physical, psychological, social, as well as spiritual principles of restoring well-being. This article demonstrates how the idea of energy as a healing agent was embedded within the occult cosmology and anthropology of the British-American post-Theosophist Alice A. Bailey (1880–1949). Applying historical discourse analysis, Bailey’s impact on the emergence of energy healing is examined. Her theory of energy is explored against the backdrop of her esoteric grand narrative. It is demonstrated how Bailey’s principles of energy formed the basis for her vision of a “medicine of the future”. A concluding discussion proves the global influence of Bailey’s ‘energetic turn’ and how it modelled the approach of major holistic actors of the later twentieth century. Full article

The Mediterranean Diet (MD), although not always called by this name, has emerged over centuries as a diet influenced by diverse civilizations in the Mediterranean region, who blended local produce, traditions, and rituals with new ingredients and customs introduced through trade, migrations, or occupations. Historically characterized mainly by plant-based foods, olive oil, fish, moderate meat consumption, and moderate wine consumption, MD was also shaped by the holistic health principles advocated by figures like Hippocrates, Plato and Galen. Modern investigations, including Ancel Keys’ Seven Countries Study, confirmed its protective role against cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses, while UNESCO’s designation of the MD as an Intangible Cultural Heritage highlights its broader cultural significance. Today, although MD faces challenges from globalization and shifts in modern lifestyles, the advances in personalized and AI-driven nutrition, as well as specific public health initiatives offer opportunities to preserve its core tenets of balance, sustainability, and communal eating for future generations along with many scientifically proven benefits of this diet and the associated lifestyle. Full article

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was officially liquidated by the Soviet authorities at the L’viv Pseudo-Council of 1946. However, the clergy and faithful who remained loyal to their Church formed an underground church structure. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the underground Greek Catholics had special hopes for the revival of the UGCC. This was due to the easing of repression in the USSR after Stalin’s death and the preparation and convening of the Second Vatican Council. It was at this time that Pope John XXIII managed to secure the release of the head of the UGCC, Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj, who had spent 18 years in the Soviet labor camps and exile. At that time, many suspicions and accusations arose among the clergy and faithful of the underground UGCC due to insufficient information about the actions and decisions of the Council. In those years, a movement emerged that later grew into an apocalyptic sect (“Pokutnyky”). Ecumenical talks between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church, the issue of patriarchal status for the UGCC, ritual disputes, and so on also caused a lot of discussion among the Greek Catholics in Ukraine. This paper is an attempt to provide a better understanding of the perception of the Vatican II decisions by underground Greek Catholics within their struggle for the existence and revival of their Church. Full article

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic took a sledgehammer to the education sector, shattering the established structured systems, norms and rituals of practices and procedures. To ensure continuity whilst adhering to the pandemic-induced containment measures, higher education institutions adopted a remote work model to address the needs of a dispersed workforce. Amidst the uncertainty and continuous changes posed by the pandemic, remote working arrangements gradually dominated the higher education workspace, thereby increasing demands on institutions and employees. Consequently, the notion of resilience as a crucial constituent of Crisis Management has never been more salient. Yet surprisingly, there has been a paucity of literature in this domain. Whilst research on resilience is gaining interest, there is a need for a comprehensive overview of what the concept means for academics during an emergency and its application in the Crisis Management framework. This article addresses this research gap using a systematic Literature Review method to unearth the current state of scientific research regarding resilience in Crisis Management in the context of remote work during COVID-19. The findings of the study provide a research agenda that centers on understanding how resilience in Crisis Management and its strategic use in remote work can advance the research streams. Full article

This article examines the conceptual connections between simpler and more complex forms of religiosity, focusing on the transition from ritual-based practices to religious narratives and theological reflection. Drawing on Wittgenstein’s method of perspicuous representation (übersichtliche Darstellung), the authors propose a series of models that illuminate this spectrum. These models demonstrate how religious narratives achieve autonomy of a sort that challenges reductionist interpretations. Rituals, initially guided by primitive reactions, become structured through linguistic conceptualisation and are woven into cohesive narratives that, in turn, serve as internal justifications for ritual practices, creating a linguistic space that encourages reflection. The article contends that theological reflection emerges when narratives encounter discrepancies—whether from external challenges or internal inconsistencies—prompting a systematic re-evaluation of beliefs. By critiquing Wittgenstein’s own reductionist tendencies, along with the “Wittgensteinian fideism” that emerged in its wake, the authors seek to emphasise the importance of recognising disputes within and between religious narratives as being integral to human life. Full article