The concept of secularization, coined in the 1960s, is at the heart of the debate as to whether new religious movements (NRMs), such as New Thought, are part of a possible re-enchantment or re-sacralization process where the “no religion” or “nones” category plays a significant role. In the studies of scholars such as Bryan Wilson, David Martin, Steve Bruce, Rodney Stark or Peter Berger, the theory of secularization has long been disputed to prove either the decline of religion or the extinction of it. Nevertheless, in the last three decades these scholars have agreed on the fact that secularization is no longer an appropriate concept to describe the evolution of religious beliefs within society. According to all specialists and research studies, “nones” are everywhere in the religious landscape (Pew Research Centre 2012), but has this always been the case? To consider this perspective, I will use the example of the New Thought movement, the American metaphysical new religious movement dating back to the early nineteenth century, which has been part of the shaping of national identity, both as a model of pluralism and a part of spiritual and political dynamism. Are New Thought members the archetypes of the “none” population and of the “none-ing” process phenomenon? This question raises the problem of the religious identification process and its importance in the spiritual and religious landscape of the United States and elsewhere across the world. It directly impacts the debate on the sacralization/secularization process by inviting a novel approach to the explanation of the “none” cohort by querying its role and whether we should look to its “liminal” aspect.
{"title":"New Thought and the “none-ing” Phenomenon","authors":"Philippe Murillo","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.22265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.22265","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of secularization, coined in the 1960s, is at the heart of the debate as to whether new religious movements (NRMs), such as New Thought, are part of a possible re-enchantment or re-sacralization process where the “no religion” or “nones” category plays a significant role. In the studies of scholars such as Bryan Wilson, David Martin, Steve Bruce, Rodney Stark or Peter Berger, the theory of secularization has long been disputed to prove either the decline of religion or the extinction of it. Nevertheless, in the last three decades these scholars have agreed on the fact that secularization is no longer an appropriate concept to describe the evolution of religious beliefs within society. According to all specialists and research studies, “nones” are everywhere in the religious landscape (Pew Research Centre 2012), but has this always been the case? To consider this perspective, I will use the example of the New Thought movement, the American metaphysical new religious movement dating back to the early nineteenth century, which has been part of the shaping of national identity, both as a model of pluralism and a part of spiritual and political dynamism. Are New Thought members the archetypes of the “none” population and of the “none-ing” process phenomenon? This question raises the problem of the religious identification process and its importance in the spiritual and religious landscape of the United States and elsewhere across the world. It directly impacts the debate on the sacralization/secularization process by inviting a novel approach to the explanation of the “none” cohort by querying its role and whether we should look to its “liminal” aspect.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67496325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eric L. Sprankle, Zane Hensel, Todd E. Jennings, Tayle Lyng
Modern Satanism is an oft-misunderstood and stigmatized minority religion that has largely been viewed by mental health professionals through a lens of deviance. Understanding Satanists’ experiences with this stigmatized identity is absent in the current psychological literature. Conceptualizing Satanism within the minority stress and rejection-identification models, a nonrandom sample of 1,272 self-identified Satanists were surveyed about their strength of identity, anticipated discrimination, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that aspects of Satanist identity (centrality and in-group ties) positively correlated with anticipated discrimination, and other aspects (in-group ties and in-group affect) negatively correlated with depressive symptoms. Additionally, in-group ties moderated the relationship between anticipated discrimination and depressive symptoms, suggesting that Satanists who have social support from other Satanists are less affected by the depressive repercussions of anticipated discrimination. Implications for mental health professionals treating Satanists presenting with religious minority stressors and depressive symptoms are discussed.
{"title":"Mark of the Beast","authors":"Eric L. Sprankle, Zane Hensel, Todd E. Jennings, Tayle Lyng","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.18836","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.18836","url":null,"abstract":"Modern Satanism is an oft-misunderstood and stigmatized minority religion that has largely been viewed by mental health professionals through a lens of deviance. Understanding Satanists’ experiences with this stigmatized identity is absent in the current psychological literature. Conceptualizing Satanism within the minority stress and rejection-identification models, a nonrandom sample of 1,272 self-identified Satanists were surveyed about their strength of identity, anticipated discrimination, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that aspects of Satanist identity (centrality and in-group ties) positively correlated with anticipated discrimination, and other aspects (in-group ties and in-group affect) negatively correlated with depressive symptoms. Additionally, in-group ties moderated the relationship between anticipated discrimination and depressive symptoms, suggesting that Satanists who have social support from other Satanists are less affected by the depressive repercussions of anticipated discrimination. Implications for mental health professionals treating Satanists presenting with religious minority stressors and depressive symptoms are discussed.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41434921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the first part of this two-part article it was argued that the New Age could be understood as a discourse instead of a movement, a modality of belief, or a set of doctrines. It identified the key elements of this discourse, stressing the differences from other religious discourses, such as esotericism. In the second part of this article, the conceptualization of the New Age as discourse will be applied to the Sufi order Naqshbandiyya-Haqqaniyya in the Italian context. The main aim is to understand how this Sufi order has been influenced by the New Age, shaping its doctrines, rituals, practices and organizational structures. This article will show that the coexistence between the Islamic tradition and the New Age discourse entails internal tensions and ambivalences, coexistence and tensions that are justified and mitigated by the Naqshbandi millennialism. This article challenges the dichotomous conceptualizations of Islamic/non-Islamic contemporary Sufism influenced by the New Age, stressing both its continuities and discontinuities.
{"title":"Sufism Meets the New Age Discourse Part 2","authors":"Francesco Piraino","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.22266","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.22266","url":null,"abstract":"In the first part of this two-part article it was argued that the New Age could be understood as a discourse instead of a movement, a modality of belief, or a set of doctrines. It identified the key elements of this discourse, stressing the differences from other religious discourses, such as esotericism. In the second part of this article, the conceptualization of the New Age as discourse will be applied to the Sufi order Naqshbandiyya-Haqqaniyya in the Italian context. The main aim is to understand how this Sufi order has been influenced by the New Age, shaping its doctrines, rituals, practices and organizational structures. This article will show that the coexistence between the Islamic tradition and the New Age discourse entails internal tensions and ambivalences, coexistence and tensions that are justified and mitigated by the Naqshbandi millennialism. This article challenges the dichotomous conceptualizations of Islamic/non-Islamic contemporary Sufism influenced by the New Age, stressing both its continuities and discontinuities.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42303406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recently there has been a surge of renewed interest in the psychedelic compound psilocybin. In particular, psilocybin is being studied in clinical settings as a potential breakthrough treatment for depression. Alongside this growing therapeutic interest, there has been a rise in the religious use of psilocybin, as evidenced by the creation of a number of psilocybin mushroom churches in the United States. While the dominant popular discourse surrounding psilocybin is currently clinical, psilocybin churches offer an alternative form of meaning making regarding the psychedelic experience. Specifically, this article argues that psilocybin churches enable their followers to participate in a dynamic social process of “sacred sensemaking,” whereby psilocybin mushrooms are considered to be a sacrament, church members follow a ritual-based psychopharmacological practice, and the psychedelic experience is interpreted in terms of a direct encounter with the divine. Different psilocybin churches have unique approaches, ritual practices and cosmologies, nonetheless this article suggests that they may be united by this common process of sacred sensemaking.
{"title":"Ministry of the Mushroom","authors":"Anna Lutkajtis","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.20152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.20152","url":null,"abstract":"Recently there has been a surge of renewed interest in the psychedelic compound psilocybin. In particular, psilocybin is being studied in clinical settings as a potential breakthrough treatment for depression. Alongside this growing therapeutic interest, there has been a rise in the religious use of psilocybin, as evidenced by the creation of a number of psilocybin mushroom churches in the United States. While the dominant popular discourse surrounding psilocybin is currently clinical, psilocybin churches offer an alternative form of meaning making regarding the psychedelic experience. Specifically, this article argues that psilocybin churches enable their followers to participate in a dynamic social process of “sacred sensemaking,” whereby psilocybin mushrooms are considered to be a sacrament, church members follow a ritual-based psychopharmacological practice, and the psychedelic experience is interpreted in terms of a direct encounter with the divine. Different psilocybin churches have unique approaches, ritual practices and cosmologies, nonetheless this article suggests that they may be united by this common process of sacred sensemaking.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41612538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Latter-day Screens: Gender, Sexuality & Mediated Mormonism, by Brenda R. Weber. Duke University Press, 2019. 384pp., Hb. $109.95, ISBN-13: 9781478004264; Pb. $29.95, ISBN-13: 9781478004868.
{"title":"Latter-day Screens: Gender, Sexuality & Mediated Mormonism, by Brenda R. Weber.","authors":"W. M. Ashcraft","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.22348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.22348","url":null,"abstract":"Latter-day Screens: Gender, Sexuality & Mediated Mormonism, by Brenda R. Weber. Duke University Press, 2019. 384pp., Hb. $109.95, ISBN-13: 9781478004264; Pb. $29.95, ISBN-13: 9781478004868.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48611002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Magic and Witchery in the Modern West: Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of “The Triumph of the Moon,” edited by Shai Feraro and Ethan Doyle White. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 259pp. ePDF $79.99, ISBN-13: 9783030155490; Pb. $99.99, ISBN-13: 9783030155513; Hb. $139.99, ISBN-13: 9783030155483.
{"title":"Magic and Witchery in the Modern West: Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of “The Triumph of the Moon,” edited by Shai Feraro and Ethan Doyle White.","authors":"Bernd-Christian Otto","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.22350","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.22350","url":null,"abstract":"Magic and Witchery in the Modern West: Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of “The Triumph of the Moon,” edited by Shai Feraro and Ethan Doyle White. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 259pp. ePDF $79.99, ISBN-13: 9783030155490; Pb. $99.99, ISBN-13: 9783030155513; Hb. $139.99, ISBN-13: 9783030155483.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46162169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Talking to the Gods: Occultism in the Work of W.B. Yeats, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and Dion Fortune, by Susan Johnston Graf. State University of New York Press, 2015. 178pp., pb., $31.95, ISBN-13: 9781438455563; Hb. 95.00, ISBN-13: 9781438455556.
{"title":"Talking to the Gods: Occultism in the Work of W.B. Yeats, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and Dion Fortune, by Susan Johnston Graf.","authors":"M. Kakabadze","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.22349","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.22349","url":null,"abstract":"Talking to the Gods: Occultism in the Work of W.B. Yeats, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and Dion Fortune, by Susan Johnston Graf. State University of New York Press, 2015. 178pp., pb., $31.95, ISBN-13: 9781438455563; Hb. 95.00, ISBN-13: 9781438455556.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44279331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article proposes a new term “spiritual espionage” defined as the practice of an evangelical Christian group infiltrating a competing religious community in order to undermine their beliefs and convert their members from the inside. This is described through the examples of Christalignment in Australia, Shincheonji in South Korea, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the USA. Spiritual espionage emerges as a solution to the evangelical problem of hostility on the part of New Age spiritualists and other “pagan” groups to direct attempts at conversion. It demonstrates an evolution of evangelical practices and presents an interesting problem for the study of such activities.
{"title":"Cuckoos in the Nest","authors":"M. Quirk","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.19188","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.19188","url":null,"abstract":"This article proposes a new term “spiritual espionage” defined as the practice of an evangelical Christian group infiltrating a competing religious community in order to undermine their beliefs and convert their members from the inside. This is described through the examples of Christalignment in Australia, Shincheonji in South Korea, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the USA. Spiritual espionage emerges as a solution to the evangelical problem of hostility on the part of New Age spiritualists and other “pagan” groups to direct attempts at conversion. It demonstrates an evolution of evangelical practices and presents an interesting problem for the study of such activities.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48008904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium’s Autobiography, by Elizabeth Schleber Lowry.","authors":"J. Albrecht","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.18541","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.18541","url":null,"abstract":"Invisible Hosts: Performing the Nineteenth-Century Spirit Medium’s Autobiography, by Elizabeth Schleber Lowry. SUNY Press, 2017. 186pp., Hb $95.00, ISBN-13: 9781438465999; Pb. $32.95. ISBN-13: 9781438466002.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46955482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Eloquent Blood: The Goddess Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism, by Manon Hedenborg White. 2020. Oxford University Press, 368pp., Hb £71. ISBN-13: 9780190065027.
{"title":"The Eloquent Blood: The Goddess Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism, by Manon Hedenborg White.","authors":"Shai Feraro","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.22347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.22347","url":null,"abstract":"The Eloquent Blood: The Goddess Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism, by Manon Hedenborg White. 2020. Oxford University Press, 368pp., Hb £71. ISBN-13: 9780190065027.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45979569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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