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Comparing Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective: Experiments in Collaborative Authorship
Esoteric Practices: Global Perspectives, Volume 2
Series: - Aries Book Series, Volume: 44
- Esoteric Practices: Global Perspectives, Volume: 44
This volume is a collection of cross-disciplinary papers co-authored by scholars from different academic fields. Readers will be intrigued to discover unexpected parallels between contemporary practices across diverse cultural and religious contexts. These include, for example, the casting of lots in Chinese temple oracles and the African-Yoruba divination system; ritual consultations in Senegal and Brazil; the marginalization of ritual practices in Indonesia, Bhutan, and Nigeria; the crossroads of late Soviet and US-based esoteric milieus; adaptations of Buddhist, Hindu, and Daoist practices in a modern esoteric movement (Thelema); and the spread of the Solomonic art of conjuring spirits in both scriptural and non-scriptural practice traditions. These examples offer rich opportunities for meaningful comparison.
Bernd-Christian Otto is Permanent Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies 'Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective' at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He has published extensively on magic and esotericism, including Magie: Rezeptions- und diskursgeschichtliche Analysen von der Antike bis zur Neuzeit (De Gruyter, 2011).
Michael Lackner is Senior Professor of Sinology at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He has published extensively on the intellectual and religious history of China, including Coping with the Future. Theories and Practices of Divination in East Asia (Brill, 2018).
Michael Lackner is Senior Professor of Sinology at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He has published extensively on the intellectual and religious history of China, including Coping with the Future. Theories and Practices of Divination in East Asia (Brill, 2018).
List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
âBernd-Christian Otto and Michael Lackner
1 Divination and Mediumship Compared: a Dialogical Essay on the Logic of Ritual Consultations in Senegal and Brazil
âKnut Graw and Kelly E. Hayes
2 Solomon, King of Spirits: Historical and Ethnographic Explorations
âMaryam Abbasi, Conerly Casey and Bernd-Christian Otto
3 Converging Cosmologies: Esoteric Practices of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Daoism in Aleister Crowleyâs Thelema
âKeith Edward Cantú and Lennert Gesterkamp
4 Becoming Superhumans: the Crossroads of Late-Soviet and Western Esotericism
âBirgit Menzel and Anna Ozhiganova
5 Moral Economies of Divination: Chinese and Yoruba Technologies, Ethics, Wisdom, and Affect in Comparison
âMichael Lackner and Raquel Romberg
6 Resilience and Relationalism: the Persistence of Marginalised Ritual Practices in Indonesia, Bhutan, and Nigeria
âConerly Casey, Dendup Chophel and Isabell Herrmans
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
âBernd-Christian Otto and Michael Lackner
1 Divination and Mediumship Compared: a Dialogical Essay on the Logic of Ritual Consultations in Senegal and Brazil
âKnut Graw and Kelly E. Hayes
2 Solomon, King of Spirits: Historical and Ethnographic Explorations
âMaryam Abbasi, Conerly Casey and Bernd-Christian Otto
3 Converging Cosmologies: Esoteric Practices of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Daoism in Aleister Crowleyâs Thelema
âKeith Edward Cantú and Lennert Gesterkamp
4 Becoming Superhumans: the Crossroads of Late-Soviet and Western Esotericism
âBirgit Menzel and Anna Ozhiganova
5 Moral Economies of Divination: Chinese and Yoruba Technologies, Ethics, Wisdom, and Affect in Comparison
âMichael Lackner and Raquel Romberg
6 Resilience and Relationalism: the Persistence of Marginalised Ritual Practices in Indonesia, Bhutan, and Nigeria
âConerly Casey, Dendup Chophel and Isabell Herrmans
This book is of interest to research institutes, libraries, and post-graduate students specializing in anthropology and religious studies.