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This chapter argues that myth and ritual in NRMs are oppositional in nature, challenging the status quo with “deliberate heresies”. Examples from the Rajneesh, The Family, the Raelians, Unificationism, and others illustrate the spontaneous, improvisational “concocted” quality of NRM myths and rituals since their founder-prophets are myth-makers. The research on myth and ritual conducted by scholars in new religious studies is surveyed, and the various theoretical and disciplinary approaches to understanding the meaning and function of these two forms of religious expression in established traditions are outlined. Finally, practical teaching exercises designed to help students research NRMs and understand the qualities and function of myth and ritual are proposed.

VFO precedes electrographic seizures in vitro, as well as in vivo. The in vitro VFO is gap junction dependent, and is observed most readily in conditions when synaptic transmission is suppressed. One hypothesis as to seizure initiation is that synaptic excitation recovers prior to synaptic inhibition, so that classical synaptically mediated seizure discharges can arise. Epileptiform discharges in vivo can also be preceded by gamma oscillations, and there is an in vitro model in which gamma activity and bursting activity alternates. The alternating activity appears to arise because of use-dependent alterations in synaptic excitation and inhibition.

This chapter focuses on the unity of experience in Native American religious traditions. Native American traditions stress a unity of experience. Where such traditions are still alive and spiritually viable, the dimension and expression of the sacred is present in all of life's necessary activities. When the elements of time, place, language, art, and the metaphysics of nature come together, however, as they do in ritual activities, the experience of the sacred is intensified. The three cumulative possibilities that must be accomplished by spiritually effective rites: purification, expansion, and identity are mentioned, as are initiation rites, and humor in Native American rites.

This chapter first describes the kinds of interaction between people in Kanganamun, tourists, and tour operators, and then discusses a mock ritual display enacted as a spectacle for tourists. This mock ritual provides a context not only to engage with Harrison's most influential essay on ‘ritual as intellectual property’, but also serves as a prelude to a description of men's initiation (bandi) and ritual moieties in Central Iatmul. Finally, the chapter compares naven and bandi rituals, and considers the notion of ‘ritual condensation’ proposed by Houseman and Severi (1998).

The Greeks knew of at least two ways of ‘brushing with death’: near-death experiences and mystery initiations. The chapter surveys literary descriptions of passages through darkness in the visions of people who had been pronounced dead and eventually returned to life. These testimonies allude to tunnel experiences. This chapter also presents an overview of complex and richly documented cave experiences during mystery initiations (Eleusinian, Dionysiac, Orphic, Isiac, and Mithraic mysteries, some cases of male initiations). Mystery initiations as a way to overcome fear of death could be patterned to some extent by near-death experiences. Given the popularity of mystery cults, multifaceted cave experiences of numerous initiates were perhaps one of the most profound noetic sensations known to common people of the Classical world.

Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta gain much of their strength through reliance on a premodern contractual form. On entering a mafia family, the new member underwrites what Max Weber called a “status contract,” which is also a “fraternization contract,” as the members of a mafia cosca are obliged to consider themselves brothers. The key value of the mafia subuniverse of meaning—that set of cultural codes, rituals, and norms through which mafia associations justify their existence and impose a new status on their associates—is honor. The ceremony of mafia initiation is comprised of the three phases making up a rite of passage: “separation,” “transition,” and “incorporation.” Mafia initiation rites are not only rites of passage. By solemnly staging the stepping over of a line establishing a fundamental division in the social order, the ceremonies of mafia affiliation are also “rites of institution.” Though real life is often very different, relationships among Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta associates are prescriptively a form of communitas.

This book has shown that Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta are secret and multifunctional brotherhoods each composed of about a hundred units. Though these are usually called families by their members, they are clearly distinct from the latter's blood families. They rely instead on bonds of artificial kinship created through the ceremony of initiation of new members. Exploiting secrecy and violence, the families of Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta have traditionally employed the strength of mafia bonds to pursue a plurality of goals and to carry out numerous different functions, so much so that it is impossible to identify any one who is exclusive. The cosche are neither economic enterprises aiming at the maximization of profits nor an industry for private protection. Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta cannot be considered a universally valid ideal type of organized crime if it is understood as the provision of illegal goods and services.

Centers on the creation of the tarmida, who is a lower ranking (first‐level) Mandaean priest. The entire ritual takes 68 days and requires a set clusterings of rituals and ritual segments. The sequence of events is described: preparation; baptism and crowning; marriage and insignia; baptism of the rba (the novice's teacher) and zidqa brikha (blessed oblation); the 60‐days’ exclusion; and the masiqta (death mass) for the rba. In addition, two issues are addressed in particular: the relationship between the novice and his teacher, and the emphatic instructions regarding the inclusion or exclusion of certain words or formulas at specific points in the ceremonial.

Along with texts such as The Great ‘First World’, the scroll of Exalted Kingship belongs to a category of Mandaean texts that might be called Mandaean priestly esoteric documents.’ Exalted Kingship is a large scroll, consisting of 1,363 lines, with drawings, and, in rather elliptical fashion, describes the initiation of the tarmida (a first‐level priest), which is the subject of Ch. 9. The text proceeds slowly, pausing and delving into lengthy dissertations on topics deemed suitable. In this chapter, selected sequential passages are examined from among the beginning of Exalted Kingship (lines 7–225), where the text plumbs the mysteries of the effects of the novice's words while he sits inside the šskinta (cult hut) on the second day of the initiation. Interpretations and underlying themes are presented.

Shifts attention to the contemporary ritual practice of secrecy, focusing especially on initiation as a rite of passage. The chapter addresses (1) how secrecy is communicated and expressed spatially, (2) how that concept of a space of secrecy is transmitted from the group to arriving individuals and reproduced in the “closed bodies” of individuals sealed by initiation, and (3) how the reproduction of secrecy relies upon and incorporates coordinates of national legitimacy created between 1890 and 1940 to mark the spatial progression of the initiate. It is demonstrated that secrecy has less to do with the restriction of information than with bodily containment and the making of a “closed body” (corpo fechado).

This chapter argues that the scholarly tradition of textual exegesis has pre-Classical roots in works whose purpose was religious or ritual. The Derveni papyrus exemplifies such work: its author ‘updates’ the Orphic text on which he comments and invests it with initiatory significance by reconfiguring it as cosmological allegory.

As highlighted by Kurt Lewin, goal attainment is not yet secured solely by forming strong commitments to highly desirable and feasible goals. There is always the subsequent issue of implementing a set goal, and one wonders what people can do to enhance their chances of being successful at this second phase of goal pursuit. A promising answer seems to be the following: People may plan out in advance how they want to solve the problems of goal implementation. But what are these problems? There are at least four problems that stand out. These problems include getting started with goal striving, staying on track, calling a halt, and not overextending oneself. We will describe research showing that making if–then plans (i.e., form implementation intentions) on how to deal with these problems indeed facilitates solving the crucial problems of goal implementation. Thereafter, we will ask whether implementation intentions foster goal attainment even under conditions that are commonly viewed as not amenable to self-regulation attempts, such as succeeding on an intelligence test or overcoming spider phobia. Finally, we will report research showing that implementation intentions can even foster goal-striving in those samples (e.g., children with ADHD) that are known to suffer from impaired action control.

The early Church was correct to develop a rich canonical heritage that works effectively in the arena of Christian initiation and ongoing ministry. The Church was also right in keeping epistemology secondary and diverse. The shift from canon to criterion was a tragic mistake that must now be overcome by sustained retrieval of the full canonical heritage of the Church. This does not mean the end of epistemology. On the contrary, it creates space for the exploration of neglected epistemic suggestions that are buried in the scriptures and elsewhere and for the development of rigorous proposals for the epistemology of theology.