Bernard Cooke and Gary Macy
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195154115
- eISBN:
- 9780199835591
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195154118.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This book introduces readers, with little or no background in Christianity, to the theology and history of Christian rituals. It opens with a brief explanation of the role of symbols in human life ...
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This book introduces readers, with little or no background in Christianity, to the theology and history of Christian rituals. It opens with a brief explanation of the role of symbols in human life based on recent anthropological studies. A short introduction to key Christian concepts follows, explaining the role that rituals perform in the Christian worldview. The authors are careful to translate concepts, such as salvation, grace, and sacrament, for those unaccustomed to Christianity. Five areas in which ritual activity central to Christianity are then investigated: friendship, initiation, prayer, ministry or service, and suffering and death. The book is written from an explicitly nondenominational point of view, and offers an explanation of those areas where Christian groups understand or practice rituals differently. The final chapter investigates symbols and rituals that are important to Christianity, but not usually included in lists of Christian “sacraments”.Less
This book introduces readers, with little or no background in Christianity, to the theology and history of Christian rituals. It opens with a brief explanation of the role of symbols in human life based on recent anthropological studies. A short introduction to key Christian concepts follows, explaining the role that rituals perform in the Christian worldview. The authors are careful to translate concepts, such as salvation, grace, and sacrament, for those unaccustomed to Christianity. Five areas in which ritual activity central to Christianity are then investigated: friendship, initiation, prayer, ministry or service, and suffering and death. The book is written from an explicitly nondenominational point of view, and offers an explanation of those areas where Christian groups understand or practice rituals differently. The final chapter investigates symbols and rituals that are important to Christianity, but not usually included in lists of Christian “sacraments”.
Nikki Bado-Fralick
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195166453
- eISBN:
- 9780199835799
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195166450.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book offers an ethnographic study of the initiation ritual practiced by one coven of Witches located in Ohio. As a High Priestess within the coven as well as a scholar of religion, the author of ...
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This book offers an ethnographic study of the initiation ritual practiced by one coven of Witches located in Ohio. As a High Priestess within the coven as well as a scholar of religion, the author of this book is in a unique position to contribute to our understanding of this ceremony and the tradition to which it belongs. The book's analysis of this coven's initiation ceremony offers an important challenge to the commonly accepted model of “rites of passage.” Rather than a single linear event, initiation is deeply embedded within a total process of becoming a Witch in practice and in community with others. This book expands our concept of initiation while giving us insight into one coven's practice of Wicca and introduces readers to the contemporary nature religion variously called Wicca, Witchcraft, the Old Religion, or the Craft.Less
This book offers an ethnographic study of the initiation ritual practiced by one coven of Witches located in Ohio. As a High Priestess within the coven as well as a scholar of religion, the author of this book is in a unique position to contribute to our understanding of this ceremony and the tradition to which it belongs. The book's analysis of this coven's initiation ceremony offers an important challenge to the commonly accepted model of “rites of passage.” Rather than a single linear event, initiation is deeply embedded within a total process of becoming a Witch in practice and in community with others. This book expands our concept of initiation while giving us insight into one coven's practice of Wicca and introduces readers to the contemporary nature religion variously called Wicca, Witchcraft, the Old Religion, or the Craft.
Ute Husken and Frank Neubert
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812295
- eISBN:
- 9780199919390
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812295.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Ritual is often seen as an undisputed and indisputable part of all sorts of traditions, religious and secular. However, a close look at ritual actions and texts points toward the fact that rituals ...
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Ritual is often seen as an undisputed and indisputable part of all sorts of traditions, religious and secular. However, a close look at ritual actions and texts points toward the fact that rituals not only are frequently disputed, but that they also constitute a field in which vital and sometimes even violent negotiations take place. This insight opens up fruitful new perspectives on ritual procedures, on the interactions that constitute these procedures, and on their contexts. The rituals or ritualized behavior investigated in this volume represent a broad spectrum, such as worship in a Tibetan Buddhist tradition practiced in Canada, animist mortuary rituals in northern India, a New Year’s festival in Swahili society, atonement rituals in ancient Indian texts, rituals of Tibetan “Treasure Revealers”, initiation rituals in Tibetan Buddhism and in Wiccan religion in the U.S.A., Jewish same-sex wedding rituals in the U.S.A. and Canada, rites connected to imperial power in eleventh-century China, festivities commemorating Martin Luther in the former East Germany, “hook-swinging” ritual as viewed by colonial, Brahmanic and subaltern actors in South India, the historical development of the interpretation of Indian Tantric rites, and scholarly discourse on ritual. Not only are the actions and corresponding discourses diverse, but also the materials that form the basis of the individual case studies: some contributors use texts, some analyze ritual performance; others use both, textual analysis and qualitative field study. This book shows that negotiations are ubiquitous in ritual contexts, either in relation to the ritual itself, or in relation to the realm beyond any given ritual performance. In fact, ritual’s embeddedness in negotiation processes is one of its central features.Less
Ritual is often seen as an undisputed and indisputable part of all sorts of traditions, religious and secular. However, a close look at ritual actions and texts points toward the fact that rituals not only are frequently disputed, but that they also constitute a field in which vital and sometimes even violent negotiations take place. This insight opens up fruitful new perspectives on ritual procedures, on the interactions that constitute these procedures, and on their contexts. The rituals or ritualized behavior investigated in this volume represent a broad spectrum, such as worship in a Tibetan Buddhist tradition practiced in Canada, animist mortuary rituals in northern India, a New Year’s festival in Swahili society, atonement rituals in ancient Indian texts, rituals of Tibetan “Treasure Revealers”, initiation rituals in Tibetan Buddhism and in Wiccan religion in the U.S.A., Jewish same-sex wedding rituals in the U.S.A. and Canada, rites connected to imperial power in eleventh-century China, festivities commemorating Martin Luther in the former East Germany, “hook-swinging” ritual as viewed by colonial, Brahmanic and subaltern actors in South India, the historical development of the interpretation of Indian Tantric rites, and scholarly discourse on ritual. Not only are the actions and corresponding discourses diverse, but also the materials that form the basis of the individual case studies: some contributors use texts, some analyze ritual performance; others use both, textual analysis and qualitative field study. This book shows that negotiations are ubiquitous in ritual contexts, either in relation to the ritual itself, or in relation to the realm beyond any given ritual performance. In fact, ritual’s embeddedness in negotiation processes is one of its central features.
Susan J. Palmer and David G. Bromley
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177299
- eISBN:
- 9780199785537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177299.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
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, ...
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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.Less
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.
Roger D. Roger and Miles A. Whittington
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195342796
- eISBN:
- 9780199776276
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342796.003.0013
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Molecular and Cellular Systems, Development
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Anne Storch
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199768974
- eISBN:
- 9780199914425
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199768974.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are ...
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This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are often—if not always—considered to be secret, and are at the same time expressions of difference and power. The central thesis on which the explorations of manipulated language in this book are based is that language here—deliberately diverging from the norm—is central to the construction of social norms, and that exactly by manipulation and alteration identity may be explored and defined. Manipulated language and deliberate linguistic change are thus seen as the creation of a medium through which speakers attempt to preserve certain structures. The complexity and diversity of linguistic manipulation and how it is linked to the structure of society are dealt with in this book by referring to secrecy, mimesis, sacrilege, and ambiguity as leading concepts of power. This study concentrates on case studies from the Jukun-speaking areas of Nigeria, as well as Nilotic and Bantu-speaking parts of Uganda (and to a lesser extent Sudan), but also presents data on manipulated languages from many other parts and speaker communities of the continent, as well as examples from the African diaspora.Less
This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are often—if not always—considered to be secret, and are at the same time expressions of difference and power. The central thesis on which the explorations of manipulated language in this book are based is that language here—deliberately diverging from the norm—is central to the construction of social norms, and that exactly by manipulation and alteration identity may be explored and defined. Manipulated language and deliberate linguistic change are thus seen as the creation of a medium through which speakers attempt to preserve certain structures. The complexity and diversity of linguistic manipulation and how it is linked to the structure of society are dealt with in this book by referring to secrecy, mimesis, sacrilege, and ambiguity as leading concepts of power. This study concentrates on case studies from the Jukun-speaking areas of Nigeria, as well as Nilotic and Bantu-speaking parts of Uganda (and to a lesser extent Sudan), but also presents data on manipulated languages from many other parts and speaker communities of the continent, as well as examples from the African diaspora.
Andrew Moutu
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197264454
- eISBN:
- 9780191760501
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264454.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
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 ...
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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).Less
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).
Joseph Epes Brown and Emily Cousins
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195138757
- eISBN:
- 9780199871759
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195138757.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Yulia Ustinova
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548569
- eISBN:
- 9780191720840
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548569.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
In ancient Greece, a common method of search for divine wisdom was to descend into caves or underground chambers. Entering caves persistently appears as a major requirement for prophecy-giving, both ...
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In ancient Greece, a common method of search for divine wisdom was to descend into caves or underground chambers. Entering caves persistently appears as a major requirement for prophecy-giving, both in established cults and in the activities of individual seers. Underground sojourns recur in the activities of several early Greek sages and philosophers. Mystery initiations comprise rites located in caves or dark chambers. The sages, seers, and initiates shared a quest for hidden truth, which they attained as revelation or vision. Exploring the reasons for the predilection for caves in the search for ultimate truth, this book juxtaposes ancient testimonies with the results of modern neuroscience. This approach, new in Classical Studies, enables an examination of the consciousness of people who were engaged in the vision quest. It is argued that cave environment creates conditions which force the human mind to deviate from its normal waking state and to enter altered states of consciousness, in many cases leading to the sensation of ineffable revelation of ultimate reality. Altered states of consciousness often occur in people exposed to sensory deprivation. As a result, various mediators between gods and mortals practice prolonged isolation in caves and other closed spaces in their quest of ecstatic illumination. The book demonstrates that multiple cave experiences of the Greeks are culturally patterned responses to the states determined by the neurology of the human brain.Less
In ancient Greece, a common method of search for divine wisdom was to descend into caves or underground chambers. Entering caves persistently appears as a major requirement for prophecy-giving, both in established cults and in the activities of individual seers. Underground sojourns recur in the activities of several early Greek sages and philosophers. Mystery initiations comprise rites located in caves or dark chambers. The sages, seers, and initiates shared a quest for hidden truth, which they attained as revelation or vision. Exploring the reasons for the predilection for caves in the search for ultimate truth, this book juxtaposes ancient testimonies with the results of modern neuroscience. This approach, new in Classical Studies, enables an examination of the consciousness of people who were engaged in the vision quest. It is argued that cave environment creates conditions which force the human mind to deviate from its normal waking state and to enter altered states of consciousness, in many cases leading to the sensation of ineffable revelation of ultimate reality. Altered states of consciousness often occur in people exposed to sensory deprivation. As a result, various mediators between gods and mortals practice prolonged isolation in caves and other closed spaces in their quest of ecstatic illumination. The book demonstrates that multiple cave experiences of the Greeks are culturally patterned responses to the states determined by the neurology of the human brain.
Marco Fantuzzi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199603626
- eISBN:
- 9780191746321
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199603626.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Iliad is a poem whose events revolve around the “anger” of Achilles, and his personal fierceness and pursuit of glory remain, despite different and more complex nuances, the prevailing features ...
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The Iliad is a poem whose events revolve around the “anger” of Achilles, and his personal fierceness and pursuit of glory remain, despite different and more complex nuances, the prevailing features of his characterization. This book proposes to investigate how different literary authors and visual artists at different periods responded to Achilles' “erotic life”, an aspect about which the Iliadwas almost completely silent. Achilles' loves expose a crack in the usually self-assured attitude of the hero, demonstrating the limits of epic heroism and the epic vision of the world. As such, these moments of erotic “weakness” became perfect manifestos for reuse in other genres, such as tragedy and the various forms of love poetry, in which themes of love and passion were more customary than in heroic epic.Less
The Iliad is a poem whose events revolve around the “anger” of Achilles, and his personal fierceness and pursuit of glory remain, despite different and more complex nuances, the prevailing features of his characterization. This book proposes to investigate how different literary authors and visual artists at different periods responded to Achilles' “erotic life”, an aspect about which the Iliadwas almost completely silent. Achilles' loves expose a crack in the usually self-assured attitude of the hero, demonstrating the limits of epic heroism and the epic vision of the world. As such, these moments of erotic “weakness” became perfect manifestos for reuse in other genres, such as tragedy and the various forms of love poetry, in which themes of love and passion were more customary than in heroic epic.
Yulia Ustinova
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548569
- eISBN:
- 9780191720840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548569.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195153859
- eISBN:
- 9780199834051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195153855.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Letizia Paoli
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195157246
- eISBN:
- 9780199943982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157246.003.0020
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Letizia Paoli
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195157246
- eISBN:
- 9780199943982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157246.003.0030
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
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, ...
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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.Less
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.
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195153859
- eISBN:
- 9780199834051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195153855.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Paul Christopher Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195150582
- eISBN:
- 9780199834358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195150589.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
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, ...
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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).Less
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).
Dirk Obbink
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199240050
- eISBN:
- 9780191716850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199240050.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
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 ...
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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.Less
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.
Matthew A. Baum and Philip B. K. Potter
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164984
- eISBN:
- 9781400866472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164984.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines democratic constraint, democratic peace, and conflict initiation. It begins with a time-series, cross-sectional analysis of conflict initiation in all possible pairs of ...
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This chapter examines democratic constraint, democratic peace, and conflict initiation. It begins with a time-series, cross-sectional analysis of conflict initiation in all possible pairs of countries (that is, all dyads) from 1965 to 2006. This analysis reveals the interactive relationship between media access and political opposition. Across a variety of indicators of conflict, states with media and political institutions that facilitate the flow of information between leaders and the public are less prone to initiate military conflicts. These findings suggest not only an underlying mechanism that could fuel the democratic peace proposition, but also that not all democracies are likely to be equally peaceful. Aside from conflict initiation and the extent of opposition with political parties, press freedom is also measured.Less
This chapter examines democratic constraint, democratic peace, and conflict initiation. It begins with a time-series, cross-sectional analysis of conflict initiation in all possible pairs of countries (that is, all dyads) from 1965 to 2006. This analysis reveals the interactive relationship between media access and political opposition. Across a variety of indicators of conflict, states with media and political institutions that facilitate the flow of information between leaders and the public are less prone to initiate military conflicts. These findings suggest not only an underlying mechanism that could fuel the democratic peace proposition, but also that not all democracies are likely to be equally peaceful. Aside from conflict initiation and the extent of opposition with political parties, press freedom is also measured.
Vesna A. Wallace
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195122114
- eISBN:
- 9780199834808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195122119.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
The first part of this last chapter discusses the path of actualizing gnosis in relation to the individual. The Kālacakratantra's theory of the nature of gnosis, prāṇas (life force or life winds), ...
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The first part of this last chapter discusses the path of actualizing gnosis in relation to the individual. The Kālacakratantra's theory of the nature of gnosis, prāṇas (life force or life winds), spiritual ignorance, and mental afflictions, as well as the relationships among them, provides the rationale for the Kālacakratantra practices for eliminating mental afflictions and actualizing the four bodies of the Buddha. Among the Kālacakratantra's multifaceted approaches to the eradication of mental afflictions, several are especially significant: first, the path of eliminating mental afflictions is the path of sublimating the afflictive nature of mental afflictions into the peaceful and pure nature of the enlightened beings, who are the pure aspects of the elements from which mental afflictions arise; second, the path of sublimating mental afflictions in the Kālacakra tradition is the path of recognizing the ultimate nature of one's own mental afflictions, which is gnosis. The following three sections of the chapter look at the transformative body of the path of initiation, the transformative body of the path of the stage of generation, and the transformative body of the path of the stage of completion. The last section examines the phases of the ṣaḍ‐aṅga‐yoga (six‐phased yoga) of the Kālacakratantra; this is a meditative process that manifests the successively more encompassing aspects of the mind.Less
The first part of this last chapter discusses the path of actualizing gnosis in relation to the individual. The Kālacakratantra's theory of the nature of gnosis, prāṇas (life force or life winds), spiritual ignorance, and mental afflictions, as well as the relationships among them, provides the rationale for the Kālacakratantra practices for eliminating mental afflictions and actualizing the four bodies of the Buddha. Among the Kālacakratantra's multifaceted approaches to the eradication of mental afflictions, several are especially significant: first, the path of eliminating mental afflictions is the path of sublimating the afflictive nature of mental afflictions into the peaceful and pure nature of the enlightened beings, who are the pure aspects of the elements from which mental afflictions arise; second, the path of sublimating mental afflictions in the Kālacakra tradition is the path of recognizing the ultimate nature of one's own mental afflictions, which is gnosis. The following three sections of the chapter look at the transformative body of the path of initiation, the transformative body of the path of the stage of generation, and the transformative body of the path of the stage of completion. The last section examines the phases of the ṣaḍ‐aṅga‐yoga (six‐phased yoga) of the Kālacakratantra; this is a meditative process that manifests the successively more encompassing aspects of the mind.
Colin Morris
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269250
- eISBN:
- 9780191600708
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269250.003.0020
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
The struggles continued to recover Jerusalem and involved attacks on Constantinople and Egypt, without real success. Concentration began to shift towards missionary effort in Asia and Morocco. In ...
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The struggles continued to recover Jerusalem and involved attacks on Constantinople and Egypt, without real success. Concentration began to shift towards missionary effort in Asia and Morocco. In Europe, there was a sustained effort to instruct and discipline the faithful. Popular religion was as a whole marked by ignorance, discipline, and legend.Less
The struggles continued to recover Jerusalem and involved attacks on Constantinople and Egypt, without real success. Concentration began to shift towards missionary effort in Asia and Morocco. In Europe, there was a sustained effort to instruct and discipline the faithful. Popular religion was as a whole marked by ignorance, discipline, and legend.
