The Secret Doctrine is the magnum opus of H.P. Blavatsky and one of the foundation texts of the Theosophical Society. It represents her attempt to appropriate authority in a wide variety of fields, including, science, religion, and philosophy. This study examines H.P. Blavatsky’s engagement with Ancient Egypt in relation to two specific themes, the constitution of the individual and the afterlife, as they are portrayed in this work. It locates Theosophy in its historical context, the late nineteenth century, in relation to various fields of knowledge. It reviews the sources that H.P. Blavatsky drew on in her work and discusses the various interpretive techniques she employed to insert Theosophical content into various world religions. Finally, it contrasts the Theosophical presentation of Ancient Egypt in The Secret Doctrine with that of mainstream modern Egyptology. The fundamental disconnect which is revealed highlights the challenges that the Theosophical perspective faces. / Religious Studies & Arabic / M. A. (Religious Studies)

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The aim of this study is to situate the locus of the Swedish branch of freemasonry, Svenska Frimurare Orden, in the contemporary religious landscape. The research questions are as follows: On what grounds can the Swedish branch of freemasonry be considered religious? If the Swedish branch of freemasonry is considered religious, how does it fit into the contemporary society among the plethora of new religious movements? In regard to the first question, a definition of religion is required, thus Bruce Lincoln’s theory with four domains of religion is used to decide to what extent the Swedish branch of freemasonry can be described as a religion or a religious movement. To be able to answer the second research question the four sociological narratives as presented by Meredith B. McGuire are used to analyze the results of our study.   The results are reached through examination of the common laws of the Swedish branch of freemasonry and the data found on their official website, combined with hermeneutic interpretation. Our conclusion is that the Swedish branch of freemasonry through its explicit connection to Christianity, in addition to its esoteric and occult practices both fits into a historical continuity regarding religion in Sweden, as well as with contemporary societal currents regarding new religious movements.

Les philosophes juifs du Moyen Âge emploient des stratégies d’écriture ésotériques pour traiter certains problèmes d’importance capitale. L’opposition de la « thèse religieuse » de la création du monde et de la « thèse philosophique » de son éternité en est l’exemple type. Ces « arts d’écrire » ont été généralement considérés, depuis les travaux de Leo Strauss, comme des moyens de dissimuler une opinion hétérodoxe, en vue de se prémunir contre la persécution politique. Nous nous engageons à comprendre cet « ésotérisme », non pas comme un stratagème politique, mais comme la conséquence proprement philosophique d’une difficulté intrinsèque à certains problèmes qui mettent en défaut les capacités expressives du langage, comme en l’occurrence la tentative d’énoncer l’origine radicale de toute chose. À partir de cette hypothèse, nous abordons le traitement de la création du monde chez des philosophes juifs actifs entre le Xe et le XVe siècles, qui soutiennent chacun une thèse différente sur la question (Saadia Gaon, Abraham Ibn Ezra, Maïmonide, Isaac Albalag, Gersonide et Ḥasday Crescas). Nous montrons comment la perspective doxographique, visant à identifier la « véritable thèse » de chaque auteur, n’est pas appropriée eu égard à de tels écrits ésotériques et nous efforçons de mettre en lumière, à travers eux, un style original du philosopher qui s’invente dans le moment médiéval de la rencontre de la philosophie et de la « révélation ». / The Medieval Jewish philosophers used esoteric writing strategies in order to deal with matters of critical importance. The opposition between the « religious theory » of the creation of the world and the « philosophical theory » of its eternity constitues one of the most typical example of such subjects. Since Leo Strauss’ works, these « arts of writing » have been generally considered as means of hiding heterodox opinions, used by the philosophers in order to avoid political persecution. We try to show that this esotericism does not stem from mere political calculation, but from intrinsically philosophical considerations : the limitation of langage itself, that fails to express certain issues, such as the radical origin of all things. From this starting point, we discuss the views and writing strategies of diverse Jewish philosophers, active between the 10th and the 15th centuries, each of whom held a different theory on creation (Saadia Gaon, Abraham Ibn Ezra, Maimonides, Isaac Albalag, Gersonides and Ḥasday Crescas). We argue that the doxographic perspective, aiming at identifying each author’s « real view », is not appropriate when dealing which such esoteric writings, which we propose to envisage as the manifestation of a specific philosophical style, emerging in the Medieval period from the confrontation between philosophy and « revelation ».

This study is an attempt to investigate religious perceptions and its development, function and connection to religious practise within the Swedish extreme metal scene. This is performed mainly by a qualitative method of investigation, studying lyrical content published on a number of extreme metal albums, thereafter relating the lyrical progression to the progession of the scene as a whole and also to the development of individual religious belief and practise. The lyrically expressed manifestations of religiosity within the extreme metal scene prove to be related to religious practise in some cases, most visibly in the Christian parts of the scene.The study also indicates that development of religious expression often is evident regardless of religious preference. This development also regularly relates to an increase in musical evolution and prowess often achieved with increased age and maturity. Musically and lyrically, the extreme metal scene displays transgressive attributes which assist both individual and group in the process of creating identity, meaning and individuality.Experiencing extreme metal, in concert or in the privacy of one´s own home, can be one way of perceiving spirituality in this modern age.

The intention behind this research was to reveal through two interpretive, inter-related studies the perceived needs of differently-labelled youth, collectively addressed in this thesis as ‘the New Generations’, exploring potentially viable ways of working with them in education. The first study focused on youth labelled Indigos, and the second study focused on exploring a possible way of working with the New Generations according to experienced teachers. Both studies drew on lived experience and opinions of educators who have acquired extensive experience respectively with the Indigo phenomenon and with the psychosynthetic educational model. The first study’s results revealed not only Indigos’ self-actualising and self-transcending characteristics and needs, but also indicated that holistic approaches to education appeared to have been successful with them. A further analysis of characteristics observed by special education experts indicated that differently-labelled youth also appear to be motivated by self-actualising and self-transcending tendencies, which highlighted the relevance of investigating holistic models for potential integration in mainstream education. Psychosynthesis was chosen for investigation in the second study, in that besides addressing self-actualising/transcending needs, it also integrates them within the psyche. The study explored how recent psychosynthesis-based educational projects might inform, and contribute to, holistic and mainstream education. Some innovative potential contributions to both holistic and mainstream education were found. Recent research on current tendencies, educational futures and global trends affecting a changing world would appear to emphasise the relevance of the contributions offered by the psychosynthesis model, hence to suggest the potential appropriateness of their fuller integration in mainstream education. However, an examination of study results and of the relevant literature on practices seems to indicate a tendency to transmit knowledge from past to future generations, irrespective of possibly changed needs, in both mainstream and holistic education. It is suggested that this potentially biased way of educating youth might need to be addressed on both fronts.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

H.P. Blavatsky’s (1831-1891) Theosophy has been defined as central to the history of modern Western spirituality and esotericism, yet to this date no major study has mapped and analysed the major themes of Blavatsky’s writings, how Blavatsky used the concept ‘Theosophy’ or to what extent she was engaged with the intellectual contexts of her time. Thus the purpose of this thesis is to fill this gap. The proposed theoretical framework is based on the centrality of language in the production of intellectual products, such as texts—but contrary to the dominant focus on strategies, rhetoric and power this thesis will focus on the construction of meaning coupled with a set of methodological tools based on contextual analysis, intellectual history and intertextuality. In addition to an overview of Blavatsky research this thesis will map and analyse Blavatsky’s use of the concept ‘Theosophy’ as well as Blavatsky’s primary discourses, identified as: (1) discourse for ancient knowledge, (2) discourse against Christian dogmatism, (3) discourse against the modern natural sciences and materialism, (4) discourse against modern spiritualism, (5) discourse for system and (7) discourse for universal brotherhood. In mapping and analysing Blavatsky’s discourses, it was found that her construction of meaning was significantly interconnected with broader intellectual contexts, such as ‘modern historical consciousness’, ‘critical enlightenment ideas’, studies in religion, studies in mythology, the modern sciences, spiritualism, systemic philosophy, reform movements and practical ethics. It, for example, becomes clear that Blavatsky’s search for an ancient ‘Wisdom Religion’ was actually a part of a common intellectual occupation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and that her critique of the Christian dogmas was equally a common intellectual trend. To read Blavatsky’s discourses as the idiosyncratic strategies of an esotericist, isolated from their larger contexts or only engaged with them in order to legitimise minority views would therefore largely fail to account for the result of this thesis: that in historical actuality, they were a part of the larger cultural web of meaning.

The Secret Doctrine is the magnum opus of H.P. Blavatsky and one of the foundation texts of the Theosophical Society. It represents her attempt to appropriate authority in a wide variety of fields, including, science, religion, and philosophy. This study examines H.P. Blavatsky’s engagement with Ancient Egypt in relation to two specific themes, the constitution of the individual and the afterlife, as they are portrayed in this work. It locates Theosophy in its historical context, the late nineteenth century, in relation to various fields of knowledge. It reviews the sources that H.P. Blavatsky drew on in her work and discusses the various interpretive techniques she employed to insert Theosophical content into various world religions. Finally, it contrasts the Theosophical presentation of Ancient Egypt in The Secret Doctrine with that of mainstream modern Egyptology. The fundamental disconnect which is revealed highlights the challenges that the Theosophical perspective faces. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. A. (Religious Studies)

Cette thèse examine l’essor récent du néo-paganisme en Angleterre, en tenant compte des particularités du contexte anglais, et en montrant la convergence d’influences historiques, culturelles et littéraires qui ont favorisé son émergence et son développement. Le néo-paganisme se décline en des branches ou traditions distinctes mais toutes issues d’un terreau commun. Cependant, on peut souligner l’émergence d’un néo-paganisme éclectique et syncrétique à part entière, portant sur le « bricolage » identitaire des individus qui composent leur propre spiritualité. Nous examinons la création d’une communauté et d’une identité néo-païennes, difficiles à cerner, mais qui reposent sur un socle commun de croyances et pratiques. Nous examinons les enjeux d’une quête identitaire véhiculée par une mystique de la terre d’Angleterre qui se veut inclusive, s’inscrivant dans une logique multiculturelle de la diversité et du pluralisme. Le néo-paganisme a pu profiter également d’un contexte politique, intellectuel et socioculturel favorable aux religions minoritaires, mais a dû faire des concessions pour se constituer en tant que religion afin d’être reconnu par les autorités publiques. Inversement, celles-ci ont été amenées à élargir et assouplir leur conception et leur définition de la religion afin d’inclure cette religiosité alternative. L’étude examine la plus grande visibilité des néo-paganismes et leur médiatisation, ainsi que les interfaces et zones de porosité entre ceux-ci et la culture dominante pour montrer une diffusion des thématiques néo-païennes dans la culture environnante, même si des problèmes persistent concernant l’acceptation et l’interprétation des noms pagan et surtout witch, et surtout des ambiguïtés en ce qui concerne les notions d’occulte et de magie. / This study examines the emergence and growth of paganism over recent decades in a specifically English context, taking into account the various historical, cultural and literary influences and the way paganism has developed as a ‘natural’ product of these. Although the term paganism covers a loose association of distinct branches and traditions, these inspire, influence and feed into each other to a greater or lesser extent, creating a generic paganism that has emerged as the dominant trend, within which individuals concoct and compose their own spirituality. Within a spectrum of practices and beliefs, enough common ground exists for the movement to be recognizable as such, but this contrasts greatly with more traditional ideas of religion. If the growth of paganism is partly explained by the greater availability of information and the use of Internet, it is also seemingly in resonance with various aspects of the contemporary, post-modern western psyche. Furthermore, it has benefited from the official climate concerning positive recognition of minority religions in a multicultural society, although difficulties have arisen in its being accepted as a religion, whether by the authorities, or due to internal factors. This has led to a higher media profile for paganism, sometimes in its favour, but sometimes leading to its scapegoating by newspapers seeking to denounce the perceived excesses of multiculturalism and the “politically correct”. If the name ‘pagan’ seems inappropriate, acting as a barrier in some quarters, no alternative, less controversial term has been found as a replacement. However, it can be noticed that pagan themes and attitudes are being more generally diffused within mainstream culture, with or without the pagan ‘label’.