Denna undersökning är utformad för att ta reda på var människor stöter på New Age samt hur det skiljer sig mellan de olika åldersgrupperna. Undersökningen ska även försöka besvara vilka perspektiv det finns på New Age, vad som är vardagligt och vad som är avvikande samt hur integrerad New Age är i populärkulturen. För att genomföra denna undersökning användes blandad metodik av både kvantitativ och kvalitativ metodik. Inom den kvantitativa delen användes en enkät med fyra olika målgrupper (<19, 19–30, 31–60 och > 60 år). Inom varje målgrupp genomfördes 25 enkäter.Den kvalitativa delen bestod av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med en person från vardera ålderskategorin

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The Rainbow Family of Living Light is an intentional society devoted to achieving world peace through spiritual healing. A loose association of spiritual seekers that explicitly rejects all forms of leadership and imposed authority, it represents an interesting example of an anarchist and communal society. Rainbow Family events regularly draw thousands of people. These take place all over the world. While some participants may question the label, it can be described as one of the biggest and most geographically diverse New Age groups on the planet. As such, it is a very important factor in shaping the entire present day New Age movement. I conducted fieldwork with the Rainbow Family between the autumns of 1998 and 2002, traveling with the nomadic group throughout the United States. The Rainbow Family rejects any sort of official membership, accepting anyone who attends its events as an equal participant. Spending extended periods of time in the field, I became immersed in this alternative society. The distinction between ethnographic researcher and informants was highly problematic under such circumstances. This made me acutely aware of the issues surrounding fieldwork and anthropological authority. My own work began to seem quite similar to the spiritual seeking of other participants. As such, I began to consider the commonalities between anthropology and the spirituality encountered within the Rainbow Family. The spiritual discourses produced by Rainbow Family participants are uniquely eclectic and ludic in tone. In a setting explicitly championing individual freedom rather than coercion, there is no sense of spiritual orthodoxy. The ways in which spiritual discourses are treated by the Rainbow Family display interesting attitudes towards truth, authority, and reality. These attitudes are reminiscent of epistemological orientations within postmodernist anthropology. Rainbow Family participants find noteworthy solutions to the apparent ontological dilemmas postmodernism presents. It is my hope that looking at the Rainbow Family of Living Light will suggest a viable way for anthropology to productively deal with its current crisis of identity.

<p>Private religion is a faith that isn’t practiced in an organised religious community. Many people do not want to accept a religious concept that is already defined. To choose a conception of faith based upon personal preferences fits some modern man better. The purpose of this thesis is to examine if it’s possible to create a personal religion and how such a process looks. The function of Internet for people’s religiosity is also examined. Three informants have been interviewed by e-mail. The common denominator is the faith in reincarnation. The result shows that there are some central points in common in their faith. They are critical of the traditional religion. The faith is chosen and is adapted to the personal needs. The individual is in the centre. There is a strong belief in the human being and her ability to influence her own life. Religious authorities are not important. Neither are religious ceremonies significant, the informants have instead created their own rites. A part of the thesis contains a study of religious forum on the Internet which shows that Internet can function as a traditional religious community. People can acquaint themselves with other people’s stories, ask questions and have there own thoughts virtually confirmed.</p> / <p>Privatreligion är en tro som inte utövas i organiserad religiös gemenskap. Många drar sig för att köpa ett religiöst koncept som någon annan redan definierat. Att välja trosföreställning baserat på egna preferenser passar en del moderna människor bättre. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det går att skapa en egen religion och hur en sådan process ser ut. Även Internets funktion för människors religiositet undersöks. Tre informanter har intervjuats via mejl. Den gemensamma nämnaren är tron på reinkarnation. Resultatet visar att det finns några centrala beröringspunkter i deras tro. De är kritiska till den traditionella religionen. Tron väljs och anpassas till de egna behoven. Individen är i centrum. Det finns en stark tilltro till människan och hennes möjlighet att påverka sitt liv. Religiösa auktoriteter är inte viktiga. Inte heller religiösa ceremonier är betydelsefulla, utan informanterna har utvecklat personliga riter. En del av uppsatsen består av en studie av religiösa forum på Internet vilken visar att Internet kan fungera som en traditionell religiös gemenskap. Personer kan ta del av andras berättelser, ställa frågor och få sina egen tankar bekräftade virtuellt.</p>

Private religion is a faith that isn’t practiced in an organised religious community. Many people do not want to accept a religious concept that is already defined. To choose a conception of faith based upon personal preferences fits some modern man better. The purpose of this thesis is to examine if it’s possible to create a personal religion and how such a process looks. The function of Internet for people’s religiosity is also examined. Three informants have been interviewed by e-mail. The common denominator is the faith in reincarnation. The result shows that there are some central points in common in their faith. They are critical of the traditional religion. The faith is chosen and is adapted to the personal needs. The individual is in the centre. There is a strong belief in the human being and her ability to influence her own life. Religious authorities are not important. Neither are religious ceremonies significant, the informants have instead created their own rites. A part of the thesis contains a study of religious forum on the Internet which shows that Internet can function as a traditional religious community. People can acquaint themselves with other people’s stories, ask questions and have there own thoughts virtually confirmed. / Privatreligion är en tro som inte utövas i organiserad religiös gemenskap. Många drar sig för att köpa ett religiöst koncept som någon annan redan definierat. Att välja trosföreställning baserat på egna preferenser passar en del moderna människor bättre. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det går att skapa en egen religion och hur en sådan process ser ut. Även Internets funktion för människors religiositet undersöks. Tre informanter har intervjuats via mejl. Den gemensamma nämnaren är tron på reinkarnation. Resultatet visar att det finns några centrala beröringspunkter i deras tro. De är kritiska till den traditionella religionen. Tron väljs och anpassas till de egna behoven. Individen är i centrum. Det finns en stark tilltro till människan och hennes möjlighet att påverka sitt liv. Religiösa auktoriteter är inte viktiga. Inte heller religiösa ceremonier är betydelsefulla, utan informanterna har utvecklat personliga riter. En del av uppsatsen består av en studie av religiösa forum på Internet vilken visar att Internet kan fungera som en traditionell religiös gemenskap. Personer kan ta del av andras berättelser, ställa frågor och få sina egen tankar bekräftade virtuellt.

Svarbią vietą asmenybės ugdymo procese užima orumas. Reformacijos sensualistinėje J.A. Komenskio pedagogikoje orumas siejamas su dievotumu ir veikimu tam tikroje socialinėje-kultūrinėje erdvėje. Šiuolaikinės visuomenės socialinių ir kultūrinių vertybių transformacija keičia orumo dimensijas. Darbo tikslas atskleisti J.A. Komenskio orumo ugdymo procesą ir orumo transformacijas šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje. Siekiant minėto tikslo keliami uždaviniai: atskleisti orumo sampratą teologiniame, filosofiniame ir edukologiniame kontekste; aptarti J.A. Komenskio orumo ugdymo koncepciją ; išryškinti orumo transformacijos ypatumus šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje; apibūdinti šiuolaikinio jaunimo požiūrį į orumą. Tyrimo metodologijai pasitelkta krikščioniška personalistinė filosofija, atskleidžianti žmogaus buvimo būdus bei tarpusavio ryšius; vertybių filosofijos teiginiai, išryškinantys metafizinį gėrio pradmenį, kuris įtvirtina žmogaus vientisumo bei nuolatinio tapsmo idėją ir integralaus ugdymo būtinumą. Kiekybiniame tyrime dalyvavo 60 Romos katalikų ir evangelikų reformatų bei nekonfesiniai 16-18 metų jaunuoliai. Tyrimo hipotezė, kad šiuolaikinės visuomenės socialinių ir kultūrinių vertybių transformacija keičia orumo dimensijas pasitvirtino. Teorinis tyrimas parodė, kad modernioje epochoje orumo dimensiją transformuoja utilitarus individualizmas, sekuliarizacija ir moderni religija (New Age). Empirinis tyrimas atskleidė, kad krikščioniškų konfesijų respondentai transcendentinę orumo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Dignity plays a major role in the process of personality’s upbringing and edification. The sensualistic pedagogy of the Reformation outlined by J. A. Comenius relates dignity to godliness and action (operation) in a certain social-cultural area. The transformation of modern society’s social and cultural values impacts and changes the dimensions of personal dignity. The aim of this paper is to show the process of the upbringing of person’s dignity according to J. A. Comenius as well as disclose the transformations of dignity in today’s society. The aim is achieved in several ways: by revealing the concept of dignity in different contexts – such as theological, philosophical and educological; by reviewing the concept of the upbringing of dignity introduced by J. A. Comenius; by emphasizing the peculiarities of dignity transformations in today’s society; by defining the attitude of today’s youth concerning the issue of dignity. The methodology of the research has been based on Christian personalistic philosophy that outlines the ways of persons being and interpersonal relationships; the statements of the philosophy of values that emphasize the metaphysic principle of the good that lays firm foundation for personality’s wholeness, the idea of constant becoming (transformation), and the necessity of integral upbringing. The quantitative research was conducted by polling 60 Roman Catholics, Evangelical Reformers and non-confessional young people, aged 16-18. The hypothesis of the... [to full text]

New Age has often been described as a religion pertaining to women and studies has shown that women do indeed constitute the vast majority. A reversal of hierarchy between feminine and masculine attributes and values, common in a modern western society, has also been shown to occur. This study looks at how the feminine is visible in written text and pictures depicting people, more specifically in the periodical magazine Free that has a circulation of circa 25,000. The main bulk of the magazine is advertisements, and one reoccurring part is the article Frimodigt where several of the magazine’s advertisers take part in a short interview. Twelve of these interviews have been analyzed, along with depictions of 518 people from three issues. The theoretical framework that has been applied to the outcome of my analysis has been social constructivism, with particular emphasis on the paper Doing gender by the professors of sociology Candace West and Don Zimmerman. My findings indicate that the feminine, indeed, is thought of as very positive and sometimes contrasted with the masculine. This is not, however, reflected in the visual depictions of people since there doesn’t seem to be any difference between how men and women are portrayed. What sets them apart is how often they are portrayed where women, on average, is depicted 70 % of the time. The invocation of feminine traits in Frimodigt shows that gender roles and norms can be used in marketing by attributing these positive traits to the product being marketed. Furthermore, this indicates that the very act of taking part in this material as a believer can be seen as a feminine act that can make women be more feminine, and men to come in contact with, and develop, their feminine side. Another consequence is that New Age might be seen as very attractive to women because of their appraisal of femininity and the fact that the religion seems to be dominated and ruled by women, in stark contrast to more patriarchal religions.

Univ., Diss--Leipzig, 2005.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-17T15:02:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1090260 bytes, checksum: 7e571aefe1c941832669c7c9e214dda1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Being the discourse a social practice, where its operation is governed by rules which control a collection of knowledge, the present study searched its support in the theoretical principles of the philosopher Michel Foucault and has as its object the study of psychic phenomena in the therapy of past life/lives - PLT. Mediumistic phenomena emerged in the offices of therapists of the orthodox line forcing them, in a way, to understand this new field of study that was being unfolded. From The results of this process emerged a new therapeutic approach and that one moved away from the traditional approaches. From this, at first, we will present a brief historical context about the journey on how these phenomena were understood and interpreted. Were selected three looks which we considered the basis for an understanding of this trajectory in which the phenomena were gaining interpretations: the vision of Metapsychics, of the parapsychology and ultimately of the Kardecism. We realize that at some points they complement each other and at other moments they become distant. Based on the fieldwork, we seek to understand through the speeches of therapists who work with PLT, how these professionals deal with the emergence of psychic phenomena in the therapeutic setting. As a theoretical-methodological approach, besides Foucault, we used the anthropological perspective costing us both authors working with Kardecism as those who study the universe New Age, focusing on therapeutic practices. / Sendo o discurso uma prática social, seu funcionamento é regulado por normas que controlam todo acervo de saberes, o presente trabalho buscou seu suporte nos princípios teóricos do filósofo Michel Foucault e tem como objeto o estudo dos fenômenos mediúnicos na terapia de vida(s) passada(s) - TVP. Os fenômenos mediúnicos surgiram nos consultórios de terapeutas de linha ortodoxa forçando-os, de certa forma, a compreender esse novo campo de estudos que se desdobrava. Os resultados deste processo fizeram surgir uma nova abordagem terapêutica que se distanciava das abordagens tradicionais. A partir disso, num primeiro momento, iremos apresentar um breve contexto histórico a respeito do percurso de como esses fenômenos foram compreendidos e interpretados. Selecionamos três olhares que consideramos a base para uma compreensão dessa trajetória na qual os fenômenos foram ganhando interpretações: a visão da Metapsiquica, da Parapsicologia e finalmente do Kardecismo. Percebemos que em alguns pontos estes se complementam e em outros momentos se distanciam. Com base no trabalho de campo realizado, buscamos compreender através dos discursos dos terapeutas que trabalham com a TVP, como estes profissionais lidam com o surgimento dos fenômenos mediúnicos no setting terapêutico. Como aporte teórico-metodológico, além de Foucault, utilizamos a perspectiva antropológica nos valendo tanto de autores que trabalham com o Kardecismo quanto daqueles que estudam o universo New Age, com foco nas práticas terapêuticas.

This thesis explores the history of the New Age movement through a political analysis of influential New Age books. By drawing upon cultural, religious and American studies, and concepts from literary criticism and political science, a new understanding of the movement becomes possible. This thesis analyses the ideological representations and rhetorical strategies employed in both New Age literature and American presidential discourse. It is argued that their shared imagery and discursive features indicate that New Age writings derive their ideological underpinnings and textual devices from dominant beliefs of American nationalism. This historical examination begins with the Cold War in the late 1940s and ends with the 1990s. Each chapter traces parallels between a particular presidential discourse and New Age texts published in the same decade commencing with Dwight D. Eisenhower and The Doors of Perception and finishing with William J. Clinton and The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure. It argues that the appropriation of particular spiritualities in New Age texts is closely related to contemporary American geo-political interests and understandings. Major New Age spiritual trends are derived from regions, most often in the third world, which are considered to be under threat from forces such as Communism. New Age writings construct an imaginary possession of these worlds, reconfiguring these sites into frontiers of American influence. In particular, this study examines the influence of the jeremiads and the ensuing Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny ideologies upon post-war national beliefs and the extent to which these understandings of nationalism inform New Age discourse. Representations of time and space, destiny and landscape, and self and other in these literary and political contexts are analysed. From this perspective, the eclecticism that marks the New Age can be historically understood as a shifting cultural expression of Cold War and post-Cold War political responses. Consequently, New Age literature is one of the means by which dominant American identity is reproduced and disseminated in what seems to be an alternative spiritual context.