This thesis tries to give a critically considered view of what New Age thought is about, where it came from, and where it takes education and the scientific quest for truth. The interest of this study lies in exposing the underlying New Age beliefs and premises so that the implications that New Age thought has for truly meaningful human development and the educational and scientific quest for truth can be determined. A historical investigation which proceeds from the assumption that New Age thought is a phenomenon with philosophical underpinnings that lie in Western historical dynamics is utilised in order to extract and give context to the beliefs and premises in which New Age thought is anchored. Firstly, the movements in the West's alternative mystical and magical spiritual tradition from which current New Age spiritual approaches issue are scrutinized. This is followed by an exploration of mainstream Western history. Foundational premises and central ideas concerning New Age anthropology, morality, cosmology, and epistemology which issue forth from theories in Western philosophy, psychology, and science are identified and critically analysed. From these analyses, the meaning and direction that New Age thought circumscribes for human development and learning are fully explored and evaluated. It is found that New Age thought upholds a magical worldview in which the objective existence of truth is denied. Because New Age thought does not create educational space in which the quest for truth as obedience to truth can be learnt and practised, emotional, moral, and cognitive development is arrested and the real, educational value in scientific inquiry is defeated. This study is concluded with suggestions that are personal yet grounded in the findings of this research as to the defense and upholdment of the idea of objective truth in moral and intellectual education. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (History of Education)

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)

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)

This thesis tries to give a critically considered view of what New Age thought is about, where it came from, and where it takes education and the scientific quest for truth. The interest of this study lies in exposing the underlying New Age beliefs and premises so that the implications that New Age thought has for truly meaningful human development and the educational and scientific quest for truth can be determined. A historical investigation which proceeds from the assumption that New Age thought is a phenomenon with philosophical underpinnings that lie in Western historical dynamics is utilised in order to extract and give context to the beliefs and premises in which New Age thought is anchored. Firstly, the movements in the West's alternative mystical and magical spiritual tradition from which current New Age spiritual approaches issue are scrutinized. This is followed by an exploration of mainstream Western history. Foundational premises and central ideas concerning New Age anthropology, morality, cosmology, and epistemology which issue forth from theories in Western philosophy, psychology, and science are identified and critically analysed. From these analyses, the meaning and direction that New Age thought circumscribes for human development and learning are fully explored and evaluated. It is found that New Age thought upholds a magical worldview in which the objective existence of truth is denied. Because New Age thought does not create educational space in which the quest for truth as obedience to truth can be learnt and practised, emotional, moral, and cognitive development is arrested and the real, educational value in scientific inquiry is defeated. This study is concluded with suggestions that are personal yet grounded in the findings of this research as to the defense and upholdment of the idea of objective truth in moral and intellectual education. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (History of Education)

PhD (African Studies) / Centre for African Studies / This interdisciplinary study examined witchcraft beliefs and criminal responsibility in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The unshakeable deep rooted and profound cultural beliefs of African people do not find expression in written law and therefore introduce a mismatch between law as the people live it and law as contained in the statute books. The aim of this interpretive doctrinal (legal) and qualitative research study was two-fold. Firstly, it sought to evaluate and assess the influence of African value systems particularly ethical ideas on the development of criminal responsibility. Secondly, it undertook a comparative examination of the criminal responsibility of actors who commit crimes while labouring under belief in witchcraft. The research, therefore, undertook a comparative examination of the criminal responsibility of actors who commit crimes while labouring under the overpowering fear of belief in witchcraft. In that regard, the study was premised on and informed through theories of criminal punishment, a Human Rights Based Approach, psycho-analytic theory and socio-cultural theory. The primary motivation for the study was the need to address the mismatch of laws and African value systems and to add knowledge to the scholarly legal writing on beliefs in witchcraft. Explorative qualitative research methods of collecting data (case studies, semi-structured interviews and focus groups discussions) and the doctrinal methods of data collection (case law observation, newspaper reports and witchcraft legislations) were employed as the research methodologies for the purposes of this study. For social empirical findings to be useful in integrating with the legal issues, the study adopted an Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) perspective. Although customary practices play a very important role in the lives of the African people, some of the rules can no longer withstand constitutional scrutiny. The research findings confirmed the mismatch that exists between the African value systems and the law. The study unveiled that the African value systems of the two countries have been affected by modernity. Also, the two countries have similar laws governing the aspect of belief in witchcraft that are weak and archaic thus introducing a lacuna in the

Remembering the Forgotten Beauty of Yeatsian Mythology: Personae and the Problem of Unity in The Wind Among the Reeds

Esta dissertação analisa uma organização ocultista, sediada na cidade de São Paulo, com o auxílio da Teoria Crítica da Escola de Frankfurt e da psicanálise freudiana. Pretendemos com isso compreender em parte o processo de formação da subjetividade moderna dentro da sociedade totalmente administrada, bem como discutir a irracionalidade da cultura refletida no sujeito como um eco do social. O trabalho conclui que a transição do capitalismo concorrencial para o capitalismo de monopólios gerou uma busca por valores espirituais muito de acordo com a lógica do consumo de massas. Concluímos também que a irracionalidade de tais renascimentos religiosos, dos quais a Pró-Vida é um exemplo, representam o reflexo da patologia social da razão humana. / This thesis analyses an occultist organization, placed in the city of São Paulo, with the help of the Frankfurt Schools Critical Theory and the Freudian psychoanalysis. Our intention is to understand in part the modern subjectivity formation process inside the wholly administrated society, and to discuss the culture irrationality reflected on the subject as an echo of the social. The thesis concludes that the transition from concurrent to monopolist capitalism has generated a search for spiritual values according to the logic of mass consumption. We also conclude that this religious revival irrationality, of that which the Pró-Vida group is an example, represents the reflex of the social pathology of human reason.

L’étude des disciples de Philippe permet de souligner l’importance de la fonction « pharmakologique » du religieux : le magnétisme était la force mystérieuse et parfois inquiétante qui permettait de rétablir l’équilibre des fluides. Le christianisme des disciples de Philippe les portait à souligner l’importance de la prière et à imaginer un magnétisme supérieur, un « magnétisme spirituel », mais ils gardaient souvent la terminologie magnétique : il était encore question de « fluides », de « rayons » et d’ « énergies ». Les différents acteurs, très influencés par l’occultisme de leur temps, importèrent en fait des éléments exogènes au sein d’un ésotérisme occidental originellement chrétien, tels le magnétisme animal et les spéculations orientalisantes des Théosophistes anglo-saxons pour préfigurer, en fin de compte, la nébuleuse « mystique ésotérique » des courants plus ou moins liés au New Age de la deuxième partie du XXe siècle. / Studying the disciples of Philippe makes it possible to underline the importance of the "pharmakologic" function in religion: magnetism was the mysterious and sometimes troubling force that made it possible to restore balance to the fluids. The Christianism of the disciples of Philippe led them to underline the importance of prayer and to imagine a superior magnetism, a "spiritual magnetism", but they often retained the magnetic oriented terminology: there were still "fluids", "rays" and "energies". The various actors, highly influenced by the occultism of their time, actually imported exogenous elements into a Western esotericism that was originally Christian, such as animal magnetism and the Easternising speculations of the Anglo-Saxon Theosophists in order to foreshadow, in the end, the "mystic-esoteric nebulous" of trends more or less tied to the "New Age" of the second half of the 20th century.

Esta dissertação analisa uma organização ocultista, sediada na cidade de São Paulo, com o auxílio da Teoria Crítica da Escola de Frankfurt e da psicanálise freudiana. Pretendemos com isso compreender em parte o processo de formação da subjetividade moderna dentro da sociedade totalmente administrada, bem como discutir a irracionalidade da cultura refletida no sujeito como um eco do social. O trabalho conclui que a transição do capitalismo concorrencial para o capitalismo de monopólios gerou uma busca por valores espirituais muito de acordo com a lógica do consumo de massas. Concluímos também que a irracionalidade de tais renascimentos religiosos, dos quais a Pró-Vida é um exemplo, representam o reflexo da patologia social da razão humana. / This thesis analyses an occultist organization, placed in the city of São Paulo, with the help of the Frankfurt Schools Critical Theory and the Freudian psychoanalysis. Our intention is to understand in part the modern subjectivity formation process inside the wholly administrated society, and to discuss the culture irrationality reflected on the subject as an echo of the social. The thesis concludes that the transition from concurrent to monopolist capitalism has generated a search for spiritual values according to the logic of mass consumption. We also conclude that this religious revival irrationality, of that which the Pró-Vida group is an example, represents the reflex of the social pathology of human reason.

This thesis aims to explore the influences and references, with a particular focus from occultism and western esotericism, found in the film trilogy of The Three Mothers directed by Dario Argento. The trilogy composed of Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears was produced in a timeframe of thirty years from 1977 to 2007, so it embeds three decades, it also reflects the willingness from the director to disconnect himself from the usual representation of supernatural and horror films of witches and power. The three films Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears, present an innovative point of view, first of all, the representation of power in the context of horror and secondly, for the nature of references distributed throughout the trilogy. This thesis presents a film analysis of Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears investigating the semiotics behind the symbols, storytelling, characters, and technical aspects of film production. This work concludes that the deep desk research conducted by Argento on occultism and western esotericism before engaging into the production has deeply influenced it. The references to occultism, western esoteric schools, Steiner and alchemic influences are several, Christianity is also present in the trilogy with a dystopic lent. There is also a gender aspect analysed in the trilogy connected with the representation of feminine power, as the mothers in the trilogy represent witches, a supreme independent source of truth and power disconnected from any Christian and/or masculine representation. Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears can be then interpreted as a way to challenge the patriarchate power. This thesis is opening with the relevance of references from occultism to be found in several expressions of popular culture in our contemporary society. However, this aspect has not been investigated further than that. It has been utilized to serve the purpose of highlighting the elements in common between Argento’s trilogy and those expressions of popular culture (i.e. horror and supernatural TV series). If this research will be one day extended, the next step would be to find, in other expressions of popular culture (films, manga, graphic novels…), references in line with the ones traced in the trilogy. This would lead to investigate further the way occultism has influenced expressions of art and culture. Another point that is kept for a potential future research, would be to investigate which other examples of horror and supernatural films will be produced (or had been produced), where power and feminine representation breaks the traditional tendency of connecting power either with a Christian notion of evil or with a patriarchal form of power. In this regard, I am sure expressions from Artificial intelligence will come to play a role, but this is due maybe for the future, and maybe for another research to connect these dots.