In the years since Mao Zedongs death, the people of China have been impelled to reevaluate the legacy and character of their still iconic leader. One of the more notable trends in this process of posthumous reevaluation is the tendency of some individuals and groups (most often, the rural peasantry) to interpret the deceased Chairman along theological lines, assuming that his still efficacious spirit will provide protection and good fortune to those who honour him.<p>In exploring the genesis (and continued salience) of these beliefs and practices, the present research delves into popular Chinese religiosity, exploring the porosity of the traditional cosmology, the centrality of perceived spiritual efficacy (ling) in determining the popularity of religious cults, and the theological and cosmological resonances extant within traditional understandings of political leadership. The body of metaphors, narratives, and tropes drawn from this historical overview are then applied to popular characterizations of Mao, with the resulting correspondences helping to explicate the salience of these modern religious interpretations. To further investigate the source of Maos persistent symbolic capital, the present research also explores the role of Cultural Revolution-era ritual in valorizing and reifying the power and efficacy then popularly ascribed to the Great Helmsmans person and teachings. This studys conclusion, in brief, is that participants in the posthumous cult of Mao are utilizing these cultural materials in both traditional and creative ways, and that such interpretations speak to the exigencies of life in the turbulent, ideologically ambiguous culture of modern China. <p>In performing this evaluation, the present research makes use of the standard phenomenological/historiographic approach of religious studies scholarship, though it is also informed by narrative methods, cognitive science, and current perspectives on the role and function of ritual. In particular, the analysis of Mao-era rituals (as a source of Maos continued symbolic potency) is performed using the cognivistic typology of ritual proposed by E. Thomas Lawson and Robert N. McCauley, with additional materials drawn from the research of Catherine Bell, Roy Rappaport, Pascal Boyer and Adam Chau.

This paper identifies theories and cognitive aspects that shed light on the transcultural unifying identity power of Masonic initiation rituals and illustrates this more closely using the case study of the German master ritual. It suggests that the potential of the unifying identity of Masonic rituals does not reside solely in their symbolism, but rather primarily in their enactment as performance. By breaking down the basic elements of the performative character of rituals and comparing the Masonic ritual to that of male initiation among the Chambri people of Papua New Guinea within Whitehouse’s theoretical model of modes of religiosity, this paper also explores the transcultural unifying identity power of rituals while outlining a novel explanatory framework in the field of Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) and Ritual Studies. The present paper suggests that religious and religiously connoted transcultural unifying identity, including its inherent capacity for meaning creation and meaning attribution, is more strongly and stably achieved the more Framed Cognitive Immersion (FCI) is engaged, that is, the more corresponding cognitive processes of the participants are triggered together.:1. Why ritual research? 1.2 The concept of religion used in this study 1.3 The concept of ritual used in this study 1.4 The three basic elements of a ritual 2. Symbols and the performative character of rituals 2.1 The holistic approach to human cognition (Embodiment) 3. The power of rituals: The performative dimension 3.1 The performance of the legend of Hiram Abif 3.2 Generation of Reality 3.3 Scenic Staging 3.4 Corporeality or Physical Presence 4. Framed Cognitive Immersion (FCI) in ritual context

This thesis contends that the image of fire is a multivalent and theologically valuable image for application in British Christian communities. My research offers an original contribution by contextualising the image of fire for Christian practice in Britain, and combining critical observation of several contemporary fire rites with theological analysis. In addition, I conduct original case studies of three Scottish fire rituals: the Stonehaven Fireball Ceremony, the Beltane Fire Festival, and Up-Helly-Aa in Lerwick, Shetland. The potential contribution of fire imagery to Christian practice has been overlooked by modern theological scholarship, social anthropologists, and Christian practitioners. Since the multivalence of the image has not been fully recognised, fire imagery has often been reduced to a binary of ‘positive' and ‘negative' associations. Through my study of non-faith fire rituals and existing Christian fire practices, I explore the interplay between multivalence, multiplicity, and liminality in fire imagery. I demonstrate that deeper theological engagement with the image of fire can enhance participation, transformation, and reflection in transitional ritual experience. I argue that engaging with the multivalence of the image of fire could allow faith communities to move beyond dominant interpretive frameworks and apply the image within their own specific context. First, I orientate the discussion by examining the multivalence of biblical fire imagery and establishing the character of fire within the British social imagination. Second, I use critical observation of community fire practices in non-faith contexts to build a new contextual framework for the analysis of fire imagery. Finally, I apply my findings to a contextual analysis of existing Christian fire practices in Britain. Throughout, I argue that sensory and imaginative interaction with the image of fire provides a way to communicate and interact with theological ideas; experience personal and communal change; and mediate experience of the sacred.