Magic in the period of Judaism of the second temple and early Christianity Abstract The presented work focuses on the history of esotericism in the period of the Second Temple of Judaism and early Christianity, and shows the cultural intersections of magical and religious communities as well as individuals who have studied the art of magic. It points out the main sources of their magical and religious teachings and the origin of magic and magical thinking. It traces the main roots of both religion and magic and describes the development of magical practices in that specifical period of the time. Furthermore, after a small analysis, a comparison is made of the five basic cultures living in the territory of the "fertile crescent" just at the time of the Second Temple and their magic. There is also a detailed discussion on the field of demonology and some personalities of the time who were obviously dealing with magic. The first part describes all of the available magical disciplines and techniques that a mortal can come into contact with during the Second Temple in the region known as "Fertile Crescent". All the disciplines I mention in my work were already known at the time of the Second Temple, but some of them were not that developed, so they were expanded or were elaborated on in a later period. A...

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Summaries in German and English / This thesis is a missiological case study analysing the reasons for conversions to Islam and Christianity among Kyrgyz people in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz people have a rich religious heritage with a history of more than 2,200 years. The uprooting of religion and the atheistic indoctrination by the Soviet government created a religious vacuum after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and caused a revival of religious receptivity in the society. Renewed receptivity to religion in the newly established sovereign Kyrgyzstan was followed by a rise in religious activity of Muslims and Christians beginning in the late 20th century. In only 15 years the number of mosques rose from 39 to 1,600 and the number of professing Christians increased from a few dozen to more than 7,000. This change between 1990 and 2005 developed in three stages through religious instability, an increase in missionary activity and the posturing of religious ideology during the government’s democratization process. A research of individual conversions produced complex results. Muslims were more attune to traditional religious thinking than were Christians. Most Muslims committed themselves to Islam because of their ancestral heritage. The secularization of society facilitated the Kyrgyz to convert to Christianity and turn to Christ due to a crisis in personal identity. Among Christians, conversions were primarily affected by relatives and friends persuading them through testimony and example. Most Kyrgyz becoming Muslims were significantly influenced by their parents. Faith in the existence of God was the basic prerequisite for both Muslim and Christian commitment to their respective beliefs. For Muslims it meant to obey the commandments of Allah, but Christians were led to confession of sins and to conversion. Changes in lifestyles and mindsets Muslims traced back to the Islamic religious tradition. For Christians, lives were affected through a relationship to Jesus Christ. / Die vorliegende Thesis ist eine missiologische Fallstudie, die die Gruinde der Hinwendung der Kyrgyzen in der post-sovietischen Zeit zum Islam und Christentum untersucht. Die Kyrgyzen haben ein reiches religioses Erbe einer uber 2200 jahrigen Geschichte. Doch mit der religiosen, Entwurzelung und der atheistischen Indoktrination durch die Sovietregierung entwickelte sich nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sovietunion ein religioses ,Vakuum" und bewirkten ein Wiedererwachen der religiosen Rezeptivitat in der Gesellschaft. Aufgrund der neuen religiosen Rahmenbedingungen in dem seit 1991 souveranen Kyrgyzstan folgte vonseiten der Muslime und Christen ein starker Anstieg religioser Aktivitaten. In nur 15 Jahren stieg die Anzahl der registrierten Moscheen von 39 auf uber 1600 und die Anzahl der Christen im gleichen Zeitraum von ein paar Dutzend auf uber 7000. Diese Entwicklung verlief im Zeitraum von 1990 bis 2005 in drei Abschnitten und war gekennzeichnet von anfanglichen religiosen Aufbruchen, einer Zunahme missionarischer Aktivitaten und einer religiosen Positionierung im Demokratiesierungsprozess. Die Untersuchung der individuell erlebten Hinwendungen brachte vielschichtige Ergebnisse hervor. So war der farmiliare Hintergrund der Muslime im allgemeinen religioser als der der Christen. Die meisten Muslime bekannten sich aufgrund ihrer Abstammung zum Islam. Die Sakularisierung der Familien begunstigte die Hinwendung der Kyrgyzen zum Christentum, die sich vor allem aufgrund einer existenziellen Auseinandersetzung zu Jesus wandten. Bei Christen waren es vor allem Verwandte und Freunde, die mit Worten und Leben auf Jesus hinwiesen, bei Muslimen die Eltern. Sowohl bei Muslimen als auch Christen war der Glaube an die Exitenz Gottes die wesentliche Vorraussetzung, wobei dies die Muslime zur Befolgung der Gebote Allahs, Christen zur Sundenerkenntnis und einer Bekehrung bewegte. Eine Lebens- und Sinnesanderung fuhrten Muslime auf den Islam und Christen auf ihre Beziehung zu Jesus Christus zuruck. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

ABSTRACT Although Cotton Mather, as the official chronicler of the 1692 Salem witch trials, is infamously associated with those events, and excerpts from his apologia on Salem, Wonders of the Invisible World, are widely anthologized today, no annotated critical edition of the entire work has appeared in print since the nineteenth century. This present edition of Wonders seeks to remedy this lacuna in modern scholarship. In Wonders, Mather applies both his views on witchcraft and on millennialism to events at Salem. This edition to Mather's Wonders presents this seventeenth-century text beside an integrated theory of the initial causes of the Salem witch panic. The juxtaposition of the probable natural causes of Salem's bewitchment with Mather's implausible explanations exposes the disingenuousness of his writing about Salem. My theory of what happened at Salem includes the probability that a group of conspirators led by the Rev. Samuel Parris deliberately orchestrated the "witchcraft" and that a plant, the thorn apple, used in Algonquian initiation rites, caused the initial symptoms of bewitchment (39-189). Furthermore, key spectral evidence used at the Salem witch trials and recorded by Mather in Wonders appears to have been generated by intense nightmares, commonly thought at the time to be witch visitations, resulting from what is today termed sleep paralysis (215-310). This dissertation provides a detailed look at some of the testimony given in the Salem court records and in Wonders of the Invisible World as it relates to the interpretation in folklore of the phenomenology of nightmares associated with sleep paralysis. The third chapter of this dissertation focuses extensively on Mather's text as a disingenuous response to the Salem witch trials (320-456). The final section of chapter three posits a "Scythian" or Eurasian connection between Swedish and Salem witchcraft. Similarities in shamanic practices among respective indigenous populations of Lapland, Eurasia, Asia, and New England, caused the devil's involvement in both the visible and invisible worlds to appear more than theoretical to writers like Jose Acosta, Johannes Scheffer, Nicholas Fuller, Joseph Mede, Anthony Horneck, and Cotton Mather, inducing Mather to include a lengthy abstract of the Swedish account in Wonders (404-449).

The present work is focused on interpretation of the novel Daimón, written by Argentinian writer Abel Posse. It indicates the context of the "Latin America's new historical novel", comments the historical background of the story, touches the concept of time in the novel. Then the work analyses in detail the composition of the novel which is structured as a Tarot cards reading, explains the importance of the Tarot not only for interpretation of the Daimón novel, but also for understanding the World in general. Key words: Tarot, Lope de Aguirre, Abel Posse, new historical Latin America's new historical novel, dialogism, parody, heteroglossia, spiritual path, Toltec, Toltec shamanism, Carlos Castaneda, concept of cyclical time, contradictions, realization.

ABSTRACT Although Cotton Mather, as the official chronicler of the 1692 Salem witch trials, is infamously associated with those events, and excerpts from his apologia on Salem, Wonders of the Invisible World, are widely anthologized today, no annotated critical edition of the entire work has appeared in print since the nineteenth century. This present edition of Wonders seeks to remedy this lacuna in modern scholarship. In Wonders, Mather applies both his views on witchcraft and on millennialism to events at Salem. This edition to Mather's Wonders presents this seventeenth-century text beside an integrated theory of the initial causes of the Salem witch panic. The juxtaposition of the probable natural causes of Salem's bewitchment with Mather's implausible explanations exposes the disingenuousness of his writing about Salem. My theory of what happened at Salem includes the probability that a group of conspirators led by the Rev. Samuel Parris deliberately orchestrated the "witchcraft" and that a plant, the thorn apple, used in Algonquian initiation rites, caused the initial symptoms of bewitchment (39-189). Furthermore, key spectral evidence used at the Salem witch trials and recorded by Mather in Wonders appears to have been generated by intense nightmares, commonly thought at the time to be witch visitations, resulting from what is today termed sleep paralysis (215-310). This dissertation provides a detailed look at some of the testimony given in the Salem court records and in Wonders of the Invisible World as it relates to the interpretation in folklore of the phenomenology of nightmares associated with sleep paralysis. The third chapter of this dissertation focuses extensively on Mather's text as a disingenuous response to the Salem witch trials (320-456). The final section of chapter three posits a "Scythian" or Eurasian connection between Swedish and Salem witchcraft. Similarities in shamanic practices among respective indigenous populations of Lapland, Eurasia, Asia, and New England, caused the devil's involvement in both the visible and invisible worlds to appear more than theoretical to writers like Jose Acosta, Johannes Scheffer, Nicholas Fuller, Joseph Mede, Anthony Horneck, and Cotton Mather, inducing Mather to include a lengthy abstract of the Swedish account in Wonders (404-449).

This dissertation deals with the interpretation of four myths from early medieval Scandinavia, in which the main role is played by the god Óðinn. All four myths narrate how he achieved a state of permanent increase of his numinous knowledge. Based on the fact that the outcome of all of the narratives is the acquisition of the Mead of Poetry (or its equivalent), they can be percieved as "four reports on the same event". The analysis of myths itself has been executed in two steps: firstly the separate inquiry of the two more central myths and introduction of the other two followed by thorough analysis of the four together. All four myths demonstrate to a certain degree a presence of motifs and structures associated with the religious phenomena of sacrifice and initiation. By the means of said analysis the study reviews the systematic relations of the sacrificial and initiatory structures and postulates a common core which is subsequently named "monomyth".

Summaries in German and English / This thesis is a missiological case study analysing the reasons for conversions to Islam and Christianity among Kyrgyz people in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz people have a rich religious heritage with a history of more than 2,200 years. The uprooting of religion and the atheistic indoctrination by the Soviet government created a religious vacuum after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and caused a revival of religious receptivity in the society. Renewed receptivity to religion in the newly established sovereign Kyrgyzstan was followed by a rise in religious activity of Muslims and Christians beginning in the late 20th century. In only 15 years the number of mosques rose from 39 to 1,600 and the number of professing Christians increased from a few dozen to more than 7,000. This change between 1990 and 2005 developed in three stages through religious instability, an increase in missionary activity and the posturing of religious ideology during the government’s democratization process. A research of individual conversions produced complex results. Muslims were more attune to traditional religious thinking than were Christians. Most Muslims committed themselves to Islam because of their ancestral heritage. The secularization of society facilitated the Kyrgyz to convert to Christianity and turn to Christ due to a crisis in personal identity. Among Christians, conversions were primarily affected by relatives and friends persuading them through testimony and example. Most Kyrgyz becoming Muslims were significantly influenced by their parents. Faith in the existence of God was the basic prerequisite for both Muslim and Christian commitment to their respective beliefs. For Muslims it meant to obey the commandments of Allah, but Christians were led to confession of sins and to conversion. Changes in lifestyles and mindsets Muslims traced back to the Islamic religious tradition. For Christians, lives were affected through a relationship to Jesus Christ. / Die vorliegende Thesis ist eine missiologische Fallstudie, die die Gruinde der Hinwendung der Kyrgyzen in der post-sovietischen Zeit zum Islam und Christentum untersucht. Die Kyrgyzen haben ein reiches religioses Erbe einer uber 2200 jahrigen Geschichte. Doch mit der religiosen, Entwurzelung und der atheistischen Indoktrination durch die Sovietregierung entwickelte sich nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sovietunion ein religioses ,Vakuum" und bewirkten ein Wiedererwachen der religiosen Rezeptivitat in der Gesellschaft. Aufgrund der neuen religiosen Rahmenbedingungen in dem seit 1991 souveranen Kyrgyzstan folgte vonseiten der Muslime und Christen ein starker Anstieg religioser Aktivitaten. In nur 15 Jahren stieg die Anzahl der registrierten Moscheen von 39 auf uber 1600 und die Anzahl der Christen im gleichen Zeitraum von ein paar Dutzend auf uber 7000. Diese Entwicklung verlief im Zeitraum von 1990 bis 2005 in drei Abschnitten und war gekennzeichnet von anfanglichen religiosen Aufbruchen, einer Zunahme missionarischer Aktivitaten und einer religiosen Positionierung im Demokratiesierungsprozess. Die Untersuchung der individuell erlebten Hinwendungen brachte vielschichtige Ergebnisse hervor. So war der farmiliare Hintergrund der Muslime im allgemeinen religioser als der der Christen. Die meisten Muslime bekannten sich aufgrund ihrer Abstammung zum Islam. Die Sakularisierung der Familien begunstigte die Hinwendung der Kyrgyzen zum Christentum, die sich vor allem aufgrund einer existenziellen Auseinandersetzung zu Jesus wandten. Bei Christen waren es vor allem Verwandte und Freunde, die mit Worten und Leben auf Jesus hinwiesen, bei Muslimen die Eltern. Sowohl bei Muslimen als auch Christen war der Glaube an die Exitenz Gottes die wesentliche Vorraussetzung, wobei dies die Muslime zur Befolgung der Gebote Allahs, Christen zur Sundenerkenntnis und einer Bekehrung bewegte. Eine Lebens- und Sinnesanderung fuhrten Muslime auf den Islam und Christen auf ihre Beziehung zu Jesus Christus zuruck. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Resumen Natural Hysteria... es una investigacio'n basada en una pra'ctica transdisciplinaria que documenta el proceso de produccio'n de un ciclo de performances basadas en el texto: rituales, presentaciones teatrales, acciones callejeras y presentaciones de video, canciones y talleres. Es una respuesta arti'stica al deterioro de nuestro medio ambiente y los ataques contra la diversidad cultural y biolo'gica que esta'n llevando a cabo un sistema capitalista basado en la acumulacio'n de riqueza a toda costa que nos esta' llevando al borde de un colapso ecolo'gico. Se procede a trave's de un ana'lisis de otras pra'cticas arti'sticas disidentes que comparten una perspectiva queer, feminista, postcolonial o ecolo'gica que las vincula a los conceptos explorados en mi trabajo para contextualizarlo en el campo expandido de las artes contempora'neas. La "histeria" alternativa que forma la base conceptual de este proyecto tiene sus inicios en los albores de la edad moderna y traza una historia de dominacio'n de los "otros": se centra principalmente en las mujeres, en el ge'nero y en los disidentes sexuales, las personas de color y los animales. La explotacio'n de los recursos naturales y humanos es una consecuencia de una cosmovisio'n basada en el establecimiento de oposiciones binarias que permiten que el "otro" sea clasificado y dominado. Por ejemplo: hombre / mujer, blanco / negro, hetero / homosexual, cultura / naturaleza. La construccio'n de estos "otros" - "femenino", "nativo", "queer", "naturaleza" - excluye a estos sujetos de la construccio'n de una identidad dominante que, sin embargo, depende de estas categori'as para su existencia. En el Renacimiento, los campos de las ciencias y las humanidades no estaban separados. La visio'n mecanicista del mundo no habi'a superado por completo las creencias paganas en la magia y en una fuerza espiritual que reside en todos los seres. Esta visio'n era una reliquia de la era precristiana y finalmente seri'a erradicada por las fuerzas unidas del Estado y la Iglesia a trave's de los procesos de la Inquisicio'n, la caza de brujas, la colonizacio'n y la nueva religio'n de la "Ciencia". Todos estos procesos han producido un gran cambio en nuestra relacio'n con la naturaleza, que en la actualidad se considera una entidad totalmente inerte. La naturaleza ya no forma parte de nuestro ser y se ha convertido simplemente en materia prima. La colonizacio'n continu'a hoy bajo una poli'tica neoliberal que utiliza el concepto de desarrollo para requisar territorio de los pueblos indi'genas a fin de explotar sus recursos naturales. Esto se justifica clasificando estas personas como primitivas porque su modo de vida se basa en vivir en equilibrio con la naturaleza. La funcio'n de una pra'ctica arti'stica poli'ticamente comprometida es desafiar la nocio'n de que no existe una alternativa al sistema actual. El marco teo'rico y arti'stico de esta investigacio'n ha conducido al desarrollo de un alter ego performativo, el chama'n transge'nero Geyserbird, y a la configuracio'n de una serie de performances que incluye rituales participativos, instalaciones con presencia y la reapropiacio'n queer de espacios industriales abandonados. El chama'n transge'nero es un ser espiritual que va ma's alla' de las limitaciones del sistema de ge'nero binario y se conecta con las culturas indi'genas. El despliegue de esta figura en un contexto contempora'neo invita al pu'blico a imaginar otras posibilidades para si' mismos y para nuestra sociedad. / Abstract Natural Hysteria... is a trans-disciplinary practice led investigation which documents the process of production of a cycle of text based performances -rituals, street actions, theatrical presentations, and video presentations, songs and workshops. It is an artistic response to the deterioration of our environment and the attacks on cultural and biological diversity being carried out by a capitalist system based on the accumulation of wealth at all costs which is leading us to the border of an ecological collapse. It proceeds through an analyses of other dissident artistic practices which share a queer, feminist postcolonial or ecological perspective linking them to the concepts explored in my work in order to contextualise it in the expanded field of the contemporary arts. The alternative "hysteria" that forms the conceptual basis of this project has its beginnings in the dawn of the modern age and traces a history of domination of those "others": focusing mainly on women, gender and sexual dissidents, people of colour and animals. The exploitation of natural and human resources is a consequence of a worldview based on the establishment of binary oppositions that allow the "other" to be classified and dominated. For example: man / woman, white / black, hetero / homosexual, culture / nature. The construction of these "others" - the "feminine", the "native", the "queer", "nature" - excludes these subjects from the construction of a master identity that, nevertheless, depends on these categories for its existence. In the Renaissance the fields of the sciences and the humanities were not separated. The mechanistic view of the world had not completely overcome pagan beliefs in magic and in a spiritual force which resides in all beings. This vision was a relic of the pre-Christian era and would finally be eradicated by the united forces of State and Church through the processes of the Inquisition, the witch hunts, colonization and the new religion of "Science". All of these processes have produced a huge change in our relationship with nature, currently seen as a totally inert entity. Nature is no longer part of our being and has became nothing more than raw material. Colonisation continues today under a neoliberal politics which uses the concept of development to requisition territory from indigenous people in order to exploit its natural resources. This is justified by qualifying these people as primitive because their way of life is based on living in equilibrium with nature. The function of a politically engaged artistic practise is to challenge the notion that no alternative exists to the current system. The theoretical and artistic framework of this investigation has led to the development of a performative alter ego, the transgender shaman Geyserbird, and to the configuration of a series of performances which included participatory rituals, installations with presence and the queer appropriation of abandoned industrial spaces. The transgender shaman is a spiritual being who goes beyond the limitations of the binary gender system and connects to indigenous cultures. The deployment of this figure in a contemporary context, invites the public to imagine other possibilities for themselves and for our society / Resum Natural Hysteria... e's una investigacio' basada en una pra¿ctica transdisciplina¿ria que documenta el proce's de produccio' d'un cicle de performances basades en el text: rituals, presentacions teatrals, acciones al carrers i presentacions de vi'deo, canc¿ons i tallers. E's una resposta arti'stica a la deteriorament del nostre medi ambient i els atacs contra la diversitat cultural i biolo¿gica que esta¿ duent a terme un sistema capitalista basat en l'acumulacio' de riquesa costi el que costi que ens esta¿ portant a la vora d'un col·lapse ecolo¿gic. Es procedeix a trave's d'una ana¿lisi d'altres pra¿ctiques arti'stiques dissidents que comparteixen una perspectiva queer, feminista, postcolonial o ecolo¿gica que les vincula amb els conceptes explorats en el meu treball per contextualitzar-ho en el camp expandit de les arts contempora¿nies. La "histe¿ria" alternativa que forma la base conceptual d'aquest projecte te' els seus inicis en les albors de l'edat moderna i trac¿a una histo¿ria de dominacio' dels "altres": se centra principalment en les dones, en el ge¿nere i en els dissidents sexuals, les persones de color i els animals. L'explotacio' dels recursos naturals i humans e's una consequ¿e¿ncia d'una cosmovisio' basada en l'establiment d'oposicions bina¿ries que permeten que l'"altre" sigui classificat i dominat. Per exemple: home / dona, blanc / negre, hetero / homosexual, cultura / naturalesa. La construccio' d'aquests "altres" - "femeni'", "natiu", "queer", "naturalesa" - exclou aquests subjectes de la construccio' d'una identitat dominant que, no obstant aixo¿, depe'n d'aquestes categories per a la seua existe¿ncia. En el Renaixement, els camps de les cie¿ncies i les humanitats no estaven separats. La visio' mecanicista del mo'n no havia superat per complet les creences paganes en la ma¿gia i en una forc¿a espiritual que resideix en tots els e'ssers. Aquesta visio' era una reli'quia de l'era precristiana i finalment seria eradicada per les forces unides de l'Estat i l'Esgle'sia a trave's dels processos de la Inquisicio', la cac¿a de bruixes, la colonitzacio' i la nova religio' de la "Cie¿ncia". Tots aquests processos han produi¿t un gran canvi en la nostra relacio' amb la naturalesa, que en l'actualitat es considera una entitat totalment inerta. La naturalesa ja no forma part del nostre e'sser i s'ha convertit simplement en mate¿ria preval. La colonitzacio' continua avui sota una poli'tica neoliberal que utilitza el concepte de desenvolupament per a requisar territori dels pobles indi'genes a fi d'explotar els seus recursos naturals. Aixo¿ es justifica classificant aquestes persones com a primitives perque¿ la seua manera de vida es basa en viure en equilibri amb la naturalesa. La funcio' d'una pra¿ctica arti'stica poli'ticament compromesa e's desafiar la nocio' que no existeix una alternativa al sistema actual. El marc teo¿ric i arti'stic d'aquesta investigacio' ha condui¿t al desenvolupament d'un alter ego performatiu, el xaman transge¿nere Geyserbird, i a la configuracio' d'una se¿rie de performances que inclou rituals participatius, instal·lacions amb prese¿ncia i la reapropiacio' queer d'espais industrials abandonats. El xaman transge¿nere e's un ser espiritual que va me's enlla¿ de les limitacions del sistema de ge¿nere binari i es connecta amb les cultures indi'genes. El desplegament d'aquesta figura en un context contemporani convida al pu'blic a imaginar altres possibilitats per a ells mateixos i per a la nostra societat. / Bell, G. (2018). NATURAL HYSTERIA (a queer response to ecocide): An exercise in Living Art, Participatory Rituals and Queer Ecology -or- How I discovered Geyserbird, the Transgender Shaman within [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/111925 / TESIS

This study offers a comparative analysis of Rosario Castellanos' Balún-Canán and Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima, novels that provide examples on how children construct their identity in hybrid communities in southeastern Mexico and the U.S. southwest. The protagonists grow and develop in a context where they need to build bridges between their European and Amerindian roots in the middle of external influences that complicate the construction of a new mestizo consciousness. In order to attain that consciousness and free themselves from their divided selves, these children receive the aid of an indigenous mentor who teaches them how to establish a dialogue with their past, nature, and their social reality. The protagonists undertake that negotiation by transgressing the rituals of a society immersed in colonial dual thinking. They also create mechanisms to re-interpret their past and tradition in order to create an image of themselves that is not imposed by the status quo. In both novels, the protagonists have to undergo similar processes to overcome their identity crises, including transculturation, the creation of sites of memory, and a transition from orality to writing. Each of them resorts to creative writing and becomes a sort of shaman who pulls together the "spirits" from the past, selects them, and organizes them in a narration of childhood that is undertaken from adulthood. The results of this enterprise are completely different in the cases of both protagonists because the historical and social contexts vary. The boy in Bless Me, Ultima can harmoniously gather the elements to construct his identity, while the girl in Balún-Canán fails because of the pressures of a male-centered and highly racist society.