Doctor of Philosophy / Leadbeater was a man who made the most startling claims for himself, and made them in a very matter-of-fact way.[4] He declared that he had penetrated the depths of the atom by his psychic powers, discovered the ultimate unit of matter whilst sitting in a park on the Finchley Road in London, and had psychically extracted individual atoms of various elements from the showcases in the Dresden Museum whilst he reclined several miles away. He also claimed to have sent sea spirits to dig out atoms of another element from the mines of Sabaranganuwa in Ceylon while he lay in his bed in Madras in India.[5] He claimed to have explored most of the planets in the Solar System, while his body remained on earth, and described their climates and inhabitants in some detail.[6] He claimed to be in regular communication with the Powers which govern the earth from the Inner Planes, the Masters or Mahatmas, the Supermen who constitute the Occult Hierachy of this planet. And, so he said, he conducted parties of pupils to the secret places in Tibet where these same Masters resided, while the bodies of both the pupils and their guide slept securely in their beds.[7](Excerpt from Introduction pp.3-4)

Doctor of Philosophy / Leadbeater was a man who made the most startling claims for himself, and made them in a very matter-of-fact way.[4] He declared that he had penetrated the depths of the atom by his psychic powers, discovered the ultimate unit of matter whilst sitting in a park on the Finchley Road in London, and had psychically extracted individual atoms of various elements from the showcases in the Dresden Museum whilst he reclined several miles away. He also claimed to have sent sea spirits to dig out atoms of another element from the mines of Sabaranganuwa in Ceylon while he lay in his bed in Madras in India.[5] He claimed to have explored most of the planets in the Solar System, while his body remained on earth, and described their climates and inhabitants in some detail.[6] He claimed to be in regular communication with the Powers which govern the earth from the Inner Planes, the Masters or Mahatmas, the Supermen who constitute the Occult Hierachy of this planet. And, so he said, he conducted parties of pupils to the secret places in Tibet where these same Masters resided, while the bodies of both the pupils and their guide slept securely in their beds.[7](Excerpt from Introduction pp.3-4)

This study addresses how educated Afghan refugee women in Pakistan have experienced,contributed to and challenged the gendered constructions of national, ethnic and religious identities in war and displacement. In addition, this study addresses the lived experiences of educated Afghan refugee women of formal education in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, and their `agency' in utilizing education to further the cause of equity in their families and communities. This is a qualitative study using twenty in-depth and semi-structured interviews, as well as extensive participatory observation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and library-research over the period of 1996 to 2003. It is the result of immersion, as an `in-between' feminist researcher, in Afghanistan and Afghan refugee life in Pakistan since 1996, and an effort to link academic endeavor with activism and life as a development/humanitarian practitioner. This study shows the symbolic and actual role of women in the gendered constructions of dynamic and shifting identities, and their mobilization by patriarchal, political and military processes in war and displacement. It highlights the specificity of Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan, as the `near abroad'. This includes national `modernization', Sovietization and Islamization efforts and the influence of regional and global politics on Afghanistan and Afghans. The study also shows that many Afghan women, in all their diversity, have challenged not only patriarchy but also other dogmatic and undemocratic process of exclusionary politics. Their lives and efforts challenge Westocentric/orientalized stereotypes of Afghan women (and men), as well as generally those of Moslem women, women of the South and refugee women, and their constructions purely as victims. Formal education, as one of the first and most important public spaces available to girls and women, with its contradictory yet critical potential in enhancing the awareness, skills and resistance of girls and women, is further reviewed and analyzed. While addressing the above issues, this study also highlights the need to undertake further in-depth research on Afghanistan, Afghan women, Afghan refugee women and female education in Afghanistan. Such research can be used to support Afghan women and Afghan refugee women with due consideration to their heterogeneity, `agency' and struggles for wellbeing, choice and respect.

Cette dissertation possède un abordage qualitatif et se base sur l´ethnographie réalisée pendant la période de septembre 2013 au décembre 2014 au cours des conférences publiques offertes hebdomadairement par la Loge Théosophique Dharma, localisée dans la ville de Porto Alegre. L´objectif de cette étude consiste à analyser comment les préceptes de la Théosophie Moderne s´articulent et sont agenciés par les sujets de recherche en son quotidien. À partir de l´observation participante, de conférences semi-structurées, et recherche dans la littérature théosophique, il a été possible conclu quelle compréhension de Théosophie Moderne présentée par les sujets analysés chez Loge Théosophique Dharma se met si tant en lieu et place d´une courante de spiritualisme du siècle XIX qui preserve des caractéristiques de l´exotérisme, de l´occultisme, et les réligions orientales selon les écritures de Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, mais s´ajoutent également des références à la réligiosité et pratiques de l´univers Nouvelle Ère. / Esta dissertação possui uma abordagem qualitativa e baseia-se na etnografia realizada no período de setembro de 2013 a dezembro de 2014 em palestras públicas oferecidas semanalmente pela Loja Teosófica Dharma, localizada na cidade de Porto Alegre-RS. O objetivo desse estudo consiste em analisar como os preceitos da Teosofia Moderna articulam-se e são agenciados pelos sujeitos de pesquisa em seu cotidiano. A partir da observação participante, de entrevistas semi-estruturadas e pesquisa na literatura teosófica, foi possível concluir que a compreensão de Teosofia Moderna apresentada pelos sujeitos analisados na Loja Teosófica Dharma se coloca tanto entre o lugar de uma corrente do espiritualismo do século XIX que preserva características do esoterismo, do ocultismo, e das religiões orientais conforme os escritos de Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, mas soma também referências a religiosidades e práticas do universo Nova Era. / This study has a qualitative approach and based on the ethnography conducted from September 2013 to December 2014 in public lectures offered weekly by Theosophical Dharma Lodge, located in Porto Alegre-RS. The aim of this study is to analyze how the precepts of Modern Theosophy are articulated and are touted by research participants in their daily lives. From participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and research in theosophical literature, it was possible to conclude that understanding of Modern Theosophy presented by the analyzed subjects in the Theosophical Dharma Lodge arises between the place of a spiritualism current of 19th century that preserves esotericism, occultism and Eastern religions features as the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, but also adds references to religiosities and practices of the New Age universe.

Une lecture attentive du 'Mémoire sur diverses manifestations de la vie individuelle' de Gobineau, l’ouvrage le plus injustement méconnu de Gobineau, permet d’y repérer l’influence de la mystique Shî ite, et plus précisément de la philosophie orientale de Mollâ sadrâ qui en constitue la clé. Elle permet également non seulement de remettre l’'Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines' à sa place dans l’œuvre de l’auteur, et de lui rendre ainsi justice ; mais elle en révèle aussi la profonde unité, elle-même indissociable de la vie de Gobineau et de sa vie éminemment romanesque. / Attentively deliberating 'Mémoire sur diverses manifestations de la vie individuelle', the unfairly least known work of Gobineau, we discover the influence and inspiration he receives from Shi ite mysticism, and more precisely from the oriental philosophy of Mollâ Sadrâ, which is the key code to comprehend this work. It not only returns 'Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races' to its proper place among the author's works, but also does him the justice he deserves. It also reveals his profound integrity, the indivisible feature of Gobineau's life and its eminently fictional dimension.

Cette dissertation possède un abordage qualitatif et se base sur l´ethnographie réalisée pendant la période de septembre 2013 au décembre 2014 au cours des conférences publiques offertes hebdomadairement par la Loge Théosophique Dharma, localisée dans la ville de Porto Alegre. L´objectif de cette étude consiste à analyser comment les préceptes de la Théosophie Moderne s´articulent et sont agenciés par les sujets de recherche en son quotidien. À partir de l´observation participante, de conférences semi-structurées, et recherche dans la littérature théosophique, il a été possible conclu quelle compréhension de Théosophie Moderne présentée par les sujets analysés chez Loge Théosophique Dharma se met si tant en lieu et place d´une courante de spiritualisme du siècle XIX qui preserve des caractéristiques de l´exotérisme, de l´occultisme, et les réligions orientales selon les écritures de Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, mais s´ajoutent également des références à la réligiosité et pratiques de l´univers Nouvelle Ère. / Esta dissertação possui uma abordagem qualitativa e baseia-se na etnografia realizada no período de setembro de 2013 a dezembro de 2014 em palestras públicas oferecidas semanalmente pela Loja Teosófica Dharma, localizada na cidade de Porto Alegre-RS. O objetivo desse estudo consiste em analisar como os preceitos da Teosofia Moderna articulam-se e são agenciados pelos sujeitos de pesquisa em seu cotidiano. A partir da observação participante, de entrevistas semi-estruturadas e pesquisa na literatura teosófica, foi possível concluir que a compreensão de Teosofia Moderna apresentada pelos sujeitos analisados na Loja Teosófica Dharma se coloca tanto entre o lugar de uma corrente do espiritualismo do século XIX que preserva características do esoterismo, do ocultismo, e das religiões orientais conforme os escritos de Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, mas soma também referências a religiosidades e práticas do universo Nova Era. / This study has a qualitative approach and based on the ethnography conducted from September 2013 to December 2014 in public lectures offered weekly by Theosophical Dharma Lodge, located in Porto Alegre-RS. The aim of this study is to analyze how the precepts of Modern Theosophy are articulated and are touted by research participants in their daily lives. From participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and research in theosophical literature, it was possible to conclude that understanding of Modern Theosophy presented by the analyzed subjects in the Theosophical Dharma Lodge arises between the place of a spiritualism current of 19th century that preserves esotericism, occultism and Eastern religions features as the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, but also adds references to religiosities and practices of the New Age universe.

Traditionally, squaring the circle has been about bringing the incommensurable work of the gods within the realm of the commensurate by using infinite cosmic principles to regulate the finite world. The American architect Claude Bragdon (1866-1946) squared the circle using his Theosophic architectural theory that was based on a neo-Pythagorean emphasis on Number, which he believed to have contained the secret of the universe. America at the turn of the 20th century was interested in Eastern spirituality at the beginning of an age of scientific relativity when the world and universe were being questioned due to new scientific discoveries based on higher-dimensional mathematical speculations that challenged relationships between humankind and the cosmos. Paralleling this scientific search was the Western conquest of the world on earth, which brought back speculations about the Near and Far East, including translations of their ancient scriptures and encyclopedias of their architecture. The fourth dimension was an imaginary mathematical (re)creation of great interest to Bragdon and common to scientific relativity and Eastern spirituality; two cultural constructs that altered the perception of time and space to affect the American imagination and architectural production. Within this context, Squaring the Circle investigates the relationship of theory to practice by considering Bragdon's architecture as the material manifestation of his Theosophic architectural theory. / Ph. D.

“How does one develop an appropriate urban Christian Spirituality?” is the question this study asks. First, I develop a rigorous, yet open, theoretical framework with which to describe Christian Spirituality’s complexity: a description focused primarily on constraining the markers of Biblical Spirituality and City Spirituality. Within the limits placed on the complex system of Christian Spirituality, I begin exploring various, mostly minor, tropes of urban biblical spiritualities in the “Old” and “New” Testament. From these analyses, I evince the implications of these biblical spirituality tropes for the current city theater, and also construe a set of questions evaluating the appropriateness of mitigating urban communities. The study culminates in an imagined ideal mitigating urban community named an ekklesiastes: a wisdom teaching technology of urban meaning, complexity, and resistance. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

This paper has two objectives. First: the humanistic idea of knowledge, philosophically formulated by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), should be presented in relation to history of ideas. In the meeting with different kinds of cultural and social needs in Central Europe during the decades of the turn of the 20th century, Steiner developed his idea of knowledge into a singular Thought Style (Ge. Denkstil). A Thought Style can be described as a selective and aimed cognitive preparedness. The idea of knowledge and the Thought Style are here described as anthroposophical humanism. The second objective is to show how the Thought Style, in a historical way, was established in Sweden, and how it, until the mid 1980s, changed and was adapted to Swedish culture, i.e. how the style in various ways became Swedish. Organisations and movements that were influenced by the anthroposophical humanism were The Anthroposophical Society, the biodynamic movement, the movement for anthroposophic medicine, the medical pedagogical movement with special pedagogical institutions and social therapeutic homes for treatment, the Waldorf movement, the Christian Society, anthroposophic architecture and art practice etc. Since they co-operated with a common background, they formed a Thought Collective (Ge. Denkkollektiv). The anthroposophical humanism has its roots relating to history of ideas far back in the Central European Middle Ages. During the new humanism era, the idea of knowledge had a renaissance in German culture life. Rudolf Steiner remodelled the idea at the end of the 19th century and developed it into the singular Thought Style. When Steiner was a theosophical teacher he gave it an esoteric design. After the First World War, when Steiner was working as a social reformer, he gave it a humanistic design. Within The Anthroposophical Society, the double image of the anthroposophical movement, internationally and in Sweden, led to severe opposition and conflicts. Right until the mid 1980s, reorganisations were common in order to handle the two directions of the Thought Style when it came to differences in traditions, ideology and sociology. In Sweden, the anthroposophical movement has undergone four stages of development: the reception period 1890-1935, the conversion period 1935-55, the expansion period 1955-1985 and the integration period as from 1985. As from 1913, when The Anthroposophical Society was established, until 1985, the development of ideas in the anthroposophical Thought Style and the Thought Collective can be described as a wandering from Christian esotericism to an anthroposophical humanistic idea of knowledge, with a cultural education in the ideological focus of the Thought Style. The traditional development of ideas can also be described as an anthroposophical process of secularisation. There are mainly four things that have contributed to the expansion of the anthroposophical movement in Sweden during the phase of expansion: the post-war period economic expansion, the development of the educational system, the renaissance of esotericism in the late 1960s, as well as the need for an alternative to the post-war abundance consumerism and waste of resources. The Swedish development indicates similarities with the international development within those areas where different activities have been adapted to Swedish legislation, traditions and views, mainly through care and education.

“How does one develop an appropriate urban Christian Spirituality?” is the question this study asks. First, I develop a rigorous, yet open, theoretical framework with which to describe Christian Spirituality’s complexity: a description focused primarily on constraining the markers of Biblical Spirituality and City Spirituality. Within the limits placed on the complex system of Christian Spirituality, I begin exploring various, mostly minor, tropes of urban biblical spiritualities in the “Old” and “New” Testament. From these analyses, I evince the implications of these biblical spirituality tropes for the current city theater, and also construe a set of questions evaluating the appropriateness of mitigating urban communities. The study culminates in an imagined ideal mitigating urban community named an ekklesiastes: a wisdom teaching technology of urban meaning, complexity, and resistance. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)