This thesis explores the imagery of funerary ritual that expresses the commemoration of both the living and the dead in the art of the marble cinerary memorials of the early Empire. This group of objects includes decorated marble artefacts associated with cremation burial between the Augustan period and the reign of Antoninus Pius: ash chests (or cineraria); ash altars and grave altars (with or without ash cavities); as well as round urns and vase-shaped urns. The iconography chosen for cinerary memorials by individuals in the early Empire reflects those individuals’ concerns to remember families and friends and in turn to be remembered. This research approaches the analysis of funerary iconography holistically as embedded in its contemporary culture, as opposed to the focus on the art of various sub-cultures of Roman society, seen in recent scholarship. Items with adequate ancient provenance are used to create a sample dataset that represents individuals that belong to a middle to high income-group of society, individuals that are united through their ability to pay and commission these memorials, rather than by class. The epigraphic material, studied alongside the tomb analysis, indicates that this socio-economic group included people of different legal statuses: slaves, freed-people, non-elites and known-elites. Thus we are able to examine how artistic motifs, and also imperial iconography and culture, were received by a cross-section of society. The use of semiotics allows symbols to be analysed in conjunction with other methods such as examining narration and abstraction. This theoretical framework results in the extraction of meaning from seemingly generic motifs and connects this interpretation with contemporaneous cultural norms. Using these methods and the sample dataset, the memorial typology is examined as indicative of a focal point for funerary cult, through the connection between the object as a replacement altar for ritual, and as a house or shrine for the commemoration of the dead. The iconography associated with the memorials therefore relates to both the ritual context (garlands and other ritualistic motifs) and to the object as a small building (the architectonic façade and doors; garden and vegetative iconography). It also relates to the commemoration of the dead (portraiture and honorific iconography) and in particular to the idea of the spirit or manes of the deceased as being immortalised through the memorial (underworld and mythological iconography). All elements, then, point to the focus of the object in funerary ritual which enables the living to honour the spirit of the deceased and acts as a memento of family and friends, bringing together both the living and the dead in art and inscription.

The temple of the Goddess Kamakhya in Assam is the pre-eminent site of Hindu Goddess worship. It is revered as the yoni pītha, the place where the generative organ of the Goddess is worshipped. This thesis, centred on Kamakhya, explores the Hindu tradition of Goddess worship, Saktism, and both the possibilities and contradictions it presents for women. The research was undertaken from a feminist standpoint and employed a framework that was collaborative, cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary. Six women co-researchers from India, the U.S. and Australia took part in a pilgrimage that simultaneously explored the Kamakhya site, its history, symbols, myths and customs, alongside our own personal understandings of Saktism and its role in women’s spiritual empowerment. Our aim, in the face of contradictory evidence about the impact of Goddess traditions on the status of Hindu women, was to try to bridge cultural differences of interpretation and develop feminist readings of what may be enabling for women. The thesis establishes the basis of our collective fascination with Sakti, which denotes both the Goddess and the cosmic power she personifies. Through a combination of narrative, exposition of Indian sources and critical cultural analysis, I present our deliberations on the rich tapestry of themes we encountered. From the outset the thesis problematises the cross-cultural encounter and continues this frame throughout. The voices of the principal co-researchers emerge as they co-constitute the research, its methods and its implementation. Their central role is confirmed as the inquiry proceeds. Following the path of my preliminary encounters with the Goddess and with the co-researchers, pilgrimage is established as a traditional means of encountering the Goddess and, in the form we constructed, as a key experiential dimension of the research. In the encounter with Kamakhya, her dual persona as Mother Goddess and Goddess of Love is elaborated. The meanings and origins of both these aspects, their integration through the concept of srsti cosmic creation, and the implications for women of their associated practices of worship are explored at length. Finally, in light of the pilgrimage, I re-consider conjunctions between Saktism, feminist perspectives on women’s empowerment and theological horizons. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>This paper analyses the existence and nature of the sacred landscape Olands härad during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Olands härad is located in Northern Uppland, onthe way to Östhammar, about 30 km northeast of Uppsala. The interpretations are done with help of place names studies as well as archaeological finds. The results indicate that different types of cult locations can be found in the area.</p>

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This essay discuss if Bronze Age cult houses were present at Gotland during the Bronze Age. Bronze Age cult houses are a well know phenomenon on mainland Sweden but because of inventory problems no Bronze Age cult houses have been found on Gotland. The main reason for the inventory problems are the Iron Age house foundations that are present in a large number on Gotland, the cult houses and the Iron Age houses have some design details that makes them difficult to separate from each other. In this essay a number of criteria are presented to help separate cult houses from the Iron Age house foundations. Three criteria’s regarding cult houses on Gotland is also presented in this essay. Two house foundations that PhD student Joakim Wehlin, University of Gothenburg and Gotland University, found in Vallstena parish, Gotland, are presented in this essay. This two house foundations have design details that separate them from Iron Age houses and their location in the landscape suggest that they are not typical Iron Age houses. During the investigation of the Vallstena houses a phosphate mapping, a inventory of the houses and their surroundings and a mapping of the houses and their surroundings were performed to help determined the function of the houses.

This paper analyses the existence and nature of the sacred landscape Olands härad during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Olands härad is located in Northern Uppland, onthe way to Östhammar, about 30 km northeast of Uppsala. The interpretations are done with help of place names studies as well as archaeological finds. The results indicate that different types of cult locations can be found in the area.

Textbooks are the most dominant literature used in schools and are therefore an important source of information. Consequently, it is crucial that these are not misleading or biased and maintain a high quality along with a strict concordance to the School Department’s curriculum. The aims of this study have been to examine how Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hare Krishna are presented in four religion textbooks used in senior high schools, as well as to examine what type of knowledge is being presented in terms of epistemology. In addition, the aim has been to examine which religions are being presented and considered as alternative religions and appraise how much space they are granted in textbooks and discuss this in terms of concordance with curriculums. As a method I have chosen a qualitative content analysis and since it has been of interest to observe similarities and differences between the textbooks it is a comparative study. This study has an epistemological standpoint, which will be a crossing of positivism and hermeneutics. The results showed that some religions, including the study’s three focal religions, were considered as alternate in all of the textbooks. How often they were included varied and when they did they had limited space and would often have negative associations. Some textbooks expressed a positivistic epistemology, a type of knowledge that presented the alternate religions in terms of conclusive truths and facts. A presentation that appeared one-sided and it could be questioned how well it represented the actual beliefs of the members of the religions. Other textbooks conveyed a more hermeneutic view where understanding and versatility were stressed, a view that is more in line with curriculums. Conclusively, the results showed that some of the textbooks are not meeting the standards the School Department have set forth in their curriculum for religion. Since textbooks are the most dominant literature they ought to have a leading position when constructing fundamental values for the students. However, when schools and textbooks are not expressing the same values a conflict emerges, a conflict that is not getting the attention it should and whose consequences are yet to be studied.

This thesis examines Phrygian cultic sites in Western Phrygia from the perspective of landscape using a range of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) analyses. More specifically, it explores spatial relationships between these cultic sites and the regional geographical context with reference to certain environmental and cultural parameters. These include topography, geology, and distance to settlements, hilltop sites, and ancient roads. A total of 30 Phrygian cultic sites form the primary archaeological evidence. Secondary archaeological evidence covers a range of mound settlements and hilltop sites associated with Phrygian culture. The study heavily relies on the readily available archaeological site data from related publications and recent surveys in the region. Geographic datasets used include ASTER Global DEM and derived surfaces, as well as digital geological and historical maps. This study contributes to our understanding of Phrygian cultic sites by revealing certain patterns as to their locations. It also brings all the available site data from Western Phrygia together for the first time. Ultimately, it suggests that the &ldquo / highlandscapes&rdquo / of Phrygia with spectacular geological formations could have played a crucial role on the cultic site locations.

This essay is about the religious change that Jing-cult underwent 600-1500 A.D. It is a historical-critical essay based on literature studies, using Håkan Rydving’s theory of religious change. In chronological order, it will go through the religious change from ancient Japan to the late Muromachi-period when Shinto was created. It describes the early temple- cult, buddhism's mission to Japan and how the Jingikan was created. Further, it addresses the changes that occurred with the immigration from Korea and the consequences involved in the creation of the great temple-shrine complex in which Shinto and buddhism fused. Finally, it tells how the theological thinking of Japanese buddhism and the Jingi-cult changed and created Shinto. The essay has the main focus on the Kami-tradition, the shrine-tradition and the study of Shinto. The essay discusses the changes that occurred in the end and draw conclusions about why they occurred. The conclusion reached is that buddhism has had a great influence and changed the Jingi-cult most. In history there has come about akultration between buddhism and the Jingi-cult that eventually resulted in the creation of Shinto.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur personer med ohälsa och lidande orsakat av sektmedlemskap upplever mötet med den psykiatriska vården. Studien hade en fenomenologisk hermeneutisk ansats och byggde på fem intervjuer med personer från fyra olika sekter som i samband med processen att lämna sekten kommit i kontakt med den psykiatriska vården. Resultatet beskrivs på tre tolkningsnivåer; naiv förståelse, strukturanalys och tolkad helhet. Den naiva analysen visade att personer med ohälsa och lidande orsakat av sektmedlemskap upplevde att mötet med den psykiatriska vården präglades av missförstånd och brist på kunskap om problematiken och vilka konsekvenserna blev när en person valde att lämna en sekt. Strukturanalysen resulterade i elva subteman, tre teman och ett huvudtema. Huvudtemat fick namnet Lost in Translation och sammanfattade kärnan i studiens resultat vilket var att personer med ohälsa och lidande orsakat av sektmedlemskap kände sig vilse och utanför och hade svårt att förstå och få förståelse för sin situation vilket ledde till missförstånd i mötet med den psykiatriska vården. Den tolkade helheten visade att de personer som kände sig sedda och bekräftade i sitt lidande hade en mer positiv upplevelse av mötet med den psykiatriska vården. / The aim of the study was to investigate how persons with illness and distress caused by cult membership experienced the encounter with psychiatric care. The study had a phenomenological hermeneutic approach and was based on five interviews with people from four different cults who in the process of leaving the cult had contact with psychiatric care. The result are described in three levels of interpretation; naive understanding, structural analysis and interpreted whole. The naive analysis showed that persons with illness and distress caused by cult membership experienced that the contact with psychiatric care was characterized by misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of the problems and the consequences that were a result of a person leaving a cult. The structural analysis resulted in eleven subthemes, three themes and an overall theme. The main theme was called Lost in Translation and summarized the essence of the results of the study which was that persons with illness and distress caused by cult membership felt lost and outside and had trouble to understand and to find understanding for their situation and that this caused misunderstandings in the encounter with psychiatric care. The interpreted whole showed that persons that felt that they were seen and confirmed in their suffering had a more positive experience of the encounter with psychiatric care.