abstract: This dissertation illuminates overlaps in Mormonism and the New Spirituality in North America, showing their shared history and epistemologies. As example of these connections, it introduces ethnographic data from women who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in order to show (a) how living LDS women adapt and integrate elements from the New Spirituality with Mormon ideas about the nature of reality into hybrid spiritualities; and (b) how they negotiate their blended religious identities both in relation to the current American New Spirituality milieu and the highly centralized, hierarchical, and patriarchal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The study focuses on religious hybridity with an emphasis on gender and the negotiation of power deriving from patriarchal religious authority, highlighting the dance between institutional power structures and individual authority. It illuminates processes and discourses of religious adaptation and synthesis through which these LDS women creatively and provocatively challenge LDS Church formal power structures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Religious Studies 2012

Text in Afrikaans / Die Baha'i-geloof is 'n nuwe onafhanklike wereldreligie en is redelik onbekend onder die bree Suid-Afrikaanse publiek. Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie (gebaseer op die fenomenologiese metode) het ten doel om die Baha'i-fenomeen op 'n nie-veroordelende wyse sander vooroordele te beskryf en om die Baha'is se eie Suid-Afrikaanse ervaring te registreer. Dit geskied eerstens deur 'n bespreking van die Baha'ise historiese gebeure (deel 1). Op hierdie wyse word die geloof in sy religieuse familiegroepering geplaas. Terselfdertyd verklaar hierdie deel die ontstaan en ontwikkeling van die Baha'i-geloof wereldwyd en in Suid-Afrika. Dit herdefinieer die verbondsgedagte en toon hoe Baha'is die eenheidsgedagte en die uitlewing van Baha 'u' llah se boodskap via die skepping van 'n Administratiewe orde vormgee. Sentrale Baha'i-konsepte (deel 2) aangaande die geestelike dimensie van die geloof word hierna aangestip. Dit word uitgebou met ongestruktureerde onderhoude met versigtig gekose deelnemers, waarin Baha'is dus self hul geloof in terme van die Baha'i-administrasie, wette, byeenkomste en bepalings, Godsbegrip en eskatologie sowel as hul antropologie en geskiedenis uitspel. Dit word ooreenkomstig die sentrale temas bespreek sodat 'n Baha'i-geheelbeeld gekonseptualiseer kan word. Dit word afgesluit met 'n bespreking van die Baha'i-wereldstaat as die vervulling van die profesie van die nuwe hemel en aarde. Verskeie gevolgtrekkings word uit hierdie data gemaak. Dit toon hoe die Baha'is Baha'u'llah se boodskap as sleutel gebruik sodat die moderne mens na die vestiging van 'n nuwe wereldkultuur gelei word. Hierdie strewe bekragtig die Baha'i-strategie en motto van eenheid in die verskeidenheid, en word as die oplossing vir die hedendaagse probleme van die moderne mens aangebied. Daar word dan met die Suid-Afrikaanse Baha'i-toekomsbeskouing afgesluit. / The Baha'i Faith is a new independent world religion and is vastly unknown to the South African public. The purpose of this qualitative research (based on the phenomenological method) is to describe the Baha'i phenomenon in an unbiased, non-judgemental way so that the own South African Baha'i experience is registered. The Baha'i history (part 1) is discussed first in order to place this faith in its own religious framework and to explain its origin and development worldwide as well as in South Africa. It establishes the message of the Covenant and shows how Baha'is are proclaming the unity idea and the message of Baha'u'llah via the establishment of the Administrative order. Central Baha'i concepts (part 2) concerning the spiritual dimension of the Baha'i faith are explored. It is expanded via unstructured interviews with carefully selected participants in order to let Baha'is explain their own administration, laws and regulations, concepts about God and their escatology as well as their anthropology and history. This is done in accordance to the central themes so that a total picture of Baha'i could be conceptualised. It ends with a discussion of the Baha'i worldstate as the fulfillment of the new heaven and earth prophecy. Different conclusions are made from these data. It shows how the Baha'is are using Baha'u'llah's message as the key in order to lead man to the establishment of a new modern world culture. This culture will be the fulfillment of the Baha'i strategy and motto of unity in diversity and serves as the Baha'i answer to the modern day problems. The thesis ends with the South African expectations of the future / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Th. (Religious Studies)

Cette thèse de doctorat discute trois questions principales. Tout d'abord, notre recherche atteste l’augmentation des nouveaux phénomènes religieux en Iran. Ensuite, elle les examine afin de découvrir leurs caractéristiques. Enfin, après avoir choisi l’appellation "New Spiritual Trainings" pour les identifier, cette étude analyse les raisons sociologiques derrière leur émergence dans la société iranienne. De ces analyses découle la thèse principale de notre propos: en analysant sociologiquement les conflits religieux au sein de la société iranienne, nous mettons l'accent, d'une part, sur la démonstration du processus de capture et de cristallisation de la religion par les institutions politiques en religion d'État et, d'autre part, sur la décristallisation de la religion par les individus à travers laquelle la notion de la "religion abritée" sera théorisée. / This research discusses three principle questions; firstly proving the rise of the new religious phenomena through the inquiry in Iran; secondly this research examines carefully the new religious phenomena appearing in Iranian society in order to discover their characteristics and find a suitable term to typify them. After selecting the label of “New Spiritual Trainings” (NSTs) for identifying such new phenomena, this study analyzes the sociological reasons behind this emergence in Iranian society. The main thesis of this dissertation is sociological analyses of religious conflicts within current Iranian society and also demonstrating the process by which religion is captured and crystallized into an official State religion by political institutions on one hand and de-crystallized by individuals on the other hand through which the concept of “harbored religion” will be theorized.

Text in Afrikaans / Die Baha'i-geloof is 'n nuwe onafhanklike wereldreligie en is redelik onbekend onder die bree Suid-Afrikaanse publiek. Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie (gebaseer op die fenomenologiese metode) het ten doel om die Baha'i-fenomeen op 'n nie-veroordelende wyse sander vooroordele te beskryf en om die Baha'is se eie Suid-Afrikaanse ervaring te registreer. Dit geskied eerstens deur 'n bespreking van die Baha'ise historiese gebeure (deel 1). Op hierdie wyse word die geloof in sy religieuse familiegroepering geplaas. Terselfdertyd verklaar hierdie deel die ontstaan en ontwikkeling van die Baha'i-geloof wereldwyd en in Suid-Afrika. Dit herdefinieer die verbondsgedagte en toon hoe Baha'is die eenheidsgedagte en die uitlewing van Baha 'u' llah se boodskap via die skepping van 'n Administratiewe orde vormgee. Sentrale Baha'i-konsepte (deel 2) aangaande die geestelike dimensie van die geloof word hierna aangestip. Dit word uitgebou met ongestruktureerde onderhoude met versigtig gekose deelnemers, waarin Baha'is dus self hul geloof in terme van die Baha'i-administrasie, wette, byeenkomste en bepalings, Godsbegrip en eskatologie sowel as hul antropologie en geskiedenis uitspel. Dit word ooreenkomstig die sentrale temas bespreek sodat 'n Baha'i-geheelbeeld gekonseptualiseer kan word. Dit word afgesluit met 'n bespreking van die Baha'i-wereldstaat as die vervulling van die profesie van die nuwe hemel en aarde. Verskeie gevolgtrekkings word uit hierdie data gemaak. Dit toon hoe die Baha'is Baha'u'llah se boodskap as sleutel gebruik sodat die moderne mens na die vestiging van 'n nuwe wereldkultuur gelei word. Hierdie strewe bekragtig die Baha'i-strategie en motto van eenheid in die verskeidenheid, en word as die oplossing vir die hedendaagse probleme van die moderne mens aangebied. Daar word dan met die Suid-Afrikaanse Baha'i-toekomsbeskouing afgesluit. / The Baha'i Faith is a new independent world religion and is vastly unknown to the South African public. The purpose of this qualitative research (based on the phenomenological method) is to describe the Baha'i phenomenon in an unbiased, non-judgemental way so that the own South African Baha'i experience is registered. The Baha'i history (part 1) is discussed first in order to place this faith in its own religious framework and to explain its origin and development worldwide as well as in South Africa. It establishes the message of the Covenant and shows how Baha'is are proclaming the unity idea and the message of Baha'u'llah via the establishment of the Administrative order. Central Baha'i concepts (part 2) concerning the spiritual dimension of the Baha'i faith are explored. It is expanded via unstructured interviews with carefully selected participants in order to let Baha'is explain their own administration, laws and regulations, concepts about God and their escatology as well as their anthropology and history. This is done in accordance to the central themes so that a total picture of Baha'i could be conceptualised. It ends with a discussion of the Baha'i worldstate as the fulfillment of the new heaven and earth prophecy. Different conclusions are made from these data. It shows how the Baha'is are using Baha'u'llah's message as the key in order to lead man to the establishment of a new modern world culture. This culture will be the fulfillment of the Baha'i strategy and motto of unity in diversity and serves as the Baha'i answer to the modern day problems. The thesis ends with the South African expectations of the future / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Th. (Religious Studies)

The purpose of this study is to examine how people express their beliefs in crystals through the comments section of one of Sweden's largest crystal retailers. The aim of the thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary religious expressions of crystal users. In total the study material consists of 172 comments collected from the website Ohlamoon.se written between January 2019 and September 2023. The study is conducted using a thematic content analysis and follows an abductive approach. Stark & Finke's Rational Choice Theory (2000) has been employed as the primary theory against which analysis questions are posed, the thesis also utilizes Heelas & Woodhead's (2005) description of The Subjective Turn as a secondary theory against which the results are discussed. The conclusions from the study revealed that crystals are described as possessing positive qualities that in various ways, reinforce, support, or comfort users. In this way crystals can be likened to personal pillars of support that actively contribute to users' lives with their properties and agency. Users form personal relationships and feelings of affection towards the crystals, utilizing their energy and presence in daily life as well as during meditation and rituals to achieve a sense of deeper spiritual states.

Durant le dernier demi-siècle, la religion, comme tous les autres domaines d’activité humaine, a connu plusieurs transformations importantes. La diminution considérable, durant cette période, de la pratique religieuse institutionnalisée est accompagnée de l’apparition d’une multitude de nouvelles formes de spiritualités qui tentent de répondre aux besoins religieux de l’homme occidental. Parmi les multiples manifestations de ce genre, on découvre une spiritualité distincte, appelée néo-chamanisme ou chamanisme urbain, réunissant de nombreuses pratiques contemporaines qui se définissent comme chamaniques. Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, nous nous sommes concentrés sur l’étude du phénomène néo-chamanique de Michael Harner, ex-professeur et directeur du département d’anthropologie au Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research à New York, et fondateur de la Foundation for Shamanic Studies (à l’avenir : FSS). La présente recherche a pour but d’analyser le néo-chamanisme de Harner et de définir sa place parmi les nouvelles formes de religiosités. La théorie de la recomposition du religieux de Danièle Hervieu-Léger sert de cadre d’analyse pour cette nouvelle forme de spiritualité. Dans la première partie, nous traitons le phénomène religieux contemporain sous l’angle socioreligieux. Nous présentons un aperçu global des transformations que celui-ci subit en modernité sous l’impact de la sécularisation. À l’aide de la théorie des nouvelles formes religieuses de Danièle Hervieu-Léger, nous mettons en lumière les principales règles selon lesquelles une nouvelle configuration du religieux se déploie dans le contexte occidental contemporain. Dans la seconde partie, nous examinons le chamanisme traditionnel sous l’angle anthropologique. Nous faisons la lecture d’études classiques sur le chamanisme. Il apparaît que le chamanisme classique est communautaire, réservé à quelques personnes choisies par les esprits et que le processus laborieux d’initiation permettant d’accéder à cette fonction implique certains éléments spécifiques parmi lesquels on compte la maladie initiatique, la mort rituelle et la résurrection de la personne. Dans la troisième partie, nous examinons le néo-chamanisme de Harner. Nous rendons compte de son ouvrage majeur La voie spirituelle du chamane : Le Secret d'un sorcier indien d’Amérique du Nord et nous examinons l’expérience chamanique de la Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS). Il se dégage de cette étude que l’approche de Harner se veut l’expression d’un chamanisme fondamental et universel adapté à la société contemporaine. La pratique néo-chamanique de Harner se focalise sur le voyage chamanique et sur le contact avec le monde des esprits comme des éléments qui sont au cœur du chamanisme traditionnel. C’est une pratique axée principalement sur l’individu à des fins d’accomplissement de soi et d’(auto)guérison. Elle attire généralement des personnes dont le niveau de scolarité est élevé, disposées à payer pour les services fournis par la fondation. À la fin de notre étude, nous dégageons les conclusions générales suivantes : le néo-chamanisme de Harner s’éloigne de la tradition chamanique et la transforme en une spiritualité nouvelle adaptée aux besoins des Occidentaux; il reflète les transformations subies par le fait religieux pendant la période moderne; il s’adresse principalement à un public en quête de services spirituels ciblés et ponctuels et il favorise une forme de communalisation temporaire et intense; cependant, l’individuation de la pratique chamanique est porteuse de ses effets politiques et néocoloniaux. / Since the last half century, religion as all the other human working fields has passed through lots of significant transformations. The considerable diminishing, during that period, of the institutionalized religious practice is accompanied by the apparition of a multitude of new forms of spirituality that tempt to answer to the western human religious needs. Through the multiple manifestations of this kind it has been discovered a distinct spirituality named neo-shamanism or urban shamanism that gathers under this name a multitude of contemporaneous practices that are defined as shamanic. We focused on Michael Harner’s study about the neo-shamanism phenomenon, ex-professor and manager of the department of anthropology to Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York and founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies (from now: FSS). The present research objective is to analyze Harner’s neo-shamanism and to identify its place between the new religious contemporary forms .The concept of recomposing Harner’s religious ideology becomes the focus of the analysis of this new form of spirituality. In the first part, we address the religious contemporary phenomenon from a socio religious point of view. We present a global view over the transformations that this phenomenon suffered during the modern period under the influence of secularisation. With the help of the new religious forms theory of Danièle Hervieu-Léger, we emphasize the main rules that run the religious configuration in the contemporary western context. In the second part we analyse the traditional shamanism from an anthropological point of view. We are skimming the prior classical studies about shamanism. It seems that the classical shamanism is communitarian, reserved to some persons that are chosen by spirits and that the hardworking process of initiation allowing to have access to this function implies some specific elements like the initiatic illness, the ritual death and the person’s resurrection. In the third part, we analyse Harner’s neo-shamanism. We focused our analyzing on his main work La voie spirituelle du chamane: Le Secret d'un sorcier indien d’Amérique du Nord and we analyse the shamanic experience from Foundation for Shamanic Studies. The idea that gets out from this study is that Harner’s shamanic approach wants to be the expression of a fundamental one and universally adapted to the contemporary society. Harner’s neo-shamanic practice is focused on the shamanic trip and on the contact with the spirit’s world as being elements that make up the core of the traditional shamanism. It’s a practice mainly focused on the individual that has self accomplishments and (self) healing ends. It appeals generally to persons highly educated and ready to pay for the foundation’s services. At the end of our study, we get out the following conclusions: Harner’s neo-shamanism gets distance from the shamanic tradition and turns it into a new spirituality adapted to western people’s needs; Harner’s neo-shamanism reflects the transformations that the religions suffers during the modern period. It addresses mainly to a public in quest of concrete spiritual services and it gives advantage to a form of temporary and intense communalisation; however, the individualisation of the shamanic practice is carries its political and neo-colonial effects.

Durant le dernier demi-siècle, la religion, comme tous les autres domaines d’activité humaine, a connu plusieurs transformations importantes. La diminution considérable, durant cette période, de la pratique religieuse institutionnalisée est accompagnée de l’apparition d’une multitude de nouvelles formes de spiritualités qui tentent de répondre aux besoins religieux de l’homme occidental. Parmi les multiples manifestations de ce genre, on découvre une spiritualité distincte, appelée néo-chamanisme ou chamanisme urbain, réunissant de nombreuses pratiques contemporaines qui se définissent comme chamaniques. Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, nous nous sommes concentrés sur l’étude du phénomène néo-chamanique de Michael Harner, ex-professeur et directeur du département d’anthropologie au Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research à New York, et fondateur de la Foundation for Shamanic Studies (à l’avenir : FSS). La présente recherche a pour but d’analyser le néo-chamanisme de Harner et de définir sa place parmi les nouvelles formes de religiosités. La théorie de la recomposition du religieux de Danièle Hervieu-Léger sert de cadre d’analyse pour cette nouvelle forme de spiritualité. Dans la première partie, nous traitons le phénomène religieux contemporain sous l’angle socioreligieux. Nous présentons un aperçu global des transformations que celui-ci subit en modernité sous l’impact de la sécularisation. À l’aide de la théorie des nouvelles formes religieuses de Danièle Hervieu-Léger, nous mettons en lumière les principales règles selon lesquelles une nouvelle configuration du religieux se déploie dans le contexte occidental contemporain. Dans la seconde partie, nous examinons le chamanisme traditionnel sous l’angle anthropologique. Nous faisons la lecture d’études classiques sur le chamanisme. Il apparaît que le chamanisme classique est communautaire, réservé à quelques personnes choisies par les esprits et que le processus laborieux d’initiation permettant d’accéder à cette fonction implique certains éléments spécifiques parmi lesquels on compte la maladie initiatique, la mort rituelle et la résurrection de la personne. Dans la troisième partie, nous examinons le néo-chamanisme de Harner. Nous rendons compte de son ouvrage majeur La voie spirituelle du chamane : Le Secret d'un sorcier indien d’Amérique du Nord et nous examinons l’expérience chamanique de la Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS). Il se dégage de cette étude que l’approche de Harner se veut l’expression d’un chamanisme fondamental et universel adapté à la société contemporaine. La pratique néo-chamanique de Harner se focalise sur le voyage chamanique et sur le contact avec le monde des esprits comme des éléments qui sont au cœur du chamanisme traditionnel. C’est une pratique axée principalement sur l’individu à des fins d’accomplissement de soi et d’(auto)guérison. Elle attire généralement des personnes dont le niveau de scolarité est élevé, disposées à payer pour les services fournis par la fondation. À la fin de notre étude, nous dégageons les conclusions générales suivantes : le néo-chamanisme de Harner s’éloigne de la tradition chamanique et la transforme en une spiritualité nouvelle adaptée aux besoins des Occidentaux; il reflète les transformations subies par le fait religieux pendant la période moderne; il s’adresse principalement à un public en quête de services spirituels ciblés et ponctuels et il favorise une forme de communalisation temporaire et intense; cependant, l’individuation de la pratique chamanique est porteuse de ses effets politiques et néocoloniaux. / Since the last half century, religion as all the other human working fields has passed through lots of significant transformations. The considerable diminishing, during that period, of the institutionalized religious practice is accompanied by the apparition of a multitude of new forms of spirituality that tempt to answer to the western human religious needs. Through the multiple manifestations of this kind it has been discovered a distinct spirituality named neo-shamanism or urban shamanism that gathers under this name a multitude of contemporaneous practices that are defined as shamanic. We focused on Michael Harner’s study about the neo-shamanism phenomenon, ex-professor and manager of the department of anthropology to Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York and founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies (from now: FSS). The present research objective is to analyze Harner’s neo-shamanism and to identify its place between the new religious contemporary forms .The concept of recomposing Harner’s religious ideology becomes the focus of the analysis of this new form of spirituality. In the first part, we address the religious contemporary phenomenon from a socio religious point of view. We present a global view over the transformations that this phenomenon suffered during the modern period under the influence of secularisation. With the help of the new religious forms theory of Danièle Hervieu-Léger, we emphasize the main rules that run the religious configuration in the contemporary western context. In the second part we analyse the traditional shamanism from an anthropological point of view. We are skimming the prior classical studies about shamanism. It seems that the classical shamanism is communitarian, reserved to some persons that are chosen by spirits and that the hardworking process of initiation allowing to have access to this function implies some specific elements like the initiatic illness, the ritual death and the person’s resurrection. In the third part, we analyse Harner’s neo-shamanism. We focused our analyzing on his main work La voie spirituelle du chamane: Le Secret d'un sorcier indien d’Amérique du Nord and we analyse the shamanic experience from Foundation for Shamanic Studies. The idea that gets out from this study is that Harner’s shamanic approach wants to be the expression of a fundamental one and universally adapted to the contemporary society. Harner’s neo-shamanic practice is focused on the shamanic trip and on the contact with the spirit’s world as being elements that make up the core of the traditional shamanism. It’s a practice mainly focused on the individual that has self accomplishments and (self) healing ends. It appeals generally to persons highly educated and ready to pay for the foundation’s services. At the end of our study, we get out the following conclusions: Harner’s neo-shamanism gets distance from the shamanic tradition and turns it into a new spirituality adapted to western people’s needs; Harner’s neo-shamanism reflects the transformations that the religions suffers during the modern period. It addresses mainly to a public in quest of concrete spiritual services and it gives advantage to a form of temporary and intense communalisation; however, the individualisation of the shamanic practice is carries its political and neo-colonial effects.

G. R. S. Mead is an important but neglected historical personality of the British fin-de-siècle occult, Theosophical, and post-Theosophical milieu. While previous scholars of Theosophy have portrayed the Theosophical movement as quite cohesive in nature, I argue that it might have been a lot more pluralistic, with ostensibly key Theosophical concepts being open for debate. By a careful study of Mead’s editorial activity, his debates with other Theosophists in leading occultist journal over the period 1890s through 1910s, I illustrate that Mead held alternative views of key Theosophical concepts. This gives us a clue as to how the movement of Theosophy can be characterized differently. I suggest that we speak of many different “Theosophies” rather than one singular “Theosophy” to better capture the seemingly diverse makeup of the Theosophical movement. I look at three areas wherein Mead’s views differed from those of other important Theosophists: the concept of “the Masters” as spiritual authority, which sources to turn to and how to interpret them, and the question of whether occultism should be understood primarily in theoretical or in practical terms. I propose that by seeing Theosophy as a debating ground where many different Theosophists competed over the definition of their particular kind of Theosophy, we might also better account for why so many post-Theosophical currents emerged. Lastly, Mead’s concept of “Gnosis” might have served as a bridge between his Theosophical and post-Theosophical periods, as the concept’s meaning, along with Mead’s spiritual outlook, does not appear to have changed over time. This gives some consequences to how we conceive of post-Theosophy, since he does not fit neatly within that category.