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筆者在徽州田野考察時，發現當地人常表達出兩套關於祖先的觀念：第一，徽州人的祖先，就是神明；第二，即使祖先和神明身份重疊，當地人卻能清楚分辨祭於祠堂的祖先，和祭於廟宇的祖先，不會混淆祭祀的場所。這兩套觀念，其實表達出徽州人在宋明間祖先形象的變化。箇中的變化並不單純是「祖先」、「神明」此等稱謂的改變，而是一套與王朝政策息息相關的祭祖儀式漸漸出現。 / 自南宋遷都杭州後，徽州的地位在宋朝政府變得非常重要，冊封徽州地方神明這套禮儀是王朝與地方建立關係的重要手段。同時，這些受王朝賜封神號和廟額的神明，亦被視為徽州人的祖先，供奉在廟宇，享受地方信眾的香火和經濟捐贈；元朝時期徽州士人開始流行以譜系追溯遠祖，這套文字方式將神明祖先及其後裔一代一代的聯繫起來，但卻不見於應用在祭祀儀式上；到了明朝，政府推行的戶籍登記以及後來的賦役改革，迫使地方社會要仔細劃分神廟祭祀和祠堂祭祀，否則難以確保祭祀場所和祭產的擁有權。 / 盡管在祠堂祭祀祖先的儀式在明朝中葉普及起來，但並不表示神明祭祀的傳統因而消失，所以在徽州地方社會上，同時存在著在廟宇祭祀神明祖先的禮儀和在祠堂祭祀宗族祖先的禮儀。 / 筆者的研究方法，是以歷史人類學的視野，結合歷史學對時間變遷的敏感和人類學對地方社會的細膩觀察，利用族譜、碑文、地方志、文集和田野考察所得的資料，重構徽州地方社會這段獨特的發展，展示出徽州人對祖先的理解，如何由神明拉近至放在村內祠堂祭祀的木主。 / In my visits to Huizhou, I was attracted by the interesting phenomenon that there are two different kinds of concepts about ancestor in Huizhou. The first concept is that some ancestors are recognized as deities in government gazette, genealogy and document. They got a double image. In second concept, although those ancestors are recognized as deities, the difference between the rituals of ancestral worship in temple and of deity worship in ancestral hall is very clear. One of the most interesting cases is Wang Hua, who had been remaining an important regional god and an ancestor of the Huizhou Wangs since the Sung dynasty, but who also came in the Ming dynasty to be worshiped as the ancestors in ancestral hall, separated from the worship of deity Wang Hua in temple. This thesis examines this phenomenon by studying the transformations of Huizhou society from the Song through the Ming. / This thesis argues that the gradual shift in Huizhou society from the worship of gods in temples to the worship of ancestors in halls is a long process of integration between local society and the state. This process, which reached a now-agreed upon turning point in a 1536 decree of the emperor Jiajing, followed different paths in different parts of China. In Huizhou, various lineages gradually came into existence that was based on the foundation of worship of gods in temple. They at first worshiped their ancestors together with local gods in the temples of the latter and only gradually moved to the building of independent ancestor halls. / By using a range of rare documents, genealogies, government gazettes, current observation of the environment of villages, and interview recorded in the field, the thesis reconstructs the history of traditional Huizhou society that is in marked contrast with the history of other regions in South China. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 郭錦洲 = Distance from ancestor : the change of ancestral worship in Huizhou from the Song to Ming dynasty / Kwok Kam Chau. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-189). / Abstracts also in English. / Guo Jinzhou = Distance from ancestor : the change of ancestral worship in Huizhou from the Song to Ming Dynasty / Kwok Kam Chau.

The purpose of the study is to show the presence of Christ in Fanteland by treating five Fante ancestral and current narratives as analogues of Genesis XIV and interpreting the resulting interpenetrating Scripture and Fante narratives sensus plenior in the manner of Hebrews VII for Fante Christians, revealing the hidden presence of Christ in them. This is made possible by a postulate of an affinity between the Hebrew world view and that of the Fante. What is considered right behaviour in Fanteland is also resonant with the ethics in Hebrews. A section on ethics arising out of the presence of Christ in the narrative follows in each case. The first chapter is introductory giving the aim and objectives of the study the justification, scope and limitations. This is followed by the intellectual framework from secondary sources and the methodology used. In Chapter II there is a comparison of the world view of Hebrews and of Fanteland with a view to seeing their affinity. Chapters III -V give the literary and historical background to each narrative, the narratives themselves and a theological and ethical meditation. In conclusion the fruit of these meditations is summarized and an evaluation is made. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

This thesis studies the religious system of the city of Rome and its immediate hinterland from the end of the Second Punic War to the emergence of autocratic rule shortly before the turn of the millennium. The Romans lacked a separate word for 'religion'. Scholars therefore hold that modern notions of religion, due to their Christianizing assumptions, cannot be applied to Roman religion, which consisted in public and social religious observance rather than in individual spirituality. The first chapter argues that Roman religion can be conceptualized as a system of social religious behaviour and individual motivational processes. A comparative definition of 'religion', which transcends Christianizing assumptions, is proposed to support this argument. In chapter two, modern interpretations of Roman religion, which view Republican religion as a 'closed system' in which religion is undifferentiated from politics and from public life, are criticized. It is argued that these interpretations start from unwarranted preconceptions concerning the interrelation of religion and society. Instead, I suggest that we should apply the model of an 'open system': the religious system at Rome was interrelated with its environment, but at the same time it could be conceptualized as being differentiated from other realms of social activity at Rome. Chapter three refutes the view that the identity of religion at Rome can be described by models of political or cultural identity. Instead, religious communication in Late Republican Rome was characterized by contextual rather than by substantive meanings. The fluidity of religious meaning in Late Republican Rome, a metropolis of nearly 1,000,000 inhabitants, implies that normative definitions of the constituents of Roman religion fail to convince. In relation to coloniae and municipia it is attempted to show that the religious system of Rome, a local religion geared to the physical city and its immediate hinterland, was not capable of becoming a universal religion. In the fourth chapter, the parameters organizing Roman religion are discussed. My thesis is that Roman religion in the Late Republic was decentralized in that religious authority was diffused and religious responsibilities were divided. In the city of Rome, there existed a market of religious alternatives, which was characterized by the compatibility of different deities and cults in a polytheistic context.

Through a case study of female traditional healers who practice same sex relationships, this study attempts to provide some reasons for the opposition to same sex-relationships in Africa. The main question that the study grapples with is: If traditional healers practice same sex relationships, why does the Zulu community (and African communities in general) insist that same sex relationships are “un-African?” Given that homosexuality has been labeled as “un-African” and “un-cultural”, how does one explain the existence of homosexual relationships amongst Zulu sangomas, who are considered the custodians of culture? The study draws on the experiences of ten female traditional healers from Kwa-Ngcolosi and Inanda. The data was produced through workshops, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Queer theory and African feminist cultural hermeneutics were the lenses through which the data was analyzed. The findings show that beliefs in procreation as a means for the continual survival of the ancestors in the community and beliefs in the supremacy of the male in society as demonstrated in the killing of lesbians are the major reasons for the rejection of same sex relationships in African societies. The study concludes that within the traditional belief systems of the ancestors, women do have authority and can choose alternative relationships. Furthermore, in the sphere of traditional healing, recognition is given to different sexualities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This work is about the secular significance of religious expression in Spain. It is also primarily an ethnographic study of several aspects of everyday life in a Spanish town in 1981. There are four main aims: to explain the relationship between local customs and beliefs and nationally sanctioned symbol systems - in particular, but among others, the relationship between the 750 year old cult of the Cross of Caravaca and the Catholic Church and Spanish State; to describe the unique behaviour of the Fiesta of the Caballos del Vino, and to give an account of one instance of the popular Moors and Christians Fiesta; to describe and analyse the social structure of a provincial town; and to show how important symbols are affected by social change. The thesis is divided into five parts and a conclusion. The first part deals with the geographical setting and the relationship of this study of Caravaca to other anthropological studies undertaken in Spain. The second is concerned with the details of everyday life. It shows the relationship between town and countryside and between everyday economic and political concerns and everyday religious activities. The third part includes a description of the largest and most influential institution in the town - the Cofradia —- and a discussion of religious devotion and the cult of the Cross of Caravaca. The fourth, a description of the Fiestas held in honour of the Cross of Caravaca, and especially the Jubilee year of the 750th anniversary of the apparition of the Cross, the pageant of Moors and Christians, and the unique 'Horses of the Wine 1 competition, provides a contrast with more mundane activities. In the fifth part an examination of the Fiesta symbols contains a discussion of festival behaviour in relation to the everyday life of the town, and changes that have taken place and continue to take place. These sections are followed by a brief conclusion.

This dissertation examines the church planting strategies and methods that were used by the Ghana Baptist Convention and the Ghana Baptist Mission between 1960 and 2000. The goal is to come up with strategies and methods that will help the convention to plant healthy and indigenous churches. Chapter 1 introduces the strategies and methods that the Ghana Baptist convention and mission have used in the attempt to plant healthy indigenous churches. The chapter discusses the level of evangelization of Ghana as outlined in the GEC 1993 Survey and touches on such issues as nominalism the 14000 unevangelized villages and towns and also the 3.2 million unevangelized northern people and other aliens in southern Ghana. Chapter 2 describes Ghana. The chapter describes the geography of Ghana and covers the history, culture, socio-political, and economic environment as well as the religious situation in Ghana. Chapter 3 discusses the history of the Baptist work in Ghana. It begins with history of Christianity in Ghana. The second and the main part of the chapter covers the history of the Ghana Baptist Mission and the Ghana Baptist convention from 1947 to the present day. Chapter 4 examines the strategies and methods that the convention and the mission have used to plant churches. It ties down the strategies and methods to various time periods that they were used. The chapter begins with the strategies and methods of church planting that have been used by evangelicals as basis of comparison. The fifth chapter evaluates and critiques the strategies and methods of church planting that the convention and the mission have used. The chapter, first of all, outlines the criteria for analyzing healthy indigenous church planting strategies and methods. The chapter then analyzes the strategies and methods of church planting that have been used by other denominations and organizations including the PCG, the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Church of Pentecost, the Deeper Life Ministry and the Miracle Life Church and COF. The last and major part of the chapter critiques the strategies and methods of church planting that the Ghana Baptist convention and mission have used. Chapter 6 covers recommendations to the Ghana Baptist convention based on the study and the conclusion. The chapter also covers suggestions for further research on issues church planting issues that were not addressed by this dissertation. It ends with the challenges that writer poses to the convention as it strives to plant healthy indigenous churches.

Thesis (M.Arch (Professional)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2016. / India is currently undergoing a rapid transformation economically, consciously and spatially. A layout of national infrastructure is happening at a pace which may be ungovernable, in its current state and India’s historical and natural landscapes are in jeopardy. One such ecological resource is the Ganga (colonialised as the Ganges), which through continued pollution is reaching a point of irreversible damage. There is, however, still hope. Accordingly, this thesis moves from an overview of India in the globalised world, through a rephrasing of how “development” is understood and manifests itself to the suggestion of an overall plan to understand and implement it in a way that is co-ordinated in intention but regionally and contextually responsive in application. Through Homi Bhabha’s theoretical perspective of cultural hybridisation the discourse of creating a new infrastructural identity for India is introduced. The current political focus on the Ganga, created by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, through a renewed and trending agenda for cleaning the holy river, acts as a platform to explore the possibilities of infrastructure within this context . The Ganga River has been a religious symbol for millennia and the life force to approximately 500 million people. Through continued and increased pollution the quality of its water now radically exceeds the minimum requirements for safe drinking, bathing or even agricultural use. The Ganga River symbolises a cosmological relationship between people and the ecological environment, which requires that pollution be approached from a holistic viewpoint responding to the weight of its cultural value. This contextualized approach has the potential to become a catalyst for new innovative approaches to the integration of infrastructure throughout the river network . By using the political momentum created in the city, by the national project, this thesis is realised through a multiplicity of conflicting lenses inherent to Varanasi, one of India’s holiest cities. The city itself is growing economically but at the price of its prized ancient heritage. It possesses a cosmological value unparalleled by any other city in the country thus making it an emotionally powerful tool to mobilise a cleaning project for the river. If infrastructure is not implemented correctly the threat to the city’s unique character becomes real. This challenge created the Meta question for my research: How do you implement infrastructure into the sacred landscape? Through various degrees of research, both intuitive and informed, a system to clean water is designed in a way that truly integrates into a cultural landscape. The proposed design establishes itself as the first intervention in a national network for cleaning the River. By taking into account the infrastructural, ecological and sociological requirements of the city and its daily life the water purification sanctuary mediates the conflicting programmatic requirements between spirituality and science. Through an understanding that purity of water has a number of connotations within the site context the building utilises various treatment methods to reinforce the sanctity ABSTRACT of water through a hybrid mediation of heritage, nature, science and infrastructures (both vernacular and modern). This new typology enables the interaction of people with water cleaning infrastructure at a local scale and offers a way forward in redefining a national identity that is bound up in these currently conflicting imperatives.

從服食雲母得仙的嶺南何氏女，到增城邑人何泰抗婚的女兒，最後成為以「仙姑之後」自詡的何姓居民敬奉的「仙姑婆」─女仙，未嫁女兒，祖姑，這幾種身份在帝國晚期共同交織出增江沿岸何仙姑信仰多元的面向，也揭示了這塊山水交會之地上的人群在流徙與生根落戶之間拓蕪興荒、聚合與爭競的歷史。本文結合文獻（text）、歷史（history）與田野調查（fieldwork），在區域社會史的架構和歷史人類學的理論關懷下，探討廣東增江地區以女神「何仙姑」之名為中心的傳說系統和崇拜活動，是如何具體在一方水土之上為不同的人群與勢力團體所襲用與創造，漸層堆疊交織成為帝國晚期的樣貌。透過析縷何仙姑信仰與增江沿岸社會從宋代自清中葉相互構造的歷史過程，本文試圖呈現神祇傳說與廟祀傳統背後所隱含的人群關係、社會樣貌與歷史文化傳統，並揭示神祇的靈顯之名是為何與如何鑲嵌進入地方社會的組織結構與文化肌理之中，以及在這樣的過程中被改變，留存，或新創。本文認為，增城何仙姑信仰具體說明了一方之神的靈顯之名，實為複雜的宗教、文化、地域傳統先後參與對話的結果。所謂地方宗教（local religion）傳統的「地方性」（localness），除了植根並展演於為特定地理疆界所定義的地域社會之中，實際上還是鄉土邊界以內和以外紛陳的政治社會文化勢力相互激盪和構造出來的產物。裰織仙名的歷程揭示了仙姑之名的不朽，實來自社區生活的展延、地方歷史敘事的不斷更新以及敬拜人群持續選擇與實踐的結果。本文指出，以「何仙姑」之名在地方社會中上為各方士庶所敬拜的神祇，對於敬拜者而言，不是同一位（the same/unified）神明，而是共同的（common/commonly shared）神明。在增江沿岸社會，「何仙姑」作為一個具有豐厚歷史文化積澱的神話人物，其傳說與廟祀實踐所體現的主流文化和神祇的多重形象，一方面為面臨不同機遇的行動者提供了豐富多元的象徵資源，一方面也在立場、動機互異的行動者之間鋪陳了一個可以對話與行動的共同基礎，這是此一信仰傳統能夠持續呼應世道並存續綿延的主要原因。 / Female deity, unmarried daughter, and grand paternal aunt─are the three dominant identities that have mutually characterized the cult of the Goddess He Xiangu (the Transcendent Maiden He) in the local society along the Zeng River in Guangdong since the mid-Qingto date. Drawing upon the perspective of regional social history and historical anthropology, this study adopts an interdisciplinary text-history-fieldwork investigation into how these three identities had overlapped over a period from the Song to the Mid-Qing. By mapping the historical and social settings wherein the cult had been crafted, I depict in detail the process through which the image and identity of the deity had been shaped, renovated, and appropriated by diverse social groups in multi-layered historical conditions. It is in fact the result of an on-going interactive dialogue among multiple religious, cultural, and local traditions. In this process of the social affairs associated with the legend and religious practices, the role of community and collective memories are proved decisive. The study shows that the localness of the local religion/cults was taken formed by the diverse socio-political powers and cultural traditions that not only existed within but also beyond the boundary of the given local society. Through elucidating the transformation of the cult, I consider that as a local symbol of divinity with abundant meanings, what the goddess meant to her believers may be of the same title "He Xiangu" but with variant interpretations according to different ways of adaptation from commonly-shared understandings among local communities. This explains the complexity of the legend and religious practices. In a shell, it also shows us how the cult meanders with the path of history and keeps echoing to the sound of the new world. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 廖小菁 = The fabrication of divine prestige : the making of the He Xiangu cult and local society from the Song to the mid-Qing dynasty / Liao Hsiao Ching. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-235). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Liao Xiaojing = The fabrication of divine prestige : the making of the He Xiangu cult and local society from the Song to the mid-Qing dynasty / Liao Hsiao Ching.

by Cheris, Shun-ching Chan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 212-222). / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Abbreviations --- p.iii / Introduction --- p.1 / Part I - Contexts for the Present Study --- p.1 / Disenchantment - Reenchantment Dialogue --- p.2 / Reenchantment in Hong Kong? --- p.16 / Part II - Methodological Note --- p.23 / Chapters / Chapter I --- "Enchantment, Disenchantment and Reenchantment" --- p.30 / The Concept of Sacredness and Sacred Order --- p.30 / A Review of the Relation between Sacred Order and Secular Reality --- p.33 / Sacred Order in the Enchanted World --- p.37 / Sacred Order in the Disenchanted World --- p.41 / New Religious Movements as a Manifestation of Reenchantment? --- p.48 / Chapter II --- Epitome of the New Sacred Order - The Emergence and the Worldview of the Lingsu Exo-Esoterics (靈修顯密宗） --- p.56 / The Emergence and Development --- p.56 / The Sacred Worldview --- p.65 / Chapter III --- Epitome of the New Sacred Order - The Ethos of the Lingsu Exo-Esoterics (靈修顯密宗） --- p.79 / Sacred Symbols --- p.79 / Sacred and Secular Orders of Life --- p.100 / Chapter IV --- Constitution and Location of the New Sacred Order --- p.120 / Sacred Basis of the Secular Ethos : Making Sense of the Secular Mode of Life --- p.121 / Constitution of the New Sacredness --- p.131 / Man as God / Inner-Worldly Eclecticism / Location of the New Sacred Order --- p.136 / Subjectivization and Privatization of the Sacred Order / Demagicifying Religious Practices / Sacralization of Secular Way of Life / Chapter V --- Reconstitution of Sacred Order and Social Reality --- p.146 / Sacred Order as a Model of Social Reality --- p.147 / As a Model of Hierarchy / As a Model of Individualism and Intellectualism / "As a Model of Pluralism, Subjectivism and Relativism" / Aa a Model of Secularism and Materialism / Role of Rationality and Intellect in the Sacred Model / Sacred Order as a Model for Social Reality --- p.167 / As a Model for Social Maintenance / As a Model for Social Transformation / As a Drawback to Social Integration / Sacred Order and Social Reality --- p.184 / Conclusion --- p.184 / New Sacred Order as a Manifestation of Reenchantment --- p.189 / Reenchantment in Dialectical Sense --- p.193 / Implications --- p.198 / Appendix / Chapter I --- The Lingsu Disciples' Attitudes towards My Field Research --- p.201 / Chapter II --- Some Personal Details of the Lingsu Disciples --- p.203 / Bibliography --- p.212