Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The aim of my research project is to give a theological reflection on the practice of initiation rites within Masasi district, in south-east Tanzania. While initiation remains a very significant tradition among the Yao, Makonde and Makua tribes in Masasi, the ancestral cult and the content of sex related education in these rites have presented challenges to the Christian communities. Some Christians do not feel comfortable with the inclusion of the ancestor cult since this does not immediately seem to agree with Christian doctrine. There is also a general acknowledgment that the rites could be partly responsible for the premature involvement in sexual activity by young people. In the past theological attempts were made to Christianise Masasi initiation rites with the hope of addressing these two issues highlighted above. This approach had its difficulties and limitations since not all communities in Masasi villages are Christian and since religious diversity has to be respected. Furthermore, in areas where Christianisation has been put into effect, not much change has been recorded with regards to the two main problems noted above. Christianisation simply touched on the form but did not influence the content of rites. Other theologies, especially in missionary circles, viewed initiation as an antithesis of Christianity, a view which undoubtedly discouraged constructive Christian dialogue with the practice. African theologians on the other hand seem not to have produced much systematised treatments on the subject of rites which otherwise would have been useful materials to various African Christian communities. As a result of these and other inadequacies we have a problem as far as what should be done to have the Christian faith inform the processes within the rites of passage. What kind of theology will respect the culture and yet uphold teachings of the biblical tradition in addressing cultural initiation? In this project I am proposing a theology of ‘inculturation and transformation’ to address the impasse described above. Inculturation “describes the process of integration of the faith and life of the church in a given culture” (Pobee 1992:35). The aim of inculturation is to express the Christian faith in a culturally relevant manner so as to transform the culture. Initiation rites will be made to engage with the Christian theology in such a way that the precepts of biblical theology will be applied to rites with a view to moulding those aspects of rites that are not consistent with the teachings of the Bible. The good elements already found in these rites will be maintained. The goal of inculturation is not to destroy the rites but to present the rites “in a far more perfect way on an essentially different and infinitely higher level” (Nyamiti 1971:6). Through inculturation the underlying cultural worldview behind rites is taken into account. Inculturationtransformation theology aims at addressing the inner levels of culture. For this to happen the Gospel has to go in-culture and mould it from within.September 2009

The purpose of this study is to examine the way in which the earliest followers of Jesus experienced the rites of baptism and the Eucharist, which in turn could aid us to comprehend what kind of value baptism and the Eucharist might add to our lives today. My point of entry reflects that of current research which indicates that baptism and the Eucharist can be perceived as symbolic rites. Rites consist of rituals and ceremonies, and in this case baptism can be described as an initiation and status transformation ritual, while the Eucharist can be seen as a ceremony of integration and participation. As with other symbols, the earliest baptism and Eucharist carried meaning because they were performed for a reason and they added value to people’s lives. Extensive research has already been carried out on the origins of baptism and the Eucharist. However, it has not been investigated whether this ritual of initiation and ceremony of participation could be understood anew if one takes the contemporary knowledge of alternate states of consciousness into consideration. As a result of cross-cultural anthropological investigations we know that only ten percent of people all over the world today do not experience common alternate states of consciousness, while the rest of humanity do. The premodern mythical world of the biblical period displays continuity with this finding – people who lived in the first-century Mediterranean world experienced alternate states of consciousness as an ordinary part of life. Only in the Eurocentric world have we – the ten percent exception to the rule – attempted to interpret baptism and the Eucharist as cognitive dogmatic constructs. The hypothesis of this study aims to demonstrate that the initiation and participation ritually expressed by the two “sacraments” can be “better” explained against the background of alternate states of consciousness. However, a model is necessary to verify or falsify the legitimacy of this hypothesis. Research into alternate states of consciousness creates a theoretical problem because, even though these states can be experienced simultaneously by more than one person in a group, experiences of alternate states of consciousness represent individual mental and psychological states. Each experience is unique and in the first instance a personal experience. In other words, without empirical evidence of what an individual has really experienced during an alternate state of consciousness, some research findings may be jeopardized, because of the impossibility of ascertaining the religious meaning and value attributed to a specific alternate state of consciousness experience. Yet, we do have access to texts as well as archeological and paleontological findings which show that there is a correlation between alternate states of consciousness and certain rites. The study illustrates that these alternate states of consciousness were verbalized in “anti-language”, which is the model I employ. “Anti-language” constitutes the language that is used by an anti-society, which in turn can be described as a conscious alternative to another society. The earliest Jesus-followers formed such an anti-society, into which they were initiated by means of baptism and in which they participated by means of the Eucharist. Consequently, the purpose of the study is to indicate that the ritual initiation and ceremonial participation of the earliest Jesus-followers were the result of alternate states of consciousness as expressed in anti-language. The study aims at redirecting extant research concerning the origins of the “Christian” baptism and the Eucharist by means of a multidisciplinary methodological approach. One of the import and relevant issues addressed in this study can be found in the enhancement of social inclusivity as an ideal in the present day. / Thesis (DD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

The presented thesis deals with the evaluation of the graves, preliminary dated in the early Iron Age, made during rescue archaeological excavations in Prague-Ďáblice and Prague-Suchdol within years 2000-2004. The basis of this work is typhologicall and chronologicall analysis of movable artifacts, funeral rite analysis and evaluation of burial grounds as a whole. Theoretical questions derive from this, concerning social structure of Bylany culture. On the theoretical level, the issue of the settlement context is also considered. Key words: hallstatt period - Bylany culture - Prague - burial ground - social structure - settlement context

Orientador: Ana Angélica Medeiros Albano / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T13:17:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Reyes_RoseHelena_D.pdf: 19938134 bytes, checksum: 11b97fdc7cd1bb24a5afd74a84626a53 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A presente pesquisa consiste no relato de uma práxis pedagógica construída ao longo de 23 anos no âmbito do Ensino Fundamental, na Escola Casa Via Magia. É um relato da história de uma experiência de ritual de passagem com as crianças do quinto ano, último ano delas na nossa escola. Uma montagem de teatro que foi se tornando um drama ritual que busca favorecer as mudanças na vida dessas crianças nesse momento: crescer, mudar de nível escolar e de escola. Traz a memória dessa construção, uma reflexão sobre o tecer da metodologia e da cosmovisão desse trabalho de encenação, que inclui um diálogo entre os saberes, entre as artes e delas com as ciências, entre artistas educadores e as crianças, entre as crianças elas mesmas e de cada um consigo mesmo. Retoma certas referências do teatro contemporâneo e/ou experimental (Stanilavski, Artaud, Grotowski e Brook), da arte-educação de Read e da psicanálise (especialmente de Lacan e Freud, entre outros). Faz contato com a pesquisa antropológica de Lévi-Strauss, Van Gennep, Turner, DaMatta e outros, assim como contato com reflexões filosóficas, especialmente de Heidegger e dos estudiosos de sua obra. Em última instância trata-se de dar atenção aos encontros e despedidas de nossas vidas e do desvelamento do nosso ser, sempre ser-com. Um cuidado que a arte, a educação e a rede de afetos têm podido potencializar nessa experiência a ser compartilhada / Abstract: This research consists on the report of a pedagogical praxis built over 23 years within the framework of elementary teaching at Casa Via Magia Elementary School. It is a report of the history of a rite of passage experience with children of the fifth grade that are leaving the school. A theater production that became a ritual drama which aims to encourage changes in the lives of these children in this specific phase: growing, changing of school and educational level. It brings the memory of that construction, a reflection on the weaving of this methodology and the worldview of this staging work, which includes a dialogue between knowledges, arts, arts with sciences, between art educators and children, between the children themselves and each one with themselves. Reviewing certain references of contemporary and/or experimental theater (Stanilavski, Artaud, Grotowski and Brook), Read¿s art-education and psychoanalysis (especially Lacan and Freud, among others). Getting in touch with the anthropological researches of Lévi-Strauss, Van Gennep, Turner, Da Matta and others, as well as contacts with philosophical thoughts, especially Heidegger¿s and researchers on his work. Ultimately it is about giving attention to encounters and farewells of our lives and the unveiling of our being, always being-with. A well care that art, education and the network of affections have been able to enhance in this experience to be shared / Doutorado / Educação, Conhecimento, Linguagem e Arte / Doutora em Educação

This master thesis focuses on the theme of a rite of passage, of a pupil turning into a master. It is about the material and mental change during a performance in the space of a baroque chapel. In this way, a man´s spirit and the genius loci of a place are interconnected.

Dans un contexte de transformation du champ médical, la prise en charge hospitalière de la fin de vie devient un objet central de préoccupation dans les années 1970. La médecine palliative, qui s’institutionnalise en 1986, vise à y répondre en développant des accompagnements holistiques de la souffrance (physique, sociale, psychique et spirituelle) des patients en fin de vie et de leurs proches. Cette approche globale du soin modifie l’organisation du travail et fait primer la temporalité des phénomènes pathologiques sur leur spatialité, interrogeant l’épistémologie médicale dans son ensemble. Les Unités de Soins Palliatifs (USP), dédiées aux patients dont les traitements à visée curative ont été arrêtés, conservent une place caractéristique parmi les différentes structures palliatives. À partir d’une enquête qualitative menée au sein d’une USP, cette recherche a d’abord cherché à faire entendre la voix des professionnelles qui, bien souvent, aspirent en premier lieu à retourner le stigmate attaché à leur activité. Ce travail ethnographique s’est, en particulier, attaché à analyser la dimension spatiale des rapports sociaux. Conçu comme des dispositifs de lutte contre le « tabou de la mort » et, par là, d’annonce de la mort à venir, les USP matérialisent le temps par l’espace. Cet aménagement se double, dans les prises en charge, d’une matérialisation par les corps. Ainsi, le corps du patient devient le support autour duquel vont se tisser les liens et s’affirmer les identités. Ce faisant, les USP posent la question de la ritualité contemporaine, non pas tant par leur forme que par leur fonction. Du fait de sa position liminale, le cadavre cristallise ici des désirs ambivalents de maîtrise et de déprise. Le travail spécifique des soignantes paramédicales, de l’agonie à l’exposition post mortem du corps, est à ce titre révélateur. À travers l’analyse de leurs pratiques, l’enquête montre une résistance anthropologique, par-delà tous les changements sociologiques qui entourent les conditions de la fin de vie et les recompositions des logiques institutionnelles et de la division du travail à l’approche de la mort. / Hospital end of life care becomes an object of concern since the 1970’s, in the context of major transformations of the medical field. Institutionalised in 1986, palliative medicine intends to address this concern, by developing care that offers a holistic approach, taking into account different aspects of the suffering (physical, social, psychological and spiritual) of end of life patients and their relatives. Such a global approach to care modifies work organization. It places the temporality of the pathological phenomena over their spatiality, thus questioning medical epistemology as a whole. This research focuses on Palliative Care Units, exclusively dedicated to patients whose curative treatments have been stopped. It is based on a qualitative inquiry within one of these Units. First aimed at making the professionals’ voices heard, it conveys their wish to reverse the stigma attached to their activity. This ethnographic work focuses in particular on the analysis of the spatial and material dimension of social relations. Palliative care units are conceived to fight the “taboo of death”. Thus, they announce the upcoming death as they materialise the progression of time through the organisation of space. This materialisation occurs also through the bodies, as the patient’s body becomes the location upon which relationships and identities are structured. Studying the function of Palliative Care Units thus allows to question contemporary rituality. Because of its liminal position, the corpse crystallises ambivalent desires of control and disengagement. The work of paramedical caregivers, from the agony to the post mortem exhibition, is in that aspect especially revealing. Through the analysis of caregivers’ practices, this work shows an anthropological resistance, despite the major sociological changes surrounding end of life such as the transformations of the institutional logics and of the division of labour.

The diploma thesis presented deals with an overall assessment of the Great Moravian burial ground in Rajhrad (Brno- venkov), which was excavated in the years 1972 to 1976. The work is based on a catalogue of this burial ground and the neighbouring one in Rajhradice published by Čeněk Staňa. It follows individual aspects of funeral rites at a necropolis and evaluates the inventory of the graves. Based on the findings, the work dates the burial ground, compares with burial ground in Rajhradice and puts they into context of all Great Moravian burial grounds. Key words Rajhrad and Rajhradice - Great Moravian Empire - funeral rite - chronology

The narrative research journey and pilgrimage into and epistemological reflection on the relevance of the Benedictine, Franciscan and Taizé monastic-mystic traditions (associative spirituality) for retreat within the Dutch Reformed tradition (disassociate spirituality) began because of a passion for, an interest in retreat and because of lack of research done on the subject. The research developed in story form as a participative active process of story development, interpretation, and reflection in which the researcher and the research subject as valued co-researchers (co-pilgrims) constructed a shared reality and new story together. Consequently, the observations and experiences reflected on may tell just as much about the researcher as about the action of retreat and the research participants. The action of retreat was not approached in a neutral, objective stance but with self-awareness, particular presuppositions, and a postmodern philosophical mindset with ideological-critical, deconstructive and inclusive thought processes. The research problem was viewed as a narrative situation of action, explained by means of empirical research, and interpreted via epistemological reflection and theological theories. The focus has not been on new or adapted theory formulation, hypotheses, or “conclusions” as such but on the empiric interaction between the experiences of Mystery (noumenon), the Jesus narrative, stories of the co-pilgrims, monastic traditions, Dutch Reformed tradition, the researchers’ own story, and those who might read the thesis. A potential amplifying or expanding of the repertoire of existing options and meanings were viewed as a possibility in the creative development of a new reality or research story. The aim was to listen to, understand, and interpret qualitatively the subjective dimension and experience of the reality (story/ies) of retreat as a situation where pilgrims (from different traditions and spiritualities) were in relation with God, self and others. The research journey took me into the life world of the monastic-mystic traditions and my own internal dialectics and story within a Dutch Reformed context. From here arose questions, engagement, and re-engagement with the monastic traditions and a new story. The concern was the beliefs and practices of the retreatants (co pilgrims) under study as beings in real-life human experiential reality, taking seriously their concerns, expressions of belief, practice, perceptions, and stories. The data from the empirical encounter was subsequently investigated, mapped with the major themes and interests highlighted and reflected on in the process. The main themes and focal points that were identified and researched were: -- The lives and stories of St. Benedict, St. Francis, and Br. Roger, their respective communities’ monastic-mystic spirituality, the way these traditions approach retreat and the way they live or express their respective monastic rules or orders in comparison with the Dutch Reformed traditions’ retreat narrative. -- The main elements of Monastic retreat namely silence, solitude, lectio divina in facilitating an awareness of God and the mystery of God as part of the journey to the inner mountain, ever deeper into his presence. -- Different types of retreat and especially the experience of monastic retreat, the experience of holy places (desert spirituality) as places saturated by prayer, Eucharist and the community of pilgrims, and retreat as pilgrimage experience. -- Retreat as ritual following a rite of passage structure of separation, marginality and reincorporation focusing on structure and anti-structure (power of liminality) as helpful tool of analysis and framework for planning of retreat. -- The potential therapeutic or pastoral care qualities of a monastic way of retreat facilitating in pilgrims, life story interpretation and new understanding of stories. The research story ended in the form of findings and the posing of possible questions for future research. / Thesis (PhD (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Keywords: ritual, rite of passage, social change, consumer culture, media This thesis deals with a ritual observed today in a panorama of extremely dense consumer culture in the highly industrialized society of Japan. The ritual in exam is known under the name of Shichigosan (translated into English as Seven-Five-Three) and it is observed by children of three, five and seven years of age. The ritual has its predecessors in various rural ritual observances that were associated to certain ages seen as threshold in the child's life. The consolidation of the urban pattern of the ritual went along with the transformation and urbanization during the Tokugawa shogunate from the 17th century onwards. The thesis describes the historical development of Shichigosan during which it has proved capable of adaptation to changing social and economic conditions without losing those elements that render it recognizable as a ritual mode of expression. The ritual in exam unfolds as a shared platform of meaning where basic social values, views on children and family life, and also individual perceptions emerge, are expressed and shaped at the same time. The main scope of the thesis is to interpret not only the reasons of the popularity of this observance, but more importantly, how its meaning in the modern Japanese...

Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge en förståelse för hur tonårstjejer på landsbygden i Tamil Nadu i södra Indien upplever menstruation. Aspekter som tillgång på information, hygien och traditionella sedvänjor diskuteras. Initiationsriterna som hålls för alla flickor kopplas till ritualteori av Turner, Bell, Rappaport, Staal med flera. En genomgång från det antropologiska fältet ges genom Buckley och Gottlieb. Centralt för uppsatsen är uppfattningar om orenhet och symbolisk förorening som finns inom hinduismen. Detta diskuteras med hjälp av Mary Douglas. Den till huvuddel kvalitativa studien består av intervjuer med fem fokusgrupper, bestående av tjejer i åldrarna 12-25 år, och kompletterande intervjuer med personal på NGO:s och andra med kopplingar till området. En enkkätstudie genomfördes samt en observation. Resultatet visar att tonårstjejer är i stort behov av mer reproduktiv kunskap och att det finns fördelar med att uppmärksamma och samtala kring de traditionella sedvänjorna, eftersom delar av dem upplevs som negativt av tjejerna. Det är tydligt att det finns ett behov för bekväma, hygieniska och hållbara alternativ för kvinnors mensskydd. I uppsatsen presenteras också olika projekt som syftar till att sprida information om menstruation och mensskydd. / The purpose of this thesis is to give an understanding about how adolescent girls in rural Tamil Nadu experience menstruation. Aspects on access to information, hygiene and traditional menstrual customs are discussed. The initiation rite that all girls go through is connected to ritual theory by Turner, Bell, Rappaport and Staal et al. An understanding from the anthropological field is given through the work of Buckley and Gottlieb. Central for the thesis is notions about impurity and pollution, which are discussed with the theories of Mary Douglas. The mainly qualitative research consists of focus groups interviews with girls in the age of 12-25 years and complementary interviews with NGO workers and others connected to the field. A questionnaire study was conducted as well as an observation. The results from the study show that adolescent girls are in great need of more reproductive knowledge and that there could be benefits to further bring up the traditional customs to discussion, since part of them make girls feel uncomfortable. It is seen that there is a need for comfortable, hygienic and sustainable solutions for women´s sanitary protection. Presented in the thesis are also different examples of projects that aim to spread information about menstruation and the use of sanitary pads.