Exercising to maintain a healthy lifestyle is significant to our modern society, and more and more aids such as blogs on the internet dedicated to training are there to help us. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze three Swedish female bloggers all of them dedicated to training and health, with the aim to find the secular sacred among their descriptions, in relation to Kim Knott and her theory of the secular sacred. The analysis was based on twelve blog posts, categorized after exercising, workouts or health, with the intention to answer the questions “How is the concept of exercise and health described in the selected blogs?”, and“How could these descriptions be understood according to Kim Knott’s theory of secular sacred, based on three categories: sacred, profane and unidentifiable?”. Based on an abductive method the blog posts were analyzed with a qualitative text analyzing approach. Using Knott’s theory, I categorized the posts in to three groups: sacred, profane and unidentifiable. The result showed that many of the posts could be categorized as sacred due to its content. Therefore, I concluded that it was possible to find content that could be seen as sacred based on Knott’s reasoning, which indicates that sacredness is not only placed within the religious context, but can also be found in the secular.

Finding something sacred in secular society is a relatively new field of religious studies. This thesis aims to find the secular sacred amongst Star Wars fans on the blogging platform Tumblr, in relation to Kim Knott and her theory of the secular sacred. I collected and studied 100 blog posts about Star Wars, specifically about one of its main characters, Rey. The research questions used were “How do fans of Star Wars and Rey express themselves on Tumblr?”, and “Could it be seen as sacred according to Kim Knott´s theory of secular sacred?” I analyzed the material with a hermeneutic approach, and using Kim Knott’s theory, I categorized the posts in to three categories: sacred, appreciative and sacrilegious. Even though the appreciative category was by far the largest, the results showed that a fifth of all the blog posts could be perceived as having content that could be seen as sacred to its poster. I came to the conclusion that my study supports the theory of sacredness not being exclusive to religious society, but can be found in the secular as well.

Reiki is a hands-on healing method classified as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that helps the body relax and heal itself, according to its practitioners. Sessions involve practitioners channeling energy to the client to assist this process. The consensus within the Reiki community is that Mikao Usui discovered the method while he was on Mount Kurama in 1922. There is ample research on the efficacy of Reiki in healthcare, but very few researchers have investigated its characteristics related to religiosity and rituals. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to examine Reiki as a secular sacred phenomenon and how it can be understood as such. This thesis also discusses how rituals in Reiki can be understood using other research on rituals. There is also a comparative analysis of Reiki rituals, focusing on three of them and how they differ between four Reiki Masters where three have studied with the same Reiki Master Teacher. The rituals are gassho, a meditation ritual; kenyoku-ho, a cleansing ritual; and, finally, reiji-ho, a direction ritual. The search for academic sources has been a major obstacle to overcome. Firstly, there is very little research on Reiki as a spiritual phenomenon or Reiki as a ritualistic phenomenon; most etic studies have focused on effects or possible benefits. Sources from within the Reiki community (emic sources) tend to make statements without clear evidence. Furthermore, some etic sources use emic sources to support their statements.

Les formes du temps chez Albert Cohen ont montré qu'il existe une interaction entre le temps chronologique romanesque et l'histoire écrite en filigrane l'ensemble des œuvres. Les différentes formes et modes d'expression du temps chez Cohen constituent le socle d'une écriture plurielle en contradiction avec son temps. L’œuvre de Cohen dépasse tous les clivages de la temporalité poétique, romanesque, lyrique, théâtrale, autobiographique, profane et sacrée pour atteindre une dimension universelle d'une construction du temps fondé sur la différence. Le récit a précisément pour rôle de permettre le décryptage du temps par l'homme à travers une expérience intime dont les différentes manifestations les plus fréquentes dans les romans cohéniens sont l'attente, la solitude, l'ennui et la mélancolie. Le moment intime est non seulement illimité mais il reste ouvert à plusieurs horizons ce qui permet d'ailleurs la cohabitation de multiples séquences spatio-temporelles. Avec l'Histoire, le temps admet deux réalités parallèles : une première, terrestre, à partir de laquelle l'homme commence à évaluer le temps chronologique et linéaire ; une seconde, mythique regroupant la première en lui donnant un ancrage dans le temps d'antan que l'écrivain régénère avec l'avènement d'un nouvel Adam. / Forms at the time Albert Cohen showed that there is an interaction between chronological time and history novels written between the lines of all works. Different forms and modes of expression of time in Cohen are the foundation of a plural writing in contradiction with the times. Cohen's work transcends all divisions of temporality poetic, romantic, lyrical, dramatic, autobiographical, profane and sacred dimension to achieve a universal construction based on the time difference. The History is precisely to allow the decryption part time by man through an intimate experience with the various manifestations common in novels cohéniens are waiting, loneliness, boredom and melancholy. The intimate moment is not only unlimited but it remains open in several horizons thereby also the coexistence of multiple spatio-temporal sequences. With history, time admits two parallel realities : first, land, from which he begins to evaluate the chronological time and linear second, involving the mythical first giving it a foothold in the time of old regenerates the writer with the advent of a new Adam.

Accounting and accountability researchers have shown new interest in the study of religious organizations by exploring how secular practices associated with accounting and accountability mesh with religious goals and activities. Despite burgeoning research into accountability relatively little is known about the nature of accountability in religious organizations. The present study seeks to address this need by exploring the accountability practices of a business entity owned and operated by an Australian religious minority. This study focuses on the accountability practices of the Sanitarium Health Food Company (SHF), a food manufacturing business owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. SHF is a non-profit organization whose annual gross revenue is estimated at between A$300m to A$400m, making it one of Australia’s top earning charities. SHF provides no formal financial reporting to church members and only a handful of church elites know the financial details of this organization. As a charity SHF is not required to pay income tax; as a department of the Adventist Church it is subjected to minimal regulatory requirements and therefore justifies not disclosing its financial details to church members or the public. However, as a charity there is an expectation that the organization would detail how profits are used, the causes it supports and the extent of that support. This information has not been readily forthcoming from the organization. Church members view SHF as being an Adventist organization upholding and promoting denominational teachings, values and practices; to the public the organization presents itself as a charity promoting disinterested humanitarianism. This case study combines historical and field research methodology. It draws on archival and published material relating to the SHF and Adventist community and data from interviews with a range of stakeholders. The primary focus of the study is the period between 1970 and 2005, during which time SHF grew significantly and underwent major restructuring of its operations, management and orientation. The study reveals that while SHF presents minimal formal reporting, the organization has evolved a sophisticated socialising accountability, aimed at promoting the operation to church members as an Adventist institution and to the wider public as a mainstream charity. The study highlights that a feature of Adventist accountability relates to a unique interpretation of the notion of being accountable to God. Adventists believe in a literal investigative audit in heaven commencing in 1844. This teaching differentiates Adventists from other religious groups. The teaching provides the primary focus of Adventist accountability, motivates social action and regulates Adventist organizational behaviour. The study of SHF provides a vantage point from which to examine the role that religious beliefs play in promoting commercial activities. In the study of SHF, religious beliefs and secular business practices overlap, each reinforcing the other. The evidence presented in relation to SHF highlights a meshing of religious values and secular operations in ways that make it impossible to compartmentalise sacred and secular activities within the Adventist organization. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1369252 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 2008