Aleister Crowley is the most notoriously transgressive figure in modern Western esotericism, and his best known precept is "Do what thou wilt". This article seeks to elucidate the place of Crowley's precept in the history of esotericism and transgression. More specifically, it seeks to make two points. First, it shows, through an investigation of its sources and influences, that the precept had highly transgressive overtones in the period when Crowley adopted and popularised it. These overtones extended to sexual excess, religious deviancy and fascist politics. Second, it argues that the precept was repurposed in a major way in the latter part of the twentieth century. The precept became domesticated, as the founders of the Wicca movement subsumed it into their own ethical maxim, the "Wiccan Rede". This development serves as an example of how some of the more transgressive and problematic elements of the Western esoteric tradition have come to be softened and obscured in contemporary mass-market, suburban forms of practice such as Wicca.
Der Verfasser befaßt sich mit etlichen aktuellen Fragen der neuen religiösen Erscheinungsformen in Österreich. Aufgrund des Bundesgesetzes über die Rechtspersönlichkeit von religiösen Bekenntnisgemeinschaften, das am 9. Januar 1998 verabschiedet wurde, entsteht die Lage, in der die religiösen Gruppen und Religionsgemeinschaften auch seitens der Religionswissenschaft verantwortungsvoll bewertet werden müßen. In dem Aufsatz werden die "Internationale Gesellschaft für Krishna-Bewußtsein" (ISKON), die "Transzendentale Meditation" (TM) und der "Yoga-Weg" von Sri Chinmoy besprochen. In einer deskriptiven Weise werden die Wurzeln und die Wirkungsgeschichte dieser Bewegungen behandelt; es wird auch zu der unabdingbaren Rolle des Lehrers (Guru) eine Stellung genommen und es werden auch die gesellschaftliche Ansprüche der genannten Guru-Bewegungen in Österreich erklärt. Der Verfasser schließt damit, daß aus der religionswissenschaftlichen Perspektive diese Gurubewegungen als religiöse Bekenntnisgemeinschaften zu charakterisieren sind und daß kein Grund vorliegt, ihnen aus öffentlich-rechtlicher Sicht Rechtspersönlichkeit zu verweigern.
This article provides a translation with commentary of the key parts of the Book of Han (Hanshu) concerning the reforms of the state cults during the reign of Chengdi (32-7 BC). The translated texts represent a substantial source on the form of, and ideology underlying state-sponsored religious rites in early imperial China. The translated debates demonstrate the controversy between partisans of the traditional view on the meaning and form of the rites, and the reformers (though the latter likewise present their case as a return to ancient models attested in the Classics). The traditional view of the religious rites holds that the rites should be conducted at the place where the gods themselves appear (the humans respond to the gods' actions). The reformists, on the other hand, set a universal rational framework (based on yinyang classification), which prescribes the proper way of revelation and sacrifice for both the humans and the gods. Furthermore, the debates are an interesting testimony to the identity of Confucianism in the given period. The rationalization of religious rites promoted by the reformists is usually associated with Confucianism. However, in these debates we find famous Confucians in both camps.
Der bestehende Stand der Forschung bietet eine ausführliche Analyse der Entstehung von Vorstellungen und Titel, mit derer Hilfe der urchristliche Glaube zum Ausdruck gebracht wurde. Es handelt sich vor allem um die Auferstehungs- und Erhöhungsvorstellung. Beides hat das Urchristentum nicht neu geschaffen, sondern übernommen, und zwar von seiner hellenistischen und jüdischen Umwelt. Später kam es zu einer Vergegenstädlichung von diesen Vorstellungen, die eine Form der Legende vom leeren Grab und der Legende von der Himmelfahrt aufgenommen haben. Die andere Linie der Selbstdeutung des christlichen Glaubens folgte die christologischen Titel. Auch diese wurden übergenommen und auf Jesus transformiert. ...
The paper focuses on the topic of conceptualizing religion in Czech society today from the perspective of the Study of Religions. The paper further develops and assesses in theoretical terms the findings of descriptive content analysis published by Veronika Hásová and Jan Váně (2014), who identified and quantified the frequency of variables of religiosity applied by researchers in the Czech Republic. The characteristics applied most frequently are categorized as functional characteristics (religious affiliation, church attendance) and substantive characteristics (belief in diverse religious phenomena) of religiosity. Results and conclusions of the analysis of religiosity in the Czech Republic depend heavily on how the functional and substantive characteristics of religiosity are conceived and formulated. The functional characteristic of religious affiliation conceived in terms of church membership results in a low measure of religiosity and supports the conclusion concerning the purported irrelevance of religions and religious identities in the Czech society today. Other surveys based on different conceptualizations of religious identities reveal the relevance of religion as far as the attitudes and values of respondents are concerned. Topics connected to religions and religious identities continue to be discussed within the public sphere of Czech society, e.g. through the media. As far as the substantive characteristics of belief in religious phenomena are concerned, the specification of the subject of such belief is of vital importance. As surveys of religiosity reveal, respondents relatively often declare their belief in or reliance on phenomena connected with alternative religiosity or spirituality. The ways of conceptualizing religion in Czech society today often ignore the dynamics of religious change in modern societies and do not take into account changes in the perceived content and functions of religious phenomena. Critical examination of the variables of religiosity leads towards a re-examination of conclusions concerning the purported irreligious or secular nature of Czech society today
This article deals with the problem of male homoeroticism and anal intercourse in two verses of the Book of Leviticus (18:22 and 20:13) belonging to the textual set called the Holiness Code (H). The article comprises two parts. The first represents a philological analysis and interpretation of these two texts, while the second is an attempt to understand the anthropological framework and behavioural patterns lying behind the texts. In the first part, the standard interpretative and translation tradition considering the active (insertive) partner as the primary addressee of the proscription is critically examined. The article inquires into the crucial Hebrew idiom, miškǝvê 'iššāh, "the lying down of a woman", which represents the central clue to a proper understanding of the two texts. The article rejects the mainstream interpretative and translation tradition. Based on a new lexical, syntactic and semantic analysis, it proposes an alternative translation and interpretation which sees the passive (receptive) partner as the addressee of the proscription. The second part of the article discusses the two main interpretative frameworks for the anthropological interpretation of the two texts. The first is "shame and honor dialectics" and the second is the prohibition of the mixing of kinds, in this case the mixing of gender roles. The latter is regarded as principal. It means that the Holiness Code condemns miškǝvê 'iššāh, "the lying down of a woman", with another male, i.e. the acceptance of the receptive sexual role within inter-male anal intercourse, as a culturally relevant expression of "cross-gendering".
The fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. was referred to in the synoptic gospels. It is thus reasonable to assume that this event influenced the formation of the gospel myth, primarily of the passion story, its setting to Jerusalem, and the early Christian conception of the oldest church history anchored in the primordial Jerusalem church. In this connection, the so-called Small Apocalypse in Mark 13:1-37 represents a text of pivotal importance. While its final redaction within the Gospel of Mark is dated shortly after the fall of Jerusalem, as the introductory prediction of the temple destruction indicates (Mk 13:1-2), the inner structure of this passage shows tensions between redaction and older traditions, between the past and the present, between history and fluid apocalyptic visions. Therefore, the analysis of the Small Apocalypse is primarily focused on the historical identifications of apocalyptic figures which appear in it and originate mostly in the Book of Daniel. These were undergoing gradual transformations and were actualized in different historical contexts, usually those involving fatal threats to the Jerusalem temple (Antiochus, Caligula, Titus). Temple symbolizations, finally integrated into the structure of the Small Apocalypse, are coordinated by Jonathan Z. Smith's dichotomy of locative and utopian aspects of religion, which shows a strong contrast between locative attachments to the Jerusalem temple, typical for the Zealots as well as for the priestly aristocracy, and the strictly utopian program of the Gospel of Mark. In contrast to the demolished Jerusalem temple, Mark brings forward the resurrected Jesus. In this sense, Jesus' prediction of the temple destruction (Mk 13:1-2) represents a keystone of the whole passion story (Mk 13-15), which contrasts the destruction of the Jerusalem temple to Jesus' death and resurrection (cf. Mk 14:58 and 16:6).
Tibetan Buddhism is a religion of faith. However, the place of faith is different from the monotheistic religions as Judaism, Islam or Christianity. Although it remains central point of the religion to some extent, it is valued in connection with other tools of spiritual progress. Its pragmatic point of view is specific as well. The traditional Buddhist "science of mind" /tib. blo rigs/ with its origin in Indian Mahayana tradition Yogacara treats faith as one of fifty one mental factors /tib. sems byung/. The article further provides translation of a refuge text used in Nyingmapa /tib. rnying ma/ tradition. Next text, used mostly among Gelugpas /tib. dge lugs pa/, is probably the most ossified textual version of the refuge text. It is a compilation from parts of various texts originated in India. Its origin is traced back in the commentary of the text by the author. The tradition of commentaries of the refuge practice begins with two condensed texts by Vimalakirti and Atisha, included in Tibetan canon Tengyur /tib. bstan 'gyur/. It is a hypotheses of the author, that present standard versions of commentaries of the refuge practice, connected with visualization of the deities and masters of the tradition /tib. tshogs shing/lappear at the time of Manchu dynasty in China (1644 C.E.). The article further brings the translation of a commentary to the practice by Ngawang Lozang Chöden (1642-1714), known also as Changkya II, who spent part of his lifetime in Bejing and Mongolia.