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
In the article we present the results of our research on the spirituality of Slavic Neopagans in Poland. Spirituality is understood here according to the concept of mysticism described by R. W. Hood Jr. (1975). As the second main theoretical tool, we use the concept of religious maturity put forward by R. L. Dudley and R. J. Cruise (1990). A questionnaire survey, conducted online on a sample of Slavic Neopagans and Catholics, showed statistically significant differences between the groups in three out of the eight subscales of mysticism (Unifying Quality, Inner Subjective Quality and Religious Quality), while at the same time showing a lack of significant differences with respect to religious maturity. Further analysis by means of binary logistic regression made it possible to determine predictors of belonging to the group of Slavic Neopagans (75.8% of the cases). In the regression model, the separate treatment of mysticism and religious maturity turned out to be insignificant, whereas gender, age, and the interaction between religious maturity and mysticism significantly differentiated the investigated groups.
Objectives.Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) are associated with many dimensions of human life and could contribute to one’s self-esteem; how-ever, there is no certainty that this is also appli-cable to non-religious countries. Therefore, the aim of the study was to explore the association of different aspects of R/S with self-esteem in a secular environment.Participants and setting.An online sample of 464 Czech respondents aged 15 and over (mean age 30.7; SD=12.63; 27.2% men) participated in the survey. Self-esteem, religiosity, religious attendance, frequency of prayer, negative re-ligious coping, image of God and spirituality were measured. Results. Regular prayer, spirituality (per stan-dard deviation, SD), a low level of religious struggles (per SD) and a positive God image (per SD) were associated with higher self-esteem, with odds ratios ranging from 1.28 to 2.16 (p˂0.05 to p˂0.001). In contrast, compared to non-religious respondents, religious respon-dents had an approximately 60% lower chance of having a high level of self-esteem (p˂0.05). However, a combination of R and S showed that while religious/spiritual respondents did not dif-fer significantly from non-religious respondents, religious/non-spiritual respondents had approxi-mately 79% lower chance of having good self-esteem (p˂0.001).Study limitations.The main limitation of this study is that it did not reach a representative sample, which limits the generalizability of the findings to the whole population. This is also the first study using this kind of research approach, which, however, limits the interpretation of re-sults. Moreover, it is a cross-sectional study, so any conclusions on causality cannot be made, and the questionnary used only self-report mea-sures, which could be influenced by a social de-sirability bias. and Cíle. Religiozita a spiritualita (R/S) jsou spojeny s mnoha oblastmi lidského života a mohou mít pozitivní vliv i na lidskou sebeúctu. Přesto není jisté, zda je větší intenzita náboženského a spirituálního prožívání spojena s vyšší sebe-úctou i v ateistických zemích. Cílem studie bylo zkoumat vztahy různých aspektů R/S v sekulárním prostředí. Soubor. Výzkumný vzorek tvořilo 464 českých respondentů starších 15 let (průměrný věk 30,7 let; SD = 12,63; 27,2 % muži). Prostřednictvím online dotazníku byla měřena sebeúcta, religiozita, náboženská účast, četnost modlitby, míra náboženských zápasů, obraz Boha a spiritualita. Výsledky. Pravidelná modlitba, spiritualita (SD), nižší míra náboženských zápasů (SD) a pozitiv-ní obraz Boha (SD) byly spojeny s vyšší sebe-úctou, s odds ratio v rozmezí od 1,28 do 2,16 (p ˂ 0,05 až p ˂ 0,001). Oproti těm nereligiózním měli religiózní respondenti přibližně o 60 % nižší šanci mít vyšší úroveň sebeúcty (p ˂ 0,05). Kombinace R a S ukázala, že zatímco religiózní, ale nespirituální respondenti se od těch nereligiózních v míře sebeúcty výrazně nelišili, religiózní, ale nespirituální respondenti měli přibližně o 79 % nižší pravděpodobnost dobré sebeúcty (p ˂ 0,001). Omezení studie. Tato studie nepracuje s reprezentativním vzorkem populace a výsledky se tudíž nedají zobecnit na celkovou populaci. Jedná se o první studii užívající tento přístup, což ztěžuje interpretaci výsledků. Navíc se jedná o průřezovou studii, nelze tedy dělat závěry ohledně kauzality a studie využívala pouze sebehodnotící dotazníky, které mohou být zkresleny tendencí odpovídat sociálně žádoucím způsobem.
Cílem našeho výzkumu1 bylo vyzkoušet českou verzi dotazníku ESI na české populaci. Dotazník Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI), který v roce 2000 vytvořil D. A. MacDonald se skládá z 32 položek a 5 škál škála kognitivní orientace na spiritualitu COS, zkušenostně-fenomenologická dimenze EPD, dimenze existenciální pohody EWB, dimenze paranormálního přesvědčení PAR a dimenze religiozity REL. Bylo zjištěno, že náboženské přesvědčení je proměnná, která nejsilněji pozitivně koreluje se škálami dotazníku ESI. Prokázali jsme dobré parametry dotazníku ESI pro výzkum na české populaci. and The aim of our research was to test the Czech version of the questionnaire ESI on Czech population. Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI) created by DA MacDonald in 2000 consist of 32 items and 5 scales. These scales are: a range of cognitive orientation to spirituality COS, experiential-phenomenological dimension EPD, existential dimension – well-being EWB, dimension of paranormal beliefs PAR and dimensions of religiosity REL. It has been found that religion belief is the factor that has the strongest correlation with dimensions of ESI inventory. We proofed that ESI has good parameters for the research on the Czech population.
Dotazník intenzity náboženské víry (The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire, SCSORF; Plante, Boccaccini, 1997b) byl zkoumán na datech dvou souborů – českých (N=522) a slovenských (N=456) vysokoškolských studentech. Vnitřní konzistence byla vysoká u obou zkoumaných souborů (Cronbachova alfa 0,962 a 0,961). Hodnoty žen byly v obou souborech vyšší než mužů. Zjištěná faktorová struktura byla unidimenzionální. Celkově výsledky studie ukazují na dobré psychometrické vlastnosti škály. Autoři zvažují budoucí použití škály jako součásti měření integrity především v pracovní oblasti. and The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF; Plante, Boccaccini, 1997b) was applied on two groups of respondents, including Czech (N=539) and Slovakian (N=472) university students. The internal reliability was found to be high in both studied groups (Cronbach´s alfa 0,962 and 0,961). Moreover, in both groups female values were found to be higher compared to males. Identified factor analysis was unidimensional. Overall, results of the study indicated good psychometric properties of the scale. Authors consider future application of the scale as a component measure of integrity especially at the workplace area.
Štúdia sa zameriava na vzťah medzi vybranými existenciálnymi a spirituálnymi premennými s mentálnym zdravím. Tento vzťah je analyzovaný na dvoch podsúboroch. Bežnú populáciu tvorilo 201 študentov Jesseniovej lekárskej fakulty Komenského univerzity v Martine (54 mužov and 147 žien) a výber psychiatrických pacientov pozostával zo 124 pacientov Psychiatrickej kliniky JLF UK a MFN v Martine. Na meranie úrovne mentálneho zdravia bola použitá škála SCL-90, na meranie existenciálnych a spirituálnych premenných boli použité Snyderova škála nádeje, Nowotnej škála nádeje, Škála životnej zmysluplnosti, Pražský dotazník spirituality a Škála spirituálnej pohody. Výsledky ukázali, že medzi bežnou populáciou a psychiatrickými pacientmi najviac diferencujú premenné životná zmysluplnosť a existenciálna pohoda, ktoré boli vyššie u bežnej populácie. Psychiatrickí pacienti skórovali vyššie v dimenzii ekospiritualita. Korelačná a regresná analýza ukázala, že najsilnejším prediktorom celkového mentálneho zdravia sú premenné týkajúce sa životnej zmysluplnosti, a to tak u bežnej populácie ako aj u psychiatrických pacientov. Výsledky podľa autorov potvrdzujú funkciu religiozity a spirituality ako poskytovateľov zmyslu v živote človeka.
The hugely popular author of children's literature Jaroslav Foglar wrote stories about boys on the threshold of adolescence undergoing a personality transformation under the influence of a positive example of friendship and an active lifestyle. However, the themes of honesty, of health and physical activity, and of living in natural surroundings cannot alone justify why this fiction is also viewed from the perspective of the science of religion using terms such as "cult", "mystery", "evangelistic text", "initiation", "functional equivalent of religion", or "implicit religion". Empirical research within the framework of a larger questionnaire survey therefore addresses the question of whether the readers of these books are recruited from backgrounds that are religious, spiritual, or indifferent, whether they are aware of this literature for children having a certain spiritual component, and whether they perceive it as a way of realizing spiritual experience. The group of respondents in the research (n = 1135, of whom 666 were men and 464 women) were most often in the 30-55-year-old age group, with a university degree, living in a larger city with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and with diverse relationships to religious faith and spirituality. According to the results, we found that this literature offered some form of spiritual inspiration to 48% of the respondents, that 30% of the respondents perceived this spiritual component intensely, and that 29% believed that they had applied some of the spiritual values associated with the books in their daily lives. The theoretical interest of religious studies in this literature for boys is thus empirically justified.
Transpersonální psychologie se snaží systematizovat mimořádné stavy vědomí, které jsou v jiných kulturách vysoce oceňovány, ale v kultuře západní jsou často zaměňovány s duševním onemocněním. Transpersonální psychologie proto přichází s konceptem psychospirituální krize, který má sloužit k odlišení těchto stavů od skutečných duševních nemocí. Koncept psychospirituální krize je odbornou veřejností většinou odmítán, ale jeho systematičtější kritika stále chybí. Článkem se autor pokouší věcně poukázat na problémy spojené s tímto konceptem a pomoci tak vyplnit tuto mezeru. Upozorňuje na vágnost kategorie psychospirituální krize a odhaluje řadu vnitřních rozporů transpersonalistické teorie. Poukazuje na to, že některé stavy, jež transpersonalisté označují za psychospirituální krizi, vůbec neodpovídají kritériím, která pro ni sami stanovili. Článek se též vymezuje vůči nepřijatelnému hodnotovému zatížení této kategorie. Koncept psychospirituální krize totiž vychází z konkrétních náboženských idejí. Jde přitom o ideje, které se do značné míry překrývají s idejemi hnutí New Age. V této souvislosti si stať klade otázku, zda je transpersonální psychologie vědeckou disciplínou, nebo spíše náboženským hnutím. Článek předkládá důvody, proč je třeba se přiklonit spíše k druhé možnosti. and Critical analysis of the concept of spiritual emergency
Transpersonal psychology attempts to systematize extraordinary states of consciousness, which are highly appreciated by other cultures, but in the Western culture such states are often confused with a mental disorder. Therefore transpersonal psychology has created a concept of spiritual emergency, which should be used to distinguish these states of consciousness from real mental disorders. The concept of spiritual emergency is usually rejected by the experts, although there is still lack of its systematic critique. Author is trying to fill up the gap and to point out critically some problems related to this concept. He draws reader’s attention to haziness of the concept of spiritual emergency and discover range of internal contradictions of the transpersonal theory. For instance, some states considered by transpersonalists to be spiritual emergency do not comply with their own criterions. Paper also objects to its undesirable value burden. It is unsuitably value laden term, since the category is grounded in specific religious ideas. These ideas overlap with ideas of New Age movement to a large degree. In this context the author raises the question, whether transpersonal psychology is a scientific discipline or rather a crypto‑religious movement. The article proposes some arguments why it is not appropriate to regard transpersonal psychology as a scientific discipline.
The Czech spiritual market is today as developed as that of western European countries. De-traditionalised and individualised holistic milieu has created a demand for spiritual literature and magazines as well as other marketable goods (“magic” stones, amulets, horoscopes, natural drugs etc.). This paper attempts to analyse the character and sources of contemporary best selling spiritual literature and its readership in the Czech Republic. It also provides a case study of a Prague spiritual bookshop and its comparison with five other Czech spiritual outlets (including an Internet outlet). The results clearly show that marketing spirituality has become a mainstream phenomenon with regard to all gender, age and class categories, although there was found to be an over presence of older middle-aged women among the buyers. There is emphasized “churchless” and “nonreligious” character of the buyers and the best selling books, that include predominantly those referring to “modem” and “esoteric” western or “ethnic” spiritualities. The supply side comprises both special and general publishers, the former having been more successful in specialised bookshops and spirituál outlets and the latter in addressing the wider population (including via the Internet).
Čiastkovým cieľom archívneho výskumu v Slovenskej národnej knižnici v Martine (nespracovaný fond) – so zameraním na kontextualizáciu tvorby Maše Haľamovej (1908–1995) – bola rekonštrukcia názorov literárnych kritikov publikovaných v dobovej tlači alebo zachovaných v strojopisnej či v rukopisnej podobe od prvej polovice 20. storočia, keď vyšla jej debutová zbierka Dar (1928). Zo sumarizovaných recenzií a kritík (v rozpätí rokov 1928–2017) vyplýva, že názory mienkotvorných odborníkov a literárnych vedcov upozorňovali na špecifiká autorkinej poetiky, na medzitextové aj medziliterárne vzťahy k českej literatúre, potvrdzovali autorkino solitérstvo (nezaraditeľnosť), ale aj príznačný mravný a duchovný potenciál s puncom ušľachtilosti. Duchovnosť, konfesijne ukotvená v protestantskej tradícii, sa z percepcie odborníkov postupne vytrácala, čo vytvorilo priestor na alternatívne formy jej vyjadrenia, ba až spochybnenie kresťanskej spirituality. and The partial goal of our archive research in the Slovak National Library in Martin (unprocessed collection), aimed at the contextualisation of works written by Maša Haľamová (1908–1995), was to reconstruct the views of literary critics published in the press of that times or preserved in typescripts or manuscripts from the first half of the 20th century when her first collection of verse Dar (The Gift, 1928) came out. The summarised criticism (from 1928 to 2017) shows that the views of opinion-making specialists and literary scholars pointed out the specifics of her poetics, or intertextual and inter-literary relations towards the Czech literature, and confirmed her solitariness (she is difficult to categorise), but also her typical moral and ethical potential with the mark of nobility. As can be seen, it is the very spiritualness, confessionally anchored in the Protestant tradition, that gradually vanished from the perception of specialists which made room for alternative forms of expression, or even for the questioning the Christian spirituality.