Book Reviews

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The Ritualized Bodies of Cybele's Galli and the Methodological Problem of the Plurality of Explanations

The explanandum in this article is the self-castration of Cybele's Galli. The explanans is the various theories that have been put forward to elucidate this phenomenon. The author begins by sketching out the complicated religio-historical scene for this ritual, then introduces the plurality of theories concerning Galli's ritual self-castration, so that the intellectual dilemma of evaluation and preference is obvious; which one of the theories is decisive? Are they necessary or sufficient? Do they compete or cooperate? The aim of this article is also to make a critical methodological evaluation of the use of psychological determinants in religio-historical studies of the self-castration of the Galli in the cult of Cybele and Attis

Magic in the ancient Near East and the Old Testament : a study of metaphysics

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1145/thumbnail.jp

Eve's ritual : the Judahite sacred marriage rite

There are many elements at play in the Genesis story of the Garden of Eden, all of which instigated a multitude and diverse range of interpretations. However, the text has only rarely been interpreted as possibly having a link to an ancient ritual. Remarkably, all of the elements present in the tale of Adam and Eve can be found in several Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean sources, many of which have been interpreted as being associated with rituals. What I propose for this thesis is that the written account of the Eden narrative could be both a record of an historical ritual, and an attempt to standardize a choice women's rite of passage that was used to attain an exalted status within the Israelite religious and social institutions. For this, I investigate the development of the sacred marriage ritual in the nations surrounding Israel by defining its history, its purpose, and its main religious experts. I then explore the Israelite religious landscape around the time the text was composed to find the proper circumstances that would lend themselves to the existence of a Judahite sacred marriage rite akin to that of these other ancient cultures. Finally, using a comparative approach to the Eden text, that mainly relies on the Ritual School, I briefly explore the many elements at play in the tale and define their purpose in the ritual

The eighth day : a novel with critical commentary

xlv, 246 leaves : ill., [1] plate ; 29 cmThis thesis contains two parts: a novel, The Eighth Day and its critical commentary. The novel sets the story of Olivia, a contemporary protagonist, into the Sumerian myth of Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth. Like Inanna, Olivia descends, removing her immortal vestments or metaphors of belief, in seven stages or gates that lead to the underworld where she will arrive naked and bowing low before her sister-self, Rahab. Because Olivia's ideology is rigidly bound by ethics framed in the Old Testament, both of these myths play a large part in the unfolding of her story. Livia's beliefs must be closely identified before she can dicard or amend them. The Inanna myth illuminates the spiral nature of life's journey from the blind innocence of a child descending down to a conscious innocence born of choice. The critical commentary that precedes the novel discusses the art and technique that plays part in all fiction and in the novel. The Eighth Day

Writing of the Americas

This paper aims to highlight the different forms of writing within the Americas, establish connections between the systems, and discuss the impact of European colonization. Writing systems within the American Continents contain a vast array of different indigenous systems that first started around 1000-900 BCE and spread throughout Mesoamerica into varying communities innovated to make their writing systems. The writing systems discussed are Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Epi-Olmec, Teotihuacan, Aztec, Mixtec, Khipus, Cree, Cherokee, and Inuktitut writing systems. Primary sources of each system, secondary sources that discuss and synthesize these primary sources, policies, laws, and other cultural materials discussed within these indigenous communities are used throughout the paper to further the discussion. The impact of colonization on the writing systems of the Americas creates a division between pre-and post-contact systems that show the extent of colonial powers. This paper also discusses the writing systems that are still in use and their community's development of revitalization tools and resources. The writing systems of the Americas are an integral part of history, showcasing the people who have lived there for many thousands of years

Gilgamesh and the Great Goddess of Uruk

DEDICATION This book is dedicated to Richard A. Henshaw Simply the MasterAs early as five thousand years ago the Sumerians who were developing a complex city-state based on plow agriculture and animal husbandry in what is now southern Iraq illustrated their culture in great vases, one band of which can be interpreted as a “Sacred Marriage” between the highest power in the universe, the Great Goddess “Inanna” (in Semitic Babylonia and Assyria “Ishtar”). In the very complicated scene at the topmost band of the Uruk Vase the goddess raises the status of her human lover to semi-divine status. The position he held the Sumerians called en, and on the vase he is seen receiving from the goddess a symbolic wrap and a cap that indicate his new status. The most famous of the Sumerian ens was an Urukean known a “Bilgamis” later “Gilgamesh,” and his exploits are recounted in a variety of poems, epics as important to his people as Odysseus and Achilles were to the ancient Greeks. From the 4th millennium BCE Uruk Vase to the 1st millennium BCE versions of Gilgamesh poems the peoples of Mesopotamia celebrated the often combative relationship between the en and the Great Goddess.SUNY BrockportSUNY Brockport eBook

Cauldron of Changes: Feminist Spirituality in Contemporary American Women\u27s Fiction.

My dissertation, Cauldron of Changes: Feminist Spirituality in Contemporary American Women\u27s Fiction, combines feminist perspectives from literary and religious thinkers to inform a discussion of the overlooked aspects of contemporary European-American women\u27s speculative fiction. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the feminist spirituality movement as it incorporates Goddess- and earth-centered religious perspectives, and covers the themes common to both spiritual practice and fiction. Rewriting History and Legend, the second chapter, shows how the feminist spirituality movement has furthered the feminist project of rewriting myth, legend, and history, thus challenging the foundations of the cultural tradition of the West. In this chapter I analyze Kim Chernin\u27s and Marion Zimmer Bradley\u27s efforts to re-imagine and re-create narratives which have traditionally been androcentric. The next chapter, Finding and Defining Personal Power, focuses on a key issue in feminist spirituality: redefining power in a non-exploitative fashion and claiming it for the female self. Authors discussed are Mercedes Lackey, Gael Baudino, and Patricia Kennealy. Quest for the Goddess, chapter four, continues exploring the concept of feminist power as manifested in the female heroic quest, which in the novels under discussion takes the form of a quest to find or serve a Goddess. Works by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Lynn Abbey, and Joan Vinge reveal the various concepts of the Goddess relevant to contemporary feminist explorations of the spiritual self. My study examines the logical progression from individual women seeking a spiritual ground of being in their lives, to healing themselves and the community. Throughout Cauldron of Changes I examine the ways in which speculative fiction offers unique possibilities for the feminist exploration of spiritual issues