On the typology and the worship status of sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East

This article contains the reasons for the establishment of sacred trees in Israel based on a field study. It includes 97 interviews with Muslim and Druze informants. While Muslims (Arabs and Bedouins) consider sacred trees especially as an abode of righteous figures' (Wellis') souls or as having a connection to their graves, the Druze relate sacred trees especially to the events or deeds in the lives of prophets and religious leaders. A literary review shows the existence of 24 known reasons for the establishment of sacred trees worldwide, 11 of which are known in Israel one of these is reported here for the first time. We found different trends in monotheistic and polytheistic religions concerning their current worship of sacred trees

Insurance Status and Quality of Diabetes Care in Community Health Centers

Objectives. We sought to compare quality of diabetes care by insurance type in federally funded community health centers

The Blessingway Ceremony: Ritual, Nostalgic Imagination and Feminist Spirituality

There is an increasing interest in the role of spirituality on the experience of health, wellness and illness, as well as the role of spiritual practice in health care provision. For pregnancy and childbirth, this focus has tended to concentrate on hospital birth settings and care, and religious forms of spirituality. The blessingway ceremony can be described as an alternative baby shower, popular with home-birthing women. Its focus is woman-centred and draws on the power of ritual to evoke a spiritual experience for the pregnant host and her guests. This spirituality is experienced as a strong connection between women, their relationship with ‘nature’, and forged via the nostalgic imagination of women through time and space. This article will draw on data obtained in 2010 during doctoral fieldwork with 52 home-birthing women across eastern Australia and will examine the blessingway ceremony and its significance as a site of potential spiritual empowerment for pregnant and birthing women