Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon

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Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 0739181459
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon by : Bonaventure Mvé Ondo

Download or read book Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon written by Bonaventure Mvé Ondo and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2013-12-05 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon: A Philosophical Analysis of Fang Tales, Myths, and Legends is a study of the philosophical significance of Fang mythology and the rituals of Initiation that lead to Wisdom. Bonaventure Mvé Ondo argues that Fang tales, myths, and legends are components of the foundation of a worldview that sustains and protects a unique, historical Fang identity. For Mvé Ondo, the contemporary challenges to the existence and identity of the Fang require, perhaps more than ever, recognition of the central role of mythology. At an historical moment when Africans are faced with the challenges of westernization, the metaphysics of the Fang, illustrated and preserved by tales, myths, and legends, is a critical element of Fang survival. Mythology is far more than a collection of amusing or awe inspiring stories, they are profoundly important moral lessons for the Fang in their continuing encounters with such contemporary challenges as materialism and, as the “stories” in this book illustrate, the constant struggle to live lives of purpose and meaning. For Mvé Ondo, the critical, central issue for the Fang is to focus on the distinction at the heart of his analysis, i.e., the crucial distinction between “to have” and to “to be.” The lessons transmitted from generation to generation by these marvelous stories are, Mvé Ondo argues, central to living lives that reflect and perpetuate the eternal truths of the Fang experience.

Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 151 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon by : Bonaventure Mve Ondo

Download or read book Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon written by Bonaventure Mve Ondo and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon: A Philosophical Analysis of Fang Tales, Myths, and Legends is a study of the philosophical significance of Fang mythology and the rituals of initiation that lead to wisdom. Bonaventure Mvé Ondo argues that Fang tales, myths, and legends are components of the foundation of a worldview that sustains and protects a unique, historical Fang identity. For Mvé Ondo, the contemporary challenges to the existence and identity of the Fang require, perhaps more than ever, recognition of the central role of mythology. At an historical moment when Africans are faced with the challenges of westernization, the metaphysics of the Fang, illustrated and preserved by tales, myths, and legends, is a critical element of Fang survival. Mythology is far more than a collection of amusing or awe inspiring stories, they are profoundly important moral lessons for the Fang in their continuing encounters with such contemporary challenges as materialism and, as the "stories" in this book illustrate, the constant struggle to live lives of purpose and meaning. For Mvé Ondo, the critical, central issue for the Fang is to focus on the distinction at the heart of his analysis, i.e., the crucial distinction between "to have" and to "to be." The lessons transmitted from generation to generation by these marvelous stories are, Mvé Ondo argues, central to living lives that reflect and perpetuate the eternal truths of the Fang experience."

Ozain, the Secrets of Congo Initiations and Magic Spells, Palo Mayombe - Palo Mont

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781477499658
Total Pages : 90 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (996 download)

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Book Synopsis Ozain, the Secrets of Congo Initiations and Magic Spells, Palo Mayombe - Palo Mont by : Carlos De Bourbon-Galdiano-Montenegro

Download or read book Ozain, the Secrets of Congo Initiations and Magic Spells, Palo Mayombe - Palo Mont written by Carlos De Bourbon-Galdiano-Montenegro and published by . This book was released on 2012-05-18 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Afro-Caribbean religious initiation ritual into the mysteries of the African Spirit Ozain is one of the most important religious ceremonies that can be received by initiates of Palo Mayombe, Palo Monte and Kimbisa. This book contains the complete ritual instructions of how to correctly prepare and make the FUNDAMENTO DE OZAIN (The Fundamental Elements of Ozain).This initiation ceremony gives the initiate the spiritual right to be able to work and invoke the powerful magical mysteries of the spirit Ozain.

Initiation and the Wisdom of the Heart

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (471 download)

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Book Synopsis Initiation and the Wisdom of the Heart by : Asger Lorentsen

Download or read book Initiation and the Wisdom of the Heart written by Asger Lorentsen and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Growing Up

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Growing Up by : Molly Longwe

Download or read book Growing Up written by Molly Longwe and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates that phenomenon: what factors caused the Baptist approach to fail, give initiation for girls was as important; what is the traditional initiation which any new approach would have to replace; and how could a chinamwali be framed for

Historical Dictionary of Gabon

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Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1538110121
Total Pages : 641 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (381 download)

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Book Synopsis Historical Dictionary of Gabon by : Douglas A. Yates

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Gabon written by Douglas A. Yates and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-12-28 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of Gabon brings up to date the political affairs of the country, since the accession to power of Ali Bongo, eldest son of Omar Bongo, the former president-for-life, who died in 2009 after the publication of the third edition. Themes of “continuity” and “change” are present throughout the entries, not only as the Bongo family continues its half century of dynastic rule (there are a dozen Bongos in this new edition), but as the rare primeval tropical rainforests continue to dominate the landscape yet are menaced by destructive logging and palm oil plantations, and as this former French colony after independence continues to collaborate with the French African sphere of influence yet seeks new partners from America and Asia (China, Singapore), and as the country’s numerous ethnic groups perpetuate a multicultural mosaic that is nevertheless threatened by globalization of communications and cultural convergence. This fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of Gabon contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Gabon.

Seeding Consciousness

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 159143534X
Total Pages : 395 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (914 download)

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Book Synopsis Seeding Consciousness by : Tricia Eastman

Download or read book Seeding Consciousness written by Tricia Eastman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2024-11-12 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Provides a blueprint for responsible and effective use of psychedelics and plant medicines to transform pain and trauma into profound connections with ourselves, nature, and the spirit world • Shares exercises to help readers plant the seeds of transformation in their own consciousness, navigate altered states of consciousness and ego death, work with the shadow, and integrate fragmented parts of the self • Explores ancestral teachings on the interconnectedness of all life, drawing on the author’s studies with indigenous elders, including Bwiti initiations with iboga Presenting a deep dive into the world of psychedelic initiation and ancestral wisdom, Tricia Eastman demonstrates the power of plant medicine and psychedelic journeys for cultivating new beliefs, healing trauma, and accessing latent gifts within us—an inner alchemical process she calls “seeding consciousness.” Drawing on her studies with Indigenous elders, including two decades of iboga initiations with the Bwiti of Gabon, Africa, and training with the Kogi Kággaba of Columbia, Eastman provides a blueprint for responsible and effective use of entheogens to transform pain and trauma into profound connections with ourselves, nature, and the spirit world. She explores ancient teachings on the interconnectedness of all life and the forces of nature and shows how colonization and modern culture have disconnected us from our spiritual foundations. She shares exercises to help readers seed their own consciousness, navigate altered states of consciousness and ego death, work with the shadow, and integrate fragmented parts of the self. She also examines how to respectfully engage with these potent transformative plants, substances, and ancient traditions, thereby honoring the wisdom keepers who have safeguarded these traditions across the millennia. Revealing how to prepare the fertile soil of the mind for mystical experience, this book presents a psychedelic path to awakening that simultaneously facilitates personal transformation and collective societal change.

World Mythology

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Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1725268027
Total Pages : 213 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (252 download)

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Book Synopsis World Mythology by : David Seal

Download or read book World Mythology written by David Seal and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-08-16 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mythology and religious-studies teachers will appreciate World Mythology for its thematic approach, historical background information, commentary, and discussion questions provided for each myth from a range of geographic regions. For the same reasons, any reader interested in mythology will enjoy the contents and format of the book.

African Goddess Initiation

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Publisher : Hay House, Inc
ISBN 13 : 1401962955
Total Pages : 425 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (19 download)

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Book Synopsis African Goddess Initiation by : Abiola Abrams

Download or read book African Goddess Initiation written by Abiola Abrams and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sacred feminine initiation of self-love and soul care rituals, tools, and exercises. Spiritual teacher, intuitive coach, and award-winning author, Abiola Abrams invites you to activate African goddess magic to transmute your fears and limiting beliefs, so that you can create more happiness, abundance, and self-acceptance. Africa is a continent of 54+ countries, and her children are global. There is no one African spiritual tradition. Our ancestors who were trafficked in "The New World" hid the secrets of our orishas, abosom, lwas, álúsí, and god/desses behind saints, angels, and legendary characters. From South Africa to Egypt, Brazil to Haiti, Guyana to Louisiana, goddess wisdom still empowers us. Writes Abiola, "Spirit told me, "We choose who shows up." And if you are holding this book, then this sacred medicine is meant for you. In this book, you will meet ancient goddesses and divine feminine energy ancestors, legendary queens, and mystical spirits. As you complete their powerful rituals, and ascend through their temples, you will: . Awaken generational healing in the Temple of Ancestors; . Manifest your miracles in the Temple of Conjurers; . Release the struggle in the Temple of Warriors; . Embrace your dark goddess self in the Temple of Shadows; . Heal your primal wounds in the Temple of Lovers; . Liberate your voice in the Temple of Griots; . Open your third eye intuition in the Temple of Queens; and . Surrender, meditate, and rise in the Temple of High Priestesses. Welcome to your goddess circle!

To Write the Africa World

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1509551085
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis To Write the Africa World by : Achille Mbembe

Download or read book To Write the Africa World written by Achille Mbembe and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2022-12-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In October 2016, thirty intellectuals and artists from Africa, its diasporas, and beyond gathered together in Dakar and Saint-Louis, Senegal, to reflect on the present and future of Africa in the midst of transformations that are sweeping through the contemporary world. The aim was to take stock of the renewal of Afro-diasporic critical thought and to discuss the new perspectives emerging from the ongoing projects constructing political, cultural, and social imaginaries for and from the African continent. This book brings together and makes available to the English-speaking world the material presented at the 2016 Ateliers de la pensée – Workshops of Thought – in Dakar. The authors deal with a wide range of issues, including decolonization, the development of social utopias, and the pursuit of new forms of political, economic, and social production on the African continent. Running throughout is a constant concern to interrogate the categories and frames of meaning that have served to characterize the dynamics of the African continent and a shared desire to produce new frames of intelligibility through which to see Africa’s present realities and its future. The contributions also attest to the view that there is no African question that is not also a global question, and that the Africanization of the global question will be a decisive feature of the twenty-first century. To Write the Africa World and its companion volume The Politics of Time will be indispensable for anyone interested in Africa – its past, present, and future – and in the new forms of critical thought emerging from Africa and the Global South.

Ritual

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351903012
Total Pages : 613 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

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Book Synopsis Ritual by : Andrew Strathern

Download or read book Ritual written by Andrew Strathern and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 613 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume consists of a number of carefully-selected readings that represent a wide range of discussions and theorizing about ritual. The selection encompasses definitional questions, issues of interpretation, meaning, and function, and a roster of ethnographic and analytical topics, covering classic themes such as ancestor worship and sacrifice, initiation, gender, healing, social change, and shamanic practices, as well as recent critical and reconstructive theorizing on embodiment, performance, and performativity. In their Introduction to the volume, the Editors provide an overall survey and critical consideration of topics, incorporating insights from their own long-term field research and reflections on the readings included. The Introduction and readings together provide a unique research tool for those interested in pursuing the study of ritual processes in depth, with the benefit of both historical and contemporary approaches.

2012

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Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 9781585425921
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (259 download)

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Book Synopsis 2012 by : Daniel Pinchbeck

Download or read book 2012 written by Daniel Pinchbeck and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draws on cosmological phenomena of the modern world as well as the author's own research into shamanic and metaphysical belief systems to support the Mayan theory about an unprecedented global shift predicted for the year 2012.

The 2012 Collection

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Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101578114
Total Pages : 659 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis The 2012 Collection by : Daniel Pinchbeck

Download or read book The 2012 Collection written by Daniel Pinchbeck and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-02-21 with total page 659 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in the years beyond 2012—discover the true meaning behind the hype that captivated the world. It should be no surprise to us now, but the pomp surrounding the coming of the year 2012 that grasped the human race’s attention in those preceding years was not at all about the end of the world. Instead, much to the contrary, Daniel Pinchbeck believes that the passing of the year 2012 marked the beginning of a global shift in consciousness—where the human race would begin to see the world and existence on this planet through a different lens, embracing fresh ideas about who we are and what it means to be human. Discover the true wisdom behind the 2012 phenomenon with these two captivating works by one of the leading minds in the movement—both in one place for the first time, and at one low price. 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl Cross James Merrill, H. P. Lovecraft, and Carlos Castaneda—each imbued with a twenty-first-century aptitude for quantum theory and existential psychology—and you get the voice of Daniel Pinchbeck. And yet, nothing quite prepares us for the lucidity, rationale, and informed audacity of this seeker, skeptic, and cartographer of hidden realms. Throughout the 1990s, Pinchbeck had been a member of New York's literary select. He wrote for publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, and Harper's Bazaar. His first book, Breaking Open the Head, was heralded as the most significant on psychedelic experimentation since the work of Terence McKenna. But slowly something happened: Rather than writing from a journalistic remove, Pinchbeck—his literary powers at their peak—began to participate in the shamanic and metaphysical belief systems he was encountering. As his psyche and body opened to new experience, disparate threads and occurrences made sense like never before: Humanity, every sign pointed, is precariously balanced between greater self-potential and environmental disaster. The Mayan calendar's "end date" of 2012 seems to define our present age: It heralds the end of one way of existence and the return of another, in which the serpent god Quetzalcoatl reigns anew, bringing with him an unimaginably ancient—yet, to us, wholly new—way of living. A result not just of study but also of participation, 2012 tells the tale of a single man in whose trials we ultimately recognize our own hopes and anxieties about modern life. Toward 2012: Perspectives on the Next Age An informed, challenging, and engaging collection of essays on the new choices in lifestyles and community as we begin the countdown toward the year 2012. This fresh and thought-provoking anthology draws together some of today’s most celebrated visionaries, thinkers, and pioneers in the field of evolving consciousness—exploring topics from shamanism to urban homesteading, the legacy of Carlos Castaneda to Mayan predictions for the year 2012, and new paths in direct political action and human sexuality. Toward 2012 highlights some of the most challenging, intelligent pieces published on the acclaimed website Reality Sandwich. It is coedited by Daniel Pinchbeck, the preeminent voice on 2012, and online pioneer Ken Jordan, and features original works from Stanislav Grof, John Major Jenkins, and Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky); interviews with Abbie Hoffman and artist Alex Grey; and a new introduction by Pinchbeck. Here are ideas that trace the arc of our evolution in consciousness, lifestyles, and communities as we draw closer to a moment in time that portends ways of living that are different from anything we have expected or experienced.

Breaking Open the Head

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0767907434
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (679 download)

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Book Synopsis Breaking Open the Head by : Daniel Pinchbeck

Download or read book Breaking Open the Head written by Daniel Pinchbeck and published by Crown. This book was released on 2003-08-12 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dazzling work of personal travelogue and cultural criticism that ranges from the primitive to the postmodern in a quest for the promise and meaning of the psychedelic experience. While psychedelics of all sorts are demonized in America today, the visionary compounds found in plants are the spiritual sacraments of tribal cultures around the world. From the iboga of the Bwiti in Gabon, to the Mazatecs of Mexico, these plants are sacred because they awaken the mind to other levels of awareness--to a holographic vision of the universe. Breaking Open the Head is a passionate, multilayered, and sometimes rashly personal inquiry into this deep division. On one level, Daniel Pinchbeck tells the story of the encounters between the modern consciousness of the West and these sacramental substances, including such thinkers as Allen Ginsberg, Antonin Artaud, Walter Benjamin, and Terence McKenna, and a new underground of present-day ethnobotanists, chemists, psychonauts, and philosophers. It is also a scrupulous recording of the author's wide-ranging investigation with these outlaw compounds, including a thirty-hour tribal initiation in West Africa; an all-night encounter with the master shamans of the South American rain forest; and a report from a psychedelic utopia in the Black Rock Desert that is the Burning Man Festival. Breaking Open the Head is brave participatory journalism at its best, a vivid account of psychic and intellectual experiences that opened doors in the wall of Western rationalism and completed Daniel Pinchbeck's personal transformation from a jaded Manhattan journalist to shamanic initiate and grateful citizen of the cosmos.

Expanding Mindscapes

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262546930
Total Pages : 533 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Expanding Mindscapes by : Erika Dyck

Download or read book Expanding Mindscapes written by Erika Dyck and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2023-11-21 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first collection of its kind to explore the diverse and global history of psychedelics as they appealed to several generations of researchers and thinkers. Expanding Mindscapes offers a fascinatingly fluid and diverse history of psychedelics that stretches around the globe. While much of the literature to date has focused on the history of these drugs in the United States and Canada, editors Erika Dyck and Chris Elcock deliberately move away from these places in this collection to reveal a longer and more global history of psychedelics, which chronicles their discovery, use, and cultural impact in the twentieth century. The authors in this collection explore everything from LSD psychotherapy in communist Czechoslovakia to the first applications of LSD-25 in South America to the intersection of modernism and ayahuasca in China. Along the way, they also consider how psychedelic experiments generated their own cultural expressions, where the specter of the United States may have loomed large and where colonial empires exerted influence on the local reception of psychedelics in botanical and pharmaceutical pursuits. Breaking new ground by adopting perspectives that are currently lacking in the historiography of psychedelics, this collection adds to the burgeoning field by offering important discussions on underexplored topics such as gender, agriculture, parapsychology, anarchism, and technological innovations.

Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa

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Author :
Publisher : SAGE Publications
ISBN 13 : 145226662X
Total Pages : 1977 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (522 download)

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Book Synopsis Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa by : Andrea L. Stanton

Download or read book Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa written by Andrea L. Stanton and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2012-01-05 with total page 1977 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our age of globalization and multiculturalism, it has never been more important for Americans to understand and appreciate foreign cultures and how people live, love, and learn in areas of the world unfamiliar to most U.S. students and the general public. The four volumes in our cultural sociology reference encyclopedia take a step forward in this endeavor by presenting concise information on those regions likely to be most "foreign" to U.S. students: the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The intent is to convey what daily life is like for people in these selected regions. It is hoped entries within these volumes will aid readers in efforts to understand the importance of cultural sociology, to appreciate the effects of cultural forces around the world, and to learn the history of countries and cultures within these important regions.

The Ritual Process

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351474901
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ritual Process by : Victor Turner

Download or read book The Ritual Process written by Victor Turner and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, Victor Turner examines rituals of the Ndembu in Zambia and develops his now-famous concept of "Communitas." He characterizes it as an absolute inter-human relation beyond any form of structure.The Ritual Process has acquired the status of a small classic since these lectures were first published in 1969. Turner demonstrates how the analysis of ritual behavior and symbolism may be used as a key to understanding social structure and processes. He extends Van Gennep's notion of the "liminal phase" of rites of passage to a more general level, and applies it to gain understanding of a wide range of social phenomena. Once thought to be the "vestigial" organs of social conservatism, rituals are now seen as arenas in which social change may emerge and be absorbed into social practice.As Roger Abrahams writes in his foreword to the revised edition: "Turner argued from specific field data. His special eloquence resided in his ability to lay open a sub-Saharan African system of belief and practice in terms that took the reader beyond the exotic features of the group among whom he carried out his fieldwork, translating his experience into the terms of contemporary Western perceptions. Reflecting Turner's range of intellectual interests, the book emerged as exceptional and eccentric in many ways: yet it achieved its place within the intellectual world because it so successfully synthesized continental theory with the practices of ethnographic reports."