Download or read book The Politics of Divination written by Eugene L. Mendonsa and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2000-09 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Politics of Divination, first published in 1982, was a ground breaking work in the political economy of an African culture, the Sisala of Northern Ghana. The author shows how elders use divination as a political tool to control the behavior of women and young men. Gerontocratic control through ritual means is an attempt by elders to dominate the economic activities of youthful men, and the production and reproduction of women. Yet, the elders are not entirely successful in such attempts, and their efforts at social control sometimes have less than altruistic motives, as the many cases in the book show. The author presents divination and ancestral sacrifice in a processual view. Within the context of the divinatory process strategizing elders work and rework the rules of their society to deal with real life situations, illness, misfortune and death. Like many other Africans, the Sisala believe that such misfortunes are ultimatley caused by ancestral anger, which can be seen as a reflection of social tension and conflict among the living. Divination points out deviants in the family who are poised as the cause of such misfortunes, and this conflict is rectified through ancestral propitiation via blood sacrifice on family shrines.
Download or read book Politics of Divination written by Joshua Ramey and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-09-26 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 2008 financial crisis, the neoliberal ideas that arguably caused the damage have been triumphant in presenting themselves as the only possible solution for it. How can we account for the persistence of neoliberal hegemony, in spite of its obviously disastrous effects upon labor, capital, ecology, and society? The argument pursued in this book is that part of the persistence of neoliberalism has to do with the archaic and obscure political theology upon which of much of its discourse trades. This is a political theology of chance that both underwrites and obscures sacrificial devotion to market outcomes. Joshua Ramey structures this political theology around hidden homologies between modern markets, as non-rational randomizing ‘meta-information processors’, and archaic divination tools, which are used in public acts of tradition-bound attempts to interpret the deliverances of chance. Ramey argues that only by recognizing the persistently sacred character of chance within putatively secularized discourses of risk and randomness can the investments of neoliberal power be exposed at their sacred source, and an alternative political theology be constructed.
Download or read book Divination Politics and Ancient Near Eastern Empires written by Alan Lenzi and published by Society of Biblical Literature. This book was released on 2014-06-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advance your understanding of divination’s role in supporting or undermining imperial aspirations in the ancient Near East This collection examines the ways that divinatory texts in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East undermined and upheld the empires in which the texts were composed, edited, and read. Nine essays and an introduction engage biblical scholarship on the Prophets, Assyriology, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the critical study of Ancient Empires. Features: Interdisciplinary approaches include propaganda studies Essays examine how biblical and other ancient Near Eastern texts were shaped by political and theological empires Index of ancient sources
Download or read book Revolutionary Witchcraft written by Sarah Lyons and published by Running Press Adult. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fiery, inclusive guide for activists and witches alike, Revolutionary Witchcraft is an empowered introduction to the history and practice of politically-motivated magic. From the politically charged origins of the word "witch" to the present-day magical resistance, this bold handbook explores the role of witchcraft in our modern world. Author, activist, and practicing witch Sarah Lyons takes readers on a journey through a leftist history of magic -- from the witch hunts of early modern England, through the Salem Witch Trials, and up to our present moment. Pairing mystical acts, including sigil magic and soul flight, with core organizing tactics, like power mapping and protests, Revolutionary Witchcraft offers a blueprint for building a politically grounded magical praxis. From social justice to environmental activism, this radical reimagining of political activism addresses today's most pressing problems with empowering, inclusive rituals and magical actions. Each chapter introduces a key concept, like dreaming big, experiencing magical initiation, and joining the revolution, supported by a galvanizing historical case study on the power of mystical action. Full of actionable ideas for magical organizing, and an appendix packed with customizable spells, Revolutionary Witchcraft is the perfect companion for the magical uprising.
Download or read book Truth in Motion written by Martin Holbraad and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-05-04 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Embarking on an ethnographic journey to the inner barrios of Havana among practitioners of Ifá, a prestigious Afro-Cuban tradition of divination, Truth in Motion reevaluates Western ideas about truth in light of the practices and ideas of a wildly different, and highly respected, model. Acutely focusing on Ifá, Martin Holbraad takes the reader inside consultations, initiations, and lively public debates to show how Ifá practitioners see truth as something to be not so much represented, as transformed. Bringing his findings to bear on the discipline of anthropology itself, he recasts the very idea of truth as a matter not only of epistemological divergence but also of ontological difference—the question of truth, he argues, is not simply about how things may appear differently to people, but also about the different ways of imagining what those things are. By delving so deeply into Ifá practices, Truth in Motion offers cogent new ways of thinking about otherness and how anthropology can navigate it.
Download or read book Spirits in Politics written by Barbara Meier and published by Campus Verlag. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 4e de couv.: This anthropology addresses persisting questions social anthropologist, historians, and political scientists working in African societies have been confronted with: Do spirits enter the scene after political have failed as a relapse into an allegedly non-modern condition? Or do they precede colonial processes of political transformation, as classis theories of modernization try to establish? The volume seeks to extend the reflections on the relationship of religious phenomena in the socio-political sphere in African societies. It presents case studies which focus on the concepts of modernity, power, and violence, adding the notion of healing to this context and investigating their empirical correlations.
Download or read book Fate Calculation Experts written by Geng Li and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2019-03-10 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having long been stigmatized as an immoral and even illegal “superstition”, the popular practice of divination is experiencing a revival in contemporary China. Fate Calculation Experts explores how diviners attempt to achieve legitimation in a society which identifies strongly with modernity, science, and rationality. As well as associating with modern knowledge production systems, diviners build a positive social image for their occupation via claims to moral authority and appeals to “tradition”. Beyond matters of image management, diviners’ efforts towards legitimation also figure in the social relationships and fundamental cultural values they develop in their practice.
Download or read book The Future of Rome written by Jonathan J. Price and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-08 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores future visions under a universalizing empire that many thought would never die.
Download or read book Divination Prediction and the End of the Roman Republic written by Federico Santangelo and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-09 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive assessment of the intersection between Roman politics, culture and divination in the late Republic, in the context of complex religious, political and intellectual developments. The book draws on a wide range of literary, iconographic and archaeological evidence.
Download or read book Classical Athens and the Delphic Oracle written by Hugh Bowden and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-05-05 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Delphic Oracle was where, according to Greek tradition, Apollo would speak through his priestesses. This work explores the importance placed on consultations at Delphi by Athenians in the city's age of democracy. It demonstrates the extent to which concern to do the will of the gods affected Athenian politics, challenging the notion that Athenian democracy may be seen as a model for modern secular democratic constitutions. All the known consultations of the oracle by Athens in the period before 300 BC are examined, and descriptions of consultations found in Attic tragedy and comedy are discussed. This work provides a new account of how the Delphic oracle functioned and presents a thorough analysis of the relationship between the Athenians and the oracle, making it essential reading both for students of the oracle itself and of Athenian democracy.
Download or read book Cicero on the Philosophy of Religion written by J. P. F. Wynne and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-17 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do the gods love you? Cicero gives deep and surprising answers in two philosophical dialogues on traditional Roman religion.
Download or read book Divining the Self written by Velma E. Love and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2015-06-29 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Divining the Self weaves elements of personal narrative, myth, history, and interpretive analysis into a vibrant tapestry that reflects the textured, embodied, and performative nature of scripture and scripturalizing practices. Velma Love examines the Odu—the Yoruba sacred scriptures—along with the accompanying mythology, philosophy, and ritual technologies engaged by African Americans. Drawing from the personal narratives of African American Ifa practitioners along with additional ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Oyotunji African Village, South Carolina, and New York City, Love’s work explores the ways in which an ancient worldview survives in modern times. Divining the Self also takes up the challenge of determining what it means for the scholar of religion to study scripture as both text and performance. This work provides an excellent case study of the sociocultural phenomenon of scripturalizing practices.
Download or read book The Book of Divination written by Michael Johnstone and published by Arcturus Publishing. This book was released on 2022-02-28 with total page 709 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since time immemorial, human beings have tried to understand the forces of fate through a variety of imaginative and mystical means. Whether it's reading tea leaves, using tarot or playing cards, palmistry, or crystal ball gazing, the history of fortune-telling is a long and fascinating one. The Book of Divination is the perfect companion for mastering these prophetic arts, presented in an elegant Wibalin bound volume with gilded page edges. Illustrations, diagrams and charts are included to aid you as well as short histories of each divination tradition. Includes: • Tarot • Tea leaf reading • Crystal astrology • I Ching • Numerology • Palmistry • Runes • Prophetic dreaming • Astrology With suggested further reading, this enlightening guide provides a wonderful introduction into divining techniques and makes a perfect gift. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Mystic Archives are beautiful hardcover guides which reveal the hidden mysteries of esoteric arts, presented with foil-embossing, Wibalin binding, patterned endpapers and gilded page edges.
Download or read book The Other Yijing written by Tze-ki Hon and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains the different ways that the Yijing (Book of Changes) was used in Chinese society. It demonstrates that the Yijing was a living text used by the educated elite and the populace to address their fear and anxiety.
Download or read book The Last Word written by C. Nadia Seremetakis and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1991-10-08 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on years of fieldwork in both rural and urban Greece, The Last Word explores women's cultural resistance as they weave together diverse social practices: improvised antiphonic laments, divinatory dreaming, the care and tending of olive trees and the dead, and the inscription of emotions and the senses on a landscape of persons, things, and places. These practices compose the empowering poetics of the cultural periphery. C. Nadia Seremetakis liberates the analysis of gender from reductive binary models and pioneers the alternative perspective of self-reflexive "native anthropology" in European ethnography.
Download or read book Fortune tellers and Philosophers written by Richard J Smith and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-28 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing an analysis of Chinese divination as a means of organizing and interpreting reality, Richard Smith examines a wide variety of mantic techniques - from the use of the hallowed Yjing to such popular practices as siting (geomancy), astrology, numerology, physiognomy, the analysis of written characters, meteorological divination, the use of mediums (including spirit-writing), and dream interpretation. As he explains the pervasiveness and tenacity of divination in China, the author explores not only the connections between various mantic techniques but also the relationship between divination and other facets of Chinese culture, including philosophy, science and medicine. He discusses the symbolism of divination, its aesthetics, its ritual aspects, and its psychological and social significance, pointing out that in traditional China divination helped to order the future, just as history helped to order the past, and rituals the present.
Download or read book Falnama written by Massumeh Farhad and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Praised by the New York Times as "a highly important exhibition book," this lavishly produced catalog reproduces illustrated texts from the groundbreaking exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Called "fabulous" by the Washington Post, Falnama was the first show of its kind dedicated to the art of divination in the Islamic world. The Falnama were brilliantly painted compositions created in Safavid Iran and Ottoman Turkey in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Falnama: The Book of Omens combines rare images with scholarly texts on the deeper meaning of dreams, omens, and divination. Featured in this first publication ever devoted to the Falnama as a genre are intact volumes as well as text folios and illustrations now dispersed among international public and private collections. Essays by scholars of Safavid, Ottoman, and Byzantine history and language, complemented by full-color illustrations, offer detailed analysis of the form, content, and meaning of these rarely seen works of art. The first-ever translations of three of the four monumental copies provide insight into a vivid and enduring aspect of human concern--the unknown."--Publisher's website.
