Included in this session are four lectures presenting studies of nature and ecology from the angles of philosophy, mysticism and magic. The session was part of the 7th annual conference of the Israeli Association for the Study of Religions (IASR), held at the Open University in Ra'anana, on 10 June, 2024. The annual conference was dedicated to the topic "Religion and Environment".
The relation to nature and the environment in religions is a fascinating subject, and it takes a new and surprising form these days - with the rise of the ecological discourse, and in light of the apocalyptic fears of an imminent ecological disaster. Some of the new religions place a special emphasis on the sanctification of nature (such as neo-shamanism). In the popular spiritual discourse the concept of nature adoration and caring for the environment feature, in the context of spiritual values. In this session, four studies dealing with ecology and nature in contemporary spiritualities are presented.
The deluge myth was used by generations of commentators as a tool for social criticism - it provided them with an opportunity to explain what kind of humanity deserved total annihilation. In recent films, connections are made between the current ecological crisis and the deluge... Are we (yes, we!) this generation that deserves to be destroyed, and why? This lecture presents a comparative study of Hollywood films throughout the last century, all of which have allusions to the biblical flood myth. The focus will be on how the flood becomes a symbol of the worsening ecological crisis nowadays.
Kursi is a Christian pilgrimage site to the Sea of Galilee, which has become the subject of contemporary spiritual urban legends - mainly around the "enchanted benches" installed at the site by the Nature and Parks Authority. This site, which has undergone a sanctification process by neo-shaman activists in recent years, is an opportunity to follow in real time the formation of a holy site - as well as to witness the growth of an alternative sacred geography in the Land of Israel.
An article that presents the story of the first spiritual-alternative community in Israel, which was a bubble of the sixties at the heart of the mobilized Zionist miliee at the time. The hippy community of Rosh Pinna was an extraordinary refuge where a fascinating "social laboratory" functioned, which also gave birth to other spiritual and alternative Israeli spaces. The article includes a comparison between hippie and Zionist values - from the fields of society and the law to the attitude to nature and music. It includes unique illustrations and photographs.
In a video interview of about half an hour, Prof. Opher Etzion learns about the areas of research of Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro. The interview took place in July 2021, as a podcast in the "One with One" series of the "HatzaZfat" channel of Zefat Academic College, in which researchers are interviewed about their areas of expertise.
In the podcast of the Open University and IDF Radio (Galatz), they dealt with "prayer" over a series of meetings. One of the (four) meetings hosted Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro,on the expression and formation of prayer in contemporary alternative spiritualities. The hosts of the podcast "Adraba" are Prof. Tamar Hermann and Prof. Yoram Kalman, and the radio researcher is Lou Kerek.
The film Noah (2014) is analyzed in this lecture as a cinematic Midrash, that presents three different contemporary worldviews, and promotes eco-feminist values while criticizing materialism and fundamentalism. The lecture presents central theses formulated in a couple of articles published by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro and Dr. Lila Moore as part of this research project.
A TV reportage about Marianna Ruah-Midbar, maily about her role in conducting Jewish-alternative marriage ceremonies. The reportage, by Hani Bar Lev and Ruti Vigiser, was prepared in 2008, and was broadcast on the local channel (HaSharon) 98.
An interview essay about the personal spiritual views of Dov Elboim, on the occasion of the release of his book "Voyage in Free Space". The essay, written (in Hebrew) by Ruah-Midbar, was published in the alternative-spiritual magazine Other Life (Chayim Acherim).