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Read more about the article Article: Outdoing Authenticity – Three Postmodern Models of Adapting Folklore Materials in Current Spiritual Music
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Methodology and models / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Typology and comparative study

Article: Outdoing Authenticity – Three Postmodern Models of Adapting Folklore Materials in Current Spiritual Music

The liturgical poem “Im Nin'alu” got various popular musical adaptations in recent decades. These adaptations raise questions - and provide different answers - regarding authenticity, identity, tradition, and more. Each of them embodies a different way of coping with the postmodern situation. The article presents three different models of relation to traditional materials, which are different ways of dealing with the problems of individuals in relation to these questions.

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January 9, 2023
Read more about the article Lecture: The Oriental as a Spiritual Symbol – The Reification of the Liturgical Poem ‘Im Nin’alu in Contemporary Popular Musical Performances
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: The Oriental as a Spiritual Symbol – The Reification of the Liturgical Poem ‘Im Nin’alu in Contemporary Popular Musical Performances

For the west, the oriental is an object to project upon desires and fantasies. This is similar also in the spiritual context: New Age orientalism molds the "orient" (especially India) in its spirit, as an "Other" significant culture. Kabbalah undergoes a similar process, as an "Other" of the west. This lecture presents the meeting between the "Orient" and Kabbalah in a Yemenite (also "oriental") version - through an inquiry of contemporary performances of the liturgical Poem "Im Nin'alu".

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January 9, 2023
Read more about the article Conference: Contemplative Pedagogy – Spirit, consciousness, and Magic in Education
Education and higher education / Mind and psychology

Conference: Contemplative Pedagogy – Spirit, consciousness, and Magic in Education

This conference dealt with the space between spiritual, alternative, and contemplative education. It had workshops demonstrating these kinds of education, as well as research presentations of support (and criticism) on them. "Contemplative Education" is an umbrela term for education, teaching and learning approaches that turn the gaze into the mind and soaul of the individual, and to their deep link to life, other humans, and the world. Contemplative Education stems from a humanistic perceptionof human nature and the goals of education. It stresses the advancement of personal development and realization of the higher human potential, bot among students and teachers.

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December 7, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Neo-Shamanism in Israel – Authenticity and the Invention of Tradition
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Israel / Magic and paganism / Methodology and models

Lecture: Neo-Shamanism in Israel – Authenticity and the Invention of Tradition

This lecture dealt with Neo-Shamanism in Israel, but… actually, how can one describe Neo-Shamanism in Israel when it's unclear what Neo-Shamanism is? And indeed, the tern is unclear. The lecture discussed the term and its problematization, the question of relation between Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism, the search for the common denominator of "Shamanic" phenomena, and more.

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December 6, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Did God Attend the Screenings of “2001: Odyssey “in Space?
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Mind and psychology / Popular culture and mass media / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: Did God Attend the Screenings of “2001: Odyssey “in Space?

The film 2001: Odyssey in Space is known as idiosyncratic and became a cult film, however was also harchly criticized. In this lecture we argue that the filmmaker (Stanley Kubric) uses hypnotic technics in order to immerse the audience in a mystical/spiritual trance experiences. In the research we describe three such technics (the article is being prepared), while explaining the contradicting reactions to the film.

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December 5, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: New Age – A Spiritual Secular Religion?
Critical theory / Identity / Methodology and models / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: New Age – A Spiritual Secular Religion?

Is New Age a religion? Is it a secular phenomenon? Is a "secular religion" possible? These questions were dealt with in a lecture at a conference than conviened academia spokespersons, thinkers, and various public personalities, to siddcuss the definitions and conceptualizations of hybrid and blurry phenomena. The lecture disscussed the definitions of "religion", the emic and etic discourses, issues of labeling in the New Age field, the question of the essence of "secularism", the feasibility of "secular religion", the definition of "Spiritual But not Religious" (SBNR), and more. Furthermore, the lecture dealt with the blurring between definitions and conceptualizations within the alternative spiritualities, and analysed the motivation of creating this blurring.

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December 5, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Versions of Theme Design Reality Creation in New Age Culture
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Magic and paganism / Methodology and models / Mind and psychology / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Science/medicine and technology / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: Versions of Theme Design Reality Creation in New Age Culture

We create our own reality - this is a major idea in the contemporary cultural discourse. But how? From the Matrix to a magic stick, from positive psychology to mind control technics. Various lectures presented the research on this spiritual (or perhaps actually secularized) theme...

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December 5, 2022
Read more about the article Article: The Creating-Our-Reality Motif in Contemporary Western Popular Spirituality
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Magic and paganism / Methodology and models / Mind and psychology / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Science/medicine and technology / Typology and comparative study

Article: The Creating-Our-Reality Motif in Contemporary Western Popular Spirituality

One of the most prominent themes in the contemporary spiritual discourse, as well as in the general popular discourse, is that we are those who create our own world. This idea has various versions. For instance, the positive psychology version depicts how thoughts and expextations may create a reality through the change of behaviour; the science fiction version sees us as players in a virtual space that choose and shape their enviroment; the magical version teaches us to cast spells of reality; and more. This research analyses the popular spiritual discourse on the creation of reality, and thereby reviels a few insights on the contemporary cultural tendencies, the cultural contradictions, and the emergence of a new ethic.

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December 4, 2022
Read more about the article Article: The film “Noah” (2014) as an Environmental Cinematic Midrash
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

Article: The film “Noah” (2014) as an Environmental Cinematic Midrash

The film Noah (2014) is a cinematic Midrash. What does this mean? That it creatively interprates the biblical story of Noah anew, fills in existing gaps in the story, and striving at delivering an ideological message. This article surveys the sources of inspiration integrated in the film - from the sages' midrash to Zen Buddhism stories, and explains the film creators' interpretative choises and their message.

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December 1, 2022