Lecture

Read more about the article Lecture: “And the Canaanite was then in the land” – Local Deities from Ba’al to Mother Earth in the Last Century
Feminism gender and sex / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / State politics and law / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: “And the Canaanite was then in the land” – Local Deities from Ba’al to Mother Earth in the Last Century

Two Israeli Pagan movements of the last century have glorified an ancient panteon of god. What is the difference between them? In this lecture we've presented both similarities and differences in the relation to deities in the two movements.

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May 17, 2023
Read more about the article Lecture: Time Perceptions and Body Images in the Contemporary Spiritual Discourse
Feminism gender and sex / History / Identity / Israel / Mind and psychology / Myth

Lecture: Time Perceptions and Body Images in the Contemporary Spiritual Discourse

Many Cultures share the yearning to a far ideal past - the lost paradise. What is special in the past-time perception of New Age Spirituality, especially in its Jewish/Israeli version? How does this spiritual discourse narrates the Jewish and human history? Answers to these questions were presented in a lecture at the conference of the Israeli Anthropological Association. These theses also appear in studies published by Ruah-Midbar Shapiro.

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January 20, 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 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 Lecture: One Can’t Expect Objective Academic Research on Contemporary Spiritualities
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Education and higher education / Postmodernism / Science/medicine and technology / State politics and law

Lecture: One Can’t Expect Objective Academic Research on Contemporary Spiritualities

In the postmodern condition, it's already cleae that there is no objective academic research. This is all the more truer when the research object is culturally disputed. Thus, one shouldn't expect New Age scholars to have no interests or agendas. This lecture surveys the public debates regarding the New Age in which its scholars are involved, and inquires the leaning and predispositions of the cintemporary research discourse of the field. It's full title was: "What Should One Expect When One Can’t Expect Objective Academic Research on Contemporary Spiritualities?"

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November 28, 2022