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.
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.
The connection to the land and nature of Israel is at the core of the Zionist ideology, and is closely related to ideological concepts of the conquest of the wilderness, the renewal of Jewish sovereignty, inhabiting the land, continuity of the people of Israel, and more. In alternative spirituality, on the contrary, there is a different ideological array, which also leads to different kind f practices, for example in regards to the relationship with the place/nature, national/personal identity, loyalty to the establishment. Naturally, this leads to conflicts between the bodies of the establishment and those communities. Therefore, it is convenient for such communities to operate in the periphery, such as the Galilee. A three-lecture session organized by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro dealt with these issues, in the framework of a conference at Tel Hai College in the spring of 2022.
This article deals with the sanctification process of a site in the Land of Israel, by the Alternative Spirituality, or Neo-Pagans/Shamans. The site, that has a Christian history, and is directed by an Israeli governmental authorities, has become a focus if an invention of tradition that synthesizes a variety of discourses and traditions. Though it is percieved as a hub in a network of power sites arrayedthroughout Israel and the whole planet, some view it as the most powerful spiritual site on Earth.
This panel concluded the 9th Israeli Conference (and the last one - 2018) for the Study of Contemporary Spiritualities. It included four Israeli spiritual teachers who examined contemporary society, in Israel in particular, and its challenges, from the spiritual aspect they are occupied with.
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.