Modern Primitives – V. Vale, Andrea Juno
An anthropological inquiry into a contemporary social enigma–the increasingly popular revival of ancient human decoration practices such as symbolic/deeply personal tattooing, multiple piercings, and ritual scarification.
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here.
Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences – Abraham Maslow
Written in the mid-1960s, this is Maslow’s classic treatise on transcendent states of being and their essential value in human life.
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here.
Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions – Catherine Bell
In this book, Bell offers a practical introduction to ritual practice and its study; she surveys the most influential theories of religion and ritual, the major categories of ritual activity, and the key debates that have shaped our understanding of ritualism.
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here.
Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul – Ariel Gluklich
Glucklich argues that the experience of ritual pain, far from being a form of a madness or superstition, contains a hidden rationality and can bring about a profound transformation of the consciousness and identity of the spiritual seeker.
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here.
Spiritual Tattoo: A Cultural History of Tattooing, Piercing, Scarification, Branding, and Implants – John Rush
Spiritual Tattoo finds a remarkable consistency in body modifications from prehistory to the present, suggesting the importance of the body as a sacred geography from both social and psychological points of view.
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here.
The Decorated Body – Robert Brain
Anthropologist Robert Brain examines the universal human need to transform the body. One of his principal aims is to diminish the traditional gap between how “primitive” and “civilized” body art is understood.
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here.
The Philosophy of Body – Mike Proudfoot
The papers deal with the role of the body in the concept of the self, in perceptions, intention and action, in Artificial Intelligence, in thinking about sex and gender, and in psychoanalytical thinking.
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here.
The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure – Victor Turner
Turner examines rituals of the Ndembu in Zambia and develops his now-famous concept of “Communitas.” He characterizes it as an absolute inter-human relation beyond any form of structure.
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here.
The Varieties of Religious Experience – William James
James takes on “the very inner citadel of human life” by focusing on intensely religious individuals from different cultures and eras, in order to explore from within how religion enriches human lives.
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here.
