CONFERENCE: NEW EXPRESSIONS OF SPIRITUALITY, SZEGED HUNGAR, NOVEMBER 2008

SZEGED HUNGARY

New Expressions of Spirituality
Conference and workshop in Szeged, Hungary, 7-8 November 2008

Focusing on new approaches to the study of the variety of religions in contemporary society and personal experiences of spirituality. We particularly welcome case studies and field research on recent phenomena. Presentations at the conference will be considered by the editors for publication in a special issue of the Journal of ASANAS.

Topics
The conference explores themes related, but not limited to, the following:
- Personalised religion, bricolage beliefs
- New Age/Alternative Spirituality, Esotericism, mysticism
- Paganism and Neo-Paganism
- Alternative expressions of major religions
- Popular culture, indigenous religions
- Civil Religion - hidden structures of faith in societies
- Devotion and Media – icons in politics, pop culture and sports
- Virtual Communities

Workshops
There are two options to participate on the event. First, on the conference a limited number of papers will be presented. Due to time restrictions, just a few lectures will be selected for presentation.
Another special opportunity of the event are the workshops. We invited some of the most renowned scholars of these fields (like Marion Bowman, Graham Harvey, Daren Kemp, Steven Sutcliffe) to hold workshops focusing on the methodology of doing research, and on the interpretation of findings. Attendance at the workshops is limited and active participation is encouraged (by short presentation of research topics and issues).

Application
On-line application deadline for lectures and workshops: 15 July 2008 Early bird registration until: 1 July 2008

Online application and conference official website: www.reuropa.org/spirit2008

For further information please contact Csongor Sárközy:
sarkozy@rel.u-szeged.hu, +36 62 546384

CALL FOR PAPERS CCWE CONFERENCE 2008

THIS IS A CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE SECOND CCWE CONFERENCE

to be held on Saturday 11th October 2008
in the Unitarian Memorial Church in Cambridge CB1 1JW UK

WESTERN ESOTERICISM & THE ARTS

The Association for the Study of Esotericism website www.aseweb.org gives the following useful definition of esotericism:

The word “esoteric” derives from the Greek esoterikos, and is a comparative form of eso, meaning “within.” Its first known mention in Greek is in Lucian’s ascription to Aristotle of having “esoteric” [inner] and “exoteric” [outer] teachings. The word later came to designate the secret doctrines said to have been taught by Pythagoras to a select group of disciples, and, in general, to any teachings designed for or appropriate to an inner circle of disciples or initiates. In this sense, the word was brought into English in 1655 by Stanley in his History of Philosophy.

Esotericism, as an academic field, refers to the study of alternative or marginalized religious movements or philosophies whose proponents in general distinguish their own beliefs, practices, and experiences from public, institutionalized religious traditions. Among areas of investigation included in the field of esotericism are alchemy, astrology, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, magic, mysticism, Neoplatonism, new religious movements connected with these currents, nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century occult movements, Rosicrucianism, secret societies, and theosophy.

It is also important to consider that the major world religions have all been influenced in various ways by esotericism, and Western esotericism has influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Artists in the literary, musical and visual fields have long been influenced by and involved with esoteric teachings and practices, some of these connections are well known, Botticelli and astrology, Mozart and Freemasonry, Yeats and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, but many remain less known or hidden, so that the extent and importance of these influences tends to have been underestimated or unrecognised.

Papers are invited which look at Western Esotericism and the Arts, from a variety of academic and practitioner disciplines. Please send an email of your abstract in two hundred words to Dr Sophia Wellbeloved sophia@gurdjieff-books.net

The registration fee must be received before speakers can be confirmed.

CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Reverend Dr Malcolm Guite
Chaplain of Girton College Cambridge is both poet and priest.
see his website
http://www.malcolmguite.com/links.html

The registration fee is £30.00 for the day, includes light lunch, coffee and tea student rates available. Contact: Dr Sophia Wellbeloved at sophia@gurdjieff-books.net

The Cambridge Centre for the study of Western Esotericism is independent of any academic or esoteric communities, the co-ordinators share an interest in the need for a wider dialogue between scholars and practitioners in the field of Western Esotericism and in the establishment of a secular space in which an interdisciplinary network can thrive (see people).

3rd ANNUAL CONFERENCE: ALTERNATIVE EXPRESSIONS OF THE NUMINOUS

The Esoteric Studies Research and Teaching Group
in conjunction with the
School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics
at the
University of Queensland

presents the 3rd Annual Alternative Expressions of the Numinous Conference

Date: Friday 15 – Sunday 17 August 2008
Venue: School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, University of Queensland,
St Lucia Campus, Brisbane, Australia

Conference Chairs:
Dr Helen Farley
Julie Washington, and
Håkan Sandgren

Conference Website:
http://www.uq.edu.au/hprc/index.html?page=64294&pid=0

Keynote Speakers
Doug Ezzy – ‘Religion as the Etiquette of Relationships’

Douglas Ezzy’s research is driven by a fascination with how people make meaningful and dignified lives. His most recent research is an international study of teenage Witchcraft with Helen Berger (West Chester University). It examines the interconnections of teenage spirituality, the mass media, and nature religion. He is particularly interested to supervise sociology postgraduates studying contemporary spirituality. He has published six books: Teenage Witches (with Helen Berger), Researching Paganisms (with Graham Harvey and Jenny Blain), Qualitative Research Methods (with Pranee Rice), Qualitative Analysis, Narrating Unemployment and Practising the Witch’s Craft, along with numerous articles.

Nevill Drury – ‘Black Magic, White Magic and the Cosmology of Rosaleen Norton’

Nevill Drury has recently submitted his PhD dissertation on ‘Rosaleen Norton’s Contribution to the Western Esoteric Tradition’ to the University of Newcastle. His most recent publications include The New Age: the History of a Movement (Thames & Hudson, London and New York 2004), Magic and Witchcraft: from Shamanism to the Technopagans (Thames & Hudson, London and New York 2003) and The History of Magic in the Modern Age (Constable, London 2000). He also co-authored Fire and Shadow: Spirituality in Contemporary Australian Art (HarperCollins, Melbourne 1999).

Call for Papers:
Abstracts (250 words) are invited for, but not limited to, the following strands:

Esotericism
Mysticism
Alternative expressions of major religions
Religions of re-enchantment
Popular culture religions
Indigenous religions
Paganism and Neo-Paganism
New Religious Movements
Personalised religion
Alternative methodologies

Papers are also invited for a session to run in Second Life, to be run in parallel with the real life sessions.

Deadlines
Abstracts: Monday 30 June 2008

For more information contact:
Helen Farley
Conference Co-Chair
School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics
St Lucia Q 4072
Australia
Ph: + 617 3365 6324 (Outside Australia)
07 3365 6324
Fax: +617 3365 1968 (Outside Australia)
07 3365 1968

Email: h.farley@uq.edu.au

Dr Helen Farley
Lecturer
Room E330 Forgan Smith Building
School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics
University of Queensland Q 4072
Australia

Ph: 617 3365 6324
Mob: 617 401 878 880
Email: h.farley@uq.edu.au

ESOTERICISM CALENDAR FOR ENGLAND

Lee Irwin of Charleston College South Carolina kindly sent us this calender of events in England.

ESOTERIC CONFERENCE & OCCULT BOOK FAIR
Sat. 28th. June 2008 10.30am - 6.00pm
Assembly Rooms, Ludlow, Shropshire, UK.

Speakers:
Tracy Thursfield: Eliphas Levi and the French Occult Revival
Robin Cousins: The Travels of John Dee (illustrated)
Julia Phillips: Madeline Montalban
Ken Rees: The Regency
Alan Richardson: W.G. Gray

Plus esoteric bookfair with specialist booksellers. Midian will be
there with an extensive selection from stock including new titles and
rare books.

Tickets £15.00 payable to Verdelet @ P.O. Box 82, Craven Arms,
Shropshire, SY7 8JW

——————

COLOURS OF CHAOS
Saturday 6th September 2008
Day session 1100 - 1800
Evening session 1900 - 2200

A day of seminars featuring cutting-edge thinking from pioneers in the
field of magickal practice, followed by an evening of rituals
demonstrating Chaos Magick in action:

Duncan Barford
White Hair and Brown Pants: When Magic Turns Paranormal
Alan Chapman
Magic with a K: How to Spell Correctly
Mary Hoptroff
Codes to the Heart of Power: a Shamanic Perspective
The Kite
The Colours of Wealth Magic
Dave Lee
YourSelves: The Grimoire of Selfhood, part 2
Susan Leybourne
Sex, Magick, and Getting What You Want
Peter Mastin
Life Sculpting
Soror Res
The Noosphere, the Biosphere and the Chaosphere: When Worlds Collide
Julian Vayne
Two Worlds and In-Between: the Changing Concepts & Use of Space in
Modern Magick
Plus Special Guests…

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
(nearest tube: Holborn)

Tickets £23 daytime, £10 evening, £30 day + eve

Online ticket sales (subject to booking fee) at www.accessallareas.org
Direct ticket link:
http://www.onlinestall.com/cgi-bin/stall2.pl?act=ep&id=3491
Tickets by phone (subject to booking fee) 020 7267 6148
Snail-mail tickets available - just send a cheque in favour of P.
Mastin to
BM8482, London WC1N 3XX, UK

——————

THELEMIC SYMPOSIUM
Saturday 4th October 2008
12:00pm till 1:00am
The Canal Club, Ulfgar Road, Wolvercote, Oxford, England, OX2 8AZ
Tickets £20

There is to be a reunion/revival of the old annual O.G.D.O.S.
International Thelemic Symposium this autumn. Tickets are £20 each, in
cash over the counter at The Inner Bookshop if you are nearby otherwise
email thelemic-symposium@dowhatthouwilt.com to reserve them, where we
will contact you with regards payment and postage.
There will be no guest list or concessions. The event will consist of
speakers to start with from 12noon till 7pm.
The speakers in no particular order are:

Lon Milo DuQuette - Topic TBA
Constance DuQuette - Topic TBA
Mike Magee - The 5 senses in A.M.O.O.K.O.S. and Tantrik Traditions
Charlotte Rodgers - Taboo & Blood Rites (A Talk with Slideshow Pictures)
Jake Stratton-Kent - Goetic Magick
Melissa Harrington - Thelema & The Feminine Part II
David Beth - Topic TBA

After a break there will then be a fully staged Gnostic Mass to all who
want to take part. It will be performed by the E.G.C. ordained Priest
and Priestess of York. The Eucharist will be administered to all who
take part. During the Mass it will be musically accompanied by Sharon
Krauss and Guests. This will continue after the Mass too with a Live
Musickal performance. After that there will be DJs till 1:00am when a
short bout of thank you speeches will round of the evening.

——————

A CELEBRATION OF THE GODDESS WITH OLIVIA ROBERTSON
Includes illustrated talks, performance, interactive presentations and
ceremony, plus Attunement - Enchanting the Sacred Space, followed by
Magical Journey impromptu ritual drama.
Saturday price £20.

Saturday includes:
Gaia’s Revenge led by Cressida Pryor and the Mad Moll Mummers and
Mayers. Olivia’s niece offers a short play that grapples with those
issues that affect us all - global warming and the shopping mall…
Which Goddess Lives Near You? Interactive session led by author,
singer, songwriter and Priestess Caitlin Matthews. Includes song and
oracle work.
Is She Local? with Caroline Wise. Following Caitlin’s theme, we discuss
identifying and communicating with your local Goddess, God, guardian
and genius loci. Includes magical exercises and divination.
The Goddess and the Stars. Andrew Collins unveils dramatic new
discoveries showing a link between the oldest known artistic
representations of the Goddess, the evolution of human spirituality,
and the constellation that spans the Great Rift in the Milky Way.
Honouring the Goddess of the Groves. Priestess and Artist Sheila Broun
invites you to join in making a shrine to Nemetona, connecting us to
the ancient forests.
Who’s That Girl? Lynn Picknett, author of ‘Mary Magdalene,
Christianity’s Hidden Goddess’ shines a light on Mary Magdalene and
looks at her Isian and London connections.
Isis is You Sis (Variation). Performance from Xanthe Gresham. Be
amazed! “Xanthe Gresham speaks like a woman spitting jewels.”

Other presenters to be confirmed.

Updates: http://lotuspharia.freeyellow.com/thecircleofisis/id411.htm
Tickets: credit card sales or to collect in person: Treadwells
Bookshop, 34 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7PB.
Telephone: 020 7240 8906
By cheque: payable to Starfire Publishing, BCM Starfire, London WC1N
3XX, please enclose your address.
A donation will be made to The Friend’s of Bride’s Mound.

Sunday 6th July - Meeting the Goddess
Optional walk in the City to discover the site of the Roman Temple of
Isis and her sisters, with guided meditations and a chance to make your
own links and discoveries.
This will only be open to those attending on the Saturday.
Sunday price £5