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Through an examination of contemporary shamanic practice in Scotland, this work reveals a fresh paradigm of spirituality and religion that reflects how many in Western societies are responding to institutional religion. Weaving theory and practice together, it clarifies the historically difficult relationship between religion and spirituality.

Religion as a Conversation Starter is the first comprehensive analysis of the present state of interreligious dialogue for peacebuilding in Southeast Europe.

Focuses on the Heraka, a religious reform movement, and its impact on the Zeme, a Naga tribe, in the North Cachar Hills of Assam, India. This book initiates grounds for understanding the emergence of a Heraka religion, drawing upon critical studies of religion, cultural/ethnic identity, and nationalism.

Offers insights into the understanding of possession and trance based on case studies from around the world. This book contains several case studies that present fresh interpretations of spirit possession worldwide.

The Heraka is a religious reform movement derived from the traditional practice known as Paupaise. It began as an anti-British and anti-Christian movement. This title focuses on the Heraka movement and its impact on the Zeme, a 'Naga tribe', in the North Cachar Hills of Assam, India.

A study of Joseph Campbell (1904-1988), a popular scholar of myth and comparative religion of the 20th century. It shows that reflecting on C G Jung's influence on Campbell furthers our understanding of these ideas, and that once this goal is achieved it becomes obvious that Campbell was a scholar whose ideas are of significance.

Offers a major forum for re-reading key theorists in religious studies, with the aim of creating a fresh vision for the study of religions. This work argues that the aesthetic critique of modernity is constitutive of Marxist and post-modern thought and also of aspects of the phenomenology of religion and its critique of 'profane' existence.

Native Americans and Canadians are sidelined figures in modern society. Their spirituality has been appropriated on a large scale by Europeans and non-Native Americans, with little concern for the diversity of Native American opinions. This book presents fresh perspectives on the objections to, and appropriation of Native American Spirituality.

A collection of essays on the sometimes contentious relationship between religious studies and theology. It addresses such issues as the place of theology within universities; the problem of clashing methodologies in theology and religious studies; and the possibility for a 'theological religious studies'.

Argues that the most elementary form of religious life in many Western societies and other societies around the world, is situational, mundane and concerned with helping people to cope with their day to day lives.

What does it mean to be a Western Buddhist? For the predominantly Anglo-Australianaffiliates of two Western Buddhist centres in Australia, the author proposes ananswer to this question, and finds support for it from interviews and her ownparticipant-observation experience.Practitioners'prior experiences of experimentation with spiritual groups and practices-andtheir experiences of participation, practice and self-transformation-areexamined with respect to their roles in practitioners' appropriation of theBuddhist worldview, and their subsequent commitment to the path toenlightenment.Religious commitment isexperienced as a decision-point, itself the effect of the individual'sexperimental immersion in the Centre's activities.During this time the claims of the Buddhistworldview are tested against personal experience and convictions. Using rich ethnographic data and Lofland andSkonovd's experimental conversion motif as a model for theorizing the stages ofinvolvement leading to commitment, the author demonstrates that this study hasa wider application to our understanding of the role of alternative religionsin western contexts.

Native Americans and Canadians are largely romanticised or sidelined figures in modern society. Their spirituality has been appropriated on a relatively large scale by Europeans and non-Native Americans. This title analyses Native American objections to appropriations of their spirituality.

A collection of essays on the sometimes contentious relationship between religious studies and theology. It addresses such issues as the place of theology within universities; the problem of clashing methodologies in theology and religious studies; and the possibility for a 'theological religious studies'.

Exploration of the global spread of Eastern Orthodox practices from local settings and the resulting divergence of interpretations as a struggle over larger issues.

Examines the processes of socialization and commitment processes of Anglo-Australian affiliates of Buddhist Centres in Australia. This book also examines practitioners' experiences of participation, study, practice and self-transformation with respect to their role in the individual's appropriation of the Buddhist worldview.

Presents an analysis of 'messianism' in Continental philosophy, using a case study of Levinas to uncover its underlying philosophical intelligibility. This title traces the evolution of messianic idea across Levinas' career, emphasising the transformations which this idea undergoes in taking on philosophical intelligibility.

Investigates spiritual tourism - tourism characterised by an intentional search for spiritual benefit - from a contemporary religious studies perspective. This title provides an important opportunity to comment on the role of tourism in contemporary conceptions of spirituality and spiritual practice in Western society.

Based on the exploration whether the widespread activity of sitting next to a grave and talking to a deceased person is a religious act, this book argues that it is probably much more typical of a fundamental religious act than much of what happens in churches, synagogues or mosques.

Examines the cultural encounter of Confucianism and Christianity with particular reference to death rites in Korea. This book employs the idea of the 'total social phenomenon', a concept first introduced by the French anthropologist Marcel Mauss (1872-1950).