Assessing Ritual Experience in Contemporary Spiritualities: The Practice of ‘Sharing' in a New Age Variant of Umbanda

Seeking to attain balance and well-being through what practitioners call ‘spiritual development', the ritual practice in Paris of Umbanda—an Afro-Brazilian religion— is emblematic of the orientation that characterizes contemporary spirituality. In this context, regular public mediumistic ritual...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:Ritual and Critical Reflexivity
Main Author: Teisenhoffer, Viola (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Berghahn [2018]
In: Religion and society
Year: 2018, Volume: 9, Issue: 1, Pages: 131-144
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Paris / New religion / Ritual / Umbanda / Reception
Further subjects:B Umbanda
B mediumistic practice
B Reflexivity
B ritual refraction
B New Age
B contemporary spirituality
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Seeking to attain balance and well-being through what practitioners call ‘spiritual development', the ritual practice in Paris of Umbanda—an Afro-Brazilian religion— is emblematic of the orientation that characterizes contemporary spirituality. In this context, regular public mediumistic rituals are aimed at transforming participants into beings open to the teachings of ‘spiritual entities', which they embody for their own and others' benefit. In this process, specialists and participants are explicitly and systematically invited to ‘take stock' or ‘share', that is, to revisit the rituals they perform. This article argues that ‘sharing', which may also be found in other forms of contemporary spirituality, is not only an exegetical exercise that participants must regularly submit to in order to assess how these rituals affect them. It may also be understood as a ritual device that the efficacy and reproduction of such practices depend upon.
ISSN:2150-9301
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion and society
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3167/arrs.2018.090110