Review: Sacred Eroticism: Tantra and Eros in the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA), by Massimo Introvigne
Nova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions May 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1525/nr.2023.26.4.115 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Book review Peer reviewed |
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| Key findings | Crace describes Introvigne's book as a rigorous sociological account of MISA's culture, history, and practices, arguing that MISA's self-understanding complicates the older term "sex magic." Introvigne proposes "radical aesthetics," a mixture of Tantrism, Western esotericism, and modernist art, and contends that Tantrism is used to collapse boundaries between religion, art, daily life, eroticism, and the body. |
Abstract
Book Review| May 01 2023 Review: Sacred Eroticism: Tantra and Eros in the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA), by Massimo Introvigne Sacred Eroticism: Tantra and Eros in the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA). By Massimo Introvigne. Mimesis International, 2022. 144 pages. $19.99 softcover. Benjamin D. Crace Benjamin D. Crace Independent Scholar Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Nova Religio (2023) 26 (4): 115–118. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2023.26.4.115 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Benjamin D. Crace; Review: Sacred Eroticism: Tantra and Eros in the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA), by Massimo Introvigne. Nova Religio 1 May 2023; 26 (4): 115–118. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2023.26.4.115 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentNova Religio Search Sacred Eroticism explicates and explores, in rigorous sociological terms, the culture, history, and practices of the Romanian-based new religion, the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA). Massimo Introvigne situates his study within the growing body of literature on sacred eroticism that exists at the intersection of the study of new religious movements and western esotericism, allowing MISA's own self-understanding to complicate older terms like "sex magic." He offers the category of "radical aesthetics" based on a mixture of "Eastern spiritualities (Tantrism), Western esotericism, and a certain tradition in modernist art" (10). Tantrism, he maintains, is "used as a tool for collapsing the boundaries between religion, art, and daily life" including eroticism and the human body (10). The tension with society that emerges from the integration of the erotic and the spiritual in MISA forms the backbone of Introvigne's study. The book begins with a brief overview of sacred... You do not currently have access to this content.