How does the author reconcile devout Christianity with the significant role of mysticism and remnants of pagan customs in his life and creative work? The answer lies in the particular environment in which he spent his childhood and youth. He grew up in the mountainous regions of Georgia, where the population resembled the characters he depicts—equally devout believers and worshippers of pagan...
The present paper aims to provide a complex scholarly investigation into the phenomenon of Medea of Colchis through the dual lenses of Oriental Studies and Comparative Mythology. In this article, the figure of Medea is examined not merely as a character of Classical drama, but as an archetypal carrier of the magico-religious paradigms of the Ancient Near East (Mesopotamian, Hittite, and...
This article undertakes a comprehensive examination of the Autobiography of Ana García Manzanas (religious name: Ana de San Bartolomé), focusing on its narrative strategies within the broader framework of Spanish female spiritual literature, particularly the Teresian Carmelite tradition. The study incorporates a comparative approach, situating Ana’s text in dialogue with Teresa of Ávila’s The...
Mystical experience of the Unutterable and its linguistic expression remains contested in German medieval studies. This article examines Mechthild von Magdeburg’s metaphors as mediating world and transcendence, situating the question within the issue of the historicity of metaphor. It argues that, although Mechthild’s ‘mystical metaphor’ remains bound to a pre-modern ontology, it cannot be...
Aim . To introduce an ethnocultural approach to the philosophical study of "mystika" (V. Solovyov's specific term for mysticism) as a sociocultural phenomenon. Methodology . A systematic method was applied using historical and philosophical reconstruction and historical and religious comparative studies, as well as content analysis, modeling, abstraction, analysis and synthesis. Results ....
Ecstasy, though, is an inexpressible and condensed experience through which the Ultimate can be revealed, the mystic poet finds expression in resorting to symbolism to reflect the uniqueness of his/her spiritual experience and to communicate the unsaying. Approaching the divine essence and expressing the euphoria of His presence in meditation, recollection and self-forgetfulness are often...
This paper provides a critical desk-based review of the relationship between the pineal gland and “hyperdimensional wisdom” by drawing on neuroendocrinology, consciousness studies, religious and cultural history, and public science narratives. It does not define hyperdimensional wisdom as objective knowledge from higher-dimensional space, nor does it treat the pineal gland as an empirically...
Spanish colonialism in the Americas offered a single vision of holiness, crafting Western notions of visuality and sign(s) as rooted in Christian imagery. The reality of figures of faith is bound to images and visual perception. This paper aims to examine this notion, how it upholds Western power structures, and how mysticism disrupts gendered boundaries within the Catholic Church. Mystic...
The spirituality embedded in the Reog Ponorogo performance in Pantai Labu District, Deli Serdang Regency, has undergone a reconstruction of meaning within the context of Islamic Sufism. This study aims to identify forms of spiritual expression, explain the process of value internalization, and analyze the transformation of symbolic meanings in contemporary Reog practices. The research employed...
Limited research suggests that distinct intentions covary with acute experiences and subsequent outcomes. Nevertheless, data on the types of intentions set by users remain scarce, and their effects lack clarity. This study uses a retrospective, mixed-methods, cross-sectional approach to investigate intention-setting among psychedelic users. We establish a taxonomy of intentions in naturalistic...