Psychedelic substances reliably occasion transient self-transcendent states, including mystical-type experiences, which are theorized to support salutogenic psychological change and long-term well-being. Despite growing interest in these phenomena, little is known about how acute self-transcendent states translate into enduring trait-level changes, or whether individual differences such as...
The article examines the history of the development and cultural influence of Sufism in Azerbaijan, from the early stage of the emergence of the mystical and ascetic trend in Islamic religiosity to its integration into social and cultural life and the modern situation. The initial manifestations of Sufism on the territory of Azerbaijan have been recorded since the 10th century, when figures...
This article explores the transformations of the idea of reincarnation and its anthropological significance in the context of Helena Blavatsky’s theosophical-philosophical legacy and contemporary humanities of the 20th–21st centuries. Reincarnation is examined as a universal law of spiritual evolution that transcends the boundaries of religious-mystical doctrine and assumes the status of an...
Este artículo analiza la representación y reconfiguración de la ayahuasca en relatos polacos difundidos a través de YouTube. Mediante un análisis cualitativo de testi-monios publicados entre enero y abril de 2022, se contrastan las experiencias de ciudada-nos polacos participantes en ceremonias en América Latina y Europa con las descripciones etnográficas del uso indígena amazónico. El estudio...
This article undertakes a comparative analysis of divine transcendence as conceptualized in the Neoplatonically-infused Christian mysticism of the Corpus Areopagiticum and the esoteric tradition of Jewish Kabbalah, with a primary focus on the Zohar. It argues that despite their distinct theological origins and historical contexts, both systems develop sophisticated apophatic theologies to...
Nikolay Raynov (1889–1954) developed a modernist literary corpus that combines orthodox and heterodox religious imagery grounded in mysticism, esotericism, and occultism. This article systematically examines Raynov’s parabiblical texts in cluded in Bulgarian school readers and anthologies between 1926 and 1942. His non-canonical writing reproduces canonical forms while subtly transforming their...
Saif-ul-Malook is one of Mian Muhammad Bakhsh's important works of Punjabi Sufi poetry, and through the story of love, he has included the inner meaning of life and spiritual change. While the story is told through Prince Saif-ul-Malook's quest for Badi-ul-Jamal, there is much more to it than the romance of desire and love. The work is about human struggles, desires, sufferings, endurance,...
During the 13th century, as Islam began to disseminate in the Indian Subcontinent, Ṣufī thought became central to the region's Islamic development. Ṣūfīsm deeply influenced the propagation of Islam in the Subcontinent, and its teachings shaped the Muslim ethos. Among the influential figures, Shāh Walī Allāh stands out for his extraordinary contributions to Ṣufī thought, particularly in his...
The mid-13th century was a time of significant change in the context of Islamic civilization, and from a historical distance, it is easy to unfold and discover the different layers of this great cultural and religious creation.With the conquest of Baghdad by the Mongols (1258), the social, political, cultural, and religious differences of other constitutive elements (mainly Persian and Turkic)...
Inspired by Joel Robbins’s call for theology and anthropology to collaborate as theoretical partners, in this article, I examine the theologian Jojo M. Fung’s recent books, Sacred Sustainability, Polyhedral Christianity and Cosmic Challenges (2025) and A Shamanic Pneumatology in a Mystical Age of Sacred Sustainability (2017) from the point of view of an anthropologist. In these books, Fung...