http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5986 2013-05-24T02:48:08Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7922 Title: Grounding the Angels: An Attempt to Harmonise Science and Spiritism in the Celestial Conferences of John Dee Authors: Carr, Annabel Abstract: The retrospective catechisation of largely bygone beliefs is a naturally difficult assignment. An even more slavish task attends those philosophies which are not merely antiquated but which belonged, during their time of eminence, to a tradition of deliberate secrecy. An attempt to crack the ‘orphic’ codes of any such occult tradition will rely on a well-formed understanding of its position on the wider esoteric map as well as an appreciation of the clandestine nature of esoteric movements in general. Indeed, the seasoned esoteric historian will be closely familiar with the sentiment of Trithemius’s seventeenth-century caution to Agrippa: “... communicate vulgar secrets to vulgar friends, but higher and secret to higher, and secret friends only”. The would-be decrypter must therefore accept as inflexible the possibility that his or her quest might yield at best fragmentary fruits, for, as French warns in his biography of John Dee, the knotty complexity of old esoteric manuscripts “must necessarily elude modern readers” 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7194 Title: Messianic Ideas: Historical Sources, and some Contemporary Expectations of Fulfilment Authors: Sarbatoare, Octavian Abstract: The aim of this work is to provide basic historical insights into the origins of the messianic myth and its future developments within various world religions (see our Table of contents). Issues of millenarian ideas in connection to the world saviour theme are also part of the study. We intend to provide an enlarged picture upon the subject of the world saviours including some current trends. All major characters we present herein are messianic per se; some will prove to have eschatological features as well. 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6150 Title: Spiritual Tourism: Religion and Spirituality in Contemporary Travel Authors: Norman, Alex Abstract: Tourism and pilgrimage have been said to be closely related1. However, the relationship between tourists and the religions and religious contexts they visit has been neglected. Why tourists travel to places of religious significance and how they conceive of their travels are important questions to both the study of tourism and of religion. This thesis is particularly concerned with those tourists who engage in religious practice or have some form of spiritual experience in a religious context. These I am tentatively calling ‘spiritual tourists’. What the study of their experiences can yield is information on the nature of touristic experiences and the position of religion within society. These patterns are conspicuously played out in the context of travel writing, where stories of personal transformation and self discovery can often seem the standard. 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6111 Title: Men of Faith: Stravinsky, Maritain and the Ideal Christian Artifex Authors: Penicka, Sarah Abstract: In this paper I explore the relationship and mutual influences between Stravinsky and Maritain. Despite the connections between these two men, and the prominence which Stravinsky at least still holds, scholars have neglected to examine their relationship in any depth. Although there is an abundance of recent scholarship on Stravinsky, most of it concentrates on Stravinsky during his Russian period, or on the workings of Stravinsky’s serial music divorced from its religious subject matter.8 I will demonstrate how Stravinsky met the criteria of Maritain’s ideal Christian artifex by analysing Canticum Sacrum (1955) through the lens of Maritain’s philosophy. One of Stravinsky’s major religious works, Canticum Sacrum was also one of his first works to use serialism. Although it is neither neo-classical nor from the period of Stravinsky’s rededication, it demonstrates not only how Stravinsky exemplified Maritain’s ideal, but that he continued to exemplify this ideal in his later works. While neither man changed his work to comply with the beliefs of the other, both Stravinsky and Maritain used each others’ writings – both musical and philosophical – to support and explain their methods, ideas and inspirations. Maritain’s enshrinement of Stravinsky as the prime living example of his artistic ideal boosted the popularity of his own philosophy, and Stravinsky ultimately lived up to the role of the ideal Christian artifex with pleasure, publicly describing himself in Maritain’s terms and finding a method of worship through his art that required no overt prostrations, only humble belief. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6103 Title: Rethinking Plato’s Theory of Art: Aesthetics and the Timaeus Authors: Tofighian, Omid Abstract: The Timaeus presents a fascinating account of the cosmos. It includes a creation myth that introduces the figure known as the Demiurge who, despite the fact that he is the cause of the sensible world, is reverently attributed with reason, and whose creation – the cosmos – is actually beautiful and good. In this dialogue Plato offers his readers a panorama of the universe. But just what are his intentions for this? Is his approach a precursor to the methods of natural science,1 or does the Timaeus fall under the category of theology? This thesis will discuss the outcome Plato wished to achieve by finally writing on cosmology and how the methods used to accomplish these ends reveal a more existential attitude towards aesthetics. 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6081 Title: An Examination of the Ideologies Underlying Nineteenth Century Scholarly Researches into the Viking Age Authors: Cusack, Carole M. Abstract: This thesis concerns the (more or less) systematic rehabilitation of the Viking Period, which was undertaken by a collection of poets and philologists, scholars and amateurs, from the latter half of the eighteenth century through the Victorian Era into the twentieth century. The reasons underlying their efforts were, in both the broad and the narrow sense, political. For example, William Morris was a Socialist, and he employed his knowledge of pre-Christian Scandinavian society in the development of a Socialist Utopia. Similarly, William Stubbs was an authority on the Anglo-Saxon legal system, and this enabled him to convincingly argue for the Germanic origin of the English democratic institutions. The works discussed range from crude propaganda to painstakingly accurate translations, and as such there are varying levels of subtlety in their ideological messages. 1984-01-01T00:00:00Z