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Contents | Mysticism Instructor Jordan Paper Institution York University |
The course will introduce a major aspect of religion: ecstatic experience of the individual and the effects of such experiences on culture and society. The course will be divided into three related parts.
PART I: A variety of ecstatic phenomena from a number of different cultures will be briefly considered as an introduction to the subject.
PART II: General approaches, issues and problems from several disciplines will be considered:
Philosophy- validity and communicability of the mystic experience.
Ethnobotony- identification, history and cultural uses of psychoactive substances.
Psychology & Neurophysiology - theories concerning the nature of consciousness, experimentally induced ecstatic states, neurophysiological changes related to ecstatic states, relationship between ecstatic states and mental health. (We will not specifically explore psychoanalytic and Jungian approaches in this course.)
Anthropology: etic understanding of the mystic experience, cultural roles of ecstatic experience.
PART III: An examination of the interrelationship between ecstatic experiences and the development of religious traditions, as well as the formation of new ones.
Paper, The Spirits Are Drunk: Comparative Approaches to Chinese Religion (SUNY Press) 0791423166
Arbmann, Ecstasy (3 Vol.)
20%: Reading responses (for every class for which a reading has been assigned, you must turn in a 1-page report, including discussion questions). The report will encapsulate the reading as relevant to the theme for which the reading was assigned. The report will conclude, within the 1-page limitation, with several questions regarding the reading in relation to the week's theme.
10%: Class report (in-class oral and written book report; oral - minimum 10, absolute maximum 15 minutes; written - 1000-1500 words). Report must include a) bibliographic data, properly placed and formatted for book reviews, b) description of book itself (not contents of book), c) discussion of aspects relevant to week's topic, d) evaluation of book, e) a few choice representative quotations. NOTE: You are writing a formal academic book review and will be evaluated accordingly; see religious studies journals in the journal room of the library for appropriate examples. Books for report will be chosen from those works listed as R# in the course outline; first come, first served. Reporters should be prepared to lead class discussion on book in relation to week's theme and assigned reading.
15% & 25%: Two examinations (in-class, closed book, cumulative, comprehensive essay questions based on understanding the course material and requiring extensive reference to the course readings).
Examination questions:
Mid-term: 1 essay question: a rewording of Part I of Course Description above.
Final: 2 essay questions: 1) a rewording of entire Course Description above; 2) open-ended questions (you will have a choice) regarding personal interpretations of course themes.
(No special examination preparation will be necessary for students who prepared for and took part in class discussions. For students who did not do so, no special preparation will adequately prepare them for the examinations.)
30%: Project: topic and format completely open but format and/or media (not the topic) must be one in which the student has prior experience and topic and format must be approved by course director.
Project requirements and due dates:
a) written statement of preliminary topic due: Nov. 06.
b) written statement of topic and annotated bibliography due: Jan. 8.
c) written statement of progress and outline (in outline form) due: Feb. 5.
d) completed project due: March 5.
Second copy of requirements "a" through "c", with course director's comments, will be returned the week following the due date; students must be present to receive them.
Students notified of required changes on the second copy must return the revision (two copies) at the following class (two classes after original due date)
Week 2: [Fast Cars] (V); [Yamomani] (V)
Week 3: Eduardo the Healer (F)
Week 5: Duminea (F); Les Maitres Fous (F); [Church Exorcism] (V)
Week 6: Trance and Dance in Bali (F); Kalogeros (F)
Week 7: The Holy Ghost People (F), [Pentecostal Church] (V)
Week 8: [Saddhu] (V)
Week 9: Rites of Origin (V), JVC Video Anthology of World Dance & Music, Vol 2 (V)
Week 10: Pocomania (F); [Candomblé] (V)
Week 11: To Find Our Lives (F)
Week 12: [Past Life Regression Therapy] (V)
[List number = week; R = books for class reports, on 3 day reserve]
Introduction to course
R1: J. Lizot, Tales of the Yamomani
R2: F. Bruce Lamb, Rio Tigre and Beyond
R2: D. Merkur, Becoming Half Hidden
R4: Bäckman & Hultkrantz, Studies in Lapp Shamanism
R5: G. Rouget, Music and Trance
R6: E. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion
R7: E. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational
R8: E. Conze, Buddhist Meditation
R9: D. Hawkes, Ch'u Tz'u, Songs of the South
R10: Colledge & Walsh, Julian of Norwich: Showings
R11: R. Otto, Mysticism East and West
R12: M. Kelsey, Tongue Speaking
R13: W. La Barre, They Shall Take Up Serpents
Psychological approaches Course Kit: selected articles
R14: C. Tart, States of Consciousness
R15: A. Hardy, The Spiritual Nature of Man
R16: Laughlin, McManus, d'Aquili, Brain, Symbol & Experience
R17: C. Zaleski, Otherword Journeys
R18: N. Cousins, Head First, The Biology of Hope
R19: W. Jilek, Indian Healing
R21: R. Wasson, The Wondrous Mushroom
R22: R. Wasson etal, The Road to Eleusis
R23: L. Kendall, Shamans, Housewives & Other Restless Spirits
R24: D. Jordan, Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors
R25: R. Bucke, Cosmic Consciousness
R26: W. Stace, Mysticism and Philosophy
R27: J. Horne, Beyond Mysticism
India Course Kit: Yoga Sutra
R28: A. Bharati, The Tantric Tradition
R29: C. George, The Candamaknosana Tantra
R30: L. Kohn, Early Chinese Mysticism
R31: Lu K'uan Yü, Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality
R32: I. Robinet, Taoist Meditation
R33: S. Dresner, The Zaddik
R34: Idel & McGinn, Mystical Union and Monotheistic Faith
R35: B. Krivocheine, In The Light of Christ
R36: K. M. Brown, Mama Lola
R37: Murphy: Santeria: An African Religion in America
R38: W. Powers, Yuwipi AND Garter Snake, The Seven Visions of Bull Lodge
R39: Brown & Brightman, "The Orders of the Dreamed"
-- a response paper is required regarding your observations
R40: Lewis & Melton: Perspectives on the New Age
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