Religious Studies Publications

Shimmering Magic: Cross-cultural Explorations of the Aesthetic, Moral, and Mystical Significance of Reflecting and Deflecting Shine

Romberg, Raquel; Fanger, Claire (2017)

This introduction lays basic theoretical groundwork that helps tie together these different articles on ritual uses of shimmer. Contributors examine not only how contemporary technologies of mass production (tinfoil, plastic ...

Interoception, contemplative practice, and health

Farb, Norman; Daubenmier, Jennifer; Price, Cynthia J.; Gard, Tim; Kerr, Catherine; Dunn, Barnaby D.; Klein, Anne Carolyn; Paulus, Martin P.; Mehling, Wolf E. (2015)

Interoception can be broadly defined as the sense of signals originating within the body. As such, interoception is critical for our sense of embodiment, motivation, and well-being. And yet, despite its importance, ...

Better Horrors: From Terror to Communion in Whitley Strieber's Communion (1987)

Kripal, Jeffrey J. (2014)

Trauma, Trick, and Transcendence in the Life of a Horror Writer: The Case of Whitley Strieber. This essay treats the theorization of horror in Whitley Strieber's Communion (1987). It also pushes us to consider more honestly ...

Sefirotic Depiction, Divine Noesis, and Aristotelian Kabbalah: Abraham ben Meir de Balmes and Italian Renaissance Thought

Ogren, Brian (2014)

In 1509, the famed Italian Jewish linguist and philosopher Abraham ben Meir de Balmes wrote a patently Averroean commentary on the kabbalistic hypostases known as the sefirot. This commentary is entitled Igeret ha-ʻaśiriyah, ...

Like Pearls: Sacred Moments in Healthcare

Brennan, Marcia (2013)

Despite the wall, you are led toward the light: The Risk and the Power of Contemporary Aesthetics for the Catholic Church

Brennan, Marcia (2013)