Ritual imagination : a study of tromba possession among the Betsimisaraka in eastern Madagascar /
:
Ritual Imagination is a study of spirit possession and ritual dynamics. Based on fieldwork in eastern Madagascar, Hilde Nielssen shows how tromba possession works as a flexible and fluid force, whose ritual imaginary playfully draws together elements from radically different cultural and social domains, thereby constituting human realities and creating ways of relating to changing and disjunctive circumstances. Tromba's strength lies in its fluid capacities to relate to ongoing social change by altering its own practices, while at the same time continuing to heal person and cosmos. The book critically addresses the still dominant perspective in anthropology, where rituals are understood as representations of culture and society. Using tromba as a pivotal case in the critique of ritual as representation, this book offers a fresh perspective on ritual and spirit possession.
:
1 online resource (xi, 326 pages) : color illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004223875 :
0169-9814 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The revival of the Anu cult and the nocturnal fire ceremony at late Babylonian Uruk /
:
In The Revival of the Anu Cult and the Nocturnal Fire Ceremony at Late Babylonian Uruk , Julia Krul offers a comprehensive study of the rise of the sky god Anu as patron deity of Uruk in the Late Babylonian period (ca. 480-100 B.C.). She reconstructs the historical development of the Anu cult, its underlying theology, and its daily rites of worship, with a particular focus on the yearly nocturnal fire ceremony at the Anu temple, the Bīt Rēš. Providing the first in-depth analysis of the ceremony, Julia Krul convincingly identifies it as a seasonal renewal festival with an important exorcistic component, but also as a reinforcement of local hierarchical relationships and the elite status of the Anu priesthood.
:
Based on the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität Münster, 2014. :
1 online resource (xiii, 310 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-290) and indexes. :
9789004364943 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.