The important conclusion to be drawn from the classical world regarding combat events is that they (i.e., killing and wounding) are not the only events with the power to create profound alteration of behavior. Their weight and power is embedded in the cultural ascriptions that provide them with value, as are related noncombat events that may contribute to the undoing of the soldier. In this con...

The decision of the German regional court in Cologne on 26 June 2012 to prohibit the circumcision of minors is important insofar as it recognises the qualitative similarities between the practice and other prohibited invasive rites, such as female genital cutting. However, recognition of similarity poses serious questions with regard to liberal public policy, specifically with regard to the exc...

Orthodoxy, and other so-called world religions that were complicit with colonialist expansion and its repression of the “other peoples” (indigenous), their rites and beliefs. For centuries, colonial societies have denied that indigenous peoples had “religions” at all; as the great photographer of Native North American cultures Edward S. Curtis stated, “There seems to be a broadly prevalent idea...

Groups are and always will be essential to human life. Our primal ancestors protected themselves from dangerous animals, human enemies, and natural disasters by joining together in groups. Teams of workers in ancient civilizations combined their efforts to build dams, irrigation systems, and colossal monuments. Merchants and craftspeople formed guilds to organize business practices as early as ...

In the absence of immortality, the human species has over the millennia developed rites and rituals to help in the passing of life to honor the person who is dying or has died or in some way demonstrate their "courage" and perseverance as well as duty even in the face of almost certain death. The centuries-old traditions of the gathering of loved ones, the chanting of prayers, the ritual religi...

the expressions of “esoteric” and “esotericism” have a wide range of meanings, however, they specifically apply to religious, mystical, and philosophical secret schools. in ancient greek world, i.e. before the hellenistic era, we come across some currents with esoteric tendencies. the various texts from this period show that the ancient greeks sought the source of the esoteric currents outside ...

OBJECTIVE To understand the concept of health and the source of psychological distress among followers of a traditional African-Brazilian religion. METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES Qualitative study performed in a community of followers of a traditional African-Brazilian religion, in the city of Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, between 2007 and 2008. The priest/Babalorixá and six followers of this com...