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Numen is edited on behalf of the InternationalAssociation for the
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Articles.
CONTENTS
Religiousness of Violence ................................
Steve BRUCE,Religion and Violence: What Can Sociology Offer? ....

Hans G. KIPPENBERG,"Consider that it is a Raid on the Path
of God": The SpiritualManual of the Attackersof 9/11 ..............

TorkelBREKKE,
The Ethics of Warand the Concept of Warin
India and Europe ........................................
..........
29
Introduction-The
Articles
59
Francisco DIEZDEVELASCO,
Theoretical Reflections on Violence
and Religion: Identity,Power, Privilege and Difference

(WithReferenceto the Hispanic World) ........................................
87
Cristiano GROTTANELLI,
Fruitful Death: Mircea Eliade and Ernst
Jiinger on Human Sacrifice, 1937-1945 ........................................
116
Book Reviews
Jeppe Sinding Jensen, The Study of Religion in a New Key:
Theoreticaland Philosophical Soundings in the Comparative
and General Study of Religion (Kocku VONSTUCKRAD)................
146
D. Jason Slone, Theological Incorrectness.WhyReligious People

Believe What They Shouldn't (Michael STAUSBERG)......................
Publications Received ..................................................................
149
152
THE RELIGIOUSNESSOF VIOLENCE

The XIXth World Congress of the InternationalAssociation for the
History of Religions will take place in Tokyo, 24-30 March, 2005.
The general theme chosen for the congress is one that has imposed
itself on our discipline with disturbingurgency during the last few
years: "Religion: Conflict and Peace." Historiansof religions today
rightly feel that it is their duty to contributeto the understandingof
the complex relationshipsbetween religion and violence. As a prelude to the Congress, this issue of Numen is devoted to the theme
"religionand violence," containingarticlesby scholarswho approach
the theme from variousperspectivesand using differentkinds of data.
Few subjectsarousemore controversythanthe connectionsbetween
religion and violence, the controversiesbeing due to the assumption
that such links are either apparentor illegitimate. In the first case, it
is claimed that it is not religion itself which is the cause for violence,
but ratherthat the label "religion"is being used to validateeconomic,
political or otherinterests.In the second case, even when it is assumed
that it is religion itself that is at the heart of violent acts, it is still
claimed that such involvement goes against the very natureof religion, constitutingin fact its betrayal.In both cases, "religion"is understood, first, as having definite boundariesand, second, as having to
do with inwardness,with transcendenceor, more often, with the connection between the two. A proper treatmentof these issues would
require an examination of currentdebates about the possibility and
even the desirabilityof providing a definitionof religion,1as well as
Comparethe positions advancedin two recent works: Hans G. Kippenbergand

Kocku von Stuckrad,Einfiihrungin die Religionswissenschaft,Munich:Beck 2003,
8; and Giovanni Filoramo, Che cos'e religione: Temi, metodi, problemi, Torino:
Einaudi 2004, 77ff.
? KoninklijkeBrill NV, Leiden(2005)
Also availableonline- www.brill.nl
NUMEN,Vol. 52
Introduction
of the claim that "religion"is a Westerncreation2- an examination

that cannot be undertakenhere. What may be pointed out is that the
anxiety about the status of "religion"is not restrictedto the academic world; this is shown, among other things, by the tendency to
replace "religion"by "faith"in ordinaryspeech. Indeed, functioning
as the bridge between inwardness and transcendence, "faith" has
become the term that has supplanted"religion"in everyday,but also
in journalistic and political, language- "faith"being used to refer
to a "religion"freed from spurioususes and illegitimate associations,
above all those having to do with violence.
The preeminence of "faith"in English (and of "Glaube,""foi,"
etc.) seems to constitutebut the logical conclusion of the process of
differentiation and dematerializationof religion that characterizes
modernity,3as well as an extreme case of the tension between orthodoxy and orthopraxystudied by Steve Bruce in his contributionto
this issue of Numen devoted to religion and violence. Bruce postulates an orthodoxy- orthopraxyaxis, with religions that emphasize
faith, such as the Protestantversions of Christianity,at one end and
those, such as Islam and Judaism,that seek to createa righteousenvironmentwithinwhicha properlife may be lived, at the other.According
to Bruce, religions concerned with the creation of a righteous environment are more likely to give rise to religiously based violence,
whereas those concerned with right belief tend to look with suspicion at totalitarianmodels of society. The replacementof "religion"
by "faith"in the West would seem, then, to constituteone furtherstep
away from the concern with orthopraxy,a developmentwhich would
account for the rejection on the part of Western countries of religiously legitimized violence.4 Bruce's suggestion needs to tested
2
This is the conclusion reached independentlyin Daniel Dubuisson, L'Occident

et la religion: Mythes, science et ideologie, Bruxelles: Complexe 1998; Timothy
Fitzgerald, The Ideology of Religious Studies, New York and Oxford: OUP 2000;
Dario Sabbatucci,La prospettivastorico-religiosa, Rome: Seam 2000.
3 See Gustavo Benavides,
"Modernity,"in Mark C. Taylor (ed.), Critical Terms
for Religious Studies, Chicago: UP 1998, 186-204.
4 The United States constitutesan
anomaly in this and in many other respects, an
Introduction
against orthopraxicalreligions such as Hinduism as well as against

the long periods of Shi'i history during which quietism and dissimulationwere the rule. In principle,however,Bruce's hypothesis,along
with his "otherthings being equal"clause, provide a fruitfulpoint of
departurefor examining examples of religious violence. Takingsome
of the issues raisedin FranciscoDiez de Velasco's articleas an example, one can ask whether his call to learn "to live in a progressively
multireligiousand multiculturalworldrespectingthe richnessof diversity, while at the same time seeking some minimallyconsensualpoint
of view," does not presuppose considering religion as belief rather
than as the attemptto create a righteous environment- for is it not
the case that righteous environmentscannot as a rule coexist? The
tensionbetween orthodoxyand orthopraxycan also be used to address
Diez de Velasco's point about the situationof Muslim immigrantsin
Spain. He writes that "the shock of being a minority in the newly
adoptedcountrymay lead to violence as an escape from this contradictory position."The crucial question is whethersuch contradictory
position would lead to violence in the case of Buddhist or Hindu
immigrants:are the reasons for violence to be understoodpurely in
structuralterms or should one take into account the peculiarities of
the religion in question?
But however central religious rebellion or warfaremay be to the
mythical or historical foundationsof a tradition- be it the extermination of the inhabitantsof the lands grantedto the Israelitesby their
god or the defeat of the enemies of nascent Islam - this type of violence cannot be compared to the recurrenceand ubiquitousness of
sacrificialpractices.5One thereforewelcomes the treatmentof sacrifice
in most of the contributions to this issue of Numen. From Torkel
anomaly that cannot be understoodwithout taking into account the potentially dangerous messianic component that pervades US self-understanding.
5 In addition to the literaturecited in Cristiano Grottanelli'sarticle, see Richard
Schenk (ed.), Zur Theoriedes Opfers:Ein interdisziplindresGesprach, Stuttgar-Bad
Cannstadt:Frommann-Holzboog1995; Bemd Janowski and Michael Welker (eds.),
Opfer: Theologische und kulturelleKontexte,Frankfurta.M.: Suhrkamp2000.
Introduction
Brekke's discussion of the sacrificialnatureof battle (yuddhayajia)

as expounded in the Bhagavadgita,to Diez de Velasco's consideration of the sacrificial aspects of the attacks on New York on 11
September2001 and on Madridon 11 March2004, to Hans Kippenberg'sexegesis of the role playedby liturgyandultimatelyby sacrifice
in the self-understandingof those involved in the New York attacks,
to Cristiano Grottanelli'sexamination of the sacrificial ideology
whether political, cosmic, purificatoryor nationalistic- present in
Mircea Eliade and Ernst Jtinger,but also in Ignaz Maybaum,killing
and dying appear as having a redeeming, foundational function.
Disturbing as it may be to those accustomed to the anti-sacrificial
attitudethat seems to characterizelate modernityreligion, engaging
in violence, sacrificingoneself and others, far from being a betrayal
of religion constitutesits core.6
THEEDITORS
An issue left unexploredis whetherthe violence found in the legend of Master

Manole, studiedby Eliade in a book publishedin 1943 (Italiantranslation,I riti del
costruire, 1990), is not in the end about appropriatingsomeone's labor, ratherthan
on violence per se. For analogousmyths dealing with the interplaybetween violence
and work, see Paul Sartori,"Uberdas Bauopfer,"ZeitschriftfiirEthnologie30 (1898)
1-54; Giuseppe Cocchiara,"IIponte di Arta e i sacrifici di costruzione,"Annali del
Museo Pitre 1 (1950) 38-80.
RELIGIONAND VIOLENCE:
WHAT CAN SOCIOLOGYOFFER?
STEVEBRUCE
Summary
This essay presents a sketch of a sociological approachto the study of possible
links between religion and violence. It aims to avoid two unhelpful positions: the
structuralsocial science that denies religion causal statusand explains everythingby
circumstanceand the popularcommentarythatgives too much weight to very specific
religious ideas. It suggests that instead of trying to explain rare and exotic political
action we look for possible links between large abstractfeatures of religious traditions and key features of the culturally-producedsocial backgroundswhich inform
how large groups of people orient themselves to other groups, to the issue of individual rights, and to the legitimacy of the state. The example of the involvement of
Protestantfundamentalistsin the political violence of NorthernIreland is used to
illustratethis approach.The refusal of such fundamentaliststo engage in holy war
is explained by a combinationof circumstancesand religious ideas.
Introduction
In the 1960s it was quite possible to suppose that religion, like
nationalism,was a spent force and that social scientists need not take
either of them seriously as a powerful source of social and political
identities. Even those who did not share the Marxist vision of class
displacing other sources of social action assumed that secularization
had diminishedthe powerof religiousideologies.Fewerpeople adhered
to them and those who did increasingly accorded religion a narrow
reach: something for the family, for the weekend, and for those parts
of personal behaviour with little social impact. There is no need to
rehearsethe events of the last 40 years that have correctedthat mistaken view. It is now obvious that many people (even in the liberal
affluentdemocraciesof the West)continueto view religionas a powerful source of social and political values, contend against the side? Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden (2005)
NUMEN,Vol. 52
Steve Bruce
lining of religion, and create imagined communities that attribute

importantcharacteristicsto a person's religion. Certainlyat the level
of reportingwhat people say about their actions, religion now frequently figures. US voters choosing a senator,Palestiniansexplaining suicide bombing, Russian legislators draftinga new constitution;
religion is an agenda item.
This does not, of course, mean that it is causally effective. Nor
does it tell us precisely how religion should be fitted into an explanation of behaviour.Even if we avoid structuralistexplanationsthat
by-pass entirelythe reasonsand motives of actors,thatpolitical actors
say they are motivated by their faith does not end the matter.What
people say aboutwhat they do has a variablerelationshipto theirreal
motives. They may act for a base motive (a desire for materialadvantage, for example) and consciously dress their actions up in something they think sounds more honourable.They may be blind to the
real roots of their behaviour:their faith may only be one component
of a largermotivationalpackage (and a small one at that). Or it may
indeed be the primarycause. That a young Muslim says he plans to
become a suicide bomber because he wants the promised virgins in
heaven does not mean that the analyst has to take that at face-value
and try to explain why Irish Catholicrepublicansin NorthernIreland
do not sacrifice themselves in the same way by reference to differences between Islam and Catholicism.While what people say about
themselves is a good place for the social scientist to start,it is rarely
the place to stop.
Attempts to use religion to explain anything (especially anything
reprehensible)provoke strong responses in the academy.On the one
side we have scholars such as Samuel Huntingtonwho build a theory of internationalrelationsaroundthe supposeddifferencesbetween
religions and their propensityto cluster in increasingly antagonistic
"civilisations"(Huntington1997). On the otherside we have the popular "orientalism"criticismpromotedby the late EdwardSaid (1991,
1997), which suggests that almost any attributionof social and political effects to religious traditionsis both inappropriateand an additional form of oppression.The orientalismcriticismhas been answered
What Can Sociology Offer?
at length elsewhere (Bruce 2004) and all that needs said in these preliminaryremarksis that we must, of course, make sure that we attend
to both internaldifferenceswithin religious traditionsand to similarities between religions but that avoiding the sin of essentialism need
not strike us dumb. There is a vital distinction between saying (a)
thatthe world's majorreligious traditionshave more in common with
each other than is sometimes recognised and contain considerable
internal variation and (b) that there are no systematic differences
between religions. If we acceptthatthereare real differencesbetween,
say, Protestantismand Catholicism(thatcan be known both by examining the official positions of churchesand by polling and observing
large samples of Protestantsand Catholics) there seems no reason to
rule out the possibility that such differenceshave importantsocial and
political consequences. We can go furtherand say that it would be a
remarkablesocial institutionthat could absorb so much of people's
time and energy and not have majorconsequences. Hence I take the
critique of orientalismas a methodological warning, not as a fundamental barrier.
The purpose of this essay is to use one case study of the links
between religion and political violence to illustratewhat a sociological approachhas to offer in this field. The case concernsthe involvement of the Revd Dr Ian Paisley MP, MLA, MEP and his evangelical
followers in the NorthernIrelandTroubles. It draws on 25 years of
study of NorthernIreland (Bruce 1986, 1992) and in particularon
intimate knowledge of the two worlds discussed here: Ulster evangelicalism and loyalist terrorism.
Sociology
One contributionthat sociology can make to the debate about the
relationshipbetween religion and violence is its comparativemethod.
Two sorts of comparisoncan move us beyond merely reportingwhat
people say about their actions. We can compare religious and nonreligiouspeoplein a particularsetting:for example,arepiousProtestants
in NorthernIrelandmore or less likely than "heritage"Protestantsto
Steve Bruce
supportthe use of vigilanteviolence?And we can comparethe actions

of adherentsto differentreligions in apparentlycomparablesettings:
are attacksby Hinduson Muslims in Indiamore common thanattacks
by Catholics on Protestantsin NorthernIreland?Of course, the crucial point in such comparisonsis the "other-things-being-equal"
clause.
That religious communal hostility in France is confined to the vandalism of gravestoneswhile in Indiait createsthe need for new graves
may be better explained by the stability of the French state and the
effectiveness of Frenchpolicing than by referenceto the religions in
question. This is the valuable point of Said's critique:we should be
wary of attributingdifferencesin levels of communalviolence to differences in the ways religions encourage or legitimate such actions
where there are obvious and more proximatedifferencesin the extent
to which environmentsencourageor permitcertaincourses of action.
Given that we cannot constructcontrolledexperimentsto test the relative power of possible variableswe must engage in careful and critical comparisonof actually-occurringevents.
The second sort of contributionconcernsthe natureof explanation.
Most people assume a deliberateaction model in explanation:things
are as they are because someone ("them")wished it so. They also
have short time-scales and narrow reaches. Hence one of the most
useful contributionsof sociology is to act as a correctiveby searching for indirect,inadvertentand unintendedcausal connections.Right
or wrong, Max Weber's ProtestantEthic thesis is a good example of
the method. In trying to explain economic attitudes in Britain and
Americain the earlynineteenthcenturyhe did not look at what church
officials then said aboutthe desirabilityof acquisitiveness.Insteadhe
looked further back and wider to argue that a number of earlier
Reformationteachings that had nothing at all to do with economic
behaviourcombined to create a numberof socio-psychological problems which in turncreateda certainpersona.That personacombined
with this-worldlyasceticism to produce,again inadvertently,the Protestant Ethic.
If the stress on the inadvertentdistinguishes sociology from the
history of ideas, the next point distinguishesit from journalism.It is
both a limitation and a considerable strengthof sociology that it is

not good at explainingrareevents. What is obvious of statisticaltests
for the strengthof correlationbetween variables(that they work best
with actions that are relatively common but not dominant)is true of
sociological explanation more generally. We can trace and hope to
explain relatively common patternsof behaviour;we are far less successful with the extremely unusual, the idiosyncratic, and the very
specific. For example, we can offer plausible explanationsin terms
of motives and opportunities for the social class correlates of the
distributionof certain crimes but we cannot explain why, of a large
group of people with similar social characteristics,only some commit crimes. The virtue of this limitationis that it cautions us against
making too much of precisely those events that most attractthe interests of journalists (and the general public). I will returnto this point
later but I enter it here as a generalreason for preferringto shift from
the very specific (for example, why do Muslims use suicide bombing?) to the more general (for example, do religions differ in their
attitudesto the state?).
The Case Study: ProtestantFundamentalistsin NorthernIreland
Ian Paisley is remarkablein the history of modem democracy for
founding a political party and a church and leading both to success
(Bruce 1986). The party he founded in 1966, initially called the
ProtestantUnionist Party,then the DemocraticUnionist Partyor DUP,
is now Ulster's major unionist party (i.e., in favour of maintaining
NorthernIrelandas partof the UnitedKingdom).The FreePresbyterian
Churchof Ulster (FPCU), which he founded in 1951, now has 109
congregations.Paisley's political career has been built on defending
the rightof the Protestantpeople of Ulster to remainpartof the United
Kingdom and on opposing demands from Irish nationalists for the
territoryof NorthernIreland to be integratedwith the Republic of
Ireland. His religious career has been constructedaroundthe claim
thatthe main Protestantchurcheshave abandonedtheirhistoriccreeds
and hence that separationfrom Protestantapostasy is necessary to
10
Steve Bruce
defend the true faith against the encroachmentsof Catholicism and

liberalism.The two are unitedby the belief that northernIrishnationalist demands are a product of Catholic Church scheming and are
encouragedby the decline of a biblicalProtestantwitness.Whatmakes
Paisley's twin careers particularinterestingfor my purposes here is
that it would not be difficult to constructa justificationfor an evangelical holy war or jihad.
* The NorthernIrelandconflict has seen a great deal of political violence: almost 4,000 people killed in a countrywith a populationof
only 1.5 million.
* Ian Paisley's core evangelical Protestantssee themselves as the victims of a holy crusadeby the Catholic churchto destroy one of the
last strongholdsof Protestantismin Europe.
* Traditionally, evangelicals have believed that Catholicism is a
damnable heresy. Ulster evangelicals believe that the crusade of
Irish nationalismto integrateNorthernIrelandinto the Republic of
Irelandis just one instanceof the CatholicChurch'sdesireto reverse
the Reformationand restoreRome's hegemony over all of Europe.
* The centuries-long conflict between Protestantsand Catholics in
Ireland has encouraged Ulster Protestantsto see themselves as a
threatenedelect, just like the Childrenof Israel.
* Every political change in NorthernIrelandsince its creationin 1926
(but especially since the start of the currentconflict in 1970) has
weakened the power of Protestants.
* In its most brutal form, the anti-Protestantismof the republican
movement has taken the form of murderingProtestantsin the border areas; as result Protestants have moved north and east and
become concentratedin an ever smaller area. Although militant
Irish republicans often assert that they attack only agents of the
Britishstate,thatcategoryis definedso widely thatmany Protestants
see their entire religio-ethnic group as being under attack.
* And there have been enough examples of straight-forwardsectarian murderto make such an assessmentplausible. For example, in
November 1983, republicansmurderedthree church elders when
11
they attackedthe Darkley,CountyArmagh,PentecostalChurchduring a church service.

Finally, there is a circumstantialpoint. Especially in the early years
of the Troublesthe state was not in effective control.The ease with
which each side could attackthe other gave ample opportunityfor
people to feel justified in taking the law into their own hands.
In that situationit would not be hardfor those who saw themselves
as the victims of a religiously-inspiredwar to respond with a religious justificationfor counter-attack.Did Ulster evangelicals engage
in jihad?
Paisley's Words
Paisley's stated attitudeto political violence is clear enough. Like
most people in western democracies, he expects the state to protect
its citizens and those citizens to be loyal to the state. He cedes to the
state the right to the legitimate use of coercion. Although Paisley frequently cites the Scottish Covenantersas an inspiration,he does not
hold to the view that support for the "civil magistrate,"to use the
Covenanter term, should be conditional on the state actively promoting the true religion. So long as the state delivers its secularprotection, the citizen has no right to use violence for political ends. The
following from a 1973 statementsuccinctly expresses his view:
it is wrong for Protestantsto contemplatetaking the law into their own hands
andmetingoutjustice to those whom they believe guilty of atrocities... "Avenge
not yourselves"is the unmistakableteachingof Scripture.Romans 12, verse 19,
goes on to remind Christiansthat "Vengeanceis mine; I will repay, saith the
Lord."This does not mean, of course, that Protestantsought not be ready to
defend themselves, theirhomes and theirfamilies from attack.It does mean that
the punishmentof offenders must and should be left to those holding official
authorityto judge and punish (Protestant Telegraph17 February1973:5).
If the state abandonsthe citizen then the citizen is released from

his obligation and may do what is necessary to protect himself, his
family and his country.Clearly there is a lot of slack in decidingjust
when the state has failed but the principle is clear and is clearly
12
Steve Bruce
opposed to the terrorismused by loyalist groups such as the Ulster

Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster VolunteerForce (UVF) (on
which, see Bruce 1992).
It could be that Paisley is a hypocriteand that his actions belie his
words. But despite the best efforts of his many critics, no credible
evidence has ever been offered to link Paisley with the terroristacts
of loyalist paramilitaryorganizations.It could be that,while his hands
remain clean, Paisley has deliberatelyencouragedothers to commit
terroristacts. Again, thereis no evidence thathe has and his response
to acts of terrorcommitted by Ulster loyalists - the people on his
side - has been unequivocal.In response to one of the first loyalist
terroracts, in 1966, Paisley said: "Like everyone else, I deplore and
condemnthis killing,as all right-thinking
peoplemust"(Bruce1986:79).
He has since repeatedthat sentimentover and over. For example he
said: "Whatreally stuns the decent Ulster Protestantis that a section
of his own communitywould engage underthe guise of Protestantism
and Loyalty in crimes just as heinous and hellish [as those of the
IRA]. As a Protestantleader I once again totally, utterly and unreservedly condemn these atrociouscrimes and those who perpetrated
them or plannedto perpetratethem"(BBC NorthernIrelandNews 26
October 1982).
The Evangelical Record
One way of trying to assess the consequences of Paisley's rhetoric
(and of the impact of the religion that inspireshim) is to examine the
behaviourof the membersof his Free PresbyterianChurch.If evangelical Protestantismlegitimatespolitical violence, we might see this
is in the denominational affiliations of those convicted of serious
offences. Allowing for turn-over,by resignation or death, Paisley's
Free PresbyterianChurchhas probablyhad about 10,000 adult and
male (the two main demographiccharacteristicsof terrorists)members since 1966. That is a lot of potential terrorists.Apart from the
small group of men who in the early 1960s tried to dramatisethe
threatfrom the IRA (then fairly dormant)by damaging public utili-
13
ties, I can find only two Free Presbyterianswho have been clearly
involved in terrorism.Membershipof other evangelical sects is probably less likely to be mentioned in press reportsbut as most loyalist
terroractivity has been the work of the UDA and UVF, data on the
religion of their members (which I will come to in a moment) can
stand as a fairly complete assessment of the violence of evangelicals.
We can reasonably conclude that committed evangelical Protestants
have not been involved in political violence to the extant that their
presence in the general populationwould lead them to be if religion
was irrelevant.
If his churchis blameless, what of Paisley's party?Again it is hard
to know how many adult male members the DUP has had over the
course of the Troublesbut even if we confine our attentionto those
active enough to have stood as candidatesin elections, we would have
to set a figure of at least 500 and given the considerableturnoveras
people move in and out of parties, the cadre could be much larger;
let us guess 1,000. I can find only six DUP activists who have been
implicated in serious crimes and none of them involved personal
murderousattacks.
There are two sorts of episodes that put Paisley and his supporters
close to political violence: associating with terroristsin largely legal
activities and advertisingfor violence under specified conditions.
In 1974 Paisley, like every other Ulster unionist politician, supported a general strike that was led by the UDA and UVF. Although
there is no suggestion that he or his people approved of UDA and
UVF men using intimidationto enforce the strike,he must have been
awareof it. Three years later he again workedwith loyalists to mount
a secondandthis time unsuccessfulstrike.It is worthobservingPaisley's
own conduct in that strike.As though he had been stung by accusations of mixing with hoodlums he did his best to defuse potentially
violent situations.At one confrontationbetween a large picket and
the police, Paisley arrangedwith the police thatthey shouldtry to move
him, he would resist and then allow himself to be arrested.He would
thus make his point and acquire the necessary media coverage. In
14
Steve Bruce
recognitionof this choreographythe rest of the picket would disperse

quietly.There was no violence. But however properlyPaisley and his
people behaved, they must have known that the UDA and UVF were
responsible for hundredsof sectariankillings yet they were willing
to associate with them.
Paisley has also come close, in rhetoric at least, to rejecting the
state's monopoly of violence. Four times in his long career,Paisley
has triedto organisea militia.His very firstUlsterProtestantVolunteers
was a political ratherthan a paramilitaryorganizationbut its name
and structurewere intended to remind people of the original 1912
Ulster VolunteerForce. In 1969, Paisley reactedto the disbandingof
the Ulster Special Constabularyby calling on membersto form a private militia. In 1981, afterthe Britishand Irishgovernmentssignalled
a new closeness in theirrelationship,Paisley launchedwhat was called
the ThirdForce (the police and the armybeing the othertwo). Paisley
took five journaliststo a secret location in North Antrim to see 500
men in combat jackets wave what were purportedto be certificates
for legally-held firearms.At anotherrally he announced:"Wehave a
choice to make. Shall we allow ourselves to be murderedby the IRA,
or shall we go out and kill the killers" (Belfast Telegraph31 July
1981). As usual therewas much militantrhetoric.At one rally Paisley
said: "We demand that the IRA be exterminated from Ulster ... there
are men willing to do the job of exterminatingthe IRA. Recruitthem

under the Crown and they will do it. If you refuse, we will have no
otherdecision to make but to do it ourselves"(Cooke 1996:192).That
rhetoricwas qualifiedwhen he later said: "This force proposes to act
entirely within the law and will in no way usurp either the work or
the activities of the crown forces" (Irish News 18 December 1981).
Therewas no fighting.The rallies graduallygot smallerand the movement died. Five years later Paisley agreed to lead a new third force
called Ulster Resistance. There were the usual mass meetings with
much hot air: Paisley's deputy said: "Thousandshave alreadyjoined
the movement and the task of shapingthem into an effective force is
continuing.The Resistancehas indicatedthatdrillingand traininghas
already started.The officer of the nine divisions have taken up their
15
duties" (Irish News 10 July 1986). The reality was quite different.
There was no mass movement. Ulster Resistance dribbled away to
leave a small handful of County Armagh loyalists who collaborated
with the UVF and UDA in the bank robbery in Portadownin July
1987 to fund a largepurchaseof armsfrom SouthAfrica.Two Resistance men, both DUP activists from the same area and members of
Paisley's Free PresbyterianChurch, were caught trying to swap a
Shorts missile system for small arms with the South African state
company Armscor.
Despite the lack of evidence some people persist in claiming that
Paisley secretly supported paramilitaries.A 1999 book review in
Socialism Today repeated the assertion that Paisley encouraged the
formationof the UDA and UVF and cited as evidence the statement
supposedly made by one of the first UVF men convicted of murder
(in 1966). Hughie Mclean is quoted as saying: "I am terriblysorry I
ever heardof thatman Paisley or decidedto follow him. I am definitely
ashamed of myself to be in such a position." This single quotation
has been endlessly and uncriticallyrepeated(for example, Marrinan
1973:114; Moloney and Pollak 1986:138; Cooke 1996:149) without
anyone pausing to think if those words were likely to have been spoken by an uneducatedShankill Road man. Had anyone botheredto
check they would have found the implausiblyarticulatestatementwas
attributedby the police to McLean, who vehemently denied making
it. We now have available a numberof biographiesof leading UDA
andUVF men (Sinnerton2002; Garland2001; ListerandJordan2003)
and none of them give Paisley any sort of foundationalinfluence. On
the contrary,they show clearly that loyalists despised Paisley for
apparentlywishing the ends but not being willing to supportthe means.
Far from being taken as distant supportfor their efforts, the real terrorists scorned Paisley's third force efforts. As one now senior UVF
man said: "Wavingfuckin fire arms dockets! Fuckinjoke. That boy
was just an embarrassment."
If the above clears Paisley and his core evangelicals of direct involvementin, or active supportfor, political violence, we can consider
if in less directways evangelicalsbear some responsibilityfor loyalist
16
Steve Bruce
terrorism.It could be arguedthat by frequentlyeliding Catholicism

and Irish republicanism,by constantlyconstruingpolitical events as
a strugglebetween good and evil, and by encouragingunionists generally to maintainhardline positions, evangelicals bear some responsibility for creating a climate in which others feel justified in using
terror.Withoutwishing to dismiss thatentirely,I would point out that
it is a little partisan to suppose that only some of Paisley's pronouncementsare causally effective; that those sentimentswhich can
be taken as encouragingcommunaltension are noted by loyalist terroristswhile his abundantlyclear denunciationsof vigilante violence
are somehow overlooked.
Pursuingthe idea of exploringthe link betweenreligionandviolence
from the other end, we can ask what proportionof admittedloyalist
terroristsare born-againChristians.I have spent 25 years studying
loyalist paramilitaries.Out of thousandsof men involved I can think
of only two who were evangelicals before they got involved and one
of them candidly told me he thoughthe would go to hell for what he
did. Looking for religious inspirationmore widely, we can note that,
althougha few of the first generationof UDA and UVF men retained
a vicarious association through their wives ensuring their children
went to Sundayschool, even such a thin attachmentto organizedreligion is entirely absent from who have grown up in the Troubles.For
example, the well-researchedbiographyof Johnny"MadDog" Adair,
a UDA leader from the 1990s, makes no reference at all to religious
sentimentor activity (Lister and Jordan2003).
The one exception makes the point:the two leadersof a very small
groupwhich operatedunderthe bannerof the OrangeVolunteersand
the Red Hand Defenders claimed divine inspirationand in July 1998
fire-bombeda numberof Catholic churches.Their religious inspiration was highly deviant:they were British-Israelitesand Paisley and
otherFree Presbyterians(such as the Revd Ron Johnstonof Armagh)
had frequentlycriticised the heresy of British-Israelismeven before
thatassociationbecame known.This point will be pursuedshortlybut
one of the main reasons evangelicals such as Johnstonoppose British
Israelismis because it makes race ratherthanindividualstandingwith
17
God the criterionfor salvation.The groupwas also rejectedby the main

loyalist paramilitariesas, to quote a leading UVF man, "a bunch of
cranks.GradeA headbangers.We wanted nothingto do with the mad
bastards."
Two subsidiarypoints are worth mentioning.First, far from being
seen as justifying paramilitaryviolence, evangelical religion is seen
by loyalists themselves as justificationfor formermembersto "stand
down." A number of former terroristsbecame Christians while in
prison and their formercomrades accepted that as a good reason for
disaffiliation.One East Belfast commanderof the UDA was deposed
for supposedly informing on the organizationand stealing its funds.
Conventionally he would have been murdered(or at the very least
severely wounded)by his successors. He was not and the explanation
was that he had become born-againand was now an associate pastor
of a pentecostal church. As one of his former men out it: "I never
trustedthat lying bastard.He's safe for now but if we ever find out
he's faking he's booked into Roselawn [the local cemetery]."
Second,althoughPaisley'speople have fartoo muchrespectfor their
leader to criticise him in public, there is widespreadunease within
the Churchabout the sordid natureof politics. In private many Free
Presbyterians have told me they would rather "the Doc" was not
involved in politics and instead working full-time to save souls. That
this suspicion of the unGodly natureof the public world is not mere
rhetoricis suggestedby the careersof those leadingFree Presbyterians
who are politically prominent.Because outsiderstend to use Paisley
to judge his twin movement it is little appreciatedthat, although all
Free Presbyterianswould vote DUP, those ministerscalled to pastor
the largestandmost prestigiouscongregationsarethose least politically
active;indeedthe leadingchurchmen areunknownoutsidethe Church.
To summarisethe above, if any Protestantfundamentalistswere to
engage in holy war it would be those of NorthernIreland.In South
Africa and the United States, the enemies of those who wish to see
themselves as a beleagueredChildrenof Israelwere definedby a variety of characteristics(race, ethnicity, sexual orientation,liberalism,
secularityand so on) that were hardto meld into a single religiously-
18
Steve Bruce
defined threat.In NorthernIrelandthe true believers could plausibly

see themselves as the victims of the anti-Christ.Despite considerable
provocation and opportunity,even the most politically involved of
Ulster's conservative Protestantshave not engaged in or endorsed
political violence.
Religion as a Variablein Political Action
If the above can be compressedinto the propositionthat evangelical Protestantpiety inoculatedpeople againstthe appealof the notion
that their situationmerited a violent response, then we can move on
to my more general concern:the differentialpotential of religions to
legitimate political violence. Much current popular discussion of
Islamic fundamentalistviolence either states directly or assumes that
Islam is particularlyviolent. Bruce Hoffman,for example, follows a
discussionof what characterisesreligiously-inspiredterrorismby saying: "Thesecore characteristics,while common to religious terrorists
of all faiths, have nonethelessoften been most closely associatedwith
Islamic terroristgroups"(Hoffman 1998:95).
As this is a topic where strongfeelings encouragemyopia and misreading, I should stress that I am thoroughlyfamiliar with the very
many examplesthatcan be producedof Christianpeople and Christian
church leaders promotingthe use of violence for political ends. We
do not need to go back to the crusadesor to Europebefore the Treaty
of Westphaliato find Christianholy wars. In almost all nationalwars
involving Protestantmajoritystatesin the twentiethcentury,churches,
denominations and sects supportedthe use of armed force. Ulster
evangelicals in particularhave a long traditionof participationin the
British armedforces. It is also easy to find many examples of atrocities committedby members of religio-ethnic groups where the religion in questionis Catholicor OrthodoxChristianity.A floridexample
can be found in the behaviourof the Croatfascist Ustase, which carried out a vicious campaignof genocide against Serbs in 1941. Many
Catholic priests were active in the Ustase, the Pope grantedan audience to its leaderAnte Pavelic, and Orthodoxpriests were singled out
19
(some 130 were murdered).Serbs retaliatedin kind. When that battle was re-visited in the 1990s each ethnie mobilised religious symbolism and religious heritage to legitimate their violence against the
other.In one memorablytackyexample,the BosnianSerbpress agency
in Pale circulatedto the world a photographof RadovanKaradicand
Ratko Mladic (respectively the political and military leaders of the
Bosnian Serbs) kissing the communion cup held by the Orthodox
Bishop. The leader of the notorious Serb Tigers, Arkan, was often
photographedwearing an enormousOrthodoxcrucifix.We can allow
that much of this deploymentof religion was entirelycynical but still
be left with enough sincere commitmentto refute the propositionthat
Christianityand Islam differ hugely in their attitudes to the use of
violence per se.
An Aside on Apocalypticism
It is worth saying something about one possible reason for supposing that religions differ either from each other or from secular
belief systems in theirpropensityto encourageor legitimateviolence:
the expectation of impending apocalypse. We can certainly note that
there erupt from time to time, and in a wide variety of contexts of
social despair,movements based on the belief that the world is about
to end and that violent attackson some group or class will help hasten the end: the Fifth MonarchyMen in the English Civil War(Rogers
1966) or the Mahdistsin the Sudanin the nineteenthcenturyare cases
in point. Withoutwishing to explore this in detail, I would suggest a
number of reasons why messianism be left to one side in this discussion. First, there are secular millenarianmovements (fascism and
communism being two notable examples) which generate considerable violence (for example, the radical end of the Frenchrevolution,
Stalin's decision to starve the Ukraine and Hitler's genocide of the
Jews). Second, apocalypticmovementsare as likely to generatepietistic retreats from the world (as the expecting-to-be-saved remnant
cleanse themselves to be worthy of salvation) as they are to stimulate violent acts to hasten its end. And even when they are attended
20
Steve Bruce
by violence, it is often self- ratherthan other-directed.Adherentsof

the Solar Temple and Heaven's Gate killed themselves, not others.
In the introductionI madethe pointthatsociology is poor at explaining rare events. I have just accepted that the major religions do not
at firstsight differhugely in theirattitudesto violence per se: all think
it a bad thing which can be justified only in extremis. What I want
to do now is to suggest that we can nonetheless make some observations aboutthe differentialpotentialof religions to legitimatepolitical
violence by raisingquestionsaboutthe generalorientationof religious
themes to the backgroundfor forms of political action that are more
or less likely to promoteviolence in certaincircumstances.This rather
cumbersome form of words suggests a much humbler project than
Huntington'sidentificationof civilizationalclashes but, unlike Said's
refusal to explain anythingunpleasantby religion, it is an attemptto
use religion to explain political action. I do not have the space to do
other than stipulatean importantpart of my reasoning:that attitudes
to unbelievers, to the state, and to behaviouralconformity form an
importantpartof the culturalbackgroundfrom which political actors,
in consideringthe possibilities of political violence, constructvocabularies of motives.
Monotheismand Social Divisions
A majorpartof thatculturalbackgroundis the natureand extent of
social division. The depth of division is a correlateof the strengthof
cohesion within groups.Communalviolence is a characteristicof settings in which "community"carriesenormousweight;in which groups
are seen as more importantthan individuals. Religions differ systematically in the extent to which they supportgroup identities. To
have a divinely-electedpeople with a divine mandate(to be beastly to
those not so chosen) one needs a God who chose his people and delivered the mandate(Smith 1999). Hence deep divisions between "them"
and "us"are more likely to acquirereligious legitimationin monotheistic religious culturesthanpolytheistic ones. Polytheistscan become
21
religio-ethnicnationalistsbut in orderto do so convincinglythey have

to reshape their religion in a monotheistic and exclusivist direction.
We see this clearly in the Hindutvamovement, which gives pride of
place to the cult of Ram as the God who created the Hindu people.
The strongGod-peoplelink can be greatlyweakenedby differences
in the procedural rules for discerning the will of God. Although
Protestantsare as much monotheists as Catholics and the Orthodox,
their rejection of a hierarchicalmodel of access to the will of God
and their insistence on the equality of all believers leads inevitably
to factionalism and repeated schism. Once the people of God are
divided into a large number of competing organizationsit becomes
very difficult to suppose that "our people" are divinely blessed and
superiorto "them."No matterhow certainthey are of their own rectitudeProtestantsare regularlyled, more or less reluctantly,to accepting the idea of religious liberty and toleration.And Protestantstates
tend to become religiously neutral.Much more could be said about
this (see Bruce 1996) but the general point is simple: individualism
in core religious ideas encouragesindividualismmore generally and
thus weakens the ability of groups to claim divine approval.
This in turnhas consequencesfor violence in thatit makes it harder
to dehumaniseone's opponents.Of course, thereare examples of Protestantreligio-ethnicnationalism(Ulster is one, SouthAfrica another)
but these tend to be fragile and short-lived. The Dutch Reformed
Churchclergyhadlittledifficultyabandoningtheirsupportfor apartheid.
And for all Paisley's talk of the "Ulster Protestantpeople" he is all
too aware of the unregeneratenatureof the majorityof those people.
Outsiderswho see only Paisley's anti-Catholicismmiss the point that
the vast majorityof his protests have been directed at the Churchof
Ireland and the Irish PresbyterianChurch. He has also frequently
denounced "those who are Protestantin name only." In politics he
appeals to the Protestantelectoratebut he does not believe that they
are God's chosen people.
22
Steve Bruce
Separation of Churchand State

Ulster evangelicals distinguish between the church and the state.
As noted, the fissiparous nature of Protestantismgives them little
choice. But that practicalnecessity was readily accepted in Christian
cultures because it is legitimated by core religious ideas. One reading of Christ'sinjunctionto renderunto Caesarwhat is Caesar's and
unto God what is God's is made plausibleby the long historyof political impotence of Christianity.Unlike Islam which began in power,
Christianity spent 300 years on the margins before it became the
official cult of the Roman Empire. Subsequentlyit enjoyed considerable magisteriumbut even when the Papacy was at its most powerful, church and state, spiritual and political power, were clearly
differentiatedin a way that was not the case for the Caliphate.
Tolerationand Conformity
Alongside the ratherformal issue of the extent to which church
and state are separatedthere is a relatedissue of the ease with which
believers can tolerate heresy and apostasy. Here sociology has an
importantcontributionto make because, unlike the jurist, the theologian, the philosopheror the historianof ideas, the sociologist is concerned less with official pronouncementsand more with "practical
attitudes."One way to see the point clearly is to recognise the ease
with which, in comparisonto most Muslim societies, Protestantcultures tolerate the rejection of their faith. In many settings where
Muslims dominate,Islam is given a protectedstatus and apostasy is
punished. The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, for
example,makes apostasya crimepunishableby death.The more communal Catholic and Orthodoxvarieties of Christianitytend to imposition. In contrast,Protestantsfind it easy to allow people to go to
hell if they wish. Partly this reflects minority status:most conservative Protestantgroups spent their formative years as minorities that
lacked the power to impose their culture on others. But it is also a
consequence of the hyper individualismwhich seeks to separateout
23
the convertedSaintsfromthe unregeneratemass. This breedsan acceptance that what is necessaryfor salvationneed not be (because it cannot be) imposed on everyone. US surveys show thateven self-avowed
fundamentalistsrecognise that much of what they regardas divinelymandatedshould not be made a matterof law.
The Protestantability to live with heresy and apostasy seems to
owe much to an aspect of religion that looms large for sociologists
because of its social consequences:rules for conduct.One of the most
salient differencesbetween salvationreligions (and it is one that proponents themselves stress) concerns what is requiredfor salvation.
Although it simplifies by leaving aside the mystical, we can distinguish betweena stresson correctbeliefs and on correctactions.Strictly
speaking the contrast should be between faiths that require correct
beliefs and those that requirecorrectbeliefs and correctactions. The
Pure Land School of Buddhism's assertionthat saying Namu Amida
Butsu (the Japaneseform for "Homage to the Buddha of boundless
compassionand wisdom")before deathwill ensuretransportto heaven
and the attitudeof some Catholics to the efficacy of the Last Rites
both come close to suggesting that action alone may be enough, but
generally orthopraxreligions suppose that right actions only become
properlyright when performedwith the appropriateunderpinningof
faith. That said, there is a clear distinction between religions in the
extent to which they mandatebehaviour.
The type of religious experience most favoured in Christianityis the personal
acceptance of redemptive grace which is to transformthe inward springs of
life... The type of religious experience favored in Islam is, then, the active
personal acceptance of prophetictruth,which is to discipline and orient one's
total life. (Hodgson 1960:54, 59)
For Protestantswhat mattersis thatone has the rightbeliefs or doctrines: hence orthodoxy.One can be a private Protestantin a Jewish
world and still be saved. The corollary of that point is that living in
a countrythatabidesby the sabbathandgives prominenceto Protestant
religious culturewill not save you. Although Protestantshave sometimes triedto orderthe world aroundthem to maximise the chances of
24
Steve Bruce
people being saved (andhave badgeredthe unGodly)strictlyspeaking

they have no need to do this, which explains why they readilygive up
doing so. One strandof US Protestantfundamentalism(exemplified
by the graduatesof Bob Jones University,Greenville,SouthCarolina)
goes so far as to arguethat the New ChristianRight's wish to reform
the public arenamay damage the chances of saving souls by implying thatpublic virtue (thatis "good works")will earn salvation.Even
the Catholic strandof Christianity,though it prescribescertainritual
acts as efficacious, need have little interestin the wider public world
because the ritual acts are small and can be slotted into almost any
sort of economy or society. Hence its concordatswith states are more
concernedwith the conditionsfor its reproduction(Catholicschooling,
for example) ratherthanwith the impositionof Catholicsocial mores.
In contrastIslam is orthoprax:a majorpart of gaining salvation is
to live a certainlife and those behaviouralrequirementsare far-reaching: "none of the revealed religions place as much emphasis on right
conduct (as opposed to right belief) as Islam" (Robinson 2001:38).
There is an Islamic law in the way that there is not a Catholic or a
Protestantlaw. As Ba-Yunusputs it:
In Islam personal worship and obedience to the rules of other institutions [in
the sociological sense] are the two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist
without the other. This broadening of worship seems to be unique to Islam.
Above all, it means that for a Muslim to be pious, altruisticand peaceful within
and without, not only is a personaland ritualistdevotion to God a requirement,
but also an Islamic institutional environment in which to live as a Muslim
(2002:107).
I am not sure about the uniquenessof this broadeningof worship.

The long ability of diasporicJews to sustain their faith suggests that
their need to shape their environmentis both less pressing and lessfar-reachingbut nonethelessmainstreamJews have traditionallyformed
distinctive communities and the currentargumentsabout the role of
religion in the state of Israel suggests a powerfulpress to public domination (Eisenstadt 1985:515-16).
To pre-emptthe chargeof essentialism,we may note importantdifferences within Islam as to the preferredmechanism for imposing
Godliness. Khomeini's particularemphasis on the role of the charis-
25
matic Imam is not the same as Mawdudi's vision of the community

imposing Islam on itself. Nonetheless the desired goal is the same: a
righteousenvironment.And thatis recognisedas centralto Islam even
by Muslims who are fiercely critical of fundamentalists such as
Mawdudi. Fazlur Rahman, for example, says that Muslim scripture
is an expression of "deep God consciousness [that]is creatively and
organically-relatedto the founding of an ethical sociopolitical order
in the world"(Waines 1995:243). "Creatively"suggests distancefrom
Wahhabipuritanismbut this still leaves us some way from the views
of most Christianchurches.
Of course, all believers share one common interest in persuading
or forcing others to share their views: sheer weight of numbersand
public presence reinforces our conviction that we are right. But the
orthodoxy/orthopraxyaxis remainsimportantbecause it explains why
some religions find it easier to toleratediversity than others. It is not
the psychology of Muslims, Christiansand Jews that explains why
there is an Islamic Republic of Pakistanand an Islamic Republic of
Iran and why many Israelis wish Israel to be a Jewish state but there
is not a Christian Republic of Sweden; there are basic differences
between religions in the extent to which they mandate a particular
way of life.
Pietistic Retreat
A crucial part of the explanation of the attitudes to violence of
Ulster evangelicals is their potential for victory in defeat. There has
always been a tension within Protestantismbetween the activist saints
who wish to impose Godly discipline on the world and the pietists
who regardthe preservationof Godly piety as more importantthan
reform. Clearly which tendency is uppermostis partly a product of
circumstance;all but the most fanaticalbelievers will more often than
not trimto the prevailingwind. For all theirinsistence on the impending apocalypse and their threatsof insurrection,the Fifth Monarchy
Men failed to mount any serious challenge to the restorationof the
Stewartsin May 1660 (Rogers 1966:100-4). But beyond the force of
circumstancewe can derive from core religious ideas the proposition
26
Steve Bruce
that Protestantismis unusually well suited to the catacombs.Walzer

says of the Calvinist Puritans:
The saints attemptedto fasten upon the necks of all mankindthe yoke of a new
political discipline ... This discipline was not to depend upon the authorityof
paternalkings and lords or upon the obedience of childlike and trustful subjects. Puritanssought to make it voluntary,like the contractitself, the object of
individualand collective wilfulness. But voluntaryor not, its keynotewas repression (1965:302).
For my purposesthe same observationcan be readin reverseorder.

The repression that the Saints desired was voluntary and they routinely scaled down the intendedreachfrom "all mankind"to the select
few who would join them. It is easy then to read the apostasy of the
masses not as a spur to further efforts to reform them but as a
justificationfor allowing them to take themselves to hell.
Conclusion
This discussion can only be suggestive. There is not the space to

discuss even the case of Ulster evangelicals in sufficient detail to
provethe value of my approach.However,the above shouldbe enough
to indicate one social scientific approachto a study of the possible
links between religion and violence. I have sought to steer my way
between two unhelpful positions: the structuralsocial science that
denies religion causal status and the popularcommentarythat gives
too much weight to very specific religious ideas. The conclusions I
wish to make from my study of Paisleyism in NorthernIreland(and
the same case could be made from a study of the law-abidingnature
of the US New ChristianRight) can be strippeddown to this core.
Modem (andthatcan probablybe furtherspecifiedas post-Westphalian)
Protestantfundamentalistshave not engaged in holy war.A large part
of that acceptance of the status quo can be explained by their location in reasonably stable affluent societies with popularly-accepted
powerful states that offer considerable rewards for confining value
disagreementsto courtbattles,pressuregroupactivities and elections.
Here NorthernIrelandis interestingbecause the state was, for a time,
extremely fragile. But I do not believe that all of the peaceable char-
27
acter of Protestantfundamentalismis explained by mundanecircumstance. We can identify religious roots of those mundane circumstances by working backwardsto show the considerablecontribution
that reformed Protestantismmade to the rise of liberal democracy
(Bruce 2004:244-54) but we can also appreciatethateven today there
is a cultural connection. And it is not to be found in the presence
within Protestantismof specifically pacifist movements (thoughthere
is an interestingquestion to be asked about why the Protestantstrand
of Christianityshould have producedmore of those than Catholicism
or Islam). RatherI have suggested that the key to understandingthe
constraints on Protestantfundamentalistpolitical action lies in the
deeper background:a grudgingtolerationof heresy and apostasy,an
inability to long sustaina strong sense of sharedidentityvis-a-vis the
ungodly, an acceptanceof secular rules of conduct, an acceptanceof
the state's monopoly of coercion, and the attractiveoption of pietistic
retreatfromthe worldhave all combinedto rule outjihad as an option.
School of Social Science
University of Aberdeen
AberdeenAB24 3QY
UK
s.bruce@abdn.ac.uk
BRUCE
STEVE
REFERENCES
Ba-Yunus,Ilyas
2002 "Ideological dimensions of Islam: A critical paradigm."In Interpreting
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2001 Gusty Spence. Belfast: Blackstaff.
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1998 Inside Terrorism.London:Victor Gollanz.
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"CONSIDER THAT IT IS A RAID ON THE PATH OF GOD":

THE SPIRITUAL MANUAL OF THE ATTACKERS OF 9/11
HANS G. KIPPENBERG
Summary
The document found with three of the four cells responsible for the crimes of
9/11 is unique in providing specific informationabout how the Muslim suicide terrorists conceived of their action. The document shows that they found justification
for violence by emulating the moment in early Islamic history when Muhammad
cancelled contracts with non-Muslims and organized raids (ghazwa) against the
Meccans in orderto establish Islam as a political order.No statementin the Manual
explicitly identifies the United States as the financial, military,and political center
of today's paganism;rather,such identificationis tacitly assumed, as was shown by
the action itself. Instead, the Manual prescribes recitations, prayers and rituals by
which each memberof the four cells should preparefor the ghazwa, purifyhis intention and anticipatein his mind the successive stages of the struggle to come. Not
the objective aim but the subjectiveintentionis at the centerof the Manual.The article places this type of justificationof violence in the historyof Islamic activism since
the 1980s.
On September28, 2001, the FBI distributedat a Press conference

four pages of an Arabic document, and also published it on its website, where it can still be found today.l The headline is spectacular:
"Hijackingletter Found at three Locations."Beneath the four pages
of Arabic text the website displays three photos, surroundedby information aboutthe hijackers,their flights and the places where the documents were found. MuhammadAtta is connected with the American
Airlines flight 11 thatcrashedinto the NorthTowerof the WorldTrade
Centerat 8:45; underneathhis photo the FBI informs:"Foundin Atta's
suitcase."The next photo shows Nawaf al-Hazmi; the text connects
him withAmericanAirlines#77, which crashed9:39 into the Pentagon,
1
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrelO1/letter.htm.

NUMEN,Vol. 52
30
Hans G. Kippenberg
and the documentis describedas, "Foundin Vehicle at Dulles InternationalAirport."Finally, a photo of the crash site of United Airlines
#93 at Stony CreekTownshipis accompaniedby the remark,"Found
at Crime Scene."
Despite the excitement one would expect the discovery to stir, the
documentwas, and still is, widely ignored. Only recently a scholarly
edition, with translationand an analysis of the Arabic text has been
publishedin Germany.2Carefulscholarlyinvestigationhas been rare,
comparedto the importanceof the events. Governmentand scholars
alike ignore the document.In this essay I would like to arguethat the
document is relevant for an understandingwhat happened and also
for evaluatingthe militaryanswerof the United States to the attacks.
I shall address four major issues: first, the issue of the authenticity of the document;second, the documentas a SpiritualManualturning ordinary young Muslims into warriors and martyrs;third, the
social form in which the men operated; and fourth, the "Waron
Terrorism"in the light of the document.
TheAuthenticityof the Document
MuhammadAtta,who navigatedthe firstplane into the NorthTower
of the World Trade Center, came from Boston, where he changed
planes. One piece of his luggage did not make it into his plane from
Logan airport,whetherby chance or not we do not know. When his
suitcase was found, two documents were discovered. In a last will,
written in English and laid down in 1996, Atta prescribedhow his
body should be handledafter his death in orderto preventpollution.
Much more spectacularis the handwrittenArabic text published by
the FBI. It anticipatesthe stages of the attackand prescribesfor each
stage recitationsof the Koran,prayersand rituals. The Britishjournal The Observer,published, on September30, an English transla-
HansG. KippenbergandTilmanSeidensticker(eds.), Terrorim Dienste Gottes:Die

"GeistlicheAnleitung"derAttentdterdes 11. September2001, Frankfurt:
Campus2004.
The SpiritualManual of the Attackersof 9/11
31
tion of the four pages.3Another,better,translationwas later made by

Hassan Mneimneh for The New YorkReview of Books.4
Still on September28, The WashingtonPost published a leading
articleon the discovery,"InHijacker'sBags, a Call to Planning,Prayer
and Death." The article spoke about five pages instead of four, and
later in the same issue (page A18) publishedtwo extractsin English:
In the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate... In the name
of God, of myself and of my family... I pray to you God to forgive me from
all my sins, to allow me to glorify you in every possible way.
Remember the battle of the prophet... against the infidels, as he went on
building the Islamic state.
Since neither extract is found in the four pages previously published, they must have been derived from the fifth page. The second
quotationperfectly fits the Manual, since it conceives of the attacks
in terms of the prophet Muhammad'sghazwa at the time when the
Islamic polity was established in Medina. But the first of the sentences elicited seriousdoubtsaboutits authenticity.Whatpious Muslim
would dare to say: "In the name of God, of myself and of my family"? Since the Arabic original of this text has never been published,
and the FBI distributedthe English extractsduringthe Press conference, a mistranslationcannot be ruled out.
As was said already,the text found in MuhammadAtta's bag was
not the only one. A second copy was found in the car used by Nawaf
al-Hazmi and left at Dulles InternationalAirport.CBS News claimed
to have gotten hold of that copy, and published,on October 1, 2001,
an English translationof it.5 It likewise consists of four pages, and
the translationagrees widely with that of MuhammadAtta's text. All
scans available on the Internetreproduceone and the same original.
3
www.observer.co.uk/interational/story/0,6903,560773,00.html.
HassanMneimneh,"Appendix,"in RobertB. Silvers and BarbaraEpstein (eds.),
StrikingTerror:America'sNew War,New York:New YorkReview of Books 2002,
319-27.
5 "TranslatedText:
Hijackers'How-To"(cbsnews October1, 2001). It can be found
under www.cbsnews.com when entering the title of the article in the "search"box.
4
32
Hans G. Kippenberg
Perhapsthe CBS journalistmisunderstoodthe law enforcementagents

when they distributedcopies duringthe Press Conference.The remnants of the third copy have not been published either.
The document and all informationabout it derive from US Secret
Service sources- a fact that has given rise to speculations about a
forgery.It is worthwhileto note, therefore,that independentevidence
exists about the Manualof the hijackers.It derives from the reporter
for al-Jazeera,Yosri Fouda, who under conspiratorialcircumstances
met Ramzi Binalshibh in Karachi.Binalshibh acted as the intermediary between the Hamburggroup and the chief of the militarycommitteeof al-Qa'ida,KhalidSheikhMuhammad.Foudadid an extensive
interview with him and was told how the attacks were prepared.6
Binalshibh showed him a suitcase with "souvenirs"from his stay in
Hamburg,among them a booklet containinghandwrittennotes in the
marginby MuhammadAtta. Since the handwritingdifferedfrom that
of the documentpublishedby the FBI,7Binalshibhexplainedto Fouda
that the manuscriptin Atta's luggage had been writtenby Abdul Aziz
al-Omari, who was highly respected in the group for his profound
knowledge of Islam and his beautiful handwriting.8
Thoughthe find was spectacular,the documenthad no majorimpact
on the examinationof the events and was widely ignored.Whatare the
reasonsfor that?Immediatelyafterits release, the well-knownMiddle
East scholar Robert Fisk drew attentionto statementsin the document he found suspicious in the mouth of a Muslim. "WhatMuslim
would write: 'The time of fun and waste is gone'?" he asked in The
IndependentSeptember29, 2001. As additionalevidence he cited the
expressions "100 per cent" and "optimistic,"too moder for Arabic
theological language.Fisk, who at thattime had seen only the English
translation,drew a cautiousconclusion aboutpossible Christiantrans-
6 YosriFoudaand Nick
Fielding,Mastermindsof Terror:The Truthbehindthe most
Devastating TerroristAttackthe Worldhas ever Seen, Edinburgh:Main Stream2003.
7 Fouda called the document a "Manualfor a Raid."
8 See Fouda and
Fielding, Mastermindsof Terror,115, 158.
33
lators:"Thetranslation,as it stands,suggests an almostChristianview

of what the hijackersmight have felt."9
Fisk's remarksgained weight in conjunctionwith conspiracy theories that startedcirculating soon after the events. Michael Barkun
who had studied the Americancultureof conspiracyfor many years,
found it easy to link certain explanations of the events and of the
reaction of the US governmentto long established types of conspiracy. He pointed to certainAmerican groups that did not attributethe
attacks to Usama bin Ladin and his organization,but to the interest
of the US governmentof restrictingthe freedom of the citizens under
Otherconspiracytheoriesoriginated
the pretextof counterterrorism.10
outside the United States. Rumors swept across the Muslim world
that the attacks had been perpetratedby the Secret Service of Israel
and that four thousandJews who normally worked in the WTC did
not show up for work on September11 because they had been tipped
off by Mossad.1 All these political conspiracy theories assume that
the text is a forgery,fabricatedeither by the FBI or by Mossad.
Forgeryis a common phenomenonin the historyof religions. Wellknown documentsare ascribedto authoritiesthat cannothave written
them. The fifth book of Moses and the book of Daniel were not composed in the time they pretend, but much later. In these and other
instancesthe suspicion of forgeryhas been substantiatedby scholarly
inquiry.Only aftercareful investigationand discussion could the suspicion become a plausible thesis. In the case of our document it is
the otherway around.No seriousattemptshave been madeto provethe
9 RobertFisk, "WhatMuslim would write: 'The time of fun and waste is

gone'?"
The IndependentSeptember29, 2001.
'0 Michael Barkun,A Cultureof Conspiracy:ApocalypticVisionsin Contemporary
America, Berkeley: University of California 2003, ch. 10, "September 11: The
Aftermath,"158-69; otherpolitical conspiracynarrativesare told by Malise Ruthven,
A Furyfor God: The Islamist Attack on America, London: Granada2002, 294-98.
1 John L.
Esposito, Unholy War:Terrorin the Name of Islam, Oxford:UP 2002,
74. The Anti-DefamationLeague rejected these rumours:"UnravelingAnti-Semitic
9/11 ConspiracyTheories,"available on its website (http://www.adl.org).
34
Hans G. Kippenberg
suspicion. Crucialissues are not clarified.Who would be responsible

for the forgery?What could be the purposeof it? Who used the document, and for what aim? Since no answers are given to these questions, the notion of a forgery is without any scholarly value. But the
popularityof the suspicionhas certainlycontributedto the disappearance
of the documentfrom the scholarly and public debates about 9/11.
Despite all the doubts and uncertainties,qualified attempts have
been made to take the document seriously. Hassan Mneimneh und
KananMakiya published in January2002, in The New YorkReview
of Books, an examinationof the "Manualfor a 'Raid,"' followed by
the translationmentionedabove.12The authorsexplainedthe contents
of the document in terms of Islamic literature,theology and history.
In December 2002, the Martin-Marty-Centerof the University of
Chicago, a researchinstitutionfor the study of religions, startedon
its website a debate about the document. Bruce Lincoln, following
up on Mneimneh and Makiya, tried to specify the worldview of the
perpetratorsby pointing to the Egyptian intellectual Sayyid Qutb, a
spokesman of the militant wing of the Muslim Brotherhoodin the
sixties.13Sayyid Qutb denounced the Westernizationof Egypt's cultureand society as a new paganism,a new era of ignorance(jahiliyya).
He called upon the faithfulMuslim to do the same as the prophethad
once done: to fight to overthrowthe power of paganismtogetherwith
a few dedicatedmen. Sayyid Qutb paid for his subversiveversion of
Islam with his life and was executed by the Egyptiangovernmentin
1966.14Bruce Lawrence and Mark Juergensmeyeralso joined the
12 See note 4. HassanMneimnehand Kanan
Makiya, "Manualfor a 'Raid,'" New
YorkReview of Books January 17, 2002 (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15106);
repr.in RobertB. Silvers and BarbaraEpstein (eds.), StrikingTerror:America'sNew
War,New York:New York Review of Books 2002, 301-18.
13 See also Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terror:Thinkingabout Religion after September
11, Chicago: UP 2003, ch. 1.
14 Yvonne Y.
Haddad, "Sayyid Qutb: Ideologue of Islamic Revival," in John L.
Voices
Esposito (ed.),
of ResurgentIslam, New York and Oxford:UP 1983, 67-98;
Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics, New
Haven and London:Yale UP 1990, 2nd ed., 21-28. The conceptof a moder jahiliyya
derives from the PakistantheoristAbu 'l-A'la Mawdudi.
35
debate on the Chicago website and by and large supportedLincoln's

approach.15Good reasons exist, therefore,to be less concerned with
the possibility of a forgery than with missing a unique opportunityto
reconstructthe meaning the attackersattributedto their crime.
A SpiritualManual TurningYoungMuslims into Warriors
and Martyrs
The authorof the manualwas certainlynot a well-educatedIslamic
cleric. This is clear from the sixth instruction:
You should know that the best invocation is the recitationof the Holy Koran,
by the consensus of scholars, as far as I know (italics HGK). It suffices for us
that it is the word of the Creatorof the Heavens and the Earth,toward whom
you are heading. (I, 6)
The words "as far as I know" suggest a layman as author.In Islam

clerics are legal experts, while sermonsare often deliveredby laypersons. MuhammadAtta may have been the authorof the Manual.There
is an additionalreason for that assumption:the internalhierarchyin
and between the four groups. He probablywas the head of the four
groups, as will turn out later. But accordingto Fouda, al-Omariwas
the writer.
If the document was a manual placed in the hands of three out of
four groups, it enables us to reconstructthe subjective meaning of
the violent action. The concept of 'subjectivemeaning' derives from
Max Weber, who distinguished it strictly from that of individual
motives.16The motivationof a man to commit a crime at the expense
of his life is somethingdifferentfrom the meaninghe attributesto his
deed. Motives must be analyzed in terms of biography (personal
emotions, experiences and reflections), subjective meanings in terms
of cultural and religious categories. Subjective meanings are not
invented ad hoc, but are derived from a stock of worldviews and
15
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/122002/commentary.shtml.
Cf. Hans G. Kippenberg,"ReligiousCommunitiesProvidingMeaningin Social
Interactions:The Section 'Sociology of Religion' in Max Weber's Economy and
Society," in Charles Camic, Phil Gorski, and David Trubek (eds.), Economy and
Society: Max Weberin 2000, Stanford:UP, forthcoming.
16
36
Hans G. Kippenberg
ethical principles that are available in culture and religion. In this

section I would like to examine the subjectivemeaningin this Weberian sense.
The manual conceived of the deed as jihad/ghazwa.'7In Islam to
wage a war for the sake of God has a long history.Since early times
it was considereda duty for every male believer.When state officials
announceda war againstinfidels and mobilized theirarmies,the individual Muslim believer was expected to serve in the armed forces.
But thereexisted a strongerversionof this duty.A Muslimcould prove
the sincerityof his faith by participatingin a war againstthe infidels,
provided he did so voluntarily.The saying of the Prophet that the
monasticismof his communityconsists in the jihad is more than an
anti-Christianpolemic. It establishes in Islam a positive connection
between asceticism and the war against infidels.'8 In the classical
Islamictextsthe sincereIslamicfighterpreparedfor warby worlddenial,
exclaiming eulogies of God, reciting from the Koran, performing
prayers,saying dhikr,and fasting.'9AlbrechtNoth, who painstakingly
has studiedthe relationbetween ascetic practicesand war againstthe
infidels in the classical Arabicliterature,drew the conclusion that, "in
Islam the struggle against the infidels was regardedand proclaimed
as a kind of worship."20
A Mutual Pledge to Die and a Renewal of Intent
The Spiritual Manual divided the ghazwa into three stages: the
Night before, on the airport,in the plane. Not the violent act in itself,
17 The jihadists conceived of their attack as a ghazwa, a raid. Members of alQa'ida called it "the Manhattanghazwa," "the two ghazwas from Washingtonand
New York,"or "the OperationHoly Tuesday"(Fouda and Fielding, Mastermindsof
Terror,108, 121 n. 11).
18 AlbrechtNoth, Heiliger Krieg und Heiliger Kampfim Islam und Christentum:
Beitrdge zur Vorgeschichteund Geschichteder Kreuzziige,Bonn: Rohrscheid 1966,
52-53.
19 Ibid. 55-56.
". .. im Islam [wurde] der Kampf gegen die Unglaubigen als eine Moglichkeit
des 'Gottesdienstes'angesehen und proklamiert"(ibid. 61).
20
The Spiritual Manual of the Attackers of 9/11
37
but the way in which it should be enacted stands at the centre of the
Manual. It opens with the words: "Mutual pledge (bai'a) to die and
renewal of intent." Bai'a signified in the history of Islamic community formation a solemn act by which faithful Muslims declared their
allegiance towards each other and towards their leader.2' Sufi associations of young men, thefutuwwa, were based on the same practice.22
In modem times, the Egyptian Muslim Brothers adopted the principle and admitted new members by an "oath of brotherhood" (bai'at
al-ukhuwwa).23 This practice spread among militant groups at the
fringe of the Brothers. The author of the infamous writing The Neglected
Duty, that formulated the creed of the assassins of President Sadat
(1981), Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj (1954-1982) raised the question whether an "oath of allegiance to fight until death" was restricted
to the Prophet alone or could also be given to other commanders than
the Prophet. Faraj argued that it could (?? 95-97).24 The opening of
Manual implies that the participants in the 9/11 operation had joined
the al-Qa'ida network by a solemn oath of loyalty given to Usama
bin Ladin and his community.25
Probably all combatants knew the Manual and prepared for their
action by reading it or listening to it. Since the Manual indicated "airport" and "plane" by abbreviations, one may wonder whether all the
Roy P. Mottahedeh,Loyaltyand Leadershipin an EarlyIslamicSociety,Princeton:

UP 1980, 50-54.
22
FranzTaeschner,Zinfte und Bruderschaftenim Islam: Textezur Geschichteder
Futuwwa, Zurich:Artemis 1979, 97 and 159.
23 RichardP.
Mitchell, TheSociety of the MuslimBrothers,Oxford:UP 1969, 196;
"The Muslim Brotherhoodtradition in Egypt had not, unlike the Salafis, entirely
rejected Sufi ideas" (J. Cole: "Al-Qaeda'sDoomsday Document and Psychological
Manipulation,"http://www.juancole.com/essays/qaeda).
24 Johannes J. Jansen, The Neglected Duty: The Creed of Sadat's Assassins and
IslamicResurgencein the MiddleEast, New York:Macmillan1986, 24, 204; Mitchell,
The Society of the MuslimBrothers, 196.
25 For a reconstructionof the three stages of joining al-Qa'ida,see Marc Sageman,
UnderstandingTerrorNetworks,Philadelphia:Universityof PennsylvaniaPress 2004,
99-135; on pp. 120-21 he deals with "FormalAcceptance."
21
38
Hans G. Kippenberg
young men actually knew in advance all the technical details of the
operation.The abbreviationswere certainly also done for reasons of
security,in case the documents came in wrong hands. According to
an interview given by Usama bin Ladin, the "musclehijackers"from
Saudi-Arabia,who had joined the pilots in order to control flightdeck and cabin, did not know all the details, though the Manualleft
them in no doubt that they were embarkingon a suicidal mission.26
Only the four pilots, three of them from the Hamburggroup, knew
all the details.
The faithful fighters are making a "renewalof intent."In Islamic
law, "intent"(niyya) is a fundamentalcategory. "An act of worship
withoutniyya is invalid, and so is niyya withoutact."27But what does
that mean in the case of a ghazwa? Later the Manual refers to Ali,
cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet,as a model for how to prepare
for a fight:
In one of the early battles in 627 Ali ibn Abi Talibhad a duel with a disbeliever,
who suddenly spit upon him. After that insult Ali put down his sword. Only
laterhe killed him. Afterthe battlethe companionsaskedhim why he had waited
before strikinghim. Ali answered:"Whenhe spit on me, I feared that if I were
to strike him, it would be out of vengeance. So I held my sword."(III, 16-17)
The manualproceeds: "Whenhe became sure of his intention,he

struck and killed him," and draws the lesson: "One has to be sure,
that the action is for the sake of God alone" (III, 18). A desire for
personal vengeance threatensthe correct intention. Only when the
intention is purified from all personal emotions, can a violent reac-
26 Usama Bin Ladin stated in a TV interview: "The brotherswho conducted the

operation, all they knew was that they have a martyrdomoperationand we asked
each of them to go to America but they didn't know anything about the operation,
not even one letter. But they were trained and we did not reveal the operationto
themuntilthey arethereandjust beforethey boardedthe planes"(quotedby Mneimneh
and Makiya in Silvers and Epstein, StrikingTerror,303-4 n. 2).
27 Joseph Schacht,An Introductionto Islamic Law, Oxford:ClarendonPress 1964,
116.
39
tion to an injurybe turnedinto a sacred deed. This is the reason that

the attackof 9/11 was precededby and embeddedin a rich sequence
of rituals, recitationsand prayers.
We encountera similarunderstandingof violence in TheNeglected
Duty. According to Faraj,jihad has three aspects: strugglingagainst
ones own soul, against the Devil, and against the infidels and hypocrites. These three dimensions cannot be separatedas independent
successive stages, as some believe. They all are part and parcel of
one and the same action (? 88).28It is temptingto suggest that Faraj's
three dimensions concur with the tripartitedivision of the action in
the SpiritualManualthatdivides the ghazwa in threeparts:the struggle with ones own soul takes place duringthe night before, the mental strugglewith the satanicforces at the airport,and the externalfight
against the infidels inside the aircraft.
The Last Night: NocturnalRecitations, Prayersand Purifications,
Turninga Young Muslim into a Warrior
The Manual admonishedthe young Muslims to preparethe night
before their bodies and their souls for the ghazwa. 15 exercises are
prescribed,from a recapitulationof the plan to recitals,prayers,meditations and purifications.The Arabic word for recital, dhikr, carries
the broad meaning of remembering.The choice of Suras 8 and 9 to
be rememberedis highly significant.Both originatedat the time when
Muhammadhad left Mecca, had begun establishing an Islamic state
in Medina, and had gone to war against the Meccans. Muhammad
the persecuted prophet turned into Muhammad the statesman.29
Muhammadcancelled all formercontractswith non-Muslims(Koran
9:1) and called upon his followers to attackthem and kill them wherever they could find them (the so-called Sword Verse, Koran 9:5).
28
Sincejihad is an individualduty similarto prayerand fasting, a young man need
not ask his parentsfor permission (? 87) (cf. Jansen, The Neglected Duty, 22, 200).
29
W. MontgomeryWatt,Muhammad:Prophetand Statesman,Oxford:UP 1961,
102-26.
40
Hans G. Kippenberg
The Prophet himself had ordered the Sura to be recited before the
raid (ghazwa). Rich booty was to be the reward.30
In Medina the relationshipbetween Muhammadand the infidels
changed fundamentally.While during the years in Mecca kindness
and tact in propagatingthe message was practiced,now warfarefor
the sake of an Islamic polity was demanded.This shift from tolerance to militancy is a major issue in Islamic theology. At the heart
of the issue is the Sword Verse, 9:5:
And when the sacred months are over, kill the polytheists wherever you find
them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in every
stratagem[of war]; but if they repent, establish regularprayers,and pay zakat
then open the way for them, for God is the dispenserof mercy.
A majority of Islamic clerics assume that the Sword Verse has

replacedthe older, more tolerantrevelations,on the basis of the principle of Koran 2:106: "Any sign (or verse) which We annul or consign to oblivion We replace with a better or a similar one." But not
all Islamic clerics understandthe verse that way.31AbdullahAhmed
An-Na'im, e.g., openly rejects the idea of a literal abrogation(naskh)
of earlier Suras.32
The second excerpt of the fifth page of the documentreferredto that idea. The
attackersshould rememberthe battle of the prophetagainst the infidels when he set
out to build the Islamic state.
31 M. Ruthvendeals with this crucialissue (A Fury
for God, 42, 47-52) andpoints
to the possibility of a misunderstandingof the sentence: not earlier revelations to
Muhammadare superseded,but the formerrevelationsto Jews and Christians.Wael
B. Hallaq, A History of Islamic Legal Theories:An Introductionto Sunni 'usul alfiqh,' Cambridge:UP 1997, deals with the different opinions of jurists regarding
abrogation(68-74).
32 An-Na'im relies on the authorityof the Sudanese scholarMahmudMuhammad
Taha,who discernedtwo stages of the message of Islam, one belonging to the early
Mecca period, the other to the subsequentMedina stage. Taha maintainedthat the
earliermessage was in fact the eternaland fundamentalone; it emphasizedthe inherent dignity of all human beings, regardlessof gender, religious belief, race, and so
forth. When that message was violently rejected by the people of Mecca, the more
realistic message of Medina was implemented. But the suspended aspects of the
30
41
After the recital of the Suras, Sufi practices of self-conditioning

are recommended. Juan Cole has examined the psychology of the
documentand noted remarkableagreementswith spiritualtechniques
among Sufis and Muslim Brothers.33
Reminding the self to listen and obey that night. You will face decisive situations which requirelistening and obeying 100%.You shouldthereforetame your
self, make it understand,convince it, and incite it to action. (I, 4)
"The carnal self is the enemy of the vow to die, selfishly seeking
to hang on to life," J. Cole explains. The young man shall pray in the
middleof the nightfor facilitatingmattersandfor covering(I, 5), recite
the Koran(I, 6) and purifyhis heart.Here we encounterthe sentences
RobertFisk regardedas spurious:"Thetime for amusementis gone";
"Wehave wasted so much time in our life" (I, 7). But in this context
these statementsare anythingbut unexpected.The instructionemploys
a religious language of world denial, somethingwhich is also known
in Islam. Then follow the instructions:the Muslim warriorshould be
optimistic; marriageis ahead (I, 8). If he faces difficulties, they are
God's trial in order to raise his status (I, 9). He can put all his trust
in God. With the permission of God, even a tiny group can defeat a
big one (I, 10). After more prayers(I, 11) some practicaladvises are
given, including the gruesome sharpeningof the sacrificialknife and
the properclothing (I, 12-14). Morningprayersand a ritual ablution
mark the end of the first stage (I, 15).
Mecca message were not abrogatedin principle.They were only postponedfor implementationunder appropriatecircumstancesin the future.Under the present circumstances the development of Islamic law should returnfrom the Medina stage back
to the Mecca stage. By historicizing Muhammad'srevelations Taha and An-Na'im
envision an Islamic orderthat incorporateswomen and non-Muslimson equal terms.
The approachis similar to what happenedin modem Jewish and Christiantheology
(AbdullahiAhmedAn-Na'im, Towardan IslamicReformation:CivilLiberties,Human
Rights, and InternationalLaw, Syracuse, NY: UP 1990, 52-60).
33 In his article cited above (n. 23) Cole translatesthe word tanbih by "admonition," in the sense of an admonitionof the "base self" (al-nafs).
42
Hans G. Kippenberg
This spiritualpreparationis partof the imminentattack.The recitals,

prayers,and purificationsmade by the attackerstransformthem into
warriorsand martyrsof an ideal past. Their deeds are re-enactments
of events that took place in the formative period when Muhammad
established Islam as an autonomouspolitical body in Medina in the
years after the hijra. But the spiritualexercises also serve as a ritual
of statuselevation. In almost all societies ritualsmay invalidatebinding moral norms based on temporary,local, and social criteria. In
times of war, rituals are needed to entitle men to kill, otherwise their
actions would not be clearly distinguished from crimes.34The first
partof the SpiritualManualcontains such a ritualof statuselevation.
The young man is removed from everyday legal norms and is turned
into a warrior-herobeyond the law; the people in the plane and the
buildings are transformedinto infidels deserving God's punishment.
At the Airport:A Hidden Soldier Sent by the Ultimate Power
The second "stage"anticipatesthe situationat the airport.The main
theme of the unit is the protectionthe warriorenjoys in a world ruled
by satanic powers:
Whereveryou go and whatever you do, you have to persist in invocation and
supplication.For God is with his believing servants,protectingthem, facilitating their tasks, grantingthem success, enabling them, providingthem with victory, and everything. (II, 17)
The warriorcan remain calm; the angels will protect him even if
he does not notice it. Crucialfor how to deal with the situationin the
airportis the instructionto recite the supplication,"God is stronger
than all his creation,"and to pray to God that the enemies will be
34 Bruce Lincoln, "Warand Warriors,"in Enc. Religion, 15:33944; Hans-Peter
Hasenfratz,"Kriegund Friedenin archaischenGemeinschaften,"in Fritz Stolz (ed.),
Religion zu Krieg und Frieden, Zurich:Theologischer Verlag 1986, 13-29, at 20;
Jorg Riipke, "You Shall not Kill: Hierarchiesof Norms in Ancient Rome," Numen
39 (1992) 58-79; Heinrich von Stietencronand Jorg Rupke (ed.), Toten im Krieg,
Freiburgand Munich:Alber 1995, indices s.v. Rite, Ritual, Ritualisierung.
43
unable to recognize him so that he remains undetected (II, 3). "All

their equipment, and all their gates and all their technology do not
do benefitor harm,except with the permissionof God"(II, 7). Only the
friends of Satan are afraidof that technology. "Fearis a great act of
worship, that only can be offered to God" (II, 8; cf. II, 10). While the
friends of Satan are impressedby "the civilization of the West,"the
truebeliever fears God alone (II, 9). Unnoticedby others,the believer
is repeating,"Thereis no God except Allah" (la ilaha illa 'llah) (II,
11). The Prophethimself has indicatedthe tremendouspower of theses
words:"Whoeversays: 'Thereis no God exceptAllah,'entersparadise."
"If the seven earths and skies are placed on one scale and 'There is
no God except Allah' on the other scale, then the scale of 'There is
no God except Allah' weights the other down" (II, 12).
The manual specifies the enemy only here, nowhere else: It is
"WesternCivilization"and the fear it inspires in people. The correct
fear constitutesthe differencebetween the truebeliever and the ignorant infidel. "Fearis a great act of worship."By inciting fear in the
friends of the Westerncivilization, the warriorgives a practicalproof
of the existenceof a power much greaterthanWesterncivilization.The
traditionalnotionof God's absolutepowerno longerhas a metaphysical
mooring only, but has been turnedinto a practice of the believers.
Closely connected with this constructionof the superiorityof the
Muslim warrioris his concealment.The soldier of the ultimatepower
remainsunrecognizedin the realmof evil powers.Protectionis achieved
by the practice of dissimulation.In a world of lies the true believer
has to deceive the unbelievers as to his true identity. But his concealment is not his achievementalone. The believer is prayingfor it
(I, 5); it is God who makes it effective. Only He knows his servant.
The success of his concealment is proof of his being elected.
The principleof dissimulationhas a long prehistory.It was practiced
alreadyby the ancient Gnostics, who regardedthe materialworld as
createdby an inferiorevil god. This evil power, ignorantof the existence of a superiorGod, was also unable to recognize the true God's
servants.Concealingtheiridentitywas partof the faithof the Gnostics.
44
Hans G. Kippenberg
This principle was later adopted by Shi'is, who repeatedly suffered

persecutionandmade dissimulationa theologicaltenet.35Modem Shi'i
theologians revised that dogma by emphasizing that the practice
depended on the stage reached by the struggle for an Islamic order.
They understoodthe notion more strategically,as Sunnis have long
done. On the other hand certainSunnis have adoptedthe Shi'i appreciation for secrecy,36as the Manual shows. This practice may also
explain why some of the attackerslived a Westernlifestyle, shaved
their beards and drankalcohol.37
In the Plane:A Martyron the Path of God
Finally, the third stage of the action: the violence. Unnoticed, the
hero has entered the plane, faintly reciting Koran and prayers.Now
the issue of martyrdombecomes central."Ask God to grantyou martyrdomwhile you are on the attack,not in retreat,with perseverance
and awareness"(II, 9). Martyrdom,too, is not an achievementby the
believer, but something grantedby God.38Prayeris needed to obtain
it. But the willingness to sacrifice one's life is necessary.
35 Hans G.
Kippenberg,"Die Verheimlichungder wahrenIdentitatvor derAuBenwelt in der antikenund islamischenReligionsgeschichte,"in JanAssmann (ed.), Die
Erfindungdes innerenMenschen: Studien zur religiosen Anthropologie,Giitersloh:
Mohn 1993, 183-98. Fundamentalstudies:Ignaz Goldziher,"Das Prinzipder takijja
im Islam"(1906), in his GesammelteSchriften,vol. 5, Hildesheim:Olms 1970, 59-72;
for the link to ancientreligions see Heinz Halm, Die islamische Gnosis: Die extreme
Schia und die Alawiten,Zurich:Artemis 1982; EtanKohlberg,"Taqiyyain Shi'i Theology and Religion,"in: Hans G. Kippenbergand Guy G. Stroumsa(eds.), Secrecyand
Concealment:Studies in the History of Mediterraneanand Near Eastern Religions,
Leiden: Brill 1995, 345-80; Strothmann/Djebli,"Takiyya,"Enc. Islam, 2nd ed.,
10:134-36.
36 Fouad Ajami, The VanishedImam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon,
London:Tauris 1986, 215; AbdulazizA. Sachedina,The Just Ruler in Shi'ite Islam.
Oxford:UP 1988, 112-14.
37 See, for example, M. Ruthven,A Furyfor God, 300.
38 There is a tension between martyrdomas one's own deed and martyrdomas
bestowed by God; cf. Ivan Strenski,"Sacrifice,Gift and the Social Logic of Muslim
'HumanBombers,"' in Terrorismand Political Violence 15 (2003) 1-34, at 12-13;
Mneimnehand Makiya in Silvers and Epstein, StrikingTerror,317.
45
Upon the confrontation,hit as would hit heroes who desire not to returnto the
World, and loudly shout Allahu akbar ("God is greater"),since the proclamation of the name of God instills terrorin the heartof the nonbelievers.God has
said: "Smite them above the necks, and smite off all their fingertips."(III, 11)
The quotationenvisions the attackin terms of the militantMedina

scenario of Sura 8. The re-enactmentof the sacredaction ensures the
warriora superiorreward:a wedding with the heavenly brides.
Know that the Heavens have raised their most beautifuldecorationfor you, and
that your heavenly brides are calling you: "Come oh follower of God," while
wearing their most beautifuljewelry. (III, 12)
The topic of the wedding of the martyrwith the heavenly brides

intensifiesthe feeling of inconceivabilitythatbefallsWesternobservers
regardingMuslim conceptsof martyrdom.Malise Ruthvenhas triedto
open a pathto an understanding:al-Ghazali(died 1111CE),he reminds
us, saw the sexual imagery of Paradise as an inducement to righteousness. The state of spiritualfulfilment can only be described in
terms of familiar experiences.39
The brute violence in the plane is seen as a re-enactmentof the
Medina ghazwas. The attackersshould be happy to performit. The
killing is a sacrifice, offered for the sake of the parents (III, 13). In
accordancewith the custom of the Prophet, some form of symbolic
booty shouldbe takenfrom the killed, e.g., a cup or a glass of water,if
possible (III, 14; cf. 24). No action is to be performedout of a desire
for vengeance, in accordancewith the model of Ali ibn Abi Talib (III,
16-18). The captureand killing of the prisonersare prescribedby the
custom (sunna) of the Prophet (III, 19). When all goes as it was
planned, the brothersare to congratulateeach other (III, 20-21).
When the end drawsclose, it is recommendedto cite some Koranic
or poetic verses regardingthe eternal life of the martyrs:
A Fury for God, 102. At this point the frameworkof comparison should be
expanded.The Christianappreciationfor ascetic abstentionas one of the highest religious values remainedalien to Islam. Accordingly,the culturalcategory of the person in Islam lacks the critical ability to subordinateall naturaldesires to the reason
of the agent - an ability that dominateseven the post-ChristianWesternconcept of
person. A broaderculturalanalysis of the wedding topic is desirable.
39
Hans G. Kippenberg
46
When the moment of truthcomes near, and zero hour is upon you, open your
chest welcoming death on the path of God. Always rememberto conclude with
the prayer,if possible, startingit seconds before the target,or let your last words
be: "Thereis none worthy of worship but God, Muhammadis the messenger
of God."After that, God willing, the meeting is in the Highest Paradise,in the
company of God. (III, 25-27)
The pedantic emulation of the custom of the Prophet may be seen

as answering scruples. We know already from Lebanon in the eighties
that forms of fighting that implied suicide caused serious scruples, since
according to the accepted theological view suicide was a grave sin,
and a person who committed it was doomed to Hell.40 "The Muslim
fighter needed answers to many questions," a Hizbollah cleric told in
an interview, and went on to quote the questions that had been raised:
"Is resistance to the occupation obligatory on religious grounds? What
about the question of self-martyrdom?"41 Some of the fighters in
Lebanon solicited a fatwa from Ayatollah Fadlallah that would sanction this kind of attacks once and for all. Fadlallah resisted the pressure, apparently in contrast to Ayatollah Khomeini to whom such a
fatwa is in fact ascribed.42 Rumors went around that Fadlallah had
blessed the suicide operations against the barracks in 1983, but he
himself always denied them.43Minor clerics in Lebanon had less hesitation. "We believe that those who carried out suicide operations
MartinKramer,"TheMoralLogic of Hizballah,"in WalterReich (ed.), Origins
of Terrorism:Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind, Cambridge:UP
1990, 131-57, esp. 142-43, n. 24.
41 Martin
Kramer,"Hizbullah:The Calculus of Jihad,"in Martin E. Marty and
R. ScottAppleby(eds.), Fundamentalismand the State:RemakingPolitics, Economies,
and Militancy(The FundamentalismProject,vol. 3), Chicago:Universityof Chicago
Press 1993, 539-56, at 549.
42 MartinKramer,
"The Oracleof Hizbullah:SayyidMuhammadHusaynFadlallah,"
in: R. Scott Appleby (ed.), Spokesmenfor the Despised: FundamentalistLeaders of
the Middle East, Chicago: UP 1997, 83-181, at 112, informationabout Khomeini's
40
fatwa.
43
Kramer,"TheMoralLogic of Hizballah,"142-49; MagnusRanstorp,Hizb'allah
in Lebanon:ThePolitics of the WesternHostage Crisis, New York:St. Martin'sPress
1997, 42.
47
against the enemy are indeed in Paradise,"a director of an Islamic

institutein Tyre stated in an interview.44There are reasons to assume
that some kind of - at least tacit - approvalby religious authorities
or communitieswas necessaryto turna suicide into self-martyrdom.45
After the attacks of September 11, the Germanweekly Der Spiegel
asked Ayatollah Fadlallah whether the attackersdied as martyrsor
not. His answer was surprisinglyclear. "No,"he said, "they were not
killed in a Jihad, a 'Holy War.'They simply committed suicide."46
The Subjective Meaning of the Attacks:Enforcing the Fear of God
The subjective meaning attributedto the violence in the Manual
also had precursorsin the Lebanonof the eighties. The United States
and Francehad left Lebanonafterterrifyingsuicidal attackshad been
carried out on the barracksof their troops in October 1983. Some
years laterIsraelfollowed. The withdrawalof these powerscontributed
tremendouslyto a high esteem of suicidal attacksin the Middle East.
No one ever imaginedor could imagine thata few dedicatedMuslims
could drive out the technologically superiorAmerican, French and
IsraelitroopsfromLebanon.Yetthey did.This successhad an impacton
Islamic theology.The leaderof the Shi'i communityin Lebanon,AyatollahFadlallah,praisedthe actionsagainstmilitarytargetsas a "rebellion against fear."MartinKramersummarizedhis words as follows:
The great [Western]powers inspire "alarmand fear"among the oppressed,who
have no more than "children'stoys" to mount their opposition. But by conqueringtheirfear,throughacceptanceof the virtueof martyrdom,the oppressed
can evoke alarmand fear among the oppressors.America and West, recalls one
Hizbollahleader[i.e., Sadiqal-Musawi],"hurriedlyranaway fromthreeMuslims
who loved martyrdom"and sacrificedthemselves in suicidal attacks.47
44 Kramer,"The Moral Logic of Hizballah,"147.

45 See Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism,London: Victor Golancz 1998: chapter
on "Religion and Terrorism."
46 Der Spiegel 42/2001.
47 MartinKramer,Hezbollah's Vision
of the West,Washington:Institutefor Near
East Policy 1989 (Policy Papers, 16), 37-39, quotationon p. 39.
48
Hans G. Kippenberg
The global arroganceof the West representsa global unbelief, as

The power of the faithfulconalso Fadlallahin an interviewargued.48
sists in his ability to overcome the naturalfear of death and to make
the arrogantWesterncivilisationtremble.The battlecry Allahu akbar,
Just as
which also resoundedin the plane, expresses that aspiration.49
the Prophet,with only few followers, was able to defeat the superior
armiesof thejahiliyya, so the faithfulMuslim today is able to humiliate Westerncivilization by means of its own panic. By fearing God
more than all other powers and acting accordingly,a faithful Muslim
can spread terroramong the unbelievers. Usama bin Ladin's declaration of war of 1996 opened with three quotationsfrom the Koran,
placing the fear of God (taqwa) in the centre of the faith.50
The Manualconvinced the fightersin the plane thatthey were serving God with theiractions.He would assistthemas they sacrificedtheir
lives in attacking the citadels of contemporarypaganism: the economic power residing in the towers of the World Trade Centre, the
militarybase at the Pentagon,and the political centre at the Capitol.51
The Social Form of the Attacking Teams:Usar (Families) and
Ashira (Clan)
The attacksof September11 were committedby groupsthatunderstoodthemselvesas communitiesre-enactingthe strugglefor an Islamic
48 "11
September,Terrorism,Islam,andthe Intifada"(interviewwith ShaikhMuhammad Husain Fadlallah),in Journal of Palestine Studies 31 (2002) 78-84, at 83.
49 Thomas Scheffler,"'Allahu Akbar': Zur Theologie des Widerstandsgeistesim
Islam," in Andre Stanisavljevicand Ralf Zwengel (eds.), Religion und Gewalt: Der
Islam nach dem 11. September,Potsdam:MostarFriedensprojekte.V. 2002, 21-46.
50 Scheffler,"Allahuakbar,"31-32; the
unabridgeddocumentin an English translation is publishedby YonahAlexanderand Michael S. Setnam, Usama bin Ladin's
al-Qaida: Profile of a TerroristNetwork,New Delhi: Aditya Books 2001, Appendix
1 A. About Usama's declarationof war and its context: Peter L. Bergen, Holy War,
Inc.: Inside the Secret Worldof Osama bin Laden,New York:Free Press 2001, ch. 5.
51 We know from Fouda's interview with Binalshibhthat the Capitol and not the
White House was the target of the plane that crashed prematurelyin Pennsylvania
(Fouda and Fielding, Mastermindsof Terror,127, 157-58).
49
state. Regardingthis social form, again a closer look at the Lebanon

and the Near East in the eighties is illuminating.The group that took
responsibility for the attacks on the barracksin Beirut in October
1983 called itself Islamic Jihad (al-jihad al-islami) and was linked
to the Shi'i "Partyof God," the Hizbollah. Hizbollah was a network
of ulama with their students (taliban), bonded togetherby divergent
religious, local and political loyalties.52But to describe this network
as a 'party'or an 'organization'is certainlymuch too strong.Hizbollah
leaders denied any direct involvement in the operationsof the attackers and contended that Islamic Jihad was not a name of an organization, but a common designation for all kind of Islamic militant
activities.The militantcells apparentlyoperatedindependentlyof each
other,only loosely connectedby some personin the background,similar to a "brunchof grapes,"53or a "telephoneorganization."54
The decentralizedstructureof Islamicgroupswas not withoutprecedent, as the example of the Muslim Brothersshows. In Egypt in 1943,
at a time of increasingpressureby governmentandpolice, the Muslim
Brothers established a flexible, controllable and "natural"form of
organization,which providedthe chief instrumentfor mobilizing and
safeguardingthe loyalty of its members.The "family"(usra) became
the basic unit of the Brothers;it was limited to five members, with
one of them as the head. Four of these "families" (usar) formed a
"clan" (ashira), directed by one of the heads of the families.55This
system spread to the Muslim Brothers in Jordan,Gaza, and Syria,
where the numberof members of a "family"might grow to ten.56
52
Stephan Rosiny, Islamismus bei den Schiiten im Libanon: Religion im Ubergang von Traditionzur Moderne, Berlin: Das arabischeBuch 1996, 123-36.
53 Peter Waldmann, Terrorismus:Provokation der Macht, Mtinchen: Gerling
Akademie 1998, 61-68.
54 Ranstorp,Hizb'allah in Lebanon,62-65 ("Use of Cover names and Concealment
by Hizb'allah in Abduction of Foreigners").
55 Mitchell, The
Society of the MuslimBrothers,32 (history), 177 (diagramof the
entire organisation),195-200 (function of the basic units).
56 Denis
Engelleder, Die islamistische Bewegung in Jordanien und Paldstina
1945-1989, Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz2002, 108-11; Johannes Reissner, Ideologie
50
Hans G. Kippenberg
RichardP. Mitchell and Denis Engellederhave examinedthe ideas

andexpectationsrelatedto thatsocial form.The founderof the Muslim
Brothers,Hasan al-Banna(1906-1949) expected from it a "recovery
of the Islamic person." The members would become familiar with
each other and take mutual responsibility.To this end they should
meet at least once a week to performcommonreligious duties, engage
in establishing Islam in the personal sphere, have common meals,
attendthe Fridayprayer,and contributefinanciallyto a common till.
The "family"was seen as a nucleus of Islam in a world ruledby nonIslamic values and norms.57
This social form, highly appropriateto Islam in general, became
dominant among Muslims who understood the present age in the
Islamiccountriesas a new periodof ignoranceandpaganism(jahiliyya).
A majorproponentof this diagnosiswas the alreadymentionedSayyid
Qutb.The process throughwhich the jahiliyya might be driven back
and an Islamic polity erected depended on the existence of small,
devoted communities.The restorationof Islam requireda revolution
lead by a vanguardthat must begin by purgingits own consciousness
and by sweeping away the influenceof thejahiliyya on the souls. The
transitionwould unfold in two stages. From a hidden source, a person would acquire faith in the Koran.When three faithful Muslims
had been touched by the faith, they would form a society (jama'a)
of their own, separatethemselves from pagan society, and become a
movement(haraka)strugglingagainstit. This Islamizationfrombelow,
as Kepel has called the model, was not uniqueto the MuslimBrothers,
but was independentlypropagatedin the IslamicWorldby the Society
for the Propagationof Islam, jama'at al-tabligh, founded in India
1927. In a world and age in which a new paganism(jahiliyya) ruled,
the faithful could preserve their faith only by forming a community
und Politik der Muslimbrider Syriens: Vonden Wahlen1947 bis zum Verbotunter
Adib Ash-Shishakli 1952, Freiburg:Schwarz 1980, 103; Hans GtinterLobmeyer,
Oppositionund Widerstandin Syrien, Hamburg1995 (not seen).
57 Mitchell,TheSocietyof the MuslimBrothers,195-200; Engelleder,Die islamistische Bewegung, 108-11.
51
(jama'a) with others, not individually.The social form of "families"

and "clans"was an integralpartof a particularscenario aiming at reestablishingIslam as a moral and legal order.58
The following conclusion may be drawn from this analysis of the
Manual and the social form of the attackingteams. The Manual is
evidently not equivalent to a letter of confession. But that does not
make it worthless for a reconstructionof the events of 9/11, as is
often assumed. On the contrary!The SpiritualManual allows us to
reconstructthe subjective meaning connected to the massacre. Max
Weber, who introduced the concept of subjective meaning, distinguished between the correctnessof an action and its rationality.Most
often the two coincide. But there are cases where the scholar must
judge an action morally or cognitively incorrectwhile still acknowledging that the agent acted in a rationalmanner.For such situations
Weberdeveloped a particularapproach.59
The studentshould suspend
his own moral or cognitive values and try to reconstructthe subjective meaning of the action performed.In such cases the rationalityof
the act is evaluated in terms of coherence.
The violence performedon 9/11 fulfills the requirementof coherence. The ghazwa depended on:
1. the purityof the intentionof the attackers,uncontaminatedby personal feelings of vengeance;
2. a meticulousre-enactmentof Muhammad'sraids at the time when
he founded the Islamic polity;
3. the fear of God, displayed as a readiness for self-martyrdomand
for inspiring terrorin the unbelievers;
4. the existence of a groupof dedicatedyoung Muslims seeing themselves as the vanguardof an Islamic order.
Gilles Kepel, Muslim Extremismin Egypt: The Prophet and Pharaoh (French
original 1984), Berkeley/Los Angeles 2003, 52-56.
59 Max Weber,"Uber einige Kategoriender verstehendenSoziologie" (1913), in
GesammelteAufsdtzezur Wissenschaftslehre,ed. JohannesWinckelmann,Tiibingen:
Mohr (Siebeck) 1968, 3rd ed., 427-74. Eng. transl.:"Some Categoriesof Interpretive
Sociology,"translatedby E.E. Graber,TheSociological Quarterly22 (1981) 151-80.
58
Hans G. Kippenberg
52
The targets of the attack on 9/11 were chosen in agreementwith

widespreadMuslim grievances about the devastating consequences
of the political,economicalandmilitarypowerexercisedby the United
Statesin theircountries.The SpiritualManualdoes not explicitly refer
to any of the injuriesMuslims allegedly or actually had been suffering at the hands of the United States. The vindication for the attack
is sought elsewhere. The example of Ali demonstratesthis. As the
model for every person who preparesfor a ghazwa, Ali transformed
every desire for vengeance into an unemotional act of punishment.
The purityof intentionis crucial for the correctexercise of violence.
Legitimacyis achievedby re-enactingthe historicalexampleprovided
by the founding of the first Islamic state in Medina.
The "Waron Terrorism"in the Light of the SpiritualManual
In his book Bush at War,Bob Woodwardreportshow soon after
the events the President and his aides adopted a particularunderstandingof what had happened,althoughtheir interpretationwas not
the only one possible. "They had declared war on us"; "We are at
war."60This interpretationwas soon absorbedby a religious concept,
which surfacedin speeches of the President,for example in President
Bush's "Stateof the Union" speech deliveredon January28, 2003
after the War in Afghanistanbut before the War against Iraq.61
Bush first addressedsuch issues as the growth of economy, affordable healthcarefor all Americans,energyindependenceof the country,
and charitablework done by the governmentnationallyand internationally, before he turned to "man-madeevil": internationalterrorism.62There are days, he said, when the citizens hear nothing about
the war on terror.But for the President,"there'snever a day when I
do not learn of another threat, or give an order in this global war
against a scatterednetworkof killers.""Thethreatis new; America's
60 Bob
61
62
Woodward,Bush at War,London: Simon & Schuster2003, 15, 17.

see January28.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01;
Printedversion, p. 6.
53
duty is familiar."The terroristsare the successors of small groups

whose ambitions of cruelty and murderin the 20th century had no
limit. It is America's mission by its might to end the terriblethreats
to the civilized world;America is defending a world of peace against
a world of chaos. All nations are invited to join it in this war.
And yet the course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others.
(Applause.) Whatever action is required,whatever action is necessary, I will
defend the freedom and security of the American people.63
The speech here links up with a myth that permeates American

whetheras CaptainAmerica,Rambo,
popularculturein variousforms:64
in
as
the
movie
Terminator,or,
IndependenceDay, as the President
himself, a superherorescues innocentpeople from unrestrictedfrightening violence. Though the plot appears to be secular, it is in fact
linked to a religious interpretationof the early history of the United
States. The protestantsettlers, who had left Europeto escape oppression, saw their fate in terms of the Exodus narrative.They were the
new chosen people that had been forced to leave their homes. Like
the Biblical Israel led by Moses they had to prove their faith in the
wilderness. The settlement in America took the form of a struggle
againstdarkhostile forces. Here, the idea was bornthatthe new community in all its actions was responsible to God alone.65The recent
refusal of the US governmentto submit to the United Nations is in
line with this conviction. George W. Bush expressed this attitudeby
statingthat although the US was asking the free nations to join it,
"the course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others." Then he added a sentence that cast the Presidenthimself in the
Printedversion, p. 6.
The history of that myth is presented by John Shelton Lawrence and Robert
Jewett, TheMythof the AmericanSuperhero,GrandRapids:Eerdmans2002. A year
later,the authorsdealt with the recent adoptionof it by George W. Bush, in Captain
America and the Crusadeagainst Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism,Grand
Rapids:Eerdmans2003.
65 Ulrike Brunotte, Puritanismus und Pioniergeist: Die Faszination der Wildnis
im friihen Neu-England,Berlin and New York:de Gruyter2000.
63
64
54
Hans G. Kippenberg
role of a redeemer:"Whateveraction is required,whenever action is

necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American
Thatfreedom,however,is not to be understoodas America's
people."66
to
the
world: "it is God's gift to humanity."67
gift
According to this
rhetoric,the "Waron Terror"unfolds as an apocalyptic scenario.
The "Stateof the Union" speech supportsthe point of view of historians who stress the dependenceof the foreign policy of a country
on its culture.68In the United States, religion has to be taken into
A particular
account,in particularafterits "returnto the publicsquare."69
brandof Protestantism,
successfulsince the nineteenthcentury,deserves
attentionin this context. These Protestantswere convinced that the
Kingdom of God would not come gradually,but would be preceded
by the Second Coming of Christ. While the elect would be saved
immediately by "the rapture,"the Antichrist and the godless would
be destroyedby fierce battles. This philosophy of history,called premillennialism,was and is still popular,not only in the Fundamentalist
camp, but also far beyond it, as the excellent study of Paul Boyer has
shownby drawingupona host of sources.70
Adherentsof this belief read
the violent historyof the twentiethcenturyas the fulfillmentof Biblical
66
P. 6. We owe to Bruce Lincoln an analysis of the religious rhetoricof President

Bush's speeches: Holy Terrors,19-32; 99-101.
67 P. 9.
68 Akira
Iriye, "CultureandInternationalHistory,"in MichaelJ. HoganandThomas
G. Paterson(eds.), Explainingthe Historyof AmericanForeignRelations,Cambridge:
UP 1991, 214-25; Ursula Lehmkuhl,"Diplomatiegeschichteals interationale Kulturgeschichte:TheoretischeAnsatze und empirischeForschungzwischen Historischer
Kulturwissenschaft
und SoziologischemInstitutionalismus,"
Geschichteund Gegenwart
27 (2001) 394-423.
69 Cf. WilliamMartin,"WithGod on TheirSide: Religion and U.S. ForeignPolicy,"
in Hugh Heclo andWilfredM. McClay (eds.), Religion Returnsto the Public Square:
Faith and Policy in America, Baltimoreand London:John HopkinsUniversityPress
2003, 327-59.
70 Paul Boyer, WhenTimeShall Be No More:ProphecyBelief in Modem American
Culture,Cambridge,MA: HarvardUP 1992.
55
prophecies.The apocalypticclock is ticking again;internationalpolitical developmentsregardingIsraelindicatethe time on the clock. The

Balfour declarationof 1917, the proclamationof Israel as a state in
1948, the recaptureof the Old City of Jerusalemand the occupation
of the rest of Biblical Israel in 1967 all these occurrences were
enthusiasticallygreeted by that brand of American Protestants.The
Gulf War of 1991, finally, triggered a new wave of expectations,
inspired by Saddam Hussein's plan for rebuilding ancient Babylon.
Thereis no directlink between theology and politics. But foreign policy regardingissues in the Near East can be made plausibleby rhetorically striking such religious chords. With the "Waron Terrorism"a
new chapterin the history of US Near East policies was opened.
In 1983, the US StateDepartmentlaid down the following definition
of terrorism:
Terrorismis premeditated,politically motivated violence perpetratedagainst
non-combatanttargets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually
intendedto influence an audience.7'
Since this definition determines the foreign policy of the Unites

States, a closer look is appropriate.It turns out that the definition is
too narrowand too broad at the same time. It is too narrowsince it
does not recognize states as responsible for acts of terror.Muslims
today complain about violations of their rights perpetratedby states
in such places as Palestine and Chechnya. The dialectics of "One
Person's Terroristis Another's Freedom Fighter"is suspended.72
On the otherhandthe definitionis too broad,since it does not evaluate the violence of sub-nationalgroups in terms of moral reasons.
If every kind of violence of sub-nationalgroupsagainstnon-combatant
71
Quotedfrom James Sterba,"Terrorismand InternationalJustice,"in idem (ed.),

Terrorismand InternationalJustice, New Yorkand Oxford:UP 2003, 206-28, at 206.
72 Robert
Kennedy,"Is One Person'sTerroristAnother'sFreedomFighter?Western
and Islamic Approachesto 'JustWar' Compared,"Terrorismand Political Violence
11 (1999) 1-21.
56
Hans G. Kippenberg
targets is simply an evil act, whatever reasons the agents my have

become politically irrelevant.The war againstterrorismthus becomes
a war of uncertaindurationagainstunpredictableoutburstsof violence.
Diego Gambettahas brilliantlyanalysedsignificantcommentsmade
by the secretaryof defence Donald Rumsfeld in June 2002 during a
press conference.73Rumsfeldtold the audiencethathe regularlyreads
intelligence informationin orderto assess the threatto the US. In the
course of doing that he had found that there are things we know and
therearethingswe know thatwe don'tknow:"knownunknowns."But,
he added,thereare also certainthings"we don'tknow we don'tknow":
"unknownunknowns."In a countrywhere many people are obsessed
with the imminentrise of the Antichrist,such a formulamay be more
easily accepted than elsewhere. The Antichristin the US is identical
with its political enemies - today al-Qa'ida.74Needless to say, in the
light of that concept, the Spiritual Manual is at best irrelevant, at
worst misleading.
Nothingillustratesthis pointbetterthanthe recent9/11 Commission
Report. It describes the attackersin the following words:
We learnedaboutan enemy who is sophisticated,patient,disciplined,and lethal.
The enemy rallies broad supportin the Arab and Muslim world by demanding
redressof political grievances,but its hostility towardus and our values is limitless. Its purpose is to rid the world of religious and political pluralism, the
plebiscite, and equal rights for women. It makes no distinction between military and civilian targets. Collateral damage is not in its lexicon.7
The reportreconstructswith extreme precision the chain of events

preceding the attack, but completely ignores the Spiritual Manual.
The Manual requiredthat during the last Night, all fighters should
73 Diego Gambetta,"ReasonandTerror:Has 9/11 Made it Hardto ThinkStraight?"

Boston Review April/May 2004 (interet version). Gambettasupplies the quotation
from D. Rumsfeld.
74 Robert Fuller, Naming the Antichrist: The History of an American Obsession,
New York and Oxford:UP 1995.
75 The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on
TerroristAttacks Upon the United States, New York:W.W. Norton 2004, p. xvi.
57
performrituals,recitationsand prayers.Accordingto the Commission

report,however,MuhammadAtta andAbdulAziz al-Omarithatnight
pursued"ordinaryactivities: makingATM withdrawals,eating pizza,
and shopping at a convenience store."76The concept of a war against
evil portraysthe attackersas devoid of religious faith.
Terrorismand InternationalJustice
A collection of articles edited by James T. Sterba under the title
Terrorismand InternationalJustice77envisions the possibility of a
differentresponse to 9/11. Thoughthat alternativeanswer sounds like
a utopia, it helps to understandthe implications of the answer that
was actuallygiven. The interpretationof the violence could have been
different: not as a warlike attack upon the United States, but as a
crime against humanity.If that interpretationhad been chosen, the
culprits would have had to be prosecuted and put to trial by international organizationsand courts;78the defendants would have had
to declare in public why they thought they had the right to attack
Americans and kill more than three thousand civilians. In a public
trial for crimes against humanity the ritualistic performanceof the
crime would have lost all plausibility.The militantIslamic networks
would have been forced to explain their stance with regardto abrogating tolerant verses in the Koran and replacing them by violent
ones. All propheticreligions dispose of a store of traditions,many of
which contradicteach other.It is the believer who authorizesone and
ignores the others.The process of selection is his responsibility.Even
the choice of an ethic of conviction instead of an ethic of responsibility has to be defended in public.
An additionalreasonwhy such a public trialwould have been desirable is the spreading of Islamic networks in the Middle East and
76
The 9/11 CommissionReport, 253.
77 See n. 70.
78
Daniele Archibugiand Iris MaronYoung, "Envisioninga Global Rule of Law,"

in Sterba, Terrorismand InternationalJustice, 158-70.
Hans G. Kippenberg
58
globally.While EuropeansandAmericansexpect political institutions

to ensure the citizens active participationin the social and political
processes,in the MiddleEastcivil society often convergeswith Islamic
networks ratherthan with political institutions.In this situation the
developmentsin the social form of Islam deserve our attention.
A publictrialmightalso have helpedto finda languagethatacknowledges Muslim grievances about the West without diminishing the
severity of the crime committed.What we need are voices that help
expandingour understandingof today's Muslims. Insteadof looking
upon 9/11 as an irrationalmassacre,we need to hearvoices thatcounteractthe temptationto ignore the conflicts from which it was born.79
In this regard, a metaphorused by Ayatollah Fadlallahin his interview may be helpful:
There is no such thing as an Islamic terroristspirit. What exists is a situation
where you comer people and close off all exits, and these people then have to
react in an abnormalway.80
Max-Weber-Kolleg
HANS G. KIPPENBERG
Am Hugel 1
99084 Erfurt
Germany
kippen@uni-bremen.de
79 One attempthas been made by Ted Honderich:After the Terror,Edinburgh:UP

2003.
80 "11 September" (see n. 48), 83.
THE ETHICS OF WAR AND THE CONCEPTOF WAR IN

INDIA AND EUROPE
TORKELBREKKE
Summary
The Europeanjust war traditionmakes a distinctionbetween mattersof just resort
to war (jus ad bellum) and mattersof just means in war (jus in bello). If one compares the just war traditionwith ethical systems of other cultures, one is struck by
the Europeanconcern aboutjus ad bellum and the lack of interest in the same in
other traditions.I compare the ethics of war in two importantliterarytraditionsof
classical Hinduism with the Europeanjust war tradition.Our problem:Why were
Europeansso interested in matters of jus ad bellum (in particularthe principle of
right authority)and why did Hindu writers take so little interest in the same questions? I suggest the following answer. In medieval and early moder Europe there
was great interest in jus ad bellum because Europeanshad a concept of war that
made two importantdistinctions.The Europeanconcept of war distinguished,firstly,
war against external enemies from violence against internalenemies and, secondly,
publicfromprivateviolence. Some importantstudiesof the ethics of warhave asserted
that these two distinctionsare universal.I argue,on the contrary,that these two distinctions are unique to Europe.Hindu writershad a fundamentallydifferentconcept
of war. They did not make the same distinctions.I argue that this conceptualdifference explains why Europeanswere so concernedaboutjus ad bellum while Indians
were not.
The comparativeethics of war is the academic study of how different civilizations have dealt with basic ethical questions surrounding war.1The comparativeethics of war is not a very old or large
1 This articlebuilds
partlyon previousresearch,where I have benefitedfrom comments from ProfessorJohn Kelsay of FloridaState University and ProfessorG. Scott
Davis of the University of Richmond. I am grateful to Professor Henrik Syse and
Professor Gregory Reichberg of PRIO for discussions and comments on an earlier
version of this paper.
NUMEN,Vol. 52
60
TorkelBrekke
academic field.2However, it is a field that is likely to grow because

of its obvious relevance in our times. The Gulf war of 1990 showed
an almost complete lack of attentionto comparativeissues in the contemporaryliteratureon ethics and war, John Kelsay has observed.3
The debateaboutthe war in Iraqin 2003/04, and aboutthe war against
terrorism,shows that there is still a lack of knowledge about questions of ethics and war across culturalborders.In the words of James
TurnerJohnson, we need to understandhow culturalfactors bear on
conflicts and we need to understandthe normative conceptions of
statecraft within particular cultural contexts.4 The International
Association for the History of Religion have aptly chosen the theme
Religion: Conflictand Peace for their 19th WorldCongressin Tokyo
in 2005. The comparativeethics of war must be an importantissue
under this heading.
The academic study of the ethics of war often takes the European
just war traditionas its point of departureand this traditionmakes a
useful analyticaldistinctionbetween mattersof just resortto war (jus
ad bellum) and matters of just means in war (jus in bello).5 There
seems to be fundamentaldifferences between the just war tradition
of ChristianEurope and the ethical systems of other civilizations on
mattersof jus ad bellum. In my opinion, these differencespose some
2
From the 1990s several importantbooks and articles have been publishedcomparing the ethics of war in Christianand Islamic traditions.See especially Johnson
and Kelsay 1990 and Kelsay and Johnson 1991. However, only a handfulof articles
have been published that include other civilizations in the study of the comparative
ethics of war.
3 Kelsay 1993:1.
4 Johnson 1999:189.
5 The
jus ad bellum are criteriadefining the right resortto force. It typically lists
issues like: 1) Just cause for war;2) Right authorityfor initiatingwar;3) Right intention for waging war; 4) Proportionalityof ends; 5) Waras last resort.The two basic
criteriafor the jus in bello are: 1) Proportionalityof means; 2) Noncombatantprotection or immunity from intentional harm. These criteria are discussed by many
authors.See for instance Johnson 1999:27-40.
The Concept of Warin India and Europe
61
of the most intriguingquestions for the comparativeethics of war. If

one comparesthe just war traditionwith ethical systems of other cultures, one is struckby the Europeanconcern aboutjus ad bellum and
the lack of interest in the same in other traditions.
This is the case for Hindu India. India has producedmountainsof
literature about war. However, Indian writers are never concerned
with jus ad bellum. In this article, I intend to compare classical
Hinduism with the Europeanjust war traditionand I intend to offer
an answer to the question of why Hindu ethical traditionshows little or no concern for mattersof jus ad bellum.The problemcould be
framed in two ways. Why were pre-modem Europeansso interested
in matters of jus ad bellum? In particular,why were they so concerned with mattersof right authority?Alternatively,one might turn
the question aroundand ask: Why did pre-moder Hinduwriterstake
so little interestin the same questions?I suggest the following answer.
In medieval and early moder Europethere was greatinterestin matters of right authorityin war because Europeanthinkers- mostly
theologiansand lawyers- at least from the late 13thcenturyonwards
had a concept of war that made two importantdistinctions. Firstly,
the Europeanconcept of war distinguishedviolence against external
enemiesfromviolence againstinternalenemies.Secondly,the European
concept of war distinguishedbetween public and privatewar,between
bellum and duellum. In India, there was almost no interest in right
authoritybecause Hindu writers on ethics and politics did not possess a concept of war that distinguished clearly between violence
against external and internalenemies. To be sure, there were probably a numberof additionalreasons why a detailed discourse on right
authorityand otherissues of thejus ad bellum developed in Christian
culture and not in India. However, I believe it is of great importance
to explore conceptual or epistemological points in the study of war.
It is precisely on conceptual and comparativematters- i.e., problems that are by their natureclosely linked to linguistics, philology,
historyand theology- thathistoriansof religionscan make an important contributionto the study of war.
62
TorkelBrekke
The Importanceof a ConceptualApproachto War

Are thereconceptualproblemsin the comparativestudy of war and
the ethics of war? There certainly are. If we look at Islamic, Hindu,
Chinese or Aztec history we can identify any number of practices,
ideas and objects thatrelateto what we call war in English. However,
without a deeper knowledge of the civilization in question we do not
know whetherits language(s)and world view(s) containconcepts that
overlap with the Europeanconcept of war.As I will show, the Indian
conceptsof organizedviolence (carriedby Sanskrittermslike vigraha,
yuddhaor dandaand all theircognates)aredifferentfromthe European
concept of war and they make for differentideas on the ethics of war.
Thus, the requirementof a thorough historical exploration of concepts of war and violence is a basic assumptionof my approachto
the field.
Scholarly writing in the history of religions has shown an increasing awareness of the fundamentalconceptual problems associated
with studying non-westernreligions. I believe this relatively recent
awareness in the history of religions might serve as a model for a
more sophisticatedapproachto the comparativestudy of war and ideologies of war. One ratherprovocative conclusion has been to question the very existence of religion in the pre-modemworld. Religion
has no independentexistence apartfrom the academy; it is created
by the imaginationof the scholar, JonathanZ. Smith has stated.6In
my view, Smith's point is importantfirst of all because it forces the
scholar of religion to be highly critical of his or her own ways of
analysing religion in history. But the conclusion to be drawn from
Smith's observations is certainly not that we should stop studying
pre-modem religions because they do not really exist. The point is
ratherthatwe need a specialkindof self-consciousnessin our approach
to the issue of religion. Let us apply the same historical,comparative
and conceptual sophisticationwhen we study war across cultures.
Smith 1982:xi.
The Concept of War in India and Europe
63
A proper understanding of concepts in history requires philological work and it requires a degree of theoretical sophistication. I would
suggest that the idea of differentiation might help us in the difficult
task of understanding the development of different concepts of violence and war. The sociological/historical concept of differentiation
is complex and ambiguous. On the one hand differentiation can refer
to a state. When we talk about differentiation, we often mean the end
state of the process of modernization. One of the most important
aspects of modernization is functional and social differentiation, i.e.,
the compartmentalization of social life into more or less autonomous
spheres of activity, like politics, law, economy and religion. Differentiation is important for an understanding of pre-moder religion because
it was at the heart of the secularization of European societies.7 On
the other hand, differentiation can refer to a general process. In this
sense, the idea of differentiation entails the idea of drawing boundaries
and creating distinctions. My suggestion here is that the differentiation
of a concept of war from other kinds of violence - encompassing
the differentiation of public from private and external from internal
was something specifically European. In Europe, public war was
clearly differentiated from other types of organized violence, like punishment, for instance.8 Let me point out that I am not suggesting an
evolutionary approach to the subject of the ethics of war.9 I do not
say, or imply, that Europe progressed while other civilizations remained
7 See for instance Bruce 2003. See also the ideas of Niklas Luhmannon differentiation in several of his works, for instance Luhmann1982.
8 The
relationshipbetween punishmentand war in Europeanthought is complex
and can not be dealt with here. I have treatedthe relationshipbetween war and punishment in the classical Indian traditionof political science in Brekke 2004.
9 The idea of differentiationwas often discussed in an evolutionary context by
functionalistsociologists. See for instance Parsons 1964. Niklas Luhmannseems to
have rejected some of the more teleological assumptionsin the functionalismof his
teacher,TalcottParsons.Luhmanndid treatissues of violence and war in the framework of his systems theory seeing the monopolizationof violence as an aspect of
the differentiationof a political system in early modem Europe.See Luhmann2000.
64
TorkelBrekke
backward.I will argue that the preoccupationwith jus ad bellum in

the Christiantraditionmust be explained, at least partly,by the special concept of war found in the Christiantradition.
My argumentwill start from an explorationand a comparisonof
concepts in the Europeanand Indian traditions.I will argue that in
Hinduculture,the distinctionsbetween externaland internalviolence
and between public and privatewar did not exist. (If they existed they
were far less pronounced and did not have any ethical relevance.)
The sovereign who had a right and responsibilityto maintainorder
in society by the use of violence would also have a right and a duty
to use violence against externalenemies in the interestof himself or
his society. Thus, there are basic conceptualreasons explaining why
Hindu writers and thinkerswere not inclined to discuss questions of
jus ad bellum, like legitimate authority.
The European Concept of War-A
Universal Standard?
It might be tempting to look at the development of the just war

traditionin Europeas the universalstandardandto look at the ethics of
war in other cultures as deviations from, or approximationsto, that
standard.Clearly,when one wantsto comparedifferentreligionsor cultures one needs a place to startfrom; I am applying the analytic distinctionsof jus ad bellum andjus in bello borrowedfrom the just war
traditionthroughoutthis article. Moreover,one might argue that the
just war traditionhas a special status among the ethical traditionsof
the world because it gave birth to moder internationallaws of war.
Did the ethical traditionspertainingto war in other civilizations
develop along the same lines as the just war traditionof Europe?This
seems to be the assumptionin some of the writing of James Turner
Johnson,who is one of the most importantcontemporaryscholars in
the comparativeethics of war.Johnsonhas discussed the relationship
between internal and external violence and public and private violence in several works, most notably in Just War Traditionand the
Restraintof War.0Johnson offers a theory of how cultures come to
10
Johnson 1981.
65
lay down rules for resortto violence. He believes thatone can observe
a pendulummovementbetween two differentstates:Firstly,there is a
state where violent conflict is frequentbut at the same time the nature
of conflicts are gamelike and circumscribedby rules and conventions.
Secondly, there is the state when a culture starts setting limits to the
resortto violence, as controlof who may fight and who has the authorinto exterity to initiatewar.Organizedviolence is compartmentalized
nal and internaland a distinctionis made between public and private
violence or duellum and bellum to use the Latin terms. I used the
termdifferentiationto describethis process. Privateviolence is essentially outlawed and there develops a concept of war as external and
public violence. If I readJohnsoncorrectly,he believes thatthese distinctions are universaland that all culturesthus faced a dual problem
with regardto the regulation of violence." But is this a global pattern? I believe there is good reason to question Johnson's view that
all culturesfaced the same two problems- i.e., externalvs. internal
and public vs. privateviolence - and that we "canlearn a great deal
aboutregulationof violence in any humancultureby consideringhow
this particularculture [i.e. Europe]dealt with these twin problems."'2
In his book on the laws of war in the late Middle Ages, M.H. Keen
stresses the importanceof the definitionof war.'3Whatdid war mean
to late medieval lawyers? What was the accepted definition? As I
have alreadyindicated,this question is of centralimportancealso in
our attemptto understandthe developmentof jus ad bellumin a comparative perspective. If we can find out what war meant in the formative period of Europeanjust war tradition,then we can startto ask
whether or not other cultures -
India, China, Islam -
had concepts
that overlappedwith the Europeanconcept of war.The answerto this

question must be of fundamentalimportanceto the academic study
of the ethics of war in a comparativeperspective.
The thirteenthcenturyis the period when the Europeanconcept of
war developed. Gratian's Decretum is often taken as the point of
1 Johnson 1981:44.
12
13
Johnson 1981:44.
Keen 1965.
66
TorkelBrekke
departurefor theologicalandjudicial writingon war but the Decretists

(those who took the Decretum as foundationaltext) did not distinguish clearly between war and otherhostile acts. In the mid-thirteenth
centuryHostiensis made the most extensive categorisationof warfare
of the period dividing war into seven differenttypes.'4The first was
the Roman war, a just war waged by good Christiansagainst infidels
Rome being the head of the faith. The second type of war was judicial war fought on the judicial authorityof someone with the right
authorityand was enforcingjudicial order.The thirdtype of war was
the presumptuousand unjustwar waged by those who opposedjudicial authorityof the second type. The fourth type of war was a just
war was that waged by those who possessed legal authorityto repel
injuriesto one's associates. The fifth type was the unjust war waged
in opposition to the fourthtype. The sixth type was an unjustwar of
attackwaged on privateauthorityandthis type, commentedHostiensis,
was widespreadamong the princes of his times. The seventh type of
war was a just defence against the sixth type. Thus, war could be of
many kinds. Moreover, in this period, according to lawyers, there
were a numberof types of large-scaleviolence that were not war.For
instance, armed action to enforce lawful authority was not to be
regardedas war but ratheras the exercise of justice, accordingto late
medieval lawyers.'5In fact, according to the lawyers of this period
armedstrugglesthat were not declaredby a sovereign authoritywere
not really wars at all. Only he who has no superiorcan declare a real
war,accordingto most lawyers.'6Right authoritywas the pivotal argument in judging the justice of war.
On the matterof differentiatingexternalfrom internalviolence we
need look no furtherthan the greatest of the medieval scholastics,
ThomasAquinas. He defines war (bellum), brawling (rixa) and sedition (seditio) by pointing to two basic differences.Firstly,there is the
In the following I rely on Russell 1975:129-30.
15 Keen 1965:68.
16 Keen 1965:68-69.
67
differencethatboth war andbrawlingentailsactualfightingor conflict,

while sedition can be eitheractualhostilities or preparationsfor them.
The second differenceis thatwhile a war,properlyspeaking,is againstan external enemy (bellumproprie est contra extraneoset hostes), one nation as it were
against another (quasi multitudinisad multitudinem),and brawls are between
individuals,one against one or a few against a few, sedition in its propersense
is between mutually dissident sections of the same people.'7
Sedition attacks the special good which is the unity and peace of
a people. As opposed to schism, it attacks the temporal or secular
unity of a people ratherthanthe spiritualor ecclesiasticalunity.When
a prince was faced with a revolt or rebellion it was his duty to strike
it down with force. However, this type of large-scaleuse of violence
did not constitute real war, only an exercise of jurisdiction.'8
If we move aheadto the mid-fourteenthcentury,Europehad developed a universal legal frameworkfor the laws of war. The generally
acceptedtreatiseon the law of war was HonoreBonet's Treeof Battles.
Honore Bonet was a lawyer and his work was to a large extent a
French translationof more complex works of earlier lawyers. His
most importantsource was Tractatusde bello by John of Legnano,
professorof civil law at Bologna. The acceptedsources on war could,
according to contemporarythought, be traced back throughJohn of
Legnano and the Churchfathers and directly back to the Romans.'9
Roman law - the canon law of the Roman Churchand the civil law
of the Roman Empire- was seen as the ultimate source of chivalry
and laws of war in the late Middle Ages. The constables and marshals of medieval Europe, the people judging cases by military law,
were seen as lineal descendentsof the Roman magistri militum.The
law of arms in the fourteenthand fifteenthcenturyEuropewas internationallaw and it applied to wars between nations that were partof
the Roman people.20
17 Summa Theologice,2a2a. 42, I (Question 42. sedition).
18 Russell 1975:146.
'9 Keen 1965:21.
20 Keen 1965:57-59.
68
TorkelBrekke
If we move further ahead to the Renaissance, we find that the

specifically Europeanconcept of war is taken as the point of departure in most discussions about war and ethics. Christine de Pizan
writes inside a traditionwhere there is a clear differentiationbetween
war and other types of organizedviolence. In The Book of Deeds of
Arms and of Chivalryshe says that both divine law grantsthat wars
and battles waged for a just cause is a properexecution of justice in
the same way as laws drawn up by people to suppressthe arrogant
and evildoers.21Warand other kinds of organizedviolence are finely
differentiatedby Christineand she is clearly indebtedto earlierwriters, like John of Legnano. For instance, in Part IV of the The Book
of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry,Christinelooks into the matterof
organized violence similar to war. She is very negative to the practice of giving letters of Marque.This is describedas "anothersort of
contentionthat in some circumstanceslead to war,"in which a man,
who cannot have his due for some injury,is given by the king a permission to seize the goods of all people from the countryof the one
who has committed the wrong.22Christine takes the example of a
merchantwho has his goods stolen by the people of a city. In such
a case, may any lord decree reprisalsagainstthat city and its people?
Christine'sanswer is in the negative because reprisalsare similar to
war on the question of lawful authority."As this matterof ordering
reprisals, according to its nature and condition, is similar to war,
nobody can give them if he is not a sovereign lord."23Right authority is the sine qua non of war and organizedviolence in general,both
externallyand internally.Christineoffers an interestingargumentfor
the irreligiousnatureof privatewar or single combat. She arguesthat
whoever wants to punish a secret fault, a crime that cannot be dealt
with according to normaljudicial procedures,is trying to usurp the
21
22
23
Pizan 1999:14.
Pizan 1999:192-93.
Pizan 1999:195. (Tree of battles 4.81-82. See Keen 1965:41-42.)
69
divine power and wisdom of God, to whom alone belongs the right
to punish.24
This was a very brief discussion, based mostly on secondary sources,
about the development of a European concept of war. We can draw
some conclusions. According to the concept of war that developed in
this period, war was a very specific state of affairs publicly initiated
by a prince with sovereign authority. War was public, as opposed to
duels or private wars, and war was directed against an external political body, as opposed to for instance brawling or sedition, as Thomas
Aquinas pointed out. The distinction was clear-cut and would later
develop into a distinction between the functions of police and military with different rules and standards for the external and the internal aspects of the state's use of violence.25 Clearly, these topics are
connected to the early origins of the state-system in Europe. However,
the connections between war and the early state is an established field
and it is not possible to go into details here.26 The next step in my
argument will be to demonstrate that this concept of war never existed
in pre-modem India.
The Indian Concept of War - Public and Private Violence
Let us turn to our comparative project and explore the concept(s)
of war in Hindu India. My thesis here is that there did not take place
24
25
26
Pizan 1999:198-99.
Reichberg 2004.
A classic formulationof this relationshipis the thesis of a militaryrevolutionin

late 16thcenturyEuropeproducingchangesin governmentand society.Majorchanges
in military tactics and technology in this period necessitated large standingarmies.
The militaryrevolutionrequiredmore complex and centralizedgovernments,which
brought about the moder state. This thesis has been advancedby Geoffrey Parker
in Parker1996. The theoryof militarytechnologyas a cause of political and historical
change has been criticized by Jeremy Black, among others. Black sees the wider
social organizationof Europeansocieties, including military organization,as more
importantthantechnologicalinnovationper se. See Black 1991. See also Waltz2001.
70
TorkelBrekke
a differentiationbetween public and privateviolence and I will try to

show what I mean by looking at two central sources of the Indian
tradition.First, I will look at the epic traditionrepresentedby the
Mahabharata.
This literarytraditionis notoriouslydifficultto date and
its use as historical evidence is problematic.27Still, the great epics
are the most importantlasting expressions of an ideology, or several
ideologies, of war and ethics in the Hindutradition.Secondly,in order
to balance the mythical and narrativematerialconcerningwar found
in the epic literature,I intendto look at the traditionof statecraftrepresentedby Kautilya'sArthasastra.Kautilyapresentsa pragmaticview
of war which is very far removed from the epic view.28
Hinduideas on war have often been seen as following a completely
different type of rationality from other world religions. This alien
rationalityhas been summed up in one word: karmayoga.The locus
classicus for this view of war is the Bhagavadgita,which is part of
the Mahabharataand the most famous text of the epic literatureof
Hinduism.In the Bhagavadgita,Krsna tells the warriorArjunato see
the fighting itself as the end of the war. He should not think about
the fruits of the battle.29Fightingis a goal in itself for Arjunabecause
he is a warriorand by carryingout his duty he lives in accordance
with dharma.The wise teacherBhisma explains that battle itself is a
great sacrifice.Every soldier who advance against the enemy in battle takes part in the sacrifice of battle (yuddhayajna).The flesh and
the blood of the dead become oblations,and mutilatedbodies, bones,
27 See the classic works: Oldenberg 1922, and Holtzmann 1892-95. See also
Hiltebeitel 2001.
28 I will refer to
Kautilya'sArthasastraas KA from now. It is necessary to avoid
the complex debate about the differentconceptualizationsof the pre-moder Indian
state here. For a summary of this debate see Kulke 1997, especially the detailed
introductoryessay by the editor. My focus will exclusively be on ideology of war
in Hindu India ratherthan actual state formations.Clearly, I do not claim that the
epic literatureor the Arthasastrareflect actualpolitical circumstancesat any point in
the history of South Asia.
29 Verse 2.30ff. Buitenen 1981:76-79.
71
hair, severed heads, weapons, elephants and even the sounds of cutting and piercing have precise functions in the sacrifice of battle,
accordingto Bhisma.30Such referenceshave made scholarsconclude
that the Mahabharatawar really is a sacrifice.31
Ritualizingviolence in literaturealong these lines mightbe analysed
as one way of solving moral problems connected with the ethics of
war. In a recent essay on the ethics of war in Hinduism, Francis X.
Clooneypointsout thatsacrificialviolence is generallyjustifiedbecause
it is requiredby the Veda,whereaskilling for mundanegoals is always
forbidden,accordingto the dominantethical traditionsof Hinduism.32
Georg von Simson has arguedthat the Mahabharatareveals a certain
ambiguity when it deals with points of fighting and killing that violate basic Hindu ideas of jus in bello, proper conduct in battle.33It
seems that the Brahminswho have told and retold the story through
the ages have sought for ways to overcome the moral inconsistencies
in the text. The contextualizationof the war as a sacrifice solves this
ethical problem by saying that all the belligerents of the epic in a
sense agree on the choreographyof this violent ritual. Furthermore,
we might add that by conflatingideas of sacrifice and war the Hindu
world developed its very own version of the holy war. In particular,
the idea of holy war is apparentwhen central charactersof the epic
talk aboutthe role of Krsna in the fighting.To Krsna, war is a game.
As the high god he is beyond moral considerations.At the same time,
the active participationof Krsna in the battle guaranteesthe righteousness of Arjuna's cause. Where Krsna is, there is dharma, and
where dharma is, there is victory.34This form of religious legitimation for violence correspondswell with the classic formulationsof
the holy war idea in the Judeo-Christiantradition.
30
31
32
gantiparvan99.13.
A recent example is Jatavallabhula1999.
Clooney 2003.
33 Simson 1969.
34 Simson 1969:174.
72
TorkelBrekke
We could perhapsspeculate about whetherthe religious and political roles of Krsna or Rama in the epics are a way for this literary
traditionto avoid questionsof jus ad bellum. God rarelyneeds to justify his actions. The fact remains that the Mahabharataoften treats
topics thatcorrespondclosely with the Europeanjus in bello but never
topics that concernjus ad bellum. In sections and discussions about
the duties of the king in the Mahabharatawe will not find clear statements about the right authorityto initiate war or what constitutes a
just cause for war. On the other hand, the way in which the war is
fought -
the jus in bello -
is important in the epic world view
becausewar is the privatebusinessof heroesas opposedto the increasingly public war of the embryonicEuropeanstates of the late Middle
Ages. A king must not wage war by unjust means, according to the
teacherBhisma of the Mahabharata.Whatkind of rulerwould rejoice
in an unjustvictory(adharmavijaya)?he asks.35A victorywon through
unrighteousnessweakens both the king himself and the world. The
king should try to conquer by any righteous means he can, because
it is his duty as king. However,he must never wish to conquerthrough
illusion or magic or deceit.36
In short, the concept of war that we find in the great epics of classical Hinduismdoes not distinguishbetween private and public war.
Bellum was not differentiatedfrom duellum, to use the terms introduced in the discussion of Europe. The world of the Hindu epics is
a world of individual heroes, not that of systematic warfare. Great
warriorsgo to heaven when they die, whereas the warriorwho dies
in bed or runs away from dangergoes to hell. The ethos of this world
is summed up in the verse: "There is nothing higher in the three
worlds than heroism (saurya)."37 In the epic, duels between heroes
are fought alongside, or ratheras constituentparts of a larger wars.

In fact, the numerousduels of the Mahabharataconstitute the great
35 gantiparvan 97.1.
36
Santiparvan 97.23.
37
Santiparvan100.18.
73
war between the armies at Kuruksetra.The concept of war found in

the epic literaturemakes for concern about the rules pertainingto jus
in bello, i.e., rules on the conductof battle. On mattersof jus in bello,
the Mahabharatamay easily be comparedto the Europeantradition.
In fact, when we look at specific rules in warfare found in the
Mahabharata,we will find that many of them seem to be part of a
code of chivalry akin to that of medieval Europe.For instance, there
is a developed notion of noncombatantimmunity.The aged, the children, women, monks, one who shows he surrenders,must not be
killed.38One must not kill those who are sleeping, those who are
thirsty,those who are wearied,one who is disorderedor confused one
who has startedout for liberation,one who is on the move one who
is walking, one who is drinkingor eating, or one who is scatteredin
the mind, or one who has been struck,one who has been weakened.
Moreover, a soldier whose armouris broken, one who says "I am
yours," one who folds his hands or one who has thrown down his
weapons may be taken prisonerbut may not be killed.39
The Mahabharatahas a central position in the Hindu tradition.
However, the other great Indian epic, the Ramayana,has probably
been just as important,or even more so, for Hindu identity through
history. Rama's righteous rule is the paradigm of Hindu kingship.
Some notes on the terminology of the epic literatureon war may be
appropriatehere. The Ramayanahas nearly six thousandoccurrences
of terms denoting military action.40These are most frequent in the
Book of the Battle describingthe clash between the armies of Rama
and of his foe. The Ramayanaaboundsin terminologyfor weaponry
and army-formations.The most frequentlymentionedtype of soldier
is the chariot-warriorand the most frequent type of combat is the
duel between two equal opponents in chariots.A very frequentterm
to denote war-likeaction is yuddha. Yuddhais a Sanskritword widely
38
Santiparvan 99.47.
Santiparvan 97.3.
40 Brockington 1984:133.
39
74
TorkelBrekke
used in the epics to refer to fighting. It is often made to correspond

to our war or more often to battle. Yuddharefers to practicesthat we
may safely call war but it also refers to other things that falls outside
the scope of war. In the Ramayanayuddha embraces duels and limited combats between groups of men, i.e., private violence that does
not fall within the Europeanconcept of war.The importantpoint for
the general thesis of this article is the fact that the same expression
is used for the duel as for the larger battle and the war in general.
Serious distinctions of the level of violence - individual/collective
and private/public - are not made. In the Ramayana, as in the
Mahabharataduels take place in the context of a larger battle. The
duel is typically orderedin its form, the warriorsare supposed to be
of comparativelyequal strengthand nobody is allowed to interrupt
or assist in any way. One reference to chariot-battlemight suggest
that the authors or redactors of the Ramayana knew more widely
accepted rules for this type of warfare:In Rama's last combat, he
fights from the groundwhile his enemy is still mountedon his chariot and the gods interruptthe duel on the grounds that it is unfair.41
We recall here the similar instances in the Mahabharatawhere warriors are chastised for engaging in battles against foes with different
types of weapons and armour. The rules for just warfare in the
Ramayanabelong to a world of individualheroes and when applied
in the discussion of larger battles or wars, a sense of incongruity
sometimes surfaces, as it does in the Mahabharata.The direct references to a systematictheory of war or statecraftin the Ramayanaare
not many. However, there are hints from which we may induce the
existence of a generalbody of statecraftrelatedto the Arthasastratradition mentioned above. This body of literatureis our next focus in
our search for a concept of war that correspondswith the one we
identified in late medieval Europe.
41
Brockington 1984:136.
75
The Indian Concept of War- External and Internal Violence

I now turn to the second, and far more important,process of differentiationidentifiedwith the Europeanconcept of war, i.e., the differentiationof external war from internal violence. We saw that in
the epic literatureof India, war is private and duels are not conceptually distinct from the clashes of great armies.Things look different
if we move to the classical Indianliteratureon statecraft,the Arthasastra. This literaturedescribes the ideal state and the ideal king and it
presentsus with conceptualisationsof violence that are very different
from that of the great epics. In fact, on the surface,the scheme of the
Arthasastraon military matters seems to have far more in common
with ideas of war in late medieval Europe.
Kautilya'sArthasastrais about a type of state where there are far
more advancednotions of violence as part of the functions of a state
than in other genres of classical Indian literature.In Kautilya'sideal
state, every importantfunctionof society is regulatedor monopolized
by the king. For instance, the king must employ directors of trade,
he needs superintendentsof everything from forest produce to alcoholic beverages to prostitutes,he must standardizeweights and measures etc. One of the most importantsigns of a move away from a
cultureof privatewarfareis the monopolizationof the means of violence by the state. In Kautilya's Arthasastrawe get a picture of a
political entity which is highly centralized and where the means of
violence are exclusively the concern of the king. Some of the duties
of the superintendentof the armoury,Kautilyadescribes thus:
The Superintendentof the Armouryshould cause to be made machines for use
in battles, for the defence of forts and for assault on the enemy's cities, also
weapons,armoursand accoutrementsby artisansand artistsexpertin those lines,
producinggoods with an agreementto the amount of work, time allowed and
wages, and should store them in places suitable for each.... And he should
know them by their class, appearance,characteristics,quantity,sources, price
and place of storing.42
42 KA 2.18.1.
76
TorkelBrekke
Then follows a long list of differenttypes of weapons and types of

gear for use in battle.The king's superintendentmustknow everything
about the armoury,and he should know the work of the factories in
which the weapons are produced, their manufacture,their expenditure, etc. (Thus, the state describedby Kautilyawould satisfy a basic
criterion of a civilized society, according to the great 18th century
historicalvision of EdwardGibbon. Gibbon assertedthat the central
organizationof arms is a characteristicof civilization and that 'barbarians'per definitioninsist on privateownershipof weaponsof war.)43
The internationalsystem (for want of a better word) was analysed
by Kautilyaas an anarchicsystem, where the king must see himself
in the middle of a circle (mandala). The immediate neighboursare
naturalenemies (ari) andthe neighbour'sneighbouris a naturalfriend
(mitra)because he is the enemy of the enemy.44The patternof friends
and enemies repeats itself in concentric circles and the king must
always strive to dominate. Kautilya goes on and on giving details
aboutthe relationshipbetweendifferentelementsof the circles according to their relative strength.In terms of foreign policy, the king is
basically a conquerorin a system of alliances.Accordingto Kautilya,
this circle of constituentelements is the basis of the six measuresof
foreign policy (sadgunya). These six measures are peace (samdhi),
war (vigraha), staying quiet (asana), marching(yana), seeking shelter (sa.msraya)anddualpolicy (dvaidhlbhdva),accordingto Kautilya.45
The two importantconcepts for our concern is peace and war. The
Sanskritword translatedby war here is vigraha.Kautilyais very careful to define concepts and make explicit the relationshipbetween different relatedconcepts. For instance, Kautilyadefines three forms of
power (sakti) connected firstly to knowledge, secondly to wealth and
the army (dan.da)and, thirdly, to valour. The power deriving from
wealth and the army is the power of might (prabhusakti).46When he
43
See discussion of Gibbon in Black 1998:8-10 and 206-7.
44 KA 6.2.13-40.
45
KA7.1.2.
46
KA 6.2.33.
77
comes to the concept of vigraha he writes: "Vigrahais doing injury."

(apakdrovigraha).47There is no morally relevantdifferencebetween
peace and war for Kautilya. He writes that the king shall always try
to destroy the livelihood and opportunitiesof his adversariesin the
circle of kings. This may best be achieved through waging war or
making peace. Peace is never treatedas an end in itself by Kautilya.
Peace is itself a means to achieving other ends:
If he were to see "Remainingat peace, I shall ruin the enemy's undertakings
by my own undertakingsbearing abundantfruit... or by creating confidence
by means of peace, I shall ruin the enemy's undertakingsby the employment
of secret remedies and occult practices,..." he should secure advancement
throughpeace.48
The final sentence of the verse reads, "he should secure advancement through peace (samdhina vrddhimatistet),"and it reveals the
cynical nature of Kautilya's concept of peace. The same grammatical constructionsare made with the other five means of policy when
Kautilya says the king should secure advancement(vrddhi)through
their deployment.Thus, peace is not a goal, it is a means. The term
vigraha and its cognates is mostly translatedas war. But vigraha may
be combined with the policy of staying quiet (asana) to make for a
situation where there is war without the use of weapons. We might
call this some form of peaceful war where one carriesout hostile policies against a competitor,preferablywithout the adversaryrecognizing it. We may note here that the tradition of statecraft related to
Kautilya was transmittedthroughoutthe Indian Middle Ages. If we
look at the medieval Jaina writerSomadeva we get exactly the same
ideas of what war really is about. "Warwith weapons (sastrayuddha)" says Somadeva, "startswhen other means of conquering the
enemy are exhausted,"a view thatis reminiscentof Clausewitz'maxim
thatwar is the continuationof politicsby othermeans.49Waris a means
47 KA7.1.7.
48 KA7.1.32.
49 Nitivakyamrtam30.5.
78
TorkelBrekke
to an end and shouldonly be resortedto when it is absolutelynecessary.

"Thatwhichmay be obtainedby peacefulmeansshouldnot be obtained
by the means of war."50To sum up, in the traditionof statecraftwe
see an advanced traditionof thinking about the state and about its
means of violence. Still, as I will explain in the next section, there
was no ethically significantdistinctionbetween externaland internal
violence. There was no concept of war in the Europeansense.
Sovereignty,Danda and the External/InternalDistinction
I am arguingthat the Hindu traditionof statecraftdid not distinguish between the king's legitimate authorityto use violence inside
his realm and outside againstotherkings and theirterritories.Perhaps
it could be arguedthat the distinctionbetween internaland external
violence did exist in practicalterms;Kautilya'snotions of politics is
certainlysophisticated.For instance,Kautilyais carefulto discuss the
differenttypes of punishmentfor differenttypes of crimes and transgressions against the laws and the social order.However, the crucial
point is thatthe differencebetween internaland externalviolence was
one of degrees, it was not a fundamentaldifference.In orderto understandthis point we need to understandthe notion of the kingdom and
the sovereignty of the Hindu king.
Kingship is a central topic for the History of Religions as academic traditionand it is a point where the historicalrelevance of religion to the legitimationof war is obvious. Ronald Inden has warned
againstseeing a parallelbetween Europeanand Indianideas of divine
kingship.51The divinity of the king in India has nothing to do with
divine right in a Christiansense. In Indian mythology, the cosmos
and everything in it issues from the Cosmic Man and is not created
ex nihilo. This means that the supremeHindu God is always immanent, althoughtranscendentin relation to society and nature.God is
not outside as a bestower of kingly authority,as in Europe,we might
50 Ibid. 30.27.
51 Inden 1998:46-47.
79
add. This is a non-dualisticcosmos, in which the king was the microcosmic figure of the Cosmic Man symbolising unity and orderon the
micro-level.52 This may be true of the Puranas and the epics. In
Kautilya's thinking, however, themes that we treat as religious are
mostly seen as instrumental.For instance, he should make his priests
encouragethe army by promising salvation and paradiseafter death:
His ministersandpriestshouldencouragethe armyby saying thus:"Itis declared
in the Vedas that the goal which is reachedby sacrificers,after performingthe
final ablutions,in sacrifices in which the priests have been duly paid for, is the
very goal which brave men are destined to attain."53
In other words, he should tell his men that dying on the battlefield
is a shortcutto heavenly bliss.
The world views of HinduIndia- reflectedin cosmology, mythology, ritual, soteriology - are diverse but they do not allow for political theory akin to the theory of sovereignty that developed in late
medieval and early modem Europe.At the foundationof the new distinction between external and internalaffairsin Europewas the concept of sovereignty,which expressed the political autonomyof each
Europeanprince and his territoryin relationto otherprinces. Clearly,
the concept of sovereignty was still in the crucible in the late Middle
Ages. However,in mattersof war,Europewas moving towardsa consensus on the principle that only a prince without secular superior
had the right to levy war. This was in opposition to the feudal law,
according to which it was the privilege of all gentlemen, including
those with secular superiors,like Barons for instance, to settle disputes throughthe use of arms.54The bordersbetween the territorial
realms of the princes became sharpand only the prince without secular superiorhad legitimate authorityin matters of public, external
war, waged, at least in theory, for the sake of the common weal.
The easy way to read Kautilya's ideas about foreign policy is to
analyse the elements as states and understandthe termvigraha as war
52
Ibid.
53KA 10.3.
54 Keen 1965:72 and 78-79.
80
TorkelBrekke
in the modem sense. However, it would be an anachronismto look

at the elements in the circle as states in a Europeansense. In fact, the
tendency to look at Indianpolitical organizationthroughthe ages as
akin to modem Europeanstates has been one of the obstacles to a
real understandingof Indian political history.55Indian political scientists did not perceive the international system as a whole with
autonomous states with kings of equal standing. There were clear
notions about how a king should run his countryand how he should
behave towards other kings but there was no notion of sovereignty
in the Europeansense. Kautilyatalks about the territoryand its people, i.e., the two elements constitutingthe kingdom (janapada). This
is an entity without a clear shape and with fuzzy borders.The peoples living in the country regions between two kingdoms belong to
both the king and his enemy. "Countrypeople on the other hand are
common to the enemy," Kautilya says.56It is very importantto the
king to use all means to secure the loyalty of groups and individuals
who do not belong to either kingdom. But it is also his task to be
constantly on the watch against individuals and groups within his
realm that might conspire with the enemy to underminehis position.
The pre-moder Indian state is an amorphousone with fuzzy territorialborders.The power and influence of the kings in the international orderdescribedby Kautilyaoverlap and interpenetratein ways
that make it difficult or meaningless to distinguishbetween external
and internalaffairs.Indeed, Kautilyanever makes this distinctionnor
do any of the laterwritersin this intellectualtradition.J.C. Heesterman
insists that we must not think of the Indianstate as a "clearlydefined
territorialstate,internallycoherentandclosed to the outside."57
Instead,
55 This
tendency has been apparentin research on all periods of Indian history

from the Maurya empire to the Mughal empire. In the latter case, many scholars
have assumedthatthe Mughalempirewas a centralizedandbureaucraticstatebecause
they wished to see the Mughal empire as a forerunnerto the rational and systematized militaryand administrativeframeworkof British India.This might be a gross
distortionof the actual natureof the Mughal state. See Blake 1997.
56 KA 8.1.27.
57 Heesterman 1985:143.
81
he asserts,we must acknowledgethe open-endednessof the state.The

king's authorityis of a ritual nature. Actual political power in the
realmis dispersedand based on a networkof personalrelationsrather
thanon residenceon a definedterritory.58
B. Chattopadhyaya
uses terms
like 'fluid' and 'dynamic' to capturethe natureof the Indian state.59
The fundamentallydifferentidea of sovereigntyin Indiais significant
in an explorationof the concept of war, as noted in a 1984 articleby
AndreWink.Wink's view aboutthe relationshipbetween the external
and internalpolitics is worth citing here because it matches our own:
In principlethe stratagemsto be employed by the king are the same in his own
dominion and in that of his enemy. There is therefore no distinction of kind
between "external"and "internal"politics.60
The consequence,to returnto the basic thesis of this article,was that

the writers in the traditionof statecraftdid not care to discuss legitimate authorityin mattersof war.These writershad somethingto say
aboutjus in bello - althoughnot much comparedto the epic literature. However, they showed absolutelyno concern forjus ad bellum.
In order to understandtheir ideas about the ethical underpinnings
of violence we may turn for a moment to crucial concept of danda.
Danda means several different things in different contexts. It can
mean violence, it can mean punishment,it can refer to the army, or
it refers to a specific personificationof legitimate violence and in this
sense is explicitly identified with the person of the king. In order to
maintainorder and to protect his people the king has danda, the rod
of punishment.Danda is military power and danda is punishment.
The execution of power is the "wielding of danda" (dandanlti).The
execution of power is the same both outside and inside the king's
realm. In Indian ideology the rod that is the symbol of the king's
physical power often becomes a symbol of the king himself:
The Rod is the King and the man, he is the inflicterand he is the chastiser,traditionally regardedas the guarantorfor the duty of the four stages of life. The
58 Heesterman 1985:143.
Chattopadhyaya1997:212.
60 Wink 2001:112.
59
82
TorkelBrekke
Rod alone chastises all subjects, the Rod protects them, the Rod stays awake
while they sleep; wise men know thatjustice is the Rod. Properlywielded, with
due consideration,it makes all the subjectshappy;but inflictedwithoutdue consideration,it destroys everything.... Where the Rod moves about, black and
with red eyes, destroying evil, there the subjects do not get confused, as long
as the inflicter sees well.61
The ideology and mythology surroundingthe concept of danda

illustratethe fuzzy bordersbetween the internaland external affairs
of the Hindu state. In conclusion, an exploration of the concept of
the state, of war and related ideas of the ethics of war found in the
Arthasastrareveals that these are fundamentallydifferent from the
concepts developing in medieval and early moder Europe.Certainly,
we have seen that Kautilya wrote about a society where the king is
in chargeof the means of violence and ideas of war are in fact highly
advanced.However, the crucial point for my argumentis that we can
find no real and significantdistinctionbetween the violence directed
against outward enemy societies and the violence directed against
criminal and seditious elements within the king's own territory.
Conclusion
The point of departurefor this article was the fact that many civilizations seem to take no interestin matterspertainingto aspects of
the ethics of war treatedunderthejus ad bellum in the Europeantradition. This lack of concern is all the more puzzling when many of
the relevantcivilizationsidentify themselves with world religions that
have complex and sophisticatedtraditionsfor ethics in other spheres
of life. In mattersof jus in bello there are much greaterareas of convergence across cultures. For instance, most ethical traditionshave
of means,which
plentyto say aboutmattersconcerningproportionality
is one of main topics underthe jus in bello of the Europeanjust war
tradition.I have comparedthe basic concept of war in Europe as it
developed in the formativeperiod of the just war tradition- i.e., the
13th century with concepts of war found in Hindu India. In the
61 The Laws of Manu 7.14, 17-19, and 25.
83
Europeancase, I relied on the leading secondary sources, by writers

like M. Keen, F. Russell and J.T. Johnson. In the case of India, I
looked at the relevantprimarymaterialbelonging to two very different literary traditionsdiscussing war and violence and its restraint:
the epic literatureand the traditionof statecraft,or Arthasastra.There
is a strong bias towards Europe in most academic debates about the
history of war. It seemed to me that this bias is broughtinto the discussion of the comparativeethics of war when writersassume - like
James Turner Johnson seemed to do - that the basic distinctions
between external and internal, and between private and public, war
in late medieval Europe is one instance of a more universal human
tendency in thinking about the restraintof violence. I have tried to
show that the distinctionsbetween externaland internaland between
private and public war were not made in pre-moder India. In other
words, there are basic conceptual differences between the European
and Indian concepts of war. It is my contentionhere that these conceptual differencesare at least part of the explanationwhy European
writers were so concerned aboutjus ad bellum while Indian writers
were not. In the classical Hindu world view, the legitimate authority
of the king needs no defending or explanation. In the tradition of
statecraft,war against anotherking is an extension of the properuse
of violence to maintainorderwithin the realm.The legitimate authority is self-evident in external affairs,as it is in internalaffairswhere
it is part of the social contract where the king must maintainorder
and punish the evil. In the epic literature,war is never properlydifferentiated from the private duel between heroes. The distinction
between bellum and duellum, which is so importantto the just war
tradition,is not made. Therefore, an Indianjus ad bellum comparable to the Europeantraditionnever existed.
Department of East-European and Oriental Studies
University of Oslo
P.O. Box 1030 Blinder
0315 Oslo, Norway
torkel.brekke@east.uio.no
TORKELBREKKE
84
Torkel Brekke
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THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS ON VIOLENCE AND RELIGION:

IDENTITY, POWER, PRIVILEGE AND DIFFERENCE
(WITH REFERENCE TO THE HISPANIC WORLD)
FRANCISCO
DIEZ DE VELASCO
Summary
The purpose of this paper is to reflect, from a theoreticalpoint of view, on the
relationshipbetween violence and religion. The historicexamples, takenmainly from
the Hispanic world, aim to show that even if violence is an habitualcomponent in
religions, it is not at all a necessary combination,either in regardsto religion in general or to any religion in particular.For this purpose, four aspects will be brought
up in which the binomial religion-violence is manifested in a more characteristic
way. The first has to do with identity:religion as a sign of identity can allow for a
systematic and religiously correct resource for violence. The second aspect deals
with the relationshipbetween power and religion, in particularin its relation to the
religious legitimization of power and the violence that goes along with its practice.
The third aspect refers to privilege, generator of violence in a number of orders
(between humansand animals, men and women, powerful and subjected,center and
periphery,religious leaders and their followers, etc.). The last aspect refers to difference and introducesa reflectionon multireligiosity,a characteristicof our present
world, and in which the combinationof religion and violence, even thoughit endures,
tends to be mitigatedin view of a global frame of cohabitationwhich must become
strongerfrom the search for a consensus, necessarily based on the renunciationof
religiocentricand ethnocentricstances.1
To reflect on the violence-religion binomial proves to be a complex challenge, given that since 9/11 and its consequences, the studies attemptingto fill in the eagernessfor explanations,have multiplied.2
This paper is a result of the Research Project "Metodologiasen Historia de las

Religiones" BHA 2003-01686 (FEDER/ Ministerio de Educaci6n y Ciencia).
2
The interest in the subject increased as a consequence of the unexpected success of the religious argumentsin the Iranianrevolution of 1979 and other islamist
NUMEN,Vol. 52
88
Francisco Diez de Velasco
These have generally been conductedby a mass media governed by

the urgency of tight deadlines. In consequence, they tend to fall into
the easy temptationof denying any logic to the violent acts harbored
by religion by suggesting that they are incomprehensible: a mere
abscess worthy only of disappearing.
Tryingto find our bearingsin a long-termpanoramahas the advantage of allowing us to measure outlooks and words and to compare
explanationsat a distance from the present urgency. It allows us to
take a step back from approachesthat seem continuously to search
for the latest news, as if each moment were so differentfrom the rest;
as if history could no longer provide explanations(or had reachedits
end); and as if what is happeningto us as citizens of post-industrial,
post-colonial, and also post-communistsocieties held no comparison
to, or basis in, the past.
In this paper,therefore,I will opt for interminglingpast andpresent
in orderto try to prove that violence has been, throughouthistory,an
argumentsystematically used in religious speeches and behaviors,3
and fundamentalistmovementsin Asia andAfrica, showing thatreligion had became
a new geostrategicfactor to be taken into account. But September 11, 2001 (and in
Spain March 11, 2004) changed the focus of the academic agendas (reality forcing
scholars a contre coeur to engage with the stark reality of death and massive violence producedby terrorism);see, for example, in a work on cults, the felt necessity to write an "Islamic"prologue:D.G. Bromley and J.G. Melton, Cults. Religion
and Violence,Cambridge:UniversityPress 2002, xiii-xx; the reflectionsmade in the
new edition with an ad hoc preface by M. Juergensmeyer,Terrorin the Mind of
God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence,Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress
2001; or the pugnacity of B. Lincoln, Holy Terrors:Thinkingabout Religion after
September11, Chicago: University Press 2003.
3 See C. Candland,The Spirit of Violence:An InterdisciplinaryBibliography of
Religion and Violence,New York:HF. GuggenheimFoundation1992, or the compilation of the more recent publications, including terrorismand the 9/11 consequences, "ReligionandViolence: a Bibliography"(http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.
edu/interet/hedgehog_vio_bib.htm),preparedby C.K. Bellinger (the authorof The
Genealogyof Violence:Reflectionson Creation,Freedomand Evil, Oxford:University
Press 2001). On the subject religion and violence, see G. ter Haar and J. Busuttil
(eds.), Bridgeor Barrier:Religionand Violence,Leiden:Brill 2004; M. Juergensmeyer
TheoreticalReflectionson Violenceand Religion
89
one that is not new (not even in its degree or the supposed lack of
explicability).4In order to arrangethe wide arrayof possible angles
on the subjectreligion-violence,I will presentmy reflectionsaroundfour
interconnectedaxes: identity,power,privilegeanddifference.Whenever
possible or relevant, I will place them within the Hispanic territory,
which will allow me to be concreteandnot divertmy attentiontowards
overly theoreticalpaths. The Hispanic case displays certain characteristics that can let it serve as a prototype.The governing regime in
the IberianPeninsula established, from the end of the fifteenth century, a model of ideological standardizationwhich used religion as
an axis and which generateda notabledegree of violence. This model,
with its fluctuations,lasted until such a recent date as the end of the
1960s, and the speed with which it was abandonedis very interesting for the purpose of extrapolatingthe possible rhythmsof the ideological andreligiousdynamicin general.Before the sixteenthcentury,
however,the Spanishterritorywas an areaof miscegenation,a territory
of boundariesbetween different cultural models based on different
religions that had become related in antagonisticas well as non-violent ways. Today,this type of frontiersituationis becoming more and
more evident and leads us to think about the dynamic between globalization and local cultures, between migrations and identities, and
about the role that religion can fulfill as a vehicle for differences.
(ed.), Violence and the Sacred in the Modern World,London: Frank Cass 1992;
R. ScottAppleby,TheAmbivalenceof the Sacred:Religion,Violenceand Reconciliation,
New York:Rowmanand Littlefield2000; G. Filoramo,Che cos'e la religione,Torino:
Einaudi 2004, 277ff.
4 See A. Blok, "The Enigma of Senseless Violence," in G. Aijmer and J. Abbink
(eds.), Meanings of Violence: A Cross Cultural Perspective, Oxford: Berg 2000,
23-38. In the scheme of the risk society proposed by U. Beck, WorldRisk Society,
Cambridge:Polity Press-Blackwell 1999; Risk Society: Towardsa New Modernity,
London: Sage 1992, 9/11 religion appearsas a new source of risk and is not to be
thought of only as a pre-modem, negligible factor.For Beck's position post 9/1 see
U. Beck, Das Schweigen der Wirter, Frankfurt:Suhrkamp2002.
90
Identityand Violence
From a general point of view, religion is perceived as an importantmarkof identity,both individuallyand collectively, aroundwhich
ethnicity and universality,distinctionand resemblancecan converge.
These identitarianvalues can perhapspartiallyexplain how religions
themselves are able to endurein our presentworld by offeringpoints
of reference for prestige, especially in situations of uncertaintyor
anxiety.At the same time religions can provide ways of singling out
as differentthose who are considerednot to be included in the criteria defining the identity.In this way violence and religion can combine so as to generate a strong and secure reference point while at
the same time discriminating"the others" and justifying the use of
violence.5 Being an area with strong essentialist tendencies, binary
thinkingfinds in religiona privilegedlocus of manifestation.Religion,
therefore, can exacerbate the violent act by introducingpretexts to
multiply and strengthenconflicts, reinforcingthe radicalismof arguments that in other circumstanceswould not go so far. For example,
the terroristsuicide is sanctionedthanks to the religious ingredient,
in a paroxysm of religious identity capable of canceling out one's
individualidentity, symbolized in self-immolation.
In addition, we have to take into account an importantfactor in
today's global ideology. There is nowadays a high tolerance threshold towards religion-based arguments,considering that the leading
power, the United States, is a countrywhich, despite the radicallegal
separationbetween religion and governmentfor more than two centuries,values religion. In the global context of Americancultural,ide-
5 Reflectionson identityand violence have been a valuabledevelopmentin anthropologicalthought;see P.J.StewardandA. Strathem,Violence:Theoryand Ethnography,
New York:Continuum2002; B.E. Schmidt and I.W. Schroder(eds.), Anthropology
of Violenceand Conflict,London-NewYork:Routledge2001, ch. 2; D. Riches (ed.),
TheAnthropologyof Violence,Oxford:Blackwell 1986, ch. 1; or the volumes edited
by F. Heritier(De la violence, Paris:Odile Jacob 1996; De la violence II, Paris:Odile
Jacob 1999).
91
ological and symbolic pre-eminence,the disagreementsthat can find

protectionin religion are incomparablygreaterthan those that would
be toleratedwithoutthe religious addedvalue. In fact, identitiesbased
on religion possess greaterlegitimacy today than they may have had
a few decades ago, when in the large part of the world that followed
the Communist ideology the tolerance threshold towards religious
argumentswas minimal. Hence, religion has proved, and continues
to prove, to be a noteworthyinstrumentof behavioralmanipulation
and implementationof differences. Thus the paradigmof violence,
the infringement of the Golden Rule (based on the respect for the
otherthata largenumberof religions,andparticularlythe Universalistic
ones, preach), is easy to justify if it leans precisely on religion: the
moral norm softens and holy violence is rewardedratherthan punished. A religious constructionof identity and othernesscan turnthe
differentinto a scapegoat,whose disappearanceor annihilationis consideredthe solution to the problem.In stronglyidentitarianreligions,
such as the civic or national ones,6 we find institutionalizedrites of
expulsion that consolidate (by means of rendering "other"and deidentifying a member,human or animal) a social consensus through
the use of collective violence. Among the Greeks, a person could be
ritually mistreated,expelled, and at times abused to death, and was
called pharmakos, the "remedy"for past, present and future evils.
The ceremonies were triggeredwhen hunger,sickness or some problem hovered over the community,and offered the ritual solution for
recovering a sacred balance in the form of a purificationritual.7
This game of violence and de-identificationhas takenplace in many
religious contexts, and the Hispanicworld provides some good examples. The anti-Jewishpersecutions,from the Visigothic period in the
6
See the general scheme of F. Diez de Velasco, Introducciona la historia de las

religiones, 3rd ed., Madrid:Trotta2002, 219ff.
7 Which we can analyze, for example, as a process of communityconsensus: see
the reflections in F Diez de Velasco, "El miedo y la religi6n: reflexiones te6ricas y
metodologicas,"in F. Diez de Velasco (ed.), Miedo y religion, Madrid:Ediciones del
Orto 2002, 376ff.
92
sixth century to the end of the fifteenth, show this interplay between
identity and otherness. They detonated in different circumstances, but
many of them coincided with periods of scarcity, hunger or wars,
although the specific excuses for violence show the characteristics of
a common prototype. By means of a de-identifying alchemy repeated
ad nauseam, the Jewish neighbor became the cause of all evils, was
denounced as a god-killer, and was therefore marked by the substance
of an otherness that must be pulled by its roots. What is noteworthy
in the Hispanic case is that the Jews, as if they were scapegoats, were
finally expelled from the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon in 1492,
from Navarre in 1498, and forced to a compulsory conversion in
Portugal in 1497. Expulsion or re-identification with the Catholic
majority was the choice that was offered to the Sephardis. This was
nothing new since such things had already taken place in other countries such as England and France. But what was truly noteworthy in
the Hispanic example was that the Jews were never allowed to return:
a Hispanic identity was cultivated for centuries, even until the 1978
Constitution (although with some more relaxed moments in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries during the periods of more liberal governments), an identity that denied differences and used religion as a
criterion for homogenization and applied violence to enforce it. At
the same time as Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, the socalled Catholic kings, expelled the Jews and took full dominion of
the territories previously under Muslim rule, the Inquisition was established in 1478 under the direct orders of the king, and no longer, as
in other places and periods, under papal mandate. It became a subsidiary instrument of ideological control which sustained itself on a
Spanish identity that did not accept, with regard to religion, any symbols of identity other than Catholic. With a systematic use of violence8 it confronted both the Protestant reform and the diverse worlds
8
See, for example, J.P.Duviols andA. Molinie-Bertrand,La violence en Espagne
et en Amerique (XV-XIXesiecles) (Iberica n.s. 9), Paris: Presses Universitairesde
Paris-Sorbonne1997, 197-216; the Inquisitionhas been subjectedto ideologicalparti
93
thatopened up with the penetrationinto colonial territories,especially

in America. It is precisely the strong sense of identity provided by
Catholicismthatis able to explainthe certaintywith whichtheAmerican
conquest was carriedout and the lack of scruples with regardto its
consequences. Endowed with a strongly religiocentricmentality,the
Spanish conquerorsbelieved (or claimed to believe) to be redeeming
the non-Catholicsand to be entitled to subject them and force them
to convert. If the conversion was not total and if groups have survived in Hispanic America that are little Christianizedor not at all,
it was the result of the incapability of the domination technologies
and the efficacy of the mechanismsof indigenous culturalresistance,
and not of the lack of will to carry it out. The CanaryIslands, conquered at the same time as Hispanic dominion was established over
America, offer an example of this. Because of the limited territory,
the islands were completely Christianized, leaving no trace of
pre-Christianbeliefs or an indigenous population not submitted to
metissage.
The role of the Inquisitionwas notable in this process of homogenization9andin the alwayspresentandlatentpossibilityof alterization
of one part of the population:the unmaskingof the so-deemed "bad
Catholics."The auto-de-fe began to become a ceremony comparable
to the pharmak6s ritual. It was the channel for massive violence in
the form of public ritualsthat servedto consolidateidentityand social
consensus. It was a form of violence thatwas perfectly acceptablebevehicle of a religiousnatureandserved
cause it used an institutionalized
the purposeof domesticatingsocial aggressionby offeringwhat Girard
called sparevictims.10Due to their vulnerability,these victims served
pris: an interesting study of the confused mixture of the denied and the desired in
scholarshipis given by D. Moreno, La invencion de la inquisici6n,Madrid:Marcial
Pons-FundacionCarolina2004.
9 It was also an easy resourceas a political weapon, as is exemplified in the case
of Philip the Second's secretary,Antonio Perez: since the king could not capturehim
by ordinarylegal means,he managedto have him accusedof heresyby the Inquisition.
10 See the
analysisof R. Girard,Violenceand the Sacred,Baltimore:JohnsHopkins
94
as actorsin a multifunctionalsymbolic performance.It permittedthe

consolidation of faith throughthe practice of religiously sanctioned
violence on the part of the authorities.But it also satisfied the individual needs for violence againstthe other." The strongHispanicreligious identity maintainedby the Inquisitionlasted even beyond the
disappearanceof that institution,which took place in Spain as late as
1834. Hence, while a dissociationof the nationalidentityfrom specific
religious options was sanctioned by the constitutions of the United
States and France during the last decades of the eighteenth century,
the first Spanish constitutionswere distinguishedby a strong assertion of the Catholic identity of Spain. The first Spanish constitution,
approved in 1812 in Cadiz, categorically defended the exclusively
Catholic identity of Spain.12 This strongly identitarianstance was
maintained,with some periods of greatertolerance,or even of failed
attemptsto dissociate religion and politics, until 1967, when the first
law guaranteeingreligious freedom was adopted.
A situation of such tight identificationbetween Catholicism and
Spanish national identity could not fail to generate violence in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries even if the Inquisition could no
University Press 1977, esp. ch. 1; idem, The Scapegoat, Baltimore:Johns Hopkins
University Press 1986, ch. 4; also, I. Strenski, Theology and the First Theory of
Sacrifice, Leiden: Brill 2003, esp. 60ff.
1 In our societies, dominatedby the mass media, such needs can also be satisfied
throughtelevision (see L. Kurtz[ed.], Encyclopediaof Violence,Peace and Conflict,
San Diego: Academic Press 1999, s.v. "Television,Programmingand Violence"), or
through cinema violence, capable of envisioning innumerableforms of alienness,
especially in the experimentationof science fiction. In societies that are less attached
to technology, the same may be achieved by means of public corporalpunishment
and executions, which are easier to accept if, as in Saudi Arabia, they are done in
the name of the shari'a.
12 Article 12 of the first
Spanishconstitutionexpresses the idea in emphaticterms:
"La religi6n de la Naci6n espaniolaes y serd perpetuamentela catolica, apost6lica,
romana,unica verdadera.La Naci6n la protege con leyes sabias y justas y prohibe
el ejercicio de cualquierotra."(The religion of the Spanish Nation is now and perpetually the Catholic,Apostolic and Roman, the only true religion. The Nation protects it with wise and just laws and forbids the exercise of any other.)
Theoretical Reflections on Violence and Religion
95
longer be relied on as an instrumentof repression.At first, violence

was directed against non-Catholics, who were persecuted on multiple occasions (even quite recently) for trespassingthe restrictionsof
private cult and for making themselves publicly visible. But faced
with the great conflicts where the national identity was called into
question, whetherin the confrontationwith the Napoleonic forces or
duringthe Carlist'3civil wars, many membersof the CatholicChurch
opted for violence. The paroxysm of such violence was the Spanish
Civil War(1936-1939), whichwas understoodas a crusadefor NationalCatholicism, the official ideology of Franco's system.'4Once victorious,the Franquistswere able to convertthis anti-modemconvergence
of politics and religion (in many aspects comparableto some Islamist
fundamentalismsthat assertedthemselves in the last decades) into an
official ideological model, which was established in a forceful way
by means of the execution, imprisonment,repression,or expulsion of
those who thought differently.'5It sought new scapegoats, creating a
terrible imaginaryenemy, based, in addition to political criteria, on
13
The Carlists, defenders of an absolutist, agrarian,anti-industrial,anti-modern,

ultra-Catholicand millennialist model in the style of the Frenchroyalists, found resonance with members of the clergy, some of whom turned out to be bloodthirsty
military leaders at the same time as spiritualones.
14 For
Spanish National-Catholicism,see J.J. Linz "Churchand State in Spain
from the Civil Warto the Returnof Democracy,"Daedalus 120 (1991) 159-78; W.J.
Callahan, The Catholic Church in Spain (1875-1998), Washington:The Catholic
University of America Press 2000, esp. ch. 14-16; F. Lanon, Privilege, Prosecution
and Prophecy: The Catholic Churchin Spain (1875-1975), Oxford:Clarendon1987,
224ff. For a valuable comparison with Portugal, see P.C. Manuel, "Religion and
Politics in Iberia:Clericalism,Anticlericalismand Democratizationin Portugaland
Spain," in T.G. Jelen and W.C. Wilcox, Religion and Politics in Comparative
Perspective, Cambridge:University Press 2002, ch. 4.
15 Franco's
regime was based on the systematic use of violence legitimatedby a
sui generis judicial system and made referencesto religion, crusadeand even inquisition (as a model of justice prototypical of the "essences of the Spanish"): see
J. Casanovaet al., Morir,matar,sobrevivir:La violencia en la dictadurade Franco,
Barcelona:Critica2002, O1ff.;also J. Casanova,La iglesia de Franco, Madrid:Temas
de Hoy 2001.
96
religious ones; for example, the imaginaryJudeo-Masonicconspiracy. The only logical consequence had to be the expulsion of the
enemy who symbolized othernessin this struggle,believed to be eternal, between good and evil, and between Spain and the "antiEspaia"
(the "anti-Spain,"an essentialistadaptationof the Volksgeistconcept).
For building a Spanish national identity of monolithic character,
anothergreatenemy was separatism:the articulationof nationalidentities based on culturaland linguistic singularities,manifested since
the nineteenthcenturyin industrializedareasof Spainsuch as Catalonia
or the Basque country.But contraryto what has happened in other
areas (for example, in Ulster or in the former Yugoslavia), the differentialCatalanor Basque identity was not based on a differentreligious choice. This is why, when the clash of identities generated
violence, as for example in the Basque conflict, it was not characterized by the rancorof those conflicts that use religion as a vehicle,
as is the case, for example, in Islamist terrorism.
But the progressive opening to difference that characterizesthe
models of cohabitationof industrialand post-industrialsocieties, with
the emergenceof complex, multipleidentities,16both local and global,
does not prevent the emergence of certain problems which can lead
to combining religion with violence. For example, the debate over
the referenceto Christianroots in the EuropeanConstitutionis symptomatic of an identitarianapproachto the issue on the part of some
groups. Such a reference can be interpretedas a code of exclusion,
especially in a region like Europe,where culturaland religious diversity is more and more evident as regards national minorities. This
means that the inclusion of countries with an Islamic traditioninto
the Europeancommunity could generatemore serious problems.
16
Masterlyexposed in the easy to readbut thought-provokingessay of A. Maalouf,

In the Nameof Identity:Violenceand theNeed to Belong,London:PenguinBooks 2003.
97
Power and Violence

The interdependenceof religion and power is anotherof the aspects
that can provide some clues to the comprehensionof the subject at
hand.Power in stratifiedsocieties (those that arise with the economic,
social and ideological complexities producedtogetherwith the developmentof agriculture)requiresviolence for its subsistenceand mechanisms to justify it use.17Religion has been a key in the legitimization
of power: in the acceptance of inequalities, in how leadership was
established and endured, and in maintaining a social consensus in
spite of the unequaldistributionof privileges. In fact, social systems
have arisen in which power and religion were indissolubly unified,
such as theocracies and hierocracies.It is commonly suggested that
the added value that provides an understandingof the influence of
religion in many societies and periods is that religion has offered
much less costly and more consensual formulas of dominion than
overt violence resulting from military control. Although the control
mechanismsthat are based on religion do not exclude the use of violence as a subsidiarymeans of power, it is usually suggested that violence is not its principalmeans of expression.Generally,the religious
legitimization harboredin complex theologies, in the exploitationof
performativeand cohesive values throughceremonies, and in signs
of identitydrivenby beliefs, seems to channelor to mitigateviolence.
But we cannotforget that on many occasions religion unambiguously
legitimates violence. An example is the religious sanction of war,
aggressionor violence even betweencontendersbelongingto the same
religion, and even more between enemies of different religions; or
the use, which still persists today, of religious specialists serving in
the lines of military troops.
G. Benavides "Religious Articulationsof Power," in G. Benavides and M.W.
Daly (eds.), Religion and Political Power, Albany: SUNY Press 1989, 1-12; for a
summaryof the criticalissues involved on the issue of stratification,see G. Benavides,
"Stratification,"in W. Braun and R.T. McCutcheon (eds.), Guide to the Study of
Religion, London-New York:Cassell 2000, ch. 21.
17
98
Violence in the form of coercionjustified by religion has been progressively mitigated,and the legitimizationof power in industrialand
post-industrialsocieties is no longer principallyharboredin religion.
Yet, there remainin even this type of societies identitarian,political,
and authoritarianspheres in which religious influence is palpable.
This is exemplified by the phenomenon of so-called civil or public
religion, as well as by the role of increasinglytransnationalreligious
lobbies. If this is the situationin post-industrialsocieties such as in
America and Europe, it is not surprisingthat religion continues to
play an importantrole for the legitimization of power in societies
where traditionalagriculturalmodels of understandingthe world are
still dominant,or that it has even increasedits importancecompared
to the past, as is exemplified in the case of Iran. As has been said
already,religion is a prestigious domain in the contemporaryworld.
Hence, it should not seem strange that groups who wish to attain
power (or who confrontit in a violent way) successfully use religious
language;the religious cover earnsthem a legitimizationand a social
supportthey would not enjoy if they restrictedthemselves to a purely
political type of discourse. Furthermore, the exercise of power,
once reached,is in some cases easier underthe protectionof religious
legitimacy.
An example of the above can be found in Spain, as industrialization coincided with an opening towards religious diversity between
1868 and 1936. Most of all, this was evident in the period of the
Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936), when a separationbetween
religion and political power was sought.At the heartof the new secularstatewas the 1931 Constitution,which abandonedthe legitimizing
power of Catholicism.But this juridical change took place in a context of strongviolence that mixed political arguments(at the peak of
fascisms and Stalinism) with religious ones. Anti-clericalism,which
had been previously manifestedin a sporadicway, proliferated,generatinga series of aggressionstowardsmembersof the clergy and the
burningdown of churches.This provided argumentsfor the radicalization of the positions of many Catholics and of a large part of the
ecclesiastichierarchy,who chose to supportthe movementthatresulted
99
in the Francosystem.18From 1936 on, and even clearerafterFranco's

victory in 1939, the new political regime made the Catholic religion
into a central sign of identity. It was placed in an ideological model
markedby the traditionalvalues of agriculturalsociety and was propagated, moreover, in a context where the civil war and its consequences had deterioratedthe industrial fabric. In this political and
religious entente, the role of the Catholic Churchbecame essential:
it sanctioned the laws of the state, which had to adapt to Catholic
morality;power was legitimated as the will of God, which had been
manifestedin the victorious outcome of a war that qualifiedas a crusade (principallyagainstatheism).In contrastto the comparableItalian
and German regimes of that period, Franco's National-Catholicism
was characterizedby the importanceof the religioussanctionof power,
which let the membersof the high clergy be representedin the pseudoparliamentarypolitical organof the regime (the Cortes).The Catholic
Church had strong control over education, courses in the Catholic
religion being obligatory at all educationallevels, including the university.It censuredpublications,the press and entertainment,and had
the exclusive right to sanction marriage(the law of divorce, in force
duringthe Republicanperiod,was abolished).In some ways, Franco's
ideological model shows notable similaritieswith the fundamentalist
models of some presentMuslim countriesthat
or para-fundamentalist
apply religious law as the civil law of the state, imposed on all the
citizens and not only those who profess the official religion. For the
authoritiesof Franco's regime, Catholicism offered formulas of ideological dominion which, being anchoredin tradition,counted on the
strengthof inertia for its social acceptance.
18
The anticlerical violence in Spain poured out a stream of horror in the first
weeks of the civil war (1936) with hundredof priests, nuns and monks killed, a sort
of victims of substitutionin a political violence that used religion as a scapegoat:
see J. Caro Baroja,Introducci6na una historia contempordneadel anticlericalismo
espanol, Madrid:Istmo 1980, or E. La Parraand M. Suarez (eds.), El anticlericalismo espaiol contempordneo,Madrid:Biblioteca Nueva 1998.
100
Among the many aspects of religious violence in Franco's Spain,

the one carried out against those who did not profess the Catholic
faith is exemplary.Until the year 1967 non-Catholicscould not worship publicly, and private worship was severely limited. NationalCatholicism,by claiming that the official religion was the only true
one, definedmembersof otherChristiangroupsand of otherreligions
as suspect of carryingout illicit or criminal activities.
The key position given to the Catholic Church,and which derived
from the legitimacy it gave to the Franco'sregime, was redefinedfollowing the big changes introducedby the Second Vatican Council
and by the new legal democratic framework.Today, Spain has no
official religion and the treatmentof religion in the constitution of
1978 is not very differentfrom the majorityof the Europeancountries (even though it reflects the privileged characterof Catholicism).
But a suspicious attituderemains even today among some Catholic
leaders and active members of the Churchtowards the motives and
goals of membersof other religions or towardsother ways of understanding Christianity;this is particularlyevident with regard to the
moreaggressiveproselytizinggroups.It is even claimedthatCatholicism
should have a clearly privileged position in distinction to other religious groups (a position which is not unconnectedwith the attempts
of the Spanish Catholic lobby to put pressure on the European
Constitutionto reflect the Christianidentity of Europe). This claim
of privilege takes us to anotherof the areas of analysis of violence
and religion that must be dealt with in some detail.
Privilege and Violence
Privilege generatesviolence in two directions:the violence exerted
by the privileged and the violence exertedby those who are not privileged and who desire to become so or who respond to the violence
exerted by the former.
The first relationshipto be considered is the privilege of human
beings over animals,includingthe violence of sacrifice.Humanbeings
place themselves in a position in which they are legitimate killers,
101
either as huntersor as performersof sacrifice, whetherby having an

imaginarypermissionfrom the protectivespiritsof animalsor a symbolic right to make an offering that will please the gods. Unless the
animalis completelydestroyed,which is not often the case, the sacrifice
is, however, usually followed by the sharing of the animal remains.
Even though the gods are the recipients of the offering, the edible
parts (as exemplified in the Greek myth about Prometheus'deception) are given to the humanparticipants.By this process of symbolic
inversion,religious violence resultsin humansconsumingcollectively
what in many culturesis an exceptional componentof the diet - one
that can be consumed only if religion has sanctionedthe death of the
animal. The sacrificial rite is generally followed by a celebration:
social cohesion is strengthenedaroundfood, and the identity of those
who have a place in the feast is symbolized. At the same time, the
animalsacrificeprovidesa model for the acceptablesheddingof blood,
confirmingthe privileged statusof gods in regardto humansand animals, but also affirminga hierarchicalposition of human privilege
over the animal transformedinto a victim. In fact, this hierarchycan
be extrapolatedso as to producea furthergradationbetween humans,
thus establishingothertypes of privileges.Regardingbloody sacrifices
we must also take into considerationthe somewhat exceptional type
of sacrifice in which the human being takes the place of the animal
andis subjectedto the violence of death.Whetherthe victim is selected
because of its special value, as in the almost mythological Indian
purushamedhain which a brahmanor a kshatriya must die; or the
sacrifice is believed to be the highest means of purification,as in the
Greekpharmak6sritualmentionedabove, andin the burningof heretics
by the Inquisition;or the sacrifice is used as the symbolic axis of an
unstoppableaggression that makes up a form of world order,as conceived by the Aztecs - the sacrificeof a humanbeing constitutesan
extreme form of religious violence.19Analyzing as human sacrifice
19 See A. Brelich, Presuppostidel sacrificio umano,Roma: Ed. dell'Ateneo 1967,
for a general theory of human sacrifice. The Aztec human sacrifice is remarkable
102
indiscriminate terrorist attacks such as those carried out in New York

or Madrid can prove instructive, for, ultimately, these attacks exemplify the privileged status of the killers, imbued with the certainty of
the support of their faith with regard to their victims, who are deidentified, "animalized," and slaughtered.
A second area of violence is the one shown by the privilege of gender, a structural violence that justifies the subordinate position of
women. This can be based either on religious accounts that defend
the precedence of males, or on rituals of segregation and subordination. Such violence is present even in societies in which special care
is taken to deactivate the mechanisms that create gender inequalities,
but in which the privilege of males is still maintained in the religious
sphere. Examples of this can be found in the exercise of religious
leadership in the Catholic, Orthodox Judaic and Islamic faiths and in
that of full monastic consecration, as in Theravada Buddhism. Such
violence can even result in death, as in the Indian sati ritual, the
funeral sacrifice in which the wife must accompany her husband, joining him on his death journey (but never the other way around). This
last example demonstrates that the subtlety of the dominance and persuasion mechanisms used on women, achieved by demanding the
fulfillment of religious tradition and by adorning mythological accounts
(and by the polysemy of the concept of dharma),20 can result in the
renouncement of life. In various parts of the world, such structurally
gendered violence leads to women not being allowed to engage in
activities considered to be masculine, the best-known cases being
because of the cannibalisticimplicationsof some rituals:see Y. Gonzalez Torres,El

sacrificio humano entre los Mexicas, Mdxico: Fondo de CulturaEcon6mica 1985,
esp. 282-95; for the ritual cannibalism among the Mayan culture:M.I. Najera, El
don de la sangre en el equilibrio c6smico: El sacrificio y el autosacrificio sangriento entre los antiguos mayas, Mexico: UNAM 1987, esp. 206-14.
20 The sacrifice of the goddess Sati was used as a prototypeof the ritual constituting an ideal behavioralpatternaccording to the specific dharma of the woman,
as noted by G. Flood, An Introductionto Hinduism, Cambridge:University Press
1996, 66; see the valuable study of J.S. Hawley (ed.), Sati, the Blessing and the
Curse: The Burning of Wivesin India, Oxford: University Press 1994.
TheoreticalReflectionson Violence and Religion
103
found in certain Islamic countries. To varying degrees, this exemplifies the privilege of male over female typical of societies in which
the desire for unrestrainedpopulation growth (a characteristic of
expanding agriculturalcommunities) requires a segregation of roles
in orderto ensure the women's devotion to reproduction,something
that may be achieved by reinforcingthe symbolic values of motherhood based on religion.21Along the same lines, religions that have
emerged from expanding agriculturalsocieties emphaticallyjustify
the repressionof sexual optionsotherthanthe heterosexualone, resorting to the violence of condemnation,prohibitionor repression.22
A third component of religious privilege is that of age. This form
of privilege, attested in many social groups, can take the form of a
subjugationsanctionedby religion acting as the vehicle of tradition.
This includes violence by adults towards children and adolescents
and, occasionally,by the oldest memberstowardsyoungerones. Such
privilege is particularlyimportantin so-called age class societies, in
which the key to personal status lies in the fulfillment of a series of
rites of passage. Rituals are thus essential for the identity and perception of the group and can show its most violent face in rituals of
intensificationsuch as initiation rites. The list of humiliations,mutilations, and aggressions that may be inflicted on those being initiated
is very long,23and can be used as a good criterion to evaluate the
21
See the analysis proposed in F. Diez de Velasco, Introducci6na la historia de

las religiones, 601ff.
22
Nevertheless, a wide range of religions offer excellent examples of attitudes
that are neither repressive nor violent against different sexual options, as well as
positions that provide much less supportfor the masculineprivileges than those that
we have just seen; for example, the exposition in R.C. Trexler,Sex and Conquest:
Gendered Violence, Political Order and the European Conquest of the Americas,
Cambridge:Polity Press 1995, esp. ch. 5, on the clash of models of masculinity
between non-Europeansand Europeansin America.
23 See the massive amountof informationincluded in the Human Relations Area
Files database (under the Outline of CulturalMaterials, subject code 881, puberty
and initiation);or the general reflectionsin M. Bloch, Prey into Hunter: The Politics
of Religious Experience, Cambridge:University Press 1992 (the French edition has
a more telling title: La violence du religieux, Paris: Odile Jacob 1997).
104
amount of violence acceptable to each society. With religion being

one of the areas in which acceptablesocial behavior is reflected,the
degree of violence displayed in the initiationrites may be correlated
with the violence exerted in social practice.In this case, violence can
be understoodas a powerful means of making the initiationrite into
a peak experience that, by breaking down the modes of perception
and creating a new personality in a new position within the group,
reinforces the value of membershipand, hence, of social cohesion.
A fourth area of privilege is that of number,whereby groups are
classified into majorities and minorities and which can have very
significanteffects. An illustrationof this can be found in the Hispanic
area:between the eighth and the thirteenthcenturies,the position of
privilege of Muslim majoritiesand Christianminoritieswas reversed
on several occasions, which led to importantconsequences in terms
of the violence sufferedby the minorities.The majoritygroups tend
to claim a privilege on the basis of being in possession of the keys
to the symbolic capitalof the society at large.The minoritiesmay feel
inclined to respondin a way that reinforcestheir belief of being "the
chosen ones." Such a process of identityreinforcementof the minority
can take violent forms. In Westerncountries,the conversionto fundamentalismof Muslim immigrantswho were not particularlyreligious
in their countries of origin, may be partly explained by this majority-minority dynamic. The shock of being a minority in the newly
adoptedcountrymay lead to violence as an escape from this contradictoryposition. Similarly,the violence of millennialistand messianic
groups may be explained as a result of dissatisfactionwith the status
of minority. Extremely violent actions such as those of the Aum
Shinriky6or the followers of Heaven's Gate may be partly analyzed
in this perspective. In all these cases we find differences (cognitive
discords or contradictions)between the majorityand the minority in
regardto the perceptionof privilege. However, the usual directionof
violence channeled by religious argumentsgoes from the majority
towardsthe minority,a good example being the persecutionsof Jews
or Sikhs. Furthermore,the minority generally tends to increase its
own expressionsof identityand to breakthe social ties with the major-
105
ity ratherthanto use overt violence. The minoritycan defend its identity andavoid being assimilatedby the majorityby meansof endogamy
or the refusalto sharemeals with outsiders.This, however,may exacerbatea social change in the minoritygroup and give the majorityan
excuse to resort to violence. A manifest tendency of communitiesin
the past to seal themselves off with religious arguments,and by practicing segregation in various forms (education, living space, relationships, etc.), is still alive today, particularlyin India, but also in
the United States. In times of crisis, such practices may provide an
additionalfactorfavoringviolence between majoritiesand minorities.
One aspect of privilege has to do with the exercise of leadership
and its religious foundation.The rituals of sovereignty may display
a sublimationof tyrannicalpower thatuses religion to attainan inversion of meanings.Thus, the violence thatis inherentin politicalpower
can be considereda practicalapplicationon Earthof the Cosmic Order
established by the gods. Just like the gods, the sovereigns are fearsome lords who punish, their reasons not being questioned; moreover, the violence they exert is not regardedas such but as a just and
necessary maneuver of equilibrium. Just like the kings, the gods
demand to be feared, for they are the lords of hosts, of victories, of
violence. As figures of power, monarchshave domains of expression
thatcan be copied from those who most appropriatelysymbolize legitimate inequality:the figure of the father,of the ancestor,of the god.
However, not all societies have opted for a model of pyramidalleadership, where the symbolic resources are concentrated around the
figureof a monarchsendowed with supernaturalcharacteristics,a pattern so clearly illustratedby the early civilizations. In more horizontal social models, leadershipmay be more dilutedand may sometimes
require more complex mechanisms of consensus; but we must not
forget that the privilege of dominant groups and the possibility of
using violence throughreligious pretextsremains,althoughthe exertion of privilege may not reach the levels of arbitrarinessfound in
pyramidalsocial structures.Nevertheless there is both models a form
of violence that originates from the privilege of the elite, i.e., where
inequalityemerges from the assignationof status. On the otherhand,
106
we also have to take into account small-scale societies based on the

acquisition of status, in which inequality and privilege are transmitted through gender, age, or position in the parental structure and other
areas. These privileges also generate a violence justified by religion,
channeled through ritual as in the examples of initiation rites mentioned above.
The highest degree of privilege of a human being over another is
the institution of slavery, present in many societies and justified by a
wide range of religious arguments. The discussion on whether the
inhabitants of the New World were humans was at the time a noteworthy subject of debate, in which religion was in favor of both sides,
and the enslavement and exploitation of the native Americans lay
behind the opposing interests that were expressed in those religious
terms. The development of models mixing racism, religion, and science in the United States in the years before the War of Secession is
representative of this attitude. Black people were portrayed as a different species from whites and were, therefore, not included in the
Christian fraternity as descendants from Adam and Eve.
Occasionally, religion provides the means for an elitist specialization
of the religious privilege of the violent act. Groups of sacred warriors have existed in very different societies, from the Aztecs to China
and Japan, from the Templars to the Hashishin; but perhaps the most
systematized model for such communities is found in Vedic India,
where the caste of the kshatriya held the theoretical privilege of the
violent act, the act of inflicting death in a social acceptable way.24
The analysis of the Indian rakshasa marriage(based on the kidnappingof the

bride and being prototypical for the kshatriya, the warrior caste) proposed by
G. Dum6zil, Mariages indoeuropeens,Paris:Payot 1979, 3145, seems an excellent
example of the structuraluse of violence in Indo-Europeanculture (embodied and
symbolized in the group of the warriors); for a more general survey see also
G. Dumezil, Heur et malheur du guerrier: Aspects mythiquesde la fonction guerriere chez les Indo-europeens,2nd ed., Paris: Flammarion1985. It is also interesting to note the religiousbackgroundof the training(mentaland physical)in a number
of warriorcommunitiesattestedin societies all over the world.
24
107
As regardsthe elite, I would like to point out a type of privilege

based on origin which appearsespecially clearly in colonial or paracolonial structuresof dominance.The subordinationof the periphery
to the center implies at the same time the religious pre-eminenceof
the centerand its representatives.The SpanishandPortugueseempires
offer good examples of such privilege, given to priests and missionaries coming from the metropolis. The religion they displayed was
anothermeans of manifestingthe center's dominanceover the periphery, a dominance that became increasingly violent as the demand to
abandonnon-Christianforms of faith became stronger.This privilege
of origin can be seen in the majorityof missions resultingfrom religious expansion, from Sanghamitta and Mahinda in Sri Lanka to
Francisco Javier in India; from the multitudesof Christianmissionaries in Portuguese, French, and English colonial territoriesto the
members of Muslim Sufi brotherhoodsin sub-SaharanAfrica and
CentralAsia. In today's post-colonial world, such center-periphery
relationshipsstill exist, althoughthe respective parametersmay now
be found in different places. Hence, we find this type of privilege
being accordedto Arabimams, economicallybackedby SaudiArabia,
across the Islamic world, or in countries with Muslim minorities;to
NorthAmericanmissionaries(be they Mormons,Jehovah'sWitnesses,
or other several evangelic groups across the Third World);or, even
today,to SpanishCatholicmissionariesin LatinAmerica.They sometimes put forwardan interpretationof religion that,being foreign, creates conflict and may result in violence based on difference. The
colonial pressure sanctionedby religion, used as a weapon of ideological mutation,has not only succeeded in generatingconversions,
but also, at times, in generatingviolent responses such as revitalization movements of a messianic or millennialist nature.The situation
of Judaismin the last stages of the Hellenistic Period and the impact
of the Roman Empire (the context of the appearanceof Christianity)
are representativeof this type of situation.25
25 For
examplethe "WarScroll"from Qumran,documentingthe desirefor a violent
108
In additionto institutionalizedviolence, legitimatedby bureaucratic

religious authorities,charismaticleadershipalso provides representative cases of massive violence. It originates in the privilege of religious interpretationheld by the leader, the sole person whose word
is deemed indisputable.Despite the sensationalismand the religiocentric motives of some of the literaturethat deals with these issues,
it is a fact that a very high level of toleranceof violence exists among
certainminoritygroups,leading,in some cases, to mass suicides. This
was the case with the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten
Commandmentsof God, or with the People's Temple of Reverend
Jim Jones.
Religious violence is not always physical; the fear of witchcraftin
a wide range of differentsocieties is an example of this. In these situations, there is a fear of a particularperson with imaginarypowers
that can set off a supernaturalaggression, but who may also be the
object of counter-violence, this time a physical one, by those who
feel attacked.The examplesfromAfricaandOceaniaare well-known.26
Nor must we forget the pre-modem witch-huntsin Europe and the
United States, which had a special preferencefor punishing women.
Religion and gendered violence converge once again, limiting the
portion of symbolic capital that women in these communities could
have by violently punishing those who, even marginally, dared to
approachthe domains of privilege that were exclusive to men.
Anotherprivilegeof an elitist kindis thatof sanctity,whetherascetic
or based on martyrdom.Self-aggressionand sufferingare two important ingredientsin many ascetic practices.The symbolical strengthof
the privilege of martyrdomis a significant factor to be taken into
religious resolution of the struggle between Good and Evil, imagined as the battle
of two armies,the Sons of Lightagainstthe followersof Belial, the Princeof Darkness:
see F. Garcia Martinez, The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts in
English, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill 1996, 95ff.
26
See, for example P.J. Steward and A. Strathem, Witchcraft,Sorcery,Rumors,
and Gossip, Cambridge:University Press 2004 (esp. ch. 7).
TheoreticalReflections on Violenceand Religion
109
account when trying to understandacts such as the 9/11 attacks in

New York. To sacrifice oneself is to be part of an elite, even if the
violence that leads to martyrdomis, in the peculiar symbolical inversion created by the language of Islamist terrorism,simultaneously
produced and suffered by these so-called martyrs. Another exemplification from a theoreticalpoint of view is the Jain ascetic practice of the sallekhana,a characteristic
re-dimensioningof the perception
In
contrast to the Jain non-violence towards people or
of violence.
animals (which seems incompatiblewith the Jain involvement with
power in the past), extremeviolence in the form of self-inflicteddeath
(fasting to death) is valued above all; in the ideology of this religious
groupthis type of death it is not considereda suicide, nor even a violent act. This semantic inversion of violence and non-violence is to
some extent comparable to the discourse on suicide made by the
Heaven's Gate group (presented on the web pages of the group).
Collective suicide, which we judge as a violent death, was deemed
by them to be a joyful act of overcoming oneself and a transitionto
a higher dimension. Our instrumentsof analysis are here confronted
with a hopeless methodologicalstumblingblock. If, on the one hand,
it is permissibleto ask ourselves whetherour perceptionof these acts
as violent may be only an ethnocentricprejudice,we must be able,
on the otherhand, to judge violence withoutbeing bound by the selfrepresentationsand worldviewspropoundedby the religions we study.
If we were to adopt, without a hint of suspicion, the mythological,
symbolic, and theological justifications given for clitoridectomyand
othermutilationsof women's genitals,27nothingof what is being analyzed in these pages could be understoodas violence, to the point
that even forced conversion would be seen as offering to others the
right path to salvation.
For instance in the exemplary Dogon narrationtransmittedby M. Griaule,

Conversationswith Ogotemmeli:An Introductionto Dogon Religious Ideas, Oxford:
University Press 1977 (or. 1966), sp. ch. 24.
27
110
Differenceand Violence
There is a type of religious violence that uses differenceas its preferred vehicle of expression: that which results from not accepting
the rules of cohabitationin areas where there is religious diversity.
For various reasons having to do with identity,power and privilege,
certaingroups may want to hold a pre-eminentposition that offends
others. In this regard,borderingzones are especially sensitive. Such
zones are markedby a stronginteractionbetween differentideological,
social, economic, and cultural models, with confronting identities,
clashes of power and privilege, but also with a rich mixtureof people
and cultures.Frontierreligionsproducehigh doses of violence but also
creativity and change: the Sikh synthesis is an excellent illustration.
The Hispanic area provides another good example. The Iberian
Peninsulahas constantlybeen a frontierregion from the time of the
ancient colonization processes at the beginning of the second millenniumBCEuntil the present.Indeed,there were momentsduringthe
Middle Ages when the methods of internal control of the Hispanic
territorywere considered by many Christians as a crusade and by
many Muslims as ajihad; at othertimes the cohabitationof the members of the two religions was more pacific.28In fact, the Hispanic
imperialperiodof the ModemAge can be also understoodas an extension of this frontierinto Europe,the Mediterraneanregion, America,
and Asia.
Furthermore,the Hispanic case has interestingfeaturesthat differentiate it from another bordering zone that has also been part of
an expansive process on a global level: North America. The North
American frontier, built with the resources of modern industry, is
28 The "three
religions"or "threecultures"in medieval Spain is a motif that sails
between the stereotypesof an idyllic or a violent coexistence: see the poetic picture
of M.R. Menocal, The Ornamentof the World:How Muslims,Jews and Christians
created a Cultureof Tolerancein Medieval Spain, New York:Back Bay 2003, and
the perhaps excessive deconstruction proposed by S. Fanjul, La quimera de AlAndalus, Madrid:Siglo XXI 2004, esp. chs. 1 and 7.
111
based on the respect for differencein the religious domain. The Hispanic imperialborder,on the contrary,was built on the denial of religious difference;it was a rarehistoricalproject, and one of the most
noteworthyexamples of the failure to fulfill the illusion of a unique
universal religion.
The unity thatthe Catholickings aimed to achieve by violence was
to be kept in place by religion. The priests controlledthe consciences
and the behavior of the faithful in the social and personal domains
with a high degree of homogeneity, creating a kind of ideological
membranethat supportedthe system and joined together disparate
lands.29Religious unity was applied so successfully in the colonies
that even today the regions of America, Asia, and Africa that were
once dominatedby the Spanish and Portuguesemonarchiesare still
largely characterizedby their Catholic background.This was a system based on a high degree of violence against those who did not
accept this religious unity and which created a new frontierof ideas
and beliefs. It transformedthe enemy by eliminatingthose who were
different with the help of the colonial armies as much as by the
Inquisition.The last attemptto strengthenthe link of identitybetween
the concepts of the Spanish and the Catholic, which took place in the
Francoperiod, also took the form of a religious frontieragainst atheist communism as well as against religious difference.
These attemptsrepresentthe definitive failure of the effortto eliminate difference, a project that since the establishmentof democracy
in Spain is no longer viable. The reason for this is that democratic
systems are characterizedby a legal frameworkthat, at least in theory, protects its citizens from discrimination,including that based on
religion. They are founded on the fundamental,modem-age concept
of equality before the law, which created new preconditionsfor the
This was done by creating a folklore of the acceptable violence in words and
symbols, the best example being perhapsthe so-called "apostleof Spain,"Santiago
Matamoros(Saint James, the "Moor killer"):a national symbol redefinedin recent
times, when the statuesof SantiagoMatamorosare being removedfrom the churches
because the iconographyseems unacceptablein today's multireligiousSpain.
29
112
development of religious diversity. In this context of equal rights

before the law, religions are allowed to compete in a system that, for
all practicalpurposes,can be called multireligiousand which is equivalent to what in a wider culturalsense is known as multiculturalism.
Multireligiosityis essentially differentfrom the non-moder systems
of religious diversity, in that power, identity, and privilege are not
reservedfor one particularreligion. In this situation,all the religions
thatexist in a specific religious field have, in principle,the same legitimate right to manage their respective portions of symbolic power
and to compete in offering their services. No religion can be persecuted nor can its developmentbe impededas long as it does not break
the law. This equality of religions, supportedby the force of the law,
guaranteesthe right to be differentand deactivatesa large partof the
most violentcomponentsof confrontationsbetweenreligions.However,
this does not completely erase the conflicts, since in every society
discrepanciesstill exist, to a larger or smaller extent, between what
is legal and what is socially acceptable,between the theoreticalframework backed by laws and the enormous variability of situations in
which difference is experienced in religious terms. Accordingly, in
orderto analyze violence and religion in the present world, we must
also take into considerationthe conflictive consequencesthat the creation of differentmultireligiousenvironmentsmight have.
Multireligiosityhas three main features:tradition,conversion and
immigration,and all three can generate violence. The traditionfactor protects some groups, enabling them to demand privileges over
the others based on the number of members, deep historical roots,
and a greatercontributionto identity. This factor stands in conflict
with the laws that favor theoreticalequality since it favors the particularsocial weight of certainreligions so thatthey, even if they lack
official status,are neverthelessable to demand,andmay attain,greater
prerogatives,supportand funding. This happens almost everywhere
in the world and only some countries,such as Franceand the United
States, are exceptions by virtue of their efforts to avoid these kinds
of privileges.
The conversion element can be especially conflictive in settings
113
where certain religions are deeply rooted and the converts choose
faiths that the religious majority perceive as controversial. Latin
America offers examples of violence perpetratedby Catholic majorities towardsgroups of converts to Evangelical Christianity,although
there are also cases of the opposite (notably,Rios Montt's actions in
Guatemala).In many cases, the denial of the right to religious difference presupposesthe denial of identity and ideological discrepancies. This is how the image of the "sect" member takes shape: the
convert is seen as the victim of deceit and needs to be broughtback
to the "rightpath"throughacceptableand legitimate use of violence.
Immigrationis perhaps the field of adaptationto multireligiosity
where violence is expressed more openly. For immigrants,the difference in the religions professed is also a sign that they belong to a
cultural minority. The shock caused by the uprooting process (the
immigrant'ssyndrome)can lead to the reinforcementof the signs of
religious identity30in ways that may ultimately produce unrest and
violence. Indeed, without this immigration factor, it is difficult to
understanda "frontierdrama"such as the March 11, 2004 attacksin
Madrid:the culturalshock expresseditself in some immigrants'inability to accept a multireligious world (which degrades Islam from its
position as the only truereligion), and this in turnprovidedthe pawns
who were ready to sacrifice hundredsof innocent people to satisfy
the desires of the geostrategists of Islamist terrorismwho planned
these attacks.
The majorityperceptionof immigrantsprofessinga differentreligion
may also resultin a conflictive and hostile environmentand in a rejection of the immigrants'religion,regardedas foreign and unacceptable.
In the face of this refusal, immigrantsmay tend to strengthentheir
religiousidentitymarksby choosing the most radicalor fundamentalist
interpretationsof their religion and by resorting to violence. The
Spanishcase offers, again, a range of significantexamples:difficulties
created by neighbors or authoritiesto Muslim communities wanting
30 The
example of Sayyid Qutb is interesting in this regard;see his autobiography, Milestones, Chicago: Kazi Publications 1993 (first published 1964).
114
to build mosques in certain areas; difficulties imposed on the education of the children of immigrants in certain schools; or violent
responses to social problems.31All these examples reflect how far
removed the theoretical frameworkof equality is from reality and
how close the Spanishsituationis to the bordermodel. The criticisms
against certain stereotyped aspects of Islam -for example, those
relatedto genderdiscriminationin the shari'a, activatethe memories
of many Spanish women who only thirtyyears ago could be imprisoned on charges of adultery.The violence arising from the adaptation to multireligiosityin Spainis nonethelessat presentnot comparable
in intensity to that which sporadically erupts between Hindus and
Muslims in India, and which constitutesan extremeillustrationof the
concept of borderreligions that I have proposed. The manipulation
of religious differences and identities in the political arena of the
world's largest democracy makes inter-religiousviolence one more
resourcefor obtainingvotes, in a game of differencesthat sometimes
converts a usually mundaneconfrontationof parties into struggle of
almost cosmic dimensions, endowed with strong symbolic and religious elements.
Having reachedthis point, I would like to sum up by making some
final considerations.In the post-industrialsocieties characterizedby
a multireligiousand globalized dynamic,the concepts of identity and
difference in the area of religion are not necessarily opposites. The
wide range of identities, from local to global, present in the modem
world allow for a combination of identity and difference that does
not need to lead to violence. On the other hand, while the capacity
of the religion-power binomial for creating violence is presently
decreasing,that of the religion-privilegeone may last longer and may
producemore violence. In conclusion, by joining observationson the
past and the present we have shown how religion, in combinations
with identity, power, privilege, and difference, acts as an ingredient
that multiplies and increases violence. Religion, however, does not
31
See, for example, the report of a NGO interested in xenophobic attitudes in

Spain:S.O.S.Racismo.Informeanual sobreel racismoen el estadoespaiol, Barcelona:
Icaria 2004, esp. 255-86.
115
in itself have to be a cause of violence, as has been claimed in some

forums;rather,religion is a resourceused in settings where the main
causes of events are of a geostrategic, economic, or political nature.
Therefore,the solution to violence cannot be simply to eliminate or
de-socialize religion. A formula within our reach is that of cohabiting with difference:learningto live in a progressivelymultireligious
and multiculturalworld respecting the richness of diversity,32while
at the same time seeking some minimally consensual points of view
which will allow for a life in common without having to resort to
violence.33
Facultad de Geograffa e Historia
DIEZDEVELASCO
FRANCISCO
Campus de Guajara
Universidadde La Laguna
38205 La Laguna
Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
fradive@ull.es
32
A central question in the debate concerns the constructionof a multicultural

(and multireligious) concept of justice that will overcome the violent implications
of multiculturalism;see J.T. Levy, TheMulticulturalismof Fear, Oxford:University
Press 2000, esp. chs. 1 and 8; also W. Kymlicka,MulticulturalCitizenship:A Liberal
Theory of Minority Rights, Oxford: University Press 1995. It seems, nevertheless,
that Eurocentricprejudicesare difficult to eradicatein the reflectionon justice; see,
R. Sennett,Respect in a Worldof Inequality,New York:Norton 2003; W. Kymlicka,
Politics in the Vernacular:Nationalism, Multiculturalismand Citizenship,Oxford:
University Press 2001, esp. ch. 7; D. Schnapper,La relation a l'autre: Au coeur de
la pensee sociologique, Paris: Gallimard1998, esp. ch. XII.
33 One of the challenges to religions, in particularin the forums of inter-religious
dialogue, is thatof being able to build bridgesthatbreakviolence by means of attaining a consensual ethic that devalues aggression;see H. Kiing, Global Responsibility:
In Search of a New WorldEthic, New York:Crossroad1991, and also the final documentsof variousinter-religiousforums,especially the World'sReligions Parliaments
(despite the problemsof translatingthese words into effective practice);also the analyzes of A. Etzioni: TheNew Golden Rule:Communityand Moralityin a Democratic
Society,New Cork:Basic Books 1998, esp. ch. 8; and FromEmpireto Community:A
NewApproachto InternationalRelations,New York-London:
PalgraveMacmillan2004.
FRUITFUL DEATH: MIRCEA ELIADE AND ERNST JUNGER

ON HUMAN SACRIFICE, 1937-1945
CRISTIANOGROTTANELLI
Summary
Mircea Eliade, the writerand historianof religions, and ErnstJiinger,the hero of
the GreatWar,novelist, and essayist, met in the 1950s and co-edited twelve issues
of the periodicalAntaios. Before they met and cooperated,however, and while the
Germanwriterknew aboutEliade from theircommon friend,CarlSchmitt,they both
dealt with the subject of human sacrifice. Eliade began to do so in the thirties, and
his interest in that theme was at least in part an aspect of his political activism on
behalf of the Legion of the Archangel Michael, or the Iron Guard,the nationalistic
and anti-Semitic movement lead by Coreliu Codreanu.Sacrificial ideology was a
centralaspect of the Legion's political theories,as well as of the practiceof its members. After the Iron Guardwas outlawed by its allies, and many of its membershad
been killed, and while the Romanian regime of Marshal Ion Antonescu was still
fighting alongside the National Socialist regime in the Second World War, Eliade
turnedto other aspects of sacrificialideology. In 1939 he wrote the play Iphigenia,
celebratingAgamemnon'sdaughteras a willing victim whose death made the Greek
conquest of Troy possible; and as a member of the regime's diplomatic service in
Lisbon he publisheda book in Portugueseon Romanianvirtues (1943), in which he
presentedwhat he called TwoMyths of RomanianSpirituality,extolling his nation's
readinessto die throughthe descriptionof the sacrificialtraditionsof MasterManole
and of the Ewe Lamb (Mioritza).Jtinger'sattitudeto sacrifice ran along lines that
were less traditional:possibly already while serving as a Wehrmachtofficer, in his
pamphletDer Friede, the Germanwriter attributedsacrificial status to all the victims of the Second World War, soldiers, workmen, and unknowing innocents, and
saw their death as the ransomof a peace "withoutvictory or defeat."In this article,
the sacrificialideologies of the two intellectualsare comparedin orderto reflectupon
the complex interplaybetween traditionalreligious themes, more or less freely reinterpretedand transformed,political power, and violent conflict, in an age of warfare markedby fascisms and by the terriblemassacre some refer to by the name of
an ancient Greek sacrificialpractice.

NUMEN,Vol. 52
Fruitful Death
117
Welches soll nun das HeilswortunsererBetrachtungsein?

Es lautet: Der Krieg muss fir alle Fruchtbringen.
ErnstJunger,Der Friede
1. Eliade, Jiinger and Human Sacrifice

Before they met and cooperated,and duringthe Second WorldWar,
while they were fighting,or working,on the same side, MirceaEliade
and Ernst Jtingerboth wrote on the theme "religion and violence"
and on a specific aspect of that theme that seems to be its most typical expression: human sacrifice. For the Romanianintellectual, the
subject was a central one alreadyduringthe thirties, as he became a
very active sympathizerof the violently nationalisticand anti-Semitic
Legion of the ArchangelMichael, or the Iron Guard,and it remained
central for him throughoutthe war and later. For Jiinger,it emerged
duringthe forties, as a specific version of the theme of death in battle that had been the Leitmotivof his first books and essays since his
experiences in the Foreign Legion (1912) and in the Great War of
1914-1918. In the present article, I shall presentthe respective positions of Eliade and Jtingeron the subject;then I shall comparethese
positions, and I shall reflect on their meaning in the general context
of the WorldWarand of its massacres.In particular,I shall show how
both positions are connected to a subject that has rightly given rise
to an ocean of discussion: the massacreof the EuropeanJews by the
NationalSocialistregime. In the light of the treatmentof the sacrificial
theme by these two authors,it is perhapspossible to contributewith
a few modest reflections to a better meditationon that immense and
terribleevent, which was, and still is, often interpretedas a sacrifice,
or at least as sacred, precisely because it was tremendum.
2. Mircea Eliade's Play Iphigenia (1939-1941)
In 1937, Mircea Eliade dedicatedno less than three articles to the
two Iron Guardmartyrs,Ion Motza and Vasile Marin,killed in Spain
where they had joined the troops fighting for Francisco Franco, and
118
Cristiano Grottanelli
solemnly buried in Romania on February 11, 1937.1 In the dramatic

article published in Vremea, the magazine of the extreme right, openly
favourable to the Iron Guard, on January 24, 1937, Eliade stated that
Ion Motza's death was full of profound meaning. It was, he wrote,
"a sacrifice destined to bear fruit, to strengthen Christianity, to energize the youth," because Motza "was impatient to sacrifice himself,
to teach his generation a way of life made up of heroism and selfdenial."2 According to his biographer, Florin Turcanu,3it was Motza's
death, and not the assassination of "the Captain" Comeliu Codreanu,
the leader of the Legion of the Archangel Michael killed by the
Romanian police in the night between November 29 and November
30, 1938, of which Eliade thought as he wrote Iphigenia, his first and
most controversial play, in the late autumn4 of 1939.
In the second volume of his autobiography, Les moissons du solstice, Eliade mentions the play:
At the end of the fall of 1939, I wrote my first play, Iphigenia, and I submitted it to the readingcommittee of the National Theatre,who accepted it. But I
never saw it on stage. It was played at the beginning of 1941, and, in spite of
the excellent staging and publicity, was unsuccessful. I was told that the play
lacked "dramaticnerve," and this was probably true. If Iphigenia has some
merit, it is of a differentkind.5
Turcanu tells us it took Eliade only four days to write the play, as
the author himself once stated.6According to Eliade's biographer, this
FlorinTurcanu,Mircea Eliade: Le prisonnier de 1'histoire,Paris:La D6couverte
2003, 266-67. Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine, Cioran, Eliade, lonesco: L'oubli du
fascisme, Paris: Presses Universitairesde France 2002, 186-88. It seems obvious
that the precise date on which Eliade wrote the play points to, or denies, the connection between Iphigenia and Codreanu'sdeath.
2 See
Turcanu,Mircea Eliade, 267.
3 Ibid. 298.
4
Or, accordingto Laignel-Lavastine,Cioran, Eliade, lonesco, 197, in the month
of December.It seems obvious that the precise date on which Eliade wrote the play
points to, or disproves, a connection between Iphigenia and Codreanu'sdeath.
5 MirceaEliade,MemoireII (1937-1960): Les moissonsdu solstice,Paris:Gallimard
1988, 58.
6 Turcanu,Mircea Eliade, 298,
quoting Eliade's correspondence:Europa,Asia,
America, vol. I, Bucharest:Humanitas1999, 198.
FruitfulDeath
119
is a sign of the feverish state of mind of the Romanianintellectual,

expressed also by the forebodings of death that fill the text, and by
the way in which Iphigenia,the young daughterof king Agamemnon,
ecstatically accepts to become the victim of the human sacrifice that
shall allow the Achaean fleet to sail towardsTroy.AlexandraLaignelLavastine points out that Eliade had been arrested on July 14,
1938, because of his political activities in favour of the Legion of the
Archangel Michael, after that organizationwas suppressedby king
Carol II, and that he finally returnedhome on November 12 of that
year, after having spent four months in a concentrationcamp.7As a
consequence of this, Eliade was forbiddenfrom April 1938 to April
1940 to teach at the University of Bucharest,where he had been the
assistantof ProfessorNae Ionescu.Ionescu,who had also been arrested
duringthe winter of 1938 as an influentialsympathizerof the Legion
of the Archangel Michael, was detained in the same camp until the
autumnof 1939, after which he returnedto his villa in Baneasa on
the outskirtsof Bucharest,where he died of a heart attackon March
15, 1940.
Iphigenia is describedby Laignel-Lavastineas a text producedby
Eliade in a period during which it was impossible for him to speak
out clearly, as he had before he was arrested,and to express his sympathy for the Iron Guard.This is why he used a more metaphoricdiscourse (un langage crypte, plus metaphorique),as in Iphigenia. "In
this three-actplay," she explains,
one finds all the ideological themes thatwere dearto him - above all the glorificationof sacrificeand of patrioticdeath- aptly woven togetherin a theatrical
text that had a priori no direct connection with the Europeanand Romanian
present.Many passages repeat,almost word for word, the contentsof the articles
Eliade had dedicatedin 1937 to the "sacrifice"of Ion Motza and Vasile Marin.8
To these statements,Laignel-Lavastineadds furtherdata and observations. The play, she writes, was reprintedin 1951 by a publishing
house run by Romanianrefugees in Argentina,and the new edition,
7 Lavastine, Cioran, Eliade, lonesco, 185-201.

8 Ibid. 197-98.
120
containing a previously unpublished preface by Eliade, dated August

1951, was dedicated to two friends: Haig Acterian, who campaigned
for the Iron Guard together with Eliade during the Romanian political elections in December 1937, and Mihail Sebastian, Eliade's Jewish
friend, whose diary, published in Romanian in 1996 and in French in
1998, contains information both on the pogroms of the Iron Guard
(January 1941) and on Eliade's conversion to the ideology of the
Legion (especially in 1937, and specifically in connection with the
deaths of Motza and Marin).9
Though Iphigenia was reviewed by many, it is to Mihail Sebastian's
diary that one should turn to find a correct evaluation of the play:
Sebastian had read it in 1940, and, though he did not go to the opening performance (February 10, 1941), which took place two weeks
after a pogrom enacted by the Legion, he did go to see it at the
Bucharest National Theatre at the beginning of March. In the entry
dated March 6, 1941, his reaction was not too negative; indeed, he
thought the text was better than he had found it when he had read it,
but he noted that the actors were loud, pompous and vulgar. For the
sake of my argument in the present article, Sebastian's reasons for
not going to the premiere are more important than his actual opinion
of the play as a text. The opening performance would surely be, he
wrote on February 12, like
the meeting of a cuib (that is to say, of a Iron Guardcell, the smallest organized group of members of that political organization).Nina (Eliade's wife),
with whom I spokeon the telephone,told me it was a greatsuccess.Unknowingly,
she confirmedmy suspicions.Thoughthe text is full of allusions and of implied
meanings, it is hard to prohibit an Iphigenia. In spite of this, I find the symbolism gross. The play could have been called Iphigenia, or, The Iron Guard
Sacrifice, with the additionof a good sub-title.After five months of Iron Guard
government and three days of Iron Guard rebellion (i.e., of internecine fight
between the Legion and its allies in the extreme right-wing coalition government then ruling Romania),after so many murdersand fires and so much sacking, one can say that in any case that first night came just at the right time."?
9 Ibid. 188-208.
0 Ibid. 198. Both
Laignel-LavastineandTurcanuconvey to theirreadersthatthese
Fruitful Death
121
3. The Iron Guard and Human Sacrifice, 1933-1945

Thus, in Iphigenia human sacrifice had a double meaning. First of
all, it had the general meaning that human sacrifice takes on in the
context of modem war: the willingness of the victims to give up their
lives for what the ruling classes have successfully presented to them
as the safety, or the greatness, of their fatherland. In addition to this
more obvious meaning of the concept, however, another one could,
in the Romanian context of 1939-1941, be found in Eliade's play,
derived from the more specific Iron Guard ideology of death and
sacrifice. When Sebastian stated in his diary that "it was hard to prohibit Iphigenia," he was referring to the first and more generic meaning, which made the play "patriotic" in the opinion of the Romanian
government, and thus, according to that government, not only acceptable but commendable in that precise context, when the attention was
upon a war fought on the side of the Fascist-National Socialist "Axis."
But what he saw in it already when reading the text, and what he
expected to recognize more vividly still during the first performance
he avoided going to, was the second, implied meaning, which turned
the occasion into "a cuib meeting" dedicated to the celebration of
Iphigenia, or, The Iron Guard Sacrifice: the sacrificial discourse of the
Iron Guard. On this discourse, so important both for understanding
lines in Sebastian'sdiary was left out when it was translatedinto French:see Mihail
Sebastian, Journal (19351944), traduit du roumain par Alain Paruit, Paris: Stock
1998, 288, while they may be found in the Romanian edition: Mihail Sebastian,
Jurnal 1935-1944, Bucharest:Humanitas1996, 305. The reasons for this and other
blatant "transformations"of Sebastian's text in the French edition are not clear to
me; but surely Laignel-Lavastine'sexplanation on is not convincing. Referring to
other missing lines in the French edition, she writes: "Pourdes raisons techniques,
et non pas ideologiques, ces lignes ne figurentpas dans l'edition franqaise(Stock,
1998), pourlaquelleil a fallu couperenvirons20% du texte integral"(Cioran,Eliade,
lonesco, 189, n. 1). As for the reasons why, during a war, "it is hard to prohibitan
Iphigenia," see below, and compare with my II sacrificio, Roma and Bari: Laterza
1999, 3-7, and with the French case of the "NationalRites of Sacrifice"discussed
by Ivan Strenski, Contesting Sacrifice: Religion, Nationalism, and Social Thought
in France, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press 2002.
122
the Iron Guard'sideology - similar to that of other Fascist organizations, but at the same time very specific" - and for reconstructing
Eliade's peculiar Weltanschauungduringthe 1930s, I shall present a
series of observations.
In particular,in order to understandthe sacrificialideology of the
Iron Guard, one should begin by dealing with two symmetrically
opposed interpretationsof the discourses and practices in question,
advancedrespectively by Mircea Eliade in the second volume of his
Memoire (1980),12and by Furio Jesi in his book Cultura di destra
(1979),13the first importantcontributionon the connection between
Eliade's theoriesand the ideas and behavioursof the Legion. The two
interpretationsare opposed in various ways; but the simplest, and
probablythe most correct,explanationof this oppositionmay be found
in the respective attitudesof their authors:a blandlypositive attitude,
and an attemptto present his own past in an acceptable way, in the
case of Eliade; and a fiercely hostile stance in the case of Jesi, who
was an Italian left-wing intellectualof Jewish descent.
In orderto deal convincingly with the two interpretations,and thus
to tackle our problem convincingly, it is importantto keep in mind
that the Iron Guardideology of death and sacrificewas enacted most
emphatically on February 11, 1937, during the dramaticfuneral of
the martyrsMotza and Marin. The bodies of the two heroes were
broughtback to Romaniafrom Spain in a trainthat crossed Germany
and Poland, and upon their arrivalin Bucharestthey were placed in
an railwaycarriagethattravelledthroughoutthe country.At each halt,
crowds gathered and were made to swear that they were ready to
sacrifice their lives to avenge them. In 1933, Codreanuwrote that
"the members of the Legion love death, because their blood shall
I On the Iron Guard,one can still rely on the monographby Radu Ioanid, The
Sword of the Archangel:Fascist Ideology in Romania, Boulder,CO: East European
Monographs1990.
12 Eliade, MemoireII, 31-35, 59-68.
13 Furio Jesi, Culturadi destra, Milano: Garzanti1979, 11-66 (ch. I, Culturadi
destra e religione della morte).
Fruitful Death
123
cement Legionary Romania";14 this was echoed most precisely by

Radu Gyr's Hymn of the Legionary Youth ("We shall erect a thousand eternal iconostases,/ in the sun;/ we shall build them with rock,
fire and sea,/ and cement them with Dacian blood"), while three years
later an Iron Guard anthem, the Hymn to the Heroes Motza and Marin,
put things somewhat differently by proclaiming that "to the Dacian
people the bones (of the two martyrs)/ shall ever be a foundation;/ as
blockheads cemented by the century,/ they shall defy eternity."15Eliade
himself describes this fundamental, religious aspect of the Iron Guard
ideology, in the second volume of his Memoires:
In 1937-1938, death was the most populartheme among Legionaries, and the
death of Motza and Marinwas the exemplarymodel. Motza's statement,"your
own ashes arethe most powerfuldynamite"hadbecome the new Gospel. Masses,
obituaries,fasts, and prayersmade up a large part of "Legionaryactivities."'6
The most striking aspect, however, of Eliade's description of the

Iron Guard's theme of death and sacrifice in his late writings, is the
introduction of an element of non-violence into Codreanu's theory
and practice. Commenting upon the capture of the Captain, which led
to his death in November 1938, he wrote:
By way of many messages, (Codreanu)had assuredthe Ministerof the Interior,
Armand Calinescu, that the members of the Iron Guard would not react, not
even if they were dragged by their feed and tortured.He had orderedhis men
not only to refrainfrom violence, but even to forego any form of passive resistance, and had actuallydecided to dissolve his party,Allfor the Fatherland(the
name chosen by the Legion for the 1937 elections). Calinescu's tactics had
worked:all the membersof the Iron Guardhad let themselves be arrested,they
were now in jail and waited, like rats, to be burnedalive. No doubt Codreanu
died, like many other Iron Guardmembers, believing that his sacrifice would
hasten the Movement's victory.'7
14 Laignel-Lavastine,Cioran, Eliade, lonesco, 186-87 (Motza's "funeral"),and

116 (Codreanu'sstatement).
15For the
songs and anthems of the Iron Guard,I rely on an Italian translation:
Guardiadi Ferro:Al passo con l'Arcangelo.Ritmilegionari, Parma:Edizioni all'insegna del Veltro 1982. For the two hymns quoted here, see 101-2 and 106-8.
16
Memoire II, 35.

17 Ibid. 36.
124
On the same page from which the quotation is taken, Eliade connects Codreanu's attitude with the leader's preoccupation with "the
salvation of souls" rather than with "political victory," and contrasts
the Captain's attitude to that of Mihail Polihroniade, a member of the
Legion who, even though he was no less brave than Codreanu, gave
the right importance to victory, and, after his leader's death, criticized
his behaviour as being the consequence of too many "masses and
obituaries." Almost a year after the Captain's death, Eliade adds,
Polihroniade was executed:
(Though he did not put his trust in masses and obituaries,) he died no less
serenely thanthose who believed. He asked for a cigarette,lighted it and smiled
as he walked to the wall where the machine-gunsawaited him.18
On p. 61 of Les moissons du solstice, the behaviour of the Iron

Guard centred upon heroic self-surrender is described as a general
rule, and not just as the choice of a given moment, culminating in
the capture of Codreanu. In that passage, the murder of the rightwing intellectual Nicolae Iorga by Legionary activists is presented as
follows:
We were horrifiedto learn of the assassinationof N. Iorga and of V. Magdearu,
as well as that of a group of prisonersin the Bucharestprison. In committing
their crimes in the night of November 29, 1940, the Iron Guard commandos
thoughtthey were avenging Codreanu.But in reality they were annihilatingthe
religious, "sacrificial"value of the execution of members of the Legion under
Carol II, and compromisingthe Iron Guardso irreparablythat from then on it
was considered a pro-Nazi and terroristorganization.19
In describing the sacrificial ideal of the Iron Guard as a passive,

almost pacifist attitude, and in accusing the murderers of Iorga and
Magdearu of betraying that ideal, Eliade appeared to misunderstand
the very nature of that religious and political ideology, consisting of
a combination of Orthodox Christian self-sacrifice - modelled upon
the redeeming death of the Saviour and upon the archaic, pre-Christian
18
Ibid. 35-36.
19 Ibid. 61
Fruitful Death
125
view of the fruitfuldeathof willing victims - and the warlikebehaviour of members of a military elite, the Guardor Legion headed by
Codreanu, ever ready to strike Romania's enemies to death. Thus,
sacrifice(of course, the sacrificeof membersof the Legion) was inextricablyblended with revenge, as was alreadythe case in the solemn
oaths pledged by the crowds mourningfor the heroes of 1937,20and,
towardsthe other end of the chronological spectrum,with the assassination of ArmandCalinescu in September1939, accomplishedas a
retaliationfor the Captain's death. From the very beginning of the
Legion's historyit killed for revenge, as on December30, 1933, when
PrimeMinisterIon G. Duca, a memberof the LiberalParty,was assassinated by three members of the Legion who wanted to punish him
for his "persecution"of their organization.A fundamental,symmetrical aspect of this ideology of revenge was the readinessof the Iron
Guardmembers to accept the consequences of their violence, completing a system composed of vengeful violence, sacrificialexpiation,
and furthervengeance. This is well expressedby the following statement, attributedto Codreanu:
In theory, Legionary violence is justified only if followed by expiation: many
Legionaryactivists gave themselves up (to the police) aftercommittinga crime,
even if they could easily have escaped - and some ended by giving themselves
up even when they had actually startedto escape.21
So much for Eliade's position expressed in Les moissons du solstice. As for Jesi, on the basis of a theory that has been presented
manytimes in dealingwith the NationalSocialistmassacreof European
Jews, and is most recently exemplified by Michael Ley's position in
his book Holokaust als Menschenopfer,he suggested in 1979 that,
within the sacrificialideology of the Legion of the ArchangelMichael,
the Jews were the intended victims.22To deal with this hypothetical
20
See above, and Turcanu,Mircea Eliade, 266-67.

Laignel-Lavastine,Cioran, Eliade, lonesco, 116-20.
22 Jesi, Culturadi destra. On the massacre of Jews in Romania, see Radu Ioanid,
The Holocaust in Romania: The Destruction of the Jews and Gypsies under the
Antonescu Regime (1940-1944), Chicago: Ivan R. Dee 2000 -but the subject is
21
126
interpretation,one should begin by stating that the Iron Guard pogroms,

not intended as sacrificial rituals, and usually not ending in the selfdenunciation of those who were responsible, were envisaged by the
Legion as revenge against the Jews, who were seen as Jesus' murderers and as arch-enemies of the Nation. Indeed, I am convinced
that, though it rarely referred explicitly to the traditional "ritual murder" accusations, the Legionary image of the Jews was based upon
the ancient myth that presented them as killing Christian children by
sucking their blood.23 In his book The Transfiguration of Romania,
published in Bucharest 1936 by the editing house of the pro-Legionary
periodical Vremea, Emil Cioran, later a member of the Iron Guard
and always a friend of Mircea Eliade, wrote that
treatedin detail in Laignel-Lavastine'sbook. Jesi's position should be comparedwith
thatof Michael Ley, Holokaustals Menschenopfer:VomChristentumzurpolitischer
Religion des Nationasozialismus,Miinster,Hamburg,London:LIT Verlag2002. Ley
writes: ". .. in the National Socialist self-understanding,the murderof the European
Jews is a sacred rite, enacted as a human sacrifice in the annihilation camps
(Vernichtungslagern).This sacrifice was consideredto be an expiation offering, and
was identifiedwith the intendedre-creationof the World."It is easy to reply by stating that Hitler and his regime envisaged the Jews not as sacrificial victims, but as
noxious beings, and consideredtheir destructionnot as a sacred ritual,but as a necessary "technical"operation. On this see Giorgio Agamben, Homo sacer, Torino:
Einaudi1995, 27-28, andAnna-VeraSullamCalimani,I nomi dello sterminio,Torino:
Einaudi 2001, 77-101, especially 85-86. As for the ideology of sacrifice (Opfer), it
was importantfor the NationalSocialist regime, but, as is shown by J.P.Stem, Hitler:
The Fuhrer and the People, London:Fontana 1984, 28-34, it was believed to consist of the Opfer of Germanvictims. Two meaningfultexts by Adolf Hitler (respectively, a letter from the front dated February15, 1915, and a speech dated January
30, 1936) are presentedby Stem (33, 184) and testify to this.
23 On this I quote only R. Po-chia Hsia, The Myth of Ritual Murder:Jews and
Magic in ReformationGermany,New Haven and London: Yale University Press,
1988, to which one should add Miri Rubin, Gentile Tales: The NarrativeAssault on
Late Mediaeval Jews, New Haven and London:Yale University Press 1999. I have
discussed the mythicalsystem in questionin Grottanelli,II sacrificio, 87-88 and 127.
It is attested as late as the twentieth century,and specifically in National Socialist
propaganda,e.g., in Goebbels'DerAngriff,in 1929, in JuliusStreicher'sDer Stirmer,
on May 1, 1934, and in the film Der Ewige Jude, 1939-1940.
Fruitful Death
127
to speak of them (scil. the Jews) as aggressive vampiresis to state the obvious
and to mention a trait that is characteristicof their nature,even though it does
not help to solve the mystery of the Jewish being.24
As in the case of the blood of the martyrscementing the wall of

the Fatherland,the statementsof the intellectuals about the Jew as a
vampire sucking the blood of Romanians correspondedwell to the
words of hymns, ballads and anthems.For example in the Marching
Song of the StoroijinetzLegionaries, we find the following verse:
See how Judas runs his claws
deep into my body,
see how my blood flows,
see how the Jews suck it!25
If we envisage the Iron Guardideology of humansacrifice as such

an endless, circularsequence of vengeful violence, self-denunciation,
sacrifice,and furtherrevenge, and if we keep in mind that within that
system the Jew was presentedas a bloodthirstyvampire- one who
was, I submit,in the originalform of the accusation,an evil sacrificer
of Christianvictims - it becomes impossible to follow Furio Jesi. In
my opinion, the correct answer to the question of the victims' identity within the Legionaryideology of sacrifice consisted precisely of
the Romanian(or, in a more archaizingform, the Dacian) quality of
those victims, while the arch-enemywas envisagedin ways thatderive
most clearly from its traditionalChristianconfigurationas a bloody
sacrificer.Together,the connection between vengeful murderand the
self-surrenderingof the pious assassins, on the one hand, and the
Romanian identity of the heroic killers/victims, on the other, made
up the Iron Guard'ssacrificialsystem: the interpretationsput forward
by Jesi (1979) and by Eliade (1980) are misleading.
Emil Cioran,Schimbareala fata a Romdniei,Bucharest1936, 130; see LaignelLavastine, Cioran, Eliade, lonesco, 161.
24
25
Guardia di Ferro, 99-100.
128
4. Eliade's "Two Romanian Myths" in his Portuguese Book, 1943

To Mircea Eliade's shrewd biographer we owe the paradoxical
observation that, as one may deduce from Les moissons du solstice,26
Nae Ionescu's tragic death, so deeply mourned by the Romanian intellectual and by the Professor's other students, actually freed Eliade
from his political obligations and made it possible for him to start a
"new life" after the destruction of the Iron Guard.27In the present
context this observation is a sufficient comment on the fact that Eliade
was accepted as a member of the Romanian Diplomatic Service by
the regime of the Conducator General Ion Antonescu, and that he in
turn accepted to work for that regime, even after Antonescu had
crushed his Iron Guard allies - with whom, on September 14, 1940,
he had formed a "National Legionary State"
after their "rebellion"
in January 1941. Antonescu, who had remained the sole real political
authority in the country, was an ally of Nazi Germany, and in the summer of 1941 he declared war on Hitler's enemies. Eliade, who had been
accepted as a Cultural Secretary in the Romanian Embassy in London
on April 10, 1940, ten months before the break between Antonescu
and the Iron Guard, retained his diplomatic function after the bloody
conflict between the Conducator and the Legion. On February 10,
1941, he left London for Lisbon, where he worked for the Romanian
Embassy as a Press Secretary until the downfall in 1945.28
In Lisbon, Eliade became an admirer of the Salazar regime and, in
the summer of 1942, he even imagined himself to have been chosen
to convey a secret message from the Portuguese dictator to Antonescu.29
26
Memoire II, 18.
Turcanu,Mircea Eliade, 299-301.

This period of Eliade's life is reconstructed by both Turcanu and LaignelLavastine (respectively 299-342 and 275-328), and the two reconstructionsdiffer
only in details.An importantsourcefor the years 1941-1945 is Eliade's Lisbon diary,
which he never published.It is now available in an unabridgedSpanish translation:
Mircea Eliade, Diario Portugues (1941-1945), Barcelona:EditorialKair6s 2001.
29 See CristianoGrottanelli,"MirceaEliade, Carl Schmitt, Rene Guenon, 1942,"
Revue de l'histoire des religions 219 (2002) 325-56.
27
28
Fruitful Death
129
In order to strengthen the relationships between Portugal and Romania,

he presented Salazar's regime to his countrymen by publishing a small
book in Romanian on the Portuguese "counterrevolution," and, symmetrically, he wrote a short volume on Romania that was translated
into Portuguese and Spanish and published in the respective capitals
in 1943. An Italian translation of the Portuguese text, Os Romenos,
Latinos de Oriente, was published in 1997 as Breve storia della
Romania e dei Rumeni, and the Spanish edition, Los Rumanos: Breviario
historico, was translated into English by Rodica Mihaela Scafes and
published in Bucharest in 1992 under the title The Romanians: A
Concise History. In this book, two variations on the theme of sacrificial
death are described as the two most important "myths of Romanian
spirituality":
In any culturethere is always a centralmyth that is revealed and present in all
its great creations. The spirituallife of the Romanianshas been dominatedby
two myths, which express with accomplished spontaneitytheir spiritualvision
of the universe and the existential value. The first one is the legend of Master
Manole, who, accordingto the tradition,raised the superbcathedralat Curteade-Arges. According to the legend, everything Manole and his skilled workers
built during the day would disappearduring the night. In order to stand, the
edifice needed to have a soul, and this could only be achieved by sacrificinga
humanbeing. When Manole andhis buildersunderstoodthe cause of the caducity
of their work, they decided to build alive (sic) the first person who would
approachthe place where they were working. The next day, early in the morning, Manole caught glimpse of his wife who was carryingtheir infant in her
arms and was hurryingto bring him some food. Then Manole prayed to God
to start a storm so that his wife should take the back track. But the torrential
rain God startedlistening to his prayercould not turnthe foredoomedwife from
her way. And so Master Manole himself was forced to build his wife and son
in, in order to keep his oath and be able to build up that magnificentchurch,
which from that moment onwardsdid not collapse any more.
This legend is not a creation of the Romanianpeople. It can be found in all
the countries of Southeast Europe. Essentially, the legend is the mythical and
epic formula of one (sic) of the most popularrituals in the world, namely the
"constructionrituals",which are based on the belief that, in order to last, any
constructionhas to be "animated"throughthe immolation of a being, whether
a human being or an animal. Nevertheless, the legend of Master Manole is,
according to folklorists, the most complete, the most beautiful and the richest
130
in spiritual significances (sic). Here the folk poetic inspirationhas created a
masterlywork that may be comparedwith the most beautifulcreationsof world
folk poetry.What counts is the fact that the Romanianshave chosen this mythical theme and have given it a matchlessartisticand moralexpression.And they
have chosen it because the Romanian soul identifies itself in the myth of the
supremesacrifice which makes a work made by man's hands, whethera cathedral, a homeland or a hut, enduring.They have sung in numberless lines the
sacrifice of MasterManole, because they knew that in this way they were narratingtheirown historicallife, theirpermanentsacrifice.The Romanians'option
for this particularlegend is significantin itself. They would not have used their
entire poetic genius and all spiritualresourcesto remakea myth if this had not
revealed the reverberationthe myth had in the (obviously: in their, C.G.) collective consciousness.30
In this text, sacrifice is presented as the most typical of all Romanian

cultural traits, and, even if the "epic formula of a 'constructive ritual"'
is found "in all the countries of Southeast Europe" (and, I should add,
often connected with the construction of famous bridges or other
important monuments), and the ritual in question is "one of the most
popular rituals in the world," the author states that, "according to
folklorists" the Romanian version of the formula, sung in the Ballad
of Master Manole, is "the most complete, the most beautiful and the
richest in spiritual significances." In spite of the fact that, in an article he wrote in Lisbon on December 3, 1936, Ion Motza compared
that sacrificial death to his own future sacrifice, Eliade's presentation
of this specific, hyper-Romanian legend describes a human sacrifice
that differs somewhat from the Iron Guard's sacrificial complex I have
discussed so far. Not only is the Iron Guard never mentioned, but two
important aspects of the Legionary theme (or, for that matter, of the
play Iphigenia) are absent: the war context (the sacrifice gives "life"
to a construction, in the Master Manole legend, a church, in other
Eastern European cases, a bridge), and the self-offering of the victims
(an unknowing wife and mother, and "an infant," who is, by definition,
30
MirceaEliade, TheRomanians:A ConciseHistory,Bucharest:"RozaVinturilor"

1992, 47-48.
Fruitful Death
131
unable to consent or to dissent). Precisely these two elements, conflict

and consent, are present, however, in the other "myth of Romanian
spirituality" described by Eliade in his 1943 booklet:
But even more than in the legend of Master Manole, the Romaniansidentify
themselves in a splendid folk poem called Mioritza (The Ewe Lamb), that can
be found everywhere in numberlessvariants.It is called a "folk poem," but, as
happenswith all great creations of the genius of a people, it takes affinitywith
religion, morals and metaphysics. It is the simple and sincere story of a shepherd who, though warnedby an ewe lamb againstthe imminentdangerof being
killed by two of his companions,who were envying him for his sheep, does not
run away but accepts death. This serene attitudein front of death, this way of
seeing deathas a mystical marriageto the Whole has acquiredmatchlessaccents
in Mioritza (sic). We are faced with an original vision of life and death- the
latterbeing seen as a bride promisedto the entire world - that is expressed in
an excellent lyrical form ratherthan philosophical terms.31
The second myth in Eliade's pair is discussed briefly as follows:

Mioritzais one of the folk creationsthathelps one best to understandthe attitude
of the Romaniansoul in frontof death.... Deathis not a diminutionof the human
being; on the contrary,it is an increase, from the metaphysicalpoint of view,
of course. Man should not run away from death and even less so (sic) should
he lamentupon its arrival;death is a fact of cosmic size that has to be accepted
with equanimityand even with joy, because due to it the individualfrees himself from his limits. This is not a lyrical species of pantheism,althoughnature
31 Ibid. 48. As for Motza's use of the Master Manole theme, see Paola Pisi, "I
'tradizionalisti'e la formazione del pensiero di Eliade," in Luciano Arcella, Paola
Pisi and Roberto Scagno (eds.), Confrontocon Mircea Eliade: Archetipi mitici e
identita storica, Milano: Jaca Book 1998, 43-133, at 113-115 n. 130. I find the passage in question in the Italian translationof some of Motza's letters and other writings, printedby a publishing house of the extreme right: Testamentodi Ion Motza:
II tributo di sangue della Guardiadi Ferro di Romania nella lotta contro il bolscevismo in Spagna, Parma:Edizioni all'insegna del veltro 1984, 42-43. The passage
is the following: "Ouraction is a comer-stoneof this new RomanianLegionarybuilding, of a building that- following a destiny which has been thus since the time of
the legend of MasterManole - has demandedthat we be buriedin the foundations,
so that centuries shall not demolish it." This booklet is a presentedas a reprintof a
previous edition, 1937.
132
participatesin this act of reintegration,because nature is not identified with

God, but is seen as a creationof God. Throughdeath the soul is reintegratedin
the big (sic) cosmic family, which is, as a whole, the work of the Creator.32
Though this second Romanian tradition contains what the first one
lacks, so that the two together form a couple that may be compared
to the Iron Guard's sacrificial ideology (but without any reference to
the Iron Guard itself!), it is not possible to dwell on it here. The theme
of reintegration we have seen quoted in Os Romenos, Latinos de
Oriente to explain the meaning of Mioritza was central in another
book by Eliade, Mitul Reintegrarii, prepared in Bucharest in June
1942 - about a year before the small volume on Romania appeared
in Lisbon and in Madrid, and slightly more than a year after Mihail
Sebastian saw Iphigenia. The best answer to that treatment of the
touching story of the Ewe Lamb, however, was published much later,
as Georges Dumezil's contribution to the Cahier de l'Herne dedicated
in 1976 to Mircea Eliade, bearing the title Le message avant la mort.33
More should be said of the Master Manole legend, which was the
object of Eliade's volume Comentarii la legenda Mesterului Manole,
Bucharest 1943. In the preface to that book the author explains that its
contents had been part of a course he had given at the Faculty of Letters
of the University of Bucharest during the academic year 1936-1937,
as a substitute teacher for the Chair of Metaphysics held by Professor
Nae Ionescu. Eliade's work on the spiritual meaning of the mythical
sacrifice of Manole's wife was published in Bucharest while he was
in Lisbon and shortly after Stalingrad, but it dated back to the time
when he was a faithful collaborator of Nae Ionescu who wrote enthusiastic articles extolling the sacrifice of Motza and Marin.34
As for the meaning of the two Romanian myths taken together, the
32
Ibid. 48-49.
33 GeorgesDum6zil, Le message avant la mort,in ConstantinTacu(ed.), L'Herne.

Mircea Eliade, Editions de l'Herne, Paris 1978, pp. 88-91.
34 On this aspect of the Comentarii,see my article "MirceaEliade, Carl Schmitt,
Ren6 Guenon, 1942," 349-56. In examining the Comentariiand Mitul Reintegrarii,
I have availed myself of two excellent Italianeditions of those books: MirceaEliade,
Fruitful Death
133
Press Secretary of the Lisbon Embassy presented it thus in the concluding lines of the paragraphhe had called The Two Myths of Romanian
Spirituality:
A culture, like an individual, is revealed to us not only through the way it
approacheslife, but also through its attitudetowards death. The value attributed to death has considerableimportancefor the understandingof a cultureor
an individual. [...] This vision of death (scil., the vision we find in the "Two
Myths of RomanianSpirituality")is enhanced and roundedoff by many other
Romanianfolk creations.The same conceptionis presentin the poems of Mihail
Eminescu, one of the greatest writers of the 19th century.It is also present in
the entire folklore of the Romanianpeople, as well as in its funeral rites. It is
perhaps a conception inheritedfrom its Geto-Dacian ancestors, or perhaps an
original approachof Christianitywhich, let us not forget, has attributeda positive value to death. Fact is that the Romaniansattributeto death a significance
in harmonywith their Christianconception about existence (sic), which, as we
have seen, is based in the belief in a cosmic order establishedby God and the
conviction that, throughoutcenturies, good will triumphover evil.
These two myths - that of Master Manole and that of Mioritza- are the
more so interestingas (sic), generally,the Romanianscannot be considered as
"mystical."They are a religious people, but also a humane, vigorous and optimistic people thatrejects the frenzy and exaltationimplied by the idea of "mysticism." Common sense is a dominantform of its spirituallife.3
Before I conclude this part of my article, I wish to comment briefly

upon the fact that, in his Portuguese and Spanish book from 1943,
Eliade qualified the Romanian view of death and sacrifice as a view
typical of an entire national community, and as the attitude of a people he described as "not mystical." These are meaningful qualifications,
and allow us, I think, to understandan importantaspect of the Romanian
intellectual's position. To Paola Pisi we owe an original and useful
contribution on the relationship between Eliade and the "traditionalists"
(Rene Guenon, Julius Evola, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy), especially
I riti del costruire, Milano: Jaca Book 1989, translatedand with an introductionby
Roberto Scagno, and II mito della reintegrazione,Milano: Jaca Book 1989.
35 Eliade, The Romanians, 49.
134
between 1932 and 1945.36In that essay, the relationship between

Eliade and Coomaraswamyis stressed, and Pisi goes as far as to
state that "thecentralpartof Mitul Reintegrarii(1942) is nothingbut
an abridgement and a popularization, but also a trivialization" of
Coomaraswamy'sarticle"AngelandTitan"publishedin 1935. In particular, Pisi holds that Eliade trivialized Coomaraswamy'scomplex
metaphysicalview of sacrificeas reintegration(based mainly,but not
only, upon Vedic texts), presented in that article and in other writings, by substitutinga simpler,psychologicalreadingto his colleague's
ontological (and "mystical")interpretation.In my opinion, Eliade's
simplificationof Coomaraswamy'smetaphysicaldiscourseis the result
not of a misunderstanding,but of a deliberatechoice, dictatedby the
Romanian intellectual's desire to combine his colleague's sophisticatedpositionwith the popular- andpolitical- ideology of sacrifice
he had known, and contributedto, duringhis experiencewith the Iron
Guard. This same intention explains why Eliade transformed
Coomaraswamy'stheory of sacrificial reintegrationin Vedic India
into the elementaryidea of creation by sacrifice that he attributedto
ancientIndianreligiosity and presentedas the combinationof a mythical cosmogony by sacrifice with the supposed cosmogonical quality
of every sacrificialrite. In this idea, I submit, one can easily recognize the conception of "fruitful sacrifice" he had referred to most
emphaticallyin his Vremeaarticle on the heroic death of Ion Motza,
published on January24, 1937.
5. Ernst Jiinger Peace, and Sacrifice
In the first volume of his Fragments d'un journal, published in
1976 andcoveringthe years 1945-1969, EliadementionsErnstJtinger
three times.37In the entry dated February8, 1953, dedicatedto Paule
Regnier's Journal, he writes that Gide, Jtinger"andthe others"write
36
Paola Pisi, "I 'tradizionalisti'e la formazione del pensiero di Eliade" (above,

n. 31), in particular53-60.
37 Mircea Eliade, Fragmentsd'un journal, Paris: Gallimard1973.
FruitfulDeath
135
their diaries (in Jiinger'scase, his diaries came out between 1949 and
1955) so that they may one day be published, and thus as books full
of "messages."On June7, 1959, he describeshis meeting with Jinger
and the EditorialSecretaryof Antaios, Philippe Wolf, to preparethe
second issue of that periodical, co-founded by Eliade and by Jinger
in 1957, and (at least officially) co-directed by them from its first
issue (1959) to its twelfth and last, dated 1971. On that occasion, he
adds, Jiingeroffered him Jahre der Okkupation,the second volume
of his diary from the years 1941-1945, when he was a Wehrmacht
officer in Paris, on the war front in Caucasus, and elsewhere. On
August 2, 1964, discussing the small articlehe has just begun to preparefor the 1965 issue of Antaios, and which he dedicatedto Jtinger's
diaries,Strahlungen,he expresseshis admirationof the Germanwriter's
style, so well exemplified by that text, where short notes taken down
during the day, and expanded upon during the night or on the following day, were soon later transformedto shape a more complex,
but still laconic and "essential"discourse.
Eliade's interestin Jiinger'sStrahlungen,to which he refersin each
of the three passages in his own Fragments d'un journal where he
mentions the Germanwriter,is striking.The idea that such a text was
constructed gradually,by developing notes jotted down during the
intellectual's daily activity so as to constructa rich discourse made
up of "messages,"was importantfor the Romanianauthor,who may
well have seen Jiinger's publicationas a model for his own. Surely,
the other aspect of Jiinger'sStrahlungen,that of being an apologetic
reconstructionof the author's activities and attitudesduring the war
years (as Carl Schmitt realized immediately, calling it a Selbstdarstellung),38was also importantfor Eliade,who used his own Fragments
38 CarlSchmitt,Glossarium:
Aufzeichnungender Jahre 1947-1951, Berlin:Duncker
und Humblot 1991, 99, 129-40, 173-74; see p. 130: "apres nous le demontage."An
explicit comparisonbetween Schmitt'swritingsfrom the years immediatelyafterthe
Second WorldWar(see the title of his book Ex CaptivitateSalus, 1950) and Jiinger's
Strahlungenis found on pp. 173-74: "Mein Bruder findet die Captiva Captivitatis
136
d'un journal to presenthimself in a favourablelight and to erase the

memory of his own youthful political errors.
All this is importantin order to understandthe respective ideological stancesof the two intellectuals,who met only duringthe fifties
but had some knowledge of each other's personality and writings
alreadyin 1942, throughtheir common friend Carl Schmitt.39But, in
the present context, it is much more meaningful to explore Jiinger's
treatmentof the theme "sacrifice"both in his war diary (as presented
in Strahlungen,1949, and in the later volumes and editions published
under the same title) and in a small book he allegedly wrote during
the Second WorldWar.Jiinger'suse of the concept was original, and
may be compared to the sense given to it by Eliade, both in the
Romanianpolitical arena and in wider contexts.
The Germanwriter's treatmentof the sacrificialtheme in his published diaries is well exemplified by an entry dated April 17, 1945.
Discussing the Book of Estherand the millennialdestiny of the Jews,
he wrote:"Itis impossiblethatsuch sacrifices(or:such victims)should
not give fruits" (Es ist unm6glich, dass solche Opfer nicht Frucht
tragen).40But fruitful sacrifices are also mentioned in entries dated
earlier.For example, underthe entry datedAugust 6, 1943, we find:
The seed from which this war shall draw its fruits is sacrifice (das Korn, aus
dem der Krieg Frucht tragen wird, ist das Opfer). Next to the sacrifice of the
viel besser und lesenswerterals E. Jiinger's 'Strahlungen',weil Jiingereben nicht in

Gefangenschaftwar. Der Pour le merite hat seine neuen Formen und Kierkegaard
hat das alles schon 1848 genug ausgesprochen"(the entry is dated June 29, 1948).
39 On this, see my article "Mircea Eliade, Carl Schmitt, Rene Guenon, 1942"
(n. 29), esp. 328-29. As for the relationshipbetween Eliade and Jiinger, a correspondencebetweenthe two exists: Jiinger'slettersto Eliade,in Frenchandin German,
are kept in the RegensteinLibraryArchivein Chicago,while Eliade'slettersto Jiinger,
in French, are kept in the Deutsches Literaturarchivin Marbacham Neckar.I thank
FlorinTurcanufor providingthis information(personalcommunication,October 11,
2004), and I hope to receive a copy of his articlein Romanianon this correspondence.
40 Ernst Jiinger,StrahlungenII, Stuttgart:Klett-Cotta 1995, 415-16 (in the section called Die Hiitte im Weinberg.Jahre der Okkupation).
Fruitful Death
137
soldier, or of the worker (der Arbeiter), I must not forget the sacrifice of those
innocents who have been slaughteredin a bloodthirstyway and without any
reason.The constructionof the new world shall be based especially upon them,
as it was the case in the past with children walled into bridges.4
The similarity between Jtinger's sacrificial discourse and Eliade's

seems rather precise, because to the wide-spread theme of sacrifice
bearing fruit, which is common to both authors, we should add a further and more specific theme also mentioned both by the Romanian
official and by the German officer: that of the sacrifice of children in
order to give life to buildings and allow them to endure. In spite of
the similarity, however, it seems hard to reconstruct a historical connection between the respective references to this theme by the two
writers: as I have stated above, Eliade published his Romanian volume on Master Manole in 1943, the same year to which Jtinger's
Strahlungen entry refers, but the war, and especially the language,
were obvious obstacles for that learned book's diffusion and impact.
A shortened French version of that text was available only in 1957,
as an article in the periodical Etudes Roumaines.
In the entry dated August 6, 1943, quoted above, Jtinger presents
the sacrificial theme as a part of the third chapter of a pamphlet he
was allegedly planning to write, and to which Strahlungen refers rather
frequently. That pamphlet (in Strahlungen, the author calls it an Aufruf,
i.e., an "Appeal") is a famous problem in the bibliography of the
German "conservative revolutionary." Its title was Der Friede (Peace);
and, according to what Jtinger stated in the 1980 edition,42 he started
working on it in 1941, circulated it illegally during 1944, and published it in 1945. Its contents reflected the Wehrmacht officer's and
Ibid. 114-16 (in the section called Das zweite Pariser Tagebuch).
Der Friede is now available as the fourth essay in Ernst Juinger,Sdmtliche
Werke,ZweiteAbteilung:Essays, vol. 7, EssaysI, Stuttgart:Klett-Cotta1980, 195-236.
It is dedicated to "Meinem lieben Sohn Ernst Junger.Geboren 1.5.1926. Gefallen
29.11.1944 bei Carrara."More informationon Der Friede can be found in Horst
Muihleisen,Bibliographie der WerkeErnst Jiingers, Begriindetvon Hans-Peter Des
Coudres, Stuttgart:Cotta 1995, 39-41. The complete title of the 1945 edition was:
Der Friede. Ein Wortan die Jugend Europas und an die Jugend der Welt.
41
42
138
First WorldWarhero's alleged metanoia:Jinger's version is that he

was horrifiedby Hitler and that the peace he wished for should be
reached"withoutfurtherviolence."Thatpeace shouldbe "consecrated
to the future,"and "won by all" (that is to say, it should be a peace
withoutwinners,and obviously withoutdefeat).Accordingto the generally accepted version of the events of 1944, the circulationof Der
Friede caused problems for Jiinger within the Wehrmacht,and in
Strahlungen (e.g., in the entries dated March 27, and July 21-24,
1944) the Germanwriter describes himself as a friend and admirer
of some of the conspiratorswho attemptedto kill Hitler on July 20.43
Jtinger'sFriede was presentedas based upon the fruitful sacrifice
of all the war victims, and especially of the "innocent"victims, among
them the Jews, often mentioned, and precisely as victims, in that
author'spublisheddiaries,but neverexplicitlyreferredto in the Aufruf.
In Strahlungen,alreadyunderthe date September 19, 1943, we read
that the first part of the Aufruf that would become Der Friede bore
the title Das Opfer,and thatits contentscould be expressedby Thesis
44 of Spinoza's Ethics: "The hate that is totally defeated by love
becomes love; and the resultinglove is strongerthan it could ever be
if it had not originally been hate." This interpretationof the relationship between sacrifice and peace is based upon the idea that
sacrifice is the price of peace, and that peace is ransomed,or rather
redeemed,by sacrifice.By implication,the wilful self-offeringof victims surrenderingtheirlives to gain victory for theirown side is valuable only insofar as their death is held to be an unwilling tributeto
peace, and, as Jiingerexplicitly states in the August 5, 1943, entry in
Strahlungen,quoted above, the greatestvalue is actually attributedto
the sacrifice of unknowing innocents.
If we compareJtinger'ssacrificialdiscourse in Strahlungenand in
Der Friede to Eliade's writings on sacrificebetween 1937 and 1943,
we are confrontedwith two differenttreatmentsof the two themes I
have attemptedto identify in the Romanianintellectual'sproduction:
the war contextandthe self-offeringof the victim.In Eliade'sIphigenia,
43
Jiinger,StrahlungenII, 284-92 (the entriesdatedfromJuly 20 to August 1, 1944).
Fruitful Death
139
just as in his articles on the sacrifice of the Iron Guard, both themes
were central. In the book he published in Lisbon and Madrid in 1943,
one of the two "myths of Romanian spirituality" (Mioritza) contained
both themes, conflict and the will to perish, while the other, the Legend
of Master Manole, featured neither, but insisted on the sacrifice of an
innocent baby to "give life" to a church. Jiinger's discourse in the
texts I am discussing here combined the war theme with sacrifice,
while attributing great value to specific cases in which wilful selfoffering is absent, and comparing the most valuable sacrifices to the
death of "children walled into bridges." This paradoxical combination, recently discussed by Marcus Paul Bullock,44 was dictated by
the more general paradox of peace founded upon, and liberated by,
the death of war victims, or, in other words, of sacrifice for victory
replaced by - and in some cases "used" by - sacrifice for a peace
without victory and without defeat.
The sacrificial discourse we find in Strahlungen and in Der Friede
differs greatly not only from Eliade's, but also from Jiinger's own
discourse in his previous writings, mostly based upon the rhetoric of
heroism and hardship in the trenches of the Great War.45Very clearly,
44 Marcus Paul Bullock, The ViolentEye: Ernst Jiinger's Visions and Revisions
on the EuropeanRight, Detroit:Wayne State University Press 1992, 158-59, notices
the contradictionsin the list of victims we find in Der Friede, and in particularthe
survival of the term Arbeiter, a key word of Jiinger's pre-war productionand the
title of his book of 1932. Bullock comments upon "the split we can see in the way
in which he (Junger) uses the term Arbeiter towards the end of the war. On the
Caucasian front, he ascribed all the abuse of human lives and human bodies the
conflict has producedto the fact thatthe strugglewas betweenArbeiteron both sides.
Yet in the publishedversion of Der Friede, composed later,when events had imposed
this view yet more forcibly, he continuedto give a positive, constructiverole to elements describedwith the same term.The contradictionis to be sought less in what he
foundthroughhis observationsof the world thanin his attitudetowardhimself andhis
own positions.The fascinationexertedby this termthathe devised and identifiednow
clearly generatesa majorstumblingblock to the advanceof his own understanding."
45 On Jiinger's war discourse, Bullock's discussion should be supplementedwith
Ferruccio Masini, "La guerra come nomos della catastrofe in Ernst Jiinger," in
FerruccioMasini (ed.), Ideologia della guerra, Naples: Bibliopolis 1987, 60-76.
140
this original treatment of sacrificial death as a way to redemption and

as a guaranteefor a peace without victory, with the connected "mixture"
of fighting victims and innocent victims, is totally new. On the other
hand, though Jiinger's musings on the First World War were rightly
famous classical examples of male bellicosity, his view of the relationship between the intentions and values of the brave fighters he
praised and the scope and meaning of the conflict they were engaged
in justifies the usual definition of the German writer's first production
as a heroic nihilism. This view is best expressed in this passage of Der
Kampf als inneres Erlebnis, 1922, in which the young Lieutenant
Ernst Jiinger, in charge of a platoon of storm troopers, describes the
men under his command, as they engage in "endless discussions about
the war":
They will never find the solution, for even the way they put their questions is
wrong. They take the war to be, not an expression but a cause, and in this way
they are hoping to find outside what is only to be found within. However, one
must understandthem. They are materialiststhroughand through,and I, who
have lived among them for years, hear this in every word they say. They are
really material,the materialwhich, without their knowing it, the Idea is consuming in orderto reach its great aims.46
These brave soldiers, who know nothing of the real meaning of the
murderous battles they are fighting, and are described as matter consumed by the Idea, are clearly a premonition not only of der Soldat,
der Arbeiter, killed in the Second World War, but also, and in a way
even more clearly, of the victims Jtinger listed after them in the
Strahlungen entry dated August 6, 1943, the unschuldig Leidenden
who were slaughtered without any reason, compared by the German
author to children walled into bridges (eingemauerten Kindern). Only
the function of such victims (the soldiers, the workmen, and the
unknowing innocents) is new: peace is now the "fruit" (Frucht) of
the sacrifice (Opfer).
46
Quoted in J.P. Stem, Hitler (above, n. 22), 183.
Fruitful Death
141
6. FruitfulDeath: Eliade, Jiinger and Maybaum

The transformationattested by Strahlungenand by Der Friede is
thus a meaningful change in Jtinger'sdiscourse. It is not important
here to discuss the natureof that change; it may even be correct to
state that, as Theodor WiesengrundAdorno once wrote to Thomas
Mann, Jtinger started out as a second-rate kitsch writer and later
became a second-hand Stephan George, decked in bronze foliage.47
In the presentcontext, it is more importantto compareJiinger'sparadoxical use of the theme of human sacrifice to Eliade's more traditionalpositionsin his play Iphigenia,andto the Romanian'sdiscussion
of the Master Manole ballad and the Mioritza tradition.
The comparisoncould well take the form of answersto three questions, some of which have already been asked in different ways in
previous partsof this article.First of all, we should ask: whose blood
is shed in sacrifice in the various texts? Second: is the sacrifice in
questiona self-offering?And, third,what is the "fruit"of the sacrifice?
As for Eliade's treatmentof the theme, it is easy to answer all questions: in the play Iphigenia it is the daughter of the king who is
sacrificed, so that the Achaean army can go to war, and, in the two
Romanian myths, Eliade insists in his Portuguese book of 1943,
Romanian blood is shed; in the play, the heroine accepts, indeed,
desires, her own sacrificial death, in the Mioritza tradition,the pastoral hero "does not run away, but accepts death"and even describes
it to his motheras a wedding, while the baby sacrificedin the Master
Manole may not be consulted; as for the "fruit," it is victory in
Iphigenia (or ratherthe condition for victory, the possibility of waging war), in Mioritza the sacral overcoming of death, and in Master
Manole the stability of a sacred building. As for Jiinger's sacrificial
discourse in Strahlungen and in Der Friede, the blood that "gives
fruit" is the blood of "soldiers and workers"on both sides, and the
47
ChristofGodde andThomasSprecher(eds.), TheodorW Adorno,ThomasMann,

Briefwechsel 1943-1955, Frankfurta.M.: Suhrkamp2002, 47-49.
142
blood of innocentvictims killed "withoutany reason";symmetrically,

some of the victims are willing, thoughthey offer themselves for values that are not the peace Jiingeraspires to, and others are unknowing; and finally, peace without victory is the "fruit"born from that
blood. In differentways, Eliade and Jtingeroffer a rich sacrificialdiscourse,thatis worthyof the age of havoc and terrorEuropewas going
throughwhile they producedit.
Elsewhere, I have gone as far as to present Jtingeras a paradoxical forerunnerof that specific variety of the Holocaust theme that is
most faithfulto the sacrificialmeaningof the term.48Here, more modestly, I wish to draw the reader's attentionboth to the resemblance
and to the differencebetween the Germanintellectual'sdiscussion of
the redemptivevalue of the death of the Second WorldWarvictims,
and specifically of the Jewish victims, and the idea of the Shoah as
a vicarious and expiatory sacrifice. According to Anna-VeraSullam
Calimani,the first use of the term Holocaust to indicate the destruction of the Jews by the National Socialist regime goes back to 1942.
If the dates given by the Germanwriter to his pamphletDer Friede
are correct,he startedpreparingit one year before the term was first
used in that sense, and circulatedit illegally threeyears later.It would
appearthat, shortly after the present use of the term Holocaust first
appeared,but four years before the war ended, and surely some time
before he acquiredcomplete informationabout the regime's crimes,
Ernst Jiinger suggested a sacrificial reading of the war massacres,
including, or, rather, implicitly giving pride of place, to the mass
killing of Jews.
A directcomparisonbetween Jiinger'sreadingof the Second World
Warmassacreof the EuropeanJews and the reflectionsof RabbiIgnaz
Maybaum is particularlysuggestive. In his book The Face of God
after Auschwitz,Maybaumwrote:
48
Grottanelli,I/ sacrificio, 104-7. On the sacrificialqualityof the termHolocaust

see now especially Sullam Calimani,I nomi dello sterminio(above, n. 22), 77-112.
Fruitful Death
143
We live now in the post-Auschwitz era and look back to the ante Auschwitz
era. It was, what Amos calls, 'The day of the Lord', which createdthe division
into a condemned past and into a new era.... The six million who died innocently, died because no man is an island, because everyone is responsible for
everyone else. The innocent who died in Auschwitz, not for the sake of their
own sins, but because of the sins of others, atone for evil and are the sacrifice
which is broughtto the altarand which God acknowledges favourably.The six
million, the dead of Auschwitz and of other places of horror,are Jews whom
our modem civilization has to canonize as holy martyrs;they died as sacrificial
lambs because of the sins inherentin Westerncivilization. Their death purified
Westerncivilization so that it can again become a place where man can live,
do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.49
Though many essential traits of the sacrificial discourse of Jtinger

and Maybaum are similar, the differences are just as striking, and in
particular one notes immediately that Maybaum's language is more
specifically religious: purification, atonement, canonization, holy martyrs, sacrificial lambs, God's favourable acknowledgement of the
sacrifice, walking humbly with God, are all more or less technical
terms or expressions of the specific techne this journal specializes in,
and in particular of the Judeo-Christian species of such a techne.
Indeed, as some Jewish critics of Maybaum's theories have suggested,
some of these concepts are interpreted and used in a way that is more
Christian than Jewish.50
49 Ignaz Maybaum,The Face of God afterAuschwitz,Amsterdam:Polack and Van

Gennep 1965, 83-84.
50
See, for example, Steven T. Katz, Post-Holocaust Dialogues: Critical Studies
in Modern Jewish Thought,New York: New York University Press 1983, 252-53.
This criticism is indirectly strengthenedby the contents of a famous Catholic view
of the Holocaust: Francois Mauriac, "Un enfant juif," Le Figaro Litteraire,July 7,
1958, p. 1, and Idem, "Pr6face,"to Elie Wiesel, La nuit, Paris: Editions de Minuit
1958. In an interview published in 1985, Elie Wiesel stated that in Mauriac'sarticle, which describedhis first meeting with Wiesel and later became a preface to his
French book, "thereare some Christologicalovertones... which I don't like." On
Mauriacand the Shoah, see Sullam Calimani,I nomi dello sterminio,81-82 and 91.
144
Secondly, while Jtinger's point is precisely that, although the innocent victims are the most fruitful, all victims of the Second World
War are fruitful victims, Maybaum insists upon the innocence and
the Jewish quality of the victims. Both describe the general value and
the wide beneficial consequences of the sacrifice: its fruit is peace
without a winning side for Jtinger, and the purification of the Western
civilization for Maybaum.
The comparison between Maybaum's and Jtinger's positions encourages me to put Carl Schmitt's, Marcus Paul Bullock's, and my own,
suspicious reading of Strahlungen aside for a moment, and to go back
to my comparison between the sacrificial ideologies of Eliade and
Jiinger with a new, and concluding, question. Could we envisage the
German writer's sacrificial discourse, whatever its intention and context, as a theoretical mediation, and as a typological transition, between
Eliade's nationalistic positions and the broader dimension of the
reflection on the Shoah?
In my opinion, there are several reasons for giving a negative answer
to this question. I shall thus conclude by mentioning only two such
reasons. The first is the cosmic quality of sacrifice in Eliade's writings, a quality that was always important, but became even more so
after the war, and gradually - but never totally - "covered" the
nationalistic aspects of his discourse. The second is the presence of
sacrificial, or at least of sacral, dimensions in that Israeli discourse
on the Shoah that was well defined by Saul Friedlander in his article
Die Shoah als Element in der Konstruktion israelischer Erinnerung
(1987).5' Of such dimensions I quote one trace, that appears in the
Saul Friedlander, "Die Shoah als Element in der Konstruktion israelischer

Erinnerung,"Babylon 2 (1987) 4-16. On this type of Shoah memory, see David
51
Bidussa, "Introduzione," in David Bidussa (ed.), Ebrei moderni: Identita e stereotipi
culturali, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri 1989, 20-23; Dalia Ofer, "Linguistic Conceptualization of the Holocaust in Palestine and Israel 1942-1953," Journal of
Contemporary History 31 (1996) 567-95; and Sullam Calimani, I nomi dello sterminio, 91-94.
FruitfulDeath
145
statementby the Israeli historianYehudaBauer, who wrote in 1978:

"Holocaustwas the policy of the total, sacral Nazi act of mass murder of all the Jews they could lay hands on."52The italics are mine.53
Largo Arenula 26
00186 Rome
Italy
c.grottanelli@flashnet.it
52
CRISTIANOGROTTANELLI
YehudaBauer, The Holocaust in Historical Perspective, Seattle: University of

WashingtonPress 1978, 36.
53 I thank Florin Turcanu,who read and correctedthis article (November 2004).
BOOK REVIEWS
JEPPESINDINGJENSEN,The Study of Religion in a
New Key: Theoreticaland

in
the
Philosophical Soundings
Comparative and General Study of
Aarhus: Aarhus University Press 2003 (509 p.) ISBN
Religion
87-7934-091-1 (pbk.) DKK398.00.
Despite the fact that some scholarsduringthe last fifteen years have tried
to somehow revitalise 'phenomenology'- now under the rubric of 'neophenomenology'or 'new comparativism'- there can be no doubt that the
majorityof scholarsin the academic study of religion today respondto such
an attemptwith variousforms of scepticism. In his courageousdoctoralthesis, Jeppe Sinding Jensen, without botheringtoo much about political correctness,uncoversthe hiddenagendasof both sides of this debateand intends
to break new ground for a study of religion that is both self-critical and
openly normative. He argues that "the 'post-phenomenology of religion'
could be construedas a radically critical version- one that questions and
cuts right throughthe mass of tacit presuppositions,'received wisdom' and
otheritems best discarded.Yet our basic intentionmust not be lost: to install
a theoreticallyorientedcomparativeand general perspectivein the study of
religion" (p. 9).
In the firstpartof his study,modestly entitled "Preliminaries,"Jensen discusses the basic questions and the history of phenomenologicalapproaches
to religion. He does not subscribeto the claim that scholars should abolish
the term 'phenomenology'and argues that comparisonis the 'unavoidable
condition' of religious studies. The question is, rather,how scholars arrive
at a comparativemethodthatdoes not essentialiseor ontologise the variables
- makesclearhow
of comparison.The book's second part- "Foundations"
the authorwants to establish this comparativesystem of interpretation.He
persuasivelyarguesthatthe strongestargumentsin this methodologicaldebate
come from contemporaryphilosophy. Jensen explains the epistemological
issues at stake in the discussion between 'realistic'positions on the one hand
and pragmatic,hermeneutical,or 'relativist'positions on the other.He makes
? Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden (2005)

Also available online - www.brill.nl
NUMEN, Vol. 52
Book Reviews
147
extensive use of the philosophy of Donald Davidson and RichardRorty

two authorswho, despitetheirenormousimportancefor contemporarydebates,
are not given the attentionthey deserve, at least by Europeanscholars of
religion. Why Jensen does not also engage Robert Brandom is unclear to
me, however, since Brandomoffers fruitful insights into the complex relationship between ontologies, normativities,conceptual schemes, truth,language, and epistemology. But even without referenceto Brandom,Jensen is
right to argue that in our handling of these difficult concepts, the methodological future of the academic study of religion will be decided.
On his way to establish a 'new key' for religious studies - thus harking
back to SusanneK. Langer'snotion of "philosophyin a new key" - Jensen
adopts a sober pragmatic attitude:being normative is inescapable, reductionism is a sine qua non for any academic interpretation,definitions are
"the shortest possible versions of theories" (p. 63) and have to be established deductively,ethnocentrismmay be a problemfor ethics but not for a
pragmaticepistemology,and so on. All these theoreticalargumentsthe author
applies to his basic objective, to establish a study of religion that "shifts the
attentionfrom metaphysical 'givens' and psychological experiences to the
social, symbolic and linguistic constructions of human habitats. The phenomenology of religion in a 'new key' investigates a certainrange of socioculturalphenomena,called 'religious,' that range from the cognitive to the
cultural"(p. 13). PartIII - "Consequences"- briefly summarisesJensen's
basic ideas about the "possibilityof the 'science of comparativereligion,"'
integratingthe scholar as an actor in the game of religion as a "(non-trivial) social phenomenon,"and suggesting a catalogue of possible lines of
comparabilitywithin the study of religion.
Most of the argumentsdeveloped in The Study of Religion in a New Key
are persuasive and balanced, clearly presented,and show the author'sdeep
acquaintancewith contemporaryphilosophy and science. Whetheror not we
want to label this methodology a 'new phenomenology,'and whetheror not
Jensen's argumentsare indeed 'new' (cf. his careful remarkson p. 14), this
book is an importantassessment of the state of the art in a sophisticated
study of religion and breaks fresh groundfor future research.
This very positive impression notwithstanding,there remain significant
questions and problems that have to be addressed.Let me indicate two of
them. Because Jensen develops a meta-theoreticalframework of analysis
148
Book Reviews
that explains the formationof concepts and the constructionof definitions,

he is very vague when it comes to concretedefinitionsof religion or, at least,
to an explicit indication of what our objects of study are. When the author
says that "the term religion refers to a more or less integratedand architectural design of mind and meaning, one in which various 'spaces' and functions relate to action and thought,"the readerwonders how this should be
put into practice.The next sentence gives no clarification:"Withoutclaiming that religion is a seamless system - for it is not - there is nevertheless
some level of intra-organicdiscursive systematicity"(p. 420). Even though
Jensen fully acknowledges the "problemof adequate description [that] is
visible here" (note 16 on p. 421), this description of the field of religion
does not answerthe question of many critics what, then, distinguishes 'religion' from other 'designs of mind and meaning'or from other 'humanhabitats' and socio-cognitive activities? Does the fact that it is "possible to
constructanalytic definitionsof anything,also of religion, but [that] such a
definitionwould be free-floatingand useless, as quite a numberof definitions
of religion in fact have been and still are"(p. 342), automaticallymean that
scholarsof religion do not have to be explicit abouttheir (heuristic)attempts
to structurethe world aroundthem?
A second problem is related to the very project of comparison.Making
use of Davidson'sargumentsaboutthe 'translatability'
of conceptualschemes
(and the 'principleof charity'involved here, see p. 369), Jensen argues that
"if religions are schemes, they may be very different,but they are not 'alternative', because it is my firm contention- and the whole essence of my
theoreticalargument- thatreligions are 'translatable"'(note 53 on p. 343).
I am inclined to agree with this, but at the same time I am afraidthat from
this perspectiveit will be difficultto rule out the possibility that- in a colonial, ethnocentric, or even solipsistic way - we simply impose our conceptual schemes on other cultures. Epistemological notions about the
inescapability of ethnocentrismdo not solve issues of what can be called
the 'ethics of comparison.'But for an attemptto establish a 'new comparativism,' these difficulties must be addressed.
To point out questions and problems that follow from Jensen's argument
does not mean to dismiss his analyticalframeworkas inconsistent.Quite the
contrary:it is a characteristicof good books that their argumentsare clear
and reflective enough to stimulate a detailed and fruitful debate. They do
not solve all problems but they formulatequestions in a better vocabulary.
Book Reviews
149
In this sense, Jeppe Sinding Jensen has written an importantand thoughtprovokingcontributionto methodologicaldiscussions in the academic study
of religion.
Universiteit van Amsterdam
KocKUVONSTUCKRAD
Departmentof Art, Religion,

and CulturalSciences
Oude Turfmarkt147
1012 GC Amsterdam,The Netherlands
D. JASON
SLONE,Theological Incorrectness. Why Religious People Believe
WhatTheyShouldn't- Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress 2004 (156 p.)
ISBN 0-19-516926-3 C23.50.
In this book, Jason Slone raises a question puzzling most studentsof religion, namely "... why do people believe things they shouldn'taccordingto
the tenets of their own beliefs?" (p. 4) Slone is mainly interested in that
question as an illustrationof his more general assumptionthat "the ideas
that one learns in one's given culture, such as theological ideas, play only
a partialrole in what people actuallythinkand do. This book offers an explanation for how and why" (p. 4). The underlyingidea is that one learns theologically correct notions, while the incorrect ones may simply crop up
directly from the depths of the human mind. This is why Slone finds that
the picture drawn by 'socio-culturalists,'namely that religion is learned in
processes of socialisation, is insufficient.However, I feel that it will remain
a matter of debate (and both further empirical and theoretical scrutiny)
whetherthose ideas that people do have while they shouldn't (accordingto
the tenets of their religion), such as, e.g., a belief in 'luck' despite their
adherenceto monotheisticreligions (with their omnipotentand omnipresent
deities), are not equally learnedby these people in their given culture or if
they, as Slone suggests, emerge right out of the mind.
The explanations Slone promises are informed by the increasingly influential cognitive approachto the study of religion, and some of the main
protagonists of this approach- Pascal Boyer, E. Thomas Lawson (his
PhD-supervisor),Harvey Whitehouse, and LutherH. Martin- have given
their benedictionto Slone's book by writing enthusiasticendorsementsthat
NUMEN, Vol. 52
150
Book Reviews
are proudly displayed on the back of the book. Apart from these authors,
Slone is inspiredby JustinBarrettand his researchesinto the limits of 'theologicalcorrectness'in situationswhenpeople arerequiredto rapidly('online')
resolve conceptualproblems. Unfortunately,only less than half of the slim
volume (125 pages of text, plus bibliographyand index, no notes) is actually devoted to the problem it is supposed to 'explain.'
In the first three chapters,Slone reviews main paradigmsin the study of
religion. This very brief account is hardly original. Its main purpose evidently is the usual rewritingof scholarly history in order to provide legitimacy to the paradigm adhered to by the respective author.Accordingly,
contraryto the first chapters, the section on the cognitive approachlacks
any critical stance. It merely lists the achievementsof the main protagonists
whose theories the authorssets out to apply in the subsequentchaptersof
the book to "some recurringand enigmatic case studies from world religions" (p. 5).
Let us take a very brief look at some of these problems and the explanations providedby the author.The first case study deals with the 'non-theistic' characterof TheravadaBuddhism and the theological incorrectnessof
those Buddhists treating the Buddha as a superhumanagent. It turns out,
however, that the problemSlone wants to explain is like the windmills Don
Quixotte found himself fighting against, because the theological norms
Buddhist are reportedlyviolating against were merely an invention of 19th
centuryBuddhistmodernists.And with the explanandum,also the explanation looses much of its interest. (The chapter also discusses some further
problems pertainingto TheravadaBuddhism.)
The second case study is taken from North American religious history.
Here, Slone offers an 'explanation' of the transformationof the English
Colonies in America"froma PuritanicalCalvinistsociety based on the combinedbelief in divine sovereignty(andthus 'predestination')to an Arminianist
society based on the combinedbelief in divine sovereigntyand in free will"
(p. 5). This is "becauseCalvinist theology was too cognitively burdensome
to be employed online [= in a rapid, pre-reflective way (MSt.)] or to be
maintainedover the long run"(p. 100). Seen from this angle, the predictable
replacementof Puritanismby Arminianism(a form of theology that Slone
holds to be closer to "natural"cognitive processes) was just a matterof time.
Even if one would agree with the underlying view that regards religions
essentially as a bundleof doctrines(and religious change basically a replacement of religious ideas), for a historianthe interestingquestionswould rather
Book Reviews
151
be why this replacementhappenedat a particulartime (the GreatAwakening),

why such a cognitively suboptimalform of religions as Puritanismcame into
being at all in the first place (and was pretty successful), and why it is still
alive, albeit as a minority.Unfortunately,Slone does not addressthese issues.
In the sixth chapter,Slone discusses cross-culturallywidespreadnotions
of 'luck' that he, from a cognitive point of view, finds to be "moreefficient
than theologically correctpostulations"(p. 108). Notions of 'luck' are held
to be theologically incorrectbecause they implicitlydeny the idea that superhuman agents are in control. While theologies proceed deductively,notions
of 'luck' operate abductively, producing faster and broaderresults. Slone
provides severalgeneralpsychologicalreasonswhy "we"are naturallyprone
to ideas about luck, which turn out to be "a naturalby-productof human
cognition" (p. 120), just as religion. As stimulatingas this reasoning may
be, it clearly suffers from the 'intuitive' way Slone deals with the problem.
Insteadof sweeping general statements("Humanssimply are controlfreaks"
[p. 118]; "Once the cause of luck is postulated, we naturallyfeel that we
can influence that cause" [p. 120]), this reviewer would have expected a
closer attentionto the empirical materialat hand. Slone's argumentsoperate within a historical vacuum.
The book is pretty 'American'in style. Brief sentences. Readable.Funny.
And lots of examples from everyday-life. Slone's book is certainly challenging, but despite its many interestinginsights derived from the canon of
cognitive writingson religion, on the whole, I am afraidto say, it is a missed
opportunity.One of the (several) reasons why many scholars (still) tend to
be critical towards the cognitive paradigmis that they feel that it doesn't
help them to do something with their data. Slone could have shown us how
that can work out. But precisely the chaptersof the book actually dealing
with historical data are far too apodictic and sketchy to be compelling.
Unfortunately,Slone does not resist the temptationto draw a caricatureof
his enemies, and occasionally, this tendency falls back on his own reasoning. Ultimately,the book amply illustratesthat we need to pay closer attention to the complex interrelationsbetween both cognition and culture and
cognition and history.
Department of the History of Religions
University of Bergen
0isteinsgate 3
5007 Bergen, Norway
MICHAEL
STAUSBERG
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
Periodicals
HISTORYOF RELIGIONS,43 (2003), 2
Janet Gyatso,One Plus One MakesThree:BuddhistGender,Monasticism,

and the Law of the Non-excluded Middle
Stefanievon Schnurbein,Shamanismin the Old Norse Tradition:A Theory
between
Ideological Camps
Bruce Lincoln, A la recherchedu paradisperdu
Book Reviews
E. F Beall, Theism and Mysticism in Hesiod's Worksand Days

Kimberley C. Patton, "A Great and Strange Correction":Intentionality,
Locality, and Epiphanyin the Categoryof Dream Incubation
WilliamR. LaFleur,Buddhismin a Fail-SafeMode:Examining"Medieval"
Japan
(Review Article)
RichardJ. Parmentier,Descriptionand Comparisonof Religion (Review
Article)
Book Reviews
Clarisse Herrenschmidtand Bruce Lincoln, The Bifurcated Cosmos of

Mazdean Religion
Nikky-GuninderKaur Singh, Sacred Fabric and Sacred Stitches: The
Underwearof the Khalsa
Itzchak Weismann,Sufi Brotherhoodsin Syria and Israel:A Comparative
Overview
HenrikH. Sorensen,Michel Strickmannon Magical Medicine in Medieval
China and Elsewhere (Review Article)
Book Reviews

NUMEN, Vol. 52
Publications Received
153
Books
(Listing in this section does not preclude subsequentreviewing)
Reeves, John C. (ed.), Bible and Qur'an.Essays in ScripturalIntertextuality.
Series: Society of Biblical LiteratureSymposium Series, 24 - Leiden,
Boston, Brill, 2004, 245 p., US$90.00, ISBN 90-04-12726-7 (hb.).
Collins, John J., Gregory E. Sterling, Ruth A. Clements (eds.), Sapiential
Perspectives: Wisdom Literature in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Proceedings of the Sixth InternationalSymposium of The Orion Center
for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature,20-22
May, 2001. Series: Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, 51 Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2004, 210 p., US$105.00, ISBN 90-04-13670-3
(hb.).
Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Handworterbuchfir Theologie und
Religions-wissenschaft. Vierte, v6llig neu bearbeitete Auflage, herausgegebenvon HansDieterBetz, Don S. Browning,Bemd Janowski,Eberhard
Jiingel,vol. 6: N-Q - Tiibingen,MohrSiebeck, 2003, 1896 Sp., ?214.00
Subscription, ISBN 3-16-146906-2 (cloth); vol. 7: R-S - Tiibingen,
MohrSiebeck,2004, 2030 Sp., C214.00Subscription,ISBN 3-16-146907-0
(cloth).
Troeltsch, Ernst, Protestantisches Christentumund Kirche in der Neuzeit
(1906/1909/1922), ed. by VolkerDrehsen in collaborationwith Christian
Albrecht. Series: ErnstTroeltschKritische Gesamtausgabe,7 - Berlin,
New York,Walterde Gruyter,2004, 645 p., C198.00,ISBN 3-11-016341-1
(cloth).
Lange, Armin, HermannLichtenbergerand K. F. DiethardRomheld (eds.),
Die Dimonen / Demons. Die Ddmonologie der israelitisch-jiidischenund
friihchristlichenLiteraturim Kontextihrer Umwelt/ The Demonology of
Israelite-Jewish and Early Christian Literature in Context of their
Environment- Tiibingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2003, 687 p., C134.00, ISBN
3-16-147955-6.
Stuckrad,Kocku von, Was ist Esoterik? Kleine Geschichte des geheimen
Wissens- Miinchen, Verlag C.H. Beck, 2004, 280 p., ?16.90, ISBN
3-406-52173-8 (pbk.).
Neusner, Jacob, Neusner on Judaism, Vol. 1: History. Series: Ashgate
ContemporaryThinkers on Religion: Collected Works - Aldershot,
Ashgate, 2004, 537 p., ?65.00, ISBN 0-7546-3598-8 (hb.).
154
Boyarin, Daniel, Border Lines. The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity

Philadelphia,PA, Universityof PennsylvaniaPress,2004, 374 p., US$38.50,
ISBN 0-8122-3764-1 (cloth).
Ellenson,David,AfterEmancipation.JewishReligiousResponsesto Modernity
- Cincinnati, OH, Hebrew Union College, distrib. by Wayne State
University Press, 2004, 547 p., US$35.00, ISBN 0-87820-223-4 (cloth).
Ktigler,Joachim (ed.), Impuls oder Hindernis?Mit dem Alten Testamentin
multi-religiiserGesellschaft - Munster,Berlin,Hamburg,London,Wien,
Lit Verlag,2004, 194 p., C19.90, ISBN 3-8258-7652-7 (pbk.).
Salmond, Noel, Hindu Iconoclasts. RammohunRoy, Dayananda Sarasvati,
and Nineteenth-CenturyPolemics against Idolatry - Waterloo,Ontario,
Wilfrid LaurierUniversity Press, 172 p., $44.95, ISBN 0-88920-419-5
(cloth).
The Kalacakratantra.The Chapter on the Individual together with the
Vimalaprabha.Translatedfrom Sanskrit,Tibetan,and Mongolianby Vesna
A. Wallace - New York, Columbia University Press, 2004, 374 p.,
US$49.00, ISBN 0-975337334-1-2 (cloth).
Fader, H. Louis, The Issa Tale That Will Not Die. Nicholas Notovitch and
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Press of America, 2003, 239 p., ISBN 0-975337334-1-2 (cloth).
Gourdouba,Maria,LeenaPietila-CastrenandEsko Tikkala(eds.), TheEastern
Mediterraneanin the Late Antique and Early ByzantinePeriods. Series:
Papersand Monographsof the FinnishInstituteat Athens, 9 - Helsinki,
Foundationof the Finnish Institute at Athens, 2004, 98 p. + 49 figures,
ISBN 951-98806-3-1 (pbk.).
Freston, Paul, ProtestantPolitical Parties. A Global Survey - Aldershot,
Ashgate, 2004, 175 p., ?47.50, ISBN 0-7546-4062-0 (hb.).
Chaves, Mark, Congregations in America - Cambridge, MA/London,
HarvardUniversity Press, 2004, 291 p., ?19.95, ISBN 0-674-01284-4
(cloth).
Zhuk, Sergei I., Russia's Lost Reformation.Peasants, Millennialism, and
Radical Sects in SouthernRussia and Ukraine,1830-1917 - Baltimore
and London,The John HopkinsUniversityPress, 2004, 457 p., US$60.00,
ISBN 0-8018-7915-9 (cloth).
Kriiger, Oliver, Virtualitdt und Unsterblichkeit. Die Visionen des
Posthumanismus- Freiburgim Breisgau, Rombach Verlag, 2004, 459
p., C54.00, ISBN 3-7930-9405-7 (pbk.).
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Drost-Abgarjan,Armenuhiand JiirgenTubach,togetherwith Mohsen Zakeri

(eds), Sprache,Mythen,Mythizismen.Festschriftfiir WalterBeltz zum 65.
Geburtstag am 25. April 2000. Series: Hallesche Beitrage zur
Orientwissenschaft, 32, 2001, 1-3 (3 vol.)
Halle, Martin-LutherUniversitat,Institutfiir OrientalischeArchaologie und Kunst, 2004.
Beckmann, GustavAdolf, with ErikaTimm, Wielandder Schmied in neuer
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CONTENTS
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The Religiousness of Violence ................................
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Religion and Violence: What Can Sociology Offer? ....
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Hans G. KIPPENBERG,
of God": The SpiritualManual of the Attackersof 9/11 ..............

The Ethics of Warand the Concept of Warin
Torkel BREKKE,
India and Europe ............................................................................
29
59
Theoretical Reflections on Violence

Francisco DIEZDEVELASCO,

(WithReference to the Hispanic World) ........................................
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Cristiano GROTTANELLI,
Fruitful Death: Mircea Eliade and Ernst
Junger on Human Sacrifice, 1937-1945 ........................................
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Theoreticaland Philosophical Soundings in the Comparative
and General Study of Religion (Kocku VON STUCKRAD) ................
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D. Jason Slone, Theological Incorrectness.WhyReligious People

Believe What They Shouldn't (Michael STAUSBERG)......................
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CONTENTS
Articles
Marion I. BOWMAN,
AncientAvalon, New Jerusalem, Heart Chakra
Planet
Earth:
The
Local and the Global in Glastonbury ........ 157
of
Lisbeth MIKAELSSON,Locality and Myth: The Resacralizationof
Selja and the Cult of St. Sunniva .................................................. 191
Daria PEZZOLI-OLGIATI,
Erkundungenvon Gegenwelten:
Zur Orientierungsleistung<<mythischer>
Reisen am Beispiel
zweier mesopotamischerTexte ........................................................ 226
Elena MuNIz GRIJALVO,Elites and Religious Change in Roman
Athens ......... ...........................................................
255
Book Reviews
Giulia Sfameni Gasparro(ed.), Themesand Problems of the
History of Religions in ContemporaryEurope. Proceedings
of the InternationalSeminarMessina, March 30-31 2001 / Temie
problemi della Storia delle Religioni nell'europa contemporanea.
Atti del SeminarioInternazionaleMessina, 30-31 Marzo 2001
(Michael STAUSBERG)........................................
..........
283
Publications Received ........................................
...........
287
ANCIENT AVALON,NEW JERUSALEM,

HEART CHAKRA OF PLANET EARTH:
THE LOCAL AND THE GLOBAL IN GLASTONBURY1
MARIONI. BOWMAN
Summary
Glastonbury,a small town in the south west of England, is the focus for a variety of spiritual seekers and religious practitioners.It therefore provides an interesting and appropriatecontext in which to explore the relationship between the
local and the global in the contemporaryspiritual milieu.
This article explores the extent to which Glastonburyhas claimed a "serial centrality" over the centuries in relation to different religious trends, first within
Christianityand, in the course of the twentieth century, within a growing number
of worldviews.
Highlighting similarities and tensions between the competing visions and discourses to be found there, the article examines issues surroundingthe negotiation
of the local and the global for a variety of groups and individuals.
Despite the element of change (indeed exoticism) in some of the manifestations
of contemporaryspiritualityin Glastonbury,there is, nevertheless, a considerable
degree of continuity in relation to the vernaculartraditionthere.
Introduction
The idea that the world is "a single place" is actively articulated
within many aspects of contemporary religion in Glastonbury, a
small town in the south west of England which attractsan immense
variety of spiritual seekers. It therefore provides a fruitful location
in which to examine the local in the context of the global, and the
global in the context of the local. In this article I look at various
ways in which the local and global are perceived to interact there,
This article is based on the Keynote Lecture of the same name given at the
EASR conference on The Local and the Global, University of Bergen, 2003.
? KoninklijkeBrill NV, Leiden (2005)
Also availableonline - www.brill.nl
NUMEN, Vol. 52
158
Marion I. Bowman
some of the issues raised and exemplified by this interaction, and

the extent to which there is both continuity and change in how
Glastonbury has been and continues to be centrally and significantly located in relation to a variety of worldviews.
Adopting an ethnological approach,which Kockel (2003) claims
is "particularlysuited to studying local-level interpretations and
negotiations of global processes," I have conducted fieldwork in
Glastonburyon a variety of phenomena since 1991 (e.g., Bowman
1993a, 1993b, 2000). Accordingly, much of the informationfor this
article has been gathered through formal interviews, participant
observation and informal conversations.2 Many of the claims
reportedhere about Glastonbury'spast and its present significance
have the status of "common knowledge" or "received wisdom," by
which I mean that they are now so embedded in the oral tradition
of various groups and individuals in Glastonburythat they tend to
be stated as uncontested fact. In addition, there are books (such as
Glastonbury: Maker of Myths by long term Glastonbury resident
Francis Howard-Gordon), magazine articles and websites which
assume, repeat or supportthis "common knowledge." Occasionally
people will reference assertions back to characters influential in
Glastonbury in the 20th century, such as Frederick Bligh Bond,
Dion Fortune,Wellesley Tudor Pole and KatharineMaltwood (see
Benham 1993), or modem writers including Geoffrey Ashe, John
Michell and Kathy Jones. For the most part, though, the varied
statements made about Glastonbury'spast and present, its connections with a variety of myths, and its local and global significance
tend to be presented as unassailable or self-evident fact, for which
more conventionally recognised proof is not deemed necessary.3As
When no specific reference is given for a quotation, it comes from fieldwork

tapes or notes. I am grateful to all who have given me the benefit of their time,
knowledge, experiences, insights and company.
3 On one occasion I asked about evidence relating to the Druidic university
which many claim existed in Glastonbury.The person to whom I was speaking
The Local and the Global in Glastonbury
159
will become clear, the making of extravagantbut largely unauthenticated claims for Glastonbury'sstatus is not a new phenomenon.
Locating Glastonbury
In conventional terms, Glastonburyis a small town (population
c8500) in rural Somerset, in the south west of England. However,
some consider Glastonburyto be the point where the veil between
this world and the "other world" is at its thinnest. It exerts an attraction for a variety of spiritual seekers and scholars on account
of the many myths that surroundit and the myriad claims made for
it (Bowman 1993a, 2000; Ivakhiv 2001). In effect, Glastonburyis
not one place but many; it is a place of parallel pasts and presents.
Normally we might think of the history of a place in terms of
"stacking,"a vertical structurewhereby one layer rests on and to
some extent obliterates the previous layer. In Glastonbury,while
there is a popularly perceived chronology of events (patriarchy
replacing matriarchy,Christianityreplacing Paganism), there is also
a horizontalstructureof simultaneitywherebydifferentpasts arebeing
revived to take their place in the present, at the same time in the
same location. Sometimes complementing, frequently interacting,
and on occasion competing with each other (see Ivakhiv 2001;
Bowman 2004), these parallel universes provide case-studies of
how the local and the global are (re)interpretedand (re)negotiated
in this context.
In popularly accepted chronological order, some believe that
Glastonbury was a significant prehistoric centre of Goddess worship, confirmed for present-daydevotees by figures of the Goddess
they discern in the landscape and the existence in the Christianera
of strong devotion to St. Bridget,4widely regardedin some circles
replied "You mean, observable phenomena?"in a tone which made it clear that I
had asked a rather stupid question.
4 St. Brighid was a 6th century Irish saint, foundress of a celebratedconvent at
160
Marion . Bowman
as a Christianisedform of the Goddess. (Glastonburyresident and

author Kathy Jones asserts, "Where we find St. Bridget we know
that the goddess Bridie was once honoured"[2000:16]). For others,
Glastonbury'ssignificance lies in the claim that it was the site of
a great Druidic university, a centre of learning to which people
flocked from all over Europe and beyond. There are those who
claim that in Glastonburythe Druids had anticipatedthe coming of
Christianity,and that here the transitionfrom the old religion to the
new was smooth; indeed, there is even speculation that Jesus himself attended the Druidic university.
Beyond the prehistoricperiod, Glastonbury'sChristianhistory is
contested (see Carley 1996) and has relied heavily on folk religion,
which is defined by folklorist Don Yoder as "the totality of all
those views and practices of religion that exist among the people
apart from and alongside the strictly theological and liturgical
forms of the official religion" (1974:14). For many Christians,past
and present, Glastonbury'sstatus has rested on it being the "cradle
of English Christianity,"the point at which Christianitytook root
in England, allegedly brought there by Joseph of Arimathea (the
person who provided a tomb for Christ after the crucifixion) who
established the first Christianchurch in the British Isles in Glastonbury.It is claimed thatJoseph arrivedin Glastonburyafter the crucifixion with a staff which he thrust into the ground on arrival at
Wearyall Hill; this took root and became the Glastonbury thorn,
which flowers twice a year, in spring and aroundChristmas.(Each
year this legend is celebratedin the Holy Thorn Ceremony held at
the Anglican St John's Church,attendedby local schoolchildren,and
a sprig of the Christmasfloweringthornis sent to the Queen.)Joseph
is also reputedto have broughtthe chalice used at the Last Supper,
the Grail, although in some versions of the legend he brought containers holding the blood (and possibly the sweat) of Christ.
Cill Dara (Kildare), Ireland. The saint's name in modern Irish is Brid, and in
anglicised form appears as Bride, Brigit or Bridget.
161
Even more significantly, many believe that Jesus himself came

to Glastonburywith St. Joseph, and furthermorethat he may have
spent some time living there before he commenced his ministry
(see Bowman 2003-2004). The words of the 18th century poet and
visionary William Blake,
And did those feet in ancient times
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
are widely thought to express this belief. More recently (though

ratherless well known), Van Morrison's "Summertimein England"
containsthe line "Didyou ever hearaboutJesus walkin', Jesus walkin'
down by Avalon?," demonstratingthe continuing currency of this
idea.
Traditionally -
though questionably -
connected with Celtic saints
such as Patrick,Bridget, Columba, and David (see Carley 1996:99112), there are those who regard Glastonburyas a bastion of Celtic
Christianity,suggesting that here was a more nature-oriented,egalitarian, spiritually intuitive form of Christianity than the Roman
version later "imposed." Some claim this was because of the insights and esoteric knowledge incorporated from Druids who
became Christians.
Glastonburyhas also been identified with the Isle of Avalon, the
place where in Arthurianlegend King Arthurwas taken for healing
after his last battle, and where some believe he lies sleeping, waiting to return at some time of great national emergency. The connectionbetweenJosephandArimatheaandthe Grail,andthe centrality
of the quest for the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend are seen as
significant, while the fortuitous 12th century "discovery" of the
body of Arthur in the grounds of GlastonburyAbbey seemed to
confirm the popular association between Arthur, Glastonbury,and
Avalon. Many feel that this connection has been reinforced with
the 1920's "rediscovery"by artist and sculptor KatharineMaltwood
of the GlastonburyZodiac, a huge planisphere 10 miles in diameter
162
Marion L Bowman
Figure 1. The annual Anglican GlastonburyPilgrimage to "the cradle of

English Christianity."(Photo: Marion Bowman)
163
in the landscape around Glastonbury,hailed as the original Round

Table of Arthurianmyth (see Maltwood 1964).
By the Middle Ages GlastonburyAbbey was a major pilgrimage
centre, boasting a huge collection of relics and a fine library; the
Abbey's Lady Chapel was allegedly built on the site of Joseph's
original church. The Abbey was brutally suppressed at the time of
the Reformation, and fell into ruins. However, there is a tradition
that Austin Ringwode, last of the Glastonbury monks, made the
deathbed prophecy that "The Abbey will one day be repaired and
rebuilt for the like worship which has ceased; and then peace and
plenty will for a long time abound" (Ashe 1957:362). Some feel
that if the Abbey could be rebuilt, it would restore not only the
spiritual wellbeing of the nation but "Britain'sgreatness."
From the late 19th and early 20th centuries, influences from the
Celtic revival, Theosophy and esotericism were felt in Glastonbury
(Benham 1993), and from the 1970's it gained a media reputation
as a centre for "hippies,""New Age Travellers,"and people seeking alternativelifestyles and spiritual experiences. Regarded as the
epicentreof New Age in England,some see Glastonbury'ssignificance
in terms of leylines, as a node where leylines converge, a centre of
earth energies. In global terms, Glastonbury is regarded as the
"heart chakra" of planet earth, or as one informant put it, "the
beginningof wherethe spiritualenergycomes into the physicalplane."
In the wake of numerousreportsof UFO sightings and crop circles
in the area, some feel that it is also an importantcommunication
point for extra-terrestrialcontact.
Serial Centrality
From this brief sketch of perceptions of Glastonburyamong different spiritualseekers, one thing becomes very clear: whatever the
prevailing myth or worldview, Glastonburysomehow claims a central place in it. Glastonburywas a major centre of devotion to the
Goddess in the British Isles, it is claimed. There is not just the
assertion that there were Druids in Glastonbury;Glastonburywas
164
Marion I. Bowman
the great British (even European) Druidic centre of learning. The

Christian church at Glastonburywas the original, the first church
in England; the founder of Christianity, Christ himself, came to
Glastonbury. Some of the most significant figures of the Celtic
Church (such as Patrick, Bridget, David and Columba) are said to
have had Glastonburyconnections. In the context of Arthurianlegend, Glastonbury is Avalon and Arthur himself is here. In terms
of English nationalism, the nation's greatness can be restored by
rebuildingthe Abbey in Glastonbury,and as some believe not only
that Christ came here during his lifetime, but that he will returnto
Glastonbury,Glastonbury'scentral position seems assured for the
future.
It comes as no surprise,then, that in the context of highly globalised contemporaryspirituality,Glastonburyis not just on one leyline, but at the significant convergence of a number of them; it is
"heartchakra"of planet earth. The claims simply get bigger as the
world and worldviews expand. Glastonburyhas consistently localised the global and globalised the local, locating itself in a prominent position, pulling in and projecting out significance. Of course
that has happened elsewhere, but this "hyperlocalisation"seems
particularly marked in Glastonbury at present. For while at one
level the world may be a single place, currentlyGlastonburyis the
centre of a number of worlds, because of the way Glastonbury
functions as a multiple choice or multivalent location. Just as in
Britain there are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which
are prized and protected for either the rarity or the diversity of the
flora and fauna found there, there may well be an argument for
declaring Glastonburyan alternativeSSSI (Site of Special Spiritual
Interest) on similar grounds.
Locating VernacularReligion and ContemporarySpirituality
Leonard Primiano (1995:44) defines vernacularreligion as "religion as it is lived: as humans encounter,understand,interpretand
practice it." To study it requires "an interdisciplinaryapproachto
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the study of the religious lives of individuals with special attention

to the process of religious belief, the verbal, behavioural,and material expressions of religious belief, and the ultimate object of religious belief" (Primiano 1995:44). That is, the focus is on what
people actually believe, how they actually behave, and how this is
expressed in everyday life ratherthan on some idealised notion of
what they should be believing or doing. This is a context in which
cultural tradition,informal transmissionand personal experience of
efficacy are likely to be as importantas authoritativetexts or religious professionals. This is undoubtedly the case in Glastonbury,
and any downplaying of this aspect would lead to an incomplete
understandingof ideas and events there.
More generally, if we are thinking about the negotiation of the
global and the local within religion, both past and present, it is
imperative to take into account vernacularreligion, for vernacular
religion is very much about locating religion in everyday life,
about rooting religion not just in different cultural contexts but in
myriad physical locations. This is something that religions have traditionally done in a variety of ways. When the Romans reached
Bath in south west England, for example, the hot springs became
dedicated to the hybrid deity Sulis Minerva, a combination of the
Roman Goddess of wisdom and healing Minerva, and the Celtic
deity Sul - a good example of localising the global, and globalising the local. Meanwhile, for Christmas2002 there was a self-consciously Venetian nativity scene in St. Mark's Square, with the
Holy Family in a gondola, being visited not by shepherdsand wise
men, but by gondoliers and doges.
But localisation has been inherent in the spread of global religions, far beyond the simple addition of cultural trimmings. Catholic churches around the world contain the Stations of the Cross
which, especially on Good Friday, are not just reproducing,but relocating the Via Dolorosa, so that people can join Jesus on that
last journey in Jerusalem. Likewise, in the wake of the apparition of Our Lady to Beradette in a grotto outside the old town of
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Marion I. Bowman
Lourdes in 1858, Lourdes Grottoes began to be replicated in

churches in Europe,America and elsewhere. These were frequently
built by priests or parishionerswho had had the experience of visiting Lourdes and who wanted to enable parishionerswho would
not be able to make the journey to have that experience at home.
This phenomenon might be considered an example of the global
becoming local, the local becoming global and then re-localised or
relocated. It is certainly worth rememberingthat virtual pilgrimage
and time-space compression are not new ideas, and that the relationship between the local and the global can take a variety of
forms:
Local
, Global
Local Global
Local -0-
Global
Spiritual Shopping and Consumer Choice

As I have pointed out elsewhere (Bowman 2000), few (if any)
places in the UK enjoy such high status among believers and spiritual seekers of so many different persuasions as Glastonbury.
Thousandsvisit Glastonburyfor theAnglicanandCatholicpilgrimages;
for courses at the Isle of Avalon Foundation (which sees itself as
the successor to the Druidic university);for the arrayof healing on
offer; for the annual Goddess Conference or the GlastonburySymposium on Cereology (Crop Circles); for ritual activity at various
times on the eightfold calendar widely observed by "free range"
pagans, Druids and Wiccans; to visit Britain's first officially registered Goddess Temple; and as individual pilgrims, spiritual seekers
and tourists. In addition to groups already mentioned, Glastonbury
has attracteddevotees of Sai Baba, members of ISKCON, Baha'is,
Sufis of various sorts, and at least three people claiming either to
be, to channel or to represent Buddha Maitreya in recent years.
People come not just from Britain but from all over Europe, North
America, the Antipodes and elsewhere. In addition, many more
know of Glastonbury through countless myths and memorates,
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novels set in Glastonbury (such as the highly influentialMists of

Avalon by Marion Bradley), books, articles, songs, television features and increasing numbers of Glastonbury-relatedwebsites.
Spiritualseekerscan also be keen consumers.MedievalGlastonbury
grew up around the Abbey, with businesses developing to cater to
the varied needs of the people who came to visit, feeding them,
housing them and selling them mementos and relics. Just as a
medal or statue from a pilgrimage site is popularly regarded as
more powerful or sacred, now there is an assumptionthat the crystal bought in Glastonburyand bathed in Chalice Well water might
be especially precious or empowering. For those seeking accommodation, some Bed and Breakfast establishments offer particular
types of healing or meditationto discerning clients to enhance their
stay in Avalon.s
I mentioned in relationshipto vernacularreligion the importance
of personal experience of efficacy, a theme very much in evidence
in contemporaryspirituality.The contemporaryspiritual seeker has
a "toolkit"approachto spirituality,seeking whatever spiritualtools
"work"for her or him at any given time. In pursuit of the individual spiritual quest, globalisation undoubtedly provides a global
toolbox (some might say a Pandora'sbox) of vocabulary,artefacts,
and praxis. Glastonburybears witness to the global natureandcommodification of contemporary spirituality, with the availability
of "tools for personal and planetary healing" at Maitreya Monastery (formerlyknown as ArchangelMichael's Soul TherapyCentre);
didgeridoos; Tibetan singing bowls; "Feng Shui products"; and
images of assorted Bodhisattvas, Hindu deities and ancient goddesses. Shops such as The Goddess and the Green Man, Starchild
Apothecary, Stone Age ("To promote the practical use of crystals
and gemstones for healing and transformation"),Man Myth and
HannahDrown's MA Thesis (Drown 2001) offers fascinating insights into the

"alternative"Bed and Breakfast scene in Glastonbury.
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Marion I. Bowman
Magick ("A shop to build your dreams on"), Yin Yang ("Ancient
Principles- Beautiful Solutions"), Natural Earthling ("for dance,
yoga and meditation products"),and The Psychic Piglet cater to a
wide range of needs and tastes, and the spiritual shopping opportunities presented by such outlets are part of Glastonbury'sattraction for its varied visitors.
It will already be obvious that globalised consumer choice is not
confined to material goods, as the number of different religious
groups and spiritualinterests to be found there indicates. There are
numerous types of healing available (including crystal therapy,
"Zen Shiatsu," past life regression, Reiki, Hopi ear candle therapy
and shamanichealing);assortedforms of yoga andmeditation(including "shamanic moving meditation" and "Osho kundalini meditation"); and the more active can enjoy ecstatic dance, belly dancing,
and Dances of Universal Peace. People can experience Sufi Zikr,
Darshan with His Holiness Gyalwa Jampa, or "Shamanicjourneying," and they can attend such events as a "KabbalahWeekend"or
a Wolfclan Teaching Lodge.
In such a context it is inevitable that the local and the global
interact, as in the case of the Glastonbury dream catcher. The
dream catcher is an item "borrowed"from Native American tradition, increasingly common as both ethnic chic and spiritual tool.
Looking something like a stylised circular spider's web, it is said
to catch or filter out bad dreams. However, typical of the creative
"spiritual cottage industries" that flourish there, I was given a
"Glastonburydream catcher,"the web incorporatingbeads of blue,
green and purple, with two pale turquoise feathers attached (all
considered very "Aquarian"colours) and it came with a label from
the maker claiming that it was "specially charged with Glastonbury
energy."
The toolkit approachto the spiritualquest and the global gleanings available to the contemporaryspiritual searcher can occasion
stress as well as opportunity.With so much to choose from, and
with the individual responsible for personal spiritual success, in
some ways there is no excuse for a spiritual seeker not to get it
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right. There are those who say that Glastonbury acts as spiritual
magnifying glass, so that things are bigger, bolder, more extreme
in Glastonbury- and that includes good and bad, positive and
negative. While many people feel they have found their spiritual
destiny in Glastonbury,many come to Glastonburywith questions,
conditions and problems that cannot be resolved easily. Drug addiction and mental health issues undoubtedlyare part of the Glastonbury scene. The widespread perception of Glastonburyas a place
outside conventional normality is wryly summed up in the badge
for sale in one Glastonburyshop which reads "Glastonburyis an
Open Air Lunatic Asylum." Bryan Turner'squestion (summarising
Roland Robertson), "How is a stable self possible when permanent
reflectiveness is a necessary consequence of global relativisation?"
(1994:112) seems to have some relevance here.
Glastonburyis able to function as a global spiritual and experiential bazaar in part because the prevailing ethos of contemporary
religiosity encourages spiritually shopping around and creative
consumerism to create and develop the personally-craftedpackage
that is the individual quest. However, such trends are amplified in
Glastonburyby its claims to be significant in or connected with a
variety of world religious traditions.
Brahmin, Sheikh and Buddha in Glastonbury
If we are thinking about continuity and change in relation to the
local and the global in Glastonbury,what is most striking at present is scale; the conceptual world with which Glastonburyengages
is a very much bigger and more varied place than simply Christian
Glastonburyor Arthur'sAvalon.
The extent to which "eastern"products, praxis and philosophies
enjoy popularity in Glastonbury can to some degree be seen as
indicative of the "Eastemisation"(Campbell 1999) of much contemporaryspiritualdiscourse. However, for some, the perceptionof
Glastonbury as a great Druidic centre also plays a part in establishing its Indo-Europeancredentials and to some extent explains
Marion I. Bowman
170
why it might be "natural" to adopt such ideas and practices. Since

the 18th century, some writers and practitioners have drawn connections between Hinduism and Druidry by identifying Druids
and Brahmins with one another (see Robinson 2000). That this
trend continues is indicated by the following extract from the Druid
Directory:
Like the Brahmins, the Druids of old were teachers, priests, doctors, historians, poets, prophets, guardiansof lore and givers of law. Brahmin and Druid
were both noted for their devotion to the concept of transcendentTruth....
As far as we know, the religion practised among the tribal peoples of preRoman Europe had no name, just as adherents of what we call Hinduism
refer to their faith simply as "the eternal religion."Again like Hinduism, this
religion seems to have consisted not so much of a uniform system of practice and belief as of innumerable local cults based around local or tribal
deities. The rites of these cults were overseen by members of the Druid caste,
much as those of Hinduism are overseen by Brahmins. (Shallcrass and
Restall Orr 2001:8-9)
However, Glastonbury's global significance is more specifically

affirmed by its incorporation into the beliefs, praxis and worldview
of two groups drawing on very different religious traditions. While
a variety of Sufi groups have had a presence in Glastonbury over
the years, currently the most publicly active Sufis there is the
Naqshbandi-Haqqaniyya of Shaikh Nazim al-Haqqani al-Qubrusi
(see Draper 2002:199-209). In 1999 Sheikh Nazim visited Glastonbury
and declared that it was "the spiritual heart of Britain." He felt it
necessary for the group to have a presence in Glastonbury, and this
was achieved through opening the Healing Hearts Charity shop run
by "Zero," a Swedish convert who is the local group leader. Sheikh
Nazim and his Naqshbandi Tariqa are convinced that Christ came
to Glastonbury, as we read on their website:
Perhapsthe most importantthing is that the ProphetIsa (peace be upon him),
Jesus Christ, for whatever reason, came here a lot. This has been verified by
Sheikh Nazim who said that by the power of the phrase "Bismillahi Rahmani
Rahim" Isa was able to transporthis whole being here. He left his mark by
building, along with Yusuf/Joseph of Arimethea, the famous "wattle and
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accessed
daub" or "old" church. (http://www.the-heart.net/features/index.htm;
1 September 2003)
They feel that the Abbey is the holiest ground in Glastonbury,

and believe that when Christ returns to earth he will re-appear
in Glastonbury. Thus the Christian vernacular tradition of Jesus
in Glastonburyis used to connect Glastonburywith SufismandSufism
with Glastonbury.
Similarly, the myth of Jesus in Glastonburyis intricately woven
into the worldview of the American believed by his followers to be
an incarnationof both Jesus and Buddha, formerly known as His
Holiness TulkuBuddhaMaitreyaRinpoche,now His Holiness Gyalwa
Jampa(SanatMaitreyaKumara),Directorof the Churchof Shambhala
VajradharaMaitreya Sangha (see http://www.tibetanfoundation.org/
introduction.htm).In an interview in September2003, His Holiness
confirmed that Jesus did indeed spend time in Glastonbury as a
young man, after which he went to India and then Tibet. He claims
that it is part of "traditionalknowledge" in Tibetan Buddhism that
Jesus not only visited Tibet then but reincarnatedthere on a number of occasions. This explains why, in some respects such as hierarchical structure,monasticism and the use of prayerbeads, Tibetan
Buddhism is "almost identical to the Catholic church, or Christianity." Self-consciously repeating the previous pattern of events, His
Holiness felt that in this incarnationit was important for him to
come to Glastonburybefore starting his work in Tibet, where he
claims responsibilityfor supportingandrestoringa numberof Buddhist
monasteries. In addition to regularly holding Darshan in Glastonbury, it is now his ambition to bring increasing numbersof Tibetan
monks with knowledge of the teachings of Jesus in various incarnationsto MaitreyaMonastery(previouslycalledArchangelMichael's
Soul Therapy Centre), located in a former church in Glastonbury.
This will be the first step towards transformingall of Glastonbury
into a monastic settlement, one aspect of His Holiness's ambition
to restore the status and practice of monasticism worldwide so that
people may realise their true spiritual potential. Here we see the
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Marion L Bowman
Figure 2. Entrance to Archangel Michael's Soul Therapy Centre (now

Maitreya Monastery), demonstratingthe mixture of Christianand Tibetan
Buddhist influences. (Photo: Marion Bowman)
173
vernaculartraditionof Jesus in Glastonburybeing utilised to assert

connections between East and West, Jesus and Tibetan Buddhism,
and Tibetan Buddhism and Glastonbury.
Negotiating the Local and the Global
We have established that many people in Glastonburysee themselves as part of global culture, and are at ease with the idea that
the local and the global interact fruitfully to enhance individuals'
spiritual lives. However, spiritual consumers face ethical issues
such as where the fine line lies between appreciation and appropriation,when individual desires need to be modified by environmental concern, and the extent to which it is necessary or
acceptable to commodify spirituality.Some of these issues and tensions have appearedin relation to the annual GlastonburyGoddess
Conference.
Goddess spirituality in Glastonburyis very buoyant and visible
at present, from The Goddess and the Green Man shop on the High
Street, to the GlastonburyGoddess Temple which opened in 2002
and became England's first officially registered Goddess Temple in
2003. The first GlastonburyGoddess Conference was held in 1996,
co-organised by Kathy Jones, who has written extensively on the
Goddess in Glastonbury,and Tyna Redpath, owner of the Goddess
and the Green Man. Now a Glastonbury"institution,"the conference regularly attracts not only people based in the Glastonbury
area and other parts of Britain but an eclectic mix of attendees
from mainland Europe, the USA and the Antipodes. An exuberant,
internationalgathering, the organisers feel it gives the wider Goddess community the opportunityto come together from all over the
world, sharing ideas, insights and enthusiasm;they also hope that
what people find in Glastonburywill inspire them to go home and
start their own temples and other Goddess related activities. As the
2004 conference programmestated:
Together we are riding the crest of the wave of the Goddess's returninto the
world, creating new forms for Her expression. The Glastonbury Goddess
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Marion I. Bowman
Conference is one of the premier Goddess events in the world where we can
gather together to express our love for her and encourage others to do likewise in their own lands and cultures. (p. 1)
Already the conference has evolved a number of "traditions,"

the most public being the "Goddess in the Cart" procession
during which a variety of effigies of the Goddess has been paraded
throughthe streets of Glastonbury(Bowman 2004). In recent years
the procession has featured large colourful banners depicting a
range of female deities, reflecting the tendency within the contemporary Goddess movement to regard as aspects of the universal
sacred female all Celtic, Egyptian, Near Eastern, Greek, Roman,
Indian,Africanandotherindigenousgoddesses,Bodhisattvasin female
form and the Virgin Mary. Createdby American artist Lydia Ruyle,
these banners have been "taken all over the world," to every continent, a powerful physical and symbolic expression of the global
nature of the Goddess.
However, tensions between the local and the global in the context of the Goddess movement, and issues of economics and environment, were thrown up by what has become known in these
circles as the "Bad Fairies" incident at the first Goddess Conference.6 The so-called "Bad Fairies" were a group of women,
including radical activists who had been involved in such protests
as the Women's Peace Camp at GreenhamCommon (an American
military base in the UK). They marched into the Saturday night
conference banquet behind a banner proclaiming "The Goddess
Can Not be Bought, She is Not For Sale." Colourfully dressed,
some with painted faces, playing drums and other instruments,the
Bad Fairies began chanting, shouting, runningaroundand generally
disrupting proceedings. This behaviour shook, shocked and outraged many of those present, but consequently there was sympathy
for some of the points the protesterswere making.
A number of people have mentioned this incident to me, but I am also
indebted to Sarah Watkinsfor some details from her account of this incident and
its aftermath(see Watkins 2000:32-149).
6
Figure 3. Banners by Lydia Ruyle, displayed outside the Glastonbury Go

GlastonburyGoddess Conference, 2003. (Photo: Marion Bowman)
Marion I. Bowman
176
One of the main issues was that of "spiritualmaterialism,"what

was perceived as selling the Goddess to those who could afford
to buy her. The Bad Fairies felt that women who could not afford
the conference fee were being excluded, although Glastonbury
was their spiritual home too. Other issues related to race, class
and elitism, due to the mainly white, middle class attendance of
the conference, reflecting the charge that the Goddess spirituality
movement is a predominantly white, middle-class, middle-aged,
European/NorthAmerican phenomenon, neither representative of
nor involved with the less privileged women of the world. Some
adjustmentswere made in the aftermathof the protest.Although by
2004 a fully inclusive ticket covering the whole week of conference, fringe events, and the Goddess Masque and Buffet cost ?272
(C476), for example, reduced rate tickets were available for the
economically disadvantagedand it was possible to work at the conference in exchange for a ticket.
Tension between the local and the global was and still is raised
by the issue of people travelling to Glastonbury to celebrate the
Goddess. The organisersof the Goddess Conference include in the
programme "Goddess Ground,"outlining the principles on which
the conference is run and the basis on which decisions are made.
These include:
To invite women and men from all over the world who love the Goddess to
come to Glastonburyto join us in celebrating her living presence upon the
Isle of Avalon at Her festival of Lammas and to create an open, loving space
in which we can all experience Her. (2004 GlastonburyGoddess Conference
Programme,p. 2)
Nevertheless, some eco-feminists find the internationalconnection particularlydifficult, for it means that for many getting to the
conference involves air travel. As one woman pointed out,
Long distance tourism is now the second most destructivething on the planet
after the Arms trade. It [the Conference] therefore seems contradictory
and antitheticalto Mother Earth and love for and protectionof her. (Watkins
2000:141)
177
In many ways the Bad Fairies incident was akin to an anti-globalisation protest in a spiritual setting. It gave pause for thought and
highlighted some of the issues in the complicated negotiation
between the local and the global both in Glastonbury and in the
broader context of contemporary spirituality, not least the whole
phenomenon of international"spiritualtourism."
The Local, the Global and Sacred Space
It is a constant paradox for a variety of believers that while all
the world is deemed sacred, some places are regarded as more
sacred or special than others. As we have already established,
Glastonburyexerts an attractionfor a wide variety of pilgrims and
spiritual tourists (Bowman 1993a) and as such is a multivalent,
contested location. Disparate "travellers with a purpose" may be
attractedto different locations, or, in this case, view the same sites
through different spiritual lenses.
In Glastonbury there is sacredness by association, which for a
variety of Christianswould relate to traditionslocating Joseph and
Jesus there. As we have seen, this view is also shared by Sufis of
Sheikh Nazim's Naqshbandiyya Tariqa. For some, Arthur would
play a similar role. As one self-styled "New-Ager" told me,
the whole idea that he lies here sleeping and will rise again, some people
interpretthat as meaning he'll rise again to lead us into a New Age, a new
cycle, a new beginning, a new phase in world evolution.
In the realm of popular culture, a website giving a glossary

entry for the Van Morrison song "JesusWalking Down By Avalon"
concludes:
Although Jesus may or may not have actually walked down by Avalon, it is
far more likely that Van Morrison walked down by Glastonbury.... Anyone
planning a tour of importantVan places should put Glastonburyhigh on their
list. (http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/-hayward/van/glossary/avalon.html;
accessed
15 March 2004)
Thus we find yet anotherreason why people might be drawn to

Glastonbury.Undoubtedlyone obvious but importantreason people
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Marion I. Bowman
come to Glastonburyis that valued others have come there before.

Alternatively,or additionally,sacredness or specialness might be
associated with some aspect of the landscape that attractsattention
andawe, which is also undoubtedlythe case in Glastonbury.Successful
pilgrimage or sacred sites often tend to have a hill, a spring, or a
tree, for example. Perhaps predictably,Glastonburyboasts at least
two springs, two lots of trees, and two hills; in physical terms, it
is extremely well-endowed. However, given the context, the associational or inherent sacredness of various landscape features in
Glastonburyis subject to a variety of interpretations,involving different degrees of localisation, globalisation and glocalisation.
Certain aspects of the landscape have fairly clear associations:
the GlastonburyThorn is special primarily for Christians because
of the Joseph of Arimatheaconnection (even though some associate it with Celtic tree worship), while two ancient oak trees, known
as Gog and Magog, are said to be the last remnants of a Druid
Grove. But at the foot of the Tor, the chalybeate Chalice Well is
sacred to some for its association with the Grail (its red waters representing the blood of Christ shed for humanity) while for others
it is clearly the menstrual flow of the Goddess. Opposite Chalice
Well is the calcite staining White Spring, which for a period in the
1990s became "revived" as an ancient Pagan rag well. Some see
the proximity of the red and white waters as indicative of the balance of male and female energies (red representing blood, white
semen) associated with the Michael and Mary leylines which are
said to intertwine at the Tor; for others, as red and white are the
colours of the Fairy King Gwynn Ap Nudd, the waters indicate the
site of the entrance to his kingdom beneath the Tor.
Wearyall Hill is of interest to many Christians as the site of
Joseph's arrival in Glastonbury,the spot where the original staff
took root, while for others it is significant as one of the two fish
making the sign of Pisces on the GlastonburyZodiac. Glastonbury
Tor (the curiously contoured and conical hill which is the town's
most striking landscape feature) is the most speculated upon aspect
of Glastonburytopography,with both local and global associations.
Figure 4. View of GlastonburyTor from the Abbey grounds. The Tor is Gla
and most speculated upon naturalfeature. (Photo: Marion Bowman)
Marion I. Bowman
180
The Tor is significant to Catholics as the site of the hanging of

Abbot Whiting and two monks at the brutal dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey, while His Holiness Gyalwa Jampa claims that Glastonbury
Tor is one of the points where God's will enters the earth (two
other such points being the Great Pyramid and the Washington
Monument). The Tor is variously regarded as the spiral castle of
Celtic legend; a Goddess figure; the Grail Castle; a crystal filled
communication beacon for extra-terrestrials; and part of the phoenix
figure representing Aquarius on the Glastonbury Zodiac. Some see
the Tor as a prehistoric, three-dimensional ceremonial maze, and in
typical Glastonbury fashion great claims are made for it. According
to the 2004 Glastonbury Goddess Conference Fringe Events publicity material, for example,
To the Hopi, the labrynth [sic] is a symbol of the Earth Goddess, and it has
been found etched into rocks from Arizona to Australia.Here in Glastonbury,
The Tor is the largest three-dimensionallabrynth [sic] yet known.
Two extreme views of sacred sites might help to explain Glastonbury's attractiveness, and these might be summarised as "empty
vessel" versus "cornucopia." Eade and Sallnow (2000:15) claim:
The power of a shrine... derives in large part from its characteralmost as a
religious void, a ritual space capable of accommodating diverse meanings
and practices ... This, in the final analysis, is what confers upon a major
shrine its essential universalistic character:its capacity to absorb and reflect
a multiplicity of religious discourses, to be able to offer a variety of clients
what each of them desires. ... The sacred centre, then, in this perspective,
appears as a vessel into which pilgrims devoutly pour their hopes, prayers
and aspirations.
At the other end of the spectrum is not empty vessel but cornucopia. Within contemporary spirituality, particularly some branches
of paganism, we find the resurgence of animism, which means that
there is no such thing as an inanimate object. Similarly, for many
people now there can be no such thing as an empty space. As the
late Anthony Roberts (alternative publisher and earth mysteries writer)
put it,
181
The holy ground of Glastonburyholds many strange secrets. They are heavily festooned with in the rich (often gaudy) accoutrements of myth and
magic, but they all resolve themselves around a uniformly synergic nexus.
This is thatthe Glastonburyterrain,with its physicalandmeta-physicalalchemies,
is a vast orrery and teaching environment for revealing (and enhancing) all
that is spiritual in the nature of mankind. This blending of the physically
symbolic with the symbolically physical this writer has termed the art of
geomythics. (1992:18).
In Glastonbury,the sacred is felt to communicate itself through

the Tor and Chalice Well, through landscape figures of the Goddess, through leylines, through the "buzz" of energy felt by many
there- although there is clearly room for personal interpretation
as to the nature of what is communicated. The landscape may
speak to people in Glastonbury,but it tells a number of different
stories. With the idea of the land almost as active participantin the
interpretationof it, we find one of the most significant features of
contemporaryspirituality in the negotiation between the local and
the global, interconnectedness.
Interconnectedness
Interconnectednessis a powerful leitmotif in contemporaryglobalised spirituality. As I have commented elsewhere (Bowman
2000), this interconnectednesstakes a variety of forms and operates in a variety of ways. There is the interconnectednessof past
and present, whereby people seek to connect with ancient wisdom
(such as Druidic knowledge) and what is regardedas the "timeless
wisdom" of indigenous peoples, all of which are considered important in recapturinga previous era of global harmony,when humanity enjoyed a holistic and symbiotic relationship with nature and
the planet. Past life remembrance and ideas of reincarnationare
seen to operate in connecting past and present. Some regard the
former leader of the GlastonburyOrder of Druids as a reincarnation of Merlin, for example, and believe that a "karmiccluster" of
"King"Arthur Pendragon (originally John Timothy Rothwell) and
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Marion I. Bowman
his knights have been broughttogether at this time of national spiritual emergency.
Connections between the seen and the unseen realms are perceived and pursued in assorted ways in Glastonbury.When Frederick Bligh Bond was excavating GlastonburyAbbey early in the
20th century, he claimed to be receiving guidance, via a medium,
from a medieval monk. There are now courses on working with
angels and workshops to put people in touch with their spirit
guide; at one point it was even possible to have spirit guide portraits painted.
In 2003 "WorldWide Web" (a sculpture of seven willow webs)
was erected in Chalice Well Gardens, of which artist Freddie
Foosiya wrote:
The seven webs representthe seven cycles of creation and the seven major
chakras (energy centres) within the body. Chalice Well is part of a world
wide web of places dedicated to peace and the awakening of humanityto the
realization of our oneness with nature.
Many in Glastonbury are familiar with the environmentalist

adage "Act locally, think globally." It has become almost a cliche
in alternativecircles to point out that what the space explorationof
the 20th century gave us was a picture of the whole world, of the
world as one entity. After that, the logic runs, it was impossible not
to view the world as a single place. James Lovelock's "Gaia hypothesis" (1982), regarding the earth and all life forms upon it as a
living, interactive,self-regulatingorganism,is widely quoted to support this holistic worldview. As one Glastonburyresident told me,
There are more and more people now that are just accepting this, that
Glastonburyis the heart centre, if Gaia is the living planet and is literally the
body of some kind of intelligence, then that intelligence must have energy
centres, and often these coincide with holy places, whether they're Mecca, or
Ayers Rock, or Glastonbury.
Thus many believe that what happens in one part of the world
especiallyin "special"places like Glastonbury- can have an impact
on and significance for the whole, both physically and spiritually.
183
In termsof physicalinterconnectednessandthe relationshipbetween

the local and the global, there are two particularlysignificant phenomena: sacred geometry (often referredto as gematria) and earth
energies. Both sacred geometry and earth energies are perceived to
have connective roles between differenteras, localities, cultures and
worldviews, and are used to supportthe idea that literally "beneath
the surface" seemingly disparate structures and spiritual outlooks
have some common elements or are in some way related if we can
see past the superficial differences. (It might be argued that this is
simply relativism on a global scale.) It is claimed that the sacred
geometry of Stonehenge and Glastonbury Abbey are linked, for
example, and furthermore that the ground plan of Glastonbury
Abbey conforms in terms of gematriato that of the New Jerusalem
outlined in the Book of Revelation, Chapter21 (see Michell 1992).
Draper notes that among followers of Sheikh Nazim at one point
there was speculation that "the Lady Chapel in the Abbey had similar dimensions to the Ka'ba in Makka" (2002:209). A figure of
particularimportancein Glastonburygematria is the Vesica Piscis,
two interlockingcircles, representing"theinterpenetration
of the material and immaterialworlds or the yin and the yang where the conscious and unconscious meet" (Howard-Gordon 1997:68). The
shape of the intersection has been associated both with the fish of
early Christian symbolism and with the yoni of Hinduism.
In terms of connecting the local and the global, one of the most
striking quasi-physical expressions of interconnectedness is the
concept of leylines, perceived as lines or identifiable channels of
earth energy and power. Leylines are envisaged as connecting
places; they tie together apparentlyhistorically,geographically,culturally and religiously disparate places like Glastonbury, Stonehenge, Ayers Rock (Uluru), Mecca and the Great Pyramid into a
global package of earth energy, power and sacredness. The sacred
places of the world are literally bound together. Predictably,
Glastonburydoes not merely lie on one leyline; it is said to be at
the node of a number of leylines. Indeed, many argue that this
Figure 5. The wellhead at Chalice Well, decorated for Lammas 2003; note
the well cover. (Photo: Marion Bowman)
185
convergence of leylines is what gives Glastonbury its special

energy, its healing powers, its "buzz."
Ideas of interconnectedness are also embedded in concepts of
earthhealing, and the ability- indeed duty- some perceive of acting locally at significant places like Glastonburyin order to have a
global, spiritual impact. His Holiness Gyalwa Jampa, for example,
claims that "if holy people go back to holy sites, the site re-awakens and the whole earth can be healed" (interview 2 September
2003), andthatis one reasonhe feels he has to be active in Glastonbury.
On 16 August 1987 there was the great global project of the Harmonic Convergence, when hundredsgathered on GlastonburyTor as
people attemptedto "activate"sacred sites around the world.7
Many of the ideas of interconnectednessdiscussed were incorporated in July 2004 during the GlastonburyGoddess Conference
in an extended ceremonial pilgrimage to four sites within Glastobury specifically "to generate healing energy and to radiate it to all
parts of Brigit's Isles and beyond" (2004 Goddess Conference
Programme, p. 7). The plan for the Earth Ceremony on Chalice
Hill ("the Great Mother's rounded and ever pregnant belly") was
typical of the day's events:
As we face outwards to all the directions we will sing our Earth Chant and
send clearing and healing energy outwards from Avalon through the meridians and energy lines of the Earth, which is Her sacred body, to the whole of
the land which is Brigit's Isles, and connecting to the land of Europe and to
all the continents. We will send healing energy to all the creatureswho live
in and on the earth, to the badgers, boars and foxes, to the earthworms,moles
and snakes, to the earth elementals, gnomes and faeries. (2004 Goddess
Conference Programme,p. 9).
7
While accepting the idea of earth energies, feminist Goddess artist and antiNew Age authorMonica Sjoo saw a far more sinister agenda behind the Harmonic
Convergence:"New Agers travel the world to sacred places where they attemptto
manipulateEarth'ssacred energies, planting crystals at standing stones and in similar places. Their plan is to facilitate the entry into this realm of extraterrestrials
by changing the energy patternsof the Earth,and this, not Earthhealing, was also
the purpose of the so-called 'Harmonic Convergence' in August 1987" (Sjoo
1998:5).
Marion I. Bowman
186
At Chalice Hill, the priestess said the healing energy was being
sent out though the leylines, to the stone circles, to the crop circles
and out to all the world. The next morning, conference delegates
were told that they had truly sent their and Brigit's healing out
across the land, and that "Somethinghas changed in the landscape
because of the work we did yesterday."
Continuityor Change?
One effect of globalisation, it is commonly said, is to make the
world a single place - and we have seen how certain trends in
contemporaryspiritualityfoster that. However Glastonburysimultaneously maintains within it a variety of worlds and worldviews.
These differentworlds can interactwith each other in various ways,
for example in the mixing and merging of myths: Jesus was in
Glastonburyto attend the Druidic University, or to walk the leylines from which he gained his powers as a healer; King Arthur
will rise in Glastonburyto lead us into the New Age. As HervieuLeger (2000:75) puts it,
In the fluid, mobile domain of modem belief liberated from the hold of allembracinginstitutionsof believing, all symbols are interchangeableand capable of being combined and transposed. All syncretisms are possible, all
retreadsimaginable.
In Glastonburythere is undoubtedly a tendency towards "both/

and" ratherthan "either/or."
No one version of Glastonburyhas a complete monopoly, and
although the currentsimultaneityof belief and practice might seem
very much a product of contemporaryspirituality,I would suggest
that it finds antecedents in vernacularreligion. For example, there
is a story that I have been told on a number of occasions, both in
relation to fairy belief and to the Tor, concerning either St. Collen
(a 7th century Welsh saint) or more vaguely an Abbot of Glastonbury. Baldly told, this Christian was on the Tor when he encountered two small persons who requested that he returned at
midnight, as their lord was keen to meet him. When he met them
187
at the summit of the Tor at the appointed hour, he was suddenly

transportedinto a fabulous palace, magnificently decorated, with
fine food piled on golden platters, and full of small people dressed
in red and white (fairies). There he met King Gwynn Ap Nudd,
who invited him to partakeof the feast. Knowing that to eat fairy
food would imprison him in fairyland, the Christian declined the
offer, drew out a bottle of holy water, scattered it all around him,
and suddenly found himself back on top of the Tor. While this traditional tale appears to demonstrate the superiority of Christian
power,it underlinesa ratherimportantpoint- thatalthoughChristianity was in the ascendant,the fairies were still there, literally below
the surface.
When introducing Glastonbury,I made the point that what has
consistently happened is that Glastonbury has been positioned at
the centre of whatever the prevailing myth or worldview might be.
The claims simply get bigger as the worldview expands. Thus the
shift from Glastonburyas "cradleof English Christianity"to Glastonbury as Heart Chakra of Planet Earth could be seen as one of
scale ratherthan substance. Perhaps we could say that Glastonbury
seems always to have had a gift for localisation, or as Prince and
Riches put it, "domestication"(2000:294):
Our premise is that ideas exist in the form they do, and in the place they are,
because of local exigencies. Particularideas are voiced in local situations,
and would not be so voiced if local situationsdid not invite this to be. People
in local communities, especially in literate cultures, know about similar ideas
existing in other places or times; they may well consider that such similar
ideas are directly influencing them in what they say and do. But local exigencies determine in the first place whether or not these ideas are taken
on board, and in the second place how they are taken on board- to harmonise with local understandings and meanings such ideas come to be
altered or "domesticated."
In the undoubtedlyglobalised context of contemporaryspirituality in Glastonbury,new phenomena are constantly emerging, but I
suspect that the extent of their novelty has been exaggerated.If we
take into account its long and colourful vernacularreligious history,
188
Marion I. Bowman
I think there is, on balance, more continuity than change in the

relationshipbetween the local and the global in Glastonbury.
The Open University
Religious Studies
Faculty of Arts
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
UK
MARIONI. BOWMAN
M.I.Bowman@open.ac.uk
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2000 In the Nature of Avalon: Goddess Pilgrimages in Glastonbury'sSacred
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1992 "Glastonbury- Jerusalem,Paradise on Earth:A Revelation Examined."
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Primiano, Leonard
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LOCALITYAND MYTH: THE RESACRALIZATIONOF

SELJA AND THE CULT OF ST. SUNNIVA
LISBETHMIKAELSSON
Summary
The articledemonstratesthe mergingof contemporaryprocesses of resacralization,
retraditionalization, and local identity construction embodied in one particular
example, the island of Selja on the west coast of Norway. In Roman-Catholic
times, Selja was a major pilgrimage site, famous for its legend of St. Sunniva, an
Irish princess who fled from her country and took refuge on the island where she
suffered a martyrdeath. The national conversion to Lutheranismin the 16th century put an end to the official Sunniva cult. In our time, however, the legend has
been revived and is celebrated for various purposes by the local Lutheran state
church, the tourist business, and individuals who are attracted to the symbolic
complex of Selja-Sunnivafor spiritualreasons. The article argues that the revival
of the legend converts the old site with its ruins and landscape features into a narrative space, re-establishing a sanctuary with a variety of symbolic references.
Selja meets the requirementsof modem seekers and pilgrims, while its history and
myth are excellently fitted to serve local identity construction.
Introduction
"Why do we need the past? What do we need it for?" David
Lowenthal asks in his momentous The Past is a Foreign Country
(1999:35). One answer has to do with the resacralizationof place
now happening in European Protestantcountries where sites from
the Catholic past are being reclaimed as pilgrimage centres. Resuscitating memories and myths connected to the site's history seems
to be a necessary ingredient in such revivals. This paper examines
what kind of stories, events, and people are involved in the recreation of an ancient Catholic site on a small island in Norway called
Selja. With its combination of female symbolism and spiritual
locality constructionI think the Selja case has something pertinent
to say about contemporaryreligious change in our part of the world.
NUMEN, Vol. 52
192
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
Selja was importantin the early period of Norwegian Christianity, andits historybearswitness to the time-honouredrelationsbetween
Norway and the British Isles. Selja was famous for its martyrlegend of Saint Sunniva and the Seljumen. These "holy ones of Selja"
as they were called, were worshippedduring the Middle Ages, and
iconographic representationsof St. Sunniva were found in many
churches all over the country. The saint was known from Finland
in the east to the Faeroe Islands in the west and Germany in the
south. The Sunniva legend is even today the key element in the
popular interest in Selja. Basically, the ongoing resacralizationis a
retelling and revival of the old story in various settings. Selja is an
example of modem "topophilia"- understoodin the way religious
scholar Marion Bowman has defined it as "the belief that certain
locations are inherently powerful and exude a heightened sense of
place" (Bowman 2000:91)- and the narrativeelement is essential
in the topophilia of contemporarySelja.
Sanctuaries are obvious examples of topophilia, but the usefulness of the concept lies in its ability to encompass many different
kinds of special locations and the varying meanings and motivations attached to them, including secular ones. In a parallel way,
the concept of religious tourism has fewer theological and traditional implications than the concept of pilgrimage. It is therefore
better suited to encompass visitors that come for other reasons than
devotion, like interest in history, art, or folklore (Nolan and Nolan
1989:43-45). To draw a clear line between tourists and pilgrims
has become problematic,compare Edith and Victor Turner'swellknown remark: "a tourist is half a pilgrim, if a pilgrim is half a
tourist."They talk of "closet" pilgrims, and the "symbolic communitas" people are seeking even when they "bury themselves in
anonymous crowds on beaches" (Turnerand Turner 1978:20). In a
pluralistic society the make-up and status of a sacred place is not
a clear-cut matter,as can be demonstratedby Selja. Today the site
is a holy place to some people, a "special" place to many more.
Even this specialness has spiritual overtones, however. Some visi-
The Resacralization of Selja
193
tors to the island are pilgrims in a more traditionalsense, but many

cannot be easily categorized. As a contemporarysacred site Selja
transcendsconfessionalboundaries,andit illustratesthe fleetingboundaries between believers and non-believers.
The Site
The island of Selja with its sacred ground is located on the western coast between the cities of Bergen and Trondheim.The nearest
locality where people live is the county of Selje on the mainland
with some 3100 inhabitants.The great mountainmass of Stadlandet
belongs to the area; the sea outside the cliffs of Stad is the most
dangerous part of the Norwegian coast, a scene of countless shipwrecks throughthe ages. From times immemorial ships would stay
in the Selje region waiting for calmer weather in order to pass Stad
on their way northwards.Further north is the old city of Trondheim, with its famous Middle Age cathedral housing the relics
of Saint Olav, the most importantpilgrimage site in Scandinavia
before the Reformation. Many of those pilgrims would come by
boat and make a halt at Selja. The premodern transport system
gave the island a much more central position than it has today,
since the main route was the sea. In the old days there was a lively
traffic of merchants, fishermen, officials, kings and their navies
along the extensive Norwegian coast. The name "Norway"probably refers to this sea route. Nowadays this part of the country is a
favourite tourist area, receiving crowds of visitors wanting to see
the famous fjords. Selja's location is off the main tourist routes;
still, a number of travellers find their way to the spot, attractedas
well by the magnificent scenery of Stadlandetand Selje.
On the island itself there are ruins of a Christiancentre of considerable size. Some of the oldest Christianbuildings in the country, consisting of churches and monastic houses, were situatedhere.
A lofty church tower is the most conspicuous edifice left. According to the sagas, the first church was erected on the island some
few years before 1000. English Benedictine monks startedto build
194
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
Figure 1. The holy site of Selja is dramaticallysituated against the open

sea of Stad. In the foreground lie the ruins of the medieval sanctuary,
leading up to the cave; further away are the remains of the monastery.
(Photo: K.A. Bergsvik)
195
a monastery dedicated to St. Alban here in about 1100. The pivotal

element of the site is a large cave in the mountainsidewith an old
stone altar. It is called Sunnivahola ("the Sunniva cave"). Within
the cave was a chapel dedicated to St. Michael, whose cult here
may be older than the cult of Sunniva. In the same area there
is a natural spring of sweet water, Sunnivakilden ("the Sunniva
spring"). The holy spring was inside the cave in earlier times. To
the northwest, the site faces the open sea and Stadlandet.
Scholars have compared Selja with sacred sites in Britain like
Iona and Lindisfare. The British historianBarbaraCrawforddraws
attention to the many small islands on the southeast coast of
Scotland that are associated with hermits and missionary saints.
Caves often played a prominentpart in the cults of such persons.
She concludes that the cave of Sunniva belongs to a long tradition
in the Celtic church of mountain caves used as shelters for holy
men (Crawford 1997:178). Generally, religious practice in Britain
in the same period is a relevant context for the sacred site at Selja.
Considering the religious reconstruction processes going on in
places like Iona, Britain is even now a pertinent context. Actually
there are Norwegians who see today's Iona as a model of what
Selja could be.
The Story
There is hardly a feature article about Selja which does not retell
the legend about Sunniva and the Seljumen- the fascinating story
of a young, pious woman who appears as "the mother" of Norwegian Christianity.The saint herself is anotherBritish connection,
testifying to the strong influence of Britain in the early Christianization of Norway. Her beautiful name, Sunniva, is a development
of old English Sunngifu, meaning "gift from the sun" (Johnsen
1968: 51-52).
The oldest informationabout the figure of Sunniva and the dramatic events at Selja is found in two manuscripts from the 12th
century, The Legend of the Holy Ones at Selja, originally in Latin
196
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
Figure 2. Inside the Sunniva cave. (Photo: L. Mikaelsson)
197
Figure 3. St. Sunniva depicted in a triptych from Trondenes church in

Troms, Norway. (Photo: courtesy of Bergen Museum)
198
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
(Acta sanctorum in Selio, about 1170), and Odd the Monk's Saga
of Olav Tryggvason (Soga om Olav Tryggvason etter Odd munk
Snorreson, about 1190). The same events are also described in The
Great Saga of Olav Tryggvason(Den store soga om Olav Tryggvason) in Flateyarbok, from the 1380s.
The written records are not unanimous in all the details, but a
broad summary of their legend versions goes as follows: Sunniva
was the beautiful daughterof an Irish king who had succeeded her
father on the throne. She was wooed by a Viking chieftain, but
being a chaste virgin and devoted Christian she refused the brutal
heathen. When he came to conquer her kingdom, Sunniva and
many of her people fled by putting out to sea in three ships.
Wanting to be led by God to their destination, they did not try to
navigate the ships, lacking both sails and oars. Two ships landed
on Selja, the third on Kinn, a small island further south.
The Irishmen settled at Selja. For some time they lived peacefully, until the natives on the mainlandwho used Selja as a pasture
for their sheep accused the foreigners of stealing animals from their
stock. When the fearsome chieftain and his men came to punish the
intruders,Sunniva and her people gathered in the above-mentioned
cave. Sunniva prayed to God to save them from the heathens, and
his answer came in the shape of an avalanche of rocks that killed
them all. These events are supposed to have happened in the middle of the 10th century. Later on, sailors passing the island witnessed a strange column of light. There were also rumours that
human bones had been found emitting a sweet scent.
A main characterin the written sources is the former Viking and
illustriousNorwegianking, Olav Tryggvason.Olav Tryggvasonis not
the legendary St. Olav of Trondheim,but a forerunner,who played
a vital part in the Christianizationof western Norway. Before he
convertedto Christianity,Olav raidedNorthumberland,Scotland,The
Isle of Man, The Hebrides, Wales and Ireland. He probably knew
the court at Wessex, and had learnt how royalty in England was
connected to the Church and its missionary activities. It is also
probablethat he knew the importanceof relics in the Christiancult.
199
There is even a tradition that he had visited the cloister island

Skellig Michael outside the coast of Ireland.
Accordingto the sources,Olav Tryggvasonwas baptizedin England
in 994. He came back to Norway in 995 to claim sovereignty, and
immediately started the grand task of Christianizing the country.
After hearing about the strange phenomena at Selja, he went with
his bishop to the island in 996 to investigate. The king then found
heaps of sweet-smelling bones and the undisturbedcorpse of Sunniva in the cave. The bones were collected and kept on the island.
King Olav is said to have built a small church near the cave for
the corpse of Sunniva, allegedly the first church on the site.
Such are the main outlines of the partly legendary,partly historical backgroundfor the cult of Sunniva and the Seljumen on the
island. Sunniva is the first saint in Norway, and it is quite possible
that Selja is the oldest Norwegian centre of Christian pilgrimage.
Actually few traces are left of the medieval pilgrimage, probably
because pilgrims arrivedby boat (Hommedal 1997:191). In its first
written version the legend dates back to the time when the city of
Bergen was made the centre of the western diocese, which happened in 1170. Sunniva's shrine was then moved from Selja to
Bergen on September 7 (translatio reliquarumSanctae Sunnivae),
and the saint became bergensiumpatrona, the city's patron saint.
The shrine stayed in the cathedralof Bergen until the Reformation,
when the edifice and its shrine were destroyed. Before 1170, Selja
had been the diocesan centre, a position held by the island since
the establishment of three dioceses in the country in 1068. After
the translatio Bergen naturally became the pivot of the Sunniva
cult. The cave continued as a sanctuarythough, and the monastery
expanded. Relics of the Seljumen as well as of St. Alban were still
kept on the island (Hommedal 1997:185, 191).
The old traditionssuggest the existence of a full-fledged sanctuary consisting of an impressive cave, relics of saintly martyrs and
a miraculous spring. During the Middle Ages the cave and its adjacent monasterywere a well-known shrine where people came to be
healed and to venerate St. Sunniva and St. Michael. July 8 is the
200
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
old memorial day of the legendary martyrs, called Seljumannamesse.1 In Catholic times, Seljumannamessewas celebrated all
over the country. The heyday of the monastery was in the early
part of the 14th century. It was hit very hard by the Black Death
later on in the same century, and never regained its old position.
When ProtestantismsupersededCatholicismin 1536, and the Church
became a Lutheran state church, monastic activities on the island
were already extinct. The archives of the monastery were burnt
in 1668.
Critical Considerations
Critical scholarship has long since concluded that the legend
contains but few credible historical elements. Sunniva has been dispelled from historical reality altogether; she is seen as a variation
of the Ursula-legend and a specimen of the devoted virgin-type in
Christian lore. Recently it has been suggested that Old-Irish legends related to Donnan of Eigg is a probable matrix for the Sunniva story (Rekdal 2003). The saint is thought to be a later addition
to the traditionof the Seljumen, now generally considered the original element. Scholars have proposed that Olav Tryggvason had
learnt the story of Sunniva in England and that he, seeing the need
for a saint with a local connection in the Christianizationprocess,
was the one who introduced her in Norway. No matter what the
king's role was, rational calculations of this sort may explain the
establishmentof the Sunniva cult.
Three questions remain however: who were the Seljumen and
why did the king and clergy choose Selja as the location for a
church?Was Selja a holy place in pre-Christiantimes? No one has
yet been able to give final answers to these questions, and several
hypotheses have been launched.
July was the most importantpilgrimage month in NorthernEurope, due to the

agriculturalyear and its demand for harvest labour later in the summer (Nolan and
Nolan 1989:62).
201
Selja's strategic position on the coast is one clue to the choice

of place, but probably not the only one. A possible pre-Christian
cave cult is another. Students of Christian pilgrimage in Western
Europe maintain that if a shrine has three or more such site features as a mountain cave by a curative spring, or a sacred tree
hanging over a holy well by a sacred stone, the probability is
twelve to one that additionalevidence will prove that the place was
holy in pre-Christian times (Nolan and Nolan 1989:303). Two
Norwegian scholars have recently discussed the idea of a cave cult
at Selja. Historian of religion Gro Steinsland suggests that the
divine forerunnersof St. Sunniva and St. Michael may have been
the old Norse fertility couple Njord and Skade (Steinsland 1997),
and philologist Else Mundal thinks there may have been a cult of
elves ("landalfr,""landvette")in the cave (Mundal 1997). There are
no archaeological proofs of such cults, but the fact that there was
a St. Michael's church in the cave is anotherindicator,since chapels
for the archangel were often raised on previously pagan cult sites
(Hommedal 1995:164).
The old tradition of the Seljumen is also an interesting clue to
the choice of Selja. Archaeological excavations have ascertained
that people have lived on Selja since the old Iron Age, and remnants of prehistoric residence near the cave have been uncovered.
Most likely the traditionof the Seljumen originates from later settlements. The Irish element in the story cannot be rejected, as several scholars have demonstrated. It is quite possible that Celtic
hermits stayed on the island during an early period. Their residence
andmissionaryactivitymay explainthe traditionof the holy Seljumen.
The ascetic ideal of peregrinatio in the early Irish church led
devoted Christiansto leave home and family for Christ's sake and
go to Shetland,the OrkneyIslands,Iceland,andprobablyalso Norway
(Crawford 1997:165). In many places in western Norway, Celtic
stone crosses document early Irish influence. If human bones were
really found at Selja around 1000, they could be the relics of such
holy men from Ireland. The Seljumen may therefore be related to
the cave cult not as martyrs but as the inventors, or the original
202
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
objects of the cult. The old designation "Seljumannamesse"refers

indeed to the Seljumen, but being anonymous, they lost the competition with the striking figure of Sunniva.
Selja under Lutheranism
Associated as they are with "superstitious"beliefs in saints and
their relics, sacred sites have usually had no part in Lutheranworship, and Selja was no exception. Sporadic visits to the site continued though, and there are reasons to believe that Sunniva was
not entirely forgotten. In the nineteenthcentury,many small wooden crosses were discovered in the cave. Archaeologist Alf Tore
Hommedal assumes they must have been put there a long time
afterthe Reformation,since the toughclimatedoes not allow pinewood
to last for very long. He suggests that the crosses may be votive
gifts, possibly connected to Sunniva's function as the patronof seafarers, especially importanthere close to the dangerous sea outside
Stad (Hommedal 1996:22 and 1997:194-95). A local history states
that it was custom in Selje until 1860 to give candles to the parish
church if people had been saved from shipwreck, and the author
relates the custom to the old idea of Sunniva as the seafarers'protector (Os 1957:67). An investigationinto the regional use of names
up to 1800 proved that the name Sunniva and its variants were
widespread in the western parts of the country, but hardly found
in some other regions. The differences may be explained as repercussions of the Catholic cult of Sunniva as the patron of western
Norway (Morsund 1996:6-7).
A steady growth in local interest has taken place during the
twentieth century.Archaeological restorationof the ruins in 19351940 involved workpeople from Selje and naturally stimulated
local curiosity. The great anniversaryof St. Olav in 1930 probably
reminded Selje inhabitantsthat they had their own saint to remember.2 Seljumannamesse was occasionally held in the 1940s and
2
The suggestionwas made by Alf Tore Hommedalin a personalcommunication.
203
1950s, and organizationsthat arrangedmeetings in the area often

included visits to the island in their programmes.3For the last 15
years or so, the Lutheranchurch in the area has celebrated Seljumannamesse regularly on the island. Wedding ceremonies in the
ruins have also become quite frequent among local people. Major
church anniversaries and the rise in tourism brought increased
focus on the site in the latter part of the 20th century.Admittedly
there are persons in Selje who say they are "tiredof the old stones,"
but generally people have become more conscious and proud
of their unique historical inheritance. Children are now taught
the lore connected with the island from an early age. The profitable touristic functions are also quite obvious to everyone. To an
increasing extent, Selja has become an important source of communal, cultural and economic enrichmentfor the region.
Signs of a Sunniva renaissance have also emerged in the city of
Bergen. A group of conservative, high church priests from the local
Lutheranchurches startedto celebrate Seljumannamessein 1989 by
making a procession from the cathedral to the site of Kristkirken
(Christ's Church), where Sunniva's shrine was kept before the
Reformation.This extraordinaryprocession was led by the priests
and deacons in their garbs, one of them holding up a cross. Halts
were made at fixed places en route, where prayers were recited. At
the venerable site of the pre-ReformationChrist's Church, a full
Lutheranservice was celebratedin the open air. In addition to paying homage to the city's patron saint, this Seljumannamessecelebration was defined as a day of prayer for Bergen and the diocese.
Participantsnumbered50-100 people. The organizerspicked the nearest Saturdayto July 8 for the event, which altogethertook place 7
times (1989-1995) (Sch0nfelder 1993, 1994). The leader, vicar
Otto Odland, described the event to me as a commemorationof the
history of Bergen and its contacts with Britain, stressing "the sun
3
My sources for this are Ragnvald Berge and Borgny Dam-Nielsen (personal
communications).
204
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
which rose in the west," an allusion to Sunniva, but even more

to the Celtic mission which brought Christianity to the country.
Odland indicated that he and the other priests were inspired by
their reading about Celtic Christianityat the time, particularlyhow
Celtic bishops went into the streets and talked to people about God.
Lack of initiative brought an end to the arrangementafter 1995.4
Roman Catholic Interest in Selja
Paradoxically, Selja and Sunniva now seem to have become
more importantto Lutheransand people in general than to Roman
Catholics. The history of the Roman Catholic Church in Norway
after the Reformationdates back to the nineteenthcentury.The first
congregation was founded in 1842-43 (Eidsvig 1993:57). Followers of Catholicism were quite few until the 1960s and 1970s,
when it became popular among Norwegian intellectuals, and
Catholic immigrantsstarted to arrive in substantialnumbers.5
NeitherSt. Sunnivanor St. Olav is mentionedin the OrdoSecundum
Calendarium Romanum Generale, which specifies the saints all
Catholics should venerate. The manual for Catholic priests in
Norway, however, does list St. Sunniva as one of the saints with a
remembranceday to be celebrated.Also, the Catholic prayer book
contains a mass text about the saint. In 1930 the Catholic Church
got its first titular bishop of Selja.
In the city of Bergen there is a mass on SeljumannamesseJuly
8 in the Catholic congregation of St. Paul. Nevertheless, it varies
In 2000, the Bergen Chamber of Commerce and Industry established a

Sunniva prize aimed at promising female managers working in trade, industry,or
organizations.The reasons given for the choice of this name for the prize were
Sunniva's connection to Bergen as the city's patron saint, as well as the admirable
characterof her figure.
5 In 1992 the Roman Catholic Church of
Norway had 31 642 registered members. In addition, some 15 000 Catholics were not registered (Tande 1993:474). In
2003 there were 44 141 registered members, according to the Catholic diocese of
Oslo.
205
how much Sunniva or Selja is emphasized during service. Being

the patron saint of the congregation, she is representedin a stainedglass picture as well as by a painting in the church building. To me
it was stressed that St. Sunniva is not an object of devotion, except
for some few individuals perhaps. Instead, Sunniva and Selja are
valued for historical and cultural reasons. No initiatives towards a
common pilgrimage to the island have been taken here. The Bergen
congregation is quite large, numbering about 4000 members
(B0rtnes 2000:124), more than half of whom are first generation
immigrantsfrom Chile, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and naturallytheir
interest in Norwegian church history is minimal.
Signs of a new Catholic interest in Selja occasionally appear.In
1993 two Benedictine monks - one of them a Norwegian convert - celebrated mass in the cave chapel for the first time since
the 15th century.In the last few years Catholics from Alesund and
neighbouring cities have organized an annual pilgrimage to the
island around the time of Seljumannamesse,culminating in a service at the site. The event is announced in the Bergen congregation and elsewhere.
The National Symbol
Selja'sconnectionwith royaltyandthe earlyChristianization
process
makes it a national symbol. The idea of Norway as a Christian
country, i.e., the fusion between the national and the Christian
inheritance, has been very influential in Norwegian society, and
still is. Theologian Inge L0nning comments on how the sumptuous
celebration of St. Olav's day (Olsok) in Trondheim in 1930 was
felt like an overwhelming revelation by prominent participants.
The anniversarymarked the death of king Olav Haraldssonin the
battle of Stiklestad in 1030, a violent death which very soon became the "birth"of the national saint, the rex perpetuus Norvegiae,
Norway's eternal king. In his lifetime the king ruthlessly transformed the country into a Christian monarchy, after his death his
former enemies made him a saint. What particularlyimpressed the
participantsat Stiklestad in 1930, according to L0nning, was the
206
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
manifestation of the invisible Christian nation. They discovered a

common, Christian unity which had been there all the time, but
went unnoticed in the turbulent period between the wars, buried
under the daily battles between various social and ideological factions (L0nning 1981:162).
St. Sunniva's function in Olav Tryggvason'sChristianizationproject makes her and Selja fitted for a national symbolic role analogous to that of St. Olav and Stiklestad, although on a smaller scale,
and without the constitutional aspect connected with the king.
Interestingly, "the Christian nation" thereby gets a saintly, heroic
mother as well as a father, something which fits nicely in with
an age where equality between the sexes has been a major issue.
In the twentieth century, two major anniversaries manifested the
fusion of nationhood and the Christian church with Selja and
Sunniva as symbolic vehicles.
Selja's role as the first centre of Norway's western diocese was
celebrated on a grand scale in 1968, at the 900th anniversaryof
this ecclesiastical establishment.On August 11 Selja had the attention of the whole nation. The festivity programmecomprised a service and a "folk meeting" in the ruins, with 10 000 people present.
Speeches were given by the king, the prime minister, and a bishop
from the Faeroe Islands. Greetings from far and near were presented. Radio transmission and newspaper reports made it into a
truly national event. Judging from the anniversary programme,
however, St. Sunniva was hardly mentioned.6
On the next festive occasion Sunniva certainly was to get her
due. In the 1990s the state church started the celebrations of its
1000 years anniversary, called "The Church in Norway 1000
Years." Celebrationswill continue from 1995 to 2030. This grand
6 See
Program Selje-jubileet. Bj0rgvin bispestol 900 dr. August 11, 1968. A
book about the history of the diocese, edited by the bishop Per Juvkam, gave the
sainta scholarlytribute,however,includingan eruditediscussionof when the Sunniva
cult became successful: Johnsen 1968.
207
jubilee has contributed substantially to the public focus on Selja,

whose importance is often stressed. The first and most impressive
official celebration was held on June 2-5 (Whitsuntime), 1995, on
the island of Moster, where Olav Tryggvason is said to have celebratedmass for the first time on Norwegian soil. Moster was never
nearly as important as Selja in the history of the Church, and it
was argued that Selja, "the womb which gave birth to the Norwegian church" (Hommedal 1995:143), should have been chosen
as a more appropriatesymbolic place for the main celebration. In
1996-1997, however, it was Selja's turn to commemoratethe past
on a grand scale, the climax being a grand ecumenical service on
Seljumannamesse July 7. The titular Catholic bishop of Selja, a
clergyman from Sarajevo in Bosnia, was invited to the occasion
along with several other church dignitaries.
The great anniversarywas preparedfor years by bishops, highlevel church officials, scholars and many other prominent people.
Research funds stimulatednew interdisciplinarywork on Old Norse
religion and the country's conversion to Christianity.7It resulted in
much attention being given to Selja and fresh contributionsfrom
archaeologists, religious scholars, historians, etc.8 Scholars have
thus in different ways given depth to the historical and spiritual
landscape.Theirideas anddiscussionshave been disseminatedthrough
the mass media and have thus fed curiosity and speculations about
the site. Willingly or unwillingly, they are participantsin the revival of the shrine.
In Selje, people startedto preparefor the anniversaryearly in the
1990s. The official ten persons board planning the local events
numberedtwo bishops, one prioressfromthe RomanCatholicChurch,
high-standingdistrict and county officials, and the managing director of Selje Hotel. The board declared the purpose of the celebrations to be "knowledge, information,and experiences connected to
7 See the
anniversarypublication, Gj0r d0ren h0y: Kirken i Norge 1000 dr.
8 See Rindal 1997, and the recent article by Rekdal (2003).
208
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
Selja as a powerful centre during the Christianizationof Norway,"

and the basic framework of the celebrations to be "woman as a
principal force," and "the role of the coast and coastal culture in
the development of church life and culturallife in Norway" (1000drs jubileet i Selje. Juli 1996-Mai 1997). The national scale of the
anniversarynotwithstanding,such proclamations echo the general
trend of celebrating local history and its heroic figures as a kind
of local identity-construction.In the modem world the past is integral to the making of identity, on personal, communal and national
levels, as David Lowenthal and others have stressed (Lowenthal
1999:41-46).
The board's emphasis on the broad, cultural scope of the anniversary, ignoring religious themes like salvation and belief in
Christ, is noteworthy.The agenda was as much directed to people
with loose or no personal ties to Christianity.In fact, the emphasis
on the role of women must have affronted many conservative
believers. The anniversarywas obviously meant to concern everyone with an interest in history and culture, not just religious people. In the Norwegian context this inclusive, secular, even feminist
orientationof the anniversaryis in no way a matter of course.9
Sunniva is the only female figure of great importancein Norwegian church history apartfrom the Virgin Mary.The wide scope of
The Lutheranstate church still comprises about 85% percent of the population, but the majority shows little interest in traditionalreligious matters and only
go to service on ChristmasEve and family occasions such as weddings, christenings, and confirmations.Among the regular churchgoersthere are sub-groupsand
factions.The old dividingline betweenliberalandconservativetheologiansis reflected
in the local congregationswhere one can find more liberal-mindedpeople as well
as conservative evangelicals. Even within the latter group there are differences in
orientation,but concern for foreign missions, individual salvation, and loyalty to
the Bible characterize the group as a whole. For the last 200 years they have
played a very influentialpart in Norwegian church history.Their proclaimedidentity as "the true church"within the state church has made deep dividing lines in
local communities and contributedto the estrangementof many people from the
Church.
9
209
the anniversaryopened the way for the old saint without engaging
the theological difficulties related to saints in a Protestantcontext.
Instead, the feminine aspect was stressed. One may talk of a growing Sunnivarenaissancethathas been greatlystimulatedby the anniversary.The old storyis retoldin differenttexts andcontexts,emphasizing
Sunniva the martyr, the Christian ideal, the feminine model, the
brave heroine, or the Celtic virgin whose martyrdomtransformed
the cruel oppressors of the Celts into fellow Christians. Many
meanings can be attached to her figure, which has released a considerable amount of artistic creations. An attractive anniversary
manual for schoolteachersincludes a Sunniva song, which has been
performed several times in the mass media.10The last time it was
heard on TV, the popular artist Karoline Krtiger appeared singing
it in the Sunniva cave. A new musical drama staging the legend
was performedin 2000 in the cathedralin Molde, and was repeated
in Spjelkavik in 2001. The instrumentation intended to give an
Irish feeling to the music (Balsnes 2001; Djupvik 2002).1 In 2003
the female vocal quartet Smyr issued the record St. Sunniva, a
"musical painting" of the saint combining Norwegian folk music,
Gregorianchurch music, and jazz (Walgermo2003). Even a popular novel about Sunniva has appeared recently (Lerum 2002). In
Selje Hotel the conference room was transformedinto a Sunniva
assembly hall in 1992, displaying a permanent exhibition of pictures of the saint. The legend is rendered in a cartoon (Risholm
1991), while an art gallery in Selje offers quality lithographsof the
saint made by a local artist.'2Especially women seem to be drawn
to the figure of Sunniva.
10 Roald 1996. In
English the title of the manual would be: "The cave of
Sunniva: a womb that bore the Norwegian church."
1 The title of the piece is "Ma korsets tre sla rot" ("Let the tree of the cross
strike roots"). The lyrics were written by Eivind Skeie, and the music composed
by Odd Johan Over0ye (Djupvik 2002).
12
Galleri Amdam, formerly Seljetunet.
210
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
Female Advocates of Sunniva

From the bibliographyof this paper it will be seen that Selja and
Sunniva have caught the interest of authors, local historians and a
variety of other people for decades. Nobel Prize laureate in literature Sigrid Undset (1882-1949), who became a Roman Catholic in
1924, was fascinated by the place and its legend. She wrote her
own pious version of the Sunniva story, published in German in
1932. Undset's conversion was sensational in a society ratherhostile to Catholicism, and no Norwegian publishercould be found for
the book. Undset wanted to build a cottage for herself on Selja in
the 1920s, but her plans were refused by the local authorities,who
feared the place would develop into a Catholic centre. The cigarsmoking, impressive lady was perhaps an object of fear herself in
the small, rural community.
In 2000 Sigrid Undset's book was issued at last in Norwegian,
under the title Den hellige Sunniva. The publisher was a Selje
woman, Borgny Dam-Nielsen, who runs a small publishing firm in
the area.
A frequent Selja visitor since early childhood, Dam-Nielsen is
herself the author of a children's book about the island (DamNielsen 1987). In a women's magazine article Dam-Nielsen describes herself as a humanist and a seeker who is drawn to Selja
for a variety of reasons, such as its silence, scenery, medieval and
prehistoricatmosphere.The legend of Sunniva has been a constant
fascination to her since early childhood, and she repeats the idea
of Sunniva as the mother of the Norwegian church, a figure representing female values in contrast to the tough masculine mentality
of the Vikings (Toft 2000).
A female minister of the Norwegian state church, Lise Tostrup,
recommends frustratedwomen to look to the patrona Norvegiae
for inspirationand strength.In her imaginative article, Tostrupoutlines how the figure of Sunniva- and even Celtic Christianityin
general- is a source of inspirationand power to women (Tostrup
1997). Her argumentsynthetizes popular agendas: women's spiritu-
211
ality, power and revolt against patriarchy,the longing for peace and
new ways of living together.It illustrateshow the legend can function as a spiritualmyth to modem women. In Tostrup'svision Selja
becomes a reminderof Sunniva's female strength.
The fact that Sunniva in all probability is a legendary figure
without any historical foundation is stressed only in scholarly contexts. Ignoring the question of historical truth, Sunniva is located
somewhere between history and myth. People in general do not
think of her as a fictional character. Instead, she has become
part of a mysterious, misty age centuries ago, about which no one
any longer has any certain knowledge. Sigrid Undset, who was a
learned woman, well schooled in archaeology and the history of
the Middle Ages, imagined there was a possibility that the legend
describes real events. According to her Catholic world-view, nothing in the story is absolutely improbable (Undset 2000:39-40;
Hommedal 1996:52). One of the guides at Selja informed me that
the way she chose to tell the legend clearly had an effect on the
visitors. If she gave a spirited presentation without dwelling too
much on the historically doubtful elements, a special atmosphere
would be created that made the story more truthful. People seem
to like the idea that the story is true. Novelist Vera Henriksen
reflects on the truth of legends in her book about Selja, Selja og
Stad- legender, sagn, historie (1992), attacking the black-andwhite attitude of modem people for whom a story is either true or
false. Even if they cannot be historically verified, Henriksen treasures legends as sources of existential truth (1992:12). Such openness to symbolic and existential meaning makes the question of
historical reality less relevant.At the same time the door is left ajar
for conceiving Sunniva as a historical person.
The artistic, symbolic and legendary space created around the
icon of Sunniva is somehow complemented by Selja's ruins and
scenery. At the same time her figure infuses the landscape with
spiritual meaning. Selja becomes Sunniva's particularspace in this
unfolding of symbolic dialectics. A genderized body symbolism is
even attributedto the island: Selja has become "the womb" of the
212
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
Norwegian church. This metaphoris repeated in many texts of the

past few years. Basic meanings are integrated in the womb symbolism: the origin of the Norwegian church, the sacred site with its
"feminine"environmentalfeatures (cave and spring), and the selfsacrifice of the female saint fulfilling the paradigmaticlife-sprouting potential of a martyrdeath. The monastic ruins, bearing witness
to bygone religious industryand fervour,are impressive, but apparently the history of the monastery can offer no moving stories and
colourful figures able to personify the place in the same way as
Sunniva does. Togetherwith the Seljumen the monks have receded
into the background.
Business Needs
Many European pilgrimage centres serve multiple purposes,
Nolan and Nolan mention conferences, retreats, youth encampments, weddings, baptisms, concerts, and exhibitions of religious
art as typical activities associated with shrines (1989:11).'3In Selje,
the tourist industry obviously has a vital interest in promoting the
old site. Selje Hotel, a good hotel in the middle of the village, dating from 1975, is the main tourist enterprise.Sunniva and Selja are
importantobjects in the marketingof the hotel. Among the attractions of Selje in the summer of 1998, for instance, was an offer
directed to marrying couples to have their marriage ceremony
in the ruins and celebrate the wedding in the Sunniva assembly
hall at the hotel. The female owner and managing director, Gerd
Kjellaug Berge, was, as I said before, a member of the official
board preparingthe anniversarycelebrations in 1996-1997. Berge
is a highly respected professional in her trade, the first female pres-
In Chapter 6 of his Religion in Contemporary Japan (1991) Ian Reader

describes the "web of commercial enterprises"(136) surroundingfamous pilgrimage shrines in Japan, like souvenir shops and restaurants.Sometimes the neighbouring streets become veritable shopping streets. In Japantourism and pilgrimage
are interlocked.
13
213
ident of the national organization of hotel and restaurantowners

(Norges Hotell- og Restaurantforbund).The emphasis on women
and coastal culture in the anniversary programme is clearly in
accord with Berge's views, as well as with the profile and interests
of the hotel. Special courses ("SeljeAktiv")aimedprimarilyat women
have been a regular offer by the hotel, featuring such elements as
aroma-therapy,colour analysis, massage and positive thinking-seminars, in other words, elements with a New Age flavour. Tours of
the ruins are included in such packet-deals.Berge often emphasizes
the spiritual and cultural requirementsof modem tourists and how
they can be met by the treasuresfound at Selje, such as the ocean,
the monastery and Saint Sunniva.'4To me she expressed how vital
it was for a hotel in such a remote place to be able to offer visitors unique experiences, and she was as conscious as any scholar
of the experience-creatingpotential of stories like Sunniva's. The
hotel director definitely belongs to the group of resource persons
that stand behind the present resacralizationprocess.'5
As well, souvenirs in Selje bear witness to the commercialpotentials of the legend. Sunnivais figuringin brochures,calendars,posters,
books, and booklets, and on soaps, pins and ceramics.
Selja and the Pilgrimage Trend
The 1000 years anniversaryhas also nourishedthe recentpilgrimage
trend in Norway. Obviously, this trend contributes substantiallyto
the resacralizationgoing on in relation to places like Selja. The old
14 For instance in AndelsPosten, no. 4, 1998 ("Gerd

Kjellaug Berge: Tar gevinst
av darlig vaer").
15 Recently the hotel has started to cooperate with St. Sunniva College, a private institution founded by Roald Flo in 2002. The college offers "holistic education" in managementand personal development.While the head office is located
in Oslo, Selje Hotel is a sort of campus where seminars and education programs
take place. (The informationis based on Flo 2003 - a brochureabout St. Sunniva
College - and a personal interview with Flo.)
214
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
pilgrimageroutebetween Oslo andTrondheimhas been restoredlately

and was officially opened in 1997. For the first time in many centuries pilgrims are now walking towards Trondheim, which again
has become the largest pilgrimage destination in the country.
According to the tourist office in Selje a considerablenumberof
individual pilgrims and pilgrim groups visit the island during the
summer season. It was pointed out that the number is increasing.
No exact estimate could be stipulated though, since one cannot
always tell whether a person is a pilgrim or not. As was noted
above, it is also quite problematicto distinguish between pilgrims
and tourists. To get an idea of the total number of visitors, it was
estimated that about 6000 persons took the ferry from Selje to
Selja each year during 1997-1999. This figure is based on the sale
of ferry tickets in the summer season. Visitors may also hire boats,
or go to Selja using their own boats. The site is not under guard
and visitors are not controlled. The tourist office estimated in 2000
that Selja receives about 10 000 annual visitors, the large majority
being Norwegians. In August 2002 the office said it had noticed an
increase in British visitors. A pilgrimage group belonging to The
Fraternity of the Friends of St. Alban's Abbey had visited the
island in the summer of 2001, a sign of a growing awareness of
the historical links in the UK as well. As yet there is no institution
in Selje taking care of pilgrims, and the local church does not offer
any kind of facilities for them.
A main force behind the revival of the pilgrimage tradition in
Norway is the historian of religions, Eivind Luthen, who opened
his own pilgrim's office (Pilegrimskontoret)in Oslo in 1994, selling pilgrimage books and requisites, and giving advice to wanderers. For many years Luthen has tried to influence local and central
authorities to restore the old routes and centres of pilgrimage.'6
Selja is one of his favourite objects, and he has published a book-
Luthen has met with great enthusiasm, and in 1996 he founded an organization of pilgrims, PilegrimsfellesskapetSt. Jakob, Norge.
16
215
let about the site (Luthen 1997). In his opinion the site is inadequate in its present, desolate state. Selja is a Sleeping Beauty
(Luthen 1997:11). He wants to have the buildings rebuilt and filled
with activities, so that Selja could become the Iona of Norway.17 At
the moment that seems a distant scenario.
Seljumannamesse:The Ritual Revival of the Site
The local deanery now celebrates Seljumannamesseevery year at
Selja on the first Sunday in July. A pilgrimage tour on the island
is organized immediately before the service, which otherwise is of
a traditionalLutherankind.18The procession is lead by a woman
dressed in a white robe representingSunniva, and a dozen of male
participantsare wearing monk's habits- a theatricaldevice which
recalls the historical plays now enacted everywhere in the country,
many of themfeaturingwell-knowncharactersfromthe sagas. Despite
their serious intentions, Seljumannamesseand its pilgrimage form
17
Luthen has also presented this idea in an article about Iona in his own pilgrim's magazine,Pilegrimen(formerlyPeregrinus)(Luthen1998), the centralmouthpiece of the Norwegian pilgrimage movement.
18 During the
pilgrimage procession the old Sunniva hymn is sung repeatedly.
The Latin text of the hymn, which is printed in Seljumannamesseprogram, 2. juli
1995, is as follows:
Aeterna Christi munera
lauda mater ecclesia
qui martyrumper vulnera
te stola vestit regia.
Regum descendens stipite
celi scandit ad atria:
sacro stipata milite
Sunniva regis filia.
Trino deo et simplici
laus honor virtus gloria
qui martyris multiplici
glorificat victoria.
216
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
an ecclesiastical parallel to such popular dramas. In answer to my

question about what kind of religious meaning they ascribe to the
pilgrimage element, people point to the old tradition. They have
taken up an old custom belonging to the place, and the feeling of
resuscitating history is what makes it meaningful. One may see a
bit of nostalgia for the country's Catholic past in such ritual proceedings. The Churchencourages what could be called a Catholicflirting topophilia, as was also the case with the Seljumannamesse
processions in Bergen 1989-1995.
Normally about 300-400 people will attend Seljumannamesse,
depending on the weather.The large majority live in Selje and the
surroundingdistrict. But stray foreigners and enthusiastsfrom other
parts of the country may turn up for the event as well.
It can be argued that the Church is celebrating itself as a timehonoured, cultural tradition through Seljumannamesse, the idea
of tradition legitimating its theatrical, Catholic-inspiredelements.
The site itself is used by the Churchto activate the legend, making
the monument a part of the narration.Ritually Selja and Sunniva
become a unity, as we have seen in other symbolic interpretations
of the site. In today's Seljumannamessetherefore, the spatial and
personified "womb"becomes ritually confirmed.19It can be argued
that in making location a ritual requisite in this way, a new sense
of sacred space is created in a Lutheran context. This stands in
contrast to the traditionalview that God is met with everywhere
and pilgrimage shrines therefore are superfluous.
Other Responses to the Site
There are a great variety of sacred places in the world, and their
symbolic meanings may have little in common. The shared factor
19
Recently both the Sunniva element and the pilgrimage aspect have been reinforced. A pilgrimage in the local region is now organized some few days before
Seljumannamesse,and there are concerts and other events. The total arrangement
is now called "Seljumannamesseand Sunniva days."
217
related to sacred sites is restrictions on human behaviour (Hubert

1994:11). Selja's status as a sacred site is officially guaranteedby
being a national monument protected by legislation as well as a
consecratedground where church rituals take place. But how is the
place experienced?What do people feel or think about Selja?
The role of Sunniva herself has alreadybeen pointed out, but the
saint is not equally importantto all respondents.Often the character of the site is also emphasized. When Eivind Luthen stated to
me what he personally thought about the sacredness of Selja, he
mentioned creation or nature, the feeling of "being part of something greater than oneself," besides cult continuity from pagan to
Christian times. Luthen thinks there was a cult of the great goddess Freya at Selja in the pre-Christianperiod. Curiously enough
he made no mention of either Sunniva or the cave. In his booklet
he declares that at Selja today one meets above all the "nature
cathedral"of the Stad area (1997:51).
His comments are representative of a number of people, who,
without caring too much about legendary or historical details, experience the mystique of a landscape expressing the integration of
religious history and natural scenery. Several people use the word
"special" to characterize the place. Its special atmosphere is a
recurringcomment. The figure of Sunniva, the cave, the ruins, and
the natural surroundings seem to become all fused in the rather
vague category of "specialness,"which nevertheless serves to designate the place as unique, with spiritual qualities of some sort.
The desolate characterof the spot may create a feeling of undisturbedaccess to the past. Selja becomes a place to make "timetrips":"Withthe tower of St. Alban's church still standing,complete
and mighty, the place itself seems as if it is cut right out of old
history," the well-known archaeologist Haakon Shetelig declared
in a letter to the equally well-known art historian Harry Fett
(Shetelig 1928). Both Shetelig and Fett were professionally involved in the restoration of the ruins at Selja. Shetelig goes on
depicting their visit together to Selja in 1914, and how Fett awakened "the dead voices" from the ruins and conjuredup the past life
218
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
in the monastery. He cites Fett's concluding remark when they

were about to leave the island: "This is a holy place in Norway."
Borgny Dam-Nielsen declares that when visiting Selja, her perspective on life changes. It feels like going into another existence
where the world can be seen from other viewpoints. At Selja she
experiences a unity with past generations(Toft 2000). Such a sense
of place is a common aspect of sites. Ian Reader remarks: "This
sense of accessibility, and the notion of the site and route as places
of unmediated meeting, of realisation and of access to something
beyond the normal levels and frameworksof everyday existence, is
a crucial aspect in all the pilgrimages we are looking at" (1993:21).
Reader also notes that pilgrimage has an individual, and individualizing, nature, which makes it personally relevant to participants (Reader 1993:21). The same could be said about many
visitors to Selja. "Going to Selje changed my life," exclaims Ingeborg MoraeusHanssen, director of the municipal cinemas in Oslo.
She explains how the visit made her rediscover and feel attached
to her country, its culture and history (Hanssen 2002). Pop singer
Hanne Krogh (a former winner of the EuropeanSong Contest) saw
a big rainbow stretchingfrom the island right up to heaven at her
first meeting with Selja. The rainbow being a personal symbol to
Krogh, she knew it indicated a special relationship to the place.
Krogh has even written a song to Sunniva which is included on
one of her albums (Krogh 2002).
As was the case in the early history of Selja, environmentalfeatures still seem to be the most importantelements of the site. There
is a constant tradition that the spring's water has healing powers,
as well as being rejuvenating.The water is taken away and used
for baptisms, especially if the child is going to be called Sunniva.20
Surprisinglymany people say they have a strange, exalted feeling
20
It is not local people but persons from other parts of the country who are
taking baptismal water with them, according to the secretary at the tourist office
in Selje.
219
in the cave, and it has become quite common to light candles there.
It sometimes happens that people crawl on their knees the 40 steps
leading up to the cave (the biblical symbolism of the number was
repeatedly pointed out to me). Old people tell the tourist guides
that they have dreamt of visiting the site for years.
"All sites of pilgrimage have this in common: they are believed
to be places where miracles once happened, still happen, and may
happen again," declare the Turners (1978:6). Tales of visions and
miracles at Selja seem to be rare, but it should be pointed out that
no one has systematically tried to collect such material recently.
Borgny Dam-Nielsen is conscious of a mysterious quality of the
site, and has talked to people claiming to have been miraculously
healed by the water in the spring. She has also heard of sailors
receiving inexplicable help, another testimony to the continuity of
the old traditions (Dam-Nielsen 1999; Toft 2000). The churchwarden told me about a teacher who had visited the site many years
ago with a group of sectarians. On entering the cave they had felt
a hostile presence, and when the teacher put his hand on the stone
alter in St. Michael's church, a mighty force had pulled him away.
The morale of the story was that the episode had brought the
teacher back to the state church. The churchwarden,who had heard
the story from the teacher himself, emphasized that this kind of
experience would generally not be spoken about. Such reticence
was also underlinedby the skipper on the ferry between Selje and
Selja. He functions as a tourist guide on the island, and has
observed visitors' reactions to the place since 1993. The skipper as
well knows of strange incidents. A lady visitor in 1999 had informed him that her son was recently saved at sea outside Stad in
a mysterious manner. He was overcome by fog, and having no
radar in his boat he was getting desperate, when suddenly he discerned a distant light. Heading towards it, he after a while landed
at the shore of Selja, where he saw the light coming from a peephole in the tower. When he entered the building, it proved to be
empty. The lady had been very serious about the story, stressing
that her son was an engineer and not a person inclined to mystery.
220
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
Needless to say, such tales testify to the existence of divine forces

at work at the site. Naturally they may serve to support belief in
the old legend and its saint.
The skipper as well as other guides have noticed persons talking
about the energies of the site, which could be an indication of New
agers or neopagans among the visitors. Both the female figure of
Sunniva as well as the possibility of a pre-Christiancult in the
cave might be expected to attract alternative-mindedpeople seeking Goddess energies at old shrines.21So far these groups have not
publicly adopted Selja. Nobody seems to have registered any signs
of pagan worship on the site.
Pluralistic Diversity
Selja's present characteras a sacred place becomes clearer if it
is compared with its position during the Middle Ages. At that time
the Catholic religious system embraced the cave, explained its
hierophanyand encouraged visitors. Today, different kinds of people with various interests and orientationsare maintainingSelja as
a national monument, a tourist attraction, an archaeological site,
and a religious site.
How the sacredness of the place is experienced today, if it is
experienced at all, is more or less an individual matter for moder
visitors, be they pilgrims, scholars, holiday travellers,New agers or
local Christians. Though essentially a Christian monument, the
symbolic landscape also has links to Old Norse religion, national
history, nature spirituality, and spirituality with a feminist bent.
Some may value a Celtic or British connection for the site. Other
links may also arise, depending on the religious development or
scholarly hypotheses.
21
See for instance Deana Weibel's articles about New Age pilgrims to the
FrenchMarianshrine Rocamadour(Weibel 2002a, 2002b). New agers, or religious
creatives as Weibel prefers to call them, tend to understandall ancient shrines,
independentof their religious belonging, as places radiatingbeneficial energies.
221
The individual is free to make her own special blend of links or

define what significance the place has for her. The Selja type of
sacred site has a rich symbolic potential and may create a range
of different responses in a pluralistic and individualistic society.
A similar "plethoraof reasons for specialness" is emphasized by
Marion Bowman concerning the English spiritual centre Glastonbury (1993:40). Collective, institutionalized meaning is above all
propagatedby the Lutheranstate church through its celebration of
Seljumannamesse.
Selja's symbolic richness accords with the interests of the tourist
industry,which can offer a piece of Christianheritage as well as a
site with a message for everybody, depending on one's preferences.
There is a seriousness connected to the martyr figure of Sunniva,
but the beautiful maiden is at the same time a touristic genius loci.
The emphasis on Sunniva is in line with main trends both within
and outside the Church that are preoccupied with female symbols
and women's relationshipto religion.
Conclusion
The basis for the present resacralizationprocess attachedto Selja
consists of history, legend and the experiential merits of the site
itself. The process is expressed through church ritual, art, music,
literature, commodification, and a host of articles in the media.
Beside the general interest in women's history and female models,
reasons for the increasing focus on St. Sunniva are national church
anniversaries,as well as the more prosaic purposes of the tourist
industry. Today, Selja and Sunniva are symbolically fused; the
revival of the legend has absorbed the monastic ruins as a narrative scene. The state church contributes substantially to such a
fusion by celebrating Seljumannamesse on the island, while the
local community has become aware of the Selja-Sunniva connection as an identity source and tourist magnet. All in all Selja has
been re-establishedas a powerful and mysterious sanctuary.At the
same time the legend is incorporatedin new stories mixing past
222
Lisbeth Mikaelsson
and present: tales about cult continuity, spiritual renewal, female

identity and values, and personal narrativesproving the existence
and interventionof sacred forces at selected places.
Making prophecies for the future is not a scholarly task, but in
this case it is tempting to speculate. Whereas the symbolic union
of Selja and Sunniva has demonstratedits attraction,the site is still
undeveloped. Will there be a growth in religious ideas, rituals and
other activities connected to the site? Will the Celtic link expand
in the future? Various new initiatives are indeed emerging. Greek
Orthodox monks have become enthused with the island and want
to build a monastery there, being warmly welcomed by the chairman of the local council (Bj0nness 2003). Selja's basically Christian status probably restricts its potential as a pagan sanctuary,but
it definitely meets the requirementsof the seeker mentality characteristic of western, religious individualism. In fact Selja is another
demonstrationof how relevant locality is for such trends.22
LISBETH
MIKAELSSON
IKRR
0ysteinsgate 3
5007 Bergen
Norway
LisbethMikaelsson@krr.uib.nc
22
During my work on this paper many people have been contacted and have
willingly answered questions. For their obligingness I especially want to thank
Henrik von Achen, Camilla Bakke, Michael Beckers, Gerd Kjellaug Berge,
Ragnvald Berge, Helge Borgund, Borgny Dam-Nielsen, Asbj0m Gjengedal, Jan
Hammersvik,Alf ToreHommedal,J0rgenHaavardsholm,Ane Land0y,EivindLuthen,
Otto Odland, Jorun Roald, Lotte Sch0nfelder,and Inger Marie Aarsheim.Alf Tore
Hommedal, J0rgen Haavardsholm and Lotte Sch0nfelder have been especially
helpful, Hommedal in providing photographsfor this article, Haavardsholmin giving me a copy of the Shetelig text, and Sch0nfelder in providing the newspaper
paragraphsabout the Seljumannamesseprocessions in Bergen.
223
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ERKUNDUNGEN VON GEGENWELTEN:

ZUR ORIENTIERUNGSLEISTUNG?MYTHISCHER>REISEN
AM BEISPIELZWEIER MESOPOTAMISCHERTEXTE*
DARIA PEZZOLI-OLGIATI
Summary
The present article focuses on the function of mythic journeys with regardto the
problem of death and the transience of human life in two selected Mesopotamian
literary sources: the Gilgamesh-Epic IX-XI and the Descent of Ishtar to the
Underworld.The selected texts are analysed and compared from the perspective
of a functionalist definition of religious symbol systems, with particularattention
to the transformationinvolved in travelling through different cosmic regions. The
structureof the journey, the characterisationof the differentregions visited by the
protagonist,and the changes provoked by the mythic travel evince similarities and
differences in the strategies employed to produce a religious orientation dealing
with the ineluctable limits of life.
[Den Tod ftirchteteich und nun laufe ich durch die
Steppe].
Die Situation meines Freundes [lastet] auf mir.
[Einen fernen Weg laufe ich durch] die Steppe,
Die Situation Enkidus, [meines Freundes, lastet
auf mir].
[Eine ferne Strasse] laufe ich durch die Steppe.
[Wie konnteich schweigen], wie konnteich still sein?
[Mein Freund, den ich liebe], [wur]de zu Lehm,
Enkidu, den ich liebe, [wur]de zu Lehm.
[Und ich - werde ich nicht wie] er [sein] und (wie
er) liegen,
[ohne aufzu]stehen, ftir immer?1
* Dieser Aufsatz stellt eine schriftliche Bearbeitung meiner Antrittsvorlesung

als Privatdozentin fir Religionswissenschaft an der Universitat Zirich vom
26.5.2003 dar.
Gilg. X, 62-71 nach der Ausgabe von George 2003:680-83.
NUMEN,Vol. 52
Erkundungenvon Gegenwelten
227
1. Einfiihrung
Die Verganglichkeit menschlichen Lebens und die Reise eines
Helden in feme Gebiete sind die zentralenMotive dieses Zitats aus
dem Gilgamesh-Epos. Diese Verbindung zwischen dem Tod als
Grundproblemmenschlichen Daseins und einer ausserordentlichen
Reise in unzugangliche Gebiete sind Gegenstand der vorliegenden
religionswissenschaftlichen Analyse. Anhand zweier ausgewahlter
Beispiele aus der mesopotamischen Literaturwerde ich die Leistung solcher Reisen angesichts unkontrollierbarerPhanomene des
menschlichen Lebens fokussieren.
Die Auseinandersetzung mit dieser Thematik ist in vier Abschnitte aufgeteilt: In einem ersten Schritt steht die Frage im
Zentrum, inwiefern literarische Berichte von mythischen Reisen
eine Grundorientierung im Rahmen eines religi6sen Symbolsystems leisten konnen. In zwei weiteren, parallel durchgefiihrten
Schritten werden die ausgewahlten Textquellen - Ausztige aus
dem Gilgamesh-Epos und Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt- mit
dieser Fragestellung konfrontiert. Abschliessend werden die Beispiele einem Vergleich unterzogen.
2. Mythische Reisen zwischen Weltenund Gegenwelten
Das Motiv der Reise von Gotter oder Heroen in feme, schwer
zugangliche Gebiete wird in verschiedenenmesopotamischenTexten
aufgegriffen. Dabei spielt die Uberschreitungder Grenze zwischen
dem Bereich der Lebenden und jenem der Toten haufig eine zentrale Rolle.2 In den ausgewahlten Textbeispielen findet eine explizite Auseinandersetzungmit dem Tod statt. Ist es gerechtfertigt,
diese Texte als <religi6s> relevant zu qualifizieren,nur weil sie den
Tod und die Verganglichkeit des Lebens thematisieren? Welche
Dazu vgl. Bottero 1980. Als weiteres Beispiel vgl. die Geschichte von Nergal
und Ereshkigal. In diesem Zusammenhangkonnten auch die Unterweltsvisionen
eines assyrischen Kronprinzenaufschlussreich sein; vgl. von Soden 1936.
228
Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
Merkmale machen diese Unterfangen von Gotter und Heroen zu

<mythischen> Reisen? Um einen kontrolliertenmethodischen Zugang zu den Textquellen zu gewahrleisten, werden hier zunachst
diese Definitionsproblemeangesprochen.
2.1. <Religi6se> Texte
Die hierverfolgteFragestellungfokussiertdie Orientierungsleistung
altorientalischer
Erzahlungenvon besonderenReisen,in denenAspekte
des Todes thematisiert werden. Es erscheint berechtigt, die auszu bezeichnen und zwar aus folgengewahlten Texte als <<religi6s>>
dem Grund: <Religi6s> wird hier im Sinne eines rekonstruktiven
Bemtihens und in Anlehnung an leistungsorientierte, funktionale
Religionsdefinitionen verwendet. Dieser Begriff setzt in diesem
Kontext also voraus, dass religiose Symbolsysteme Kommunikationssysteme sind, die eine Grundorientierungvermitteln. Fur die
vorliegende Fragestellung erweisen sich die Zugange von Geertz,3
Luhmann4und Stolz als besonders aufschlussreich.Letztgenannten
zitiere ich mit folgender Definition, welche die beiden anderen
Zugangsweisen rezipiert: <Uberallsteht der Mensch vor der Aufgabe, seine Welt, die offen und nicht festgelegt ist, zu ordnen und
zu kontrollieren;tiberall ist er mit Machten konfrontiert,die sich
dieser Kontrolle entziehen (...); an dieser Stelle sind die religiosen
Probleme angesiedelt. Es geht darum, dem Bereich des Unkontrollierbaren eine Form zu geben, mit der sich umgehen lasst. Dabei
wird einerseits Unkontrollierbares in die Kontrolle tibergefiihrt,
andererseits aber doch wieder belassen; Religion leistet also eine
lebensbestimmenden
gleichzeitige Darstellungder unkontrollierbaren
Machte und der kontrollierbarenLebensordnung, die darin grtindet>>.5Obwohl fur andere Gesellschaftstypen entwickelt, k6nnen
funktionale Zugange zu religi6sen Symbolsystemen interessante
3 Vgl. Geertz 1999:48.

Vgl. Luhmann 1992:9-71; s. auch Reese-Schafer 2001:96-110.
5 Stolz 2001a:33; s. auch Stolz 2001b.
229
Betrachtungsweisen auch fur traditionelle, nicht vergleichbar ausdifferenzierteGesellschaften eroffnen.

Es soll hier versucht werden, diese Art von Zugang auf altorientalische, literarischeTraditionenanzuwenden, in denen der Tod als
unkontrollierbareGrenze des Lebens reflektiertwird. In der Arbeit
an den Texten wird folglich die Frage zu beantworten sein, wie
diese doppelte Orientierungsfunktionrealisiert wird, durch die das
Unkontrollierbareeinerseits kontrollierbargemacht und andererseits
so belassen wird.
2.2. Welt und Gegenwelten
In der altorientalischen Literatur erstrecken sich Reisen von
Gottern und Heroen haufig iiber verschiedene Gebiete, die unter
normalen Bedingungen nicht zuganglich sind. Die Etappen dieser
Reisen verbindenin der Regel kosmologischeBereiche, die voneinander getrennt sind.6 Der Weg fiihrt von bekannten, vertrauten zu
unbekannten,unheimlichenOrten, die nur in der ausserordentlichen
Situation der Reise erkundetwerden konnen. Mit anderenWorten:
Die Reisen von Hereon und Gottem spielen sich zwischen Weltund
Gegen-welten7ab.
Diese modeme Kategorisierungvon Orten, die hier auf alte literarische Quellen projiziertwird, ist bereits in altmesopotamischen
Dokumentenangedeutet;wenn auchauf einerimplizitenEbene, lassen
sich ElementeeinerReflexioniiberdie Bedeutungund Kennzeichnung
von verschiedenen,gegensatzlichen Gegenden im Kosmos in vielen
Quellen erkennen.Eine aufschlussreicheIllustrationeiner expliziten
Trennung zwischen bekannten und unbekannten kosmologischen
Gebieten, zwischen Welt und Gegenwelten im mesopotamischen
Kontext bietet die sogenannteBabylonische Weltkarte,die hier kurz
besprochen wird.8
ZU diesem Motiv s. Marinatos2001; Horowitz 1998:20ff.; Katz 2003:32-55.
7 Dazu vgl. Stolz 2001a:94-100 und Stolz 1993.
8 Damit michte ich keine direkte literarische Verbindung zwischen den erwahnten Quellen suggerieren. Die Weltkarte ist relativ jung - sie wird in die
6
230
BM 92687 obv., aus: Horowitz 1998:402.
231
Es handelt sich um die erste <<geographischeKarte>>,welche die

Welt in ihrer Gesamtheit darstellt.9 Sie reproduziert in kleinem
Massstab den Kosmos aus der Perspektive der Stadt Babylon, die
im Zentrumals Rechteckmit dem sumerischenName tintir?1gekennzeichnet ist.1 Die Karteweist eine Nord-Siid-Orientierung
auf. Stadte
und Landschaftselemente werden durch symbolische Zeichen
wiedergegeben.Auch die ubrigenStadteund Gebiete sind in derRegel
mit Eigennamenerwahnt.Weitere topographischeElemente werden
jedoch nur allgemein als Berg, Sumpf oder Kanal identifiziert. So
kann auch der Euphrat,der in der Mitte der Karte plaziert ist, nur
aufgrundseiner geographischenLage uberhauptals solcher erkannt
werden. Der Mittelteil der Weltkarte gibt im Wesentlichen die
Geographie Mesopotamiens wieder, und zwar aus der Sicht der
Grossstadt Babylon, die als Mittelpunkt des Kosmos interpretiert
wird.12Das Landgebiet ist von einem Ring umgeben, der als marratum, <<Meer,
Ozean>, gekennzeichnetist. Das Meer fungiert dabei
als Grenzbereich:Es trennt die vertrauteWelt von entfemten, nur
Zeitspanne zwischen dem 8. und dem 7. Jh. v.Chr. datiert (vgl. Horowitz
1998:25f.) - wahrend die Traditionenum das Gilgamesh-Eposund Inannas bzw.
Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt iiber breite Zeitspannenbezeugt sind. Das Problem moglicher Abhangigkeit muss hier offen gelassen werden.
9 Eine Ausgabe der Karte und der beiliegenden Texte bei Horowitz 1998:20ff.;
Horowitz 1988; Peiser 1889.
10 Dazu
Unger 1928. Uber die zahlreichen Namen der Stadt Babylon s. auch
die Komposition TINTIR= Babylon; for eine Ausgabe diese Werkes vgl. George
1992:1-72.
1 Zur Kartographiein Mesopotamien vgl. Bleibtreu 1986; Heinrich u. Seidl
1967; Meissner 1925; Rollig 1980-1983; Unger 1935.
12 In diesem
Zusammenhangist die Auslassung des Tigris aussagekraftig;vgl.
Horowitz 1998:28f. und vor allem Huxley 1997:190: <The map includes real
aspects of Mesopotamianlife, river, mountains, marsh, cities, but is not the kind
of map that would be used to guide a traveller. Rather, it is a cosmological diagram, a statement about the world, about the mythic regions that impinge on the
world, and about human perception of the centrality of Babylon and the Land of
the Two Rivers within the world>>.
232
wenig bekannten Bereichen. Diese sind durch die Dreiecke am

Rand der Karte reprasentiert und tragen die Bezeichnung nagu,
<entferntes Gebiet>.13 Die Kenntnisse iiber diese Orte, die sich jenseits des Meeres, also jenseits der bewohnten Welt, befinden, sind
sparlich. Einerseits gibt die Karte selbst hierzu einige Hinweise.
Eines der nagu wird beispielsweise wie folgt beschrieben: ?Grosse
Mauer, 6 Meilen, wo Shamash nicht gesehen wird>>.Andererseits
werden diese Gegenden durch zwei (leider fragmentarische) Texte
prazisiert, die auf der gleichen Tafel aufgezeichnet sind:14 Es handelt sich demnach um kaum erreichbare Gebiete, die mit mythischen Gestalten in Zusammenhang gebracht werden.s' Die Angaben
zu den nagu sind fragmentarisch; die Raume jenseits des Meeres,
die aussersten Bereiche des Kosmos, sind geheimnisvoll und nicht
leicht fassbar.'6Die Babylonische Weltkartebeabsichtigt, die Zentralitat
der Stadt Babylon kosmologisch und theologisch zu untermauem.
Die Erwahnung der nagu, der unerreichbaren Gebiete, betont die
Vorrangstellung der Stadt nochmals: Babylon befindet sich nicht
nur im Mittelpunkt der bekannten Welt, sondem auch im Zentrum
des gesamten Kosmos.17 Dieser Kosmos besteht aus verschiedenen
Bereichen, die jenseits der Reichweite der Grossstadt liegen. Die
Karte zeigt somit auch auf, dass solch feme Welten tiberhaupt existieren, dass sie zum Kosmos geh6ren und man nur wenig dartiber
weiss, wie sie beschaffen sind und was sich dort abspielt.
13Leider ist die Tafel beschadigt; es ist jedoch anzunehmen,dass urspriinglich
acht Dreiecke auf ihr zu finden waren. Vgl. Horowitz 1998:30.
14 Es ware denkbar,dass die Texte erst sekundar,in einer spateren Kopie mit
der Karte verbunden wurden. Horowitz bereits 1988 ftihrt jedoch einleuchtende
Argumente zugunsten der Einheit des Dokuments an.
15
Vgl. Babylonische Weltkarte,Rs. 7'f.: <<[Zumdrit]ten Gebiet, wo du sieben
Meilen gehst .. ein fliegender Vogel kann [seinen Weg] nicht zu Ende fuhren>>,
s. auch Rs. 21'-23'.
16 Vgl. Babylonische
Weltkarte, Rs. 26'-27': <<[....] von den vier Richtungen
der ganzen [....],
[....]: deren Mitte niemand ver[steht]>>.
17 Zum Motiv von Babylon als Zentrum des Kosmos vgl. George 1997; Maul
1997; Pezzoli-Olgiati 2002:82-96; Westenholz 1998.
233
Auf der Babylonischen Weltkartewird der Gegensatz zwischen

WeltundGegenweltikonographischdargestelltunddurchden Kontrast
zwischen dem zentralen Kreis und den Dreiecken am ausseren
Rand kartographischreprasentiert.18In den Texten hingegen, die
Gegenstand der vorliegenden Untersuchungsind, wird der Gegensatz zwischen Welt und Gegenwelten in narrativen Strukturen
entfaltet.
2.3. <Mythische>Reisen als Verbindungvon Gegenwelten
Erzahlungen von ausserordentlichen Reisen verbinden unterschiedliche kosmologische Gebiete; sie setzen diese in eine geordnete Struktur,die durchden Reiseweg bestimmtwird.In dernarrativen
Strukturder Erzahlung verkniipfen solche Reisen wenig bekannte
kosmologische Orte nach unterschiedlichen Mustern.19Himmel,
Erde,Unterwelt,abgelegeneInseln,Berge und derunterirdischeOzean
werden dabei in geordnete Zusammenhange gebracht. Die Reise
erlaubt es, unterschiedlicheGegenwelten in komplexen Verbindungen zueinanderzu bringen, ohne sie jedoch ihrer Eigentumlichkeit
und Eigenstandigkeit zu berauben; die verschiedenen Orte naher
sich einander an, werden aber nicht miteinanderidentifiziert.
Solche Reisen von Heroen und Gottem werden in der Regel als
einmalig dargestellt. Sie entstehen unter ausserordentlichenBedinAls solche
gungen, sind durcheinen ungewohntenWeg charakterisiert.
sie
der
bringen
grundsatzliche Veranderungen
Ausgangssituation
mit sich, die nicht mehr riickgangig gemacht werden konnen. In
diesem Sinne scheint es berechtigt, diese Reisen als <mythisch>zu
bezeichnen, denn sie leiten Transformationenein, die es erlauben,
die bekannte, vertraute Weltdimension am Ende der Reise als
Zum Stellenwert der Babylonischen Weltkartebei der Rekonstruktionmesopotamischerkosmologischer Konzepte s. Huxley 1997 und Pongratz-Leisten2001:
274-277.
19 Vgl. Pongratz-Leisten 1994:13ff.; Pongratz-Leisten2001; Stolz 2000; Marinatos 2001.
18
234
endgtiltiges Ergebnis eines unwiderruflichen Prozesses zu verstehen.20

Die Frage nach der Leistung mythischer Reisen angesichts der
Todes- und Verganglichkeitsproblematik wird somit im Kontext
eines religionswissenschaftlichen Ansatzes untersucht, der religiose
Symbolsysteme unter einem funktionalen Gesichtspunkt betrachtet.
Dabei wird dem Gegensatz zwischen Welt und Gegenwelt und
dessen provisorischer Aufhebung wihrend der Reise besondere
Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Nach diesen klarenden Bemerkungen
mochte ich nun die Fragestellung an den ausgewahlten Textquellen
konkretisieren.
2.4. Zur Auswahl der Texte
In der klassischen Fassung des Gilgamesh-Epos spielt die Reisethematik eine wichtige Rolle. Hier konzentriere ich mich auf die
Tafeln IX-XI, wo die Reise eng an das Motiv des Todes gekoppelt
ist.21 Ahnlich wird der Blick auf Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt
gerichtet sein: Die Gesamterzahlung wird vor allem beziiglich der
Raumwechsel - mit besonderer Aufmerksamkeit auf die Beschreibungen der Unterwelt - untersucht. Beide Erzahlungen weisen
eine komplexe Entstehungsgeschichte auf: In der vorliegenden
Untersuchung stehen die akkadischen Fassungen im Zentrum.22
20
Zum verwendeten Mythosbegriff vgl. dazu als erste OrientierungAssmann,

Burkert u. Stolz 1982; Assmann u. Assmann 1998:180 (M4 funktionalistischer
Mythosbegriff);Stolz 1997:50ff. Auf dem Hintergrundeines Vergleichs zwischen
verschiedenen mediterranenund nah6stlichen literarischen Belegen pragt MariReise>. Dieser Begriffbetontdie semantische
natos2001 den Begriffder <kosmischen
die
der
wahrend
Reise,
Bezeichnung <<mythischeReise>>die syntakKomponente
tische Struktur,den Aufbau der impliziertenTransformationhervorhebt.
21 Zu den verschiedenen Reisen, die im
Epos vorkommen, s. als Bsp. Stolz
2000.
22 Fur einen Uberblick tiber die
Entstehungsgeschichtedes Gilgamesh-Eposvgl.
Zum Verhaltnis zwischen der sumerischen
und
1982.
2003:3-90
Tigay
George
und der akkadischenIshtars Abstieg
in
die
Unterwelt
Inannas
Abstieg
Erzahlung
in die Unterwelt s. Hutter 1985:116-130; zuletzt Pettinato 2003:11-125.
235
Die Auswahl dieser Quellen griindet auf semantischen Kriterien:

In beiden Texten spielen Ortswechsel sowie der Gegensatz zwischen den vorkommendenGebieten eine zentrale Rolle; die Reise
wird immer von ausserordentlichenGestalten unterommen, und
die Todesproblematiksteht im Zentrum.Diese Auswahl ist nicht als
exklusiv zu verstehen,sondem, ganz im Gegenteil, als ein ersterVersuch. Es geht namlich darum, das methodische Instrumentariuman
konkretenFallbeispielen auszuprobierenund kritischzu reflektieren.
Dabei soll die auf die Quellen angewandte systematische Frage als
Grundlagefureinen religionswissenschaftlichenTextvergleichgetestet
werden.
3. Gilgameshs Reise zur Insel von Utnapishtim23
3.1. Voraussetzungenund Etappen der Reise
In der auf Akkadisch verfassten Standardversiondes GilgameshEpos in zwolf Tafeln, die aus dem 13. Jh. v.Chr. stammt, werden
die Heldentaten des mythischen K6nigs der Stadt Uruk erzahlt.
Gilgamesh unternimmt mit seinem Freund Enkidu waghalsige
Abenteuer, die immer mit grossem Erfolg bestanden werden. Die
zwei Helden sind stark, sch6n, unbesiegbar.Gemeinsam haben sie
das Ungeheuer Humbaba getotet, sowie den Himmelsstier, den
Ishtar ihnen entgegen geschickt hatte. Gilgamesh und Enkidu sind
voller Tatendrangund Kraft bis zum Zeitpunkt,an dem Enkidu von
einer Krankheit befallen wird und stirbt. Gilgamesh trauert um
seinen Freund. Durch den Tod Enkidus wird ihm in aller Deutlichkeit bewusst, dass auch er, obwohl zu zwei Dritteln Gott, sterben wird.24 Gilgamesh kann die Verganglichkeit menschlichen
Lebens nicht ertragen; die Angst vor dem Tod veranlasst ihn zur
Suche nach der Unsterblichkeit, eine Reise, die niemand zuvor
23
Die Ubersetzungen aus dem Epos griinden auf der Ausgabe von George
2003.
24
Vgl. Gilg. IX, 1-7.
236
untemommen hat. Ziel ist die Insel von Utnapishtim. Von ihm und
seiner Frau, den einzigen unsterblichen Menschen,25 mochte der
Held aus Uruk erfahren, wie man dem Tod entkommen kann.
Der Reiseweg fiihrt tiber verschiedene Etappen: Bedruckt vom
Schmerz, der Trauer um Enkidu und der Last der Todesangst, verlasst Gilgamesh die Stadt Uruk, den eigentlichen Ort von Zivilisation und Lebensentfaltung, die Stadt seines K6nigtums, und
begibt sich in die Steppe, in den Bereich der chaotischen, unkontrollierbaren Krafte.26 Die nachste Etappe ist der Berg Mashu. Ftirchterliche, angsterregende Mischwesen bewohnen diesen Ort. Das
Skorpionenmenschenpaar, das den Berg bewacht, erkennt, dass
Gilgamesh zu zwei Dritteln g6ttlich ist, und spricht ihn an, um die
Grtinde seiner Anwesenheit in einer so abgelegenen, unerreichbaren
Gegend zu erfahren. Gilgamesh antwortet ihnen:
<[Ich bin auf dem Weg zu] Utnapishtim,meinem Ahnen,
der in der Versammlungder Gotter stand [und das Leben fand].
Uber Tod und Leben [wird er mich unterrichten]>>.27
Der Skorpionenmenschtat seinen Mund auf zu reden
und sagt zu Gilgamesh:
<[Nie] gab es, Gilgamesh, [wie du ......],
niemand [...]... des Berges.
Fur 12 Doppelstundenin ihm [....],
die Finstemis ist dicht und [Licht gibt es nicht].>>28
Der Skorpionenmensch erlaubt Gilgamesh dennoch, den Berg

Mashu zu durchqueren. So lauft Gilgamesh durch den tunnelartigen
Weg in vollkommener Finstemis; er geht den gleichen Weg wie die
Sonne und taucht schliesslich wieder ins Licht auf. Der Held
Zur Vorstellungder Unsterblichkeitin Mesopotamien s. insbesondere Chiodi

1994.
26
Zum Gegensatz zwischen Stadt und Steppe im Gilgamesh-Epos vgl. Stolz
2000:44-47.
27 George ergdnzt: <of death and life [he will tell me the secret.]>>;Hecker
1994:717 hingegen: <<iberTod und Leben [will ich ihn fragen]!>>(= IX,iii,5).
28 Gilg.
IX, 75-83.
25
Erkundungen von Gegenwelten
237
kommt in einem Edelsteingarten an - eine weitere Etappe. In

diesem Garten lebt die G6ttin Siduri, die Gilgamesh auf seiner
vergeblichen Suche nach Unsterblichkeit29 beisteht. Mit Hilfe des
Fihrmannes Urshanabi tiberquert er die Wasser des Todes, und nach
dieser letzten Priifung gelangt er zur ersehnten Insel, der entscheidenden Etappe der Reise. In seiner Rede zu Gilgamesh er6ffnet
ihm der weise Utnapishtim, dass sein Wunsch, ein Mittel gegen die
Sterblichkeit zu finden, Ausdruck von Torheit sei und er sein Ziel
verfehlen werde:
[Du ] hast (nie) ausgeruht,was hast du (damit) erreicht?
[Durch] Ruhelosigkeit ermtidestdu [dich selbst],
du fiillst deine Glieder mit Kummer,
du bringst deine femen Tage (= deinen Tod) naher.
Der Mensch - sein Nachkommen ist abgeschnittenwie ein Rohr des
Rohrichts.
Der sch6ne Junge, das sch6ne Midchen
der Tod bringt sie (alle) [sehr schnell] weg.
Niemand sieht den Tod,
niemand sieht das Gesicht [des Todes],
niemand [h6rt] die Stimme des Todes;
der zomige Tod ist der, der die Menschheit abschneidet.30
Utnapishtim und seine Frau entkamen dank der Hilfe des Gottes
Ea der Sintflut. Sie wurden zu Unsterblichen gemacht und zur Insel
jenseits der Todeswasser versetzt, an die Mundung der Fliisse,
einen Ort abseits der Welt. Ihre Situation ist jedoch eine ausserordentliche, die nicht wiederholt werden kann. Deswegen weiss Utnapishtim, dass Gilgamesh seinem menschlichen Schicksal niemals
wird entrinnen konnen. Trotzdem gibt er dem Konig von Uruk zweimal
eine Chance: Die erste ist mit einer Probe, die zweite mit einem
29 In diesem
Zusammenhangist ein altbabylonischesFragmentaufschlussreich.
Siduri sagt zu Gilgamesh: <Gilgamesh, wohin laufst du? Das Leben, das du
suchst, wirst du nicht finden! Als die G6tter die Menschheit erschufen, wiesen sie
der Menschheit den Tod zu, nahmen das Leben in ihre eigene Hand> (OBVA +
BM,iii,l-5, bei George 2003:278).
30
Gilg. X, 297-307.
238
Geschenk verbunden.Wenn Gilgamesh fur sieben Tage und sieben

Nachte dem Schlaf widerstehenkann, wird ihm die Unsterblichkeit
gewihrt. Da Gilgamesh sofort einschlaft, muss er endgiiltig erkennen, dass er wie alle anderenMenschen der Verganglichkeitausgeliefertist. Daraufhinerhalter von Utnapishtimein Abschiedsgeschenk,
die Pflanze <<ibu issahir amelu>, <als Greis wird der Mensch
jung>>:Wer die Pflanze isst, erlangt zur Jugendlichkeit zurick.3'
Gilgamesh verpasst beide Gelegenheiten: Trotz seiner erfinderischen Ader und seiner Heldentatenist er als Mensch zu schwach;
er besteht die Probe nicht und verliert das wertvolle Geschenk. Die
letzte Etappe fuhrt zur Stadt Uruk zuriick. Auf der Ruckkehrwird
Gilgamesh von Urshanabibegleitet. Sobald der Konig seine Stadt
wieder betritt, zeigt er dem Fahrmanndas grossartige Mauerwerk,
das er gebaut hat. Mit diesem wunderbarenMonument von unerreichbaremWert verschafftsich Gilgamesh, der sterblicheHeld von
Uruk, zwar kein unbegrenztes Leben, aber immerhin eine ewige
Erinnerung.
3.2. Charakterisierungder Raume
Die Schilderungvon Gilgameshs Reise stellt verschiedene, entlegene Bereiche dar,die nicht mehr zur Welt gehoren.Der Berg Mashu
markiert in der hier zugrunde liegenden Kosmologie eine Ubergangsstelle, denn er verbindet Himmel und Unterwelt und ist der
Ein- und Ausgangspunktder Sonne. Siduris Edelsteingartenbesteht
aus einer phantastischen, unbelebten, starren Natur aus Karneol,
Lapislazuli und anderenEdelsteinen.Auch die Todeswasserund die
Insel von Utnapishtim und seiner Frau befinden sich jenseits der
Weltgrenzen. Alle diese Orte konnen als jenseitige Gegenwelten
bezeichnet werden. Sie sind Bereiche, in denen bestimmte Aspekte
des Lebens in extremen Formen zum Ausdruck gebracht werden,
auf eine Art, die im Rahmen menschlichen Lebens, in der ver-
31
Zur Pflanze der Jugendlichkeitvgl. Pettinato 1994-1995.
239
trauten,bekanntenWelt niemals m6glich wiren. So herrschtim Berg

Mashu, an der iusserstenGrenze der Welt, ewige Nacht. Im Edelsteingarten der G6ttin Siduri ist die Vegetation zwar wundersch6n,
abererstarrtund ungeniessbar,denn sie bestehtaus unbelebterMaterie;
schliesslich ist die Insel jenseits der Todeswasser ein Ort des
ewigen Lebens.
DurchGilgameshsReise werdendiese Gegenweltenin einen geordneten Zusammenhanggebracht. Die Schwierigkeiten an den Ubergangsstellen, die als unpassierbargelten, werden durch das Konnen
und die Kraft des Helden sowie mit Hilfe verschiedenerGestalten
bezwungen.Durchdie VerbindungderunterschiedlichenGegenwelten
entsteht der Reiseweg, auf dem sich die vergebliche Suche des
Gilgamesh nach Unsterblichkeit abspielt. Indem er diese, fur alle
anderenunerreichbarenGebiete erkundet,erfahrter vieles uber sich
selbst und die unausweichliche Grenze menschlichen Lebens.
3.3. Transformation
Die Frage nach dem Tod und dessen moglicher Uberwindung
wird im narrativenVerlauf des Gilgamesh-Eposauf der raumlichen
Ebene entfaltet. Der Erkundung von verschiedenen Gegenwelten
als unbekanntenGebieten jenseits der Weltgrenzen entspricht eine
Transformationder Hauptgestaltund ihrer Auseinandersetzungmit
dem unausweichlichenEnde menschlichen Lebens.
In der Stadt Uruk erlebt Gilgamesh den Tod seines Freundes,
den er zuerst gar nicht wahmehmen will. Erst als die Leiche des
Freundeszu verwesenbeginnt,muss derKonig den endgiiltigenVerlust
erkennen.32Der Tod Enkidus verleitet Gilgamesh dazu, uber die
Verganglichkeitseines eigenen Lebensnachzudenken.Die Vorstellung,
sterblich zu sein, bedrtickt ihn: <Werde ich auch sterben? Werde
ich nichtwie Enkidusein? Kummertratin mein Herzein, ich ftirchtete
den Tod und so laufe ich durch die Steppe>>.33
Am Berg Mashu
32
33
Vgl. insbesondere Gilg. X, 59f.

Gilg. IX, 3-5.
240
unterhilt sich Gilgamesh mit dem Skorpionenmenschenpaar,das

den Berg uberwacht.Gilgamesh legt die Grundeseiner Reise offen;
er sei auf der Suche nach Utnapishtim,um ihn tiberTod und Leben
zu befragen. Der Skorpionenmensch erwahnt nur die Schwierigkeiten der Bergiiberquerung,geht aber nicht auf die Grunde von
Gilgameshs Suche ein. Zum ersten Mal gewart vor seiner Suche
wird der Konig von der Schenkin Siduri; im Edelsteingartenwird
er mit derVergeblichkeitseinerReise konfrontiert.34
Schliesslich muss
Gilgamesh ausgerechnet auf der Insel der Unsterblichen einsehen,
dass derTodfur die Menschenunumganglichist. Die nicht bestandene
Probe sowie der Verlust des Abschiedsgeschenks bekraftigen im
Rahmen der Narration die Emtichterung von Gilgameshs Verlangen. Die Beschreibung der Stadt bei der Rtickkehrin Begleitung
des Fahrmannes hebt die Transformation hervor, die der Held
durchgemacht hat. Im Bewusstsein, dass auch er sterben wird,
betont Gilgamesh die Besonderheit der Stadtmauer,die ihn verewigen wird. Gilgamesh verlasst Uruk bedrticktvon der Todesangst
und kommt als wissender Sterblicher in die Stadt zuriick. Die
Stadt, die am Anfang der Reise der Ort der Trennung,des Todes,
der Trauerund der Angst ist, wird am Schluss als das monumentale Zentrum dargestellt, wo die Erinnerung an den grossartigen
und weisen Konig Gilgamesh ftir alle Zeiten aufbewahrtwird.
Gilgameshs Reise durch die verschiedenenGegenwelten verlauft
auf der geographisch-kosmologischen Ebene zirkular. Ausgangsund Ankunftspunktder Reise sind identisch; die Veranderungdes
Helden hingegen verlauft linear und ist unwiderruflich.Die Reise
ftihrtvon einerunstabilenzu einer stabilen,geordnetenAusgangslage:
War am Anfang der Reise Gilgameshs Befreiung aus der Verganglichkeit denkbar(als Ausnahme oder im Fall, dass er Utnapishtims
Probe bestehen wiirde), ist sie nach dem Abschluss der Reise endgiiltig als Unm6glichkeit entlarvt. Wie alle Menschen ist auch
Gilgamesh - trotz seiner Zweidrittel-Gottlichkeit-sterblich, die
34
Dazu s. oben Anm. 29.
241
Moglichkeit der Ausnahme gehort in eine feme Gegenwelt wie die

Insel jenseits der Todeswasser.
4. Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt
Die zweite ausgewahlte Komposition liegt in verschiedenenFassungen vor: Einserseits eine altere, langere Version in sumerischer
Sprache mit dem Titel Inannas Abstieg in die Unterwelt; andererseits eine komprimierte, in der narrativen Entwicklung abweichende Version auf Akkadisch, Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt.35
Letztere wird hier in den Mittelpunktgestellt.36
4.1. Eine Reise auf einer senkrechtenAchse
Die Gottin Ishtar nimmt sich vor, die Unterwelt zu betreten. Bewusst mochte sie Erde und Himmel, ihre Machtbereiche,verlassen,
um in eine Gegend einzudringen,zu der sie keinen Zutritthat. Sie
steigt in die Unterwelt hinab und erfahrtvor den sieben Toren von
Ereshkigals Reich, dass sie nur unter den iiblichen Bedingungen
zugelassen werden kann. So wird ihr bei jedem Tor ein Stuck ihrer
wunderbarenAufmachungweggenommen, bis sie schliesslich nackt
35 Die Tafeln und Fragmente der sumerischen Erzahlung stammen aus der
ersten Halfte des 2. Jahrtausendsv. Chr. Die Entstehungszeitder Geschichte ist
jedoch unbekannt. Die akkadische Fassung ist hauptsachlich in zwei Kopien
bezeugt: Die erste stammt aus dem spaten 2. Jahrtausendund wurde in Assur
gefunden, die zweite geh6rte zum Bestand der Bibliothek Assurbanipalsin Ninive
(7. Jh. v.Chr.). S. Muller 1994:760; Bott6ro u. Kramer 1989:276, 318f.
36 Fur die Edition des akkadischenTextes s. Borger 1979:95-104; von Soden
1967:192-195. Eine neuere Ubersetzung des Textes liegt bei Pettinato 2003:
117-125 vor. Fur eine deutsche Ubersetzung des sumerischen Textes s. Romer
1993:458-495. Die sumerische und akkadische Fassungen weisen erhebliche
Unterschiede auf, so dass es sinnvoll erscheint, die zwei Geschichten prinzipiell
als eigenstandige Kompositionen zu betrachten. Hier wird der akkadische Text
betrachtet; die Untersuchung des sumerischen Textes ist im Rahmen des vorliegenden Aufsatzes nicht m6glich. Fur einen synoptischen Vergleich der zwei
Fassungen s. z.B. Hutter 1985:166ff.
242
ins Innere der unterirdischen Anlage eintritt. Dort wird sie von
Krankheiten befallen und stirbt. Die Gottin wird so zu einer der
vielen Toten, die im Land ohne Wiederkehr zu finden sind. Das
Verschwinden der Gottin zeitigt unmittelbare Folgen auf der Erde.
In der Gotterwelt ist man deswegen besorgt und beschliesst, die
Gottin aus der Unterwelt herauszuholen. Ea, der Gott der Weisheit,
lenkt Ereshkigal mit einem listigen Plan ab und lasst die verschwundene Gottin zuriickkehren. Die Befreiung der reisefreudigen
Gottin aus der Unterwelt hat jedoch ihren Preis: An ihrer Stelle
muss ein Ersatz in die Unterwelt geschickt werden. Dumuzi, ein
ehemaliger Liebhaber der G6ttin, wird geopfert. Ishtar kann zuletzt
zu ihrem spezifischen Zustandigkeitsbereich zuriickkehren.
Die Bewegung der Gottin ist stilisiert und folgt der senkrechten
Achse des Kosmos: Von oben steigt sie in die Unterwelt hinab, die
Rtickkehr verlauft in umgekehrter Richtung. Die starke Konzentration auf die vertikale Achse ergibt sich aus dem impliziten Gegensatz zwischen Himmel und Erde einerseits und der Unterwelt
andererseits.37
4.2. Charakterisierung der Raume
In Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt sind unterschiedliche kosmische
Bereiche involviert: die oberen - Himmel und Erde - und die
Unterwelt. Die Unterwelt wird zu Beginn der neoassyrischen Fassung der akkadischen Erzahlung wie folgt beschrieben:
Nach Kumugia, dem Land [ohne Wiederkehr],
wandte Ishtar,die Tochter des Sin, ihren Sinn.
Es wandte die Tochter des Sin ihren Sinn
nach dem finsteren Haus, der Wohnstadtvon Erkalla,
37 Der Gegensatz zwischen oben und unten wird von anderenOppositionenverstarkt. Beispielsweise ist die Unterwelt als abgeschlossene unterirdischePalastanlage dargestellt, deren Zugang streng iiberwacht wird. Dies bildet implizit einen
Gegensatz zur Breite und Offenheit von Himmel und Erde. Zu den Vorstellungen
der Unterwelt im mesopotamischen Raum s. z.B. Kramer 1960; Hutter 1985;
Groneberg 1990; Katz 2003; Chiodi 1994 und 2003.
243
zum Haus, das, wer es betritt, nicht mehr verlasst,

auf den Weg, dessen Beschreiten ohne Ruckkehrist,
zum Haus, worin, wer es betritt, des Lichtes entbehrt,
wo Staub ihr Hunger, ihre Speise Lehm ist,
das Licht sie nicht sehen, sie in der Finsteris sitzen.
Und sie tragen wie ein Vogel ein Fliigelkleid.
Auf Tiir und Riegel lagert sich Staub.38
Das kosmologische Gebiet der Toten wird gleichzeitig als unterirdisches, finsteres Land und als Palast beschrieben. Bereits in den
oben zitierten Zeilen wird die schlechte <Lebensqualitat> hervorgehoben, die in der Totenwelt herrscht. Aus der Unterwelt kann man
nicht mehr zuriickkehren; dieses Motiv wird mehrmals betont. Erkalla,
wortlich <die grosse Erde, das grosse Land> ist finster und staubig;
man findet dort nichts zu essen, nur Lehm und Staub.39 Die Toten
sehen wie V6gel40 aus. Die negative Konnotation des Totenreiches
wird auch von seiner Herrin, Ereshkigal, zum Ausdruck gebracht.
Dies ist beispielsweise aus einem Dialog zwischen Ereshkigal und
ihrem Pfortner bei Ishtars Ankunft vor den Toren der Unterwelt
ersichtlich:
Als Ereshkigal das horte,
farbte sich wie der Anschnitt einer Tamariskegelb ihr Gesicht,
wie der Rand eines Biertroges wurden schwarz ihre Lippen.
<<Waswill sie (Ishtar) von mir? Was ist der Zweck ihres Kommens?
Siehe, mit den Anunnaki trinke ich Wasser,
statt Brot esse ich Lehm, statt Bier trinke ich triibes Wasser!
Soll ich um die Manner weinen, die ihre Gemahlinnenhinterliessen?
Soil ich um die Madchen weinen, die aus dem Schoss ihrer Gemahle
gerissen?
Um den kleinen Siugling soll ich weinen, der vor der Zeit weggeschickt?>41
38 Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt 1-11, in der Ubersetzung von Muller

1994:761.
39 Unterschiedliche Motive uberlagern sich hier: <<Landohne Wiederkehr>>
(Z. 1); finsteres Haus, unterirdischerPalast (Z. 4, 7, 9); Haus, das nicht mehr verlassen werden kann (Z. 5), Ort der Entbehrung(Z. 8).
40 Ishtars
Abstieg in die Unterwelt 10. Vgl. auch Nergal und Ereshkigal (STT
28 iii 4'). Vgl. CAD 7, 212, e).
41
Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt 28-36 nach Muller 1994:762.
244
Die Unterwelt ist der Bereich der Toten. Nur seine Gottin und ihre
Gehilfen sind als lebendige Wesen dort, aber das Leben, dass sie
ftihren, ist stark eingeschrankt und mit dem eigentlichen Leben
tiberhauptnicht vergleichbar.
Die oberen Bereiche werden nicht direkt beschrieben, sie sind
aber als Herkunftsortder Gottin und Lebensraum anderer Gotter,
bzw. von Menschen und Tieren vorausgesetzt. Dies tritt deutlich
zum Vorschein, sobald die Folgen des Verschwindens Ishtars geschildert werden:
Nachdem Ishtar,meine Herrin, [hinabgestiegenzum Kurnugia],
bespringt nicht mehr der Stier die Kuh, der Esel schwangert die Eselin
nicht mehr,
das Madchen auf der Strasse schwangertnicht mehr der Mann,
es liegt der Mann [allein],
es liegt das Madchen allein.42
Die Erdeals Lebensbereichfunktioniertnichtmehr,elementareProzesse sind unterbrochen:Die sexuelle Aktivitat von Menschen und
Tieren kommt zum Erliegen, die Lebensordnungist gest6rt. Erst
eine Verhandlungin der G6tterwelt erlaubt, den Lebenszyklus auf
der Erde wieder in Gang zu bringen. Der Himmel als Herkunftsort
der G6ttin wird in der akkadischenFassung nicht direkt genannt,43
wohl aber in der sumerischen,wo der Gegensatz zwischen Himmel
und Unterwelt stark betont wird.44
Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt 76-80 nach Mtiller 1994:764.
des Sin> vorgestellt (Z. 2f.), was die Verbindungder
43 Ishtarwird als <<Tochter
Gottin zum Mond-Gott und ihre himmlisch-astraleQualitat zum Ausdruck bringt.
In der Ikonographie wird Ishtar haufig als Stern dargestellt. Dazu Wilcke
1976-1980:80f.; Black u. Green 1992:108f.
44 <<Vom
grossen Himmel richtete Inannaihren Sinn zur Unterwelt,vom grossen
Himmel richtete die Gottin ihren Sinn zur Unterwelt, vom grossen Himmel
richtete Inanna ihren Sinn zur Unterwelt. Meine Herringab den Himmel auf, gab
die Erde auf, stieg in die Unterwelt hinunter,Inannagab den Himmel auf, gab die
Erde auf, stieg in die Unterwelt hinunter>>,
Inannas Abstieg in die Unterwelt 1-5
in der Ubersetzung von Romer 1993:460f. Fur die geographische Situierung des
kur in der sumerischen Mythologie s. Katz 2003:63ff.
42
245
Im binaren Gegensatz zwischen den oberen Bereichen und der

Unterwelt uberimmt der Bereich der Toten die Konnotation der
Gegenwelt. Aus nicht erwahnten Griinden45verlasst die Gottin
Ishtar die oberen kosmischen Bereiche und geht in das Land ohne
Riickkehr;durch ihre Reise gerat das Leben auf der Erde aus dem
Gleichgewicht. Anders formuliert: Die Reise der Gottin bewirkt
eine prekareVermischungvon Welt und Gegenwelt, was eine problematische Situation ergibt, die gelost werden muss.
4.3. Transformationen
Ishtarerlebt in den EtappenihrerReise eine radikaleVeranderung.
Sie verlasst in ihrer kostbarenBekleidung ihren gewohnten Bereich
und steigt in EreshkigalsPalast ab, wo sie, nun nackt, von 60 Krankheiten befallen wird und stirbt:46Der erste Ubergang fuhrt somit
vom Leben zum Tod.
Die zweite Phase, von der Unterwelt zu den oberenBereichen,ist
fast spiegelbildlich konzipiert. Ishtar wird wieder belebt und kehrt
zu ihren Herkunftsortzurtick.47Dieser symmetrischen Bewegung
entsprechendie Veranderungenauf der Erde. Der Verlaufder natiirlichen Vorgange wird durch das Verschwinden der Gottin gest6rt
und erst durch ihre Rtickkehrwieder gewahrleistet. Die stilisierte,
zirkulare Strukturder Bewegungen der Gottin <oben-unten-oben>
korrespondiertsomit mit dem Ubergang von <<Leben-Tod-Leben>>.
Dennoch ist auch in dieser Erzahlungdie zirkularevon einer linearen Strukturiberlagert, denn Ausgangs- und Schlussstadiumsind
verschieden. Die Befreiung Ishtars aus dem Land, aus dem man in
45 Zu den Grtinden von Ishtars Reise in die Unterwelt divergieren die zwei
akkadischenVersionen. Nach der mittelassyrischenscheint es, dass Ishtar Ereshkigal besuchen mochte (s. Z. 10ff.). In der neoassyrischenhingegen werden keine
Griinde genannt.
46 Vgl. Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt 68-75, 118 nach Muller 1994:763f.
47 Die
Beschreibungdes Eintrittsbzw.Austrittsdurchdie siebenToredes unterirdischen Palastes (Z. 39-62 bzw. 119-125) unterstreichtdie Symmetrie zwischen Abund Aufstieg.
246
der Regel nie mehr zuriickkommt, erfolgt dank einer Verhandlung

unter den Gottem und hat ihren Preis: Dumuzi wird geopfert und
als Ersatz in die Unterwelt geschickt.48 Der Ruckkehr Ishtars aus
der Unterwelt entspricht somit eine neue Verteilung der Zustandigkeitsbereiche in der Gotterwelt. Dariiber hinaus bekraftigt die einmalige, ausserordentliche Aktion der Gotter zur Rettung der Gottin
die Endgiiltigkeit des Todes. Alle, sogar eine Gottin wie Ishtar,
konnen den Eintritt in das Totenreich nicht iiberleben und kommen
aus eigener Kraft nicht mehr aus der unterirdischen Statte heraus.
Die Reise der Gottin Ishtar verbindet zwei gegensatzliche Dimensionen miteinander: Die Welt der Lebenden und jene der Toten, die
Gotterwelt der oberen kosmologischen Bereiche und jene der
Unterweltswesen. Der Kontrast zwischen Welt des Lebens und
Gegenwelt des Todes fokussiert hier nicht primar das individuelle
Schicksal des Menschen, sondern die deutliche Opposition zwischen zwei kosmischen Dimensionen, die zur Gewahrung der
Lebensprozesse immer getrennt bleiben miissen.
5. Vergleich
Die ausgewahlten Texte, Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt und das
Gilgamesh-Epos, erweisen sich unter vielen Aspekten als ausserst
unterschiedlich. Bei einer synchronen Betrachtung fallt auf, dass sie
nicht der gleichen literarischen Gattungen zugeordnet werden k6nnen,49 und dass sie in Umfang und Aufbau verschieden sind. Aus
48
Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt 126-138. Zu dieser Stelle vgl. Von Soden
1967:192-195. Auch in der sumerischen Erzahlung wird Dumuzi zur Rettung
Inannas geopfert. Dumuzis Schwester, Geshtinanna,tritt an ihres Bruders Stelle
ein; schliesslich geht das Geschwisterpaar abwechslungsweise als Ersatz fur
Inanna je ein halbes Jahr in die Unterwelt (vgl. Z. 400-410 nach Romer
1993:494f.)
49 Ishtars
Abstieg in die Unterweltwird zu den akkadischenMythen gezihlt; zu
Bedeutung und Grenzen einer solchen Zuordnung vgl. z.B. Heimpel 19931997:537-542, 547-549. Im Gilgamesh-Epos werden zahlreiche mythische
Elemente aufgenommen; als literarische Gesamtkomposition wird es als Epos
247
einerdiachronenPerspektiveweisen die zwei akkadischenTexteunterschiedliche Entstehungsgeschichtenund Rezeptionsprozesse auf.50

Verwandt sind die zwei Texte auf der thematischen Ebene, denn
beide gehen auf das Problem des Todes mit einer aussergew6hnlichen Reise in Gegenwelten ein.
Methodisch wurden die Textquellen einem parallelen Vorgehen
unterzogen,mit dem Ziel, sie im Hinblick auf ihre religi6se Orientierungsleistungzu untersuchen.Die Fragen nach der Strukturder
Reise mit den einzelnen Etappen, nach der Charakterisierungder
Raume - mit besonderer Aufmerksamkeit auf die Binaritat von
Welt-Gegenwelt-Gegensatzen- und nach der Art der Transformationen, die durch die Reise vollzogen werden, standen im Mittelpunkt. Dieses parallele Verfahrenim Umgang mit den Textquellen
bildet eine Grundlage,welche die vergleichende Betrachtungunterstiitzt,die nun, am Schluss des vorliegendenAufsatzes, erfolgen soll.
Drei Aspekte werden hervorgehoben: die semantische Charakterisierungdes Todes in Welt und Gegenwelten, die Art der Transformation,die durchdie StrukturderReise bedingtist, und schliesslich
die Wirkung der Reise im Rahmen der Erzahlung.
5.1. Tod in Welt und Gegenwelten
Beide Texte thematisierenden Tod als allgemeines, unvermeidliches Phanomen, wobei sie ganz unterschiedlicheAkzente setzen.
In den besprochenen Stellen aus dem Gilgamesh-Epos wird der
Tod primar als individuelles, existentielles Problem des Konigs
dargestellt. Gilgamesh begegnet dem Tod in seiner Stadt. Der Tod,
das Negative und Bedrohliche, kommt in der vertrautenWelt, in
jener des Lebens, vor. Der Gegensatz zwischen Leben und Tod
geh6rt zum menschlichen Dasein. In den verschiedenen Gegenwelten spielt der menschliche Tod kaum eine Rolle, die Wesen -
klassifiziert. Vgl. z.B. Reiner 1978:159f.; Foster 1997:458. Rollig 1987-1990:50f.

listet beide Werke unter der allgemeinen Rubrik <<mythologische
Texte> auf.
50 Dazu s. oben Anm. 22.
248
Skorpionenmenschen, die Gottin Siduri, Urshanabi und Utnapishtim die dort leben, geh6ren zu anderen Dimensionen und
kennen den Tod nur als Eigenschaft der Menschen.
In Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt hingegen wird der Tod in
seiner kosmischen Bedeutung thematisiert.In den oberen Bereichen
des Kosmos, auf der Erde und im Himmel, gibt es Leben, in der
Unterwelt hingegen nur Tod. Eine Ausnahme bilden die g6ttlichen
Gestalten wie Ereshkigalund ihre Diener, die jedoch nur eine stark
beeintrachtigteForm von Leben kennen. In dieser Erzahlung sind
die positiven Konnotationen - das Leben -eindeutig mit den
oberen Bereichen assoziiert, die negativen - der Tod - mit der
abgeschlossenen, unterirdischenAnlage, die nur Entbehrungkennt
und aus welcher es keine Ruckkehr gibt. Der Kosmos ist durch
eine deutliche Trennungzwischen Leben und Tod gekennzeichnet.
Dieser klaren Trennungentsprichtauch die Aufteilung der Zustandigkeitsbereicheder Gotter.
5.2. Reise und Transformationen
Gilgamesh und Ishtars Reisen sind unterschiedlich:Der Held aus
Uruk beschreitet einen langeren Weg durch mehrere Gegenwelten;
die Gottin hingegen bewegt sich auf einer senkrechtenAchse und
besuchteine einzige Gegenwelt. Beide Reisewege verlaufendennoch
zirkular; die Protagonisten beginnen und beenden ihren Weg am
gleichen Ort.
Hingegen sind die Transformationen, welche die Reisen einleiten, in beiden Fallen linear, sie fiihren zu unwiderruflichenProzessen: Die Ordnung,die am Schluss der Reise etabliert ist, kann
nicht mehr verandertwerden.
Die Korrelation zwischen den Etappen der Reise und den dadurch hervorgerufenen Transformationensieht in den jeweiligen
Erzahlungen unterschiedlich aus. Dies wird am besten aus einer
schematischenDarstellung ersichtlich:
249
Gilgameshs Reise zur Insel von Utnapishtim

Welt
Gegenwelten
Welt
Etappen der Reise:
Stadt Uruk
-> Steppe -> Berg ->

Edelsteingarten -> Insel
Stadt Uruk
Transformation:
Tod als
Bedrohung, ->
Trauer,
Angst
Suche,
verlorenes Geschenk
Ishtars Abstieg in die Unterwelt

Welt
Etappen der Reise: Obere Bereiche
(Himmel, Erde)
Transformation:
Leben
->
verpasste Probe,
Tod als
Eigenschaft
der Menschen,
ewige
Erinnerung
durch die
Mauer
Welt
Gegenwelt
->
Unterwelt
->
->
Tod
->
Obere Bereiche
(Himmel, Erde)
Leben,
veranderte
Gotterzustandigkeiten
Die Reise verandert in beiden Fallen primar die Hauptgestalten.

Gilgamesh geht als verzweifelter Rebell gegen den Tod in die
Steppe und kommt als weiser Konig zurtick, der den Tod als Ende
menschlichen Lebens annimmt. Die existentielle Frage nach dem
Tod wird am Beispiel des Helden auf der individuellen menschlichen Ebene gelost.
Ishtar begibt sich als lebendige Gottin in die Unterwelt, stirbt
und wird dann wieder belebt. Diese Transformation,die sie durchmacht, widerspiegelt sich symmetrisch im Kosmos. Sobald die
Gottin verschwunden ist, werden die Reproduktionszyklenauf der
Erde gestoppt, eine prekare Situation entsteht. Erst durch Ishtars
Befreiung wird die Situation auf der Erde wieder stabilisiert. Die
Frage nach dem Tod wird dabei ganz auf der kosmologischen
Ebene beantwortet.
250
5.3. Zur Orientierungsleistung

In den ausgewahltenliterarischenQuellen wird die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Tod auf einer geographisch-kosmologischenEbene
entfaltet; nur auf der abstrakteren Ebene der Reisestruktur und
der Transformationsprozesselasst sich eine Parallelitat zwischen
den beidenTextenfeststellen.Die Reisenverkniipfendie verschiedenen
Bereiche nach unterschiedlichenMustem, die retrospektivals Entwurfe besonderer<<Kartographien>>
gelesen werden konnen.Die verschiedenen Gegenwelten werden in eine koharenteRaumkonstruktion zusammengefiigt.
Die Orientierung,welche diese Texte zu leisten vermogen,kann
aufgrund der starken Betonung der raumlichen Dimension5' fast im w6rtlichen Sinne verstandenwerden: Durch die Erkundung
von Gegenwelten wird die allgemeine, nicht zu verandernde
Weltordnungmit ihren Trennungenbekraftigt.Dabei wird der Tod
als unvermeidlichesEnde des individuellen Lebens aufgezeigt und
erlautert.Der Tod ist somit dominierendesElement eines kosmischen Bereichs, zu dem alle, die hingehen- ob heldenhafterKonig
oder gar Gottin-, nicht mehr zuriickkehren.Obwohl stets negativ
besetzt, werden Tod und Verganglichkeitmenschlichen Lebens als
Teil der kosmischen Lebensordnungbekraftigt.
Religionswissenschaft
Universitat Zurich
Kirchgasse 9
8001 Zurich
Switzerland
Daria.Pezzoli-Olgiati@access.unizh.ch
51
DARIA PEZZOLI-OLGIATI
Zur Relevanz der raumlichenDimension als orientierungsleistendeEbene vgl.

Pezzoli-Olgiati 2003 und Pezzoli-Olgiati u. Stolz 2000.
251
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ELITES AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN ROMAN ATHENS*

ELENAMUNIZ GRIJALVO
Summary
Epigraphytells about a deeply conservativeAthens in Romantimes. However,the
civic religious life was not identical to that of earlier periods. This article is based
on two main ideas. First, continuity is never mere survival; when surroundedby
a new context, it may be interpreted as change. The interaction between the
Roman empire and the Athenian elites provided such a new context: both Rome
and local elites were interested in fostering continuity of religious forms. Secondly, notwithstandingthis, epigraphydoes indeed document some changes within
the civic religion of Roman Athens. One of the most evident is the increasing oligarchization of religious power. It is my contention that this development had a
deep impact on religiosity too.
From Hellenistic times onwards, the ties between the demos and civic religion
were progressively fading away. By Roman times, the democratic fiction did not
need to be maintained anymore, as the changes in the managementof civic religion show. The increasing religious power of the elite is one of the factors which
contributedto create a new frameworkof meaning. Among other things, the success of certain gods, such as Asklepios, Isis, or Zeus Hypsistos, may also be
explained within this new context. Reversely, the growing power of these gods
may also account for the option taken by those members of the elite who chose
* The most importantwork on this paper has been carriedout during a research
period at the University of Leiden, supportedeconomically by a scholarshipof the
Junta de Andalucia. Eternal gratitudeI will pay to Professor Henk S. Versnel for
his enormous amounts of patience through all my bureaucraticneeds, but above
all for encouragementand long hours of stimulating discussion. I am very grateful to Dr. F. Lozano, whose deep knowledge of Roman Athens is always at hand.
Special thanks also to my friend Eroica Howard, who has worked hard to improve
my English. Finally I wish to thank the anonymous reader of this article for many
useful suggestions, which gave further light to the final draft of this article. For
the views expressed throughout,however, as well as for the English, the responsibility is mine alone.
NUMEN,Vol. 52
256
Elena Muniz Grijalvo
the cult of Asklepios or Isis as a stage on which to display their generosity and
improve their social prestige. It seems only fair to conclude that changes in civic
religion should also be explained by the changing attitudes of the elites.
Religious change in the Roman Empire has fortunately ceased to

be a concept monopolized by students of some mystery cults and
Christianity. The "increasing complexity"' in the religious life of
the Empire is currently the subject of very fruitful studies. All of
them show that not only so-called "oriental religions" and Christianity, but also polis religion,2 and its old counterparts in the cities orphism, pythagoreanism, ancient mysteries, to mention only some
of them - interacted to create a new religious context: all of them
got involved in the game. Of course, along the way the players
themselves did not remain untouched: they influenced, and were
influenced by, each other.
So nowadays it is possible to find both illuminating general
pictures of religious life in the Mediterranean3 and other studies
I J. North, "The Development of Religious Pluralism,"in J. Lieu, J. North, and

T. Rajak (eds.), The Jews among Pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire,
London and New York 1992, 174-189, at 174.
2 Based on definitions
already widespread - and criticized - I understand
polis-religion as the religious complex which integrates individual acts in a wider
network of rituals that affects each and every social level (i.e., family, genos, phratry, demos, tribe, polis and Hellas). Definitions: C. Sourvinou-Inwood,"What is
polis religion?" in O. Murrayand S. Price (eds.), The Greek Cityfrom Homer to
Alexander, Oxford 1990, 295-322; L. Bruit Zaidman and P. Schmitt Pantel, La
religion grecque, Paris 1989. A critical review of Sourvinou-Inwood'sdefinition is
found in W. Burkert,"GreekPoleis and Civic Cults: Some FurtherThoughts,"in
M.H. Hansen and K. Raaflaub(eds.), Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis, Stuttgart
1995, 201-210.
3 R. Lane Fox,
Pagans and Christiansin the MediterraneanWorldfrom the 2nd
AD
the
to
Conversion of Constantine, New York 1987; R. MacMullen,
Century
in
the
Roman
Paganism
Empire, New Haven, Conn. 1981; id., Christianizingthe
Roman Empire, New Haven, Conn. 1984; id., Christianityand Paganism in the
Fourth to Eighth Centuries,New Haven, Conn. 1997; K. Hopkins,A WorldFull of
Gods: Pagans, Jews and Christians in the Roman Empire, London 1999.
Elites and Religious Change in Roman Athens
257
focused on change within particulartraditions-even the most conservative ones, such as Roman religion.4 Slowly but firmly, it
seems that the famous description of the polis-religion as a "living
corpse" in Roman times, is fading away.5
This is an appropriatestartingpoint for anyone interestedin religion in Roman Athens.6For what one finds there, is an apparently
static polis religion. Admittedly the sources are not as breath-taking
as the evidence about the colourful religious life in Asia Minor in
the same period, for instance.7For Athens we have to rely almost
exclusively on epigraphy, probably not the best place to look for
change. Inscriptions show indeed a strongly conservative Athens.
The worship of the traditionalgods was practised in the very same
way as before, the same kind of gifts and prayers were presented
to the gods, identical formulas were used to address them. In this
period, practically no divine newcomers arrived in Athens to cheer
up the religious panorama.8And when they did, as was the case
with Roman emperors, they did not alter the proper enactment and
the normal functioning of public worship.9
4 J.H.W.G.Liebeschuetz,
Continuityand Changein RomanReligion, Oxford 1979;
M. Beard, J. North, and S. Price, Religions of Rome, 2 vols., Cambridge 1998.
5 "Living corpse": E.R. Dodds, Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety,
Cambridge 1965, 132. Even so, one still may read that the civic religion was
"dead and hollow" by Hellenistic times, to quote just a recent opinion (P. Green,
Alexander to Actium, Berkeley-Los Angeles 1990, 587).
6 The works of R. Parker,Athenian Religion: A History, Oxford 1996, and J.D.
Mikalson, Religion in Hellenistic Athens, Berkeley-Los Angeles 1998, cover the
period from the Dark Age in Athens to the sack of Sulla; I am not aware of any
attempt at a synthesis for Roman times.
7 Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians, for example.
8 Except for Zeus Hypsistos, see below. The evidence for the cult of Mithras
is too meagre to be taken into account: CIMRM11.2347 (bust with inscription,
Athens); 2348 (small altar with inscription, Athens); 2349 (small precinct which
"gives the impression that. . was a Mithraeum,"Eleusis).
9 The ruler cult should nevertheless be understood as a religious novelty. For
the ruler cult in Athens, see F. Lozano, La religi6n del poder El culto imperial
en Atenas en epoca de Augusto y los emperadoresJulio-Claudios, Oxford 2002.
258
Elena MuniizGrijalvo
Even the ruler cult adopted the aspect of a civic cult. However,
this sort of mimesis should not necessarily lead us to conclude that
religious life in Roman Athens was identical to that which preceded it. There were changes, to be sure, even though modern
research will probably have to limit itself to only part of them, the
changing attitudes of the elites and their effect on religious life as
a whole. This is precisely the aim of this paper, which is based on
two main ideas. First, continuity is never mere survival: when surroundedby a new context, it may be analysed as change. That was
the case with the public religion of Roman Athens. The sources
reveal that people continued to perform essentially the same rituals
as before. But already in Hellenistic times, and above all duringthe
Roman era, these people were "confronted with different frameworks of meaning"'0which should not be ignored. To mention just
one of the factors which contributedto create the new context: the
Roman presence in the city. The power of Rome caused a good
deal of adaptationin every aspect of life." As we shall see, sometimes adaptation, paradoxically, meant stauncher conservatism,12
which, though providing a strong feeling of continuity,may yet be
interpretedas anotherproduct of change.
Secondly, even apart from the impact of Roman presence, the
religious history of Roman Athens was not characterizedby mere
continuity. Even the "lifeless" sources of epigraphy betray some
changes which should not be overlooked. The ruler cult was one of
them, to be sure, but there were others. I will analyse just two of
them. Inscriptionsreveal an increasing oligarchization'3of religious
power. Of course this was not new: in one way or another the
10L. Albinus, Review of Mikalson, Religion in Hellenistic Athens, in Gnomon

73 (2001) 315-319, at 319.
Beard, North, and Price, Religions of Rome. I 342.
12 See below.
I use the term in its literal sense, with reference to the progressive decrease
in the number of the people who managed public religious affairs in Athens.
13
259
elites had always managed to control religious affairs,just as they

controlled every other aspect of public life. From Hellenistic times
onward, however, control became more direct and even broke most
of the tacit rules of polis religion. One of the aims of this paper is
to show how this process became more acute in Roman times.
It may be argued that religious oligarchization did not significantly alter religious life, or that it was merely a political or
social phenomenon. My second aim will be to show that it produced a deep religious impact too, which helps to explain different
aspects of religion in Roman Athens which at first glance might not
seem to be connected to the growing power of the elite. In a recent
analysis of polis religion, G. Woolf has warned against the dangers
of putting the public cults of the polis at the centre of accounts of
ancient religion. He has stated that it runs the risk of collusion with
just one view of religion, that of those who controlled the polis.14
Without overlooking his warnings, I will argue that the increasing
religious power of the elite may be analysed as one of the factors
of a generalreligiouschangein AthensfromHellenistictimes onwards.
It involved changes in the management of public religion which
contributedto creating a new frameworkof meaning, that is, a new
way of understandingthe gods and, therefore, a new religiosity.
The development of certain gods, such as Asklepios or Isis, who
were to play an increasingly leading role within their adepts' religious world, may be explained in this context. Reversely, the growing power of these gods may also explain the choice made by
those members of the elite who used the cult of Asklepios or Isis
as a stage to display their generosity.
As any historybasedmainlyon epigraphy,the historyof RomanAthens

is a history of elites. The upper classes are normally interested in
14
G. Woolf, "Polis-Religion and its Alternatives in the Roman Provinces," in

H. Cancik and J. Riipke (eds.), Riimische Reichsreligion und Provinzialreligion,
Tubingen 1997, 71-84, at 74.
260
continuity, so it comes as no surprise to find a conservative picture

of public religion. But not only the elites were keen on maintaining the status quo: Rome as well was interested in maintaining the
agreed set of symbolic structures across the Empire,15 as a way of
keeping the social order and avoiding problems. This general attitude was displayed particularly in Athens, where there were further
reasons to maintain things as they had always been. Emperors benefited
immensely from their control of Athens, being the symbol she
was.16 The more her prestige was acknowledged, the more powerful Rome appeared in the eyes of the rest of the Empire. No doubt
the merits of Athens were many, cultural and artistic above all,
but also religious. Ever since the classical period, foreigners had
praised the deep and unique eusebeia of the capital of Attica.17 This
continued until the end of antiquity. Roman emperors would not
have it otherwise.18
Eusebeia meant, among other things, the keeping of ancestral
15
Beard, North, and Price, Religions of Rome, I 361.

Athenian achievements were constantly invoked by Athens herself, by other
Greeks, and by all the foreigners who had to do with the city. On this huge topic,
see N. Loraux, L'inventiond'Athenes, Paris 1981; F. Gasc6, "Modelos del pasado
entre los griegos del s. II d.C.: El ejemplo de Atenas," Polis 5 (1993) 139-149.
17 Ps.-Xenophon,Ath. Pol. III, 2,8; Thucydides II, 8; Diodorus Siculus IV, 39,1;
Pausanias I, 17,1; I, 24,3; Aristides, Or. I, 192; 374.
"8Roman building activity at Athens was significant only under Augustus and,
above all, Hadrian.Their building policy had two main focuses: first, and above
all for Hadrian,to make themselves present in the city; second, to stress ancient
cults (above all, Eleusis and the Greater Panathenaea).See J. Travlos, Pictorial
Dictionary of AncientAthens, London 1971; S. Walkerand A.J.S. Spawforth,"The
World of the Panhellenion. I. Athens and Eleusis," Journal of Roman Studies 75
(1985) 78-104; Giornate di studio su "AteneRomana," Cortona 1993 (= Ostraka
4:1 [1995]); P. Baldassarri, Sebastoi S6teroi: Edilizia monumentale ad Atene
durante il Saeculum Augustum, Rome 1998; J.C. Burden, Athens Remade in the
Age of Augustus:A Study of the Architectsand Craftsmenat Work,Diss. Berkeley
1999; G.C.R. Schmalz, Athens after Actium: Public Building and Civic Identity
under the Early Principate (31 BC-AD117) (forthcoming).
16
261
customs.19Of course, the Romans were not the only ones ready to
support this labour of conservation. The Athenian aristocracy and
its satellites were very much interested in it too. Roman aims went
hand in hand with those of the provincial elites, and consolidated
thatstrongandcomplex networkthatsucceededin keeping the Roman
Empire alive for so long. It has been argued that religious conservatism was a part of the stock of symbolic capital with which the
Athenian elite negotiated its position with Rome.20The image of an
eusebes Athens was fostered by creating the impression that nothing had changed.
The illusion was indeed quite easy to maintain. Public expressions of Athenian identity were consciously archaizing as a rule.
The most obvious example may be found in the use of coins as
instruments of propaganda. Athens enjoyed the rare privilege of
being allowed to use exclusively Athenian motifs on the coins.
Second and third century AD Athenian coins show, on the obverse,
the goddess Athena or the owl, while the reverse was used to
emphasize ancient Athenian traditions, significantly deities and
heroes as they had been depicted in 5th and 4th centuries BC.21No
new gods are found among them.
The survey of the proedria of the Dionysos theatre is also quite
eloquent about the strong conservatismdisplayed by Athenian aristocracy in the public sphere. The last reorganizationof the proedria
19
It is interesting, though, to note that Athens had earned her fame of being
eusebes, among other things, from being the first to worship certain gods (Heracles and the Dioscuri: Diodorus Siculus, IV, 39,1; Aristides, I, 374).
20 S.E. Alcock, "The Problem of Romanization,the Power of Athens," in M.C.
Hoff and S.I. Rotroff (eds.), The Romanization of Athens: Proceedings of an
International Conference held at Lincoln, Nebraska (April 1996), Oxford 1997,
1-7, at 3. On the general subject of the relationship between Greek elites and
Rome, see S. Swain, Hellenism and Empire, Oxford 1996.
21 J.H. Kroll, The AthenianAgora. XXVI:The Greek Coins, Princeton,NJ 1993,
120-24: among others, Athena Parthenos,the fight between Athena and Poseidon,
Triptolemos riding his chariot, Dionysos Eleutheros, Apollo Patroos, Theseus,
Zeus, Heracles, Nike.
262
Elena Muiiz Grijalvo
attested by inscriptions on the seats of the theatre was made in

Hadrian's times, and it shows that a good deal of inactive priesthoods continued to be awarded with that public honour.22 Among
the imperial inscriptions, several priesthoods are epigraphically attested
solely on that occasion;23 and, judging from other inscriptions, most
of the others were not very popular either.24The fact that cults as
popular as that of Isis in the second century AD never enjoyed a
proedria, means that the actual importance of cults was not reflected in certain traditional contexts, like the theatre of Dionysos.25
As a rule, the same can be said of the whole epigraphic record.
Inscriptions probably do not show the real situation of cults. Rather
they show the way in which the Athenian aristocracy wanted to be
perceived by their co-citizens and, in Roman times, by Roman
power; and normally they produced the intended effect. The following is just an example of this success, based on two wellknown inscriptions from the second half of the second century AD.
22
M. Maass, Die Prohedrie des Dionysostheatersin Athen, Munich 1972, gives

the most accurate dating of all the inscriptions on the seats of the theatre.
23 Twelve Gods
(IG II2 5065 - this is the only evidence related to this cult after
the 4th century
24
BC -),
Pherrephatta (IG II2 5074), Apollo Zosterius (IG II2 5081).
The inscriptions that can be surely dated to Roman times mention the following priesthoods:Afrodita Pandemos-Nymphe,Demeter Kourotrophos-Peithos,
Kourotrophos,DemeterChloe,Diophante,Ge Themis,Chloe,ThemisAthena,Themis,
Twelve Gods, Dionysos Eleutheros, Olympic Zeus, Olympic Nike, Caesar
Augustus, HadrianEleutheros,Asklepios Paean, Demos-Charites-Roma,CharitesArtemis Epipyrgidias,Zeus Bouleus-Athena Boulea, Zeus in Palladion, Dionysos
Melpomene, Artemis Kolainis, Antinous Choreus, Athena, Muses, Asklepios,
Hefaestus, Nemesis Urania, Anakes-Epitegios, Apollo Lykios, Pherrephatta,Zeus
Teleios, Theseus, Dionysos Auloneus, Apollo Daphnephoros,Apollo Z6sterius.
25 There is no absolute
certainty on this point. The seats were 67, and only 54
inscriptionshave been deciphered.It might seem surprisingthat people as important as Dionysos of Marathon,priest of Isis (IG II2 4771), or Claudius Phocas of
Marathon, neokoros of Sarapis (IG II2 3681), were willing to perform priestly
functions in a cult that had no proedria attached to it. But both of them were
probably entitled to a proedria for their many other public functions.
263
The first one, IG II2 1092, known as "the Eleusinian endowment", is a fragmentary decree issued around 165 AD by a nonidentified counsel.26 It established that a certain endowment should
be shared among a list of priests, mainly the higher priesthoods of
Eleusis. Significantly, in the inscription the Eleusinian hierarchy
was mixed with priests and priestesses of the asty. It may be
inferred that the priesthoods mentioned along with the most conspicuous Eleusinian religious elite were regarded as the highest Athenian priesthoods. Not surprisingly, these were the priestess of Athena
and the priest of Zeus, both of them traditionally the first priesthoods of the city. In their (successful) attempt to keep religious
power under control, the Athenian oligarchy sanctioned again and
again the ideal religious order of Athens. At the same time, they
were broadcasting a clear message for whoever wanted to listen to
it: Athens was the most eusebes city in Greece, the ancient order
was still alive, and it would serve whoever wanted to profit from it.
Judging from the second inscription, that is exactly what Rome
must have understood. The imperial cult did profit from the association with the highly traditional Athenian gods.27The second inscription, IG II2 1076, is a decree honouring Julia Domna as Athena
Polias.28 Whatever the level of popularity the goddess may have
enjoyed at that time,29 she and no other was chosen to become the
26
SEG XXIV.74; J.H. Oliver, "The Eleusinian Endowment," Hesperia 21

(1952) 381-399.
27
This was partly because they were the gods of the leading families in Athens,
and partly because Rome wished to be associated with ancient cults; see Lozano,
La religi6n del poder, 24.
28 J.H. Oliver, "Julia Domna as Athena Polias," Harvard Studies in Classical
Philology, Suppl. 1940, 521-530; SEG XVIII.30. The decree established unusual
honours for the empress: statues both in the Parthenonand by the goddess in the
Erechtheion.
29 Oliver, op. cit., suggests that it was not too high, because the decree seems
to urge the Athenian officers to take part in the annual honouring of the goddess,
which means that they were not forced to do it. Obviously he is not taking into
account the Panathenea. Judging from the inscriptions, he seems to be right: I
264
divine counterpart of Julia Domna. Athenian propaganda had been

successful in keeping alive the illusion of an enduring religious
state. It seems fair to wonder, at this point, whether this was just
illusion or something else.
The desire to remain loyal to tradition in order to profit from it,
shared by the Athenian elites and the Romans alike, created a number of paradoxical situations. Probably the best known is the way
in which the imperial cult was linked to the celebration of the
Greater Panathenea.30 The same can be said about the connection
established between Zeus Eleutherios, the religious expression of
Athenian political community, and the imperial cult.31 There is a
third, less well-known example, which may be interpreted as a parallel to the first two. The goddess Eukleia had been worshipped
from the fourth century BC. As her name expresses, she was the
personification of the glory of Athens. Her temple had been built
have only found one inscription- not directly related to the Panathenea that
mentions Athena Polias after the second century AD:IG II2 3678 (II-III AD), which
mentions a priestess of Athena Polias honoured by the genos Praxiergidoi.
30 From the association of
Anthony with the festival in the year 39/8 BC, to the
renaming of the Panathenea as Panathenea Sebasta in Claudius' reign. For the
way in which imperial presence was strategically stressed all along the PanathenaicWay, see Burden,Athens Remade. Emperorsfavoured the growing importance of the festival. Hadriangranted it the status of hieron ag6n, together with
the Panhellenia, the Hadrianea,and the Olympia. One of the main tasks of the
Sacred Gerusia created by Marcus Aurelius was to control the celebration of this
festival. J.L. Shear, Polis and Panathenaia: The History and Development of
Athena's Festival, Diss. Univ. Pennsylvania 2001, 634, sums up the paradox of a
traditionalfestival empty of its traditionalmeaning, used by Romans to show their
power to Athenians, and at the same time used by Athenians to negotiate their
position in the Roman Empire: "We do not know exactly how its emphasis on
Athenian military achievements and democracy was made to accommodate the
new political realities."
31 A
very useful summaryof the question, as well as interestingconclusions, is
found in V.J. Rosivach, "The Cult of Zeus Eleutherios at Athens," La Parola del
Passato 42 (1987) 262-285.
265
with spoils of the Persian Wars. In Hellenistic times, however, the

goddess disappears from the epigraphic record, and nothing more
is heard of her until she reappears being worshipped together with
Eunomia, the personification of the right order.32 There are only
two epigraphic mentions of a priest of the two goddesses. One of
them is an anonymous kosmete of the ephebes; the other one
names Quintus Trebellius Rufus as a priest dia biou of Eukleia and
Eunomia.33 It is tempting to interpret the honour conferred on this
Roman citizen as a way of expressing that the glory of Athens
rested on Roman control. Whether that was the purpose of this
honour or not, the fact is that an old cult had been reactivated and
that the Athenian past was being used to give the Romans the
impression that they had pious Athens under control. Which of
course was true.
Therefore, it may be safely stated that religious continuity,
whether genuine or not, supported the power of the Athenian elites.
But some additional forces contributed actively to placing even
more religious power in the hands of the leading families of
Athens. The process started in Hellenistic times and had to do
mainly with a general oligarchization of public life in Athens.34 In
classical times, religious authority was not the preserve of any
32
Parker,Athenian Religion, 232, suggests that maybe the two of them were
worshipped together already in the Hellenistic period. In fact, one of the seats at
the Dionysos theatre that has been dated to the 2nd century BC, belonged to the
priest of Eukleia and Eunomia (IG II2 5059).
33
IG II2 3738 (2nd century AD), 4193 (85/86-94/96
AD).
34 A.H.M. Jones, The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian, Oxford 1940,
157-191. The growing oligarchization of political life, together with the loss of
freedom of the Greek cities in the Hellenistic and Roman world, were linked to
the survival of the civic ideals. The use of terms such as demokratia, eleutheria
and autonomia by cities that were neither democratic, nor free, nor autonomous
anymore, is one of the most remarkableinconsistencies studied by H.S. Versnel,
Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion, I: Ter Unus. Isis, Dionysos,
Hermes. Three Studies in Henotheism, 2nd ed., Leiden-Boston-Koln 1998, 57-95.
266
single social or political class, as Garland has rightly observed.35

The demos hadthe biggest shareof it, for it was the demos alone which
had the power to introduce novelties into the state cults, to control
the use of wealth invested in them, and to prosecute crimes of a
religious nature.36As the demos startedto lose real power, and the
Boule and the Areopagus took stronger hold of public life, religious authorityceased to be a really public affair.
One of the best indicators of this is probably the vanishing of
public inventories. This very Athenian custom consisted of listing
periodically the offerings at the most popular sanctuaries (Parthenon, Erechtheion,the shrine of Artemis Brauronia,Eleusis, and the
Asklepieion). After the public officers had laboriously counted and
weighed all the offerings which covered the walls of the temples
and crowded at their doors, spectacularlylong lists were published
on stone. Unfortunatelyfor us, these public audits ceased to exist
as a rule around the end of the third century Bc.37
A number of reasons have been suggested to explain the disap-
35 R.S.J. Garland, "Religious Authority in Archaic and Classical Athens,"

Annual of the British School at Athens 79 (1984) 75-123, at 75. However, for a
precise assessment of the religious role of the elites in democratictimes, see M.H.
Jameson, "Religion in the Athenian Democracy," in I. Morris and K. Raaflaub
(eds.), Democracy 2500? Questions and challenges (Archaeological Institute of
America: Colloquia and Conference Papers 2), Dubuque, Iowa 1997, 171-195.
36 Garland,
"Religious Authority,"78-80.
37 And left us bereft of one of the richest sources for the study of personal
piety; with the exception of the Asklepieion, whose inventories lasted till the end
of the second centuryBC.Inventorieshave been most fruitfullystudied:W.S. Ferguson,
The Treasurers of Athena, Cambridge, Ma. 1932; T. Linders, Studies in the
TreasureRecords of Artemis Brauronia Found in Athens, Stockholm 1972; id.,
The Treasurersof the Other Gods in Athens and their Functions, Meisenheim am
Glan 1975; D. Harris, The Treasures of the Parthenon and Erechteion, Oxford
1995; D.M. Lewis, "TheLast Inventoriesof the Treasurersof Athena,"in D. Knoepfler
and N. Quellet (eds.), Comptes et inventairesdans la citesgrecque, Geneve 1988,
297-308; S.B. Aleshire, The AthenianAsklepieion: The People, their Dedications,
and the Inventories,Amsterdam 1989.
267
pearance of this practice.38 However, it is by no means sure that the

inventories ceased to be composed at that time. They might have
adopted instead different external forms, which would not allow
their survival until the present. This is exactly what would have
happened, for example, if the new lists were kept in archives instead of being displayed in public.39 If this hypothesis is accepted,
what needs to be explained is the new way of making the inventories. Some further hypotheses have been suggested. Without a democratic government, writes Harris, there was little need to keep the
people informed of the public accounts; on the other hand, by this
time the treasure of Athena was surely counted among the resources available to the ruler.40
There is no way to answer the question of the direct influence
played by foreigners - such as Demetrios Poliorketes - in this
administrative change. Be that as it may, what matters here is that
people lost the opportunity of inspecting the inventories. From then
on, they did not have access to visual proof of the honesty of the
priests in charge of the treasures.41And that made things different.
38
Ferguson, Treasurers,126, 140: the radical expropriationby Lacharesleft the

Akropolis without treasuresto be recorded. Harris, Treasures,39, argues in a different way when she asks: "When exactly did the religious fervour which created
so strong a treasury die?" She herself answers that as long as there were inventories, the worship of Athena was strong, constant and genuine, implying that
from then on the cult ceased to be genuine. I do not think that this has to be the
case: offerings might be scarce, but not necessarily empty of sense.
39 This is Linders's suggestion, taking into account the increasing importanceof
archives (Treasurers, 61). I have found a very fragmentary inscription of the
Asklepieion that could only be an inventory (IG II2 4511, first half of the second
century AD; see SEG XXXIII.196), although there is no way to say who commissioned it, or what was its original size. As far as I am aware, this inscription has
not been mentioned in the previous discussion about the end of the inventories.
40 See
Lewis, "The Last Inventories," 304-5, who suggested that it is highly
probable that Demetrios Poliorketes had taken the crowning of himself and his
father literally, and saw no reason why he should not take away what was theirs.
41 Aleshire, The Athenian Asklepieion, 103-5.
268
No doubt it was importantto be able to check what had happened

with one's offerings, but even more interestingwas to know to what
extent the religious staff was obeying the laws.42It had to do with
the feeling of being part of the community,and whether the priests
in their ritual roles were working for the benefit of the group.
In short, religious authority was slowly ceasing to be felt as a
community affair. Inscriptions continued to include the usual formulas "the Boule and the Demos decided so and so," but the power
of the assembly had long ago been reduced to giving the necessary
assent to the enactment of the decrees proposed by the council.43
At the same time, the number of citizens was becoming smaller
and smaller. Full political rights were enjoyed only by those who
had served as ephebes. In the 4th century BC it was still possible
for every Athenian young man to be an ephebe and to gain access
to the Boule. Things changed with time, above all with the end of
Athenian military campaigns. Not everyone could afford an ephebic
education, so fewer and fewer people gained access to the Boule.44
For our purposes here, it may be interesting to note that the
ephebeia was a way perhaps the most systematic instrumentto become familiar with the religious traditions of the city as a
whole. Aristotle explained how the ephebes were compelled to visit
42
I am aware that all this reasoning depends heavily on the discussion about
the influence of inscriptions in the life of people. Of course the existence of
inventories in stone did not mean that people could or did read them, and even
less that they gave credit to what was written. But there was something written,
which no doubt played a role in the religious landscape. For this and other key
questions about writing and religiosity, see M. Beard, "Writing in Religion:
Ancient Literacy and the function of the written word in Roman Religion," in
Literacy in the Roman World(= Journal of Roman Archaeology, Suppl. 3), Ann
Arbor, Mi. 1991, 35-58.
43 Jones, The Greek City, 177.
44 D.J. Geagan, The Athenian Constitution after Sulla, Princeton, NJ 1967,
75-76; C. Lepelley, Rome et l'integration de l'Empire, II: Approches regionales
du Haut-Empireromain, Paris 1998, 322; J.K. Davies, "AthenianCitizenship:The
Descent Group and the Alternatives,"Classical Journal 73 (1977) 105-121.
269
every sacred space in the city (shrines, temples, caves or simple

altars), and were supposed to know the exact meaning of all of
them.45 Those who did not become ephebes, therefore, would probably remain ignorant of the meaning of a good deal of religious
sites and traditions. Or even worse, a growing number of Athenians
would be incapable of imagining and understanding the complex web
of divine beings and ritual acts which gave sense to polis-religion.
The process of alienation of the public religious spirit reached its
climax in Roman times,46 as even the financing of the public cults
became increasingly a private affair, often in the hands of foreigners. The Macedonians had inaugurated the imperialistic fashion of
financing the civic life of Athens.47 From then on, it became customary that foreigners contributed to the funding of Athenian cults
or enrolled as members of Athenian civic groups, such as the ephebes.48
How Athenians felt about all this has not been recorded. What
we know is that around 220 BC a new cult was inaugurated to the
Demos and the Charites in the agora, near the stoa of Zeus Eleutherios,
where generous foreigners were honoured with statues and crowns.49
So, at least a part of the Athenian people found foreign help convenient
45
Arist. Ath. XLII,2-5. We have the long ephebic inscriptions to prove that.
It is difficult to say to what extent Rome took the initiative to constitutional
change, as neither Sulla's constitutionnor Hadrian'shave survived,see P. Graindor,
Athenessous Hadrien,Cairo 1934;Geagan,AthenianConstitution;E. Kapetanopoulos,
"TheReformof theAthenianConstitutionunderHadrian,"Horos 10-12 (1992-1998),
215-237.
47 The
generalof the Macedonianparty in Mounichia was the firstforeignerwho
partially funded Athenian festivals: Mikalson, Religion in Hellenistic Athens, 58.
48 With all the symbolic meaning that it conveyed, as the ephebeia was the traditional door which gave access to full Athenian citizenship, see above. The
sources place this novelty in the 2nd century BC, and it was a well-established custom among Romans already at the end of Hellenistic times, see S. Follet, "Ephebes etrangers a Athenes: Romains, Milesiens, Chypriotes, etc.," Centre d'Etudes
Chypriotes 9 (1988) 19-32.
49 R.E. Wycherley, The Athenian Agora. III: Literary and Epigraphical Testimonia, Princeton, 1957, 59-61.
46
270
enough not to feel humiliated, and even to encourage it with honours. The city was happy to accept the donations of its new rulers,
and all sort of private gifts -
Athenian or not -
which meant the
practical erosion of the ideal of publicly financed cults.50Festivals

and building were slowly ceasing to be funded by the demos for
the demos, and changed into being funded instead by the government, or by a single wealthy individual, for the demos.51
The presence of Rome intensified this general tendency.The religious activity of Roman emperors in Athens has been the subject
of too many studies to be summarizedhere.52As a rule, their building activity was either archaizing (some of the restorationsin the
Acropolis by Augustus and Claudius,or the moving of ruraltemples
to the agora), or consciously imperialistic (above all, the Roman
agora and the Olympieion, both of them visually very impressive).53
Except for the financial support of some conspicuous Athenian
citizens, like Herodes Atticus, economic initiative of significance
in religious affairs moved into the hands of foreign benefactors
and the Roman imperial house.
Epigraphyreveals yet anotherchange in the managementof public religion, which should be interpretedwithin the context of oligarchization.Around the reign of Augustus, there was a change in
the internal regulation of a number of "democratic"priesthoods.54
50 Private
funding was not new, of course: states tend by definition to deficit,

and Athens was no exception to the rule, even in Classical times. But, as Parker
explains, the custom became much more frequent in Hellenistic times (Athenian
Religion, 289).
51 Mikalson,
Religion in Hellenistic Athens, 299.
52 D.J. Geagan, "RomanAthens: Some Aspects of Life and Culture.I. 86 BC-AD
267," in Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt11.7.1,371-437; Walkerand
Spawforth, "The World of the Panhellenion"(above, n. 18); K. Clinton, "Eleusis
and the Romans: Late Republic to Marcus Aurelius," in Hoff and Rotroff, The
Romanizationof Athens (above, n. 20), 161-182.
53 See above, n. 18.
54
Unfortunatelythe status of most of the priesthoodsin classical times remains
271
Before that, the selection of priests and the duration of their office
depended on the particular kind of priesthood.55 Traditionally there
were a number of ways in which priests came by their position:
some were elected, some were chosen by sortition - usually from a
restricted list - some inherited their position, others simply bought
it. Priesthoods could be annual - usually the selected ones - or
perpetual - those associated to a genos. Most ancient priesthoods
tended to be lifetime tenures, and continued to be so until the end
of paganism.56 But other non-oligarchical, "democratic" priesthoods
changed from being annual to lifetime positions. The priestess of
Artemis Kalliste, for instance, who held her office annually in
Hellenistic times, became a lifetime priest during the Empire.57
The best-known example of the change in the management of
public religion, however, concerns the priesthood of Asklepios.58
The cult of Asklepios had been controlled by the Athenian state
since 360-340 BC. The first epigraphic sign of public control was
obscure: it is not known whether they were gentile or democratic, even in cases
as significant as the priesthoodof Dionysos Eleutheros.A catalogue of priesthoods
active in classical times is given in Garland, "Religious Authority,"83-111. On
Athenian priests, see J. Martha, Les sacerdoces athe'niens, Paris 1882; D.D.
Feaver, "The Priesthoods of Athens," Yale Classical Studies 15 (1957) 123-158
(to the end of Hellenistic age); G.F. Vellek, The Priesthoods of Athens (86 BC-267
AD), Baltimore 1969.
55 I follow S.B. Aleshire, "The Demos and the Priests: The Selection of Sacred
Officials at Athens from Cleisthenes to Augustus," in R. Osborne and S. Hornblower (eds.), Ritual, Finance, Politics: Athenian Democratic Accounts Presented
to D. Lewis, Oxford 1994, 325-337.
56 Although Aleshire, "The Demos," suggests that the reforms of the year 21 BC
changed gentile priesthoodsfrom restrictedsortitionto direct election, probablyby
the members of the genos who controlled the cult.
57 Hellenistic: IG II2 788-9; SEG XVIII.87; Roman:
Hesperia 10 (1941) n? 42
(125 AD).
58 W.S. Ferguson,Priests ofAsklepios,2nd ed., Berkeley 1907;Garland,"Religious

Authority,"89-90; Aleshire, The AthenianAsklepieion, 14-16; D.J. Geagan, "The
Sarapion Monument and the Quest for Status in Roman Athens," Zeitschriftfiir
Papyrologie und Epigraphik 85 (1991) 145-165.
272
the introduction of the demotic in the names of the priests, which

means that the office rotated annually among the tribes,59 and therefore was a "democratic" priesthood.60 Sometime between the years
25 Be and 10 AD, however, the office became lifetime.61 It is not
known whether the selection was still made in a "democratic" way
or not. The fact is that this most successful public cult became attached
to a number of families, among which the Statii of Cholleidai were
specially remarkable.62 At the same time, a number of secondary
positions were created, like that of hypozakoros,63 or became more
frequent and changed character, like that of zakoros.64 As a rule,
these positions became increasingly more important as bestowers of
prestige, especially the zakoros.
The transformation of the main priesthood of Asklepios into a
lifetime tenure was explained by Aleshire as a consequence of the
increasing unwillingness or inability of citizens to undertake the
burdens of the annual priesthood, and of the increasing popularity
of the cult, which created a need for more cult administrative personnel.65 The combination of these two reasons, however, does not
The terminuspost quem has been set by Feaver to the end of the 4th century
("Priesthoods,"152), andby Garlandto the 3rdcenturyBC ("ReligiousAuthority,"84).
60 As defined
by Aleshire, "The Demos": by sortition, theoretically "among all
the Athenians," most probably among a restricted group of previously selected
people (The AthenianAsklepieion, 73-75). This practice was a typically Athenian
way of managing priesthoods, not to be found in other Asklepios shrines, like
Pergamon (InschrPerg, II 251).
61
Early examples of this: IG II2 3120, 3176. IG II2 3579 (post 128/9 AD), however, contains honours for a priest selected by sortition, which calls for caution.
62 S.B. Aleshire, Asklepios at Athens: Epigraphic and Prosopographic Essays
on the AthenianHealing Cults, Amsterdam1991, chapter"The Statii of Cholleidai
59
revisited";Geagan, "Sarapion."
63 IG II2 4073 (before 160 AD).
64 Before the 1st cent. BC there is only one mention of a zakoros in the cult of
Asklepios; after that, a total of 16 is attested. For the zakoroi's status see Aleshire,
Asklepios in Athens, "ProsopographicRegisters."
65 The Athenian Asklepieion, 85.
273
seem to fit well. The priesthood of Asklepios was attractive enough

to find suitable candidates. What is more, I see the origin of the
change precisely in the appeal of this priesthood as a kind of "no
man's land,"66 where it was possible to display generosity and to
acquire the prestige attached to the cult. The relationship between
the Statii of Cholledai and the cult might be an example. Their
behaviour shows that the Statii might be trying to imitate the Eleusinian priests, who in Roman times, even more than before, were the
most traditional and prestigious of Athenian priesthoods.67Associating
themselves as a family to the Asklepios cult, and accumulating dignities related to it, they emulated the typically Eleusinian citation
of ancestral associations with the cult.68 The hierarchy of the cult
became increasingly similar to the Eleusinian. At least this is a way
of explaining the development of some modest offices, such as the
pyrphoros, into prestigious positions, similar to that of the most famous
pyrphoros of Athens, the Eleusinian one.69
The priesthood of Asklepios, as almost every Athenian cult, had
probably always been monopolized by people with economic
means.70 What needs to be explained, therefore, is not the aristocratization of the cult, but why it was made clear and visible in
Roman times. The reason, in my view, was that the "democratic"
66
Becauseit arrivedin Athensin the 5th centuryBC, the cult of Asklepioswas

not originallylinkedto any genos in particular,
as was the case with ancientgentile cults.
67 G.E.Mylonas,Eleusisand the Eleusinian
Mysteries,Princeton,NJ 1961, 155
n. 1, explainshow the increasedimportanceof the cult is indicatedby the inshownbythestrictenforcement
creasedsanctityof theHierophant,
of the"hieronymy,"
not prevalentin earliertimes.For the appropriation
of this privilegeby Sarapion,
of membershipin
zakorosof Asklepios,in an attemptto acquirethe appearance
the hereditaryreligiouselite, see Aleshire,"TheStatii,"69. For the leadingposition of the Eleusinianpriesthoodssee Feaver,"HistoricalDevelopment."
68
Geagan, "Sarapion,"159.
Geagan, "Sarapion,"158.
70 Feaver, "HistoricalDevelopment," 151-53.
69
274
fiction did not need to be maintained anymore. Priesthood- religion, in fact- had long ago ceased to be a really public affair.
Taking advantageof the situationenforced by the Roman conquest,
the Athenian elites took a stronger hold than ever of every possible mark of prestige, just as did the Statii.
Follet has defined the transitionto lifetime offices in the ephebic
circles of the third century AD as a process of "sclerosis"and "pauperization."71"Sclerosis" may indeed apply to the Imperial period
- if that was really the case in the
as a whole, but "pauperization"
evidence she analyses - does not seem an appropriate way to
describe the situation of the Early Empire. Follet explains the multiplication of the less importantfunctions as a consequence of pauperization. In my opinion, at least during the Early Empire, it was
instead a result of the willingness to gain access to the hierarchy
of certain cults, such as those of Asklepios, or Isis and Sarapis.
Although the evidence is not conclusive, it seems that these
priesthoods became more and more attractive to people of high
birth.72One of the most importantIsiac documents found in Athens
(IG II2 4771, c. 120 AD), shows an accumulation of duties in the
hands of a few people. Again, this has been interpretedby Dunand
as a sign of the modesty of the shrine on the south slope of the
Acropolis.73However, it is difficult to reconcile that modesty with
71
S. Follet, "La societ6 athenienne au IIIe siecle de notre ere. Pauperisationet

o rl'At0evo; DvvE6SptouEXrlvtcr; Kicat
sclerose,"fIpaKTKcaTo
Aactvtq;S EEtypapicrl;,
1982, vol. II, Athens 1987, 195-98.
S. Dow, "The Egyptian Cults in Athens," Harvard Theological Review 30
AOETva, 3-9 OKTopptou

72
(1937) 183-232, at 206-7; D. Placido, "Isis, la oligarquia ateniense y las tradiciones aticas," Memorias de Historia Antigua 5 (1981) 249-252; E.J. Walters,
Attic Grave Reliefs that represent Womenin the Dress of Isis (Hesperia Suppl.
22), Princeton, NJ 1988, 61-63.
73 F Dunand, Le culte d'Isis dans le bassin oriental de la Mediterranee,Leiden
1973, II 137. On the naiskos, see S. Walker, "A Sanctuaryof Isis in the South
Slope of the Athenian Acropolis," Annual of the British School at Athens 74
(1979) 243-257.
275
the identity of the priest of the moment, Dionysos of Marathon.

The naiskos might not have been a very impressive one, but the
people related to it were high-class citizens. On the other hand, the
accumulation of duties in the hands of these few wealthy people
shows that the functions were probably not actually performedby
them. The woman who paid for the reconstructionof the naiskos
was not only lychnaptria, but also oneirokrita, which means that
the offices were not held by specialists.
No pauperization, then, may be attested in the priesthood of
either Asklepios or Isis during the Early Empire. On the contrary,
the proliferationof offices held by the children of the aristocracy
might mean just the opposite:74that priesthoods had become "a
venue for acquiring social prestige."75
So far we have explored continuities (mainly) and changes (few) in

the managementof Atheniancults. Changesmay be understoodwithin
the process of oligarchization, which best describes the development of public life in Hellenistic and Roman Athens. As we have
seen, oligarchization contributedto the growing distance between
public religious life and the people of Athens. This does not mean
that people did not continue to take an active part in public rituals,
or that they necessarily perceived the situation as a changing one.
However, the external changes described above had been shaking
the roots of polis religion for too long. As a consequence, cleavages may be found not only in the management of public rituals,
but also in the old polytheistic equilibrium.
A fine example are the arrhephorae of Demeter-Kore, Chloe, Themis, and

Eileithyia in Agrai, who are attested for the first time in Roman times, see G. Donnay, "L'Arrhephorie:initiation ou rite civique? Un cas d'ecole," Kernos 10 (1997)
177-205, at 197-98. On the presence of children in the cults of Asklepios, see
Aleshire, The Athenian Asklepieion, 89-91.
75
Mikalson, Religion in Hellenistic Athens, 293.
74
276
Athenian documents -
mostly epigraphic -
do not allow us to
give a comprehensive sketch of changes in religiosity. However,

they pointto the increasingpopularityof some gods, namelyAsklepios,
Isis and Sarapis, and Zeus Hypsistos, a newcomer who may be
traced to the first century AD. The situation in Athens was similar
to what was happening all over the Mediterranean.Whether Isis,
Mithras or Hypsistos, these and a few other gods managed to
attract the attention of a growing number of people, without preventing them from believing in the existence of other gods, or from
paying cultic attentionto their divine colleagues. This new kind of
devotion has been rightly called "henotheistic."76
The growing success of these gods was but one of the results of
a general shift in religious attitudes in the Hellenistic and Roman
Mediterraneanwhich constitutes without doubt one of the seminal
shifts in the history of mankind.Consequently,the concept of henotheism has been approachedfrom innumerablepoints of view, which
range from explanations of the success of these gods in terms of
the broadening of what they could "offer"- soteriological promises, above all77- to reflections upon the changes in the political
contextof the Mediterraneanandtheiramazingparallelsin the changes
of the religious outlook.78
76
For the concept of henotheism and a history of this term, see Versnel, Ter
Unus, pp. 35-38.
77 Soteriology is often linked to the so-called "oriental"gods. On this topic, see
specially U. Bianchi (ed.), La Soteriologia dei Culti Orientali nell'Impero
Romano, Leiden 1982; W. Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, Cambridge, Mass.
1987; J. Alvar, Los misterios: Religiones "orientales" en el Imperio Romano,
Barcelona 2001.
78 The "markedparallelism between the constructionof human society and the
imagery of the divine world" has been studied by H.S. Versnel in a number of
brilliant studies about the relationship of politics and religion: "Religion and
Democracy," in W. Eder (ed.), Die athenische Demokratie im 4. Jahrhundertv.
Chr, Stuttgart 1995, 367-387; "Religious Projection:A Hellenistic Instance," in
L. Martin (ed.), Religious Transformationsand Socio-Political Change, BerlinNew York 1993, 25-39.
277
Hellenistic and Roman Athens provides us with evidence of two

further aspects which should be considered when dealing with henotheism and religious change. On the one hand, the sense of belonging
to a political or a religious community was withering away, as has
been described above. The process affected not only the highest
political levels, such as the assembly or the Boule, but also smaller
groups like the phratry and the deme.79 Traditionally, those groups
and their religious activities provided the individual with a sense of
equilibrium, best explained by M. Jameson: "Between the great
public festival on or below the Acropolis and the small sacrifice in
a simple enclosure in a corer of the countryside, there was a continuum."80When either those rituals or the communal spirit which
sustained them disappeared, the status quo was disrupted. Henotheism - "extra" devotion to one god - may be understood as one
of the pillars of a new equilibrium.
On the other hand, when dealing with the prominence of some
gods, there is a further aspect - the only one epigraphically attested - which should be considered: the economic and social support of the elites. Flowering cults attract people: Isis or Asklepios's
success may have come from the top down, and not only the
reverse, as is often implied when dealing with the so-called "oriental" cults. But it may also be the other way around: the choice
79 J.D. Mikalson, "Religion in the Attic Demes," American Journal of Philology
98 (1977) 424-435, and R. Parker,"Festivals of the Attic Demes," in T. Linders
and G. Nordquist (eds.), Gifts to the Gods: Proceedings of the Uppsala Symposium 1985 (Boreas 25), Uppsala 1987, 137-147, are most illuminating about how
they worked as cult centres. On the disintegrationof the deme see S.E. Alcock,
"Minding the Gap in Hellenistic and Roman Greece," in S.E. Alcock and
R. Osborne (eds.), Placing the Gods: Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in Ancient
Greece, Oxford 1994, 247-261; Parker, "Festivals," 143-44: Pausanias still
attested local cults in Attica, "but that need not mean that a religious life as
bustling, varied and organized as that revealed by the calendars still persisted."
80 M.H. Jameson, "The Spectacularand the Obscure in Athenian Religion," in
S. Goldhill and R. Osborne (eds.), Performance Cultureand Athenian Democracy,
Cambridge 1999, 321-340.
278
of the most popular gods as favourites of some conspicuous member of the elite may not be accidental.
A glimpse of the Athenian evidence confirms this double hypothesis. Right from its arrival in Attica, the cult of Isis enjoyed the
favour of some high-class people. IG II2 337 (333/2 Bc) recorded
the permission obtained by a famous politician, Lykurgos Lykophronos
Boutades, to build an Egyptian sanctuary in Piraeus. This is the
first mention of Egyptian cults in Attica. By the second century BC,
the cult had already become public (IG II2 4692) and attracted distinguished citizens.81 The situation was reinforced by the presence
of Anthony and Cleopatra, "the New Isis," in Athens. To their support of the Egyptian cults has been attributed a decree of the
Boule, which deals with the punishment to be imposed upon those
who violated certain sacral regulations of the Isis cult.82 From the
first century BC there is clear evidence of an increasing number of
wealthy members of the cult, judging from the costly dedications.83
A group of, by now, 107 reliefs showing women in the dress of
Isis, has been interpreted as representations of Isiac initiates,
belonging mainly to the middle class, and some of them to the
highest social levels.84 By the second century AD, Isis was worshipped in two different shrines in Athens, on the south and the
north slopes of the Acropolis (in the latter case probably together
with Sarapis).85
Dow, "The Egyptian Cults in Athens" (above, n. 72).
J.J. Pollit, "The Egyptian Gods in Attica: Some EpigraphicalEvidence,"Hesperia 34 (1965) 125-130; J.H. Oliver, "Attic Text Reflecting the Influence of
Cleopatra,"Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 6 (1965) 291-294.
83 Walters,Attic Grave
Reliefs, 61-63.
84 The sanctuariesdate from the end of the first
century BC to the second half
of the third AD. See Walters, Attic Grave Reliefs, and id., "Predominance of
Women in the Cult of Isis in Roman Athens: FuneraryMonumentsfrom the Agora
Excavations and Athens," in L. Bricault (ed.), De Memphis a Rome. Actes du Ier
Colloque International sur les etudes isiaques, Poitiers-Futuroscope, 8-10 avril
1999 (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 140), Leiden-Boston-Koln 2000,
63-89.
85
Walker,"A Sanctuaryof Isis" (above, n. 73).
81
82
279
Admittedly, there are more material remains of the cult of Isis

from Roman than from Hellenistic Athens, specially from the second century AD.86 But, as far as the evidence goes, nothing indicates that her increasing popularity had to do with a transformation
of the cult, or a broadening of her offer to the public. The inscriptions are quite heterogeneous.87 They include different types of
offerings to Isis and/or other Egyptian gods (SIRIS 7, 10-12, 15,
16, 24, 26-28, 30-33, 33b), private or public dedications related to
Isiac shrines (8, 9, 13, 17-20, 23, 25, 29), consecrations of girls to
Isis (21, 22), and a decree concerning the punishment of asebeia
(33a). These are basically the same kind of documents as can be
found in any other cult from classical times onwards. The cult of Isis
offered a number of attractions, such as incubation and initiation in
her mysteries;88 but this was already the case in Hellenistic times.
As for Asklepios, he had been a physical healer and a cosmic
saviour from Hellenistic
or even classical
times.89 The evidence exhibits two peaks in the history of the Asklepieion of
Athens: the fourth century BC, and the second century AD. The first
86 The significance of the amazing number of theophoric personal names in

Roman Athens was prudently weighed by Dow, "The Egyptian Cults in Athens."
He concluded that the more than 300 names found in Athens, compared to the
153 found in the rest of the Greek world, can only be a sign of the popularityof
Isis in Roman Athens. But see also V. Tran Tam Tinh, "Etat des etudes iconographiquesrelatives a Isis, Serapis et Sunnaoi Theoi," in Aufstieg und Niedergang
der Rimischen Welt11.17.3, 1710-1738, at 1711: among the 1324 worshippersof
the Egyptian gods in Greece, only 28 had theophoric names.
87 The evidence
surveyed is included in the Sylloge InscriptionumReligionis
Isiacae et Sarapiacae (SIRIS). Of the 35 inscriptions found in Attica, only 6 are
to be dated before the middle of the 1st century BC.
88 On the development of the cult, see Dunand, Le culte d'Isis (above, n. 73),
131-140. The evidence of the practice of initiation depends on the interpretation
of the reliefs mentioned above, see n. 84.
89 Parker,Athenian Religion, 183, quotes Aristophanes'Plutus, where Asklepios
is named "the great light of mortals."The epigraphic survey is very useful: IG II2
4357 (before mid 4th century BC) is a thanksgiving to Asklepios for rescuing
someone from wars and for liberating him.
280
may be explained by the practice of the inventories, which preserved up to 1347 offerings to the god.90 The second peak may be
an effect of the chance survival of inscriptions, which has preserved a far bigger number for the second century AD than for any
other moment of the history of Roman Athens. It might also have
to do with whatever made the number of healing divinities grow
around the same years.91 Or it might have been a consequence of
the increasing support of certain families, as suggested above. Anyhow,
the cult continued to be developed in the same way.92
Conclusion
The main purpose of this article has been to stress the connections
between power (political, social, or religious, the three of them
always closely intertwined), and its religious manifestations. Religious
change in Roman Athens - and no doubt the increasing popularity
of Isis or Asklepios may be interpreted as such - relied heavily on
the attitude of the wealthiest people of Athens. And not just in one
way. On the one hand, their own religious preferences, which may
be explained in the ways we have seen above, dictated religious
fashion, as it were. But it was also the other way around. Athenian
elites profited from the success of a number of cults, notably Isis
and Asklepios. Especially in Roman times, and probably because
of their increasing success, these cults came to be regarded as
90 S.B. Aleshire, "The Economics of Dedication at the Athenian Asklepieion,"

in T. Linders and B. Alroth (eds.), Economics of Cult in the Ancient Greek World:
Proceedings of the Uppsala Symposium1990 (Boreas 21), Uppsala 1992, 85-99.
91
Healing divinities, or the healing aspect of divinities, were a remarkablefeature of religiosity from Classical times onwards.Around the first centuryAD, however, their numberincreased,either as a consequence of this new capacity in some
traditionalgods (Cybele, for example, as iaTpeivn, CCCA 275, 276), or because
of the arrival of new gods in Attica (Zeus Hypsistos, see below).
92 L. Wells, The Greek
Language of Healing from Homer to New Testament
Times, Berlin 1998, 40-62.
281
sources of prestige by those wealthy citizens who had no access to

other, more restrictive, priesthoods.
On the other hand the growing influence of the elite over the
public religion contributed to create a new religious setting in
which certain traditional gods might be reinterpreted and new gods
were considered attractive alternatives.
The arrival of Hypsistos - the third and last significant change
attested in Roman Athens - may also be interpreted from this
point of view. (Theos/Zeus) Hypsistos was an extraordinary successful new god in Greece and Asia Minor.93 In Athens he is
attested for the first time in the first century AD. Between the first
and the third centuries AD, some 31 private offerings to the Hypsistos were dedicated in his shrine on the Pnyx. Almost all of them
are representations of body parts - eyes, feet, breasts, female genitals. The inscriptions, when there are any, are very simple: the
name of the offerer, the god in the dative case, and the kind of
offering presented.
Neither the arrival of a new god, nor the healing capacity of the
newcomer, were new in Athens. But there is something remarkable
in this new cult. Hypsistos started to be worshipped in a highly
significant place: the Pnyx, one of the most conspicuous public
spaces in Athens, where the ekklesia used to meet in the past.94
93 S. Mitchell,"TheCultof TheosHypsistosbetween
Pagans,Jews, andChristians,"
in P. Athanassiadi and M. Frede (eds.), Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity,
Oxford 1999, 81-148. The epithet hypsistos was very frequent in the GrecoRoman world, coming probably from the Near East - either from Judaism, or
from other Semitic pagan cults, see M. Simon, "Theos Hypsistos," in Ex orbe religionum: Studia Geo Widengren... oblata (Suppl. Numen 21-22), Leiden 1972, I
372-385. It was applied to a wide variety of gods, with different meanings. In
Athens and Cyprus, Zeus Hypsistos came to be successful in a healing role, see
A.D. Nock, "The Guild of Zeus Hypsistos," Harvard Theological Review 29
(1936) 39-88, at 62-66. That much is attested by inscriptions.
94 The date when the ekklesia stopped meeting on the Pnyx cannot be fixed
with absolute certainty.It is almost sure that it did not meet there in Roman times,
282
Maybeit is notjust a coincidencethatZeus Hypsistosreplacedanother

Zeus on the Pnyx: Zeus Agoraios, the ancient Zeus of the demos,
whose cult was linked to the meetings of the ekklesia and had a
deep civic significance.95Ironically, the Pnyx, a highly significant
public space in the past, became the home of a totally private cult.
A fine example of the changes in Athenian religion.
UniversidadPablo de Olavide
Dpto. Humanidades
Ctra. Utrera, Km. 1
41013 Sevilla, Spain
emungri@dhuma.upo.es
ELENAMUNIZGRIJALVO
or at least not on a regular basis, as its normal seat seems to have been the theatre of Dionysos by that time. See W.A. McDonald, The Political Meeting Places
of the Greeks, Baltimore 1943; J.M. Camp, "The Form of Pnyx III," in B. Forsen
and G. Stanton, The Pnyx in the History of Athens: Proceedings of an International Colloquium Organized by the Finnish Institute at Athens, 7-9 October,
1994 (Papers and Monographsof the Finish Instituteat Athens 2), Helsinki 1996,
41-46. Scholars rely on ancient literature to fix a terminus ante quem for the
abandonmentof the Pnyx as a place of meeting, mainly on Athenaios, V, 212-213
(88 BC),and Pollux, VIII, 132 (2nd century AD).
95 R.E. Wycherley, "The Olympieion at Athens," Greek, Roman and Byzantine
Studies 5 (1964) 161-179, at 176. When the ekklesia ceased to meet on the Pnyx,
the magnificent altar was probably transferredto the Agora: H.A. Thompson and
R.E. Wycherley, The AthenianAgora. XIV: The Agora of Athens, Princeton 1972.
Only some fragments of it have survived, and their identificationas parts of the
altar of Zeus Agoraios is still open to debate. See B. Forsen, "The Sanctuaryof
Zeus Hypsistos and the Assembly Place of the Pnyx," Hesperia 62 (1993)
507-521; id., "The Sanctuaryof Zeus Hypsistos and the Date of Constructionof
Pnyx III," in Fors6n and Stanton, The Pnyx in the History of Athens, 47-55, who
sums up other theories: an altar of Eirene, or the great altar of Athena.
BOOK REVIEWS
GASPARRO
GIULIA
SFAMENI
(ed.), Themes and Problems of the History of
in
Religions ContemporaryEurope. Proceedings of the International
Seminar Messina, March 30-31 2001 / Temi e problemi della Storia
delle Religioni nell'europa contemporanea.Atti del Seminario Internazionale Messina, 30-31 Marzo 2001. [Hiera. Collana di studi
storico-religiosi6]. Cosenza:EdizioniLionello Giordano2002, (292 p.),
ISBN 88-86919-15-8. e 15,-.
Since its foundation in 2000, the EuropeanAssociation for the Study of
Religions (EASR) has arranged a number of annual conferences across
Europe, the proceedings of which have not been published. The book
under review is based on a meeting of the executive committee of the
EASR, and as the editor of the volume frankly admits in her "prefazione,"
the scholarlyworkwas merelythe supportingprogramof thatmeeting (p. 10).
This context may serve to explain the wide distributionof the countries
"represented" by the respective contributors: Italy (2), Germany (2),
France, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland,
Finland, and even the United States.
Which "themes and problems"does the volume address?In her first of
two essays - the other one dealing with religion and community in the
ancientworld(also publishedas an occasionalpaperby the BritishAssociation
for the Study of Religions), Giulia Sfameni Gasparroreminds the reader
of the work of her "Master,"Ugo Bianchi (to whose memory this book is
dedicated). Bianchi was certainly one of the most importanthistorians of
religion in the second half of the 20th Century,and it is precisely therefore that a more critical evaluation of his work might have been in order
thanthe paraphrasingaccountgiven by SfameniGasparro.GiovanniCasadio,
also one of Bianchi's students,provides an extensive critical review of the
treatmentof ancient Mediterraneanreligions in Eliade's Encyclopedia of
Religion from 1987. With his usual combination of wit and learning
Casadio arrives at the (hardly surprising)conclusion that the relevant contributions provide "an almost equal mixture of lights and shades" (102).
NUMEN,Vol. 52
284
Book Reviews
Let's see if more light prevails in the upcoming new edition. In a nice
academic divertimentoGustavo Benavides criticizes what he perceives as
the (fashionable) "tyrannyof the gerund"in the study of religion and the
current"obsession with the role of the theorist" (64).
Two papers address general issues in the study of religion. Both deal
with the problemof culturalencounters.While HalinaGrzymala-Moszczyska
presents three models of culturalencounter (111-116) -to my eyes, the
description of these models is both too brief and abstract -Philippe
Borgeaud addresses the tricky issue of comparison (67-77). Contraryto
Detienne's approach, Borgeaud suggests to study different forms of cultural encounters, exemplifying his approachby a survey of the evolution
of the "GrandeDeesse". Charles Guittardreminds us of the impact of the
Latin language on the formation of the study of religion (117-132).
Hence, a discussion of some key-terms at the same time offers insights
into Roman religion and the modern study of religion.
Peter Antes tries to provide us with some weapons in our ideological
struggle to give legitimacy to the study of religion in the humanities and
arts faculties ("Why should people study history of religions", 41-52).
One would like to add that there are certainly more, and possibly even
more powerful, weapons apart from the ones mentioned by Antes. While
MontserratAbumalham provides a survey of Spanish research on Islam
(31-40), Tim Jensen presents some trends and tendencies in the development of the (non-theological) study of religion in Denmark -a
country
with a remarkablyvibrating scholarly community in this field. To a certain degree, most of the trends described for Denmark by Jensen (183208) also apply to other countries. These trends include an increasing
awareness of theory, a diversificationand refinementof research methodology (thatsome mightalso describeas a neglect of ourhistorical-philological
roots and heritage), a stronger orientationtowards contemporaryreligion
and the entering of the intellectual as a player in the public arena.
While Jensen's paper illustratesthe implications of changes in the contemporaryworld for the study of religions, the book also contains some
contributionsto the religious history of Europe. Three of them are dealing with 'post-modern,' or 'alternative,' forms of religion/religiosity.
Based on her longitudinal study of Finish youth, Helena Helve discusses
the reflections of New Age in the values and world views of contemporary young people in Finland (133-162). Parts of her conclusions read as
Book Reviews
285
follows: "[...] we can say that the spiritual resources typical of contemporary young people contain a religious core consisting of individual
human rights, self-fulfillment [sic], and individual expression combined
with the recognition of social interdependence,the continuation of networks of kinship and friendship, and an undogmatic, private 'open world
view' and belief system based mostly on Christian values and traditions.
In many respects these are also valid for 'New Age' self-spirituality,individualism and experience-orientation"(150). Panayotis Pachis provides
a - to my eyes ratherconfusing - account of two religious tendencies
in contemporary Greek society, namely Neo-Paganism and attempts at
identifyingHellenismandOrthodoxy(221-244). He triesto relatehis findings
to debates on 'syncretism' and eclecticism. While Pachis gives a survey
of some public debates in Greek society, Willem Hofstee provides an
example of what can be referredto as an ethnographiccase-study in the
religious history of Europe based on field-work in a small dissident community in Tuscany in the 1980s (163-181). The paper appropriatelydiscusses some questions of methodology and some key concepts such as
charisma (but his analysis of ritual fails to convince me). Hofstee focuses
on the period of the peak-activity of the group that gained a certain
amount of national and international attention when its members were
excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1983. Hofsteee merely
mentions that the community "was gone" (180) in "less than ten years."
It is a pity that Hofstee, despite repeated visits to the field, does not describe the processes leading to its decline.
Unlike these case-studies, Hans Kippenberg addresses what he calls
"the rules of the game" of "the cohabitation of religious communities in
Europe" (209-220). Contrary to received wisdom, Kippenberg wants to
convince us that "religious pluralityin Europe clearly preceded the age of
secularization"(214) and modernity.He draws the genealogy of this "plurality" to the impact of Roman law and he sketches the constitutional
frameworkof religious 'legitimate' religion in the Westernlegal tradition,
followed by some remarksintended to suggest that "the monotheistic religions" have elements favoring religious toleration. Here, as in the preceding paragraphs,however,the argumentis fartoo sketchyto be convincing.
It is certainly importantto integrate legal history into the study of religious history, but that should not lead one to jump to conclusions. I agree
that the 'religious field' was far from homogeneous in Europeanhistory-
286
Book Reviews
it was and is many-sided and a disputedterrain- but that should not lead
us to (somewhat anachronistically)talk about 'religious pluralism' with
regard to religious communities.
As the book addresses themes and problems of the history of religions
in contemporaryEurope there is the risk of a Eurocentricperspective. In
his contribution(245-259), Michael Pye discusses this inherentdanger by
appealing to scholars from all parts of the globe to "develop a greater
detachment"(257) from the dominant,continuously replicated ("memetic"
[derived from Dawkin's concept of 'meme']) assumptionsin their respective cultures for which he provides some striking examples. Pye challenges us "to refine our theoretical perceptions and models over against
those deep assumptions"(257), and he briefly discusses some key concepts: secularization (negative), civil religion (positive), and some conceptions referring to non-institutionalreligion such as New Age religion
and spirituality,or reisei. Ultimately, Pye places his hopes in an "increasing interculturalityin the science of religions" (257-258) - and that has
been much of his mission while serving as president of the IAHR.
The good news is that the book under review is very conveniently
priced. As in many books of this kind, not all bibliographicalreferences
are complete. While it is to be welcomed that many authors make an
attempt to address a wider public by using English instead of their
mother-tongues,the editor should have also taken care to provide proper
language-editing.In some cases, the intellectual clarity of the arguments
obviously suffers from the imperfect English of the papers. While the
book under review certainly contains some interesting papers, seen as a
whole it is probably not a major advance in our understandingof key
issues - themes and problems- in the history of religions.
IKRR
0ysteinsgate 3
5007 Bergen
Michael.Stausberg@krr.uib.no
MICHAEL
STAUSBERG
Periodicals
44 (2004), 1
HISTORY
OF RELIGIONS,
Fabian Alejandro Campagne, Witches,Idolators, and Franciscans: An

AmericanTranslationof EuropeanRadicalDemonology (Logronio,1529
Hueytlalpan, 1553)
Greg Johnson, Naturally There: Discourses of Permanence in the RepatriationContext
Amina Steinfels, His Master's Voice: The Genre of Malfuzat in South
Asian Sufism
Book Reviews
Books
(Listing in this section does not preclude subsequent reviewing)
Frenz, Matthias,Gottes-Mutter-Gittin.Marienverehrungim Spannungsfeld
religioserTraditionenin Sudindien.Series:BeitragezurSiidasiensforschung
Siidasien-Institut Universitat Heidelberg, 195 - Wiirzburg, Ergon
Verlag, 2004, 222 p., ISBN 3-89913-343-9 (pbk.).
Sutcliffe, Steven (ed.), Religion: Empirical Studies. A Collection to Mark
the Anniversaryof the British Association for the Study of Religions Aldershot, Ashgate, 2004, 279 p., ?50.00, ISBN 0-7546-4158-9 (hb.).
Hunt, Stephen, The Alpha Enterprise. Evangelism in a Post-Christian
Era - Aldershot,Ashgate, 2004, 270 p., ?50.00, ISBN 0-7546-5035-9
(hb.), ?16.99, ISBN 0-7546-5036-7 (pbk.).
Zander,Viktor,Identity and Marginalityamong New Australians. Religion
and Ethnicity in Victoria's Slave Baptist Community- Berlin, New
York, Walter de Gruyter, 2004, 327 p., ?88.00, ISBN 3-11-017981-4
(cloth).
Antes, Peter and Armin W. Geertz, Randi R. Warne (eds.), New
Approaches to the Study of Religion. Vol. 2: Textual, Comparative,
Sociological, and CognitiveApproaches- Berlin, New York, Walterde
Gruyter,2004, 497 p., C98.00, ISBN 3-11-018175-4 (cloth).
NUMEN, Vol. 52
288
Leopold,AnitaMariaandJeppeSindingJensen(eds.), Syncretismin Religion.

A Reader- London,Equinox,2004,402 p., ?17.99, ISBN 1-904768-65-2
(pbk.).
Krueger,Derek, Writingand Holiness. The Practice of Authorship in the
Early Christian East -Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press,
298 p., US$59.95, ISBN 0-8122-3819-2 (cloth).
Reinders, Eric, Borrowed Gods and Foreign Bodies. Christian Missionaries Imagine Chinese Religion - Berkeley, Los Angeles, London,
Universityof CaliforniaPress,2004,266 p., $49.59, ISBN 0-520-24171-1
(cloth).
Keegan, Timothy (ed.), Moravians in the Eastern Cape, 1828-1928: Four
Accounts of Moravian Mission Work on the Eastern Cape Frontier.
Translatedby F.R. Baudert.Van Riebeeck Society for the Publicationof
SouthAfricanHistoricalDocuments,Second Series, No. 35 - CapeTown,
Paarl,PaarlPrint,2004, 308 p., ZAR285, ISBN 0-958455222- 2-9 (cloth).
Borgeaud, Philippe, Exercices de mythologie- Geneve, Labor et Fides,
2004, 219 p., C22.00, ISBN 2-833099-1141-5 (pbk.).
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CONTENTS
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Ancient Avalon, New Jerusalem, Heart Chakra
Marion I. BOWMAN,
of Planet Earth: The Local and the Global in Glastonbury ........
Lisbeth MIKAELSSON,
Locality and Myth: The Resacralizationof
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Cult
and
of St. Sunniva ..................................................
Selja
157
191
Daria PEZZOLI-OLGIATI,
Erkundungen von Gegenwelten:
Reisen am Beispiel
Zur Orientierungsleistung?mythischer>>
zweier mesopotamischerTexte ........................................................ 226
Elena MUNIZ
GRIJALVO,Elites and Religious Change in Roman
.. ......... 255
Athens ......... ................................................
Book Reviews
Giulia Sfameni Gasparro(ed.), Themesand Problems of the
History of Religions in ContemporaryEurope. Proceedings
of the InternationalSeminar Messina, March 30-31 2001 / Temie
problemi della Storia delle Religioni nell'europa contemporanea.
Atti del Seminario InternazionaleMessina, 30-31 Marzo 2001
(Michael STAUSBERG)........................................
.............
Publications Received .........................................................................
283
287
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Editorial Address
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N-5007
E-mail:
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Bergen,
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of Theology
Department
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: gustavo.benavides
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Book Review Editor

de Lausanne, Facult? de Th?ologie,
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Maya
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E-mail:
Maya.Burger@dtheol.unil.ch
Editorial Board
R.I.J.
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(Knoxville,
ter Haar
G.
USA);
(The
Hague,
Nether
The
lands); A. Tsukimoto (Tokyo, Japan); T. Jensen (Odense, Denmark); I.S.

Gilhus (Bergen, Norway); G.L. Lease (Santa Cruz, CA, USA); R Kumar
(Durban, South Africa); A.H. Khan (Toronto, Canada); B. Bocking (London,
UK); F. Diez de Velasco
(Tenerife, Spain); M. Joy (Calgary, Canada);
A.T.
Wasim
Indonesia).
(Yogyakarta,
Honorary lifemembers of the IAHR

P. Antes (Hannover); M. Araki (Tsukuba); J.O.Awolalu (Ibadan); L. B?ckman
(Stockholm); C. Colpe (Berlin); Kong Fan (Beijing); G.S. Gasparro (Messina);
Y. Gonz?lez Torres (Mexico City); ?. Hultkrantz (Stockholm); G.C. Oosthuizen
(Durban); M. Pye (Marburg); J.R. Ries (Louvain-la-Neuve); K. Rudolph
J.Waardenburg
(Marburg);
is indexed
Numen
International
Religion
&
Theological
IAHR
Articles.
in Anthropological
of Books
Bibliography
Index One:
Periodicals,
Abstracts,
bibliographical
(Lausanne);
Index
and Articles
Religion
Historical
journal
R.J.Z.
Science
(Jerusalem).
Werblowsky
Online,
on Modern
Current
Languages
Index Two: Multi-Author
Abstracts,
America:
of Religion,
History
Abstracts
and
Contents,
MLA
and Literatures,
Works,
Religious
and Life,
Index
and
the
of Recent
CONTENTS
Articles
Paul Christopher Johnson, Savage Civil Religion

Manuela
As
Giordano-Zecharya,
Did Not Believe

Anne-Christine
inGods
Hornborg,
Eloquent
Shows,
289
the Athenians
325
in the Contexts
Rituals
Bodies:
of Alleviating Suffering
Book
Socrates
356
Reviews
John J.Collins, Gregory E. Sterling, and Ruth A. Clements (eds.),

Sapiential Perspectives: Wisdom Literature inLight of theDead
Sea
Scrolls:
Proceedings
of
the Sixth
International
Symposium
of theOrion Center, 20-22 May, 2001 (Studies on theTexts of

.
theDesert of Judah 51) (Bernd U. Schipper)
Michael
Dickhardt,
Representing
Vera
Sacred
Dorofeeva-Lichtman
Spaces,
(eds.),
Beitr?ge
G?ttinger
Creating
zur
Asienforschung, Vol. 2-3 (Joachim Gentz)

Mathias
Frenz,
Gottes-Mutter-G?ttin.
Marienverehrung
399
im
Spannungsfeld religi?ser Traditionen in S?dindien (Beitr?ge

.
zur S?dasienforschung 195) (AnnetteWilke)
John C.
Reeves,
Bible
and
Qur'?n:
Essays
395
and
403
in Scriptural
Intertextuality (SBL Symposium Ser?es 24)

.
406
(Bernd U. Schipper)
Ernst
Troeltsch,
Kritische
im Auftrag
Gesamtausgabe,
der
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften

.
410
(Christoph Auffarth)
IAHRNews
413
.
415
SAVAGE CIVIL RELIGION

Paul
Christopher
Johnson
Summary
That
war
to wage
the decision
in Iraq
that its announcement
and
inevitable,
in the wake
evoked
was
of 9-11
to appear
made
or critique
little dissent
within
the
to the
linking the AI Qaeda
organization
state of Iraq, testifies to the strategic success
of agents of the state in generating
terms of reality, the acceptance
frames. This essay
is an analysis
and critique of
USA
despite
how
such
the absence
material
tively
inclusive
expression
instrumental
tionally
hijacked
practices
civil
as
axiomatic
The
of a
by way
civil
of altar-building
the question
of how
how
the rela
religion:
of
typical
I argue
because
the
that organic
in its signifying
compact
for social mobilization
the "symbolic
the first civil
toward
specific
range
political
though
religion,
of
radical military
social
unity, but
nevertheless
mobilized
Il est impossible
croit damn?s.
de vivre
or
support
political
en paix
for even
avec
des
act
of
ashes
and
repeated
of
the idea
comings
spirit possession
by
of war. And
this war
Michael
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
online - www.brill.nl
this
gens
qu'on
Rousseau
state-making-thing
What
is cer
of its representations?
outside
is the accuracy
tain
second
Did
fantasy-truth?
exist
really
available
in its
it was
ends.
Truth
Koninklijke
in
emo
of mourning
and memorializing
entailed
little
practices
content that it carried the emotional
force of a relatively pris
of social unity. Instrumental
civil religion could not draw on
Jean-Jacques
Also
mute
Indeed,
of
improvised
political
tine representation
of
a phrase
that occurs
it remained
objectives.
reli
discourse
hijacking
civil
?
tour of a
theoretical
considers
essay
instrumental
by
(2000:185),
to logos,"
capacity
the capital
achieved,
into the exclusive

us/them
incorporated
as momentum
for war gathered.
religion
Taking
from praxis
powerful, was
specifically
were
religion.
were
Bourdieu
the move
was
religion
gious
Pierre
of civil
concept
civil
organic
frames
acceptance
refurbished
of evidence
Taussig,
NUMEN,
shooting
forth
in its
the originary
following
the state arising
from the
is ceaseless.
The Magic
Vol.
of the State
52
290
Paul
Johnson
the horrific violence
Despite
11, 2001,
years
Christopher
the decision
cannot
later
be
perpetrated in the attacks of September

to begin the war against Iraq one and a half
seen
as
an
automatic
or
natural
response.
That
it finally did appear inevitable and that its announcement

evoked
little dissent or critique within the USA, despite the absence of evi
dence linking theAI Qaeda
organization to the state of Iraq, testifies
not to its aptness but to the strategic success of agents of the state
in generating terms of reality, or acceptance

it
frames, that made
so.
war
was
not only tol
Within
these acceptance
frames,
appear
erable but finally even seemed required. What follows is an analy
sis and critique of how such a consensus was achieved, by way of
a theoretical tour of a refurbished concept of civil religion.
Itmay already be difficult to recall the patriotic unanimity within
that was
the USA
ization
in Fall
generated out of a shared sentiment of victim

of 2001. After the torture-photos from Abu Ghraib,
and in face of a steadily increasing death toll (1733 US soldiers as

of June 28, 2005), for the first time a US majority now views the
war in Iraq as separate from thewar on terror (USA Today/CNN/Gallup
June 24-26,
2005). Yet even in President Bush's most recent
of
June
28, 2005, the war in Iraq was linked to "9-11" no
speech
fewer than five times. The rhetorical attempt anecdotally
suggests
the very mechanism
this article seeks to clarify: the attempt to
or divert the force of the unclouded
channel
of "9-11"
and
the sacred
sanctity of the event

Zero"
toward much
space of "Ground
this point it is worth reassessing how the
of symbolic hijacking that today rings of des
ends. At
hazier
political
very same process
peration was so utterly effective just as few years past; and as we
that filled the space
do so, to reconsider the spontaneous memorials
where
towers of theWorld
teach us as we
again open
Trade Center once
stood. What
can they
the issue of civil religion?
Introduction
p.m., less than twelve hours after Flight 11 hit the north
tower of theWorld Trade Center, President Bush gave a prime-time
At 8:30
291
Civil Religion
Savage
Office fixing the terms of a plot

and structure, and transforming a complex sequence of happenings,
and a wide range of possible
significations, into a clearly defined
a
to a
set
of
that
soldered
"event"
as-yet opaque
"happenings"
address
television
from the Oval
structure and narrative of interpretation (Sahlins 1985; Feldman 1991).

an event, those terms were widely reproduced in the press and
sedimented within days.1 "Today our nation saw evil," the President
As
said on the 11th, later in the speech reciting part of Psalm 23. On
the 14th, from the National Cathedral, he upped the ante: "God's
signs are not always our own. We ask Almighty God to watch over
our nation. We pray that He will comfort and console
those who
in sorrow." By the 16th, the discursive shift from mourning to
military action was realized, "We will rid the world of the evil
walk
. . . This
doers.
war
this
crusade,
on
to
is going
terrorism,
take
while."
the incipient form of one sort of civil religious re

sponse, which I will call instrumental civil religion: national polit
ical events were narrated in religious terms by the most powerful
This was
to accomplish
speaker in the world, whose words were designed
was
an
It
of power in
calculated
expression
political objectives.
to
of
"sheer
virtue
the
that it attempted
control, by
redundancy of
as well as
(Wolf in Palmi? 2002:144),
ideological communications"
1
The
Saw
Kalamazoo
Evil"
Colorado:
a universal
pattern.
and
the Boston
Globe
of September
most
cumspect. While
morning
Street
photos
American
also
Journal
Universal,
There
were,
posted
Osama
12, while
of recognizable
focused
lamented
the
papers
City,
bodies
censured
like
others,
papers
from Mexico
Attacked
Acts"
Michigan:
Morning"
(Allentown,
This
Florida:
(Miami,
on
the New
York Times,
and
the tragedy
seemingly
inevitable
and O Dia,
from Rio
or
from
falling
Kalamazoo,
Miami
Herald;
of what
I offer merely
typical examples
Post
to be sure, variations.
The Washington
name on the front page
the
bin Laden's
Reporter-Herald).
was
El
"Evil
Call),
"Our
uniform.
astonishingly
American-Statesman,
Itself was
"Freedom
The Morning
12 were
September
Texas:
(Austin,
Gazette),
Pennsylvania;
Loveland,
on
headlines
morning
Nation
such disturbing
leaping
images.
loss
were
of
Janeiro,
the Towers,
cir
recession.
economic
de
more
life, the Wall

both
while
showed
all North
292
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
such as
rival communications,
through the censorship of possible
bin Laden's
Osama
actual discourse
and stated motives
Discussion
of additional
(Lincoln
frames of interpreta
in US
soldiers in Saudia
and wider
2003:19).
tion?
the role of oil or the presence
Arabia, or indeed the competing definitions of "terror" itself (Williams
?
were obfuscated.2 This was accom
1976:329; Lincoln 2003:27)
a complex
success:
set of occurrences
plished with enormous
to exist, eclipsed by the narrative monolith, "9-11," as an

It occurred so rapidly and with
artifact of popular consciousness.
state magic, as it happens
such force that itwas as if by magic ?
ceased
1996:3, 376; Taussig

1997; Coronil
(Bourdieu
1997). The magic
had the effect of people
1997:
possessed
(Taussig
becoming
and with
99-108),
possessed
by narratives presented flawlessly
such authority as to bury the inchoate, "senseless"

violence with a
and
massive
solidarity. Durkheim's
outpouring of nationalist fervor
as feeling possessed
to collective
effervescence
(1995:
never
so
as
or
as
at
to
that
the
seemed
totem,
220),
timely
flag
was
not
the
time. The possession
state, how
only by the spirit of
ever, which the second epigraph struggles to convey, but of the
reference
spirit of the state read against religious myth,

sessing spirits' powers were doubled.
And
"event"
such
that the pos
of this
the making
yet the speed of semiotic doubling,
of
narrative
transfer
and
by way
ideological redundancy in
mass media,
did not wholly contain the response. Another kind of

response erupted coevally with the words crafted in theWest Wing,
which I will call organic civil religion? This second form had no
or
economic
(it goes without
any notion of more
saying)
1992:20),
(Scheper-Hughes
interpretations of the "everyday violence"
or "hidden violence"
in Scheper-Hughes
of
"terror as usual"
1992:220),
(Taussig
on
inflicted
the
and
Skurski
(Coronil
1991:334)
routinely
post-modern
empires
Not
to mention
social-structural
poor,
3
in part as a result of US
"Organic"
draws
not only
on L?vi-Strauss'
characterization
relation
initially
between
past and present.

policies
on the legacy of the Gramscian
as bringing
of ritual bricolage
separate
groups
(L?vi-Strauss
1966:32).
lexicon,
about
but
also
an organic
293
Civil Religion
Savage
and was not orchestrated from above, but

spokespersons
as New Yorkers and visitors
rather had a character of bricolage,
?
were
at
hand
T-shirts, caps, boots, buttons,
adapted whatever objects
?
to respond to a crisis of memorializa
balloons and teddy bears
tion and mourning at hand. It proffered no specific political objec
official
was
It entailed
the
relatively ecumenical.
at
around
of
memorial
altars
various
sites
erecting
spontaneous practice
the smoking site of theWorld Trade Center, where collections of
tive, and
religiously
objects were placed, visited, touched, added to and improved upon.

in the title, with
I refer to such organic civil religion as "savage"
or
a nod toMarett's
of "mean
notion
L?vi-Strauss'
(1966)
(1914)
in so far as it is
explicit only secondarily,
danced, dressed, eaten or built into existence, but which is never
theless structured, and for that reason communicates
something of
that becomes
ing"
But "savage"
refers not
sentiments and motivations.
as
itwas of
the
to
of
the
altar-building, comprised
materiality
only
?
extraor
and
with
common
endowed
modern fetishes
strange
objects
sense ?
dinary powers, and treated as sacred in the Durkheimian
its builders'
to the altars'
but also
disclosure.
The
semiotic
altars were
resistance
to modern
never completed,
in-progress, nor did they "speak" coherently

nificance.4 The very point of the spontaneous
closure
and
but remained works

to declare
their sig
altars, rather, was to
of course, has the feel of

ritualizations,
improvised
on what
I am
one asks those placing
objects
throwing
as
learns
the
I
he
the
about
altars
have,
actions,
quickly
why they perform
calling
"to
answers
"to
show
"to
remember,"
like,
respect,"
futility, receiving
question's
to
honor," "to not forget." But why in this form, with these things? The response
shall we
But then, what
is speakable.
the pale of what
is beyond
such a question
?
can we
or inadequacy,
of actors' words
the aporia,
faced with
do when
say
to interpret
Trying
darts
such
in the dark. When
uttered under duress?

altar-builders
phrases
an inter
or
At
the
How
least, in hazarding
mute,
practice?
jumbled,
?
case
a
in
would
we
which
not
hit
bulls
any
depend
eye
may
though
pretation,
?
we will probably
stick some theoretical
on the kind of board hung on the wall
nothing,
or only
do we
nerves.
This
repeat
the forced
"read"
alone
makes
it worthwhile.
294
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
express something that could not be placed into words; to express,

commune and communicate with objects and through practice.
to gain force with the
The altar-building
continued
process
to Ground Zero over the

of many non-New Yorkers
pilgrimage
next year, and became a key feature of the site and its sanctity.
"Sanctity" is not a term I impose as an analytical term here, but
like "sacred," became a common term of practice in public debates
about Ground Zero. Legislation
6,
proposed by the city on May
2003, for example, sought to prohibit vendors around Ground Zero,
"in recognition of the sanctity of the site," even as Governor Pataki
intoned his concern about the state, and fate, of the "hallowed ground."
that ground and around it, the very same materials
that in
another context would have been the mere flotsam and jetsam of
tourist traffic trucked upstate for disposal, were here transformed
On
indices of an organic civil religious moment. By Winter

2002 that spontaneous moment was already passed, as most of the
were dismantled ?
memorials
spontaneous
though some were
a
affixed in permanent exhibit within St. Paul's Chapel adjacent to
the site?
and the collective enthusiasm they had crystallized was
hijacked by instrumental civil religion, the drumbeat of the march
into sacred
toward widespread
support for war
public
in Afghanistan
and then
Iraq.5
This
essay (an "attempt," essai) considers the question of how

organic civil religion was hijacked by instrumental civil religion:
how the relatively inclusive material practices of altar-building typ
ical of the first civil religious expression were swallowed by the
exclusive
mentum
5 On
izens
us/them discourse
for war
March
supported
support
the war,
with
disappeared
a mistake
USA made
24-26,
2005).
gathered. Taking
a phrase
religion as mo
as
of Pierre Bourdieu
three days
22, 2003,
later climaxed
has
of instrumental civil
after the bombing

had begun, 72% of US
cit
26% who opposed
it (CNN/Gallup).
That
In the present moment,
June 2005,
that unanimity
compared
at 89%.
53%
with
of respondents
agreeing with the statement
in sending
(USA Today/CNN/Gall
troops to Iraq"
that "the
up
June
Savage
295
Civil Religion
the "symbolic hijacking that occurs in themove

(2000:185),
from praxis to logos," I argue that organic civil religion, though
in its signifying range ?
it
powerful, was compact
emotionally
in its capacity
remained mute
for social mobilization
toward
axiomatic
the improvised
Indeed, itwas because
specific political objectives.
of
and
little
entailed
mourning
memorializing
practices
specifically
political content that it carried the emotional force of a relatively
pristine representation of social unity. Instrumental civil religion,
by contrast, was strategically designed with precise ends in view.
Its strident us/them discourse had dramatic effects in mobilizing
support for specific actions, namely the invasion/libera
popular
instrumental civil religion carried

tion/occupation of Iraq. However,
enormous risks of splintering the very consensus on which collec
tive national action depended. That is why its speakers sought and
to seek to appropriate
the social force of organic civil reli

abstract,
overly
simply consider the site, time
gion.
to renominate
Convention
and key images used in the Republican
2004. Itwas orches
Bush for president in the election of November
continue
If this sounds
trated to take place in New York City as near to the anniversary

as near to the space of Ground Zero, and with as much
of 9-11,
of its tragic and heroic imagery as possible. This would magically

(by contact) transfer the immediate post-9-11 moment when Bush en
?
topping out at 89% on
joyed enormous popular approval ratings
?
to the more contested present.
October
12, 2001 (CNN/Gallup)
into the analytic terms of my argument, the political
to harness the social force of organic civil religion
was
strategy
and attempt to transfer it to the ideologically more specific program
Translated
of
Bush's
campaign.
After attempting to clear a theoretical space for reevaluating civil

religion in Part Two, the third and fourth parts of the essay empir
ically describe organic and instrumental forms of civil religion. My
altars
the spontaneous
is to compare
site with official presidential speeches.
erected around the wreckage
The former were observed during four separate visits to the Ground
method
Zero
in those
area,
sections
in October
and November
2001,
January 2002,
on
the
296
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
date of September
11, 2002, and in the days surround
are readily available
in the pub
the
latter
11,
2003;
ing September
assesses
lic domain. The Conclusion
the relation between them as
anniversary
one of symbolic hijacking toward the destination of the national ration

senses of, on one
alization (in both commonsensical
and Weberian
justification, and on the other, systematization
ization) of state-sanctioned violence.
hand,
and normal
I begin with the definitional problem of "civil religion" as a

whole, before moving to empirical descriptions of the two types of
civil religious
response
A Short Critique
to September
11.
of "Civil Religion"
?
the idea if not always the exact phrase ?
has
religion
as
an
a
been formulated
interested intervention in moment
Civil
always
of perceived
the social unrest and

1983:160-64):
(Hughey
of
the
ancien
r?gime leading up to the French
declining authority
Revolution
the anomie of industrialized urbanization at
(Rousseau),
crisis
the turn of the twentieth century (Durkheim),

the fascist transfor
or the Viet Nam War
of Italy (Gramsci),
(Bellah).6 The
aftermath of September
11, 2001, presents another propitious
mation
moment
for its invocation, having produced the most dramatic dis

since a half-century ago ?
the
religion in the USA
play of civil
Most
Bellah
invokes civil religion at a specific historical
notoriously,
point, a
was
"third moment
of crisis"
moment
The
first
the
of
inde
(1967:16).
question
the second
that of the Civil War,
the third, the moment
of his writing,
pendence,
1967. The
third crisis
is "the problem
of responsible
in a revolutionary
action
a world
world,
we
have
seeking
to attain many
attained"
of
the things, material
and
spiritual,
that
Bellah
the need for sym
Prophetically,
anticipates
bols that will reflect the civil religion of a genuine
trans-national
of
sovereignty;
one part of a new civil religion of the
American
civil religion becoming
merely
world
already
(18).
authenticity,
structed by
(16).
of civil religion as a crisis response entails a claim to

is
that
in part derived
from empirical
cues, and in part con
though,
a description
its very invocation. His
is not merely
and interpretation,
The
interjection
then, but concomitantly
a normative
call.
Savage
Cold War
inscribed
297
Civil Religion
and McCarthyist moment when "In God We Trust" was

on paper currency, and "Under God" was added to the
just when we most need the analytical
it lies spent on the sideline, exhausted
and the lack of any consistent theoretical regi
Yet
of Allegiance.7
category of civil religion,
Pledge
both from overuse

men.
religion needs to tone its legs again before being

out for any further exercise.
Civil
taken
in Rousseau
Civil Religion
"civil religion" appeared in The Social Contract (1762), it

of
the marks of the simultaneous publication by Rousseau
his idea of "natural religion," as articulated in the mouth of Vicar
When
carried
place of natural religion in

should remain unspecified
Rousseau,
education,
before age fifteen; a child's religion ought to be no more, but no
It ought to be intuited, experi
less, then "a matter of geography."
Savoyard
a child's
Four
in Book
in the world,
enced
of Emile.
The
wrote
and
created. Rousseau's
imaginatively
notion
and rejected the particular

religion rejected
of specific religions. Natural religion should
ism and provincialism
be the "religion of man," of humanity as a whole.
of natural
The
revelation,
problem
ural
religion"
fourth volume
as he
too brief appearance,
introduced by Rousseau
in relation to
of internal national bonds
first and all
the relation
considered
7 "In
God
civil religion addressed was that this idea of "nat

no political bond. In Chapter Eight of the
"civil religion" makes
its
of The Social Contract,
creates
We
Trust"
was
by a Florida
1955,
proposed
In 1956,
E. Bennett.
Times
obituary
said America
days when
freedom,
our freedom,'
currency
in the House
following
a bill
passed
in
of Representatives,
Charles
motto. To quote
the New York
the national
the phrase became
of September
9, 2003
6), "Mr. Bennett
(Bennett died on September
Tn these
had to distinguish
itself from other world
superpowers.
imperialistic
we
to paper
added
Democrat
should
he
of our freedom
and his guidance.
continuously
said of his bill

is our faith in God
As
communism
and materialistic
long as
look
for ways
from the House

and
the desire
this country
seeks
to attack
to strengthen
floor
in April
of Americans
trusts in God,
it will
and
destroy
the foundations
1955.
of
'At the base
to live by his will

prevail.'"
298
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
external neighbors. If natural religion generated no political bond,

it
the religion of established churches like Catholicism was worse;
actively divided citizens from the nation-state. The religion of the
citizen {religion de citoyen), meanwhile,
could generate the requi
site loyalty, but had the liability of falseness and empty ceremoni
alism. The challenge of civil religion, then, was to be both genuine
the requirements of the nation take clear prior
dimension
of descriptions of gods and their atten
public
dant rituals must generate social and political bonds. The citizen
and universal.
But
ity. The
a religion thatmakes him love his duty; the question of

two centuries
which
precisely
religion, as Eisenhower
quipped
of antiquity
later, is immaterial (cited in Bellah
1967).8 Societies
like the Spartans or the Romans, which Rousseau
took as models
must have
of communitarian-religious
in this sense
superior
spirit, were
enthusiastic citations
1987:299). At this point Rousseau's
(Bloom
come as no surprise.
of Montesquieu,
Hobbes
and Machiavelli
"positive dogmas" were articulated
of an all-powerful,
fashion:
the existence
The
in simple and concise

good and intelligent
divinity, the afterlife to come, the belief in justice or the good, the
punishment of evil-doers, and the sanctity of the social contract
and
only sin for civil religion was intolerance, wrote

Contract, Book IV, ch. 8). (This seems not quite
its laws. The
Rousseau
{Social
forthcoming, however, since catalyzing intolerance for political out
siders is part of the desired outcome.)
Now, considering the ink spilled over the notion of civil religion
after Robert Bellah's
phrase in 1967,
appropriation of Rousseau's
this
is hardly a well-developed
and the United States
theory. But the link between

is larger, and more material, than
appropriation of him in the sixties. The Social
Rousseau
the fact of Bellah's
8 Here
we
see most
sectarian
religion
influenced
theorists
of ritual
is (among
and
clearly
the link between
civil
religion
like Victor Turner
other
things)
Rousseau,
in function)
or Pierre
to make
social
Durkheim
and more
Bourdieu,
obligations
recent
for whom
desirable.
(who
equates
Durkheim
the function
299
Civil Religion
Savage
Contract was on the bookshelves
of George Washington, Ben Franklin,

other foundational
Jefferson, and many
John Adams,
Thomas
in
the
American
figures
narrative of the nation-state
(Spurlin 1969).
It informed, moreover, Tocqueville's
record of America's
popular
canon
into
of
the
Americans9
democratic
descriptions
spirit, crept
used
to understand
and talk about
centuries, and
lingered.
Civil
and Bellah
Religion
in the 19th and 20th
themselves
1967 essay brought Rousseau's

concept into con
He
the
from Rousseau
temporary currency.
concept
expanded
to include not only "dogmas"
but also national
temporal orders,
?
and
establishment
of
narratives,
mythic
places
Washington's
as
in
the
of
1789
view
America
the
"new
(7),
Thanksgiving Day
Robert Bellah's
as itsMoses
Israel" with Washington
as
its "New
and Lincoln's
Testament"
(10), and Kennedy

real force of Bellah's
essay,
as
Gettysburg Address
sac
its messianic
rifice (13). The

though, derived from
its empirical focus on presidential inaugural addresses in the United
States. As Bellah reported, all but one presidential address invoked
or a higher power, terms to which an
a generic god, Providence,
number
overwhelming
assent. Later
presidential
to uncover
of Americans
assented
and
continue
to
in this essay, I follow Bellah's

lead by examining
addresses between September
11, 2001 and the present
new
The
trends.
intervention, lacking the empiri

a proliferation
initial short study, witnessed
that
scholars' patience.10 One problem was civil reli
since Bellah's
period
cal focus of his
exhausted
1967
many
close
imbrication with the normative functionalism of Durkheim,
gion's
9 I use
"America"
that this appropriation
in keeping with presidential

conscious
discourse,
advisedly
of the name of two continents
for a single nation-state
is a
of
the
referent
is
the
United
States
of
America.
course,
Properly,
discursive power-play.
10Bellah
himself declared
and had
Hammond.
offered
his
"swan
the topic moribund

song"
by
1980
in 1975's
in the volume
The Broken
co-authored
Covenant,
with
Phillip
300
Paul
Johnson
Christopher
that it was analytically

construed as an ever-present social
?
the human sacralization of the symbols of the commu
quality
?
whatever
rather than a particular content of
they might be
nity,
discourse.11 But as Jos? Casanova
has indicated, the fallacy of a
such
argument for civil religion is that there is no

the necessary presence of religion to anchor
social solidarity. Subjective individualism, not religion perse, provides
the collective force of industrialized states (Casanova
1992:37-38,
strict Durkheimian
reason
for assuming
58-60), which depend at least officially on "minimalist" construc

to
tions of religion (Lincoln 2003:58-60).
it is possible
Though
open the consideration of the discourse of "religion" widely enough
to consider many features of modernity, notably the exchange of
as Marx made clear in conceptualizations
like com
commodities,
?
cir
sancrosanct, unquestionable,
modity fetishism, as "religious"
cumscribed by taboos, larger than life, the very ground of being,
and so forth?
Casanova's
point is that since all such ontologies
are in the contemporary moment elective rather than ascribed or
required, it is that very quality of subjective selectivity that unites
modern
itself
societies. Unless we want to say that individualism
can be totemic?
but thereby removing all possible
circumscrip
we must
tions of "religion" as a topic of scholarly investigation ?
societies are simply not religious.
civil
Religiosity,
religiosity, depends on a particular kind
including
one
of legitimation,
invoking transcendent powers and eternal
sources of authority (Lincoln 2003:5-7).
be prepared
to state that some
some
regard to the question of violence. Though
that violence always entails ultimate and therefore reli
Just so with
might
claim
gious
claims,
11
Wuthnow
narrow
transcendent authority is not always
of civil
in general.
"religion"
derived
from attempts
tortions
into "civil
ther mired
civil
refers
(1994)
constructs
An
additional
to sieve
idolatry"
religion
to these
religion,
competing
which
roughly
(e.g., Marty
in a definitional
American
1987:72),
bog.
to justify
uses as broad versus

analytical
in the use of
echo differences
in the decades
problem
"authentic"
applied
civil
after Bellah's
essay
from
its dis
religion
a normative
hierarchy
that fur
Savage
Civil Religion
301
notes, men like General Haidar

(2003:10)
of Iraq, and Ariel Sharon of Israel have
Hussein
violence.
As Talal Asad
of Syria, Saddam
executed widespread
violence extraordinarily well without any need
or Torah to legitimate it. As with religion
of invoking the Qur'an
so with civil religion, which is not always or by neces

of a content-based
definition,
sity present. From the perspective
am
I
civil
which
advocating here,
religion is not inevitably present
in general,
but rather occurs when nation-state narratives are fused with reli
?
often themselves regarded as timelessly author
gious narratives
?
itative
of transcendent beings like gods, spirits and ancestors.
interpretation of some scholars, of the State as more or less

sacred, elides the question of what that "more or less" depends
of the State's repre
upon, namely the conditions and discourses
The
sentation. In this essay, then, civil religion refers to a specific kind

to extra-historical
discourse
relating state histories
of human
forces?
extent
spirits of the dead, ancestors, saints, and to a lesser

and institutions, 'fore
larger-than-life figures, documents
gods,
fathers' and constitutions, to the degree that they are ascribed tran
scendent statuses (cf. Lincoln 2003: 5-7).
In regard to its discursive content, civil religion entails neither
and religious identities, as in the fre

imperial cult,
quently invoked limit-cases of Shinto or the Roman
nor the sort of "public religion" as articulated by Casanova.
Public
the absolute
fusion of national
religions are initiated from a sectarian religious group that enters

the public sphere to influence the relative arrangement of religious
(Hammond and Bellah
pluralism. By contrast, as Philip Hammond
1980:121-22)
argued, the conditions for civil religion's presence
are that 1) religious pluralism prevents any one religion being used
by all people as a source of generalized meaning, but 2) a need for
that invest activity yet exists, so that 3) a sub
religious meanings
system is sought and, if found, exalted by those
it facilitates. Civil religions are empirical religions
are
distinct from either traditional religions or the state, pos
that
stitute meaning
whose
activities
sessing their own moral codes, ritual forms, and truthclaims

1992).
(Albanese
302
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
this is not quite sufficient either, however, for it is not the

case that civil religion is produced from outside all traditional reli
It rather partakes of extant signs and symbols
that are
gions.
Yet
already loaded with tradition, and detaches them from their specifically
religious venues for recycling in political symbols, speeches and
spectacles
(Zubrzycki, forthcoming). The process of recycling tra
religious signs and symbols into civil religious ones is not

an egalitarian contest conducted on a level field. In the USA,
for
ditional
in court might be
that witnesses
instance, there is no possibility
asked to swear truthfulness by placing a hand on the Qur'an, or by
in an Iroquois wampum belt. The religious
themselves
wrapping
is already highly circum
scribed by what has become known, following Bourdieu above all,
as symbolic violence
1991;
(Long 1974; Comaroff and Comaroff
some
reli
Deloria
Bourdieu
As
sectarian
1977, 1996, 2000).
1992;
field of "neutral"
words
and
symbols
gious groups' discourses,

symbols, and rituals are roughly approx
imated in civil settings, thereby naturalizing
those religions as
of
civil
marked parts
the
landscape, other sectarian religions are
elided or suppressed. However
legitimate transcendent appeals may
?
as
a
consensus
as what goes
social
naturalized
appear
given
or
without saying,
1976; Gramsci
1992;
(Williams
"hegemony"
?
Comaroff and Comaroff
civil religion is a fluid boundary
1991)
that is, and always has been, contested and debated, though that
in narratives of American
instability is usually occluded
religious
history.12
Top-down
or Bottom-up:
Ideological
and Organic
Forms
of Civil
Religion
Some scholars have refined the definition by distinguishing "high"
from "low" civil religion (e.g., Novak 1974; Hammond
1976). Though
taking a cue from this distinction, here I favor the opposition
12Consider
for example.
Philip
Hamburger's
Hamburger
argues
recent
(2002)
Separation
that the infamous
"wall"
of Church
separating
and
church
State,
and
between
and
organic
303
Civil Religion
Savage
instrumental
of civil
expressions
religion are based
of civil
religion.13
lived practices
instrumental civil religion
on
expressions
Organic
and are relatively spontaneous, whereas
is composed of speeches and ceremonies calculated
for political effect,

a
Gramsci made
Antonio
less
entailing relatively
improvisation.
and "religion
similar distinction between "religion of the people"
do not comprise distinct traditions, but
These
of intellectuals."
of even the
and practical experiences
rather distinct applications
same
religion. The
religion of the people is "crassly materialistic"

in that it is a direct response in
and spontaneous
(Gramsci Q1862)
the reli
religious terms to the needs of everyday experience. What
gion of intellectuals sacrifices in the immediacy and force of such
it gains in integrative potential exer

and
other official forms. Despite
any
speeches,
the Bush speeches in the
aversions one may have to denominating
there can be no
wake of 9-11 as "the religion of intellectuals,"
material
cised
however,
practice,
in writing,
to articulate a cogent
speeches were calculated
like altar
in a way that spontaneous material practices,
message
not.
were
building,
doubt
that such
State is nowhere
in the US
with
Baptists
respondence
tion to a Congregationalist
restrict Catholic
Klux
the Ku
revival.
cause
Klan
primarily
shows
by
religion,
embraced
force
as
contrast,
we
reproduction
and
argue
the opposite,
based
"low"
civil
and more
by
rhetoric
social
television.
the dense,
local
Jefferson's
between
of the extreme
common
and
an
idea
Right.
is to describe
change.
The
of massification
civil
"high"
social
reproducing
to be "prophetic,"
stability.
and
to submit
to military
training
and propaganda.
and
church
religion as
"Low"
civil
dissatisfied
problem
in which
networks
with
mere
is that one might

false
consciousness:
is likely to simply reproduce

ruling ideas assimilated
religion
discourse
without
It is likely to uncritically
accept political
likely
cor
in rela
grievance
its nativist-racialist
into
ideological
confusing
a strict separation
expect
might
concerned
with
on
rhetoric
the "Left",
is idiosyncratic: More
to maintaining
devoted
"priestly,"
from Thomas
for a specific,
anti-Catholic
appropriated
Hamburger
state, gained
13
My use
but derives
aid
legal
"wall"
The metaphor
of the separating
only
majority.
to
as a result of 19th century efforts by the Protestant majority
even
more
when
to
and
civil benefits;
efforts
stridently
acquire
canonical
became
Constitution,
seeking
through
question,
304
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
Yet organic civil religion, precisely through its crass materialism,

holds within it a philosophy
(per Gramsci,
"spontaneous
philoso
a
of
in
"sense
relation to one another, albeit an
things"
phy"),
implicit one of practice (Gramsci Q1375).
analogous
point in his opposition between
of the engineer (1966:16-36).
and
that
edge
L?vi-Strauss
made
the bricoleur's
The
bricoleur
an
knowl
acts
in
the world
through the science of the concrete, organizing through

the exploitation of the "sensible world in sensible terms" (ibid. 16).
The bricoleur (in contradistinction to the "engineer") creates struc
tures of meaning
only secondarily
through the arrangement of a
finite set of objects used to solve a given problem. It is not con
like "reflection" ?
scious, meditated
action, though something
to evoke critical revision ?
taken broadly as the capacity
may
occur out of, through, or following, the action's performance.

Instrumental civil religion seeks to fill in polys?mie space. Deriv
ing in part from the bricolage of organic civil religious practice,
it transposes an implicit language of objects, a science of the con

that is not only
crete, to an explicitly mythic discourse, discourse
transcendent but hierarchic in the terms it affixes (Lincoln
1999).
In the transition from civil religion as a science of the concrete ?
the altar-building process surrounding Ground Zero ?
to civil reli
?
as
discourse
the
us/them
division
rendered
gion
mythic
binary
?
transcendent when molded
in biblical
instrumental civil
tropes
a total system able to direct public opinion and

religion becomes
mobilize
in the public sphere. Civil religion as organic
action
group
no
practice has
conceptual coherence. Only instrumental civil reli
gion presents such coherence, though it is inevitably, for Gramsci,
a distorted one "a purely mechanical
contact, an external unity
on
on
a cult visually imposing
based in particular
the liturgy and
to the crowd"
is key here is Gramsci's

observation
(Q1862). What
that official (instrumental) civil religion tries to disguise and repress
the fact of religious multiplicity, which would undermine univer
salizing claims (e.g., good/evil, "You're either with us or against
us," etc.). It attempts to reconfigure what "goes without saying,"
and
305
Civil Religion
Savage
in so far as it is successful
to return from the
in this mission,
to implicit hegemony
of explicit
ideology
and
Comaroff
(Comaroff
1991:19-32).
The question that must be asked is, to whom are the effect of
discourse
public
religio-national
"unity" and the erasure of political debate useful,
and why? Civil religion is always an ideological construct that it is
interested or motivated.14 Any articulation
always and necessarily
?
or
of "collective
will"
whether Gramsci's
"national-popular"
Rousseau's
volont? g?n?rale ?
is not merely imposed, nor is does
it emerge spontaneously.
It is, rather, legitimated
(naturalized,
reified, routinized, primordialized)
through the political
strategies
of forging and delimiting the field of possible
identifying distinc
stick (Eagleton 1991:126,
tions, and by making such meanings
195;
Asad 2003:3).
like the
My argument, however, is that under rare circumstances
crisis of 9-11, something like a moment of "collective will" may
occur that is relatively unstructured, and relatively innocent of
are wholly non-ide
an unfounded utopianism. The more modest
ological
claim is simply that there are more and less instrumental, more and
less organic, kinds of civil religious enactments. The altar-building
strategy. To
is obviously
political
claim
that such moments
a relatively organic civil religious moment,

and assumed
civil religion's
second, more
movement,
co-opted
was rapidly
instrumental
form.
14To invoke
cast a villainous
does not of necessity
shadow, or imply
ideology
the fleecing of some by others. It can also be a Utopian vision
inspiring collective
It is in this sense that Sidney Meade
recalled
that "the ideal
action.
'Republic'
It was a vision, an artist-peo
in actuality.
dreamed
by the founders never existed
ple's
creative
Habermas's
ideal
conditions
Habermas
ologies."
grade
idea
. . ." (Meade
conditions
that probably
1984:285-86;
As
Gramsci
forms of
in Bellah
for communicative,
cannot
Eagleton
stipulated,
ideology.
and Hammond
be met
1991:130),
there are
empirically
could
socially
also
Rousseau's
1980:204).
rather than instrumental
(Althusser
be
1972:149-50;
ide
"positive
as well
as retro
named
progressive
or
or strategic action,
306
Paul
Let's
to 9-11
Organic
The
Christopher
Johnson
now consider
using
empirical examples of two distinct responses

the refurbished construct of civil religion.
Civil Religion
entire
at Ground
site where
Zero
the World
Trade
Center
Towers
stood
in a certain sense an "altar," a collection of material ob

in
space assembled and treated with specific techniques so as
jects
to evoke memory,
disclose
and present sites of ex
meaning,
this picture of the
change with deities and with the dead. Within
became
overall
ground" of Ground Zero, however, were devel

sites as occasions
for focused action, exchange,
"hallowed
oped specific
memorialization
and reflection.
Along Broadway
site was
memorial
in front of St. Paul's
the most
public
the attack. A
shaped in the weeks
following
block-long row of banners ("Jacksonville Loves New York"; "This
is God's War Now")
hung on a fence. The banners expressed the
solidarity of towns, civic organizations, unions, and countries with
New
York.
The
and T-shirts
Chapel,
fence was
lined with baseball

caps
additionally
and
each with a
places
organizations,
of Virginia," "Toledo Lutheran Youth," "God
from manifold
message:
"University
Bless America,"
"Union
were glass
Underneath
825, Albany."
deflated
Mouse
wilted
flowers and
candles,
balloons,
Mickey
ragged teddy bears.
Several blocks away, at the corner of Park Place and Vesey, an
altar was built onto the wooden
barricade wall
that bordered
cased
it was
a wooden
cross hung with a
a red, white and blue banner embla
zoned with "God Bless America"
and silhouettes of the Towers. A
Ground
Zero. Above
wreath. Below
erected
the cross was
large plastic angel had been placed under each tower. Under the
angel, the altar's shelf was covered with Jewish "Jahrzeit" candles,
and other candles devoted to multiple Catholic
saints. A Christian
nativity scene and a Hindu
image of Ganesha were prominent, as
was
a Yankee
baseball
cap.
Savage
307
Civil Religion
and policemen's memorial was erected in Novem

on the Hudson River side of Ground Zero, and protected
by a canopy erected by the city. Here were gathered collections
as well as
of photos and lists of the lost firemen and policemen,
The
firemen's
ber 2001
shrines built by families, friends and strangers. Lists

from different stations were embellished with notes
of the deceased
individual
inscribed next to individual names:

band."
2002,
dead:
"devoted brother," "loving hus

the
first
of
the event, on September
11,
anniversary
By
of the
the memorial
had been filled with actual belongings
compact disks of Irish music and empty bottles of Killian's
beer, ash-laden rubber boots, helmets, patches, and in several cases

the actual jackets that had been worn by firemen when the towers
from the wreckage
fell around them. Items salvaged
had been
incorporated as well, including two chains hung in the form of a
cross. Candles were periodically
ignited alongside pieces of cloth
contact with the de
traces
of
the
that
carried
last
physical
ing
ceased. These rendered the altars places of tactile as well as visual
and firemen
11, 2002, as policemen
remembering. On September
stood in groups recounting where they were in the year prior when
the towers fell, several visitors wept as they ran their hands over
as they
the jackets, helmets and boots. Others mouthed
words
on
wrote
notes
their
hands
the
Still
other
visitors
garments.
placed
and added them to the altar.
Under a nearby but separate canopy, many of the deceased
flight
attendants were materially
remembered. Between
and
September
of
November
2001, hundreds
teddy bears had been formed into a
at improvised
neat pile. Indeed, teddy bears were omnipresent
I received about the
altars throughout the city. Verbal explanations
bears were predictably vague:
affection," "paying res
"showing
pects," "an expression of love." This flight attendants' memorial site
was
by Spring 2002.
in the city, memorials
that were both planned and
then improvised upon took form as well. In Grand Central Station
already
Elsewhere
at 42nd
dismantled
Street,
to mention
just one,
a set of bulletin
boards
was
308
Paul
erected
in October
2001,
Christopher
Johnson
"The Wailing Wall,"

and left to
and notes. In Battery Park, an "eter
labeled
be filled with names, pictures

nal flame" was dedicated on the one-year anniversary, in September
of 2002, and this immediately became a new site of material dis
plays, with the first day after its inauguration bringing candles, a
hand-written translation of several paragraphs from the Bhagavad
the ubiquitous
Gita, balloons,
teddy bears, and photos of deceased
victims.
The sites were always unfinished, uncensored, and in porous process.

On the one-year anniversary (September 11, 2002), a group of girls
from London added a British flag to the fence in front of St. Paul's
and
scribbled
the Midwest
a note of condolence.
signed an "I V NY"

a cardboard box with
A group of young men from

T-shirt and hung it nearby. A
cut-out angelic action-figures

official
distributed
glued
delegation from Hawaii
thousands of magnificent purple orchid lais near the site, and these
became part of the unfolding process of altar-building, as they appeared
child
added
to the sides. An
on many of the shrines in the days that followed.

The same
occurred with the arrival of origami birds shipped from well-wish
ers in Nagasaki,
Japan.
By the second anniversary of 9-11, in Fall 2003, all altars were
had given way to
gone, and that particular form of memorializing
others. The displays in front of St. Paul's had been photographed
for display, and some retained for a permanent exhibit, but many
of the actual objects were simply removed. The firemen's altar
likewise dismantled and moved

elsewhere
along the Hudson was
in the city; allegedly
for permanent storage. At the policemen's
memorial wall nearby, only a single altar was erected for the 2003
scattered notes and bouquets again punctuated
anniversary. While
the fences
surrounding Ground Zero, the period of conjoining such

into
offerings
flashpoints of ritual action had passed. What remained
was an endless stream of tourists snapping photographs of them
selves waving, posed before the void of the world's most famous
in the ground, a semantic gap ready to be resignified by any
and all. These included Daniel Libeskind,
the architect of the com
hole
Savage
Civil Religion
309
"Wedge of Light" and "Freedom Tower,"

. . . stand as eloquent
as the
foundations
and
the
of
the
Constitution
itself, asserting
Democracy
durability
value of individual life" (mounted on the wall of theWorld Finan
ing "Park of Heroes,"

who wrote
that, "The
cial Center's
lobby).
Interpretation
What
could
be
a science of
bricolage,
there a structure generated out of the objects?
read
the concrete, was
in these altars? As
argued that the process of bricolage occurs as objects

from one context of use and recycled into new chains
bal
of signification (1966:150).
So, for example, Mickey Mouse
L?vi-Strauss
are detached
loons were
children's
detached
from Disney
entertainment
parks or the world of

at Ground Zero as some
amusement
and reattached
in
local rivalries and allegiances
thing else. T-shirts communicating
were detached from that original
towns in Kentucky or Minnesota
context of use and submitted
to a new one on the altars of 9-11.
The objects appear to be interchangeable indices of pop-Americana:

Mickey Mouse balloons, plastic spinners, baseball-caps, T-shirts, flags,
and teddy bears. Perhaps such objects expressed the persistence of
a vulgar American
vernacular, an unsightly but muscular material
franca.
Quite apart from the homage paid to individuals and
lingua
corporate groups, there was a eulogy to the nation, here presented
an insistence ?
in its most
whether war
trashy manifestations,
?
on its continued urgent vitality.
ranted or not
But was
anything being "said" through the objects beyond the

one of co-presence:
I (or my group) was at Ground Zero,
as marked by this.object now contacted both by myself and the
obvious
the object now representing our meeting

and passing co
structure
At
such
remains
best, any
opaque, open-ended
presence?
and highly interpretive. Perhaps we might hazard ?
testing the
?
dark hermeneutic waters
that the caps, shirts, buttons and signs
place,
that formerly were

rivalries were
and
nation.
designed to foment local identities, distinctions

here submitted to the broader
identity of the
310
Paul
Johnson
Christopher
this first level of civil religion ?

civil religion as organic
?
the submission of local distinctions to the national one
bricolage
at Ground Zero
condensed
took shape as a relatively inclusive
a
ideal. The altars expressed
dramatic national religious pluralism:
At
in Hebrew,
Christian
crosses, Hindu
deities,
"four directions" circles, Latin American
spiritu
alist texts, popular Catholic
saints' icons, and fanatical sports alle
giances, all found a place there and were left, untouched by official
Candles
inscribed
Native
American
authorities, as coequal
?
absence
at
in my
least
or citations
bols
was
symbols.15 Noteworthy
?
reconnaissance
in Lower
of
the conspicuous
Muslim
any
sym
the limits of
Manhattan,
suggesting
in the organic civil religion I am describing.16 As will be
in the sponta
presented in the next section, the physical absence
neous altars is all the more striking when juxtaposed with the dra
inclusion
in presidential
speeches after 9-11, for
strategic reasons, rendering the comparison more complex.
Next, the altars gave structure to the tension between remem
bering and forgetting, of rendering present in one place so as to
inclusion
matic
some
have
of Islam
relief from the constant burden of presence
15 It is
plausible,
inclusive
lated with
In a survey
ple,
53
was
cent
good,"
response
a cause
effects
with
their temporal
York
and
correlation.
Americans
in a way
reports
to the nation
Robert
unseen
society,
2002,
for exam
between
Putnam
form of civil
bricolage
of the submission
is unknowable.
(2002),
since World
War
to wit,
of
races
are
offering
religion
Sufficient
identity groups
here is to note
argued
that the attacks
II, with
and
corre
such as "race."
reported
16 per cent of African-Americans
the organic,
of such
was
religion
June 4-9,
that relations
only
in 2000. Whether
of civil
between
York Times
civil
inclusive
in other domains
of African-Americans
compared
of
that this kind
by the New
or consequence
to the city of New

bonded
social
conducted
per
"generally
a similar
moreover,
elsewhere.
greater
religious
and
an overall
racial tolerance,
institutions,
spirit
"public
greater faith in public
Alone.
in his book, Bowling
made
the observations
that contradicted
edness"
16Consider
the
civil religion. During
of the limits of American
this example
"wrote"
in
and
first week of January, Florida
giant
Jerry
Stephens
pilot
sky-writer
the face of it, this was a distinctly
On
IS GREAT."
the sky, "GOD
sort of act and message.
it is hard to imagine another country
Though
letters across
American
311
Civil Religion
Savage
The problem in the case of Ground Zero was particularly acute because
of the absence of almost all of the bodies.17 The long delays and
form
likely impossibility of recovering most bodies in recognizable
a
mass
tact
serious problem for mourning. The
media's
presented
a
or
in not revealing
bodies
deliberate
specific
falling
jumping,
filtering of too much presence, was here inverted for the loved ones
of the dead. The need for initial tact was replaced by the need for
the tactile, the flesh-and-blood
where
it barely
Boca
around
National
Raton
Public
that
Radio,
it heralded
said
Stephens
tion, and more

could
allow
draws
The
pronounced.
that might
to advertise
seem normal,
of flying an airplane
for God would
a second glance. This
the
time, though,
response was more
too
set
sounded
and
off a minor
"Muslim,"
phrasing
panic
the notion
here
of bodies
presence
a possible
terrorist attack.
Interviewed
that next time he would
exercise more
that "JESUS
specify
clearly
not possibly
be mistaken
a message
IS GREAT,"
or arouse
fear. The
he
on
cau
felt sure
is suggestive
anecdote
for
to present a civil religious

aimed
sort of message,
Stephens
but discovered
that some kinds of civil religion
"too Muslim."
are, at present,
American
civil religion,
that set of religious
discourses
and symbols
that "goes
our
in
as
as
without
and
"In
natural
God We
country
appears
saying"
utterly
on a coin, now needs
Trust"
to be more
as
marked
and
clearly
distinguished
Judeo -Ch ristian.
17The
final tally of morbidity
at Ground
Zero was 2,752. The number of bod
the trends
it suggests.
ies actually
death
ies. One
bers
score,
along
issued
certificates
solution
certificates
issued
to this problem
as ciphers
pieces
I am not at all
with
flags,
is that they had
of comfort many
the teddy bears
and
in altars
teddy bears
this
perhaps,
play so
to the memory
of adults? My
exclusively
to do with the problem
of the absence
of the
otherwise
has no
tangible form to the loss which
of them devoted
laid at the altars
by
should
On
almost
something
that they gave

no doubt communicated
uncomprehending
the victims were made
that those
devoted
family mem
and mourning.
memory
the teddy bears, which were
present. Why
symbol
to give
focus
to consider
the dominant
a part
dead;
corporeal
trace. The bears
to help
sure how
important
was
of the lack of bodies
of rubble
suspicion
rather
as of mid-January
2001 was
1,962
just 622.
at the request of families, even without
the bod
death
had been
gave
the sudden
symbolic
they left behind
tenderness
security, the sort

were
alive. Perhaps
they
to the living, to those left as bereft
comfort,
to their families
comfort
attack
as
lost children.
"children"
as rendered
were
become
now
and
while
present
"children"
If so,
it is not
that
at their altars,
but
in their absence.
312
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
for emotionally rich leave-taking. The diverse objects assembled on

for the lack of physical corpses with photos,
altars compensated
favorite objects, clothing and other synechdochic pointers ?
parts
of a
its wholeness
life gesturing
to, and temporarily recalling,
despite the body's absence. Perhaps most importantly, the altars served
to locate
loss within greater narratives, religious, cultural and polit

cases all three at once, as a form of practical history
ical, inmany
making.
That
the spontaneous altars surrounding the former towers were

regarded as sacred again became clear in debates about when and
to remove
how
debris. The
the accumulated
the altars along Broadway

New York Times described
in Fall
city acted
2002. Michael Wilson
it as follows:
to remove
from the
"The job is delicate, both

in
in windbreakers worked
physically and symbolically. Two men

silence yesterday, peeling worn T-shirts like layers of skin from the
iron bars ... He folds every item carefully and lays it inside a
cardboard box, pausing to shake the dust out of a cap or a frayed
so as
flag" (11/7/02). They cleared just ten feet of fence per week
Yet
the
void
not to shock passersby too abruptly with the absence.
of mul
felt in lower Manhattan
by the removal of the assemblage
tivocal symbols was quickly filled by words, the most consequen
by the President, and which were far

less open either to spontaneous adaptation or to interpretation.18
tial of which
18
To
were
fair, even
be
spoken
this site I have
named
the epicenter
inclusive
of relatively
and the subject of frequent ideological

religion was hotly contested
and
the heroes of September,
debate. To wit, on November
2, 2001,
policeman
fire fighters with 366 dead between them, squared off in fisticuffs over Mayor Guliani's
at the site from 64 to 25. To
to reduce
the number of firemen working
decision
civil
organic
firemen,
ers
tion"
(New
time over
was
the reduction
into a mere
clean-up
York Times
the issue
an attempt
to turn the sacred
zone,
a "full-time
11/3/01).
In early
of Ground
Zero
and
construction
January
2002,
tourism. As
burial
scoop
conflict
site of their broth

and
dump
again
the city built
opera
arose,
this
the first of a
four viewing
ramps from where visitors could survey the site, street ven
projected
to
T-shirts and "Ground Zero"
set
hawk
"F.D.N.Y."
dors
caps and pins.
up tables
the
This evoked protests from relatives of the deceased
cheap exploitation
against
Savage
Presidential
313
Civil Religion
as Instrumental Civil Religion
Speeches
In the consideration
of official presidential
the ques
speeches,
or
are
intent
bracketed.
It has
personal
authorship
tions of actual
upon that the lead speechwriter, Michael

is a graduate of an fervently evangelical
institution located
Gerson,
in the suburbs of Chicago, Wheaton
and
is therefore per
College,
the
for
of
references
of speeches ?
many
religious
sonally responsible
in the
both overtly religious phrases like "placing our confidence
been much
commented
behind all of life and all of history" (State of the Union

Address,
1/28/03) and covertly religious phrases recognizable
only
to the evangelically
attuned, like "there is power, wonder-working
loving God
in the goodness and idealism and faith of theAmerican peo

ple," referring to Baptist hymnody familiar to certain churched
adepts (ibid.). Here the perspective taken is thatmajor official speeches
views of Bush nor of Gerson,
reflect neither the personal
but
power
are rather collective
efforts, vetted by multiple members of White

staff and advisory groups at multiple
levels of bureaucratic
can
therefore
be critiqued as
hierarchy (Lincoln 2003:24).
They
House
ideology, as official representations in a way that ad-hoc improvi

sations, which may or may not reflect a considered political plat
form,
cannot
of a sacred
be.
site for capital
of moneychanger's
how, to combine
antithetical,
tween
orients
promising
ital viability.
with
sacred
financier, who
and Larry
defends
site consecrated
in this unfolding
public
as "hallowed
ground,"
discourses
restricted
Also
actual
notable
had
foundations.
The
uses,
comparisons
same basic
and
to Jesus'
issue
overturning
of whether,
the assumption
and
that they are
heated
These
have been especially
be
ongoing
exchanges.
who defends his design's
to
architect, Daniel
Libeskind,
appeal
of the deceased,
most
with
complete
in the temple.
commercial
the winning
the families'
gain,
tables
Other
debate
such
that denomination
debates
the territory's leaseholder

to restore lower Manhattan's
Silverstein,
the need
focused
and
cap
is the progressive
shrinkage of the
some actors'
that by Summer
2003
or
only to the towers'
"footprints,"
on how
deep
the sacredness
of the site
314
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
An examination of Bush's
speeches does not suggest the absence
of regard for the kind of inclusiveness of expressions I have called
organic civil religion. To the contrary, beginning with his inaugu
ral address, Bush's
speeches were the first in presidential history to
in stock phrases about places of wor
ship. On the newly proclaimed National Day of Prayer (May 1, 2003),19
the same day that the "end of combat operations"
in Iraq was
include
the word
"mosques"
for example, Bush said, "In this hour of history's calling,

are bowing humbly in churches, synagogues,
Americans
temples,
and in their own homes in the presence of the Almighty."
mosques
declared,
The
of "mosques"
in such statements presented a novel
of American
religious pluralism in official presidential
inclusion
recognition
discourse.
the speeches explicitly recognized, and applauded,

the
Moreover,
kind of initial impulse represented in the altar-building process.
The discursive
recognition of unity amidst diversity in practices
and beliefs, however, was in most speeches rapidly shifted to state

ments indicating the collective action that should naturally follow.
For example, immediately following the recognition of what I have
called organic civil religion in the address of 9/20/01, the President's

discourse initiated a strategic shift to a more ideological and instru
tone: "Tonight we are a country awakened
to danger and
mental
called
to defend freedom. Our
grief has turned to anger, and anger

Even within the context of the National
Day of
a sus
in the National
Cathedral
where
(9/14/01),
to resolution."
Prayer speech
tained focus on the organic civil religious phenomenon of grieving
might have been expected, a similar dramatic shift obtained. On the
extends:
of human
whether
to the level of the buildings'
loss of life. The
constantly
shifting.
19
Also May Day,
of Prayer" eclipsing
obvious.
precise
dimensions
the International
the primary
Worker's
international
foundations,
of Ground
or to the lowest
Zero
as
sacred
Day. The
symbolism
labor celebration
could
space
level
are
of the "Day
not be more
one hand
there was
315
Civil Religion
Savage
an acknowledgment
signs are not always
of a collective
state of
the ones we look for.We

are not always our own" ?
and
of that diffuse state of collective
?
"Just three days removed
mourning toward a clear political meaning
from these events, Americans
do not yet have the distance of his
tory. But our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer
"God's
mourning
learn in tragedy that his purposes
on the other hand, the channeling
these attacks and rid the world

The
motiv
of evil."
terms, became a leit

fight against evil, cast in apocalyptic
of official speeches in the ensuing years and continues to the
present. Only two weeks after the attack, citizens were informed to
"not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other
we have ever seen"; the world was likewise warned, "every nation,
in every region, now has a decision
to make. Either you are with
us, or you are with
referred toAmerica's
(9/20/01). The same speech

in a mission divinely mandated
and
the terrorists"
"calling,"
with ultimate consequences:
"Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty,
have always been at war, and we know that God
is not neutral
them" (9/20/01). The showdown between good and the
sev
"axis of evil" was invoked in the State of the Union Address
between
later (1/29/02).
support the invocation
eral months
To
sense,
that to which
the USA
in an absolute, ontological
reply, Bush's
speeches likened
of evil
must
AI Qaeda
evil,
repeatedly to the standard-bearer for unequivocal
Nazism
(11/9/01, 9/11/02, 1/20/03, 5/1/03). Since the USA played
a key role in the defeat of evil on that occasion, Bush's words exhorted,
it had to again
(11/8/01).
If America
take up arms, now again

was
"called
by history"
"to save civilization
itself"
(1/28/03), that history was

still rides in the whirlwind
one of divine
intervention
giver of God's
gift of liberty to the world.
("an angel
and directs this storm," 1/20/01) for which the USA was the earthly
representative: "The liberty we prize is not America's
gift to the
to
it
is the
is
God's
America
world;
humanity" (1/28/03); ergo,
gift
This was
a large task,
316
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
to be sure, but one Americans

had to be willing to shoulder: "Once
again, we are called to defend the safety of our people and the
(1/28/03). In the address that prematurely
hopes of all mankind"
the alleged end of combat in Iraq, Bush added, "All of
in
all
this generation of our military, have taken up the high
you,
est calling of history" (5/1/03). The calling was repeatedly affirmed
declared
as divinely mandated.
The "calling" to save the world was
cast in increasingly biblical,

in
the
language
increasingly
period approaching Ope
ration Iraqi Freedom
11,
1, 2003). On September
(March 19-May
2002, the anniversary of the attacks and the eve of Bush's pitch to
the United Nations for action against Iraq, the president's discourse
and
bilious
presented a shift from the recognition of an organic civil religios

claim upon it. In words uttered from a care
ity to an ideological
stage just below the Statue of Liberty, the speech
fully positioned
from statements like, "Yet we do know that God has placed

to a clarion call, "This
ideal of
together in this moment,"
.
.
.
America
is the hope of all mankind
and the light shines in the
it.May God bless
darkness. And the darkness will not overcome
moved
us
In the speech marking the (intended) conclusion of com

bat operations in Iraq of May
1, 2003, Bush's
remarks, spoken on
tower advertised "Mission
the deck of an aircraft carrier whose
America."
theme: "We do not

Accomplished!,"
again invoked the apocalyptic
we
seen
know the day of final victory, but
have
the turning of the
tide." Here "day of final victory" does double duty, communicating
in an
Iraq is embedded
sequence of events leading to the "end times," but
eschatological
to non-evangelicals
merely that this is only one battle in a longer
The
engagement.
speech ended by citing the Hebrew Bible: "In the
words of the prophet Isaiah, To
the captives, 'come out' ?
and to
'Be free.'" (The Book of Isaiah was a favored
those in darkness,
to evangelical
Christians
that the war with
source for speeches of this president, and was also quoted

space shuttle [2/1/03]).
ing the explosion of the Columbia
An
additional
between
device employed was

the distinction
of true religion and those who practice false
rhetorical
practitioners
follow
Savage
317
Civil Religion
the "fringe form of

religion. The speech of 9/20/01 disparaged
.
.
.
of
the peaceful
that perverts
Islamic
extremism
teachings
Islam."
mit evil
"Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who com
the name of Allah." The
in the name of Allah blaspheme
from October 7, 2001 derided the "barbaric criminals who
speech
profane a great religion," as did succeeding speeches (11/8/01,9/11/02).
Practically speaking, the statements were crucial to avoiding a pub
lic anti-Islam backlash. But they also conveyed an ideological dis
there is true
drawn in the Bush
speeches;
consistently
religion and false religion, the latter represented by the Taliban and
AI Qaeda.
tinction
In sum, the post-9-11 Bush speeches often began by invoking

the immediacy and force of organic civil religion, before then cast
ing theworld in the strongest possible binary terms: us/them, good/evil,
civilization/barbarism, real religion/blasphemy, The binary termswere

discursively linked either obliquely or explicitly to transcendent author
ity. In these strategic discursive shifts, organic civil religion, the shared
repertoire of practices that actually presented something approxi
in the need to give tangible form to
mating a "collective will"
It was
and the sentiment of loss, was hijacked.
form
of
civil
the
instrumental
civil
top-down
by
religion,
in which a powerful leader harnessed contingent political
memorialization
hijacked
religion
objectives to transcendent authority. This helps account forwhy Bush's

nomination for the coming presidential election took place in New
11 as possible: by returning
York City, and as close to September
a
source of organic civil reli
to
the
vital
and
spatially
temporally
gion, and
collective
form, on
symbolically
enthusiasm ?
to a moment
a move
of genuine national-popular
in classic Frazerian
depending,
of contagion ?
political power could then be
transferred to ideologically more specific ends, most
in
successful
that of reelection. The strategy was
the magic
discursively
immediately
of 2004,
November
as Bush
won
reelection
over
contender
John
Kerry by stridently linking the war in Iraq to imagery of the sacred

space of Ground Zero and to the memory of his own leadership in
the days immediately following.
318
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
campaign
image was of Bush
through a bullhorn as he stood in the rubble.
The most
used
giving
directions
Conclusion
official speeches were a "symbolic hijacking" of a genuine
consensus
for
built around mourning
and memorializing,
political divisive instrumental ends. Perhaps such hijacking is even
The
social
in the transition from popular practice to official speech,

since the latter is denotative and propositional, while the former is
inevitable
not. The key question

is not whether such hijackings will occur,
from practice to
but toward which ends. For example,
the move
discourse, from organic to instrumental civil religion, need not in
shift. Yet in
every case imply a politically conservative or bellicose
the vast majority of cases of discourse presented by agents of the
state since 9-11, the process of ideological
distillation was
USA
to military objectives,
and its strategic objective was the
instrumental one of generating popular
support for the President
and his war. This hijacking of the social force generated by organic
civil religion for instrumental ends was a form of symbolic vio
devoted
lence; it controlled representations and distorted them toward par

ticular military objectives.
That civil religion is usually contained by symbolic or actual
is not
too surprising,
rather suggests the rarity of

organic civil religious episodes. That civil religion is most typically
made and maintained by coercion or the threat of itwas clear even
violence
in the phrase's initial articulation

is infrequently cited:
While
of
does
not having
though the passage
to believe
from
them
the state
(the articles
anyone
who
him not for being

impious but for being
of sincerely
loving the laws and justice, and
sacrificing
for being
incapable
his life, if necessary,
acknowledged
them, he
by Rousseau,
to obligate
anyone
can banish
the sovereign
religion),
not believe
them. It can banish
unsociable,
of
the ability
the civil
and
should
these
for his duty. If, after having

publicly
a
acts as if he does not believe
person
dogmas,
to death. . . . (Book
IV, ch. 8)
same
be put
Savage
319
Civil Religion
was no such dramatic coercion

levied against citizens,
was
at Abu
force
used
such
though
certainly
against non-citizens
at
at
in Cuba, and possibly
Guantanamo
Ghraib, probably
Camp
and Camp Cropper in Iraq. Rather, the hijacking of organic
Bucea
There
civil religious force occurred through the formation of a discourse

the President's
official
community about the war, within which
speeches were only the most disseminated and influential part, that
it appear as an inevitable chapter of the United States' na
made
tional destiny.
of actual physical violence inmilitary actions were detached
in sanitized news reports filed by "embedded"
and
therefore partisan reporters. These became magnets
that drew addi
tional narratives ?
of individual heroic acts, of soldiers' leavings
and homecomings,
and of public displays of support?
that gener
Acts
and fetishized
their own
(Feldman
system of symbolic capital
once
economic
value
and,
1991:5,
commodified,
2002)
as well (Coronil and Skurski 1991:333). Old national mythologies,
II with its clear "evil" of Nazism,
those of World War
especially
were burnished to promote heroic events and figures which, when
ated
and
logic
7; Palmi?
imitated, yielded symbolic capital within that mytho

"Hummer"
automobile-sales
logie (Apter 1997:10-15).
exploded
as
Freedom
unfolded, as a civilian mimesis
during
Iraqi
Operation
of the war's daily broadcasts,20 even as the market for positive cin
successfully
ematic depictions
20 For
two years
large SUVs
selling
of the military mushroomed,

after the war's
in theUSA.
onset,
Commented
the Hummer
Rick
Schmidt,
with many movies
"H2"
was
the best
among
founder of the International
Owners
"In my humble opinion,
the H2
is an American
icon . . .
Group,
it's a symbol of what we all hold so dearly above
all else, the fact that we have
the freedom of happiness,
the freedom of choice,
the freedom of adventure
and
. . . Those
a
the ultimate
of expression.
and
freedom
who
deface
discovery,
or deed deface
in words
Hummer
the American
it stands for."
flag and what
Hummer
Added
cle
on
Travis
Patterson,
the planet.
drive
down
Times
4/5/03).
"To me
It oozes
the road
and
the Hummer,
patriotism.
everyone
You
the HI,
put
is honking
some
is the most
flags
and waving
on
American
the Hummer
at you"
(New
vehi
and
York
320
Paul
Christopher
Johnson
produced with Pentagon or official military help (e.g., "Black Hawk

"Tears of the Sun," "War of theWorlds").21
Down,"
As the discourse community of war grew, the practice of view
ing the military imagery transmitted "live" on television became
itself a kind of ritual practice, a symbolic and interpretive dis

course, or "semio-technique"
1991:261),
(Feldman
through which
interpellated into the US cultural repertoire precisely
"Iraq" was
through its destruction. To be sure, the destruction was a sanitized

version, with actual images of dead Iraqi civilians, their numbers
or names, edited out. Watered
by the stream of edited images, an
came to view
imagined community flowered, as each American
as
a
a
vast
and
readers simul
herself
member of
army of viewers
taneously
consuming
the same
"9-11"
images and reacting to them simi

and the "War on Terror" became a
1991).
larly (Anderson
funnel through which
meta-fictional
was
The world
remade
all information was
as a field of endless
siphoned.
battles,
reproduced
in state spectacles, cinema and endless television updates where, larger
than life, its truth value was rendered nearly irresistible (Apter
1997:14).
Nearly, but not quite. The narrative chain linking 9-11 to the
war was not immune to rust. As the death toll of US soldiers rose
(1,733 as of June 28, 2005),22
mass destruction that provided
of
and as Iraq's alleged weapons
the stated justification for the war
and as the public's attention span was tested,
remain undiscovered,
Bush's
approval rating for his handling of Iraq sunk to forty per
can there
June 24-26, 2005). We
Today/CNN/Gallup
fore expect that President Bush and other officials will revisit
either physically or
Ground Zero and 9-11 as often as possible,
cent
(USA
discursively,
21
"Black
Hawk
to attempt
Down"
was
into battle for troops stationed

22
the number
Meanwhile,
Project
estimates
from
23,140
(www.iraqbodycount.net/database).
to recharge
the batteries
reportedly used both as a "pep

in Iraq, and as a "how-to" manual
of
Iraqi dead
to 26,189
remains
civilians
unknown.
dead
as
of instrumental
rally" before
going
by Iraqi resistance.
Iraq Body
of
July
31,
Count
2005.
Savage
civil
321
Civil Religion
religion by plugging it into to the site of organic civil reli

"to traverse the circuitous route from abstraction to con
gion
as the person possessed
crete particularity and returnwith more ?just
. . ."
1997:
(Taussig
by a spirit of the dead returns with more
italics mine).
I
This,
hope, is at least a plausible
interpretation of the differ
ence between organic civil religion and instrumental civil religion,
and how the latter relies for its creation on the legitimacy of the
137-38;
religion can undergird a social contract by arising out

of a shared repertoire of bodily action taken in response to a shared
former. Civil
crisis, as it did in the altar-building that was indexical of organic

civil religion. But it can also provide the set of strategies and dis
the absolute
cursive tools for the fundamental
ideological move,
between
which
"me"
and "other" (Eagleton

1991:126)
by
If
in its
is justified.
organic civil religion is "savage"
instrumental civil religion savages, in so far as it prom
distinction
war
materiality,
ulgates and naturalizes
affixes
rigid binary social classifications,
to transcendent terms, and spectacularizes
and
such classifications
war
mythologizes
as salvific drama.
Department of History
Center for Afroamerican
Paul
and African
of Michigan-Ann
University
505 S. State St., 4700 Haven
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1045
Christopher
Johnson
Studies
Arbor
USA
paulcjoh@umich.edu
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AS SOCRATES SHOWS,
THE ATHENIANS DID NOT BELIEVE
Manuela
IN GODS
Giordano-Zecharya
Summary
This
as
or
the content
addresses
sations
of "atheism"
tigation
includes
of view
the point
are
"disbelief"
indeed
when
of Greek
such
It
religiosity.
is that the accu
contention
opaque
in the context
and
indictment,
of Athenian
itself: the main
of the accusation
and
of the sources
the background
understood
The
religiosity.
against
inves
a detailed
of faith and belief and into

inquiry into the categories
the choice of these terms in Socratic
underlying
scholarship.*
reasons
the cultural
from
"belief,"
terms of the Socratic
of key
the discussion
reopens
paper
"worship"
Athenian
belief,
was
religion
and
a matter
the conception
of
not of
of practice,
. . . did not
'orthodoxy'
exist.1
has been
of orthodoxy or fixed doctrines in Greek religion

recognized and stated many a time since the "ritual turn"
initiated
at the end of the nineteenth
The
absence
it has been
Smith.2 Nonetheless,
I wish
Nicholas
and
1
D.
to thank Camilla
Smith, Guy
Bottaro,
Stroumsa
century by W. Robertson
argued that the Greeks must have
Giovanni
and Bar
Cerri,
Zecharya
Cristiano
Grottanelli,
for their valuable
comments
suggestions.
Burnet
See
1924:5.
of this same view.

2
Robertson
Smith
usefully
integrated
Sourvinou-Inwood
1889;
with
Bremmer
some
20,
2003:12,
1998;
Bremmer's
of the contributions
on
for the latest formulation
valuable
reflection
the subject
under
can be
discussion
see most
the recent publications
Bell
for ancient
1992;
Among
notably
see Ca?ame
196-203
and
Ca?ame
111
1991, especially
1997, especially
see
16. On Greek
Bruit
Zaidman
and
Schmitt
Bremmer
Pantel
1994.
1992;
religion
here.
Greece
Koninklijke
Also
available
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
online ? www.brill.nl
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
326
Manuela
shared
"fundamental
that we
can deduce
libation, etc.: "one

polis certain beliefs
Giordano-Zecharya
beliefs"
that inspired their ritual action and
from their main practices, such as sacrifice,
can infer from the religious institutions of the
about
the gods which at a minimum

the wor
have held, if he were to believe that the
shipper must necessarily

ritual and accompanying
prayers, to say nothing of his ethical con
duct, had any religious significance".3 The inference of belief from
the mere presence of ritual relies ultimately on the scholar's axiom
that "ritual is religious and religion is belief."
In the last twenty years or so, abundant evidence
from anthro
pological fieldwork has shaken this long-held assumption by show

ing the intrinsic ambiguity and instability of opinions and symbols
in connection to ritual action.4 In many cases ritual forms are fos
tered for their implicit symbolic force in promoting social solidar
ity, and because
they avoid focusing on statements of belief.5 As
"ritual
mon
3
discourse,
religious
Yunis
and
be
would
(3)
not deny, however,

shared a com
that the Greeks
to ideological
for various purposes.
mobilization
are original.
the existence
(1)
the relationship
with
convergence
open
the italics
1988:39,
the Athenians
affairs,
does
interpretation"
this position
based
on
is to be
The
"fundamental
of the gods,
with
the gods,
1998:24,
of
beliefs"
religious
their interest
in Bremmer
reciprocity
found
(2)
in human
42-58.
Some
raises
which
the question:
"Is the opposition
'ritual' vs. 'belief not too absolute? Are rites not
also a reflection of beliefs?"
4
on this point, see Bell
1977. For a discussion
of recent bibliography
Goody
see also Bourque
as "sites of contested
of
rituals
1992:182-87;
2000, who
speaks
meanings",
where
going
it is argued
at a temple,
if you
well
however
mulation,
beyond
the integrative
that, "In ancient
and people
had
of ritual. The
function
intuitive, of this idea is to be found
in Robertson
for example,
Greece,
were
that it would
be
agreed
done, you would
they were
original
Smith
for
1889:15,
things were done

not to do them. But
certain
impious
asked why
have had several
probably
from different persons,
and no one would
contradictory
explanations
of the least religious
of these you
which
thought it a matter
importance
to adopt."
mutually
have
chose
5 As
Bell
municate
termination
1992:184
clear
and
of much
states,
shared
"Symbols
understandings,
religious
symbolism
and
symbolic
but
may
action
even
be
not only
fail to com
or overde
ambiguity
integral to its efficacy."
the obvious
Athenians
327
in Gods
Did Not Believe
pointed out, taking part in a ritual does not

imply belief in it but it certainly raises questions about
necessarily
participation, correctness and empowerment processes.6
scholars
many
have
Socrates
The Indictment Against
illustrates clearly the aforemen

The indictment against Socrates
tioned conflict of interpretations about ritual and belief inAthenian
religion.
The accusation
to trial reads, in my
the philosopher
interpretation, as follows: "Socrates offends the gods that the polis
them, and by introducing other, new
worships by not worshipping
that brought
gods."7
indictment describe it as
Many recent interpretations of Socrates'
a
not
of
of
atheism,
charge
believing in the gods, of unortho
being
the gods.8 In this sense Socrates has
doxy, or of not recognizing
6 Bell
1992;
see
also
and Laidlaw
Humphrey
intentionality
little use
in understanding
1994, who
speak
of
the "unin
states very convincingly

that there is
instrument of a pre-existing
doctrine or ide
of ritual action."
tentional
Bell
ritual as an
"ritual
she argues,
"are themselves
the very produc
purpose:
practices"
a
of power
of
tion and negotiation
cultural
schemes
relations",
way
manipulating
them. Cf. Bell
and not simply reproducing
1992:196.
7
tous theous men he polis nomizei ou nomizon,
Adikei Sokrates
hetera de kaina
ological
daimonia
eisegoumenos,
fairly consistent
Favorinus
in the other
Laert.
ap. Diog.
sources,
2.40.
Mem.
Xenoph.
letter of the text is
The
10; Plat.
1.1,1; Apol.
de Piet.
1696-7 Obbink.
24c; Philodem.
8
The question
is even more
interesting as it is not uncommon
same scholars who
show awareness
of the distinctive
ritual character
Athenian
discussing
gion
"had
religion,
speaking
the trial of Socrates.

little of what
of ritual and myth,"

form of impiety;
ism, it is often
important
of atheism,
we
and goes
namely,
For
should
on
call
to report
that he disbelieved
interpreted
reasons
to avoid
as kainotheism,
this term.
Finley
dogma
1968:64
about
that "Socrates
and
in the gods when

states that Greek
reli
it, but was

was
largely a matter
of a specific
accused
in the city's gods"

(65). As
as I will
later,
argue
but,
those
or belief
unorthodoxy
example
to find
of Greek
Apol.
for athe
there are
328
Manuela
as a unicum
been viewed
demned
for his "words"
Giordano-Zecharya
in Athenian history for having been con
and not for his actions.9 A full critical
by far the lim

its of this paper, and in fact, the use of these terms is pervasive.
speaks of charges of "disbe
Recently, for example, R.A. Bauman
states that
lief and new beliefs," and "alleged atheism"; D. Cohen
assessment
of the relevant
literature would
exceed
in the gods, not rituals, not actions, but

remarks that "the
and
conviction, opinion,
expression"; G. Vlastos
.
.
.
are clearly a matter of belief; the
first two of the three charges
"what
is at stake is belief
first one entirely so"; M.H. Hansen

says that Socrates was accused
in the traditional Gods"; R. Parker remarks that
of "not believing
"no argument, however, can remove the charge of atheism from the
the
formal indictment against Socrates"; M.F. Burnyeat paraphrases
in the gods which the city believes
indictment as "not believing
beliefs concerning the gods."10
in"; S. Price speaks of "scandalous
this point we can see two opposing trends: while the study of
ancient Greece,
along with anthropology and other humanities, is
away from a focus on "belief" and towards questions of
moving
At
ritual, power relations and symbolic ambiguity, a significant por

tion of the studies of the trial of Socrates continue to stress the
of "belief," "unbelief," and "atheism." The subject of

Socrates, then, or the incongruity of faith in a culture of ritual, can
be seen as a symptom of divergent trends in this milieu of ancient
importance
scholarship that I will endeavour to account for.

In brief, the reading of the indictment has undergone three main
phases. Most of the discussion revolves around the expression nomizein
Greek
tous theous, whose variant translations "believing in the gods" and

the gods as customary," reveal a clash of models of
"worshipping
the trans?a
religion: as S. Todd has remarked, "the more obvious
9
Parker
10
Bauman
Parker
1996:204.
1990:107;
1996:205,
209;
Cohen
Burnyeat
Smith 1994:179 and 2002:214.
1991:215;
1997:3;
Vlastos
Price
1991:293;
1999:82.
See
Hansen
also
1995:25;
Brickhouse
and
Athenians
tion the more
Did Not Believe
329
in Gods
the tendency to assimilate."11 From the end

century until around 1930, the expression was
as
interpreted
"honouring the gods," focusing on its ritual sense,
most probably under the influence of the ritual school.12 In 1930,
insidious
of the nineteenth
of E. Derenne's
the publication
book on impiety was a veritable
an
both
for
watershed,
interpretation of impiety based
suggesting
on doctrines and beliefs and for arguing against the ritual interpre
tation of the indictment, which
the Belgian
scholar translates as
to the custom."13
the existence of the gods according

"recognizing
This interpretation has been very successful up
to the present. A
initiated in 1969 by W. Fahr's thorough investiga
tion of the expression nomizein tous theous.14 In some scholars'
third phase was
opinion
Fahr
expression,
terminates
in that he
ambiguous
expression
in" or "worshipping"
indictment was
the debate
shows
regarding
that nomizein
the meaning
tous
of the
theous
is an
that can be
interpreted either as "believing

and that impiety in the Socratic
the gods,
as holding
understood
wrong opinions about the

since stressed the political aspect of the
scholars have
gods. Many
accusation and have similarly dismissed the accusation of impiety.^5
those who have taken the religious indictment seriously
Among
on Socrates'
in the last two decades
of scholarship
trial, W.R.
stands out as an exception in claiming that the impiety of
is a ritual issue, reviving in a way the old "vulgate" but
a different understanding and awareness of the ritual aspects
Connor
Socrates
with
involved
11
Todd
in the trial and in Greek
1990:19,
in warning
against
religion
the danger
in general.16 For
of assimilation
the rest,
in studying
legal
systems.
12 See
Burnet
1924.
13
Derenne
1930:218,
14
Fahr
1969:160-163.
existence
of gods.
See
see also
Fahr
also Yunis
217-23.
interprets
Socrates'
accusation
and Parker
as
1996:201
a denial
n. 8: ".
of
the
. . the
1988:63-64;
. . . and 'belief'."
verb is poised between a reference to 'custom, customary
[worship]'
15For a recent
see Brickhouse
critical assessment
of this position,
and
good
Smith 2002:207
and n. 47-48.
16
it must be noted, however,
Connor
that he renders the indictment as
1991;
330
Manuela
Giordano-Zecharya
since Derenne's
book, many scholars have employed the notions of

in the gods" and "atheism" in interpreting and paraphrasing
the indictment that eventually led to the philosopher's
death.17
"belief
Before
a closer
or Believing?
tous theous: Worshipping
Nomizein
tackling the semantics of nomizo, it is important to take

look at the semantic field of belief, to see why the terms
are inadequate
in describing a tradition such as
The polysemy of to believe entails the following
hitherto discussed
that of Athens.
senses:18
the truth or the existence of something or some

a) Asserting
that," "to believe
something (a
body, in its use "to believe
fact,
report)."
as a subjective opinion, to suppose,

b) Holding
bal construction "to believe that."
again
in, trusting, in the expression
confidence
c) Having
in" and "to believe
in the ver
"to believe
somebody."19
The peculiarity lies in the fact that the verb "paradoxically expresses
set
both doubt and certainty"20 (senses a and b). In non-religious
the gods."
See also Dover
who
1968:203,
"recognizing
interprets the indictment
as "accept
as
and Smith
and
Brickhouse
1989:30-34,
normal";
(or treat, practice)
on these renderings,
see below.
who
translate it as "recognizes";
17
Derenne
1930. See contra Dover
seeks to demonstrate
the unre
1976, who
of the sources
liability
ticular
considered
His
opinion,
and
Diagoras
and
consistent,
historically
tion of Comedy.
in par
argues
impiety. Dover
are the only two that can be
an inven
that the Diopeithes'
decree was
the trials against
concerning
that the trials against
which
does
Socrates
not
involve
a change
been widely
See now, contra, Lenfant
2002.
accepted.
18 I
take the verb rather than the noun into consideration,
to Socrates'
19Pouillon
in terminology,
as
it is more
has
relevant
trial.
1979;
his
"believe"
and
English
20 Pouillon
1979:43.
examination
"belief,"
is on
see Needham
the French
1972:40-44.
croire.
For
an analysis
of
in Gods
Did Not Believe
Athenians
tings, the context selects one of these senses;

such a selection is no longer possible. Here,
short-circuit, as itwere, resulting in an ambiguous
331
in religious settings
the three meanings
semantic conflation.
In the expression "to believe in God," unlike in the expression "to

believe in a friend," the selected sense is not only sense c), having
trust in God, but also sense a), asserting the existence of God.
What
use of
and modern
specific to the Christian
three senses, inextricably.
is the fact that it subsumes
case study of Nuer language, and Pouillon's
examples
is therefore
the word
Needham's
from Dangaleat
language, as well as the predicaments experienced
and ethnographers in translation, demonstrate
by both missionaries
that it is an "inex
that this semantic area has the peculiarity
portable" product of Christian discourse.21
In contrast, the verb nomizo has three main meanings:
1)
"To
as
have
custom,"
"acting
to
according
the
custom."
or relating to in a customary way"
{nomi
particularly when
it gov
2) "Using, practicing
zein ekklesian, anthropous).
3) "Thinking, holding as customary,"
erns an infinitive.
semantic configuration of the verb nomizo is centered on the

meaning of "custom, tradition," being a denominative derived from
the noun nomos.22 It follows that the Greek nomizo and the English
The
have
"to believe"
21 Needham
22
entirely different semantic
1972:14-39.
Ostwald
. . . immaterial
to the Greek
significantly, that "it is
nomos
context
in any given
is a rule, a customary
prac
1969:40
remarks,
of thinking whether
its characteristic
tice, or a belief;
way
as correct
accepted
He
argues
for a given
that nomos,
norms
general
texts see Ostwald
ship, most
curses and
and
configurations,
and
notably
the like.
being
rules
group."
specified
rather
1969:40-43.
prayers
is that it is something
See
as
also Ostwald
He
and
1986,
statutory norm,
than ritual practices.

shows
that nomizo
often
regarded
especially
is used
and
95-100.
in connection
to
nomos
con
in religious
and nomimos
refer to wor
On
sacrifices,
generally
called
ta nomizomena,
oaths,
332
Manuela
Giordano-Ze
chary a
that there is overlap only in the sense b) of "to believe" and sense
if "to believe"
in the sense of "holding an
3) of nomizo. However,
a
in
is
opinion"
applied
religious context, as in the sentence "to
in gods," this would be entirely misleading;
in this case,
believe
nomizo
to
refers
always
customary
and
practices,
ing," "practicing the cult," especially by means

The confusion is the result of the Platonic
means
"venerat
of prayer and sacrifice.23
innovation (see infra),

and of the superimposition of the verb nomizein in the cases where
it governs the infinitive, meaning
"to think, to have an opinion."24
The alternative rendering "acknowledging
the gods" is similarly
the gods that is
not
One does
acknowledged
acknowledge
some
were
if
but
fact
about
it
somebody,
somebody;
phrased "acknowl
or
the
existence"
the
relevance"
of the
edging
"acknowledging
because
exactly what
remains unspecified.
ambiguous,
it is about
for example, we would be in a better position to judge the

of the translation. Thus it is clear that "acknowl
appropriateness
gods,
edging the existence of the gods" (essentially a rephrasing of sense

has little or no point of contact with the senses
a) of "to believe")
of
nomizo.25
The
erence
23
Ta
to famous
the prayers
1969, passim,
and
the related
tous
theous.
that he who
nomimd)
24
The
will
oaths
knows
nomos
also
(IG
diachronically
honour
prescribed
by
tradition,
euchai
hai
See
the thorough investigation

by
occurrences
the religious
of nomizo
to the expression
attention
nomizo
particular
a whole
context describes
in a religious
range of rit
to temple
to purification
rituals (Hdt. 2.36.1)
(1.35.1)
12.15.30-31).
the customary
construction
requested.
field, with
from funerary
and
regulations
the sacrifices
customarily
examining
semantic
Similarly,
ual practices,
are
hiera
nomizomena
nomizomenai
Fahr
interpretation is buttressed sometimes by ref

for their words and
impious people condemned
belief-centred
the gods
is found
Mem.
See Xenoph.
of the gods
worship
4.6.1:
(ta peri
"Is
it not
tous
true
theous
in the lawful way?"

1.43 F 19,42 for the first time and other
in TrGF
wise
1.1.5.
appears
only in Plato and in Xenoph. Mem.
25
as
not get rid of the problem
like
does
normal,"
"Accepting
"recognizing,"
one
as
or accepted
from
it
concepts
implies
dogmas
arising
"acknowledging,"
should
recognize.
Athenians
Did
not for their actions.26 The
Not Believe
333
in Gods
inference
that "word equals belief"

and certainly not to the Athenian,
"words" were an integral component of any rit
to the modern worldview
belongs
according to which
ual act, and subject
Aristophanes'
to the same rules of impiety.
Clouds
and
the Question
of Atheism
shall start our investigation of the sources with Aristophanes'

Clouds, which traditionally has been taken to represent the accus
ers' point of view, as Plato already stated in the Apology. Clouds
We
contains, among other things, a religious accusation against Socrates

interpreted by most scholars as atheism.27 However, we should try
the propriety of this term as a historically verifiable

in
fifth
category
century Athens. The main point deriving from the
in Clouds
relevant passages
is that, in Greek culture, the assertion
of the inexistence of certain gods has an axiological
relevance
to determine
rather than an ontological one.

In the firstmeeting with Socrates, Strepsiades promises he would
pay the philosopher whatever price, swearing by the gods (245^46).
Socrates replies (247-49):
What
gods
are you
(nomisma)
Strepsiades:
by? First
swearing
of all
the gods
have
no
legal
tender
for us.
By whom
do you
swear
then? By
as
iron coins,
in Byzantion?
to reveal the new order of divine things (ta

Socrates promises
theia pragmata,
250) and introduces his new pupil to the Clouds
in a parodist initiation, calling them "our gods" (tais hemeteraisi
daimosin, 253). After their epiphany, Socrates announces
divine order and the decadence
of the old one (365-67):
26
Such
in word,"
27 For
as Diagoras
of Melos
in contrast
to Andocides
the other
ture of the new
aspects
sophistic
as Lysias,
who,
involved
who
6.17,
committed
in the comedy
trend see Muir
1985,
says,
"committed
impiety "in deed."

as
and for Socrates
especially
211-16.
the new
impiety
a carica
334
Manuela
Socrates:
Socrates:
these are goddesses,
Only
Strepsiades:
Giordano-Zecharya
for the Earth!
But,
Which
Don't
Zeus!
the rest is vain
all
Olympian
talk nonsense.
talk
is not a god for you?

exist (oud'esti)l
Zeus
doesn't
Zeus
a naturalistic
concludes
of rain, Strepsiades
explanation
"Vortex? I missed
that, Zeus doesn't exist and in his
(380-81):
= Zeus
now
Vortex
The
is
king."
equation Zeus doesn't exist
place
tries to
has been usurped, is repeated at 816-28 when Strepsiades
After
son Pheidippides
what he has learned, summing up:

Zeus out" (828).
kicked
reigns, having
statements
of gods are phrased in terms
existence
about the
The
of the opposition between valid and efficacious versus invalid and
teach his
"Vortex now
of a god's existence is fashioned

terms of succession:
"Zeus doesn't exist"
The denial
non-eificacious.
ditional Hesiodic
sponds to his usurpation or replacement

again manifest in the following exchange
his son (1468-73):
Strepsiades:
. . . show
Oh,
Pheidippides:
were
in power
Strepsiades:
Pheidippides:
Strepsiades:
respect
he
No,
No,
by another god. This is

between Strepsiades and
Zeus,"
you
are
so old-fashioned.
As
if Zeus
(estin).
course
Of
corre
Zeus!
for Father
"Father
really!
in tra
he
is (estin).
is not,
he did not;
since Vortex
it was
I who
having kicked
. . . 28
thought so.
reigns,
Zeus
out.
longer exists is tantamount to de

authorizing the symbols connected to Zeus. This process does not
to natural cosmology but particularly to the so
apply exclusively
statement
The
A god
cial cosmology.
28
The
codified
of
system
insofar as
resented
element
insofar as he
is valid
and socially
of Vortex usurping Zeus

implies a danger to the
our
the orphic-dionysian
solution). The
subject evades
entails
another
that the opposition
new-old
notice
threat,
model
(see
should
the passage
no
"exists"
from Vortex
i.e., from the cultural
nature,
pides
Hesiodic
succession
still we
purpose;
that Zeus
to Zeus
order which
a retrogression
from culture to
to
the
physis order rep
guarantees
implies
Zeus
of the genetic cultural

inversion
indicates the devaluation
by Vortex. This
the comedy
in the name of physis, which
represents by having Pheidip
beat
up his
father.
Athenians
Did Not Believe
in Gods
335
In precisely this sense, the gods of the old order have

lost their legal tender for Socrates and his school: as a new cur
authoritative.
but
rency replaces the old one, it continues to exist ontologically,
no longer socially. Deauthorizing
traditional gods brings about the
dreadful result that, if Zeus
is no longer authoritative, the oaths
in his name are no longer efficacious; at the plot level, inval
to reach his goal
idation of the traditional gods allows Strepsiades
made
of not paying his debts. The issue of oaths was as all-important in

in the comedy:
the oath represented
Athenian
society as it was
was
most crucial for the stability of social relations.29 The
what
gods and oaths was already evident at
a
of
246^48,
god was tantamount to invalidating an
oath. In this respect it is particularly significant that, in the same
scene, Socrates' explanation of the new divine order comes as the
strict connection
where
between
denial
answer
to Strepsiades'
question "by which god do you swear?" By
the same token, the identification between Zeus, Olympian
gods,
and oaths appears in the dialogue between Strepsiades and Pheidippides
(825ff.), as well as in Strepsiades'
argument against his creditors
the lampoon of oaths results in the impossibility of collect

the
debts.
ing
In addition to the axiological
of a god
plane, the non-existence
is asserted in terms of cultic oblivion.30 When
Strepsiades declares
himself ready to join the think-shop way of life, the Clouds ques
where
tion him (423f.):

And
you
Chaos,
not worship
shall
the Clouds
and
not
And
Strepsiades:
another
(nomieis)
the Tongue,
a word
with
and
just
god
but us:
these
three?
the others,
not
even
if I'd met
them by
chance:
no
29 On
30
sense
sacrifices,
nor
libations
the importance
Similarly,
of invalid,
he or she cannot
the order
crossed
be
of oaths
of Zeus
or
incense
offerings.
see Giordano-Zecharya
made
Cronus
out of the cult. Strictly
replaced.
and
2004.
the Titans
speaking,
nonexistent
if a god
does
in the
not exist,
336
Manuela
Giordano-Zecharya
The centrality of line 423

must be stressed: the Clouds
for the interpretation of Socrates'

trial
use the same expression as the indict
answer
theon, and Strepsiades'

of "venerating a god"
ment, nomizein
to the meaning
leaves
no doubt as
in terms of the practice of

cultic acts.31 Furthermore, we find in this passage a request for an
is the form kainotheism
exclusivity of cultic relationship, which
takes in the comedy, and which corresponds to the foundation of a
and educational order. Dover argues that the portrait of
new moral
as an atheist is inconsistent, insofar as his rejection of tra

others, but the inconsistency
gods means
venerating
a
when
modern
model of atheism as ontologi
only
using
Socrates
ditional
appears
cal denial
comedy provides us
with an emic view on Socrates' religious position: he is a god-despiser32
and a god-offender as Strepsiades cries out while setting fire to the
to understand
in the last scene,
think-shop
Strepsiades:
How
and
on
spying
beat
Chase,
Socrates'
but especially
dare
1506-8:
teach
you
the bottom
attitude. The
offending
and hit them, for all

for doing
(hybrizete)
the gods
of the moon?
injustice
their crimes,
(edikoun)
to the gods.
In these lines the main
charge against Socrates and his school

the
appears
insulting (hybrizein) and wronging of the gods
same
verb used in the indictment), rather than the
{adikein, the
denial of their existence or the introduction of new gods.
to be
The first form of denying the existence of a traditional god is of

an axiological
nature, while the second is equal to cultic interrup
tion; both result in a devaluation of the social order which the god
31 Cf.
but
also
Diopeithes'
Greek word
gods,"
215.
is engrained
onym
32
8040e. Muir
later
takes
In this statement
in any discourse
for religious
See
1985:213,
translates
the line as "believe
in no other gods
as
in
for nomizein
used
representative
of religion,
the
". . . those who
did not admit
the practice
decree:
in the
for believing
is the same one used by Aristophanes
nomizein
and
ours,"
225-30
this
line
the notion of belief

it is again evident how deeply
on religion, to the point of using this term as a syn
practice.
and
the play
on words
periphrono-hyperphrono.
Did Not Believe
Athenians
337
in Gods
guarantees and of which it constitutes an efficacious symbol. No

where is there a statement about ontology or about theworshippers'
thoughts or spiritual adherence to the content of a dogma. In sum, the

to affirming or denying gods presented in Clouds
various approaches
do not fit well with the ontological
implications of atheism.33
s Account:
Xenophon
When
is Doing
Believing
The way Xenophon

conducts his defence of Socrates against the
first part of the accusation
is perfectly in line with a ritualistic
the text of the accusation with
interpretation.34 Xenophon
glosses
ritual arguments:
What
of
evidence
did
the polis?
altars
of
of in arguing
they dispose
In fact, he
the polis
openly
he never
and
hid
venerate
that he didn't
at home,
sacrificed
the fact
that he used
the gods
the common
on
often
divination.
{Mem.
1.1.2)
on which
I wonder,
state that I do
does Meletus
judges,
piece of evidence
not worship
to be close
the gods the polis worships,
since whoever
happened
to me, as Meletus
in common
festivals and on pub
did, saw me
sacrificing
lic altars. (Apol.
11)
As
for his behaviour
were
towards
with
coherent
the gods,
Pythia's
similar matters. As
responses
to polis'
custom
according
invited others to act. (Mem.
is pious,
or other
a matter
phy
but cursorily
investigate
a study in its own right. For
cf. Winiarczyk
the word
atheism,
is available
(e.g.,
34 See Burnet
35 Cf. Mem.
Socrates
As
from mine.
siderably
using
1984
about
she responds
this
actions
and words
the cult of the ancestors
is how
that he who
Socrates
acted
acts
and
the question
an overview
1990, whose
of atheism
in Greece,
of the sources
interpretation
of atheism
and
which
bibliogra
con
differs
a general
remark, I submit that one should refrain from
at least in all the cases where
term,
another, more precise
kainotheism).
1924:104ff.
4.3.16.
In 4.6.1,
the definition
gods," not according

our the gods."
See
customarily.
and
of fact,
and
that his
sacrifices,
1.3.1)35
33 I cannot
demands
it's patent
on
his own will

also
another
of piety,
4.6.2^4-
an
between
dialogue
eusebes
but according
is a man
to "customs
for the insistence
on
and
Euthydemos
"who
honours
that tell how
the centrality
the
to hon
of behaving
338
Manuela
Giordano-Zecharya
Finally, in the Apology's peroratio, Socrates declares himself to

be perfectly at peace, as it has not been demonstrated that he had
ever committed (pepoieka)
any of the acts attributed to him. In
particular, "it has never been proven that I sacrificed to new gods
instead of Zeus or Hera or the other gods, or that I swore in their
names or mentioned
other gods" (Apol. 11). From these passages,
we
can confirm that the accusation
the omission
related
of Athenian
to nomizein
concerned
the illegitimate
customary worship,
veneration of different gods both by means of sacrifices and oaths,
and by spreading
this behaviour
through his teaching.36 Thus,
Aristophanes
was accused
Plato's
and
concur in drawing a picture that Socrates

and Xenophon
of irregularity in worship.
Semantic
Turn
So "modernly" persuasive
and well-written
is Plato's Apology
that many
later interpreters have held it to be the most reliable
account of the trial.37 However,
behind-the-scenes
Plato's version
is noteworthy for his non-ritualistic
interpretation of the charge,
In various places of theApology,
diverging clearly fromXenophon's.38
Plato uses the traditional expression nomizein tous theous that we
the gods, particularly when he dis
may interpret as worshipping
cusses Meletus'
is a wrongdoer first
(24 c): "Socrates
because he corrupts the young and does not worship the gods the
city worships, but other new deities."39
Once
starts defending himself against this particular charge,
Socrates
36 But
theous
accusation
cf. Mem.
einai,
1.1.5,
in contrast
uses
where Xenophon
to the rest of the analyzed
tous
the expression
nomizein
occurrences.
1953:7ff.,
Gigon
this as a direct influence from Plato.

explains
37 As remarked
see also Price
1999:85.
1968:61;
already by Finley
38 See on this
Hansen
1991:291-93.
1995, especially
6, and Vlastos
divergence
It is quite
unclear
"the definition
accounts
39
Cf.
on which
of asebeia
of Xenophon
also Apol.
passages
Cohen
as unorthodox
belief
and Plato."
18c, 23d,
27a,
and
26b.
1991:213
forms
bases
the basis
his
assumption
that
of the trial in the
Did Not Believe
Athenians
339
in Gods
he transforms the expression nomizein tous theous, "to worship the

gods," into nomizein tous theous einai, "to think the gods do not
exist"40 The
verb nomizo
of "practicing
as
is therefore no
customary"
longer used in the sense

an accusative,
but of
governing
infinitive clause.41 This transforma
"thinking that," governing an

tion reverberates throughout the whole Platonic interpretation, as if
einai were implied in all the occurrences of nomizein tous theous.
is a Platonic
This
as
innovation, and should therefore be considered

could not change the letter of the indictment but
to warp it to his own ends, thus avoiding
the need to
such.42 Plato
managed
respond to the accusation of impiety.

is inconclusive:
The Socrates of Plato argues that the accusation
if he is accused of introducing new gods, this implies the existence
of the latter, equating
and theoi. The
mones
in what
existence
the terms daimonia,
follows
of one
dai
should
category {theous)
logically assumed from the existence of the other {daimonia),
the particular is to be assumed from the existence of the gen
be
as
eral. He
Meletus
brings the accuser to self-contradiction {Apol. 14), making

seem to accuse
of denying
Socrates
the existence
of
gods, although asserting their existence in another way. Plato twists the
it contradictory and thus inconclusive,
charge on its head, makes
it as a veiled attempt to hinder and punish Socrates for
disparaging
his
successful,
insinuating, and
influence. As for the religious
scornful pedagogical
and political
he simply
accusation,
however,
the issue of ritual behaviour, much as he side
avoids
addressing
steps the charge of introducing and venerating
account
Some
scholars
for these omissions
non-Athenian
gods.
that
supposing
Socrates was actually guilty from theAthenian point of view, though
nonetheless a just and pious man in more universal terms. Others
claim that Socrates worshipped
the same gods Athens worshipped
40
41
Apol.
Cf.
by
26bff.
Fahr
42 For
Eur.
1969:131-57
Supp.
731-32,
for a full account

see Yunis
1988:65
of this Platonic
n.18.
transformation.
340
Manuela
chary a
Giordano-Ze
but with a different theological interpretation.43 These patent incon

gruities have perhaps contributed to the view shared by most scholars
that the accusation was merely a fa?ade to hide political motivations.44
The fact that Plato omits speaking about the cultic behaviour of
an omission remarked by many scholars ?
is indeed
Socrates ?
to
with
cultic
it
is
far from
customary
regard
practice,
revealing:
understood
that Socrates
would
a model
have been
of orthopraxy,
I
M.
As
have
McPherran.45
already stated,
recently by
of the actual religious
is
the appraisal
behaviour
of Socrates
beyond the subject of this paper; what matters here is the fact that
as assumed
of Socrates'
cultic
any discussion
side-steps
the gods of the city. To this end he bases his
Plato
purportedly
behaviour
towards
statement on an ontological
ground,
against Meletus'
most
note
is
of
What
the
the
indictment.
very wording
changing
is
Plato's
instead
the
broad
modern
of
acceptance
worthy
wording,
of the official version reported by all witnesses,
including Plato.
defence
The
scholars
personal
adopting Plato's
interpretation very rarely
or
even
mention the choice of the Platonic over the received
justify
for this otherwise unaccountable
version. A possible
explanation
omission will be explored in the conclusion.
43
For
1989, McPherran
Socrates
from
with
the Athenian
a different
interpretation
iprocity between
gods
nal matter pertaining
has
little bearing
Vlastos
behaviour
1991
of
McPherran's
to the soul"
(176)
the Athenian
1997
towards Athenian
point
be
in the gods
is clear
clearly utilize
45
McPherran
says." Burneyat
for a "monotheistic"
a belief-centred
2002.
interpretation
and
cf.
the "real"
cult was
sacrifice,
in
but with
of view.
highlight
the state he never

arguing
in the civic
position
of
the assumption
of rec
interpretation of piety as "an inter
seems
to refer to a Platonic
discourse
that Plato's
regarded
gods may
in the gods the city believes
the term "god,"
a picture
way, mostly
through prayer
cultic acts (undermining
and men).
of not believing
"that he believes
particular
for the second
1983;
participation
of these
on
and
reconstructs
His
dialogues.
and Burnyeat
guilty
gods
1979
McPherran
2002.
the Platonic
accordance
which
44
cf. Beckman
the first position
Bod??s
silence
as a sign
in. Vlastos
enough;
1997:7ff.
on
that he was
1991:41
that he believes
highlights
Socrates'
actually
argues
the insistence
for Socrates.
position
of the indictment.
Both
in
in the
on
scholars
Athenians
Did
341
in Gods
Not Believe
Piety on Trial
final point concerns the legal aspect of the trial, and in par
in the
ticular the likelihood of an accusation of impiety, asebeia,
or belief-centred argument. In this respect
form of an ontological
we should recall that in Athenian
trial procedures
the defence
The
rested on rhetoric as much
as the accusation;
both rested on the
to
of
the
the
capacity
judges of the truth of his
speaker
persuade
case. Although
the charge of "impiety" was vaguely understood as
against gods, parents and fatherland, the Athenian
wrongdoing
statutes do not define the conduct
criminal
as was
the case
which
such words
that constitutes
impiety,
offences, "but rather assume a definition
the definition was
imply."46 In other words,
for most
entirely subject to the evaluation of the judges, who, it should be

borne in mind, were private citizens with no legal expertise what
soever. As R.E. Allen has effectively clarified ". . . the Athenian
the ele
system was unbound, except persuasively,
by precedent:
ments of impiety were what a simple majority of the dicasts on any
said that, it follows that
given day thought was impious."41 Having
of
would
have
had
the majority
difficulty understanding a
jurymen
based on a denial of gods' existence, and even

charge of asebeia
more the subtle elenctic refutation provided by Socrates;
in con
more
account is
trast,Xenophon's
plausible and consistent with the
perspective. As Connor has highlighted, religious issues
prominent in the remaining speeches from the year 399 BCE,
where impiety referred to ritual matters of sacrifice and profana
Athenian
were
a secretary who rewrote the

tion.48 In a speech against Nicomachus,
in the "Socratic"
calendar of Athens
years 403-399,
sacrificial
46
Cohen
47 Allen
48
years
Connor
1991:208.
1996:6.
1991:51-52.
he
Socrates
lived"
Cf. Andocides
trial see Musti
of Socrates'
to "reduce
where
that,
argues
Lysias
to his historical
(475).
1 and Lysias
1992:468-78,
dimension
30. For
where
and
an overview
the author
reflect upon
also
of the
exhorts
us
the environment
342
chary a
Giordano-Ze
Manuela
from Nicomachus,
we
should certainly not learn
(peri eusebeias)
religiosity
the tradition. Our ances
but we should take into account
tors in this respect
handed
on
the subject
of
over
to us the greatest
to the content
by sacrificing only according

that we perform the same sacrifices
tune they derived
from
those
and happiest
of the kyrbeis:
they performed,
sacrifices.
city of Greece
it is therefore
just
for the good
for
if only
(30.18)49
light on one of the main points of

the
Socrates'
indictment, namely the importance of maintaining
same form of cult as existed in the Athens of "glorious past." In
This
also
passage
sheds
self-image crumbled, the more cru

the need to reconstruct an identity capable of retriev
?
however imagined and
ing a sense of continuity with the past
for
the
need
The
indictment
expresses
continuity by attempt
symbolic.
the more Athenian
this period,
cial became
ing to exorcise a perceived threat to the connection between future

and past: religious innovation was considered to undermine the link
with the past and corruption of the young to sabotage the future.
hinged on cultic matters,

and to the spreading of this
can conclude
We
that the trial of Socrates
to his personal conduct

through successful teaching.50
related both
behaviour
49
definition
The
common
to sacrifice
an
from
Athens,
continues,
empirical
as we can
viewpoint
if you
in Lysias'
is beyond
was
sacrifice
endeavour
Socrates
he
of
perform
is referred
including
must
be
religious
of
religion,
behaviour
according
in ancient
is empirically
to the rules of your
the young,"
to in the charge of "corrupting
was condemned
It
for his words.
that Socrates
the question
the question
between
the distance
of the apologetics
model
the cult
to tackle
this paper
said,"
to measure
and
this passage,
of the fact
mention
the scope
and what
in a belief-centred
from
deduce
city, you are eusebes.

50 This
is clearly what
and
"is
to the ancestors'
according
determinate:
cult and
traditional
hinges on following
than I who wants
there a more pious man
. . .?" (30.19).
If personal piety is untestable
way
behaviour
of pious
interest. Lysias
another
of his
the Socrates
quest.
of "who
of
Socrates
really
The
speeches.
and the
the accusers
defence
Did Not Believe
Athenians
The Category
343
in Gods
of "Belief"51
The terms "belief," "to believe,"

and "faith" have come to rep
resent the distinctive features of religion, or an inescapable
term of
reference. Today, however, the history of these terms is no longer
a
terra
incognita.52
than thirty years ago, R. Needham

argued against the use
of the terms related to "belief"
in describing other cultures since
and misleading
about
they represent an undeclared
generalization
More
a concept otherwise
immaterial to non-Christian
cultures. These
are
a
he
far
from
universal
terms,
argues,
category or
representing
feature of human nature; rather they constitute the idiosyncratic
category of the Christian understanding of religion.53

We may add that what is beyond translation is not one singular
sense of the word "belief," but precisely
the conflation of three
into one word, as previously mentioned.

meanings
is the outcome of a unique and specific historical
51 I will
provide
sive treatment
52
Similarly
tioned
Sabbatucci
would
1990:5
the heart
seem,
account
1972:40-50,
claims
of faith but never
the objects
ter what,
a summarily
only
cf. Needham
that, "The
faith in itself.
of each
about most
uninformed
of the question.
and Pouillon
of the scholarship
of faith in an historical
we
This
conflation
related
process
For
a more
exten
1979:43-51.
history
. . . Faith
of religions
has
in something,
ques
no mat
This monograph,
however
religion".
are discussing,
has the merit of put
as born out of an historical

perspective,
conno
the
"confessors"
and
the
phenomenon,
early martyr
specific soteriological
tations it is fraught with. See Needham
1972:21.
53
The
label "Christian"
is used
in this paper with the specific
intent of bring
to their historical
this
ing the terms related to belief and faith back
origin. With
ting the concept
disclaimer
negate
in mind,
the fact
terms
"Christian"
Needham's
thorough
and
person
categories
valuable
of
brought
up
regardless
model.
His
in a Western
of
this
label
environment
of their personal
religious
to the best of my knowledge,
also
Luckman
speaks of a "misapplication"
is however
critique of "belief"
this term, and
societies."
an evolutionistic
that the use
it is apparent
represents,
monograph
of this question.
See
investigation
the usefulness
to "archaic
however,
that any
1971, which
of
limited
these
by
does
not
may
use
identity.
the most
questions
categories
the use of
344
Manuela
Giordano-Zecharya
to the development of Christianity, particularly the accretion of the

sense of asserting and accepting a type of existence that is ration
for, to the sense of trusting.54
ally and empirically unaccountable
R. Bultmann has succinctly expressed this as follows: "In the OT
believe in God on the

the righteous (in faithfulness and obedience)
act
of His acts. ... In the NT, however, it is precisely God's
which has to be believed."55
basis
idea of trust is somehow
This
to the Roman
closer
than to the
in the sense, as C. Grottanelli has

conception
a
trust
in
bond of reciprocity "where gods
described
it, of having
were both creditors and debtors."56
of credere
Christian
54
2003:277,
King
in Needham's
contradiction
Christian
meanings.
Otherwise,
However,
miss
not only
King
Needham's
issue
beyond
Needham
status
of belief
Christian
though with
religion,
which
is the most
Scheid
1993,
the use
the basic
as
taken
for granted
have
all Nuer
sense
Testament
language which
56 Grottanelli
tackles,
among
verb.
the Latin
dence
(as
and
in relation
of
'trust'.
could
building
things,
In Grottanelli
obligation
gods. See
to Plato.
when
to
it. The
Linder
same
and
subject
a similar difficulty
"God's
religion:
we say, as we
be
paper
as a non
religion
of neglecting
on the very
expressed
'faith' must
is in any case,
of
but he appears
understood
I think, no word
is
existence
can
do,
that
in the Old
in the Nuer
for T believe'."
stand
1989-90:48;
other
Consequently,
. . . There
has
of Nuer
of
is Christian?"
the complexity
outlined
Roman
contribution
the word
in God,
faith
expressed
contractual
humans
by everybody.
I have
shortcoming
in his description
of believe
recognition,
1972:122-24),
important
see infra.
of belief and Roman
religion,
55 Bultmann
Evans-Pritchard
1956:9
1968:215.
about
the concept
for understanding
interesting models
otherwise
presents
almost
or
Western
is specifically
or an identifiable
range
'belief
specific meaning
one know whether
for example
the semantic
of
that, "if
simplifies,
(see
arguments
the
would
how
sees a
religion,
is of no benefit for
and Roman
that the term belief
conclusion
he stresses
In particular,
. . . then it must have
a
analysis.
of belief
the problem
tackling
on Benveniste's
the question
1994,
analysis
of reciprocity
he extends
and
his analysis
of credere,
the scholar
trust as understood
to the notions
in
of cre
trust in a god and

thereby connecting
of
to the reciprocity
based
relationship
of this connection
infra for the history and transformation
in credo)
which
and
credit,
amount
Athenians
345
in Gods
Did Not Believe
In addition to the semantic dimension, J. Pouillon has explored

He
the cosmological
implied in belief-statements.
assumptions
shows that the distinction between belief in God and belief in a
in the cultural distinction
friend is rooted
between
a natural world
and a supernatural world. "In our culture," Pouillon

argues, "such
a distinction seems so characteristic of religion ?
both for those
?
that religion and in
who refuse it and for those who accept it
are
so-called
the
currently defined by
primitive religions
particular
in supernatural powers and the cult given to them."57
of exis
this distinction entails two distinct modes
Moreover,
beliefs
tence: the existence

God
of man
world.
and God's
The
world, and the existence

them is more
difference between
and man's
of
an
we apprehend
consequently,
ontological
gulf than a separation;
these two planes of existence through two separate modalities:
per
ception and belief, with existence in the natural world on one hand
and the ultra-mundane world of God being be

being perceived,
refer to an absolute reality,
lieved in on the other. Belief-statements
to empirical perception.
of religion,
In a belief-centred model
inaccessible
in a
the truth expressed
to
matter-of-fact
the
ordinary
religious dogma
and religious tenets
world of everyday things but tometaphysics,"58
such as the existence of God are, in the terms of M. Southwold,
"does
not relate
"empirically indeterminate," not being open to empirical verification.59

the situation is very different;
Yet, if we turn to Greek material,
as
are
all
but
they are in the interconnected
metaphysical, merged
gods
ness of theworld, visible and present in every aspect of theworld and
human activity.60 Zeus'
existence is not empirically
indeterminate,
57
Pouillon
1979:44.
58 Leach
1967: 45.
59 Southwald
1978:633
of Christian
not
faith as
seen" (Hebrews
60 For extensive
Vernant
passim.
1974:117ff.,
"the
This view
is consistent with the definition
and passim.
assurance
of things
of things hoped
for, the conviction
11:1).
treatments
and
of these aspects
1995:5-12;
Oudemans
of Greek
gods
and Lardinois
and
cosmology,
1987:
92-96
see
and
346
Manuela
insofar as Zeus
coincides
chary a
Giordano-Ze
so many aspects of daily life: to

to deny the world altogether. This is the
with
the gods would be

pivotal point of the semantic
deny
in this paper:
issue being addressed
a
terms
the analysis of culture in
of belief implies that the same dual
istic cosmological
model
governs the culture under examination.
The projection of the emic category of belief results, therefore, in
a manifest
heuristic fallacy, since the dichotomy

found in non-monotheistic
cultures.
M.
is nowhere
to be
in their insightful review of Roman

and J. Scheid,
religion from the point of view of belief, describe Roman "belief"
as an act, a savoir faire rather than a savoir penser (giving their
Linder
title "Quand
croire c'est faire"). Their
the programmatic
analysis is successful in sketching the distinctive features of both
Roman and Christian religions, and by writing "faith" and "belief"
paper
a distance from these

in quotation marks
they help to maintain
terms. However,
this contribution falls short of calling fully into
the
usefulness
of the notions of belief and faith. The
question
seek out those religious and social tenets thatmight stand
for Christian beliefs: again, this has the effect of implicitly accept
scholars
ing the discourse of belief as the objective unit of measurement,

however stretched and upturned, of a religion qua religion.61
In attempting to use the term "belief" productively, we could
a careful distinction, as does Southwald who equates

believing with "holding as true"; however, we would always run
the risk of conflating meanings on our own behalf or on that of our
strive to make
61
Linder
and
Scheid
1993:50.
the authors
Interestingly,
seem
to employ
an
the Christian-borne
tone, defending Roman
charge of
religion against
"apologetic"
48 and 57 where,
See particularly
concluding
being a cold and empty religion.
du
dans
les mentalit?s
romaines
faut chercher
their arguments,
they say, "S'il
d?but
de
l'?re
donc
pas
dans
"foi"
des Romains
evident
chr?tienne
l'appareil
that belief
une
religieux
? celle
proprement
des
dit qu'il
religions
faut
r?v?l?es,
la chercher.
le religieux"
(58).
large et englobait
as a universal
faith are accepted
category.
?tait plus
and
foi semblable
Here,
ce n'est
...
La
it seems
Athenians
Did
Not Believe
in Gods
347
audience.62 King proposes

to define belief as a "conviction
that an
individual
holds independently
of the
(or group of individuals)
need for empirical support."63 This definition, if it is such, further
confuses
Christian
and non-Christian contexts. Moreover,

I cannot
should continue using a term, however traditional and
at the risk of warping our understanding, particularly
evocative,
since other terms such as conviction, opinion or understanding are
see why we
As Pouillon
states, we would be using a category that
"isn't even clear for us, or at least is a disintegrated category, whose
disintegration is precisely a singular cultural phenomenon."b4
available.
To
conclude
this assessment,
the polys?mie
conflation and the
term
in
inherent
the
make
the use of this
cosmology
belief
category a heuristic fallacy. I suggest therefore that the term be
in referring to non-monotheistic
carefully avoided
religious tradi
dualistic
tions, since belief is not one of those "scholarly constructs of which

the definitions remain up for negotiation and adaptation."65 We can
not easily escape the cognitive condition in which the uncritical use
of cultural keywords results in the projection
upon the reality studied.
of an implicit model
Conclusion
As
Greece
indictment has shown, in ancient

be better to speak of a community of performers
the examination
it would
of Socrates'
rather than a community of believers.66

"Greek religion" is, in turn, to be understood
in the sense that themunicipal,
local dimension
primarily as civic
saturates all its spheres;
62 Southwald
631.
1978:628,
63
2003:278.
King
64
Pouillon
1979:47, my italics.
65 See Bremmer
and "ritual."
1998:30,
referring to the terms "religion"
66 To
a famous
are those who
Herodotean
Greeks
definition,
paraphrase
in the same way and share the same idea of sacred space: Hdt. 8.144.2.
sacrifice
348
Manuela
Giordano-Zecharya
the gods were one with their polis and its citizens, politai.67 Posited
at the opposite
end of the ecumenical
purview of Christianity,
Greek religiosity measures piety by adherence to the custom of the
city, the nomos poleos as Xenophon
worship the gods the way the polis
puts it, and what matters is "to

itself worships." Definitions of
piety and impiety depend therefore on what

and not on what you believe in or how.68
at the trial from the Athenian
Looking
how
worthy
incongruent Plato's account
polis
you belong
to
point of view, it is note

is in this respect, and we
might wonder why the Platonic

interpretation of the indictment
as opposed
to those of Xenophon
has been so successful,
and
were
con
G.
Vlastos
has
that
Socrates'
argued
Aristophanes.69
gods
tradition, in that they were entirely good and
trary to Athenian
and somehow
moral,
stripped of their fundamental
ambiguity
on
I
rationalized.70
and Smith
the anachro
agree with Brickhouse
nism of this view: "There is no ancient evidence for supposing that
were
his contemporaries
troubled by Socrates'
ethical
alleged
trans
67 The
focus of Greek
life was
the worship
of the gods and that relied
religious
on the customs
and laws, oral and written, of the city and/or the group
ultimately
or subgroup
to which each individual belonged.
For an insightful account of actual
to the understanding
contribution
Parker
1996.
68 If we
would
really want
that would
Greece,
the rules
religion,
non
savoir-penser"
69
This,
torical
more
be:
however,
Socrates.
reliable
On
"?tait
and
not
account
position may
the trial. Once
again,
of Socratic
70
Vlastos
in the sense
imply
the contrary,
religiosity
1991.
than
and
avant
Scheid
tout un
not Socrates'
C'?tait
un
savoir-faire
et
in his portrayal of the his

to think that he may have been
sources. His
to Socrates'
adherence
wrong
inclined
the other
is at stake
acte.
1993:50).
that he was
I am
for his wilful
what
tenet from ancient

religious
to
to
the
gods according
appropriately
that Linder
and Scheid
have outlined
for
accepted
sacrifice
(Linder
does
and
religion.
to infer an
piety
in this respect
actual
on
or
Greek
1988, a ground-breaking
see
For Athenian
religion,
1990
of Greek
shall
you
of your polis;
Roman
un
see Sourvinou-Inwood
of this system
workings
distortion
of the Athenian
in this paper
religiosity.
point of view
is the Athenian
perception
Did Not Believe
Athenians
formation of the gods,
seem
may
however
in Gods
revolutionary
349
that transformation
to us."71
I would
conception
to our
further argue that it is precisely
the relevance
so
of religiosity that has made
the Platonic
version
authoritative, despite its incongruence with the other accounts. Socratic

religiosity iuxta Platonic understanding contains an outstanding degree
Socrates is represented as spreading an

"anticipation."
idea of piety as service to gods without any personal advantage, a
selfless worship
that, unlike contemporary Athenian practice, does
not aim to attain a personal benefit, and is more or less explicitly
of Christian
as a superior
example is Vlastos'
of religion in this respect. A

conception
account of Socratic piety: "From religion
good
as Socrates understands itmagic
is purged ?
all of it, both white
and black. In the practice of Socratic piety man would not pray to
evaluated
god, 'My will be done through thee,' but 'Thy will be done through
In this passage Christian undertones emerge quite clearly,
me'."72
as well as derogatory assessments of Greek religion, labelled "magic"
in Frazerian fashion. Stripping the relationship with gods from any
form of "credit"
Platonic
religiosity may be seen as a Socratic

taken up later by Christianity.73
that Socrates has been seen specifically as a figura
from Greek
innovation
I would
add
of Jesus by many Christian authors.74 This association

ably in the fact that both figures sustain an allegedly
lies presum
superior reli
giosity to the one of the culture of their times, and both are met
with an allegedly
radical opposition
by their own people. This
more or less hidden comparison
a devaluation of the peo
to
leads
ples
71
72
73
74
for not having
in question
Brickhouse
Vlastos
Grottanelli
See
gathered
Smith
and
2002:211,
my
recognized
the superiority of the
italics.
1996:155-56.
1994:673.
the sources
on Socrates
in Giannantoni
as pr?figuration
1971:499ff.
of Jesus
from Justin to Clement,
350
Manuela
Giordano-Zecharya
new religion. For example, Burnyeat states thatSocrates' condemnation

shows "the impiety of Athenian religion," adding that,
saw as his wrong
from within
that religion,
inevitably
a
to improve
to
the true god's
them
mission
their
of
gift
them into a better religion. They judged as they did out of
souls, to educate
For they had the wrong
the first martyr for
religion, and he was
ignorance.
. . . 75
the true religion.
What
the Athenians,
ing the city was
the terms chosen

in Burnyeat's
Interestingly,
as
to
Socratic
Athenian religious positions
opposed
assessment
of
seem to repro
opposition of vera and falsa religio.76

trial of Socrates
is a subject that rouses a high degree of
moral involvement in many scholars, sometimes at the expense of
the appropriate
from the historical object.
distance
maintaining
duce
the Christian
The
such an
While
leads
easily
the
involvement
to a misuse
not be undesirable
may
of contemporary
categories
in itself, it
in interpreting
past.
Giordano-Zecharya
Manuela
hesperos@zecharya.com
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&
ELOQUENT BODIES: RITUALS IN THE

CONTEXTS OF ALLEVIATING SUFFERING
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
Summary
It seems
that the revitalization

a new
of developing
Mi'kmaq
Indians
dominant
to rework
opens
of
traditional
and
embodiment
rituals
identity.
has
The
been
an effective
of
ability
way
the Canadian
body, historically
imposed on them by the
to weeding
out destructive
patterns unconsciously
the cultural
the way
society,
or consciously
in their bodies.
embedded
The ritual opens up oppor
historically
new habitus and to employ
tunities to explore
shared with
the body in a domain
like-minded
the world. The rit
peers so as to facilitate new ways of approaching
uals
ered
thus provide
by hegemonic
new way
of being
redemptive
opportunities
contexts,
and
for bodies
simultaneously
that have
offer
social
been
disempow
affirmation
of
the
in the world.
My aim in this article is to discuss the significance of the mind

ful body as an active agent in ritual practices, situated in specific social
contexts and historical circumstances. I take a critical stance to intel
lectualism, which has defined the body as a passive object and, as
manifested
such, only a reflection of ideas and symbolic meanings
in ritual practices. By contrast, phenomenology
has shown that it is
with a mindful
of attention that we
body and somatic modes
the world and that bodies are active in learning and remem
It
is not only our mind that constructs identities and "imag
bering.
our body is at work simultaneously,
and the
ined communities";
has
blind
between
mind
and
Cartesian
alleys
split
body
generated
to psychiatrist David Bathgate, cogni
in ritual studies. According
approach
tive science
disembodied
has opposed
this dualism, stating that the concept of a
of as an
"Mind
is conceived
mind
is misleading:
interactive process
Koninklijke
Also
available
involving brain, body
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
- www.brill.nl
online
NUMEN,
and world,
Vol.
in reciprocal
52
357
Bodies
Eloquent
If we consider
the notion of
causality."1
for healing, since
rituals become
important means
situates the participant in a shared domain where
interactions
of mutual
mindful
bodies,
the performance
new ways of approaching
I will
the world may be experienced.
and
of the importance of bodily experiences
base my discussion
on
cases
field
from
taken
in
ritual
my
agency
primarily
practice
Indians (1992-1993,
studies conducted inCanada among theMi'kmaq
1996, 2000), but I will also discuss
fieldwork in Tonga (1998, 2001).
from my
examples
the Body
Through
Learning
comparative
is traditionally perceived as a highly intellec

lead to the fallacy that it is only by using
has
which
tual pursuit,
our mind that we may progress in learning and problem solving. If
you go to a therapist and
dysfunctional,
you become mentally
so
words
the
attend regular sessions,
(intellectual insights) will take
the pain away.2 Ritual healing among "the others" is viewed with
some recognition that it appears to make
curiosity: at best, there is
as a
at
worst, this bodily praxis is dismissed
people feel better;
education
Western
bal
aware
and
affair,
approach
that analysts
in healing
over-emphasised
bestseller,
Even
Cartesianism.
and
mind
soma
(body
meaning,
a patient
physical
such
may
setting
to dismiss
as Reich
le dire
pour
that much
that isolates
as a highly ver
psychoanalysis
another
introduced
have
(1949)
("The Words
of psychiatric
his or her body
talk about
and Kirmayer
1988,
have been
more mental
approaches
point is that the
in Marie
title
the
for
a person.
Note,
example,
practice
psychodynamic
there is a split "this time
who
Gordon
1996:1,
the term "psychosomatic"

It is a misleading
and mind).
interacts with
traditional
Le mots
claims
Bathgate
also McGuire
that it is a bit drastic
to therapy, but my
Cardinal's
David
see
2003:277;
Bathgate
1988.
2 I am
to Say
has
thinking
implies a dualism
question
It").
been
to ask
between
involving
the body
the actual
but does
body"
so
(283).
even
reflective
in a symbolically
by
psyche
a person's
how
2003:282).
Bathgate
(Bathgate
on the grounds
that, although
the rational
Psychiatrist
bedevilled
dismisses
it focuses
on
therapist
and
significant
358
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
beliefs. But we must ask our

primitive artifact, based on magical
selves: do we learn by practice and can bodies think and memo
rize?3 Have we, because we live in a society of Western
literacy,
basic bodily experi
learning and dismissed
that cognition is "not the representation of a
pre-given world by a pre-given mind but is rather the enactment of
a world and a mind on the basis of a history of the variety of
overvalued
ences?
cerebral
Could
it be
that a being in the world performs"?4 Meredith McGuire

calls for a greater awareness among scholars of how our body becomes
a locus for societal and political uses. She asks for a "new con
actions
of a mindful
(and
body" and states that "believers
are
not
non-believers)
merely disembodied
spirits, but that they
a material world
in and through their bodies."5
If we
experience
that
and
not
an
do
emanate
from
active
accept
learning
memorizing
mind in a passive body, we may come closer to
understanding the
and experiences
importance of rituals and how embodied memories
can be reworked into new ways of
in
the world ?
and, in
being
the aftermath of our reorientation, serve as a focus for reflection.
ceptualization
Csordas
maintains
that anthropologists,
in their studies of how
the
have
world,
perceive
commonly paid special attention
to visual perception. This has led to a
neglect of the study of how
senses interplay.
more
is
a function of
than
Perception
cognition.6
I will give two
of
examples
learning by practice that suggest the
the body as a "field of perception
importance of acknowledging
and practice."7 These
embodied memories
are what Connerton
humans
would
3
ories
refer to as habitual:
According
to Connerton
(e.g., psychoanalysts)
studies of universal
mental
"a knowledge
and a remembering
in the
scholars have focused

on personal mem
(1989:29),
or to cognitive memory
in their
(e.g., psychologists
or less neglected
but more
the notion of
faculties),
habit memory.
4
and Rosch
1991.
V?rela,
Thomason,
5
McGuire
1990:283.
6
Csordas
1990:35.
7
Csordas
ibid. See also
Merleau-Ponty
1964:15.
359
Bodies
Eloquent
hands and in the body; and in the cultivation of habit it is our body
which 'understands.'"8 So, imagine you are baking bread and, although
you carefully follow the recipe, you fail. If you then ask someone
is good at baking about
person will probably answer:
who
the exact amount of flour needed, this

"You'll feel it." I remember a woman
tapped her knuckles on the bread loaves when she took them
out of the oven. The sound of the warm bread told her "baked" or
who
"not ready," but for many of us this sound is dead or meaningless

noise. There is one obvious fact we may learn from this example:
You become a good baker by baking, and not by reading recipes or
setting the timer. You respond to the sound in deciding whether the
bread is ready and you use your hand to feel the proper consis
tency of the dough, rather than reading the answer in a cookbook.
There
are occasions
more manifest.
when
embodied
memories
become
even
learnt to play one of Chopin's

etudes
get interrupted, it is nearly impossible to
by rote and occasionally
"think" of how to resume playing. You have to go back and start
If you have
remember how to proceed.9

from a point where
your fingers
Mostly, we are not aware of how our body learns and memorizes
in daily
activities
though bodily
8
we
Connerton
have
practices
1989:95.
have
memories,
cognitive
etc. The
words
Once
you
learn
Connerton
of personal
the class
individuals
single
in interacting with
remain unconscious
and
last class
it, it stays
criticized
by Whitehouse
criticizing
?
Cartesian
in your
of memories
body.
of memories.
First
life stories, wherein
to what
the remembrance
covering
third and
have
in specific
embedded
access
Al
to us, once we
three classes
distinguishes
memories,
their unique
the environment.
Next
class
is the
happened.
of facts as a story, the meaning
of
is the habitual,
like riding a bike.
Connerton's
statement
has
been
heavily
for overlooking
neuropsychological
experi
mental
research.
But Connerton's
aim
is not to provide
neuropsychological
as a way of
different kinds of knowledge
and memory
insights, but to emphasize
memory
knowing
(2002:134)
dualism.
how
Whitehouse
(e.g.,
(136)
?
riding a bike)
distinguishes
and declarative
between
memory
memory).
ing that (e.g., encyclopedic
9 For a further discussion
of practicing
the piano
and remembering
see also Karmiloff-Smith
1992:16ff.
notes, see Whitehouse
2002:133ff.;
procedural
?
know
strings
of
360
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
learnt something through our body, it continues

to play an im
in the world and how we
portant role in how we situate ourselves
states that "body is not an object to be
perceive others. Csordas
studied in relation to culture, but is to be considered as the subject
of culture, or in other words as the essential ground of culture."10
as
soon
as we
are born
(or even in the

uterus!). Thus, psychiatrist Erik Erikson writes of the "greeting cer
as an important interplay between
emonial"
the mother and the
Bodily
learning begins
infant, a ritualization in the nursery necessary for a child to fully

is important for the affirmation
develop.11 This ritualized behaviour
the woman
of both
an
(becoming
attend to each
of motherhood)
and the child
(reassurance
and
illustrates
how
bodies
individual)
constantly
other. We are continuously
learning from our par
ents, as well as in school, work or other cultural contexts. Scholars

such as Marcel Mauss,
Pierre Bourdieu,
and Mary Douglas
have
closely studied the social impact on the body. The concept of habi
and later developed

in
tus, first mentioned by Mauss
by Bourdieu
his theory of praxis, has influenced many studies, especially
since
focus shifted from themore symbolic studies of body, to the notion
of the body
as a centre of social
like
practice. Phenomenologists
with
his
notion
of
the
act
of percep
Merleau-Ponty,
pre-objective
Jackson's
tion, have been a source of inspiration for Michael
excellent
study of how forms of comportment and forms of

interplay in the rituals of the Kuranko of Sierra Leone.
(1983)
cognition
Among these scholars, embodiment has constituted themethodological
principle underlying the ambition to collapse the body-mind duality.12
10Csordas
11
Erikson
12Csordas
1990:5;
see also Csordas
1997
and
2004.
1996:203.
as fol
summarizes
the collapse
of dualities
in embodiment
(1990:8)
. . for
a
the
is
to
in
relation
the
world'
and
Merleau-Ponty
body
'setting
consciousness
is the body projecting
itself into the world;
for Bourdieu
the
lows:
socially
".
informed
consciousness
potentialities."
and unifying all practices,'

and
body is the 'principle generating
is a form of strategic calculation
fused with a system of objective
Nevertheless,
even where
361
Bodies
Eloquent
the body has been the focus in anthro

dualism has been difficult to over
literature, Cartesian
pological
in analyzing
come, especially
ritual and praxis. This split has had

effect of turning the body into a passive
object,
from an active, reflecting subject. According
to Jackson,
the unfortunate
detached
At
the same
made
time,
through
with
synonymous
assume
the active
the physical
a reification
'society'
role of governing,
of
'the
the knowing
social
body',
subject,
society
which
is
is made
to
and
charging with significance

the human body is simply an
instrument of the rational mind, a kind of vehi
bodies
of individuals.
utilising
In this view
or an
of understanding,
for the expression
of a reified
object
cle
or
social
rationality.13
proficiency, we are well aware of

learn and remember. We
remember learning the capital
cities of Europe
in geography at school, but we were not aware
that the classroom also taught a "hidden agenda." Our body was
it comes
When
to intellectual
how we
being trained in discipline, in maintaining distance from other bod

ies, and in keeping hunger at bay until recess time. Connerton dis
these two types of memory
the
tinguishes between
by calling
former cognitive
ongoing process
or conflict within
and
and
is an
Body
schooling
it proceeds without reflexivity
the latter habitual.14

in most
cases
the individual, and is therefore taken for granted

as the normal way of being in the world. It is only when two con
trasting body cultures meet that people become aware of the social
their body as uncomfortable.
Individuals with
body and experience
social mobility testify to the fact that it is easier to adopt
upper-class food etiquette, taste in music, and other habits of con
upward
than it is to adopt the walk, gestures, and movements

appropriate to this new context. It was their bodies thatmade them
feel like outsiders and they became aware of how the construction
sumption
of new
identities
a mental
in order to be accepted and afiirmed

a matter of body.15
affair, it is very much
13 Jackson
1983:329.
14
Connerton
1989:95;
15Csordas
1993:140.
cf. n. 8.
is not only
362
Anne-Christine
Not
Hornborg
to feel at home
is one of the most
in your body is a painful experience. Illness

obvious conditions that creates an awareness to
our body may fail to fulfil our normal expectations.16 Most

physical illness is a temporary state, but there are illnesses that severely
threaten important social relations or the individual's personal sense
how
of agency, and thus the very core perception of self. Amputation,

blindness or chronic pain are examples of bodily suffering.The research
on chronic pain, for example,
has shown that it is a "somatic
that things are not right and may never be right. This
situated in one's body, is inescapable."17
reminder, phenomenally
The suffering body is, of course, experienced differently by the
reminder
victim than by the detached observer, since it is a lived experience

there are cases when the inner, sub
only for the former.18However,
jective
of the sufferer is consciously manifested on the

to an observer. The loss of a family member
conspicuous
experience
outside,
in Tonga
not only puts the mourner's

feelings in disorder, it also
throws the outward body into a chaotic state. Anyone who has vis
aware of the rules for appropriate attire
ited Tonga soon becomes
among its inhabitants. Men and women put consid

effort into their dress, especially on formal occasions
such
as church services or funerals. Nevertheless, when I visited one of
and behaviour
erable
the funerals on Ha'apai

in June 2001, a daughter of the deceased
in
total
up
bodily disorder. Her hair was hanging loosely
on her shoulders in matted locks and her ta'ovala]9 was tied in a
showed
slovenly manner around her body. The loss of her father and her
inner chaos was now also a chaos visible to the observer. The grief
affected the girl's entire being-in-the-world. Her loud grief and the
she swayed her body until she threw herself down beside her
way
16
see
1976:98,
Dingwall
17
Hubert
1984:370.
18
Cf. Schr?g
1979.
19
Ta'ovala
is a pandanus
used
on
formal
occasions.
also McGuire
(a kind
1990.
of palm
tree) mat,
tied around
the body
and
Eloquent
363
Bodies
father starkly contrasted with the other mourners' more

restrained behaviour. This manner of dress and outward expression
deceased
roots, of course, as a representation of

it served as a personal
grief; simultaneously,
symbol for the girl
the
and, as such, was loaded with strong emotion. By employing
more
to
she
could
make
her
inner
obvious
public symbol,
pain
of disorder
had
cultural
other participants.20 Since emotions cannot be seen, the ritual con

text provided an opportunity for the girl's body to be situated in a
relationship (sorrow) to the world, which also affected how she was
treated. The
perceiving
participants had to go beyond the common mode of

a body, which was as a rather neutral object of their
the visual impact and sensed
Instead, they experienced
experience.
the body as a subject, filled with grief, seeking empathy and com
forting interactions. There was an obvious difference between the
the participants
the daughter and the way they
approached
other relatives, including the widow. When
they en
approached
tered the house of the deceased man, they began by articulating (in
a ritualized manner)
to the paternal aunt, and she
their condolences
way
with some comforting words. The aunt was dressed

in traditional black and her words seemed to soothe the
responded
properly
visitors' emotions.
daughter was not addressed

directly. Her
at the wake did not symbolize sorrow; it was
awkward appearance
sorrow and, as a visualized
emotion, the participants related to the
girl mostly
by gently touching and caressing
The Historical
theMVkmaq
The
Background
Case
her.
?
for Suffering Bodies
Illness, pain and private losses affect the body and the experi
ence of one's self, but the bodily being is also regulated by cul
tural and social structures. Bourdieu
refers to the body acquired by
20 For
discussion
an
analogous
on private
example
and public
on
the meaning
symbols
of
inMedusa's
symbols,
hair
see Obeyesekere's
(1981).
364
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
the individual through socialization as a "socially informed body,"21

and it is only when dissimilar socially informed bodies meet (as in
the case of socially mobile
that the individual becomes
persons),
aware of or feels bodily differences. The difference in habitus is keenly
to
and are compelled
sensed by people who have been colonized
it
Since
adopt other cultural ways of bodily being-in-the-world.
was theWestern body schemata that were taken for granted when
the colonizers also tried to impose
educating the Native Americans,
their bodily manners on "the others." As early as the 18th century,
we can read between the lines of missionary
reports the suffering
and depression of Indian children when subjected to classroom dis
cipline. The missionaries
dren became
depressed,
had difficulty understanding why the chil

since they were well cared for, being
provided with nice clothes, plenty of food and clean beds; it was
failed to under
the children's bodily otherness that themissionaries
stand. Marie de 1'Incarnation writes about the children received by
that they "cannot be restrained and if they are, they
become melancholy
and their melancholy
makes
them sick."22
Documents
from the Jesuits, the Ursulines,
and the Recollets
all
the Ursulines
tell the same story of their attempts to educate theAmerindian

chil
ran
dren: they became depressed, disoriented and
away to find their
see no point
of
could
these
children
Furthermore,
many
parents.23
in education.
A French
education
was
not only alien to the Amer

it would also distance them
indian children's cultural upbringing;

from their own people's way of life.
sources inform us how close
Historical
the parent-child bond

was in Mi'kmaq
families. Le Clercq writes, "One cannot express
the tenderness and affection which the fathers and mothers have for
21
Bourdieu
1977:124.
McGuire
(1996:103)
distinguishes
or
lived
the
the political
(linked to power)
body;
experiential,
(as symbols of social meanings).
22
Marshall
cf. Jaenen
1976:94ff.
1967:341;
23
Jeanen
1976:95.
three
and
levels
the social
of
the
body
Eloquent
365
Bodies
their children,"24 and Denys confirms theMi'kmaq

parents' deep devo
tion: "Their children are not obstinate, since they give them every
they
thing they ask for, without letting them cry for that which
want. . . .They love their children greatly."25 In fact, theAmerindians
were surprised at the harsh upbringing imposed on French children.
They could not understand how French mothers could send their
children to boarding schools. The bodily distance they maintained
the Amerindian
with even the smallest children was a method
to "porcupine-like"
affection. It is the highly individualis
tic bourgeois societies that teach children to carefully distance their
likened
from others. It begins early; already as a newborn you are

a
room of your own. As you grow up, you are trained to sit
given
laps. My experience
neatly on your chair and not in other people's
and Tongan people is that chil
from fieldwork among theMi'kmaq
bodies
to get physically close and will even sit in the

society, a body habit
lap of a stranger.26 This is not, as inWestern
for children and their parents, close friends
reserved exclusively
dren do not hesitate
relatives.
and
children
The
(or later in
to be unwanted and
school
in the missionary
compulsory school) must have felt themselves

unloved when they were denied physical closeness with their teach
ers and told, instead, to sit apart on a chair. The bodily isolation
must have felt like a sure sign of rejection rather than affirmation,
which might explain why these children became depressed. When
their bodily sense of alienation was compounded
by the more rigid
mental discipline of the classroom, itwas all too much for the chil
dren and they ran away into the forest, back to their families.
24 Le
25
Clercq
26 I
also
remember
from Nukualofa
from nowhere
asleep.
1968:91.
1908:404;
Denys
see
also
Lescarbot
an occasion
to Lifuka
and without
Island;
when
1928:153.
my
husband
in the chilly
hesitating
nestled
night
snugly
and
on
beside
the Tongan
I took
deck
my
little boy
husband
ferry
came
and
fell
366
Anne-Christine
The
also
reluctance
colonial
in theMi'kmaq
evident
Hornborg
to acknowledge
reports about
other bodily habits is

in res
their experience
in
spent her childhood
was
a
who
about
Schubenacadie
Residential
School,
girl
a
nun
not
for
into
the
adult's eyes
looking
severely punished by
school.
idential
Isabelle
who
Knockwood,
writes
she was
when
addressed.
Little
did
the nun know
assumed to be very arrogant for a Mi'kmaq

into the eyes of an Elder.27 A more modern
courtroom
in the 1980s when
Donald
that it was
child to stare directly

instance occurred in a
Marshall
Junior was
sen
tenced to prison for a murder he firmly denied having committed.

had to spend eleven years in prison before another man con
He
fessed
to the murder
and
Junior could
be
set free. One
told me
of my
said the
friends
that "the non-native audience
Mi'kmaq
was
of
Junior's
that he constantly avoided
proof
guilt
looking in
the judge's eyes when he was addressed. But this was the most
way of treating a man with dignity."
polite Mi'kmaq
to the painful experiences
References
in residential schools are
found in all kinds ofMi'kmaq
contexts: in poems, in political speeches
and, in ordinary
On the reserves
stream
of an individual's behaviour.
life, in explanations
a
there
is
harsh
today,
critique directed at main
for having "whitewashed" Mi'kmaq
children. The
society
children were deprived
of their language and traditions. They were

if
punished
they spoke theMi'kmaq
language and they had to sing
must
that
have been incomprehensible
to them ("Columbus
songs
sailed across the sea and found this land for you and me").28 The
focus on remaking of the children was most obvious in the school
subject Ethics. In Instruction to teachers, printed on Residential
registers, we thus read:
In the primary
ness
habits
27
28
and
and
Knockwood
Ibid.
grades,
cleanliness.
instil the qualities
Differentiate
a spirit of fair play. As
1992:50.
between
of obedience,
respect,
right and wrong,

the pupils become more
School
order,
neat
cultivate
truthful
advanced,
incul
Eloquent
as near
cate
as possible
industry, honesty,
chisement.
duties,
Explain
and
labour
in the order mentioned,
thrift, self-maintenance,
Indian
charity, pauperism,
367
Bodies
and white
independence,
citizenship
life, the evils
the relationship
of the sexes
as the law of existence.29
and
self-respect,
patriotism.
of Indian
Discuss
isolation,
to labour,
home
and
enfran
public
Parallel
with the ideological

indoctrination of the children, there
an ongoing bodily reprogramming. The body was to learn new
ways of discipline, but the teacher was not sensitive to the chil
dren's longing for a family upbringing that could not be replaced
was
care and intellectual progress. The Mi'kmaq

chil
by professional
on
at
dren
Knockwood's
school also had to work hard
the farm
that supplied
them with food. For the children who had been
in
this
residential school, itwas not an affectionate upbring
brought up
ing they would
embody as a memory, but rather one of severe
physical punishments, mental abuse, pain and alienation.30 Isabelle
Knockwood writes: "We were being forcibly disconnected from every
thing our parents and elders had taught us, and everything new was
fear."31 The Mi'kmaq
poet Rita Joe recalls her mem
in terms of bodily pain and fear in the poem "Hated
Structure: Indian Residential School, Shubenacadie, N.S." As an adult,
learned with
ories of school
a visit to her old

no wish
I had
Nor
to walk
29
30
triggered terrifying memories:
to enter
the halls.
no wish
I had
school
Knockwood
to feel
the floors
1992:47f.
Knockwood's
autobiography
is that of
is full of examples
of
severe
punishment.
One
the Mi'kmaq
remember
Knockwood:
"One
of the boys had
boy Doug
the top of the salt shaker and the whole
thing spilled onto my dinner. I
Sister Anderson
she grabbed
stirring everything up with a spoon. Then
a handful
of my
example
loosened
mouth
my
don't
until
head
back
know
hair and
tilted my
head
I threw up all over my

and
what
(1992:38-39).
31
Knockwood
shovelled
made
me
1992:50.
back.
Then
clothes. When
the rest of the food

sick.
I was
she shovelled
the food
in my
I stopped vomiting,
she tilted
I got sick after that. I
in. Then
in infirmary for I don't
know
how
long"
368
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
I felt fear
Where
A
beating heart of episodes

I care not to recall.
structure
The
To
bend
as
stands
just a base
I was
for
if to say:
theory
of children
the will
I remind
I fall32
Until
are still affected by this cultural trauma

Contemporary Mi'kmaq
and often referred to it in our meetings;33 but although they are
to overcome
aware of the ideological oppression, and trymentally

it, the trauma is memorized within their bodies. And
it seems
that
the children inherit theirparents' pain. The next generation ofMi'kmaq

is being brought up by parents who are still struggling with mem
ories from their childhood, and such traumatic experiences
impact
that out of the residential
I know
that got
told me:
one Mi'kmaq
their parenting. As
they were
hurt, and
school
they were,
young;
there were
situation
let's
say,
lot of people
ten-eleven-twelve
they still carried that hurt in them. They

parents of
parents;
they became
they became
And
this anger and violence.
but they kept on loosing
another generation,
and sexual abuse
then they were drinking,
trying to forget all the physical
that
receive the non-love
the children would
that they had gone through. And
was
to
in
families.
these
take
place
supposed
years
old. When
could
not unleash
we
Now
me:
that hurt, but
another
go
"What's
wrong
to love him, why

with
the families
and
alcoholism
decade,
"What's
broke
sexual
that exist
of silent pain
our
with
we
to the 1980s.
go
were
start talking to
that were ques
Children
the one
They
our dad? Why
is he drunk all the
to be able
is our dad; we are supposed
talk to him? This
is he chasing us away?"
can't he love us? Why
their parents:
time? Why
can't we
tioning
And
adults
they became
parents?"
wrong
up,
with
so now we
abuse
and
in the Mi'kmaq
are faced with
there's
broken
lot of pain,
community.
And
and
how
up families
there's
lot
do you handle
pain?34
32 Joe
this part of the poem,

I emphasize
italics mine.
the unfortunate
theory and practice.
split between
clearly expresses
33
2002.
See also Doyle-Bedwell
34 Interview
inWhycobah
reserve) 2000.
(former Whycocomagh
1991a:75
since
it
Eloquent
369
Bodies
It is important in the above case to distinguish psychosomatic

or post-traumatic
stress disorder from cultural traumas,
diseases
of political vio
otherwise we may not fully see the consequences
lence and cultural oppression.35 Illness and alcoholism are reactions
to colonialism
and ways of expressing resistance, but are not suc
cessful,
Loss
it in the end they are self-defeating.36
since
of Agency
Cultural
Abuses
of the Body
is in the first place
"Consciousness
not a matter of T think that'
A loss of agency must,

can',"
says Merleau-Ponty.37
a
fundamental assault on our expe
according to this statement, be
an
rience of self and identity.38 Loss of agency is not necessarily
individual physical injury; it can also be tied to the plight of liv
but of T
society and being subjected to such power rela

brought not only a loss of land (subsistence) for
it also brought restrictions on their freedom to prac
theMi'kmaq;
tise their traditions, including bodily practices. Thus, even the body
ing in a hegemonic
tions. Colonization
to be trained in a
Empire,
of being an active hunter, the Mi'kmaq
a farmer's body or, in the worst
body was to be transformed into
cases, remain passive on the reserves, waiting for handouts. The
school,
children learned classroom discipline and, as in Residential
even had to spend endless months without physical proximity to
colonization
the bodies of parents and relatives. To theMi'kmaq,
was
under
the control
British manner.
of the British
Instead
not only an experience of mental oppression;

neously an experience of bodily alienation.
was
it was
simulta
of reclaim
fully appreciate the importance, to theMi'kmaq,
new
or
their
of
own, we must
practices
creating
ing their traditions
To
35McGuire
1991.
36McGuire
1996:108;
see
also
Kleinman
1992
and Lock
1996:106,
Schepner-Hughes
37
1962:137.
Merleau-Ponty
38 See Giddens
structuration
theory 1984.
and Kleinman
1991.
and Kleinman
370
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
the embodied memories

of being an oppressed
the
ritual
people. Today,
employ
practice and ceremonies
Mi'kmaq
for their healing, which raises the question of why a bodily prac
tice is so important thatmore intellectual pursuits such as political
take into account
or reading books are not sufficient to heal. Roy

defined
ritual as the "basic
social act"39 and, of
Rappaport
course, it is important to consider the social impact of rituals on
debates
claims,
has
the individual
and
the implications of transforming daily practice

acts.
into formalized
it is also important to examine
Nevertheless,
the individual in his role as an agent. How do individuals respond
to ritual acts and put them to use when creating meaning and well
though rituals are social acts and, by

definition, beyond the control of a single person, it is the individ
ual that absorbs and assimilates
those acts. If we adopt a Cartesian
being
in their lives? Even
in examining healing practices,

they may appear to be
a
to
merely
religious response
bodily suffering. But there are schol
ars who want to move beyond the perception of ritual as
epiphe
dualism
nomenal
add-ons. McGuire
prefers to speak of a mindful body for
"then spiritual responses may be simultaneously part of the mind
ful-body responses to pain and illness. Thus, we can better under
stand the impact of religion on
the body."40
about
When
the Mi'kmaq
the body
itself, not just on
ideas
revitalized
their traditions in the 1970s, rit

of not only culturally and mentally
adopting traditional Mi'kmaq
practices, but also of facilitating a
more
to the gatherings than just the
bodily resurrection. There is
and in symbols of Indianness, that
pride in being Indian (Mi'kmaq)
ual became
a central means
are often displayed as ethnic power markers vis-?-vis mainstream

society. The ritual praxis includes agency of the body, still suffer
stress and trauma, seeking to negotiate a way
ing from postcolonial
to make
life more
39
Rappaport
40
McGuire
1999:31.
1990:285.
endurable.
I will
cite two examples
of contem
Eloquent
porary cases from the Mi'kmaq
in an identity crisis,
themselves
371
Bodies
reserves
where
found
persons
loss
of
agency in the
including
a
of
how
the
will
discussion
This
try to han
Mi'kmaq
body.
permit
in everyday life.
dle and overcome painful experiences
east
1992 and I'm living on the Canadian
morn
on
in
in
Nova
Scotia.
the
Island
Breton
coast,
Early
Cape
reserve
friends from theWhycocomagh
ing, some of my Mi'kmaq
we
a
me
at
since
have
visit
home,
(now Whycobah)
pay
planned
It is the autumn of
to participate in the yearly celebration of the United Nations Day

at the University College
of Cape Breton, situated in the province
Racism
is on the day's agenda.
of
Sydney.
capital
The first speaker is Donald Marshall
Junior, son of the deceased
and mentioned
above with regard to
Chief Donald Marshall
a prison sentence of eleven years for a murder he firmly denied
having committed. The case was publicized all across the continent
Grand
as a travesty of justice since, in hindsight, it is clear that racial

prejudice was one precipitant of the wrongful verdict. It is obvious
that Junior does not feel comfortable before a large audience, but
this fear in order to speak of the trau
he has decided to overcome
effects from spending eleven years in prison.
The next speaker is an anxious, fourteen-year-old Mi'kmaq
boy.
to be facing and he can see almost no
This is a large audience
matic
and other cit

familiar faces from the reserve at all, only academics
izens. The boy begins to speak, but his voice is trembling and he
something inaudible. That's when Rita Joe stands up, the

famous Mi'kmaq
poet. She steps onto the stage. Standing behind
some words
a new
in his ear. The boy makes
him, she whispers
?
?
a
he
has
and
he
has
interest
been
great
attempt. Yes,
hockey
so successful that he was recruited by a hockey team from a non
mumbles
native neighborhood.
(It goes without saying that being a talented
in
Canada
is a source of prestige. Even on the
hockey player
NHL
and children trade hockey cards.)
watch
the
reserves, people
The boy's skill had earned him a prominent place on the team, and
to play center forward and became a leading
he quickly advanced
scorer in the league. When
it was time for the finals, he and his
372
Anne-Christine
team traveled
Hornborg
to the town of Antigonish.
His parents accompanied

families are always fearful about letting
the group, since Mi'kmaq
their children travel on their own outside the reserves.
game was off to a good start for the visiting team. The
the other team had him
boy scored a goal, although
Mi'kmaq
a
to guard him extra
had
been
"shadowed,"
i.e.,
assigned
player
The
team is getting
carefully. Another goal follows. The Antigonish
more and more annoyed and since they are playing at home, the audi
ence starts booing. The "shadow" tries to verbally insult theMi'kmaq
Go home, Indian!" The referee
boy: "Go home, wagon-burner!
gives him a warning,
feels uncomfortable,
but he still continues. The Mi'kmaq

and even the spectators harass
boy now
him: "Go
home, wagon-burner!"
They have also become aware of the boy's
start
and
parents
harassing them. The referee loses control of the
the situation on the ice heats up, there is chaos in the audi
ence, someone phones the police and the boy and his parents are
escorted back to the reserve.
game,
Joe keeps her arm around the boy's shoulders as he mum

bles quietly: "I will never more play hockey." Then he leaves the
Rita
stage.
The
the hockey game was not totally new to me.

read about it in the papers and heard about it from
incident with
I had already
some of my Mi'kmaq
the Canadian
friends. The
authorities
and was
story had also been reported to

but the
under investigation,
to be moving very slowly. I was rather upset by

process
itwas not the first time I had encountered ver
what had happened;
friends. Some of my non-native
bal insults directed at my Mi'kmaq
friends were as upset as I was, though some of them said: "Yes,
this was bad behavior, but what did he expect?" Some greeted me
seemed
with
total silence and some only shrugged their shoulders. For me,
?
there was not
the most difficult to face
this kind of reaction was
even an argument for or against, only a disengagement

ference to what had been witnessed.
indif
later, the game was no longer of interest to the media.

that was mentioned was an incident which occurred a week
A week
All
and
373
Bodies
Eloquent
after the tragic Antigonish game. A group of Mi'kmaq,

dressed in
army clothes, came into town, visited a lunch canteen, asked if this
was
the town where

for hours
stayed
Were
the Mi'kmaq
a certain game of hockey had been played,

struck terror in the hearts of the citizenry.
going to assault someone? Would
they destroy
and
property? But after a few hours, the men just walked out the door
and disappeared.
No violence, no threat transpired, only a silent
manifestation
that they were not going to put up with racist attacks
on their people.
These men, dressed
clothing, were Mi'kmaq Warriors.

Their organization was founded at the end of the 1980's and they
to guard the land, the people and the
had made
it their mission
in camouflage
laws.41 The warriors
very quickly became

ideology offered salvation
and the warrior
idols for young Mi'kmaq

from a less dignified life,
In
of a new, spiritual awakening.
an opportunity to heal by means

the article, "The Value of aWarrior," published
Nations News, April 1994, Nelson
J. Augustine
It is possible
that a warrior
tion to the many
problems
can play
society
inMicmac
Maliseet
writes:
a pivotal
role
a solu
in finding
communities.
Substance
experienced
by Native
are just a small example
and suicides
of the turmoil
abuse,
family violence
are the result of
All of these social problems
that is facing our communities.
the hopelessness
and despair
that arise out of a lack of cultural pride, tradi
tional
values,
and
subdued,
fusion
were
and Native
if possible,
that plagues
This
spirituality.
many
of our
and despair
hopelessness
to eliminate
the chaos
in order
eradicated,
communities
if a
today. Therefore,
to be
the guardians
of sacred
traditional
values,
they must
are
sworn
to
the
values
protect.
uphold
they
The Mi'kmaq
warrior
is one such society, but their laws are
with
and
protecting Mi'kmaq
people
. .
a terrific job in this respect.
There
drugs
ditional
41
Micmac
2001:251.
is no halfway
half
ground
the time and
values
Maliseet
have
claim
with
Nation
traditional
to be
to be obeyed
News,
territory, and
values;
traditional
and
respected.
March
I must
1994,
you
say
such
No.
3, p.
cannot
ancient
4;
be
con
society
obey
and
concerned
they are doing
the other half. All

One
must
and
drink or do
Native
tra
traditional
cf. Hornborg
374
Anne-Christine
is to respect
value
Nation
Mi'kmaq
are
values
and
suffer and
and
?
is at home,
warriors
the real enemies.
Substance
as a Shared Domain
know
. . . That
abuse,
family
for Embodying
. . . The
itself,
and
the
traditional
are willing
who
violence
New
is what
their real
what
between
to protect
against
of others.
who
right and wrong,

their people
and customs.
in
the
community
right
the difference
sacrifice
the values
true warriors
needs
ditional
Ritual
honor
Hornborg
to
role of tra
doing
battle
suicides.
Identities
Junior and the fourteen-year-old Mi'kmaq

Both Donald Marshall
?
?
were subjected to severe losses. The
each in his own way
boy
a piece of his
boy was forced to curtail his life, to "amputate"
a
as
and
moved
the
that
gave him such
hockey player
body,
piece
The game of hockey, formerly a

and acknowledgement.
as discomfort.
In
to his body, was now experienced
pleasure
pleasure
Junior's case, the loss was even more radical, since he was impris
oned, the most drastic way to lose agency. The struggle between
is no longer, as in days of old, a life and
colonialists and Mi'kmaq
death battle. Today's victims do not lose their lives, but what they
lose is confidence concerning the opportunities available to them in
this life. They adopt the oppressor's
image of the oppressed, which
already learned to be and act
in the world.42 The high incidence of suicide among the Mi'kmaq
seems to reflect this loss of agency and broken confidence. One
fits well with how
have
their bodies
Mi'kmaq
spokesperson, Murdena Marshall, formerAssistant Professor
at the University College
of Cape Breton,
Studies
of Mi'kmaq
wrote in 1991:
an
When
identity crisis
and physical
sion
and
well-being
uselessness
by an
is experienced
is bombarded
[italics mine].
individual,
with
feelings
a Native
Person,
As
illnesses and, as a result of our

these psychological
are more
illness.43
to
apt
experience
psychological
42McGuire
43
1996:108;
Inglis, Mannette,
see also Cooey

and Sulewski
1995.
1991:19.
spiritual, mental
his
of doubt,
he
anxiety,
is not
confu
immune
loss of identity, Mi'kmaq
to
375
Bodies
Eloquent
theMi'kmaq
today revive their older traditions, it is often
as a reaction against what they experience as suppres
sion by dominant society against theMi'kmaq
people. The following
News'
editorial board tells us of the longing
letter to theMicmac
When
articulated
for a Mi'kmaq
I understand
I am
identity:
that I am part Blood
total Micmac
customs,
Indian
book
stores.
tion,
it would
in dress.
beadwork.
dress,
So
Micmac
Man
and Mountain
into Pow Wows
if you
be greatly
I know
I cannot
could
tell me
on my
here
father's
about
nothing
find any
book
where
to get
side of the family.

I would
in Utah.
the Micmac
on
like
books
the
in Utah
the Micmac
these
to go
Indian,
or
informa
appreciated.44
But practice has been a more effective way of reworking identities

or books. Rituals have been a deci
than has reading newspapers
if not the most important, in creating a new image of
sive means,
what itmeans to be Mi'kmaq.
They are more than social acts employed
to negotiate a new identity within a hegemonic discourse;
they are
a means of letting the bodily embedded memories be reworked and
with the new self
the individual
of making
body correspond
you
you don't symbolize
being a Mi'kmaq,
If you embody how to move proudly in the
become
ritual, this may be observed by a detached bystander as a symbol
of pride, but for the participant it becomes
pride. To move your
esteem.
In rituals,
a Mi'kmaq.
body in a proud manner is an experiential matter. Rituals provide

a bodily reorientation for the participant and ritualization becomes
a way of embodied
learning. It works like redemptive "medicine."45
For the participants, who in the case of Mi'kmaq

carry suffering in
to
an
rework bodily
the body, the rituals provide
opportunity
embedded conditions of suppression into resurrection, and to man
ifest another way of being. As a social act, the ritual addresses yet
level by simultaneously
affirmation of the new Mi'kmaq
another
44
8.
News
Micmac
1992, No.
45 Salomonsen
see also
2003:22;
Bell
affording
identity.
1997:81.
the participant
a social
376
Anne-Christine
?
'kmaq
a Mi
To Become
The Role
Hornborg
of Spirituality
In the 1970s, the Mi'kmaq

became acquainted with
ceremonies
that
swept the continent and made
panindian
ous about
a wave
of
them curi
ancestry. An example of one such panin

dian ceremony is thepow wow, a gathering with drumming, chanting
and circle dances. There are talking circles, the Sacred Fire burns,
their "Indian"
sources tell us that the Mi'k

and the sharing of meals. Historical
maq performed circle dances, but the pow wow has its origin in a
modern
tradition as an important source of
setting, with Lakota
in the gathering signify the
inspiration. Some
important objects
such as eagle feathers, buck skin clothes and the
"Indianness,"
reserve in Sydney, Cape
burning of sweet grass. The Membertou
a
wow
winter pow
in February 1993, and the program,
Breton, held
detailed
?
followed
below,
Feb.
Thursday,
11, 1993
p.m. Sacred
6:00
a pattern typical for these gatherings:
Fire
lit by George
(Sonny)
Laporte.
ously
12, 1993
Friday, Feb.
?
p.m.Welcome
2:00
Paul, Grand Council
by Melvin
?
Wkwisk
Drum Group ?
Host Drummers
Maupltu
?
Introduction
of Pow-Wow
Committee
?
Grand Entrance
?
Sunset: Retire Flag
Meal
(non-traditional)
?
etc., continues
Drumming,
?
?
?
?
?
?
Feb.
Saturday,
Sunrise
13,
Ceremony
Sweat
Lodge
Elders
Gathering
Talking
Youth
Waltes
46
Waltes
Fire
goes
continu
for four days.
1993
?
7:00
Captain
a.m.
Circles
Circles
Games46
is a kind
is an entertaining,
of dice
competitive
game
game,
that is still played by the Mi'kmaq.

but it has had a deeper, divinatory
Today
meaning
it
Eloquent
?
Entrance ?
Grand
Pow-wow
Sunday,
?
?
14, 1993
?
7:00
Ceremony
February
Sweat
Lodge
Elders
Gathering
Youth
?
?
Circles
Waltes
Games
Grand
Entrance
a.m.
Circles
Talking
p.m.
2:00
Continues
Sunrise
377
Bodies
p.m.
2:00
Sunset:
?
Retire
Give
Flag
away
Traditional
and Dance
Feast
Closure47
wows
are popular events and provide an opportunity

to
over
meet relatives and friends from all
the province. It is strongly
that
these
should
be free from drugs and
gatherings
emphasized
Pow
alcohol.
the
This
stipulation
tells us something
about
the problems
on
reserves.
in their forties and fifties told me of the prob

Many Mi'kmaq
lems associated with initiating new practices, actively reclaiming
an "Indian" identity and participating in pow wows. They received
the wrong kind of attention when they were wearing

clothes and let their hair grow: "Wow, you look Native!"
like this had made
ance. Today
buck
skin
Comments
in their new bodily appear

is no longer so distanced from
them feel uncomfortable
the younger generation
in older Mi'kmaq
tradition and is most probably
of pre-Columbian
origin. Men
use it to predict how a battle would
to give strength and
end and women
on a war expedition.
to their men when
It also happened
that men
lost
power
even
their wives,
and
(Wallis
everything
they owned,
during a game of waltes
could
Wallis
1955:200).
47 I was
1993;
this information
given
see also Hornborg
2001.
by
the Apiknajit
Esmut
Pau Wau
Committee
378
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
the gatherings and the "new" Indian symbols, since they have been
raised with pow wows and are acquainted with the setting.
on the con
Although there is a growing pride in being Mi'kmaq
temporary reserves, problems persist with regard to discovering and

the reserve is a con
this new self-confidence. Because
maintaining
strained place, life on these provides a restricted arena for inhabi

in life. In the 1990s, one of the
tants to act out their ambitions
most
reserves was when a wave of

difficult times on theMi'kmaq
the
younger generation. Big Cove, a small reserve
swept
suicides
in New Brunswick, was particularly seriously affected in 1992-93

when, within a brief time span, seven young men ended their lives.
The reserve therefore organized a seven-day mourning ceremony to
put an end to the wave of suicides and to prevent further tragedies.

from other reserves participated
in this gathering,
Many Mi'kmaq
Warrior Society. It
among them several members of the Mi'kmaq
is noteworthy that the invitation from the Big Cove Band Council
implied both the social and spiritual dimensions of healing:
7-DAY MOURNING/ HEALING
Our
has
the pain of the recent loss of seven young

experienced
of March
8 to March
15 (inclusive)
has been set aside for
Community
people.
The
week
as a period of
of Big Cove
and healing.
mourning
It is very unfortunate
that our Micmac
have gone
people
through these
seven deaths, but it is
hard
work
and determination
that
only through prayer,
we will pull through. We,
as a community, must
stand firm and strong and
see what we can do to avoid
such tragedies.
the people
The
Chief
and Council
a community
seven days
The
have
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
continuous
activities
drumming
information
sessions
ceremonies
AA/Alateen/Alanon
spiritual
youth
that something
to these happenings.
will consist of the following:
for these
seven
days
must
(24 hrs./day
sessions
to the public
each morning
Meetings
awareness
via mission
groups
(church)
and
traditional
be done
for 7 days)
circles
feeling/talking
sunrise
is in full support
response
ways
to
support
of our native
brothers
of no Alcohol
the observance
379
Bodies
Eloquent
and
sisters
and Drugs48
to heal by practising their tra

to seek consolation
It is important for the mourners
by
and talking about the tragic suicides, but the grief is also
the Mi'kmaq
Here,
ditions.
meeting
have
chosen
who becomes phys

deep in their bodies. A Mi'kmaq
encapsulated
ically ill will, naturally, turn to modern Canadian
hospital care to
recover or to access
when
the proper medication.
it
However,
comes tomental illness and psychological
a
there
is
great
suffering,
to use non-native therapy methods. Many prefer to solve
the problems
internally on the reserves and there is supportive
counseling available at the band office or in healing circles. Many
reluctance
attribute illness to a loss of spirituality caused by years

Mi'kmaq
of colonial repression, which makes
them less willing to settle for
a
treatment
of the symptoms. From a Mi'kmaq
clinical
per
only
spective, spiritual factors provide more vital opportunities for heal
newspaper published the following statement about
ing. A Mi'kmaq
Native
Spirituality:
Native
in their traditional
cultures
nature
are
and sophisticated
development.
ing distinctive
are rooted in establishing
self-esteem
spiritual
made
way
between
of
spiritual
and
secular
life. For
authentic
A
sense
principles.
the Natives,
and
dynamic,
foster
of
identity, pride and

. . .No distinction
is
spirituality
is a total
life.49
to Bathgate, theWestern notion of isolated individual

According
identities is not easily applied to other societies, as in the case of
the aboriginal traditional beliefs.50 Bathgate discusses
the spiritual
ity concept which,
for the believer,
48
is neither a place
nor an entity,
Band Council
1993.
paper published
by the Big Cove
Duplicated
49Micmac
No.
Maliseet
Nation News
cf.
2001:232.
1992,
9, p. 30;
Hornborg
50
concerns
the
Australian
See
also
Becker
1994.
Bathgate's
study
aborigines.
not as a func
The Fijians
their body as a function of the community,
experience
tion of an
individual
"self."
380
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
but a "way of living in the world."51 For the Australian aborigines

as well as the Native Americans,
a person's being is embedded
in
land and relatives. The Mi'kmaq
Patricia
lawyer
Doyle-Bedwell
she found herself caught between two worlds while
one grounded in theMi'kmaq
law
notion of com
school,
attending
in
and
the
other
the Western
munity responsibilities
grounded
illustrates how
notion of individualism:
I remember
I had
been
to my
They
at the wake.
many
years,
I did
exactly
young
boy's
Mi'kmaq
I realized
that was
what
proper...
consensual
did not know
the elders
a good Mi'kmaq
to do but
and
as
woman
had
the proper
for me
to think about
law exam
on
who
exactly
I did
been modeled
later, I had
I did write my
full of emotion
themselves
Moreover,
would
this behaviour
Because
I did not know
funeral,
time off to
take
conflict
community
that I was
protocols
not
of the law exams.
the funeral.
at the wake,
observed
I could
boy.
not accept my connection

to
over my responsibilities
to both
to attend
So I decided
responsibilities.
school
I felt extreme
but not attend

I arrived
When
I was.
and
of a young
of the time schedule
that the law

So
person.
education
the wake
because
advised
this young
my
to a wake
going
the funeral
attend
the day
for
what
of the
conflict.52
stress the importance of spiritual rituals for

relationships and they fault the dominant
maintaining
way of relating to people
society for having ignored theMi'kmaq
must situate a
and land.53 Thus, effective healing for the Mi'kmaq
to
is
in
networks
of
the
connected
land.54
person
Healing
people,
not only a "mind business";

it is a new orientation of the person's
in
the
world.
Since
Western
being
therapists do not address the
as
a
to
dimension
spiritual
person's well-being, theMi'kmaq
important
51
52
53
54
about
Bathgate
2003:204.
Doyle-Bedwell
2002:96.
Doyle-Bedwell
2002:68.
Csordas
health,
the colonial
2004:5
about
but about
situation."
healing
emotion,
in Navajo
contexts:
identity, religion,
".
. .
healing
is not
self, suffering, modernity,
just
and
Eloquent
381
Bodies
for them to be healed with the help of modern

say the possibilities
secular therapy methods
is limited.55
The Mi'kmaq
complaint about the dominant society's reluctance
to acknowledge
the importance of spirituality as a way of resur
From a Mi'kmaq
perspective, spirituality
mind
and
soul simultaneously, and rituals are con
body,
to address and accommodate
all three levels.56 Westerners
rection should be headed.

involves
sidered
in theDurkheimian
tend to reduce religion to a social epiphenomenon,
for
in rituals is not
but
the
foremost
the
sense,
purpose
Mi'kmaq
to reflect passively on ormerely symbolize societal structures. Instead,
it is to actively negotiate with and rework the individual's
lived
world.57 Recent studies call attention to ritual as a creative process.
says that, "when body metaphors and symbols are ritually
realigned or reconnected, the sick person may experience a body/
or heal
mind/self transformation culturally identified as wholeness
McGuire
that ritual is "a fecund

ing."58 Jean and John Comaroff emphasize
new meanings,
new ways of knowing
medium
for making
the
world and its workings."59 It is not the Mi'kmaq
ambition to sci
the scholar
entifically explain the importance of their doings. What
in ritual studies might explain as practice
theory could, for the
55 Cf.
the founder
of psychoanalysis,
the status of an obsession

gious
regard
"In view
practices:
obsessional
and
drew
of theses
Sigmund
parallels
similarities
a pathological
as an
that neurosis
neurosis
as
Freud,
between
and
who
degraded
obsessive
analogies
counterpart
actions
one might
of
to
religion
and
reli
venture
the formation
to
of a
and religion as
individual
religion, and to describe
religiosity
a universal
obsessional
neurosis"
(1996:216).
56
women
in Northern
(zar)
among Hofriyati
Boddy,
examining
possession
states: "For
the zar in Hofriyat
is a holistic
it penetrates
Sudan,
phenomenon;
to a sin
it defies analytic reduction
every facet of human existence.
Consequently
gle
constituent
ofWestern
dimension,
cultures might
or social, with which

medical,
psychological,
at home" (2002:405).
See also McGuire
feel more
and Crapanzano
1977:11.
57 Bell
and Comaroff
1997:80ff.; Comaroff
58
McGuire
1996:108.
59
and Comaroff
Comaroff
1993:xxi.
1993:xxiff.
members
1996:101,
382
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
as Native
and embodied
participant, be experienced
Spirituality,
and we should perhaps examine this cultural perspective more thor
oughly before we dismiss it as an emic60 explanation. Since spiri
in rituals, this
is embodied
tuality from a Mi'kmaq
perspective
emic concept
should be included
in our studies if we follow
that
Csordas'
"embodied
suggestion
experience is the starting point
for analyzing human participation in a cultural world."61 When
the
she distin
examines Native depression,
"For this
illness from other forms of depression:
no
or
there are
help for the
pills
professional
Lottie Marshall
Mi'kmaq
guishes spiritual
form of illness,
Indian."62 Rituals
depressed
an important means of
thus become
in a shared domain
since
the
sufferers
the
situates
healing,
performance
In a poem, Rita Joe
where they can act out similar experiences.
contentment
in
her
with
the
company of like
expresses
being
minded
in a pow wow:
people
I am
Today
at a pow-wow
It is a gathering of Native
people
We
dance,
sing, play drums, dress
is shy, we are all Indian
Nobody
I practice
Today
60
The
since
discussion
the scholar
my
tradition
of emic
who
has
and
claimed
traditional
free.63
has also been criticized

today,
explanations
to give the etic perspective,
is also situated
in
etic
a context and thus biased

by cultural models.
61
See also McGuire
Csordas
1993:135.
(1996:103),
abandon
nature
and
far-reaching
who
maintains:
"When
we
of mind
and body,
epistemology
implicit in the oppositions
we
can
and more
and
individual
and
culture,
deeper
society,
explore
can
and
with
which
be
linked
the
health
ways by
healing of
religion
the limiting
the body/mind/self."
62
1991:70.
Marshall
63 Joe
1991b:65.
Eloquent
Somatic Modes
of Attention
Domain
383
Bodies
The Sweat Lodge
as a Shared
Ifwe consider seriously the implication of phenomenology, Merleau

act of perception tells us that
Ponty's analysis of the pre-objective
in our body, situated in the world, and it is only
afterwards, through reflective thinking, that we experience our body
as an object. We
thus approach
the world with no subject-object
perception
begins
distinction. When
it comes
to rituals where
are situ
human bodies
ated in a shared domain, the notion of somatic modes of attention

in cultural practice
is of great interest. Csordas
defines somatic
modes
of attention as "culturally elaborated ways of attending to
and with one's body in surroundings that include the embodied
presence of others."64 A person's being in theworld, therefore, includes
sensing other bodies, rather than a preoccupation
exclusively with
own body. Although
we are not always aware of how our

are
in constant interplay.65 Csordas posits
communicate,
they
intuition as a kind of embodied knowledge. We may notice that a
person's bodily expressions are not always congruent with what is
one's
bodies
said, and intuitively (and probably rightly) we suspect this

is another way of getting in touch
person of telling a lie. Dancing
with and becoming sensitive to other participants' bodies, since you
being
follow
their way
of moving. The somatic mode of attention is of

are dancing at the pow wow, since
when
theMi'kmaq
importance
the shared movement
is a way of sensing an embodied community.
The
sensory engagement in other bodies combines with the cultural

setting, and thus ritual enhances the participants' capacity to not only
the world but?
reproduce
conjointly with others and therefore
64 Csordas
religious
1993:138.
behavior
Cf. Kovach
is interiorized ?
ies and toward

65 There
are
The
healer
(Csordas
(2002:952):
directed
away
"...
I mean
that all
from the world
the focus
outside
of
our bod
the phenomenality
of the body
itself."
healers who by their bodily
learn about
their clients.
experiences
even feel the physical
the spirits has caused
the clients
might
pain
1993:140ff.).
384
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
?
to act upon it. Csordas
implies the importance
persuasively
to produce new
of ritual practice since it "exploits the pre-objective
sacred objectifications,
and exploits the habitus in order to trans
more
form the very dispositions

statement provides a good
of which
it is constituted."66 Csordas'
starting point for the following exami

nation of the ritual practice of a sweat lodge ceremony.
Visual perception could lead us to the epistemological
fallacy of
as
But
in
there
the
world.
bodies
isolated
objects, acting
perceiving
are Mi'kmaq
is delusive and the
rituals where visual perception
individual has to relate to other participants
through the use of
other senses. Lacking the option of seeing other people, somatic modes
more
to the participant. A custom

common among contemporary Mi'kmaq
is to ask a pipe-carrier to
conduct "a sweat." The sweat lodge tradition is mentioned already
of attention become
conscious
sources. The information on how the

in 17th century historical
sweat lodge was traditionally conducted is very scarce and on the
reserves today the performance mainly follows the instructions of
man
Black Elk. The lodge usually holds about

to
ten
and
is covered in blankets or carpets. To con
persons
eight
duct a sweat requires lengthy preparations.67 Participants have to
Lakota
medicine
abstain
from alcohol
or other drugs for several days before the cer

the body prepares for the ritual. In the morn
emony. In this way,

ing a fire is lit that will
strategically placed, one

centre. The stones follow
throughout the day. Four logs are

in each cardinal direction and one in the
burn
the same pattern. After these formalized

into a huge pile.
acts, stones and logs are heaped

By
the
evening,
stones
are
that the sweat will
be
detailed
is desired,
information
66 Csordas
67 For
2003.
done
red-hot.
The
pipe-carrier
the "traditional"
the Lakota
way.
announces
way or, if more

(It is of no impor
1990:39.
a more
detailed
examination
of
the sweat
lodge
see A.-C.
Hornborg
385
Bodies
Eloquent
to a Mi'kmaq
who holds the copyright for the ritual; it is
mostly the academics who typically put a lot of effort into exam
ining "true origin.") The pipe-carrier then asks one of the partici
pants to be the doorkeeper, standing outside the lodge in order to
tance
open and close
the entrance. Before

"wash"
the participants enter the sweat

themselves
in the smoke of burnt
lodge, they commonly

sage as a means of spiritual purification. They all enter the lodge
clockwise and take a seat around an empty pit in the ground. First,
everyone smokes the pipe that circles the pit three times. Then it
is time to place the heated stones in the pit. The doorkeeper closes
the opening and has strict instructions to lift the blanket only when
a participant or the pipe-carrier says: "All my relations." The inside
of the lodge is now pitch dark; only the pink glow from the hot
stones gives some illumination. The heat is nearly unbearable. The

ritual leader starts to pray for those who are gathered and then the
participants have the opportunity to offer their prayers. After half
an hour the first sitting is over ?
"All my relations" ?
and the
lifts
the
Some
outside
the
go
doorkeeper
carpets.
lodge to cool
down, but the ritual place is not to be emptied of participants,
the pipe-carrier remains inside, close to the entrance.
so
the next part of the sweat, there are opportunities

to
During
make private confessions. Everyone
is free to speak from his or her
heart and knows that when the ritual is over, nothing that was said
inside the lodge is to be repeated. This is one of the main reasons
?
why people ask for a sweat lodge ceremony
they are longing to
talk openly about what is troubling them in life. It is also more
comfortable
to unburden
one's mind in darkness, since the others

are not watching; not being in the focus of the other's gazes, the
it is
speaker does not feel stared at and objectified. After a while
time for another break, and then the sitting resumes with more
prayers and more confessions. Finally, in an atmosphere dense

heat and darkness, theMi'kmaq
honor song is sung. "All my
over
tions"?
is
it
and the participants may leave the lodge.
newborns they enter the world, unburdened ?
for a while at
with
rela
Like
least
386
?
Anne-Christine
from the pain

dominant
Hornborg
they have carried as reserve inhabitants within
the
society.68
the ritual, many of the participants

speak of their new
sense of well-being.
It is as if the physical pain from the heat and
After
their inner pain have merged, and it releases tensions in the body.
To experience an out-of-the-ordinary environment, and to approach
other people in an out-of-the-ordinary way, opens up new modes of
somatic attention
Since
acting and reflecting upon the world.
"implies both sensory engagement and an object,"69 a person must

attend "with" as well as "to" the body. Though our body is always
present, we are not aware of it in daily life. The sweat lodge offers
since
to explore the pre-objective,
opportunities
the
a
in
their
bodies
different way of situating
they experience
world and of relating to other bodies. Since there are no visual
the participants
stimuli to distract the participant in the darkness, it becomes easier

there is no option; the
to pay full attention to the body. Actually,
heat makes
you truly aware of your body. In everyday life, we
use of the body unreflectively for moving, breathing and see
ing, but in the sweat the participant is placed in the unfamiliar sit
with his or her own body. The
uation of having communication
make
to rely upon other senses to compensate when eye

difficult in such extreme
sight is gone, when breathing becomes
heat and when s/he cannot rely on visual cues for relating to other
more
intense since the
people. The sensory engagement becomes
individual
has
voice and emotions will be shared in the darkness

participant's
without any interference from visual input, which tends to accen
will now
The participants
bodies.
between
tuate boundaries
approach
each other as subjects, not as visualized
68 Cf. Kovach
men
is submerged
(2002:953):
in water
"In
?
the sacramental
eyes
?
only to emerge
virtually weightless
as one spiritually reborn."
awareness
69
1993:138.
Csordas
objects,
rite of baptism
shut, sound muted,
smell
from this brief moment
and
and will
. . . the catechu
taste occluded,
of fully
interiorized
Eloquent
become more
aware of how
experiencing
the world
According
387
Bodies
are an important locus for
their bodies
and
for being
experienced-in-the-world.
to Jackson,
a
is to discover
being-in-the-world
are one, for by using one's body in the
ground
one finds oneself
informed by
same way as others in the same environment
to one's own cus
then be interpreted according
which may
an understanding
in a field of practical
remains grounded
tom or bent, yet which
activity and
To
recognize
the embodiedness
common
thereby
has
where
consonant
remains
of our
self and other
with
the experience
of
those
among
whom
one
lived.70
in a network of pain: drug-related

or relatives and, ultimately,
problems, abuse, tragic loss of friends
in the sweat carries some pain
the imprint of colonialism. Everyone
out together, as a shared
work
in their body which
they may
The Mi'kmaq
are embedded
friends. The anomalous

with like-minded
embodied
experience
environment in the sweat lodge thus invites the individual to "share
somatic states,"71 a kind of "bodily empathy" with other partici
into dif
pants. To be colonized meant not only being assimilated
ferent values and ideologies, but also adjustment to different bodily
habits; difficult though it is, this change in values and ideas is not
as invasive as a change of bodily habitus. Ritual practices provide
to rework such destructive, embod

opportunities for the individual
ied experiences and simultaneously have his or her new orientation
in life affirmed and legitimized in a social context.72
Affected by their disadvantaged

position in a hegemonic context,
most suc
it is by doing, by practice of ritual, that the Mi'kmaq
in neotraditional
cessfully build new self-esteem. The engagement
marked the beginning of a new life,

ism has, for some Mi'kmaq,
Junior suffered
without drugs or low self-esteem. Donald Marshall
70 Jackson
71
Blacking
1989:135.
1977:10;
see also McGuire

The
shared
1996:113
and what
in the sweat
experienced
experience."
subjective
1991 found in the Navajo
pared with what Spickard
72 See also McGuire
1996:109ff.
Chant.
she
lodge
labels
could
as "inter
be
com
388
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
immeasurably during 11 years in prison, and the difficult times did

not end when he was set free.73 He chose to turn back to the tra
ditional way of healing and I was impressed by his bravery when
celebrations
in Sydney. To be deprived of
speaking at the UN-day
your freedom is the ultimate loss of agency and a lot of courage is
required in order to regain the confidence required to assume an
active role in the very society that was responsible for the unde
served loss of all those years. I do not know what happened with
the young hockey player. Hopefully
he will find new ways to be
creative
in his daily life that may compensate him for the loss of
but there are not many options available on the reserves
hockey,
for full development
of one's
skills and talents.
Conclusion
By employing rituals on the reserves, the Mi'kmaq
their way to strengthen self-esteem and articulate what
be a Mi'kmaq
today. Every so often, critical voices
have
found
itmeans
to
have been
raised against this new way of being Mi'kmaq,
on the grounds that
their rituals are not authentic since they are a mixture from differ
ent Native groups or may even be new inventions. Nevertheless,
as
in the case
this is a problem
of symbols,
the participant:
We
must
of mind
but
to distinguish
learn
they convey.
The
between
external
the symbols
vehicles
the most
important
thing is whether
to convey
important experiences
identity and self-esteem.74
73
This
brings
they are
free,
and
hope
a sequence
the war
is over
for the future. Where
should
Spielberg
the concentration
they go;
to what
life stories, which

by people's
as free agents.
their potential
my
the state
in our eyes;
help
movie
"Schindler's
are
prisoners
What
freedom
just apathy.
also
1995:174,
and
the Mi'kmaq
such as a common
objects
and meanings
is no happiness
in their eyes,
of them had lost their families, relatives
is determined
to utilize
capacity
74
A. Hornborg
these
in the Steven
and
there
they given? Most

Freedom
to mind
When
themselves
be "constructed"
may
themselves
list" (1993).
for the observer, not for
translation.
camp
and
friends,
life would
may
told
are
their home
they return?
restrict a person's
389
Bodies
Eloquent
The Mi'kmaq
do not worry about the criticism, but think of it
as just one more
to deprive the
strategy adapted by non-natives
one
was
When
confronted
of
their
traditions.
Mi'kmaq
Mi'kmaq
directly and asked about the history of a specific ritual, he answered
and what I am doing is my culture."
frankly: "I'm Mi'kmaq,
Not only do theMi'kmaq
inhabit restricted geographical
spaces,
they also have limited opportunities for self-realiza

the dominant society. To this, we must add the history
of colonialism
that has generated conditions of mental as well as
the reserves;
tion within
stress on
bodily
the reserves. We
should
not underestimate
challenge of knowing the body as a locus for the political

of different habitus. Rita Joe writes:
interplay
I speak,
Two
ways
Both
ways
I say,
Your
way
is more
It seems
most
the
powerful75
that the revitalization
effective way of developing

ritual opens up opportunities
of traditional rituals has been

a new embodiment
the
and
identity.
to explore a new habitus and to
in a shared domain with like-minded peers so as
The
employ the body

to facilitate new ways of approaching
the world. The capacity for
to rework the cultural body imposed on them by the
the Mi'kmaq
dominant society opens the way for the weeding out of destructive
or consciously
in their bodies.
embedded
patterns unconsciously
Patricia Doyle-Bedwell
is well aware of the importance of being in
the company of like-minded others for individual healing:
"We
and healing, not just for the individual, but a
restoration of thatMi'kmaq
person within the web of relationship
need
restoration
that defines who

opportunities
s/he is."76 Thus, the rituals provide redemptive

bodies that have been disempowered
contexts, and simultaneously offer social affirmation
for the mindful
by hegemonic
of the new orientation
75
76
Joe
1991a:32.
Doyle-Bedwell
2002:237.
for being
in the world.
390
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
Department of History
and Anthropology
of Religions
Anne-Christine
Hornborg
Lund University
8
Kyrkogata
Allhelgona
223 62 Lund
Sweden
Anne-Christine.Hornborg@teol.lu.se
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BOOK REVIEWS
John
J. Collins,
E.
Gregory
and
Sterling,
Ruth
A.
Clements
(eds.),
Sapiential Perspectives: Wisdom Literature in Light of theDead Sea

Scrolls: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium of the
Orion
20-22
Center,
2001.
May,
on
(Studies
the Texts
of
the Desert
of Judah 51.) Leiden/Boston: Brill 2004, (210 p.) ISBN 90 04 13670 3.

Price
The discoveries ofQumran have furtheredthe scientificdebate on theHebrew

Bible and the Period of the Second Temple inmany ways. In particular,
on
the debate
ancient
Jewish
another
research
last few
years:
discussed:
one
area;
the
first,
which
literature
has
been
on wisdom
of
aspects
specific
was
apocalypticism
on
placed
completely
texts.1The present book gives an insight into
new basis by the Qumran
the wisdom
Several
texts
in the
discussed
increasingly
in Qumran.2
are
questions
as
such
and
4Q184
185, 4QSapiential Work A for instance; second, their relationship to the

wisdom of the Hebrew Bible; and third, the general attitude of mind
within Judaism in Hellenistic times. The anthology at hand addresses all
three
of
these
at
symposium
It contains
questions.
the Orion
nine
arose
that
contributions
at Hebrew
Center
Jerusalem,
University,
from
in May
2001.
See,
Schriften
S. Beyerle,
for example,
Altisraels
und
des
"Die Wiederentdeckung
Fr?hjudentums,"
der Apokalyptik
Verk?ndigung
34-59.
(1998)
2
See A. Lange,
Weisheit
und Pr?destiantion.
Weisheitliche
in den Textfunden von Qumran
Pr?destiantion
(STDJ
18), Leiden:
a good
overview
in In Search
B.B.
Scott,
J.J.Collins,
of Wisdom:
and WJ.
"Wisdom,
Apocalypticism,
Essays
inMemory
Wiseman,
Louisville,
Urordnung
Brill
and Generic
of John G. Gammie,
KY:
Westminster
in den
und Forschung
43
und
1995, and for
Compatibility,"
ed. L.G.
John Knox
Perdue,
1989,
165-85.
Koninklijke
Also
available
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
396
Reviews
Book
Alexander
1-11),
on
focuses
Rof?
to Qumran,"
From the Bible
In his contribution ("Revealed Wisdom:

a possible
between
coherence
Qumran
11:3-7) and the Hebrew Bible with regard to the idea that human
(1 QS
ity receives
wisdom
He
revelation.
through
that the concept
shows
of revealed
wisdom appears already in Job 32:2, Deut 32:7, and Num 24:3^4, 15-16:
The spirit of Yah we already speaks throughDavid, Balaam already knew
the knowledge of Elyon, and Agur (Prov 30:1^4) knows that of the Holy
Ones
(p. 11).
Menahem
Kister
ranic
wisdom
Ben
Sira
which
to Mysteries,"
was
and
Literature
("Wisdom
before
the relationship
with
deals
He
13-47).
with
primarily
of
and
Sira
to Other
a process
reveals
connected
Ben
between
its Relation
qum
From
Genres:
eschatologizing,
texts.
apocalyptic
in
Both
apocalyptic literature and in thework entitled "Mysteries" (1Q27; 4Q299,

4Q300
and
tion"
as well
This
last
as
one
4Q301)
perhaps
a very
("The Eschatologizing
49-65).
He
this
Proverbs
Enoch,
elect
analyzes
a world
or Ben
Sira.
group,
to
of
view
are
there
at
Sea
and
Scrolls,"
shows
thereby
from
the wisdom
similarities
with
the Epistle
that
and
large
J. Collins'
John
different
is very
to the conclusion
Israel
of
in the Dead
of 4QInstruction
that
of "revela
terminology.
departure
of Wisdom
Because
comes
not
of wisdom
the eschatology
text has
Collins
use
the point
article
that
observe
frequent
constitutes
aspect
a reinterpretation
can
are
texts
the
not
certainly
of
of
to an
addressed
at
to humanity
large
in the manner of the older wisdom books (63). 4QInstruction insofar

proves to be a "different line of development" beyond the traditions of
and
Proverbs
dom
Ben
Sira. While
the authors
curriculum,
the latter
incorporated
of 4QInstruction
into the wis
the Torah
eschatology.
incorporated
In his contribution, Torleif Elgvin addresses the question of what milieu

thewisdom textsmight have had ("Priestly Sages? The Milieus of Origin
of 4QMysteris
gins
elation
of
and
of divine
4QMysteries
He
mysteries.
which
develops
speak
closer
steries with
the
about
rev
concerning
perspective
and Ben Sira, while placing
Enochic
as the milieu
the ori
examines
explicitly
an all-Israelite
to the developing
the Temple
this, he
most
and locates it closer to Daniel
4QInstruction
4QMy
writings
For
67-87).
4QInstruction,"
two Qumran
writings.
of origin
while
He
only
locates
the pre-Maccabean
Judea had slightly different circles of people producing texts of wisdom.

Lawrence
lished
Qumran
H.
Schiffman
wisdom
tackles
literature
the question
is sectarian
whether
in character
the newly
or not
pub
("Halakhic
Book
Elements
in the Sapiential
Texts
397
Reviews
from
Qumran,"
the examples
tial
of halakhic
not
do
composition
of
question
conform
the
context
social
of
on
shows,
418c(?), 423), that
in the context
to sectarian
the law as defined
ally conform with

tradition (100).
The
that appear
excerpts
He
89-100).
the basis of an analysis of 4QInstruction (4Q415-418a,

halakhic
of
sapien
but
rulings,
gener
in the later Pharisaic-rabbinic

the originating
of wisdom
circles
thinking is also addressed by Benjamin G. Wright III ("The Categories of

rich and poor in the Qumran Sapiential Literature," 101-123). He inves
the categories
whether
tigates
of
rich
and
an
constitute
poor
ideal
value
for 4QInstruction. He works out clear differences to Ben Sira with regard
to the originating
the poor,
tive
are
they
a class
of
the
rich
cannot
students
to serve
advises
Sira
sage
Sira's
trained
being
Ben
capacities.
to the rich;
Ben
circles.
his
in public
students
about
in contrast,
of 4QInstruction,
be
and
reckoned
official
in relation
behaviour
even
not
does
among
administra
mention
at all.
people
Cana Werman, "What is the Book of Hagu?"

125-140) deals with the
to
how
the
Book
of
of
Hagu. In doing so, she also
question
identify
addresses
the question
Sapiential
Literature.
kind
of what
can be assumed
of wisdom
comes
She
to
the
conclusion
in the Qumran
that
Sefer
ha-Hagu
highlights cultic law as well as pre-destined history. The book of Hagu is

the product of a community that believed in predestined history and in
God's justice (140).
The topic of a possible historic milieu of the wisdom texts is also an
issue for?rstein
in Context,
ness]
Justnes. His contribution ("4Q215A

?
141-161: Appendix:
4Q215A
[Time of righteous
Text and Notes,"
(4Q215a), a text that since
162-170) deals with 4QTime of Righteousness

Michael
tali."
On
the basis
the Zion
of
Apocalypse
conclusion
the
The
of
an
the Weeks
that
text
the
references
4Q215a
after
anthology's
of
and
these
last
and
text's
other
to draw
sapiential,
to Enochic
the
J.T.
material
streams
4Q215a
streams
several
upon
of
(for
background
Justnes
texts),
prophetic
Daniel
biblical
between
comparison
some
(and
until
composition
as one text, the "Testament of Naph

a
and
seems
sectarian
separate,
analysis
traditions)
apocalyptic,
especially
dates
as
read
read it togetherwith 4Q215
example
of
was
Stone
Milik
and
the
comes
to
of
tradition,
(161).
traditions,
the
Because
Justnes
texts.
contribution
asks
"Was
there
common
Ethic
in
398
by
question
can
not
analysing
to that
similar
in Alexandria
instruction
in the
of
land
the Dead
and
traditions
ethical
diaspora
that ethical
show
Gregory E. Sterling answers this
Judaism" (171-194).
Second Temple
He
Reviews
Book
Israel.
scrolls.
was
the Diaspora
and
there
Rather,
Sea
existed
common
group of topoi that formed the basis for the ethical instruction in the dias
pora (193).
The
a wealth
offers
anthology
which
of material,
the
addressed
perspectives
in particular.
upon
of
the
Both
between
relation
the
by
and
Kister
one
volume,
take
Collins
and
apocalypticism
195-201). Of all
from wisdom
developed
up
from
remarked
be
the old
again
It was
wisdom.
than
rather
here
shall
question
von
Gerhard
the theory that apoc
Rad who, in his Old Testament Theology, developed

alyptic
accessible
is easily
through the indices (Modern Authors, Ancient Sources,
In
prophecy.
the
subse
quent discussion of this issue it became clear that a distinct opposition of

prophecy and wisdom in Hellenic times is highly unlikely.3 This anthol
contributions
ogy's
on
depend
the question
start
from
and
alongside
the different
show
most
of
(Collins,
a discourse
were
traditions.
ent circles in Hellenistic
addressed
These
that
one
Also,
from
traditions
to be
should
different
different
were
rather
sources.
needs
apocalypticism
63).
texts
the
different
containing
and pre-Maccabean
per
kinds
of
perspectives
adopted
by
differ
Judea (Elgvin, 86).
Bernd
Bremen
Universit?t
way
of
which
problems,
feed
the origins
new
the paradigm
questions
and
of
in a completely
addressed
and
from
this assumption
traditions
multiple
Consequently,
haps
confirm
U.
Schipper
FB 9 Religionswissenschaft
P.O. Box 33 04 40
28334 Bremen
Germany
Bernd.schipper@web.de
See,
Woude
Peters
for example,
(ed.), The Book
1993,
413-434.
D.
Michel,
of Daniel
"Weisheit
in the Light
und Apokalyptik,"
of New
Findings
(BETL
in A.S.
van
der
106), Leuven:
Michael
Vera
Dickhardt,
Sacred
Representing
Vol. 2-3
399
Reviews
Book
Dorofeeva-Lichtman
Spaces,
(eds.),
G?ttinger
and
Creating
zur Asienforschung,
Beitr?ge
(special double issue), G?ttingen: Peust & Gutschmidt 2003,

in subscription
ISSN 1618-310X,
30- single issue
(294 pp.)
40,-.
recent
In
has
space
years
Studies.
on
Studies
of
the production
one
become
the concepts
on
space,
of
of maps,
the
central
cartography
environment
and
of Cultural
topics
and
location
on
landscapes,
have
been
published
frommultiple academic perspectives. Since the 1980s the focus of spatial

studies
has
cultural
shifted
from
constructions
of
mapping,
structuralist
center/periphery,
on
studies
studies
focus
the
graphie
cultural
of
of
the making
the power
marking,
and
has
and
also
been
on
sacred
of
In the context of these publications

and
"Creating
on
based
Dorofeeva-Lichtman,
Cultural
In religious
on
geography,
religious
trans
become
studies.
ritual
icono
of
production
on
places,
the
holy
ritual
so on.
and
places,
the book edited by Dickhardt and

of an
the papers
Sacred
Representing
on
of
negotiation
politics
have
religious
sacred
sites,
religious
and
etc.
cartography
transgression,
studies, ecocriticism, New
memory
research
representation
on
places,
landscape,
of
investigations
like
concepts
analytic
key terms in gender
disciplinary
History
towards
analysis
New
space.
international
conducted
Spaces"
on
workshop
from
June
29th
until July 2nd 2000 in the Department of East Asian Studies of the
University of G?ttingen, is a high quality contribution. It is special in that
it brings together 14 articles from ten different disciplines which on the
basis
of
tives
examine
diverse
very
source
the question
ferent cultural
settings
of
"Sacred
Spaces
third part
articles
Roussel,
in Ritual
Spaces
Described
on
contain
Borchers,
Koninklijke
Also available
tables
distinct
"sacred
of these
perspec
in dif
spaces"
constructions
within
Theoretical
Practices"
Transpositions"
Gengnagel),
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
119
articles,
(one
article,
(Dorofeeva-Lichtmann),
Brandi,
109
articles,
(six
(four
Introduction
from
is followed by two long parts on
Perspective"
and Mapped"
"Sacred
the function
several
of
Dickhardt
"Creating and Representing Sacred Spaces as
Mediation:
Symbolic
from
theoretical introduction by Michael
(Anthropolgy, G?ttingen):
Cultural Anthropological
and
the construction
and question
the specific contexts. The

Processes
material
of
25
maps
graphies
NUMEN,
pages)
and
"Sacred
pages),
and
pages).
Some
short
of
(Juh?-Beaulaton
(Borchers,
Vol.
the
&
Brandi,
52
400
Khayutina,
Dorofeeva-Lichtmann),
Khayutina,
Gengnagel),
Escher,
Reviews
Book
illustrations
photo
or glossaries
Brandi)
pictures
(Rotermund,
(Juh?-Beaulaton
&
Roussel,
(Juh?-Beaulaton
&
Roussel,
Dorofeeva-Lichtmann);
Khayutina,
each article is followed by a bibliography; a list of contributors is added

at the end of the book.
The
first part
Sacred
be
Spaces
the following
contains
as
Considered
Reflections
Languages
an
Anton
Patrimony?";
Sacred
is
Place
Escher
'No-Place'.
Borchers
in Sunwar
Spaces
the
in
cAbd ar-Rahman
Sidi
D?rte
Example";
"Sacred
Leiden),
Project,
Juh?-Beaulaton
Dominique
the Marabout
Using
as
Morocco,
Casablanca,
a Natural
"The
Mainz/Germany),
(Geography,
Theoretical
articles:
(Africa Studies and Anthropology, Paris) "May Vodun
& Bernard Roussel
(Himalayan
Hartmut
Houses";
Rotermund (Japan Studies, Paris), "Sacred Space and itsCharacteristics in

Japanese Religion and Folk Culture"; Rudolf M. Brandi (Musicology,
G?ttingen), "The Creation of Ritual Space in the Nuo Ritual in Guichi,

Anhui Province"; Maria Khayutina (China Studies, Bochum/Germany),
The Sacred Space of an Aristocratic Clan in Zhou China (11th?3rd
Centuries
second
Studies,
under
BC)
part
An
Transformation:
contains
the
as
"Text
Paris),
Geography,
Vera
articles:
Attempt
at
The
Interpretation".
Dorofeeva-Lichtmann
a Device
(China
a
for Mapping
Sacred
Space: A Case of theWu Zang Shan Jing ('Five Treasuries: The Itineraries
of Mountains)";
Daniela Dueck
(Classical Studies, Ramat Gan/Israel),
Natalia
"The Augustan Concept of 'An Empire Without Limits'";
and
Uses
"The
Construction
Indiana
USA),
University,
Lozovsky (History,
of Sacred Space in the Early Middle Ages: From the Salvation of the Soul
to theHealing of the Body"; J?rgGengnagel (Indian Studies, Heidelberg),
?
Aspects of Cartography in 19th Century
"Mapping Sacred Spaces
Ba?aras."
The
in
article
the
third
part
is by Andrea
Riemenschnitter
(China Studies, Zurich/Switzerland), "Ged?chtnisorte im Exil: Die anderen

heiligen
With
der Nation."
R?ume
five
on China
articles
India,
there
is a
based
upon
individual
original
languages,
anced.
and
Care
on
was
further
taken
one
emphasis
the grounds
on
articles
are
into materials
from
the
of which
relevant
topic
The
differentiated.
to ensure
each
The
article
on Asia.
investigations
to the currently
ries pertaining
criticized
regional
and
that
common
of "sacred
selection
the major
of
Japan,
Nepal,
respective
and
concepts
are
spaces"
articles
perspectives
and
generally
is well
and
theo
tested,
bal
questions
401
Reviews
Book
in the domain of Cultural Studies involving this vast and many-facetted

topic were appropriately dealt with. In this regard, we find fruitful and
use
productive
sources
of
of all kinds
archaeological material
architecture
(interior)
Dueck,
which
all
&
their own
demand
various
and
Riemenschnitter)
Roussel,
Escher,
particular
to a
leads
studies
of
texts
empirical
Borchers,
Brandi);
thus
and
methodology
consolidation
(Brandi),
of written
genres
shed their own specific light onto the subject at hand. The
the different
presented:
(Gengnagel), music
as
Lozovsky,
(Juh?-Beaulaton
investigations
sources
as well
(Borchers),
the problems
treating
(Khayutina), maps
(Dorofeeva-Lichtmann,
field
for
each
integration of
theoretical
the
concepts,
dense quality of which not only yields important new insights into the
central question posed, but also into the methodology within the field of
Cultural
Studies
in general.
the one hand, the presupposition
On
the
and
"sacred"
"profane"
generally
of a distinction between
the
at hand
the question
underlying
is
repeatedly examined and in several studies explicitly called into question

(Borchert,
tage
In this
resolved
different
involved
idea
contexts.
also
the connectivity
edly
corroborated
of
the
of
points
view
On
the
hand,
between
in the respective
relational
no
and
by
the
in which
contexts,
repeat
is determined
the other
On
space.
and
are
world
space
independent
cul
dependency,
sacred
is
space
contextual
in different
spaces"
the profane
and
studies,
an
longer
and
sacred
out
the mutual
interplay,
disci
specific
of
pointing
"sacred
van
different
the
permanency
of
the sacred
from
from
drawn
static
in the construction
the one
tural
in the articles
sources
pertinent
the
regard,
from
properties
to be
on
based
points,
plines.
It is scrutinized
Rotermund).
hand,
in keeping with the question of different viewpoints on the creation of

sacred
specific
action
and,
way
are
spaces
tual
it is clearly
space,
in which
created.
of binding
functional
in various
in which
especially,
respectively
degrees
and
revealed
For
in the
character
realms.
cultural
the
or
force
functional
sacred
The
this
space,
the
improvisation,
temporally
for what
motives,
sacred
correlations
limited
transitory,
of
contex
of
execution
idea
prevailing
its
elucidates
two
ritual
strictly
defined and distinctive spheres is thus strongly questioned. The concept of

a
qualitatively
defined
space,
valent
and multifunctional
newly
reshaped
The
problem
and
therefore,
space,
reconfigured
of constructions
which
is replaced
can
in each
by
the
special
idea
of a multi
case
be moved,
respectively.
of
sacred
spaces
is in the
second
part
of
402
Book Reviews
the book furthercondensed by relating it to written texts. Sacred space is

not
in the context
created
only
texts.
written
In
this
of
ritual
the
also,
respect,
but
practice,
of
studies
on
also
the
second
the basis
of
in
reveal
part
which ways the perception of space is related to the interpretationof tex

tually transmitted traditions and where these, in their own light, take their
origins. This also sheds a completely new light on the functional aspect
of
classical
texts,
be
contents,
formerly
the
it for
to the fixation
due
neglected
of models
representation
for geographical
(Dorofeeva-Lichtmann),
of
the
upon
textual
order
cosmological
extensions
for
(Dueck),
religio
didactical purposes (Lozovsky), or for thepractice of pilgrimage (Gengnagel).

Dueck,
between
sacred
with
the whole,
On
Escher,
Khayutina,
question
of
correlation
This
approach,
is posed.
society
in the
studies
and
space
with
associated
space
Roussel,
the
the
originating
taken up by the structuralists and strongly influencing
sacred
of
acquisition
and
space
is dealt
Bourdieu,
&
(Juh?-Beaulaton
Riemenschnitter)
Gengnagel,
with Durkheim,
of
cases
in several
Finally,
with
on
focus
special
for
the presuppositions
the
social
creations
specific
it.
the contributions
make
evident
contexts
in which
sacred
space can indeed be an analytically productive and helpful category, if

one
space.
traditional
abandons
only
Not
these
do
only
views
and
on
studies
conceptualizations
sacred
space
sacred
concerning
in a fresh
help
provide
understanding of the subject at hand in terms of its cultural diversity, they

vice
also,
ined.
the contexts
By
finding
correlations
minated
establish
versa,
investigating
by
new
entirely
in cultural
these
sacred
but
a new
sacred
sacred
also
hitherto
and
relationships
is now
space
in turn
exam
been
process-related
not
illuminates
for
category
analytical
has
space
functional
dynamics
contexts
as
space
in which
only
these
illu
newly
anew.
contexts
The
thesis, for example, that musical rhythm is determined by ritual

topography (Brandi) will similarly open up new possible trains of thought,
such
as
ized
texts
could
be
the consideration
and,
(Gengnagel),
as
understood
should
that city maps
that
conversely,
of
cartographies
really
be
seen
of
descriptions
a concrete
way
as
visual
paradise
to worldly
salva
tion (Lozovsky), or thatgeographical travel guides for "religiously charged"

localities
In
these
sions
ulating
of
were
indeed
primary
reference
we
materials
in treating
the construction
of political
formulations
source
of new
sacred
see
space,
theories
resistance
the
(Riemenschnitter).
revelation
yielding
in this area,
of
possibilities
heretofore
new
dimen
for
stim
somewhat
on
static,
of new
the basis
on
ories
ity of each
collection
insights,
of new
the basis
source
403
Reviews
Book
and
challenging
All
materials.
the
former
reviving
in all,
the academic
qual
individual contribution satisfies the reader and the specific
of
articles
and
meets,
to enhance,
is able
large
of
variety
interests.
Theologische Fakult?t der Universit?t G?ttingen

Institut f?r Spezialforschungen
Joachim Gentz
Abt. Religionswissenschaft
Platz der G?ttingen Sieben 2
37073 G?ttingen
Germany
jgentz@gwdg.de
Mathias
Frenz,
im Spannungsfeld
Marienverehrung
religi?ser Traditionen in S?dindien (Beitr?ge zur S?dasienforschung

195),W?rzburg: Ergon 2004, (233 p.), ISBN 3-89913-343-9
(pbk.)
42,-.
to
Compared
the
cross-cultural
Christian Mother Mary

have
been
in number.
small
the
which
significance
veneration
of
the
enjoys in south India, the studies dealing with it

Marian
as
treated
is generally
worship
an
ele
ment of catholic religiosity, whereas its appeal to Hindus has been rarely
touched upon. A detailed study of the history and social role of south
Indian Marian worship such as this book by Matthias Frenz is therefore
most
welcome.
religious
The
book
is important
as well;
pluralism
in recent
from
is repeated mention of Tamil Hindus

even
ena
after
have
cretism"
when
having
generally
(which
as
defined
been
has
questions
icizing
its static nature,
taking
place
Koninklijke
Also available
often
a neutral
that he
processes,
classified
failed
term).
the analytical
which
the mutuality
in intercultural
of
to escape
pejorative
It is one
of
the
and
He
Such
for ongoing
NUMEN,
to work
study
(13-30),
syncretism
"syn
even
of Frenz's
the multileveled
prefers
phenom
term
associations
the merits
term
there
pilgrimage places,
the ambiguous
to account
it unable
exchange,
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
of
of European
Hinduism,
of worship.
places
of
transfers.
of view
diaspora
by means
value
makes
on
visiting Marian
their own
established
the point
studies
crit
dynamic
negotiations
instead
Vol.
with
the
52
404
Book Reviews
term
"contact
different
zone"
layers
B.S.
Incorporating
works
and McKim
centres,
southern
India
and
backgrounds
ranges
from
places,
and
and
also
by
V?lankanni
as
a pilgrimage
centre
of
19th
which
to pilgrimage
Villiyan?r
importance
regional
to
in contrast
century,
was
which
importance
pan-Indian
religious
sites
networks;
centre
the
net
in the 16th century and attracts large crowds
founded by the Portuguese

18th
of
different
shrines
way-side
in
significance.
between
of Marian
non-catholic
missionaries
French
of
of trade and of Christian
network
a pilgrimage
as
of
distinction
as zone
a grid
develops
radius
encompassing
simple
integrates
de Lourdes")
and
field
including
altars
private
established
of catholic
Marriott's
India
a cultural
and
to their
according
distinguishes:
as
networks,
which
Dame
("Notre
Cohn's
Pratt
L.
by Mary
zones
Frenz
and
mission;
introduced
contact
of
non-catholic
at
to its festivals
pilgrims
the early
since
least
century.
study is that it deconstructs simplified gen
A furthermerit of Frenz's
of
eralization
"the"
mission
Christian
the Roman
Even
(31-61).
Catholic
in India did not follow a uniform concept; themissionaries
mission
different
European
spiritual
and
and
countries
worldly
and
goals,
societies
pursued
territory
increased
missionary
over
fights
from
different
over
the
centuries due to the challenge of the Portuguese hegemony by theVatican

and the French mission. While the Portuguese decided missionary politics
in south India in the 16th century, in the 19th century itwas the French,
both infusing their own (politically loaded)

"folk"
and
of her worship,
character
her miraculous
of
history
have
India
individual
with
grims
The
been,
often
and
greater
for
as
ideas
centres
local
and
than
Villiyan?r
her
rivalries
for
decisive
and mutual
influence
the first
to spread
and
the
cult. The
to
exported
concerning
processes
exchange
among
the pil
the clergy.
is com
and V?lankanni
with
great
care
and negotiation
with
local Hinduism,
time,
and
of
formation
disputes
interests
to
it easy
made
Madonna)
worship
competition
the pilgrimage
presented
prehensively
as
the Portuguese)
(for
the ecclesiastical
heterogeneous
exerted
of
and
of Marian
of worship,
actors,
history
cult
associations
environment
to Frenz,
according
Indian
places
Hindu
who
in Europe
the church
south
specific
the Hindu
with
royal
(the Lourdes
embodiments
relations
establish
her
image of Mother Mary. The
for
signi
ficant details (63-122).

In terms of the dynamics
following
cap.
(123-187),
of exchange
is most
interesting,
and
forms,
perhaps,
the
405
Book Reviews
core chapter of the book. Both Vel?nkanni
?
Christianize)
cart
and
20th
century
ele
important
of
all miraculous
foundation
the divine).
of
presence
myths
stressing
is
Vel?nkanni
However,
in receiving a high degree of sponsoring from Catholic
exceptional
of
most
the physical
non-Catholic
ments
the early
include (and
temple cult (pond, flag-post, beautiful festivals and
and
processions,
territory
since
increasingly
ments of the Hindu
and Villiyan?r
of
pilgrims
how
much
other
the core
at
system
early
date.
Frenz
the
social
mechanisms
with
coincides
lay participation
the redistributive
an
from
regions
and
of Hindu
docu
includ
festivals,
temple
ing the competition among different castes (Christian and Hindu) about
privileged ritual positions signalling social prestige (like raising the festi
val
The
flag).
traditions
cross-cultural
include
and
processes
exchange
by various
initiatives
creative
of
transformations
actors:
cultural
the Catholic
clergy, the lay participants from different religious backgrounds, and the
Hindu
local
The
community.
to an
reaction
latter
has
increasing
its own
created
of Catholics
dominance
new
narratives
in
since
the
in Vel?nkanni
1960s, by inverting the Christian foundation myths in favour of their own

and
goddess
her
claiming
superiority.
Frenz concludes, based on interviews,
In his final remarks (189-194)

that
the common
is above
Catholics
e.g.,
denominator
all
the motherly
child, whereas
"Mother
The
ology
It offers
tematic
approach
Westf?lische
tightly
rather
structured
social
role
of
south
its concrete
Wilhelms-Universit?t
48145 M?nster
Germany
@
ideal
love
uni-muenster.de
for most
empirical
a clear
with
of meticulously
in particular.
and
and
Indian
Marian
It is worthwhile
"mother,"
the
towards
(Christian) or
pilgrims.
and method
data
framework.
analytical
researched
details
and
worship,
reading
non
both
for
on
the
the
two
its sys
data.
M?nster
Seminar f?r Allgemeine Religionswissenschaft

H?fferstr. 27
wilkeann
of an
tender
immaterial
philological,
abundance
fascinating
centres
pilgrimage
symbol
of unconditional,
are
(Hindu)
on historical,
written,
and
formation
natural
and
for Catholics
attraction
theological concepts like "Mother of God"
based
is well
the cross-cultural
characteristic
Goddess"
book,
of Mary's
Annette
Wilke
406
Book
John
C.
Bible
Reeves,
and
Reviews
Quf?n:
in Scriptural
Essays
(SBL Symposium Series 24.) Leiden/Boston:

ISBN 90-04-12726-7.
Price
Intertextuality.
Brill 2004,
(245 p.),
Exegetics has long been concerned with the relationship between the
Biblical scriptures and the literature of theAncient Near East and of the
world.
Greek-Roman
the examination
new
This
history.1
However,
of how
Biblical
strand
of
has
change
traditions
research
taken
recently
on
live
on
builds
earlier
towards
place
in religious
and
cultural
but
works,
takes
differentperspective. It no longer follows the paradigm of mere historical

which
reception,
Hebrew
in
texts.
later
cesses,
and
worked
Christian
and
into how
in later
adapted
The
at
anthology
the
of
into
were
traditions
the
the Bible's
of discourse
book
follows
new
this
and
discourses
three
chapters.
the
It researches
approach.
of
interactions
Some
Geiger
and
this process
not
solve
their
See,
the problem
based
pre-Islamic,
work
Geiger's
concerning
e.g., M.
on
wissenschaft,
?
Koninklijke
Also
available
Fishbane,
a new
and
Qur'?nic
to determine
of how
Biblical
Beck
Myth
Qur5?n
presents
the relation
between
was
Abraham
and K.
the
and
(7)
that Biblical,
were
traditions
era
of
critical
in
used
compara
texts.
However,
he
did
relation
between
the
two
Julius Wellhausen,
and Rabbinic
Mythmaking,
von Stuckrad,
Einf?hrung
and Julius
Oxford:
in die
Oxford
Religions
2003.
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
- www.brill.nl
online
subsequent
1-22)
research
revelation
and Arabian
constitutes
the Biblical
Press 2003.
University
2
On
this, see H. Kippenberg
M?nchen:
its world
("The
relationship,"
to determine
holy scriptures. After Theodor N?ldeke,

1
in the
Firestone
of modern
pioneer
not
and
Christian,
(9).
study
of
and
in the first two
studies
ven
the
Biblical,
who started out from the assumption that theQur'?n
creation
ancient-Jewish,
studies
The
case
text by Reu
approaches
the Bible.
(1810-1874),
a human
tive
modern
Islam
is further developed
to different
introductory
Islamic,
Its thematic focus
within
reconfiguration
applied
history-of-scholarship
the Qur'?n
was
then
The
the Bible:
and
and
(VII). This approach

and
pro
functionalized
times.2
reception
chapters
seven
traditions
underlying
received,
and Jewish traditions in the 8th to 10th centuries CE.

is on
and
the
the
of
scriptures
motives
single
more
go
questions
basis
on
focused
Biblical
hand
of Biblical
reception
and
the
Instead,
especially
on
solely
Bible
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
407
Reviews
Book
Morgenstern, itwas Richard Bell (1876-1952) who answered this prob

lem by construing a kind of history of decay: themore "primitive" Arab
mind was not capable of understanding the complexity of what might be
termed
"high-cultural"
of Christianity
renderings
to Firestone,
(15). According
this kind of "Eurocentrism"3 is often blended with a rigid historicism and

too
pays
to
attention
little
the
context.
literary
starts
Firestone
off
from
refers to JohnWansbrough (1928-2002), who highlighted

the issue of intertextuality in some of his studies4 and thus opened up the
this point. He
on
view
structure
the discourse
itself. The
of a "discourse
approach
of
lit
erary poetics" is furtherdeveloped by Vernon K. Robbins and Gordon D.

Newby ("A Prolegomenon to the Relation of the Qur'?n and the Bible,"
23-42).
new
to adopt
propose
They
exegetical
Robert
and
approaches5
Paul
Alter's,
them
apply
and
Ricoeur's,
to
the Qur'an
others'
The
as
to place
is
idea
the Hebrew
together
W.
literary
Such
prophetic,
course
is essentially
share
seven
subsequent
a
an
common
it is crucial
to bring
earlier
done
been
are
by
the miracle,
the qur'?nic
while
(32),
(26f.).
environment
the
dis
nature.
apocalyptic
contributions
on
focus
has
in the Qur'?n
discourse
apocalyptic
of
discourse
this,
as
rhetorics,
rhetorics
social
and
wisdom,
social
same
For
scriptures.
and
poetics
Brueggemann.6
The
Christian
and
the
within
the Qur'?n
to
in order
determine the relationship between both literatures in a novel way
prophetic
address
special
discourse.
Brian
but
topics,
M.
Hauglid
still
can
show, by example of the figureAbraham ("On the Early Life of Abraham:

Biblical and Qur'?nic Intertextualityand theAnticipation of Muhammad,"
that a
87-105),
On
this
term,
Religionswissenschaft,"
4 J.
Wansbrough,
Oxford:
pretation,
5 R.
Alter,
Essays
R. Alter
textual
lively
see G.
"Eurozentrismen
Ahn,
Zeitschrift
between
University
Poetry,
Interpretation,
and F. Kermode
(eds.),
Sources
Press
Fortress
1997.
and Methods
(1997)
York:
Guide
Testament:
Basic
PA:
of Scriptural
Books
Fortress
to the Bible,
Inter
1985. P. Ricoeur,
1980.
See
Cambridge,
Testimony, Dispute,
it
in der
41-58.
1977.
Philadelphia,
The Literary
Harvard
Press
1987.
University
6
W. Brueggemann,
of the Old
Theology
MN:
New
Jews, Christians,
In this chapter
als Erkenntnisbarrieren
f?r Religionswissenschaft
Studies:
Quranic
Oxford
The Art of Biblical
on Biblical
Minneapolis,
existed
interchange
during the 8th to 10th centuries CE.
and Muslims
also
MA:
Advocacy,
408
Reviews
Book
becomes
some
clear
of
the Qur'?nic
the whole
where
already
of
the motifs
and
Jewish
representation
can
tradition
as well
of Abraham
lie. Especially,
merits
anthology's
Christian
as
be
in
retraced
in Islamic
exegetical
texts of Tafsir, Ta'rikh and Qisas al-anbiya (105). The authors know how
to develop the initially sketched paradigm and also to bring in extra
All
traditions.
Qur'?nic
this adds
to a carefully
up
differentiated
of
image,
which only a few aspects can be highlighted in this review.

John C. Reeves ("Some Explorations of the Intertwining of Bible und
stresses
43-60)
Qur'?n,"
and
the Qur'?n,
ture,
Idris
them
and
"versions
status
ham
of
and
(44).
the Qur'?n
with
the
as
same
Muhammad,"
same
must
and
in his
Wheeler
of Q
exegesis
the
circumci
the Torah
and
of
of "an
evidence
provides
the
of Abra
of
topos
to
as
topoi
importance
("Israel
3:93,
(among
as witnesses
central
the
litera
examples
taken
such
the Torah,
of Muhammed
M.
three
be
for
Muslim
ancient
from
true
is
to
regard
Brannon
vein,
show
traditions
these
precursors
61-85),
can
He
The
of Bible"
between
interrelations
that
Enoch)
Jesus
In
sion.
the
the Bible.
exegetical dialogue and polemic between Muslims and Jews" (perhaps the
Jews of Medina)
regarding the status of the Qur'?n with regard to the
in which
Torah,
the
this, Wheeler
b., Umar
also
latter which
account
into
takes
a revealed
of Abu
and Fakhr
Ibn Kathir,
al-Zamakhshari,
as
counted
the exegeses
al-Din
text. To
al-Qasim
These
al-Razi.
show
Mahmud
Muslim
exegetes hold that the Qur'?n does not abrogate the Torah by implement
a new
ing
revelation
to Abraham,
discusses
107-131)
the
prophetic
and
distorted
to Muhammad,
prototypes
of
of
in
Jesus
who
Ya'qubi,
tions
from
texts.
Jesus
the works
("Abraham's
the Qur'?n
cumcision.
of
a
offered
the
four
Test;
161-182),
and
Islamic
which
Biblical
Circumcision
Ta'rikh,"
of
or
should
Male
shows
traditions
Jesus
be
As
Circumcision
there
even
is not mentioned
are
in such
on
based
quota
of
interpretations
to Kathrin
given
that
largely
and
paraphrases
al
Ahmad
historian
that was
the impact
studies
133-160)
Muslim
ninth-century
portrait
gospels
attention
Special
Practice,"
in al-Ya'qubi's
Moses
Abraham,
namely
the Qur5?n, and the Pre
and Jesus. Sidney H. Griffith ("The Gospel,

sentation
revealed
lost by the later Jews. Jane

("The Prediction and Pr?figuration of Muhammad,"
the self-referentiality of the Qur'?n by taking into
D?mmen McAuliffe
view
covenant
the original
it revives
rather,
(85),
which was
Kueny's
these
chapter
Anti/Ante-Covenantal
points
of contact
a divergent
in the Qur'?n
topic
at
all,
between
as
and
cir
the
root
kh-t-n
in some
tioned
in
not
does
to purity
but
Abraham
Hadith
do
references
to a
and
and
plays
not
relate
role
prominent
to
circumcision
as fitra.
known
concept
is men
circumcision
However,
sources
Islamic
non-qur3?nic
Most
the Hadith.
either.
there
appear
409
Reviews
Book
root f-t-r
The
appears frequently in the Qur'?n. Tabari (d. 923) links Abraham's cir
cumcision to the Qur'?n itself (Q 2:124), but this association differs from
idea
the Jewish
as
circumcision
of
the
of
sign
covenant
between
God
and his people. The purity practices of thefitra serve as a kind of test
that
and
Early
Islam,"
and
early
Islam,
scriptural
make
relationship
scope
of
Muslim
image
The
comprehensive
and
Judaism
bibliography
modern
tradents,
Fred
Judaism
characters,
scriptural/parascriptural
commentators
by
in rabbinic
practice
A
chapter
in Rabbinic
of Mourning
the anthology.
the Bible
basis
its analyses.
exegetes
be
the Qur'?n.
and
for this field

also
and
intertextuality
could
type.
post
authors,
the anthology an important resource for the study of the
a new
of
ideal
the mourning
(citations,
between
establishes
on
concludes
traditional
219-245)
adigm
Death: Aspects
183-199),
indices
and
(201-217)
a pristine,
into
Abraham
transforms
Astren ("Depaganizing
includes
sources
These
and
a multifaceted
produce
further
refined
In
of research
this
presentation
circumcision.
of, e.g.,
into
from
sources
extra-qur'?nic
took
the volume
respect,
it departs
the detailed
image
if one
as
account
the par
in
the
of early
This
contemporary
Jewish sources, as has been done by R. Sch?fer for Judaism and the
Christian
traditions,
Universit?t
taking
as
the Shekinah
Bremen
an
example.7
Bernd
U.
Schipper
P.O. Box 33 04 40
28334 Bremen
Germany
Bernd.schipper@web.de
See
P. Sch?fer, Mirror
to early Kabbalah,
of His
Princeton,
NY:
Beauty:
Feminine
Princeton
Images
University
of God
Press
2002.
from
the Bible
410
Book Reviews
Ernst
Kritische
Troeltsch,
im Auftrag
Gesamtausgabe,
der Heidelberger
der Wissenschaften, hrsg. von Friedrich Wilhelm Graf;

Volker Drehsen; Gangolf H?binger; Trutz Rendtorff. Berlin; New
Akademie
York
KGA4:
1998-.
und Kritiken 1901-1914. Hrsg. von FriedrichWilhelm
Rezensionen
in Zusammenarbeit
Graf
mit
von
Gabriele
Bassermann-Jordan.
2004,
(xxiv, p. 948), ISBN 3-11-018095-2.

A
7: Protestantisches Christentum und Kirche in der Neuzeit
1906/
KG
1909/1922. Hrsg. von Volker Drehsen inZusammenarbeit mit Christian
Albrecht. 2004, (xvi, 646 p.), ISBN 3-11-016341-1.
new
Two
in the critical
volumes
the works
of
edition
of Ernst
Troeltsch
(1865-1923) have been published since my first review of this series in

NUMEN 51 (2004) 229-31. There is no need to repeat or revise the gen
eral
remarks
that
time:
which
essays
introductory
are
editions
these
Troeltsch's
place
excellent,
the new
of
contemporary
volumes
(Vol.
to Troeltsch's
is devoted
4)
in ongoing
ing a house.
with Max
dialogue
In the
last year
with
Weber,
in this volume,
covered
University
he was
whom
then
Troeltsch
1914,
in
reviews
the years he taught as professor of theology at Heidelberg

while
the
especially
in his
works
context.
scientific
One
at
made
shar
made
a transition from the country to the capital Berlin and from the theologi
cal to the philosophical faculty.
4
Volume
on
only
that he
not
but
only
on
also
delivered
an
enormous
so
his
on
remarks
one
of
consists
on
of 26 pages
the famous
Lehrbuch
his
the books
the "miserable"
but also wrote a whole book himself, his Soziallehren

review
not
topics,
the sciences,
of
by
annoyed
of
range
the philosophy
was
Troeltsch
anthropology.
on
reviews
122
issues
theological
tory, and
reviewed
includes
he
book,
(1912). Another
der Dogmengeschichte
by Reinhold Seeberg (pp. 87-111). Troeltsch also contributed a harsh

review (1909, pp. 619-630) on a dissertation of one of Lamprecht's pupils
(G?nther 1907) to the Lamprecht Controversy, a lasting dispute among
historians
regarding
though
the
remarks
on
Among
this
the other
Koninklijke
Also
available
an
introduction
alternative
(pp.
controversy,
most
18
the
interesting
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
online
www.brill.nl
ff.)
some
includes
reader
reviews
Al
of Kulturwissenschaft.
concept
is
left
precise
incompletely
in this collection
NUMEN,
Vol.
but
short
oriented.
is the review
52
of Overbeck's
religion,
Christlichkeit
piety
personal
himself
Julius
by
and
Kaftan's
411
Reviews
Book
a pamphlet on theology mingling
(1903),
a review
and
science,
who
brother,
twice
of a book
about
Troeltsch
Troeltsch's
opposed
election
to the faculty of theology in Berlin.

Many of the reviews were originally published in theological journals,
but also in the Deutsche Literaturzeitung (the German equivalent of the
Times Literary Supplement) and in the influentialHistorische

was
Troeltsch
of
capable
widely
as
recognized
and
original
treatment
expert
scholar
of
though
Zeitschrift.
?
theologian
and
sociological
cultural
topics.
is a
Volume
new
of Troeltsch's
edition
famous
to
contribution
the
monumental encyclopedia Kultur der Gegenwart. Like his friendMax Weber

saw
he
as
religion
While Weber
the decisive
of modernity.
the development
differentiated between the spirit (Geist) and the reality of
Troeltsch
capitalism,
in
force
introduced
the
term
(Neupro
Neoprotestantism
testantismus)which described cultural developments since theEnlightenment.

With this concept Troeltsch claimed Protestant roots for the political phi
losophy of the republic and democracy, for human rights, for the philos
ophy of the individual, etc. Unfortunately, the introduction to Volume 7
not
does
as
such
modernity,
reader
Jacob
from
described
the old
an
medieval,
essentially
theories
alternative
who
understood
those
of
of
French
as
modernity
i.e., Luther's
Protestantism,
stance
unpopular
at
the
time
liber
stantial
protest
it provoked
receives
16-32).
There
is, however,
little
on
had
concept
excellent
attention
attention
paid
the celebration
of
31, 1917. The
sub
in this volume
(pp.
to the enormous
influence
of Protestantism.
historians
Anglo-Saxon
as
Reformation,
of
the 500th anniversary of the Reformation on October
that Troeltsch's
roots
the
about
or
Renaissance
restrictions.
religious
Troeltsch
of
Burckhardt's
or Durkheim,
like Michelet,
thinkers
ation
the
inform
in: H. Medick/Peer
Schmidt [eds.], Luther zwischen den

offers further information on this subject.) Given
(Th. Kaufmann,
Kulturen, 2004, 455^481
his
tor
and
unconventional
the
of
"define"
ambitious
In
On
Protestantism.
on
and Wellhausen's
short,
these
controversial
work
are
position,
Kultur
der
the other
Judaism
excellent
were
hand,
also
editions
it is surprising
Gegenwart
Ehrhardt's
well
outside
documenting
that
chose
piece
the edi
Troeltsch
to
on Catholicism
the mainstream.
and
analysing
412
Book Reviews
revolutionary
for
seine
Stg.
this
approach
series
Probleme
is one
(1922),
to religion
of Troeltsch's
to appear
Universit?t Bremen, FB 9
Postfach 330 440
28209 Bremen
Germany
Christoph.AufTahrt@stb-citynet.de
inmodernity.
central
as Vol.
The
works,
next publication
Der
planned
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und
16/1?II.
Christoph
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Books
A Monk
the West,
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(pbk.).
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Aubert,
128 p., ?12.99

Les
Laurent,
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(pbk.).
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CONTENTS
Articles
.

Manuela
As
Giordano-Zecharya,
Did Not Believe
Socrates
inGods
Shows,
289
the Athenians
325
Anne-Christine Hornborg, Eloquent Bodies: Rituals

356
ofAlleviating Suffering.
in theContexts
Book Reviews
John J. Collins, Gregory E. Sterling, and Ruth A. Clements (eds.),
Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium
.
Michael
Dickhardt,
Vera
Dorofeeva-Lichtman
(eds.),
Creating
Representing Sacred Spaces, G?ttinger Beitr?ge zur

.
Mathias
Frenz,
Marienverehrung
399
im

.
JohnC. Reeves, Bible and Q?rJ?n: Essays in Scriptural
Intertextuality (SBL Symposium Series 24)
.
406
(Bernd U. Schipper)
Ernst
Troeltsch,
Kritische
Gesamtausgabe,
im Auftrag

410
(Christoph Auffarth).
.
IAHR News.
415
413
395
and
der
403
NVMEN
INTERNATIONAL
REVIEW
FOR
HISTORY
OF RELIGIONS
EDITED
ON BEHALF
INTERNATIONAL
HISTORY
OF
THE
ASSOCIATION
OF RELIGIONS
by
E. THOMASSEN
and G.
VOLUME
BENAVIDES
LII
BRILL
LEIDEN
BOSTON
2005
THE
FOR
THE
Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers,
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Koninklijke
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LEIDEN
ISSN 0029-5973
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Printed
{online version)
on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
?
Introduction
The
of Violence
Religiousness
Articles
Ancient
I. Bowman,
Marion
New
Avalon,
Jerusalem,
Heart
Chakra
.
of Planet Earth: The Local and theGlobal inGlastonbury
Torkel Brekke, The Ethics ofWar and theConcept ofWar in
.
59
India and Europe
Steve
Violence:
and
Religion
de Velasco,
Bruce,
Francisco
Diez
What
157
....
Can
Sociology
Offer?
on Violence
Reflections
Theoretical

.
(WithReference to theHispanic World)
Manuela
As
Giordano-Zecharya,
Did Not Believe
inGods
325
Grottanelli,
Fruitful
Tantra
in the Cakrasamvara
Embodiment
Death:
Mircea
417
Eliade
Hornborg,
Bodies:
Eloquent
G.
that
i(Consider
Kippenberg,
of God ": The Spiritual Manual

Anders
Lisdorf,
The
Conflict
over
Ernst
116
Rituals
.
356
of Alleviating Suffering
Hans
and
J?nger on Human Sacrifice, 1937-1945

Anne-Christine
87
the Athenians
Shows,
theEmpty Secret: Textuality and
David B. Gray, Disclosing

Cristiano
Socrates
it is a Raid
in the Contexts
.
on
Mu?iz
Athens
Dana
Grijalvo,
Elites
Pezzoli-Olgiati,
Zur
Orientierungsleistung
zweier
and
255
mesopotamischer
289
the Path
.
of theAttackers of 9/11
Cicero
'sHouse:
Religious
Change
29
An Analysis
.
445
theRitual Element inDe domo sua
Lisbeth MiKAELSSON, Locality and Myth: The Resacralization
.
191
Selja and theCult of St. Sunniva
Elena
of
of
in Roman
von Gegenwelten:
am Beispiel
Reisen
?mythischer?
.
226
Texte
Erkundungen
Jesper Sorensen, Religion inMind: A Review Article of the

.
465
Cognitive Science of Religion
Obituaries
495
VI
Contents
Book Reviews
Theoretical and Philosophical Soundings in theComparative
.
and General Study of Religion (Kocku von Stuckrad)
D.
Jason
Slone,
Incorrectness.
Theological
Why
Religious
146
People
.
Believe What They Shouldn't (Michael Stausberg)
Giulia Sfameni Gasparro (ed.), Themes and Problems of the
History
in Contemporary
of Religions
Europe.
Proceedings
30-31 2001 / Terni e
of the International Seminar Messina, March
problemi
Storia
della
delle
Religioni
John
J. Collins,
E.
Gregory
and Ruth
Sterling,
contempor?nea.
nelVeuropa
Atti del Seminario Internazionale Messina,

.
283
(Michael Stausberg)
149
30-31 Marzo
2001
A.
(eds.),
Clements

Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium
.
Michael
Vera
Dickhardt,
Representing
Sacred
Dorofeeva-Lichtman
Spaces,
G?ttinger
(eds.),
Beitr?ge
zur

Mathias
Frenz,
399
im
Marienverehrung

.
John C.
Reeves,
Bible
and
Qur^?n:
Essays
395
and
Creating
403
in Scriptural
Intertextuality (SBL Symposium Series 24)

.
406
(Bernd U. Schipper)
Ernst
Troeltsch,
Kritische
Gesamtausgabe,
im Auftrag
der

.
410
(Christoph Auffarth)
Philip
Jenkins,
Dream
Catchers.
How
Mainstream
America
Discovered Native Spirituality (Jeroen Boekhoven)

Leif
Carlsson,
Round
Trips
to Heaven,
Otherworldly
Travelers
498
in
.
Early Judaism and Christianity (Philippe Bornet)
Eve Mullen, The American Occupation of Tibetan Buddhism:
Tibetans and theirAmerican Hosts inNew York City (Adelheid
.
504
Herrmann-Pfandt)
Gilles Chuyen, Who is a Brahmin? The Politics of Identity in India

.
506
(Annemarie Mertens)
500
vu
Contents
Armin Lange/Hermann Lichtenberger/K.F. Diethard R?mheld
(eds.),
Die
D?monen.
Demons.
Die
D?monologie
der
israelitisch
j?dischen und fr?hchristlichen Literatur imKontext ihrerUmwelt.

The Demonology of Israelite-Jewish and Early Christian
Literature
in Context
of
the Environment
(Bernd
U.
....
Schipper)
513
Brigitte Luchesi and Kocku von Stuckrad (eds.), Religion im

kulturellen Diskurs / Religion in Cultural Discourse. Festschrift
f?r Hans G. Kippenberg zu seinem 65. Geburtstag / Essays in
Honor ofHans G. Kippenberg on theOccasion ofHis 65th
.
517
Birthday (Michael Stausberg)
IAHR News
152, 287, 413

415
NVMEN
International
Review
the
for
History
of Religions
VOL.
LII
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NO. 4
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E-mail:
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Book Review Editor

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E-mail:
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Religion
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Bibliography
Index One:
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in Anthropological
is indexed
Numen
International
Periodicals,
Abstracts,
bibliographical
Religion
Historical
journal
Index
and Articles
Science
Online,
on Modern
Current
Languages
Index Two: Multi-Author
Abstracts,
America:
of Religion,
History
Abstracts
and
Contents,
MIA
and Literatures,
Works,
and
Religious
Life,
Index
and
the
of Recent
CONTENTS
Articles
David B. Gray, Disclosing

Embodiment
theEmpty Secret: Textuality and
in the Cakrasamvara
Tantra
Anders Lisdorf, The Conflict over Cicero 'sHouse:

.
417
An Analysis of
445
Jesper S0rensen, Religion inMind: A Review Article of the

.
465
.
Obituaries
Book
495
Reviews
Dream
Jenkins,
Philip
Catchers.
How
Mainstream
America

Leif
Carlsson,
Round
Trips
to Heaven,
Otherworldly
Travelers
498
in
.
.
504
Herrmann-Pfandt)
500

.
506
(Annemarie Mertens)
(eds.),
Die
D?monen.
Demons.
Die
D?monologie
der
israelitisch

....
Literature in Context of theEnvironment (Bernd U. Schipper)
von
and
Kocku
Luchesi
im
Stuckrad
(eds.),
Brigitte
Religion
kulturellen Diskurs / Religion inCultural Discourse. Festschrift
f?r Hans G. Kippenberg zu seinem 65. Geburtstag / Essays in
Honor ofHans G. Kippenberg on theOccasion
.
517
ofHis 65th
513
DISCLOSING THE EMPTY SECRET:

TEXTUALITY AND EMBODIMENT IN THE
CAKRASAMVARA TANTRA
David
B. Gray
Summary
This
article
esotericism
opment
of Buddhist
ticated
textual
which
their practices
the "secret,"
which
concealed,
others
pretations
of
importance
tantras
of Buddhist
literature.
It first examines
and
the
the devel
a sophis
developed
to
the
of
the
Buddhas,
scriptures
gnosis
could achieve most efficaciously.
But the rela
Esoteric
Buddhists
their
one. Indian Buddhists

commen
is a problematical
this problem
sought to resolve
through the trope
traditions that are
signifier that points both to practice
text and practice
tators on Cakrasamvara
to be
of
of textuality.
that linked
theory
the textuality
this genre
models
they claimed
tion between
of
light on
to shed
seeks
that characterizes
Tantra
an empty
and an undisclosable
presuppose.
the "secret"
of sexuality
The
as
article
gnosis
closes
the tradition
in the history
to which
with
some
a survey
itself changed,
of
practices
and
lead,
the changing
inter
the central
highlighting
of this tradition.
Introduction
The Buddhist
a genre of literature very significant in the

religions, have received little serious study until
Tantras,
history of Asian
these texts, unlike earlier Buddhist
recently. This is largely because
as
s?tras
sastras or commen
such
the
and
genres
philosophical
taries, are highly resistant to interpretation, and thus present a seri
ous hermeneutic challenge to the interested scholar, due their deliberate

and often playful obscurantism, undertaken in the name of secrecy.
they play a very important role in the history of Buddhism, and

represent an alternate mode of textuality, one which we are only
now beginning to learn how to read. In this paper I will argue that
Yet
it is essential
Koninklijke
Also available
that we
come
to terms with
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
this material,
in order to
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
418
B. Gray
David
deepen our understanding of what

underestimated
trend in Buddhism
is truly an important and usually

and Indian religions.
In the first portion of this paper,

of Indian Buddhist
textual models,
Tantras
in Buddhist
I will
review
the development
the textuality of the
rooting
theories, and particularly in rela
remnants of the
occulted
"relics,"
embodiment
tion to the dh?rani,

textual
Buddha's
gnosis. In the second
section, I will focus on the trope of

how
its
in
secrecy, showing
paradox of occultation and disclosure
a specific Tantric Buddhist
tradition ?
that of the Cakrasamvara
Tantra ?
forms a dialectic in which text and practice are fruitfully
united. This implies a performative model in which the act of read
a spiritual exercise
to shift the reader's
ing becomes
designed
frame of reference, ultimately resulting in an expanded
sense of
embodiment.
Lastly, I will reflect upon the significance of this

for the study of the history of Buddhism,
as well as the
comparative
study of mysticism.
model
Textuality and Embodiment
in Indian Buddhism
From early on Buddhist conceptualizations

about their texts were
to
levels of a
closely related
speculation concerning the multiple
Buddha's
embodiment.
the two bodies
the concept of
Initially, Buddhists developed
of a Buddha, his physical "form body" (r?pak?ya)
of Dharma"
(dharmak?ya), which consisted of the
and his "body

records of his teachings or collection of his enlightened qualities.1
While
the former was, at his death, cremated and reduced to the
relics which were enshrined throughout the Buddhist world, the
latter lives on, so to speak, in the teachings of Buddhism.
in the third century bce, the worship
By the time of Asoka
of
the relics, enshrined in st?pas, was a major aspect of Buddhist cult

to be endowed with
practice.2 Relics of the Buddha were believed
See
Paul Williams,
Mah?y?na
Buddhism,
London:
views on this subject.

summary of early pre-Mah?y?na
2
On the Buddhist
cult of relics see John Strong, Relics
Routledge
1989,
of the Buddha
171 for a
(Princeton:
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
419
life, and even infused with all of the good qualities of the living
an ambiguous
Buddha.3 Mah?y?na
Buddhism
perspec
developed
tive regarding what might be called the "relic cult," which some
scriptures sought to supplant with what Gregory Schopen
a "cult of the book."4 The Astas?hasrik?
Prajn?p?
Mah?y?na
has called
Buddhist
ramit?, a Mah?y?na
scripture, derives the sacrality of
relics from the ultimate locus of sacrality, the Buddha's
awakening
or gnosis of reality which the text terms theTranscendence
ofWisdom,
as follows:
prajn?p?ramit?,
should
it happen
that you, on the one hand, were given
the world
to the brim with relics of the Tath?gatas,
to be
or, on the other, were
then selecting one of the two
presented with the text of the Prajn?p?ramit?,
Kausika,
filled
which
would
Shakra
is because
is that? As
ical]
as
is my
the body
as
Lord,
the Tath?gata's
Prajn?p?ramit?.
in Early
126.
4
UP
2004)
and also Gregory

of Hawaii
"Burial
Schopen's
Indian Buddhism,"
See
Gregory
see
should
Ad
and
do not
think that this [phys

the full realization
of
through
that the Tath?gata's
is that which
body
the Prajn?p?ramit?.
It is not the
namely,
. . . Rather,
relics are not esteemed
by me.
as
insofar
Bones,
Schopen,
Press
1997.
Sanctos
and
reprinted
This
Why?
the Tath?gatas,
of the Tath?gatas.
(sarlrd)
are those who
Buddhas
have
Monks,
see me
will
that the Tath?gata's

are worshipped
relics
"5
University
the Vajracchedik?:
'The Lord
stated:
the limit of reality,
of
guide
the body/relic
sense,
(dharmak?y?h).
One
the Prajn?p?ramit?.
embrace
illuminating
true body. You
of Dharma.'
manifests
Princeton
the
the Lord
their bodies
body
case,
I would
as
its fame
it truly is, in a real
Dharma
Honolulu:
3
See
". . . Lord,
of
because
Why
take?
you
said:
Bones,
Presence
of
Monks,
the Buddha
and Buddhist Monks,
Stones,
"The Phrase
'sa prthv?pradesas
Schopen,
Notes on the Cult of the Book
inMah?y?na,"
in the
originate
and Buddhist
Stones,
the Physical
in Schopen,
they
bhavef
caityabh?to
Indo-Iranian
in
Journal
17 (1975) 147-81.
5
translation
My
Haribhadra's
from PL.
Commentary
Vaidya's
Called
Aloka
Astas?hasrik?
(Buddhist
Prajn?p?ramit?,
no.
Texts
Sanskrit
The Perfection
Institute, 1960, 48; cf. Edward
Conze,
bhanga: Mithila
in Eight Thousand
Lines and its Verse Commentary,
1973; repr. Delhi:
Publ.
1994,
116.
With
4), Dar
of Wisdom
Sri Satguru
420
David
The
which
B. Gray
text here plays upon the term "transcendence

designates both the Buddha's
gnosis and also
of wisdom,"
the text that
it. This gnosis

is the true "body" of the
supposedly manifests
and
it
in
its
embodiment in the text of this scrip
Buddha,
persists
ture. This
the gnosis of the Buddha,

notion, that the text embodies
to occupy a central position in the textual theory of Tantric
Buddhism.
came
This text also takes advantage of the polysemy of the Sanskrit

term sarlra, which means "body" and also, for Buddhists, "relic,"
the remnants of a holy person's cremated body. In Indian discourse,
as in our own, a text can metaphorically

have or be a "body." But
in specifically Buddhist usage it can also be a relic. In this s?tra
the text is claimed
to be
relic cult. The Lotus
S?tra
the basis
of, and hence superior to, the

claims that the site where it is
likewise
sanctified thereby, and is equal in sacral

taught or copied becomes
to
that produced by the relic of a Buddha.6 The implicit equa
ity
tion between text and relic is made explicit in a later text. In an
to a copy of the Lotus S?tra, the Go-Reizei
addendum
emperor
(r. 967-969
ce) noted that the Lotus
Dharma Body of the Buddha.7
S?tra
constitutes
relics of the
The
parallel that is being made here seems to be the following:

as
relics are the traces or manifestations
in the present world
just
of the Buddha's
"Form Body," texts such as the Lotus S?tra mani
fest his "Dharma
Body."
Buddhism
per se, for

They are not the dharmak?ya
was
the term dharmak?ya
invested with
the "real body" or "reality body" in the
in Mah?y?na
cosmic
significance as
sense of "the embodiment
text is a coded
The
6
7
or assemblage
of what there really is."8
relic, a remnant of the Buddha's
teaching, that
See
See
Schopen,
Brian D.
Construction
"Notes
Ruppert,
of Social
on
the Cult
"Sin
Relations
of the Book,"
or Crime?
in Early
Medieval
Studies
28.1-2
39.
(2001)
Religious
8
Paul Griffiths, On Being Buddha:
The Classical
SUN Y
Press
1994,
149-50.
164.
Buddhism,
Indebtedness,
Japan,"
Doctrine
Japanese
of Buddhahood,
and
the
Journal
Albany:
of
is a means
421
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
for the achievement
of the Buddha's
gnosis, the realiza

tion that all of reality is the ultimate level of one's own "embodiment."
These developments
coincided with a gradual shift in the narra
tive structure of Buddhist
texts were
scriptures. In early Buddhism
transmitted orally.9 Eventually
the transition was
and
composed
to written
made
transmission, a transition that was apparently a

traumatic one.10 Thence Mah?y?na
to
Buddhists
rapidly proceeded
the written composition
of new scriptures. Nevertheless,
for cen
turies Buddhists retained the pretense of orality, particularly via the
opening nid?na verse, which in Roland Barthes' terminology could

be termed a coded sign of narrativity.11 This verse, which begins
9
Regarding
"Notes on Some
121-35.
nature
Oral
of Pali
Aspects
uses
legitimizing
The
and Orality
"Authority
10
Early
which
canon,
into writing
between
had
in time.
Etienne
Lamotte,
Universit?
Catholique
11
Roland
Barthes,
codes
we
them
of recitation
know
that here
the person
in such
Heath,
upon
of recitation,
follows:
(metrical
"we
the 'author'
to conceive
a
such
familiar
in oral
conventional
literatures
presentation
who
and
its addressee"
invents
Music,
Barthes
actions
(114),
with
protocols),
the finest
in
and
certain
and
stories but
is practiced
equally
by his listeners:
is so clearly defined,
its rules so binding,
'tale' devoid
of the coded
signs of the narra
of a
the nid?na
have
functions
Image,
114-15.
level
almost
This
(114-15)
verse.
to follow
the expected
obliged
a
to
s?tra
without
compose
possible
it would
are
in his
reintegrate
and
to
at this point
364-71.
1988,
1977,
its donor
put
lost due
the code which
were
composed
on
that
was
Louvain-la-Neuve:
Buddhism,
and Wang
is not the person
time', etc.)"
as
which
be
the island
of Narratives,"
Hill
formulae,
the narrational
that it is difficult
that they would
articulated
best masters
who
literatures
tive ('once
as
out of fear
York:
in his
indicate
for centuries,
that afflicted
(1992)
Lopez
(33.100-1),
orally
Analysis
Collins,
35
21^-7.
transmitted
of Indian
Steven
Journal
(1995)
the Mah?vamsa
Institut Orientaliste
New
see
by Donald
42
Numen
famine
set of operators
communication
he describes
is emphasized
History
"Structural
Stephen
these as "the
the narrative
and
de Louvain,
trans.
defines
bce,
suttas
Pali
Indo-Iranian
Literature,"
been
35-32
of turmoil, warfare
Text,
the early
of orality
the condition
See
of
in the Mah?y?na,"
such as
records,
Sri Lankan
the Buddhist
down
the oral/aural
rules
seems
Clearly,
of protocol;
the opening
certainly
been
to Buddhist
applicable
the authors
it would
nid?na
rejected
of Buddhist
verse,
as
have
and
illegitimate.
codes
s?tras
been
hardly
if such was
However,
422
B. Gray
David
locate
. . .,"12 serves to
time and place, authorizing it
I heard: At one
"Thus have
time the Blessed
Lord
a specific
speech of the Buddha.
the narrative within
Here the real or

genuine
perceived historicity of the text is its primary mode of legitimation,
and since this legitimacy is based upon its pretension of accurately
as buddhavacana,
encounter, the narrative structure

representing an actual pedagogical
of these texts reflects this imperative.
their teach
Buddhists
increasingly came to disembed
Mah?y?na
instead a
ings from this spatial and temporal context, maintaining
stance of ultimacy by insisting on their timeless non-locality.13 The
of the Buddha's
gnosis, are eter
teachings, as aural manifestations
nal and omnipresent, provided that one has the purity and strength of
to apprehend
them. Some Mah?y?na
scriptures describe
mind
enabling one to ascend to the pure

to receive teachings from them.14 For the
concentrations
actual meditative
lands of the Buddhas
as "once
such
unlike
signs
that
it implies
fashion.
charged
12
That
is, evam may?
text see
this
David
the nid?na
samaye
"Thus
have
I heard
13.2
(1950)
416-26.
Studies
and
in
political
in a more
On
bhagav?n.
. . .," Bulletin
textual
of Mah?y?na
overview
is far more
verse
is, it is "coded"
That
politically
the significance
of
the School
of
of
strategies
legitimation
"Orality, Writing, and Authority in South Asian

in the Mah?y?na,"
for Legitimacy
the Struggle
McMahan,
Literature
claim.
srutam ekasmin
John Brough,
and African
Oriental
13For an excellent
a time,"
upon
legitimation
Buddhism:
see
Visionary
History
of Religions
373 (1998) 249-74.

14
There
were
cessful
or
she
who
to enter
practitioner
can travel
dwell
concentrations
a fifth century
SUNY
Press
concentration
(buddhaksetra)
the first half of the first

enable
(sam?dhi)
and meet
with
the suc
in which
he
the Buddhas
the Pratyutpanna-buddha-sammukh?vasthita
century Indian text, and also the *Amit?yur-dhy?na-s?tra,

See Paul Harrison,
in Central Asia.
text that was
likely composed
in the Pratyutpanna-buddha-sammukh?vasthita-sam?dhi-s?tra,"
and Julian Pas, Visions
9 (1978)
35-57,
Philosophy
of Indian
Shan-Tao's
include
of deep
during
that supposedly
a second
"Buddh?nusmrti
vatl:
states
to "Buddhalands"
there. These
sam?dhi-s?tra,
Journal
texts composed
several Mah?y?na
that teach meditative
millennium
Commentary
1995.
on
the Kuan
Wu-Liang~Shou-Fo
Ching.
of Sukh?
Albany:
423
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
are always
adept, the awakened worlds of the Buddhas
Mah?y?na
one
meditative
tech
has
mastered
the
that
accessible,
provided
then need not solely
niques that afford access to them. Teachings
descend through time from the historical Buddha via lineages that
are fragile and easily disrupted, but are accessible
as
via revelation
well.
this into a highly sophisticated tex

developed
was
based
which
upon the notion of the "Reality
theory,
as a timeless and non-localizable
of the Buddha
matrix,
Body"
Buddhists
Esoteric
tual
is thus realizable, potentially at least, in an infinite number

the universe is a text; and the text
of ways. For esoteric Buddhists,
is a microcosm
of a universe, even when the text is as short as a
as a or hum.15 Hence
the complete gnosis of
such
single syllable,
which
the direct realization
the Buddha,
that one
accessible
provided
is what
methodology
to provide; praxical
of the nature of reality, is always

knows how to perceive
it. This
esoteric Buddhist
to be able
traditions claim
accuracy be
efficacy rather than historical
for their authority, and, ultimately,
the body
their text.
comes
the basis
becomes
sense of textuality obviates the need for the text

expanded
to be associated with a specific moment in history.While early Buddhist
texts sought legitimacy
with the Buddha's
through connection
This
Manifestation
15A
classic
New
of the Syllable
York:
ninth-century
his work,
a detailed
Columbia
Columbia
Japan,
he
172-73,
Hum,"
UP
received
326-27.
of K?kai's
Kukai
and
UP
1999.
Buddhists
is contained
See
Although
K?kai
lineage
life and work
the Construction
also K?kai's
246-62.
oral
instructions
of
systems
traditions
see Ry?ichi
of Esoteric
on
Buddhist
Ab?,
Stephen
Commentary,
Hakeda,
1972,
in Budd
see
Tantra;
in Yoshito
influenced by East Asia

certainly
fidelity to the Indian Tantric Buddhist
study
esoteric
translated
while
considerable
Mantra:
2003,
RoutledgeCurzon
"The Meanings
embodiment,
Tantra with Buddhaguhya's
TheMah?-Vairocana-Abhisambodhi
London:
Works,
or historical
statement
of these ideas
century
on the Mah?vairocana-abhisambodhi
eighth
commentary
haguhya's
Hodge,
Body
essay
K?kai:
was
Indian
Unjigi,
Major
in
writing
and
Tantras,
thought, maintains
it. For
that inspired
The
Discourse,
Weaving
New
of
York:
424
B. Gray
David
felt increasingly
nizable
locales.
to place
less need
Some
their texts in historically recog

works, such as the seventh
early esoteric
S?tra, maintain the paradigm

century Sarvatath?gata-Tattvasamgraha
of the nid?na opening verse, but locate the text in transmundane
such as Akanistha,
the highest heaven in Indian Buddhist
Such loci fit well with the claim that these texts
cosmology.16
locations
derive
from direct revelation
Later Buddhist
of the ultimate.17
Tantras would
such as
this trend. Texts
continue
tantras, which were notable
for their
and Hevajra
contain a markedly erotic (and historically unb
eatable) opening verse.18 This trend reached its culmination in the
the
Cakrasamvara
and related Yoginl Tantras, which jettisoned
verse
Tantra
instead
The
Cakrasamvara
begins
entirely.19
opening
the Guhyasam?ja
erotic elements,
16For
the text of
Chinese
of
and
Tibetan
A Critical
inHonor
Essays
Emeryville,
17K?kai
Buddha"
will
saw
this scripture
commentators
was
Lord
samaye
See
Matsunaga,
and also David

1959,
century
as
follows:
of
dates
(op. cit., xxvi).
tury (op.
19 The
cit., vol.
154.
as
Similar
"Thus
(evam
influence
from ?aiva
made
which
time
the
the essence
of
srutam
ekasmin
vijah?ra).
1978,
Shuppan
A Critical
the Guhyasam?ja
dates
at one
Ladies,
may?
were
Tantra,
I heard:
have
for the
basis
claims
the Cakrasamvara
of the Adamantine
Tantra:
Snellgrove
Scott,
of the Dharmak?ya
sarvatath?gata-k?yav?kcittahrdaya-vajrayosidbhagesu
Toho
The Guhyasam?ja
Tantra, Osaka:
2, 2. Matsunaga
Civilization:
and Keith
S. Kawamura
all Tath?gatas"
The Hevajra
in India with
and non-localizable
K?kai,
such
in the vulvae
Snellgrove,
vol.
Study, London:
to the midTantra
to late
to the late eighth
the Hevajra
4,
Oxford
cen
1, 14).
Yoginitantras
transgressive
reads
and Mind
Speech
Hakeda,
and
the dating
For
and Asian
in the "preaching
is the ongoing
which
residing
bhagav?n
Yukei
eighth
Publishing
as originating
for scriptures
be discussed
below.
18This
verse
opening
the Body,
UP
sepp?),
Sarva
177-78.
1977,
of buddhavacana.
Indian
Blessed
See
Dharma
(hosshin
revelation
by
CA:
3-4.
Buddhism
Thought
ed. Leslie
V Guenther,
1981,
of Tantric
in Buddhist
Translations,"
of Herbert
Press
Jayyed
Isshi Yamada's
on a Sanskrit Manuscript
Based
"A History
Matsunaga,
to Chinese
text see
opening
Edition
Delhi:
Translations,
this text see Yukei
Reference
nid?na
this s?tra's
tath?gata-tattva-sangraba:
practices
are
Hindu
a genre
traditions,
involving,
among
of Buddhist
and which
text
that exhibit
emphasize
female
other things, the consumptions
significant
and
deities,
of substances
425
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
with
the laconic atha, "and then," which the commentatorial

tradi
tion takes as a reference to the ongoing and never-ending process
of revelation of which this text is a prime manifestation. According
to Bhavyak?rti, a tenth-century20 Indian Buddhist commentator:
hold
that since the primal buddhas
know no cessation,
this
continuum, existing even before S?kya
teaching formulation has a beginningless
as has been well
stated by tens of millions
of buddhas
and heroes.
muni,
I, Bhavyak?rti,
the Prajn?p?ramit?
and so forth wane due to the power of Time,
and so forth, the Lord S?kyamuni
teaches
them again. The
is not like that, for it exists without
Sri Cakrasamvara
in inex
interruption
Thus,
when
eon
the burning
and
and
Buddhalands,
pressible
in sexual
engagement
early medieval
India
it is experienced
that would
practices
society.
the CST.
century,
See
Annotated
They
P?la
1.2 of my
yaya,
1990,
18-19,
Discourse
For
New
an overview
of
for the construction
See
of
evidence
the history
course
of
such
Indian
list is erroneous
that T?ran?tha's
possible
a number of errors), I see no
there is additional
Lama
reason
evidence
to assume
Institute
the Yoginitantras
UP
Columbia
and
this would
an
posal.
41-46.
ments
my
he
also
Here
critically
Templeman,
there
of T?ran?tha's
discussion
evaluated
the Indian
"Taranatha
in fact contain
the outset,
unless
this. In fact, as Templeman
and Tibetan
the Historian,"
source
it is of
reason
to believe
that his works maintains
there is good
argued,
sources
to
did
earlier
Indian
than
later Tibetan
historical
many
fidelity
See David
in this
Banarsidass
has
moreover
materials
Tibet Journal
greater
works;
at his dis
6.2
(1981)
reason
as
to provisionally
it as evidence,
is good
accept
are confirmed by other sources of information.
account
of this in section
1.3 of my
forthcoming
the
by
Chattopadh
While
does
(his History
him
important
Buddhism.
that it is from
that contradicts
place
sixth
the
century
Motilal
this to be
Tantric
2002.
and Alaka
repr., Delhi:
the
Buddhism:
was
T?ran?tha,
and
Study
Indian Esoteric
Chimpa
as
by the
study of
and
American
the late eighth
during
in India,
of Buddhism
I consider
in
polluting
to early
seventh
translation
York:
Davidson,
list is accurate,
tenth century.
History
325-29.
founded
If this lineage
the early
late
of Sri Heruka:
Tantra,
see Ronald
of Vikramas?la,
T?ran?tha's
of course
The
forthcoming
of the Cakrasamvara
king Dharmap?la.
circa
during
New York:
of the Tantric Movement,
to the Tibetan
exegete
according
preceptor
position
in my
argued
forthcoming.
they were composed
A Social History
20
Bhavyak?rti,
be deemed
the
etc.
states,
of the Sarvabuddhasamayogad?kinlj?lasam
Tantra
(CST) was probably
composed
Studies,
inwhich
Tantric
I have
section
Translation
of Buddhist
milieu
as
ordinarily
first appear
eighth century (with the composition

vara Tantra),
and the Cakrasamvara
late eighth
through meditative
study.
ele
See
426
David
B. Gray
such as Is vari. This
by the heroes and heroines

as "and then."21
of text such
is the significance
to maintain
it necessary
the conversational
narrative
structure of the earlier s?tras. The Cakrasamvara
Tantra contains
was
Nor
traces of it, but here the conversation

is not between
and
and his male disciples, but between Sri Heruka
Vajrav?r?hi, which betrays Hindu
the Buddha
the goddess
influence, likely from Saiva or S?kta
scriptures.
served as an increasingly important Buddhist

during the mid firstmillennium of the Common Era.
on
noted in his Exposition
scholar mKhas-grub,
text as relic
The
textual model
The
Tibetan
Tantric Doxography,
during the early fifteenth century,
composed
that the Pandits of India report that there are three types of "relic"
order of
in a st?pa. These are, in descending
that can be placed
"relics
of
the
2)
1)
{dharmak?ya)''
Reality Body
importance,
"relics of His physical body," and 3) "relics of His garb." mKhas
grub further specifies that Reality Body relics are the texts of the
textual pas
dharan?,22 which are cryptic and often unintelligible
21
To.
Bhavyak?rti,
vol. ma,
22
See
fols.
E?cakrasamvarapa?jika-s?ramanoj?a.
2b, 3a.
Ferdinand
of the Buddhist
Hague:
Mouton
and Alex
Lessing,
rgyud sde
Tantras,
1968,
106-7,
and
also
par
Dh?ranis
grub
pa
giag
the discussion
and Vimalosnisa
Bodhigarbh?lank?ralaksa
mKhas
Wayman,
spyihi mam
1405, D
rgyud
rje's Fundamentals
rgyas par
in Gregory
in Indian
'grel
brjod,
Inscriptions,"
The
"The
Schopen,
Wiener
24 (1985)
S?dasiens
125. My
translations of the above
Zeitschrift f?r die Kunde
to
terms differ somewhat
His
from Lessing's
and Wayman's;
I use the capitalized
use
of
Cristina
the
honorific
the
Tibetan
sku.
See
also
Scherrer-Schaub,
represent
"Some
to PT
Approach
Comparative
Bentor,
Written
Dh?ranl
350,"
Research
"Tibetan
Relic
on Paper
Functioning
in Tibetan
in Human
Classification,"
Studies,
Culture
as Dharmak?ya
ed.
1994,
in Kvaerne,
Relics:
Per Kvaerne,
vol.
Oslo:
2, 711-27,
Tibetan
Studies,
A Tentative
Institute
and
vol.
also
for
Yael
1, 16-30.
later Tibetan
scholars
argue for a fourfold relic
points out (17), most
one
the
which
subdivides
relics"
into two types, actual
classification,
"physical
as
remains
such
and
the
"mustard-seed-like
relics"
that are com
bones,
bodily
As
Bentor
monly
believed
to emerge
from the former
type.
sages
to which were
All
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
or magical
attributed mnemonic
powers when
clearly a popular
correctly recited.23 His report reflects what was

late Indian Buddhist
practice, well attested in the archeological
Buddhist
of
in place of
record,
ensconcing
scriptures in st?pas
actual
relics.24
The
identification of dh?ran?
texts, in both theory and practice,

Reality Body had a crucial impact on the
of Esoteric
Buddhist
textual theory and practice.
as relics of the Buddha's
development
There is in fact a historical
texts and the later Buddhist
connection
between
Tantras. The
the earlier dh?rin?
earliest
textual precursors
appear with increas
are dh?rani-collections,
which
in
Chinese
translation
ing frequency
during the sixth and seventh
centuries.25 The Cakrasamvara
Tantra was ritually treated as if it
of the Tantras
were a dh?ran?-dharmak?ya
relic. Itwas viewed as such by theNew?ri

the
in the twelfth or
oldest
palm-leaf manuscript
copied
in Northwestern China
thirteenth century,26 and also by Buddhists
scribe who
23
of
On
this see Jens Braarvig,
"Dh?rani
in Journal
the Bodhisattvas,"
8.1 (1985)
Studies
17-29.
24
this phenomenon
On
see
Dh?ranis."
Vimalosnisa
25
See Matsunaga,
"A History
of dh?rani
collections
importance
and Pratibhana:
"The
Schopen,
of Tantric
Association
of Buddhist
for a discussion
of esoteric
history
in turn, were
by
a genre
237-71.
The Weaving
These,
159-76,
of Mantra,
the raks? or protective
literature of early Buddhism,
Skilling
is pan-Buddhist,
in all of
manifesting
of the Sr?vakay?na,"
his "The Raks? Literature
16 (1992)
109-182.
has
shown,
Text Society
26 The
last folio
"Stanza
on
Interdependent
hetuprabhav?
hetum
mah?sramanah
fol.
38a).
medieval
This
is inscribed
Origination,"
tes?m
tath?gato
stanza
period,
the International
was
often
commonly
in conjunction
and
Its Role
Association
with
which
used
with
tes?m
Institute
ca
dh?rani.
Studies
yo
of
of the Pali
nirodha
st?pas
See
Cult
14.1
evamv?dl
ms.
in Vadodara
to consecrate
in the Medieval
of Buddhist
schools
Journal
the pratltyasamutp?dag?th?,
the
occurs
as ye dharm?
in the ms.
hy avadat
Oriental
(Srlheruk?bhidh?na,
Pratltyasamutp?dag?th?
of
the ms.
of
the
see
preceded
that, as Peter
the major
See
of
Buddhism;
also Ab?,
Buddhism.
and
Bodhigarbh?lank?ralaksa
Buddhism"
in the early
and Eloquence
Memory
the International
of
during
Daniel
Boucher,
of the Relics,"
(1991)
#13290,
the early
"The
Journal
1-27. Walter
428
David
around
B. Gray
the same
time period, who interred a copy of the text as a

"Reality Body" relic in a st?paP
texts have a radically different narrative structure from
Dh?ran?
dh?ran?
the s?tra genre. The dh?ran? themselves are not narrative at all,28
although many dh?ran? texts present a nid?na opening scenario in
an attempt to legitimate the text as a
product of the Buddha's
teaching activity. Given their cryptic brevity, dh?ran?
only practically more suitable for such ritual uses
texts were not
such as st?pa
to larger texts as
consecration, but they also sit in a relationship

does the relic to the body from which it derives. Dh?ran? are often
located at the end of much
larger s?tras, and are said to embody
Liebenthal
has
theNan-chao
ce. These
studied
kingdom
were
bricks
mutp?dag?th?.
walls
the inscribed
They
cannot
that "The
be
used
in the construction
in Southwestern
inscribed
commonly
wrote
Liebenthal
of pagodas.
bricks
(presently Yunnan
seen
both with
bricks
China)
dh?ran?
are
found
and
on
in
of st?pas
between
c. 800-1100
the prat?tyasa
the inside
from the outside,
visible
becoming
down. They were used
of
the
only
if
the building
is in decay and parts of it are
instead
tumbling
of a relic (she-li,
Sanskrit
relic"
sar?ra) or as a spiritual
(Walter Liebenthal,
"Sanskrit
from Yunnan
S?rica
12 [1947] 2; emphasis
I," Monumenta
Inscriptions
in original).
27 Li
Fanwen
was discovered
reports that a text entitled the "Sutra of Samvara"
within a Xixia-era
interred as dh?ran?-dharmak?ya
I
relic. While
st?pa, evidently
have not been able
to study this text, it is most
itself or
likely either the CST
some
with
other
several
Influence
kellner
text in the Cakrasamvara
it was
in conjunction
discovered
tradition;
tradition. See his "The
images from the Cakrasamvara
on Xixia"
Buddhism
in Tibetan
ed. Ernst Stein
Studies,
texts and
other
of Tibetan
(Wien:
vol. 2, 564.
28
Dh?ran?,
Verlag
der ?sterreichischen
while
often containing
but deploy words
ance that is expected
to have a direct
son with the appropriate
training. As
semantic
poetic
sort, such
structure
dh?ran?)
structure,
of mantra
of a Natural
recognizable
words,
Wissenschaften
do
1997,
not exhibit
normal
or magical
utter
symbols as a "spell"
impact on reality when
by a per
"repeated"
and
they do exhibit structural features of a

etc.
For an in-depth discussion
of the
repetition, alliteration,
to the closely
related Buddhist
(much of which
applies
as
see Robert
Akademieder
A. Yelle,
Language
such,
Mantras:
and
Ritual, Rhetoric
Explaining
in Hindu
2003.
Tantra, New York: Routledge
the Dream
429
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
the significance of the text, which may often be hundreds of times

to the bits of
larger than the dh?rani itself.29 They are comparable
that are present at the conclusion of a

are
the secret essence of a much larger body.
cremation; they
The transition from s?tra to dh?rani textual models was a grad
inscrutable
ual one.
charred remains
Some
scriptures such as
followed the still presti
of the earlier esoteric Buddhist
S?tra
Tattvasamgraha
The later Yogini Tantras best exemplify the new
Tantra is a paradig
Buddhist genre, of which the Cakrasamvara
short text of only seven hundred
matic
example. A relatively
the Sarvatath?gata
gious s?tra model.
or "Samvara
Sanskrit verses, it is often called the Laghusamvara,
a
to
it
is
due
the
belief
that
cryptic condensa
widespread
Light,"
one
hundred
thousand verse Khasama
tion of the much
larger
Tantra, a mythical textwhich probably never existed. Like the dh?rani,

to be an encrypted text that secretly encodes
it is believed
the
essence of a much larger work. And despite its "light" designation,
and related Tantras are certainly not light read
the Cakrasamvara
ing; they tend to be dense and obtuse. They employ esoteric, sym
bolic terminology to allude to secret yogic and ritual practices.
This, when combined with the texts' brevity, yields an overall
effect of considerable
obscurity.
the Tantras have been largely
predominantly,
as
an
of
their great
object
neglected
scholarly
inquiry, despite
in
of
the
Buddhism.
This
is
importance
neglect
history
primarily
the result of an inability to read the texts, due to a lack of under
this reason
For
standing of their inner logic, which is radically different from that

of earlier genres of Buddhist
literature. The s?tras seek to present
a true discourse, a dharmapary?ya,
and this narrative style, in later
Indian Buddhism,
29
See,
for example,
Pancavimsatis?hasrik?
of
the Lotus
320-26,
Delhi:
is most
and
Motilal
the dh?ran?
of
Conze,
Banarsidass
the Fine
The
1990,
with
the view
held by some
in the Sadharmapundar?ka-sutra
in, respectively,
Prajn?p?ramit?,
Blossom
Edward
consonant
Dharma,
Large
160-162.
Sutra
Leon
Hurvitz,
and
the
Scripture
New
York:
Columbia
UP
On
Perfect
Wisdom,
1975;
1976,
repr.
430
B. Gray
David
Buddhists
to analysis via reason.

style that undermines
reality is amenable
assume a narrative
that ultimate
The
Tantras, however,
this assumption, and this is based on the conviction that ultimate
reality truly is inconceivable, acintya, and is hence not amenable to
analysis, and can only be approached via a direct yogic realization
that transcends
is
thought.30 Such direct realization
of a spiritual discipline, one that nec
of reading the texts. The assumption
discursive
dependent upon the practice

essarily involves a practice
that the act of reading is a spiritual discipline underlies esoteric

textuality, which we will need to understand in order to
Buddhist
these texts.
appreciate
Cakrasamvara
Tantra
new
The
in the
Textual Practice
the Empty Secret:
Disclosing
narrative
strategy adopted
reflects different presuppositions
by
concerning
the Buddhist
Tantras
the use and purpose
of
30 The
were
commentators
trends at
influenced by the intellectual
Indian CST
to
seem
have
advo
and
in the Mah?y?na
Buddhist
community,
specifically
On
Buddhism
influenced by Dharmakirti's
cated a form of Yog?c?ra
epistemology.
as
Esoteric
Pram?na:
trend see Ronald
this general
Davidson,
"Masquerading
work
Buddhism
Impact
and Epistemological
on Indian and Tibetan
Akademie
?sterreichischen
kellner,
Dharmakirti's
contains
K?ry?num?na
liberal
sprinkling
thesis
the central Yog?c?ra

ultimate
via
only
direct
Embodied:
yogic
Sources
is particularly
This
Bhavyak?rti.
which
appears
This
perception,
may
be
to have been
as
no
a noted master
See
and Chattopadhyaya,
and
25-35,
and
also
John Makransky
argues
Ernst
349-62.
clearly
Stein
The
they were
of Yog?c?ra
T?ran?tha's
abbots
and Tantric
philosophy
History,
qua
but
1997.
and
of Vikramas?la,
studies. Bhavabhatta
according
326.
to
subscribes
SUNY
Press
and Tibet, Albany:
of commentators
such as Bhavabhatta
as
of
CST
in his Buddhahood
in India
coincidence,
Its
der
Verlag
Applications
Thought,
terminology,
a center of both Yog?c?ra
was
Wien:
the trik?ya theory that the dharmak?ya

via rational analysis,
thus not accessible
in the works
in particular
Chimpa
and
of Controversy
notable
Dharmakirti's
of Yog?c?ra
regarding
1999,
and
Thought
Katsura,
Shoryu
and Other Methodological
Goal,
Theorem,"
is truly acintya
reality
ed.
der Wissenschaften
Tantric
Cognition,
"Yogic
in Dharmakirti's
Nomenclature,"
Philosophy,
to T?ran?tha.
431
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
and
the texts. They primarily focus on praxis, namely meditative
ritual techniques; these are thought to be aids to the direct realiza
to which
tion of the ultimate

which
continually
the texts aspire. Unlike

that they should be publicly
declare
the s?tras,
recited and
the Tantras are esoteric, and seek to restrict

widely disseminated,
to an elite group of initiates. This
is
their circulation
secrecy
another feature that the Tantras share with relics. Relics, both the
remnants and the dh?rani "Reality body"
physical "Form Body"
texts that were treated in the same way, are secret, almost always
on the symbolic
hidden from view. Bernard Faure, commenting
in the case of relics, wrote that "they are sacred

are
secret, that is, withdrawn from circulation. Their
they
secrecy or invisibility is therefore an essential part of their nature,
even when they are periodically
exposed. Their sacrality literally
structure at work
because
to be cryptic, or rather, encrypted."31

The need for secrecy created new imperatives
has
for textual prac

tice. Although Tantric traditions often claim that their scriptures
descend from a lengthy precursor, the actual texts composed
and
utilized in these traditions tend to be brief, so that, like dh?rani,
they are more easily employed in ritual uses and more easily hidden.
This attitude toward texts is evidenced
in a colorful passage
in
the Hevajra
Tantra:
O
listen, Goddess,
The
book
should
greatly
and
blessed,
be written
by one
I will
of our
speak
tradition
on
on
the subject
leaves
of books.
of birch-bark
for ink and with a human bone as a pen.

angula
long, with collyrium
one will not
see either book or painting,
if someone
should
unworthy
or the next. To one of our tradition it may
either in this world
succeed
be
twelve
But
at any
shown
under
31
Bernard
Buddhism,"
Faure,
inRending
ed. Eliott R. Wolfson,

32
Tantra
Hevajra
115, with
a journey
time. On
the book
should
be
hidden
in the hair
or
the arm.32
emendations
"Relies,
Regalia,
and
the Veil: Concealment

New
York:
2.7.2-4,
by me.
the Dynamics
of Secrecy
and Secrecy
in theHistory
in Japanese
of Religions,
Seven
trans,
Press
1999, 278.
Bridges
in Snellgrove,
The Hevajra
Tantra,
vol.
1,
432
David
B. Gray
As twelve angula
to the span of one's hand, the
is equivalent
text clearly prescribes here a small and easily portable text, which
is quite distinct from the immense and often elaborately decorated
texts of Mah?y?na
were
to be treated as objects of
reverence. Rather, the text, which appears at first glance to be ide
secrets, is physically structured so as to
ally suited for disclosing
role of texts with
preserve them. This points to the paradoxical
to
regard
s?tras which
secrecy.33
The Cakrasamvara
of the Tantras, purports to

have a secret that is preserved, i.e., inadequately disclosed, by the
text itself. This ambivalence
concerning secrecy was a major fea
ture of the commentatorial
33
Simmel
described
Georg
utterance
to be safer
appears
'no iota can be
which
tradition. Elliot Wolfson's
tradition are particularly
the Kabbala
concerning
like many
Tantra,
this paradox
in the sense
as
follows:
that it seems
observations
relevant here:
the written
"Superficially,
to be the only one from
of the written word

Yet this prerogative
is only
?
lack of all those accompaniments
sound of voice,
tone,
?
are
sources
facial
in
the
of
both
which,
word,
gesture,
expression
spoken
. . . For this reason, the letter is much more
obfuscation
and clarification.
than the
?
the locus of 'interpretations'
and hence
of misunderstandings
spoken word
to the cultural
its clarity, or more
of it. Corresponding
despite
correctly, because
a relationship
at which
level
nication
is possible,
sharply
differentiated:
and
distinct
more
on
taken away.'
of a
the consequence
in the
ambiguous.
(or period
the qualitative
what
of relationship)
characteristics
in human
utterances
based
of such
is clear
on written
a relation
Expressed
are,
and distinct,
letter than
in speech,
and what
is essentially
in terms of the categories
of freedom
commu
likewise,
is more
clear
ambiguous,
is
and unfreedom
in regard to its
the utterance:
his understanding,
in regard to its deeper and personal
his
significance,
is freer in the case of the letter than in that of speech. One may
understanding
the secret of the speaker by means
of all that sur
say that, whereas
speech reveals
?
rounds it
which
is visible but not audible,
and also includes
the imponderables
of the speaker himself ?
the letter conceals
this secret. For this reason,
the let
the part of
logical
core,
ter is clearer
the recipient
of
is less free; but,
than speech where

the secret of the other is not
the letter is more
(The Sociology
ambiguous"
it is the issue,
trans. Kurt H. Wolff,

inal).
Many
attention.
thanks
Glencoe,
to Dr.
IL: The
Andrew
Free
Lass
Press
1950,
for bringing
354-55;
the issue;
but where
of Georg
emphasis
Simmel's
work
Simmel,
in orig
to my
matter
The
writing,
to secrets
of an
become
interpreter.
cealment
fosters
as
writing
down
which
a rhetoric
circle
of
thus created
in its concealment
is disclosed
the essential
advocated
of
the interface
of
the paradox
by
and
nature
esoteric
. . . that have
on
based
secrecy
to the dissemination
it pertains
hermeneutical
ties.
secrets
the Kabbalist
in a process
implicates
on the notion
is predicated
that written allusions
secrets that require decipherment
at the hand
themselves
In this manner,
the subtle interplay of revelation
and con
of putting
of esoteric
433
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
concealed
a fuller written
knowledge.
of the secret as that which
even
has
in textual
preserved
communi
of secrets.34
expression
In order to see this dynamic as itmanifests

in a Buddhist
to
it
worthwhile
look closely
mentatorial
would be
tradition,
com
at the
and its exegesis. It opens with the following

explain the secret, concisely, not exten
is the means of
with Sri Heruka
(sr?herukasamyoga)
Cakrasamvara
verse:
and
The
in its disclosure
this enterprise
of orality
esoteric
Tantra
now
"And
I will
sively. Union
all desired
achieving
The
aims."35
soon
As
as
second
in the text is
word
the text invokes
the concept of
"secret," rahasyam.
the very next
secrecy, itmust deal with the issue of its disclosure;
But the text deals with this
is vaksye, "I will explain."
word
in a highly paradoxical
unavoidable
disclosure
fashion, as is typi
cal of esoteric
traditions.
verse
sets up the expectation that the text will disclose

the
it does not proceed via a simple act of dis
undisclosed. However,
in which
the secret is
closure, but rather via a complex dance,
This
hinted at but never fully disclosed. The very term secret, rahasyam,
here corresponds to Roland Barthes' third or obtuse level of mean
ing, which he defines
wrote that,
34
Elliot
R. Wolfson,
as a "signifier without
"Occultation
inWolfson,
the Veil, 118.
Rending
35 This
and all subsequent
CST
of the text.
36
Roland
Stephen
Barthes,
Heath,
New
"The
York:
three levels of signification
Third
Hill
of
the Feminine
citations
Meaning,"
are my
in his
a signified."36 He
and
the Body
translations
Image,
of Secrecy,"
from my
Music,
Text,
edition
trans.
and Wang
Barthes
for
1977, 61. While
argued
in the context of an analysis of Eisenstein's
cinematography,
434
B. Gray
David
could
this same
which
say on
also
is not empty
signifier
of perpetual
. . .
state of depletion.
?
as
correct
that
just
a state
that itmaintains
out, it keeps a permanent

the contrary ?
and it would
be
is not filled
the signifier...
We
normally
(cannot
the subject
brings
empty
not finding
desire
erethism,
issue
voluptuously
itself),
in that spasm
of the signified
of nom
into the peace
back
inations.37
Like
Barthes'
third meaning,
"secret" of the Cakrasamvara
turns out to be highly elusive; the first verse hints that it has
Tantra
to do with
"union with
Sri Heruka."
The
commentators
to be meaningful. According
this juxtaposition
aim of this scripture is awakening,
specifically
self qua the Body of Reality.38 The tradition also
consider
to them, ultimate
the realization of
identifies the cen
the Body of Reality, so union with or

is the aim of this tradition. From this
tral deity, Sri Heruka, with

direct realization of Heruka
ultimately the secret is no secret, but is rather univer

sally pervasive. This is the position of the commentator Bhava
bhatta, who was active circa 900 ce.39 In his gloss upon the term
perspective,
to a broad array of interpretive enter

this analytic
tool is, arguably,
applicable
The
of
third
discourse
of
Barthes'
with the esoteric
prises.
comparison
meaning
was
Buddhism
first made
Bernard
Faure
in
his
"The
Buddhist
Icon
and
the
by
Modern
Critical
Gaze,"
for esoteric
the Buddhist
It is also
threefold
Symbolism
level
of
often
The
identified
"secret"
associated
three
levels.
with
see Alex
of signification
levels
Like
but
Wayman's
Tantras:
Tibetan Esotericism,
Banarsidass
1973, repr. Delhi: Motilal
37
"The Third Meaning,"
62.
Barthes,
38 This
by several commentators,
including
point is made
1403, D
rgyud
'grel vol. ma,

39
Bhavabhatta
Vikramasila.
This
Chattopadhyaya,
coming
'grel vol.
fol. 355b).
study.
ba,
is reported
would
fol. 42b)
also Viravajra
by T?ran?tha
probably
T?ran?tha's
and
place
History,
his
to be
and
the
and
Energy
on Indo
Light
164-201.
1990,
Bhavabhatta
(see To.
1412, D
(see To.
rgyud
of
preceptor
see Chimpa
and
the fifth Tantric
term circa
18, 326,
of
examples
"Female
essay
their
subject
For
sexuality.
apt,
of
"third meaning,"
to multiple
Barthes'
in his The Buddhist
Tantras,"
is particularly
comparison
is not fixed
signification
signification
in the Buddhist
792.
(1998)
and
"inner,"
"secret"
deployments.
24
traditionally
the "outer,"
scriptures,
Buddhist
Inquiry
Buddhists
also
900
ce;
section
1.3 of my
forth
he
rahasyam,
"seclusion"
As
reduces
or "isolation."
for "seclusion"
435
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
means
it to its component
rahah, which
He comments that:
that] the natures
[it indicates
(rahd),
of time and place
are
of all beings.40 "Time"

is the past and so forth. Yet time is par
to
said
be
"Place"
is a region. This
is expressed
ticularly
perpetual.
by the
is one's
innate mode,
and its defining
word
the nature
"secret,"
[of which]
not the scope
mark
so
the commitments,
and
is practicing
instruction, worshipping,
seeking
in the state of meditation
Now Mah?vajradhara
?ri Heruka.
upon
forth
the word
expressed
beings.
"seclusion"
to the lack
Due
is, [their] being
because
of understanding
in this solitary
state,
his
nature
it is "secret"
to all
is imperceptible
of ordinary,
alienated
beings,
that
(rahasya).41
Bhavabhatta's
strategy of understanding secrecy in terms of soli
tude or separation is indicative of his sophisticated approach to this
issue. For him, the "secret" of the timeless and non-localizable
gnosis or "Reality Body," personified here
and Mah?vajradhara,
is not "secret" due to any sort
of intrinsic separation on its part. It is secret only because
alien
a
ated beings, by exclusively
with
level
of
embodiment
identifying
"truth" of the Buddha's
as ?ri Heruka
in time and place,
specific
40
In Buddhalogical
embodiment
hend
via
theory
through which
the senses,
a mode
asserts
See
of experience
that this
Griffiths,
3a.5-3b.2,
and MBB-I-70,
42b.
also
See
See
to it.42 In other words,
of living beings
(gocara)
to the world, which ordinary
the form
(r?pa)
or manifestation
On
129.
Being Buddha,
the sense of time and
the
is the level
beings
of
appre
(nirm?na)
It is thus ordinarily
Bhavabhatta
by
place.
true or complete
basis
of experience.
For esoteric
to be the case, as one's experience
is artificially occluded
that gives rise to the egocentric
self-awareness.
the
it only seems
to the misknowledge
41
translation from my
My
Cakrasamvaratantram
with
dominated
is not
Buddhists,
due
the "scope"
they relate
associated
of embodiment.
levels
are blind
edition
fol. 4a.l-4b,
also
with
of the text at IASWR

as well
as
the Tibetan
mss.
MBB-I-33,
at To.
1403, D
fol.
fol.
Janardan
Shastri
ed., Sr?herukabhidh?nam
Pandey,
the Vivrti Commentary
Sarnath: Cen
of Bhavabhatta,
tral Institute of Higher

Tibetan
Studies
3. Pandey's
differ from
2002,
readings
at several points.
mine
42 This
as a "failure
to the use of the term "alienation"
is perhaps
comparable
of self-cognition"
in subaltern
studies. See Gayatri
In Other
Chakravorty
Spivak,
in Cultural
Worlds:
London:
1987, 200.
Politics,
Essays
Routledge
436
B. Gray
David
is the secret of our own
"secret"
only by ignorance.
Bhavabhatta
defines
true nature, which
the secret with
to us
is closed
to elements
reference
of
It is not enough to simply

practice, but in a specific deployment.
practice in accordance with the text, given its cryptic nature. Even
practice elements such as the adept's commitments, which the text
put
spends several chapters describing, cannot be unambiguously
into practice purely on the basis of the text alone. To do so one
must enter the community of adepts through establishing a relationship
with a guru, from whom one would seek instruction (adhyesana).
so places one within the tradition's hermeneutical circle, and
to one the lineage oral instructions that enable the
accessible
rearticulation of the occulted meditation
instructions. All of this
Doing
makes
in a state of meditation upon Sri Heruka

(sriheru
in
the
venerable
Tantric
fashion,
that,
kabh?vanasth?ne),
meaning
one seeks to take the aim of one's practice as one's path. In this
must
be done
is ultimately one's own nature.

this is not easily achieved, for the
of the text is profound. The reader is led to believe
state one worships Sri Heruka,

Like any spiritual exercise,
disarticulation
who
the Buddha's
that the text embodies
gnosis, but like any body it is
a complex entity, displaying a texture that is far from transparent,
not revealing its innermost essence but shielding it under a veil of
is to be achieved via intensive,
secrecy. "Union with Sri Heruka"
self-identification with the central deities, Sri
creatively visualized
and their retinue, as hierarchically arranged
Heruka and Vajrav?r?hi
a "cosmogram" which is believed
to pervade both
in the m?ndala,
the macrocosm
Yet
43 For
a study of this m?ndala
"M?ndala
of
Cakrasamvara
David
Sacred
sala:
instructions, while
these key meditation
the Self:
Templeman,
Spaces
Library
and Powerful
Works
Journal
and External
Places
and
and Archives
the body
Identity
of Religious
Culture,
1999,
History.
ed. Toni
187-97.
see my
article
in the
Construction
in Spiritual
Geography
in Tibetan
body.43
in the text, are
present
across
its mapping
Practice
forthcoming,
"Internal
of Tibetan
and
Embodiment,
Tradition,"
of one's
and the microcosm
of the universe
See
also
Biography,"
Huber,
Dharam
in
their re-articulation was
completely scrambled;
the Indian and Tibetan
437
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
a major
concern
of
commentators.
the other hand, the text does give relatively clear accounts of
ritual procedures involving elements such as the mantras, m?ndalas,
and so forth, but these are presented as subsidiary and dependent
On
upon the gnosis achieved via the "secret." Thus in chapter nine, at
the end of a lengthy exposition of rituals employing
the tantra's
the text claims that "one who longs for success (sid
is threshing chaff,
without
dhi)
knowing the gnosis of Sri Heruka
and is bereft of this mantra. This man will not obtain power nor
root mantra,
happiness."44
is an essential
for success
in the
prerequisite
in the text; yet the practice elements are a key
rites described
to achieving this prerequisite realization. The
of
the
"secret"
aspect
Prior
realization
key to this problem is the concept of the "secret," rahasya, which

the paradox
Janus
epitomizes
centering around the text, which,
which
faced, points toward both practice and an understanding
it is truly an empty signifier for it is meaning

ful only in terms of an absence, an absence of understanding on
the part of the reader. Its disclosure
is also a non-disclosure,
given
the obscurity that surrounds the essential practices, the very expres
transcends
it. Here
sion of which is the purpose of the text. This paradox

is perhaps
best exemplified by the first two verses of chapter ten, which deal
as follows with the theme of a Buddha's
triple embodiment:
I will
Next
Sri Heruka,
explain
no doubt
Have
adept
the Triple
through which
regarding
in the bodies
Body
they
this. I proclaim
of the Reality
44
from my edition;
translation
My
term siddhi here refers to the magical
mantra
is thought to yield. However,
depends
upon
believed
45 CST
to be
dhanam,
82.
ch.
the gnosis
in accordance
succeed
of Sri Heruka,
with
by means
gnosis
non-dual
union
of consciousness
(j?ana)
one
when
with
only.
becomes
Body.45
cf. Pandey,
powers
such
successful
without
80. The
?r?herukabhidhanam,
that successful
which
application
deployment
of
of
these ritual applications
ineffective.
10.1-2;
my
translation
from my
edition;
cf. Pandey,
the
the mantra
?r?herukabhi
are
438
B. Gray
David
This
the facile assumption that the secret

problematizes
it is not sufficient to simply
practice alone. Evidently,
the text's practice instructions. For here we are told that Sri
passage
concerns
decode
of his gnosis
is contingent upon one being
"adept in the bodies of the Reality body," implying that one is
the realization of the
already familiar with this gnosis. This makes
not
here
the
itself
and
the
"secret,"
gnosis
practice elements that
Heruka's
disclosure
to it, a prerequisite for its disclosure, which seems to be an

irresolvable paradox. The claim that success here is to be made via
"consciousness
also undercuts the supposed
only" (vijn?nam?trena)
lead
primacy of practice.
Bhavabhatta's
commentary
here opens up a potential doorway to

that is consonant with the general Tantric
the text's resolution, one

worldview:
As
for the means
one
is. When
has
of
free
and
Body,
as
It is the Victors
their adept
become
define
it is
'reality'
(jin?h)
whose
then there is success,
the gnosis
which
and
and
also
this
body
I proclaim
and
is the Reality
Body
as
of
the
the
scope
always
plurality,
being
is the total
the natural clear light. The Reality
being
Body
own form. Thus
it
it is said to be not singular nor multiple,
singularity
and
Tath?gatas,
the Reality
of Reality.'
'Body
I characterize
gnosis.
being
of achieving
it is the
'body'
ity, the Victor's

as the basis
of the great perfection which benefits self and other. It

nor non-existent.
uniform.
It is sky-like and experientially
manifests
is neither
existent
Its nature
is difficult
and
to understand.
It is stainless
and unchanging,
It is pervasive
unequalled.
to that very potential
yet unadulterated
(nisprapa?ca).
as the peerless Reality
for self-knowledge
auspicious
I bow
Body
down
of the
Victors.46
appears to be a virtuous cycle of sorts, a

progressively
unfolding revelation of the self as the ultimate, in
of an authority figure, the guru. Under such
the
mediation
volving
Bhavabhatta's
one can
guidance,
46
My
61b.l-5,
vision
translation
from my
and MBB-I-70,
terms being
literally rearticulate
commented
edition
the text at IASWR
mss.
MBB-I-33,
cf. Pandey, Sriheruk?bhidh?nam,

are in bold font.
in this passage
fol. 60a.9-b.4;
upon
of
the text that is the relic or
fol.
82. The
439
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
gnosis, manifesting
textually as
whereby key teachings are disarticulated
trace of the Buddha's
disordered
obscurantism
the deliberate
throughout the text.47 For this tradition, the individ

engagement with the text is an embodied
practice, one in
and scattered
ual's
textual performance becomes a reenactment of the Buddha's

presence, and a reconstitution of his gnosis.
which
Further Reflections
The concept of secrecy is protean, and also political. "Disclosing
the secret" was never an unproblematic
act, nor was it ever final.
As Derrida argued with respect to the "secret" of Judaism:
one looks for the center under a
the hearth in which
Jewish Geheimnis,
?
cover
tent
the stone of the temple, the robe
the
of
the
sensible
tabernacle,
?
as an empty
is finally discovered
that clothes
the text of the covenant
never ends being uncovered,
as it has nothing
to
room, is not uncovered,
The
show."48
view, which has been profitably applied to Jewish mystic

to Tantric Buddhism. For
ism by Elliot Wolfson,49 is also applicable
while commentators such as Bhavabhatta were undoubtedly convinced
This
that their interpretation of the "secret" was the final and definitive
at the interpretation of the text over
one, ifwe look diachronically
the centuries, we see that the "secret" is truly an empty signifier,
of fixed referent. Instead, its interpretation changed through
time and cultural space, accommodating
the changing needs of
devoid
Tantric Buddhist
The
Cakrasamvara
it were
evidently
47 On
vision
the issue
of
Jacques
Nebraska
49 See
of the resolution
Hermeneutics,
1988,
Tantra
composed
teacher-student
in Buddhist
Press
48
communities.
and
texts addressing
of Indian society, by
the earliest
at the margins
of the hermeneutical
interaction
ed. Donald
see Robert
Lopez,
circle
in the ideal Tantric
Thurman,
"Vajra
Honolulu:
University
Hermeneutics,"
of Hawaii
119-48.
Derrida,
Press
Wolfson,
1986,
Glas,
trans. J. Leavey
and R. Rand,
50.
Rending
the Veil,
116, n. 7.
Lincoln:
University
of
440
David
renunciant
B. Gray
In the earliest
yogins.50
the "secret"
commentaries,
is
rather unambiguously
associated with practice elements, and in par
ticular the practice of sex. For Jayabhadra, a commentator who was
active during themid-ninth century,51 the "secret" was directly con
sexuality. He wrote
cerned with
The
"secret"
no
disclosure
vulva
and
and
to the disciples
the shape
are
essence
"vulva."
ha,
the three secrets. Ra
the seed
designates
the penis,
to mean
is said
of those
"penis,"
two. This
is
the syllable ra is shaped

like the tip of the penis, the syllable
of a bird's beak, and the combination
of the two syllables
the form of the seed
ya has
is achieved
that which
art is the secret. Moreover,
and
Syam
i.e., so that there is
be hidden,
should
so forth.52 Now,
and
of the wisdom
seminal
the syllable
because
is that which
(rahasyam)
the union
through
that,
ha has
sa
and
of the two.53
in India, the concept of

tradition developed
contexts
the new socio-political
the secret shifted to accommodate
As
the Cakrasamvara
50 For
an excellent
survey of the milieu

see Davidson,
tantras were composed

51
wrote
T?ran?tha
which
Vikramas?la,
tury. His
work
of great
historical
History,
52 The
18, 325.
that
suggests
active
the earliest
See
importance.
the CST
Esoteric
was
Jayabhadra
that he was
to be
appears
in which
Indian
the
third Tantric
during
the early-
surviving
and
Chimpa
related Buddhist
and
Buddhism.
CST
at
preceptor
cen
to mid-ninth
commentary,
and
thus is
T?ran?tha's
Chattopadhyaya,
literature to
term "disciple"
is often used in Tantric Buddhist
(sr?vaka)
of the older nik?ya Buddhist
traditions
conservative
members
refer to the more
such as
who
the Therav?da,
tices some of them advocate.

53
comments
Jayabhadra's
ters of the Sanskrit
the male
and
common
in Buddhist
for what
bodhicitta
ms.
aprak?sy?t
genital
/ athav?
padma
are based
(as written
organs.
He
of the Tantras
upon
similarities
and
the transgressive
that he
sees between
in ninth century Northeastern
let
and
India)
for these organs
the euphemisms
employs
prac
and
for "vulva,"
literature, namely vajra for "penis," padma
sexual
and
female
male
I term "seminal
essence,"
namely
as follows
in my
fol.
2b.3-6:
#MBB-I-122,
vajrapadmabodhicittam
hak?rah
alphabet
text occurs
fluids. His
IASWR
female
disapproved
reading
of his Cakrasamvarapanjik?,
rahasyam
gopan?yam
from
sarvasr?vak?dibhyo
tad rahasyam
/ athav?
ek?karanena
s?dhyam
prajnop?yayor
tat trayam rahasyam / r[ak?rah]
iti
caiva
prokto /
[va]jra
ucyate
/ ubhayos
tayor b?ja
syam
ity abhidh?yate
/ ra[k?ra]sya
441
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
the ninth through twelfth

and adapted,
in India, the tradition was adopted,
centuries
by
such as Bhavabhatta's
Buddhist monastic communities. Commentaries
in which
the tradition found itself. From
in which very different con

in this new milieu,
composed
cerns were brought to the fore. In this context, the transgressive,
were
body-oriented practices of the early tradition were de-emphasized.

of the secret to specific practices was
Here
the facile equation
while
the gnosis or realization of ultimate reality,
problematized,
the aim of the practices, was emphasized. New
this end were developed,
namely the "subtle
exercises
practices to achieve
body" visualization
that were meant
to replace the sexual practices

transgressive within the monastic Buddhist
rightly deemed
that were
context.54
is always an act of interpretation, an attempt to

Commentary
the text in light of changing socio-historical
circum
re(en)vision
stances.
In this tradition, the very notion of secrecy could be
deployed to achieve a political end, namely sublimation.55 Through
the lens of the commentaries, we can trace the process by which
Buddhists shaped and reshaped their traditions to adapt to the values
/ hak?rasya
vajras?cy?k?ratv?t
ubhayabijar?patv?t.
54
For example,
who
the
tradition's
referred
m?ndala.
to groups
ing with
reduced
these
There
yoginis.
to goddesses
adept
dakin?j?la,
female
which
deities,
populate
that this term originally

indications
or yoginis who would
gather on special
concerns
of the predominant
of the text is instruct
strong
the secrets
regarding
For
who
are
on
focusing
of dakin?s,"
samyogasya
practitioners
sites. One
ing the initiated male
text predominantly
the "network
of female
at sacred
occasions
is a
the CST
constitute
collectively
/ sak?rayak?rayoh
khagamukh?k?ratv?t
the later
are
tradition,
identified with,
of recognizing
and
and communicat
the yogin?s
however,
visualized
within,
are
largely
of
features
was
the male
Such
internalized
far more
body.
adept's
undoubtedly
practice
context.
within
the monastic
Buddhist
acceptable
55
to David White's
I refer specifically
that sexual
By "sublimation"
argument
in Hindu
tantric traditions and replaced
effaced
practices were gradually
by sani
tized practices
in which
actual sex was
ritual or internalized
replaced by symbolic
visualization
Contexts,
exercises.
Chicago:
See
University
his Kiss
of the Yogin?:
of Chicago
Press
"Tantric
2003,
Sex"
219-257.
in South
A
very
Asian
similar
442
B. Gray
David
of different social contexts. This adaptation was typically carried

out through the guise of "disclosing
the secret."
Such commentatorial creativity was facilitated by the very notion
of the "secret,"
the disclosure
of which can never be final. The
it is empty, is also a shifting signifier. For the later
are no
tradition, the "secret practices" of their predecessors
secret, since
Indian
praxis of "fools" who

longer "the secret," but rather the misguided
in the text.56 The secret becomes
take literally the erotic passages
a more subtle and rarified entity, accessible
only to a chosen few
experience but rather on the basis of

or understanding.
re-articulation and sub
of creative commentatorial
not on the basis

a disembodied
of embodied
awareness
This process
limation occurred
in two comparable
yet significantly different
almost completely
tradition
became
where
the
in
Tibet,
fashions,
in
the Kathmandu
dominated
institutions, and
by the monastic
valley, where itwas preserved and practiced by the married Newar
and not
is on-going,
Vajr?c?rya
priestly couples. This process
a
see
we
a
without
loss. In Tibet particularly,
process whereby
relatively gynocentric tradition which elevated female deities and
(possibly) female practitioners to high positions was re-fashioned in

an androcentric manner.57 Ultimately
female practitioners were
largely excluded from positions of authority, and some of the most
in
sacred pilgrimage spots of the tradition, such as Tsari Mountain
the
are
of
femi
Southeastern Tibet, which
supposedly the abodes
ditions
were
centuries.
56 For
ish"
to have
seems
process
adopted
in Buddhism
by Buddhist
monastic
the eleventh
example,
travel
those who
occurred
seeking
rarified,
internalized
putatantrar?jat?kamnayamanjar?-nama,
152a.
57 The
Shaw
argument
for gymnocentric
in her Passionate
Princeton
the female
UP
1994. While
body
as
the yoginis
Enlightenment:
To.
origins
the tradition was
adapted
do
in Tantric
indicate
places,
his
See
'grel
vol.
Buddhism,
the gradual
into the Buddhist
rather
Sr?sam
cha,
fol.
by Miranda
is made
for the tradition
Women
the commentaries
practices.
rgyud
tenth
as "child
disparages
in the gathering
yogic
1198, D
tra
Yoginitantra
the ninth and
during
century scholar Abhay?karagupta
the land
the more
than practicing
as the transgressive
institutions
Princeton:
effacement
monastic
of
context,
443
the Empty Secret
Disclosing
nine deities, were closed to female adepts.58 Here

too, as in the
case of the Jewish mystical
the
tradition described
by Wolfson,
in the early tradition, is
feminine body, which was highlighted
occulted.59
the "secret," while shiftable, cannot be fixed, but zigzags.

Ironically, in the sublimated and highly refined present-day traditions
the body-oriented practices re-emerge as the most secret of secrets,
Yet
re
should not seem surprising ifwe keep in mind Derrida's
mark that a genealogy of secrecy "is also a history of sexuality."60
It is often denied and rarely disclosed, yet is ineradicable and re
which
an important if largely invisible aspect of the living tradition.61

In order to begin to comprehend the literature of an esoteric and
that we understand
the textual
tradition, it is essential
mystical
mains
that are operative in the tradition, which often differ signi

ficantly from those informing the literature of related exoteric facets
of the religion. In turn, it is also important that we understand the
models
the agency of female practitioners

in the early
concerning
is not well-supported
For critiques
of her
by extant evidence.
Shaw's
strong argument
Indian
tradition
see Liz Wilson's
argument
and also Davidson,

60-64,
58
the general
Regarding
see Kim
tions of authority
review
of her book
Indian
Esoteric
exclusion
in History
Buddhism,
of female
Gutschow,
Being
36.1
of Religions
(1996)
92-96.
Tibetan
from posi
practitioners
a Buddhist
The
Nun:
Struggle
for
in the Himalayas,
Harvard
UP 2004. On
the exclusion
Enlightenment
Cambridge:
of women
from the highest
levels of a popular
Tibetan
Cakrasamvara
pilgrim
The Cult of Pure Crystal Mountain:
age route see Toni Huber,
Popular
Pilgrim
age
and Visionary
in Southeast
Landscape
6, 7.
59 See
"Occultation
Wolfson,
60
The Gift
Jacques Derrida,
of Chicago
nection
"From
between
Sealed
Hermeneutics"
(New
which
Press
York:
1995,
secrecy
Book
of the Feminine,"
and
inWolfson,
sexuality
Text:
York:
Oxford
in his Rending
trans. David
of Death,
3, cited
to Open
Tibet, New
Rending
Wills,
1999,
chs.
the Veil.
Chicago:
the Veil,
in Jewish mysticism
UP
University
the con
120. On
see Elliot
Wolfson,
and Narrativity
in Kabbalistic
Memory,
in Interpreting Judaism
in a Postmodern
ed.
Steven
Age.
Kepnes,
case
As
in
the
New York UP,
145-78.
of
Jewish
tradition,
1996),
Time,
remark and is also subject of Wolfson's

secrecy
inspired Derrida's
analysis,
are closely
and sexuality
linked in Tantric Buddhist
traditions.
61
the ways
in which
sexual
have been maintained
by
practices
Regarding
444
B. Gray
David
uses
of the text, the arts of reading and commentary whereby the

text is put into practice. For esoteric traditions, the concept of the
secret and its disclosure
role not only in this
plays a pivotal
in the process by which the tradition grows and

these texts requires what
changes through time and space. Reading
we might fairly term "intellectual archeology," a term particularly
in light of the metaphor of the "relic" which has suf
meaningful
process,
but also
fused this paper. For today the Cakrasamvara

Tantra itself truly is
a relic, a starting point in a historical process of disclosure that has
moved
far beyond the text itself. In Tibetan and Newar Buddhist
Tantra are not
communities
scriptures such as the Cakrasamvara
the objects of frequent and sustained study.62 The infrequently read
like a relic or object of reverence, artfully
Tantras are displayed,
and stored away behind and above an altar. Ensconced
wrapped
them are the commentaries
with
of past generations, whose disclo

to contemporary communities. These
sures are no
longer relevant
relics, however, contain traces and hints that collectively
the history of the tradition,
yield important evidence
concerning
we
have the requisite patience and understanding to
provided that
so will prove very rewarding, as it will deepen
read them. Doing
textual
our understanding
of the relationships between

in mystical
traditions.
spiritual development
500 El Camino
and
Gray
Studies
Real
CA
Santa Clara,
B.
David
Santa Clara University

of Religious
Department
textual practices
95053,
USA
dgray@scu.edu
celibate Tibetan
ostensibly
In Search of Female
Space:
Buddhist
Identity
see June Campbell's

in
Traveller
practitioners
in Tibetan Buddhism
(New York: George Braziller,
1996).
62 I
refer here
rarely studied
ular
traditions
commentaries
to the Tantras
themselves,
Tibetan
by contemporary
such as the Cakrasamvara.
seem
to receive
which,
in my
even
practitioners,
texts and
Ritual
far greater
attention
to
appear
experience,
in the case of very pop
relatively contemporary
in these communities.
THE CONFLICT OVER CICERO'S HOUSE:

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RITUAL ELEMENT
IN DE DOMO SUA
Anders
Lisdorf
Summary
at the heart of their culture.
to the Romans
ritual was
themselves
According
sen
this centrality of ritual has not been matched
by a corresponding
Strangely,
as
most
was
to
been
viewed
Ritual
has
often
to
be
ritual
how
interpreted.
sitivity
in this article that this
an empty formalism
It is argued
of any true belief.
devoid
view
conception
stemming from a Christian
account
of ritual based
for the peculiarities
case of the conflict
and little studied
obscure
is an ethnocentric
of ritual
of belief,
which
does
construct
not adequately
the seemingly
Taking
religions.
as a case,
Lawson's
over Cicero's
that E. Thomas
it is argued
house
this misconception
ritual theory might help to overcome
N. McCauley's
This
ual
enables
us
to see how
Cicero
the evidence
actions.
Ultimately
taken very
that ritual was
explicates
implicit
seems
to support
beliefs
and Robert
entailed
the reverse
of ritual.
by
the rit
interpretation:
seriously.
Introductions
In the spring of 56 bce Cicero,
triumphant after having been
called home from his exile, gave a speech in front of the Roman
priestly college of the pont?fices to convince them that he could be
given back his house without any risk of divine retribution. This
speech, or at least something resembling it, is preserved in the text
De domo sua. The speech is one of the least popular and least read
by Cicero. A sign of this is that no commentary has been written
on it, while most other texts by Cicero have one or more. But his
text has the possibility of offering a lot more than its history seems
to indicate. When
it has been used in research it has typically been
in one of two ways: either as a quarry for technicalities on Roman
sacral
?
law, or for exposing
Koninklijke
Also
available
Cicero
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
as a hypocrite who manipulated

NUMEN,
Vol.
52
446
Anders
Lisdorf
religion to his own benefits.1 The first purpose is relatively inno

cent in its antiquarian outlook, whereas the second ismore problematic.
inter
problem goes right to the heart of modern scholarship's
of
in
Roman
but
of
also
pretation
religion
particular,
religions with
a strong focus on ritual in general.
The
The "manipulation
of ritual as opposed
least to the Romantic
hypothesis"2 is based on a very specific view

to true belief, which can be traced back at
era (Heran 1986:241). The hypothesis is that

Roman ritual was devoid of any truly religious belief, and was reduced
to mere formalities. Since this was the case, Roman ritual and reli
gion as a whole were no more
be it towards the gullible masses
elite. This
divorce
between
than instruments of manipulation,

or political opponents among the
ritual and true religious belief is clearly

Fowler:
". . . the religious
instinct, the
expressed
by W. Warde
desire to be in right relation with
was
the universe
first soothed
and
the power manifesting

itself in
then
satisfied,
hypnotized and
by the formalisation
and gradual secularisation

of reli
as
a fos
This
view
of
ritual
1971:306).
paralysed
(Fowler
gious processes"
silised formality devoid of sincere belief
than
of
century
of more
is representative
research.3
ritual was
disregarded as a locus of belief, the search

was
transferred to mythology. This mythology
religion
was captured
in some of the poets, who, however, had mostly
stolen it from the Greeks, a fact which only contributed to the view
So while
for Roman
of Romans
as
insincere. The
same as for the Greeks:
1
2
See
Did
problem
with
they really believe
1971 passim;
respectively Wissowa
Taylor
sen 2003
for further references on
Cf. Rasmus
3 For
research
a review
of this attitude
represented
by Georges
see Durand
Dum?zil,
".
has many
good
reflections
(Veyne
1983).
1975:90.
this.
and Scheid
the view of ritual as manipulation

escaped
. .un indice d'autres
choses"
(37).
4
See the classic
treatment of Greek perceptions
Another
the
in their myths?4
1994:31.
Jean Pierre Vernant,
have
was
the Romans
they
still only
of myth
study
recent
Although
and Walter
by Paul
pertaining
use
Burkert
ritual
Veyne
as
which
directly
to
Analysis
of Ritual Element
in De
Domo
447
Sua
real problem seems to be what is meant by belief. It is nec

essary to distinguish between implicit and explicit beliefs. Explicit
beliefs are those known from Christian theology such as dogmas.
They can be read from texts directly. Implicit beliefs are not stated
The
directly and therefore more volatile and harder to detect analyti

cally.5 One of the most perceptive analyses on the relation between
belief and ritual in Roman
religion is that of Linder and Scheid
(1993). They argue that Roman belief was an altogether other type
of belief: ". . . il existait une foi dans la religion romaine. A la dif
f?rence de la foi chr?tienne, elle n'?tait pas explicit?e autrement
'articles'
que par l'acte rituel; elle ... se r?duisait ? un ou deux
fondamentaux.
Elle
la n?cessit?
posait
donnait pour acquise

l'existence des dieux et
et l'efficacit? du commerce
rituelle avec eux"
(55).
When
it is possible
you get behind these implicit assumptions,
to see that, "Cette 'foi' postulait que les dieux ?tait bons, cohab
itaient avec les humains dans le monde, c'est-?-dire dans les cit?s,
et se soumettaient aux id?aux de la cit?" (57). While
this is a great
on earlier positions, it is still difficult to see exactly how

to get at these implicit beliefs, and how more precisely they are
related to ritual action.
advance
So while
increasingly aware thatRoman

because of Christianising
ideas of
recent research has become
religion has been misunderstood

what a religion should be, there is still no concrete methodological
and theoretical framework for analysing the relation between these
implicit beliefs and ritual acts. I will argue that general ritual the
ories such as that of E. Thomas Lawson
and Robert N. McCauley
some
on
this problem and help us reach a greater
may shed
light
Rome
also
focuses
on
the
literary
dimension:
at Rome
1998).
(Feeney
Religion
5
Heran
between
Fran?ois
distinguishes
implicit,
vidual
practical
(Heran
and
communal,
1986:232-33).
and
credo
croyance
Dennis
and
Feeney
croyance,
is explicit,
Literature
and
where
the credo
theoretical
and
is
indi
448
Anders
of Roman
understanding
Cicero's
speech, De domo
Lisdorf
religion and society

sua, in particular.
in general,
and
The Context
In his speech, De domo sua, Cicero defended his right to reclaim
his house after his return from exile. The speech was held in the
senate in 56 bce. His opponent in the speech, as in general, was
Clodius Pulcher. The political climate in the mid-1st cen
bce
two
was marked by political
tury
rivalry primarily between
and the
factions:
the followers
of Pompey
(including Cicero)
Publius
followers
of Caesar
(partly
Cicero had been

including Clodius).
later Clodius had been accused of sac
in 63, and two years

In 58 Clodius was elected plebeian
rilege by Cicero.
office he used to have Cicero
exiled and his estate
consul
Cicero
Cicero's
come
was
called
back
speech De domo
back, his estate was
in 57. This
sua
is where
starts. Although
tribune, an
confiscated.
the story behind

to
he was allowed
still confiscated, and during his exile a

on the Palatine had been dedicated
to the god
part of his house

dess Libertas. This meant
that he would
not be able
to inhabit the
house, however willing the senate might be to give him the house
back. It was simply not theirs to give. It was therefore vital for him
to demonstrate
there was
that the house was
no problem
for him
not dedicated to Libertas, so that

to get it back. That is the overall
aim of the speech.

The Speech
De
domo
sua
in the speech. The first cen

Three themes can be distinguished
tres on a representation of Cicero as the preserver of order in rela
tion to the gods {dorn. 144-47), which is a general feature of his
in this period. This is elaborated
through a listing of
speeches
virtues and setting them as equal to the preservation of the

state and represented by Cicero, whereas everything not virtuous is
portrayed as a threat to the state, and as represented by the oppo
structure in Cicero's
nent. This
forensic speeches,
is a general
Roman
Analysis
what
where
varies
of Ritual Element
in De
seems
the names
and
to be
only
the opponent. Expressed

: Clodius
the speech is Cicero
Domo
449
Sua
of the defendant
in structuralist terms the relation

:: the Roman
State
in
: Chaos.
are also day to day political themes in the speech, such as

as responsible
on Pompey's
for the
commentaries
appointment
as
can
seen
incidental
be
These
remarks, made
grain supply.
There
the right of speech, but not directly relevant to

the subject he is speaking about.6
The last theme concerns ritual, and centres on rituals involving
less than satisfactory to
Clodius which were performed in ways
Cicero
because
had
is actually a ritual history focusing on Clodius.

themes can be seen in the speech: (1) a cos
theme; (2) a political theme; (3) a ritual theme.
mological
The first theme has traditionally been of interest to historians of
taste. This
Cicero's
Thus
three distinct
the second has interested ancient historians. The

religion, whereas
third has generally been ignored or subsumed under one of the pre
treat
vious themes. Contrary to tradition I will argue that Cicero's
ment of the two first themes is relatively banal, but that the third
theme is the really interesting one and also central to the whole
argument of his speech. As we shall see, this is not the route taken
in the sparse previous research on this speech, which has resulted
in a less than coherent explanation of the argument that Cicero pro

I shall not spend time on the previous two themes as they
have been eloquently treated elsewhere (Goar 1972; Rawson
1975;
Wissowa
1971). Let us therefore start with how Cicero argues his
duces.
case
in relation
to the ritual history.
The Ritual History

into a plebeian
had been adopted
opponent Clodius
gens. The Romans had two primary groups of gentes, the patricians
and the plebeians. The most notable difference between them was
Cicero's
that some offices were
Cicero
is himself
aware
reserved
for the plebeians
that this falls outside
his
subject
exclusively.
(dorn.
32)
One
450
Anders
Lisdorf
tribune, an office
example of this, as we shall see, is the plebeian
which could only be occupied by a plebeian male.
starts by arguing that Clodius'
Cicero
adoption was carried out
circumstances. Coming
from one of the biggest
suspicious
?
and most famous patrician gentes
Claudia
is
(of which Clodia
a branch) ?
Clodius
had been adopted
into the plebeian
gens
Fonteia
the person adopt
(dorn. 35). Under normal circumstances
under
ing had to be a person who could no longer have children for one
reason or another. For example the wife could be barren; the hus
band could be too old or had lost his wife. Thus it was expected
that the adoptee was young, if not a child. In the case of Clodius'
the adoptee was a grown up man, who had
the adopter was 20 years old, mar
already been consul, whereas
ried, and had every possibility to have children (dorn. 34).
however,
adoption,
a person was adopted in Roman republican times, he had

the religious duties of his old gens and assume those
When
to denounce
of the new. These
duties (gentilicia sacra) could be the observance

marked
days
by rites, the care of holy places, or other
private religious observances. Clodius had not done this (dorn. 35),
something which could be a potential offence to the gods. He had
of special
also diminished
the honour
former consul. This
gens by leaving it as a
to conclude that Clodius had not
of the Clodian
leads Cicero
with religious laws, and that an adop

taken place.7 Thus, three reasons are men
tioned: (1) the age difference is wrong;
(2) no legitimate reason
had been given for the adoption;
(3) dignitas and religio (honour
and religious piety) had been offended.
been
in accordance
adopted
tion had in fact not
these are not the only rules that were broken. On the day
Clodius'
took place, one of the consuls, Bibulus, was
adoption
But
looking
factus
pontificio
8
The
for auspices,8 which
es eius filius
iure esse factam
technical
contra
in sacral
fas
{dorn.
{dorn. 36).
term is de
c?elo
servare.
law obstructed
35),
and
nego
a number of
istam
adoptionem
Analysis
in De
of Ritual Element
Domo
Sua
451
to this class of
legal and religious actions.9 Adoption
belonged
acts10. Moreover,
the law (lex) proposal for Clodius'
adoption (an
was
was
a
made
three
hours
before it
law)
adoption
public only
was passed, whereas
the normal interval between
the publication
and the passing of a law was three weeks.11
were also violated in this regard.
Cicero can therefore conclude that Clodius'
any type of law known
correct procedures
So
adoption was
against
to the Romans.12
The Tribunate
If Clodius
had not been adopted he could not be a plebeian, and

not a plebeian he could not have been a plebeian
was
if Clodius
tribune (tribunus plebis). Cicero

dius' tribunate legitimate.
therefore does
not consider
Clo
But why does itmatter whether Clodius was or was not a legit
tribune? The fact is that only a plebeian
tribune had the
authority to confiscate a criminal's estate in the name of the Roman
imate
a confiscation
state.13 Such
that the ownership
9 cum
Linderski
10
An
de
c?elo
is a kind of consecration, which means

gods. It nevertheless had
to one or more
passes
servatum
sit,
cum
populo
agi
non
posse
(dorn.
cf.
49),
1986.
is a legal as well as a religious

act. It takes place
in the other
adoption
not often used court called comitia calata
Wissowa
(cf. Michels
1967:37-38;
wise
1971:511).
est
11
Si quod
in ceteris
trium esse horarum
term meaning
term
is derived
The
(dorn. 41).
expression
were
Nundinae
after three nundinae.

from novem
dies
there were
inclusively
trinum nundinum
is the interval
counting
esse
trinum nundinum
legibus
?
seven
nine
days.
regular
oportet,
id in adoptione
satis
is a technical
trinum nundinum
originally market days, and

Because
of the Roman
way
days
between
two nundinae.
the
of
Thus
between
three market
is 24 days all
days, which
the translation "three weeks"
is not precise. For details
strictly speaking,
on the trinum nundinum,
cf. Michels
1967.
12
iam intelligis omni genere
in sacris, quod
in auspiciis,
in
iuris, quod
quod
in all. So,
(dorn. 42).
legibus
13
What
is called
consecrado
capitis
bonorum;
cf. Wissowa
1971:388-89.
452
Anders
to be authorised
criminal
Lisdorf
by the senate and
or happen
the people,
after a
trial (dorn. 33).
The Consecration
to
to become
dedicated
It was necessary
for Cicero's
house
a god by ritual action. Sometimes
at
this is called consecratio,
a distinction seems to be made
other times dedicatio.
Sometimes
these terms (dorn. 125), sometimes not; it is in any case
difficult to see any consistent distinction in terminology. Still, the
sequence and content of the actual rituals seem pretty clear. The
between
terms consecration
and dedication
ical terms that may

When
or may
will
therefore be used as analyt
not reflect the actual
terminology.
it means
a building
that the ownership
is consecrated,
over to a god. The building becomes an aedes sacra. In the
passes
dedication
in
and rules regulating behaviour
relation to the specific temple is specified. The state is responsible
for these obligations. For example it could be specified that a pro
cession had to take place once a year. In that case the state was
formula
obligations
to finance it. An entity which was sacrum was also pub

case, a part
that
licum,
is, public for the people at large. In Cicero's
to
the goddess Libertas.
of the house, a portico, had been dedicated
Although we do not know much about the ritual, two separate processes
obliged
or
important. First, some sort of approval
to
seems
or
authorisation by the senate
people (populus,14 plebs]5)
be needed, or at least a consultation of the pontifical college, which
seem
to be
the most
of experts in sacred law (dorn. 132, 136). None

kinds of authorisation had been procured.
consisted
14
It is interesting
on grounds
overruled
publico
Licinia,
136).
15
Cicero
concerning
127-28).
Caii
that Cicero
mentions
of it not having
filia,
iniussu
been
populi
another
dedicasset,
that the Lex

suggests
hypothetically
In that case
the plebs
his house.
of a dedication
case
authorised
of these
which
was
in loco
quod
by the people:
sacrum non viderier
(dorn.
Papiria
might
should
have
apply
been
to the case
asked
(dorn.
Analysis
of Ritual Element
in De
Domo
Sua
453
Dedication
The
final ritual should be performed by Clodius

and a pontifex.
that the pontifex was his wife's brother P. Licinius
Cicero mentions
into the college just days before.

Natta, who had been co-opted
Roman priesthood does not entail any previous training, so Cicero
attacks his inexperience and (probable)
lack of knowledge
(dorn.
118). It was
also customary that older members of the college were

present during the initial rituals, which had not been the case here.
to pick the man from his
Cicero
insinuates that Clodius
needed
own family, because

know it was wrong.
everyone else would
was
of
the
ritual
that
the
Moreover,
part
pontifex should put his
hand on the doorpost and utter certain words,16 but it is hard to put
the hand on the doorpost in a portico. So Cicero
thinks that even
the object
Because
of dedication
of Licinius'
did not do
not qualify.
that he either
young age Cicero concludes
and that therefore no dedication
had taken
does
anything,
or
he
had performed the ritual with a shaking hand, and stut
place,
tered some broken words, which could not possibly have been in
accordance with tradition (mos, rite, caste: dorn. 134-35). Clodius
probably also participated in the ritual; Cicero knows of a rumour
that he had ignored negative portents, and made a series of ritual
flaws in relation to the dedication
(dorn. 140).
As a summary Cicero writes: "allow not, then, validity to the alleged
. . .
of an ignorant youth, a novice
in the priesthood
proceedings
who acted without knowledge, without consent, without colleagues,
books, with none to support you, none

of sacrifice, but surreptiously
and with mind
wavered"
(dorn. 139).17
without
16
Which
seems
to be
(e.g. Liv. 2.8).

17 ne
veleat
id, quod
sine
sine
colegiis,
titubante fecisse
the part of
imperitu
libris,
dicatur.
sine
the ritual most
adolescens,
auctore,
novus
to bake
and
tongue
widely
known
sacerdos
. . .
sine fictore,
furtim,
the cakes
to the public
ignarus,
ac
mente
that
invitus,
lingua
454
Anders
the following
Thus,
Lisdorf
had gone wrong with
1) It had not been approved.

2) The agent, the pontifex, had not been
3) The object did not qualify.
4) The act was wrongly performed

been pronounced properly.
the dedication:
sufficiently trained.
because
the words
had not
Summing up this analysis we can distinguish four key sequences

in the ritual history: Clodius'
tribunate, the con
adoption, Clodius'
secration of Cicero's
estate, and the dedication of the house.
Previous
Research
sua has, as mentioned

above, not been a favourite
object of analysis. The most frequent use has been as a quarry for
technical details about roman sacral law;18 indeed many facts about
The De
domo
law are not known
the sacral
RJ. Goar
on De
The
best
Cicero
and
domo
outside
this text.
sua
and most thorough treatment is found in RJ. Goars

State Religion. Goar presents an analysis which has
been typical for the view of Roman
religion in general. In Goar's
the mention
of Clodius'
is seen as an insig
analysis
adoption
nificant and potentially insulting part, because Cicero
the highest experts (the pont?fices to whom the speech
on sacral law. The treatment of Bibulus'
addressed)
is lecturing
is primarily
obnuntiatio
is regarded as having only a political interest. Concerning

the final
dedication of the house to Libertas, Goar thinks that Cicero has a
it actually was concecrated:
"Therefore Cicero
problem, because
was compelled
to bring that body [the pont?fices] certain consider
ations that might offset the fact that the consecration had actually
taken place"
18
Which
1971.
can
(Goar
be
seen
1972:51).
from
That Cicero
the frequent
citations
is focusing
from
on Clodius'
this text in Wissowa
Analysis
of Ritual Element
in De
Domo
455
Sua
is seen as the primary strategy to undermine

is instigated by a bad man
tion: ". . . if a consecration
character
the dedica
for a base
(52), and "in attacking the conse

the letter of pontifical law against him, and therefore
then it cannot be valid"
motive,
crado he had
to its spirit."19
appealed
This however is an idea which
is not to my knowledge
attested
times. That moral considerations
republican
anywhere in Roman
seems utterly
should have any impact on a man's ritual competence
state religion. If the person performing the ritual
alien to Roman
had any base motives,
lead to disaster, the
something which would
surely intervene in the ritual and give a sign, which

gods would
Cicero actually insinuates when saying that Clodius
ignored several
omens. After all, Roman
state religion is replete with rites aiming
at securing the will of the gods. Incidentally, this is what Cicero
thinks assures
that Roman
law
is in accordance
with
divine
law
be
1995). The idea of a ritual having a spirit would
(Linderski
to
alien
the
ancient
the
ritual
either
had
been
Roman;
per
utterly
formed properly or it had not. This does not, however, preclude the
later detection of a ritual flaw in a seemingly properly conducted

ritual (Linderski 1986). Goar does not realise that the point of the
speech is to substantiate the claim that the dedication
simply had
not taken place, because

it had not been properly performed, and
that Cicero's
house was therefore not sacra. His interpretation also
blurs
the connection
between
the adoption, the tribunate, the con

These misunderstandings
lead Goar
secration, and the dedication.

to the wrong conclusion:
"Cicero did, at least, tend to combat the
ideas" (55). On the con
legalism of Roman
religion with moral
trary, the reverse seems to be the case.
Goar
case,
as
Cicero's
clusion,
19Also
thinks that the first point

the third point (ritual)
(cosmology)
is a dead
is what
decides
the
is why
end, which
strategy is to undermine Clodius morally. The con
I would argue, is the opposite:
the ritual argument is the
main
Elisabeth
of the senate
Rawson
(Rawson
interprets
1975:124).
the speech
in this light, but as
a betrayal
456
Anders
decisive
have
and
one,
the moral
found Lawson's
Modern
Ritual
Lisdorf
one
and McCauley's
is superfluous. To show
ritual theory useful.
this, I
Theory
In anthropology and other areas in the history of religion, ritual

has been a centre of attention, and many fruitful theories have been
suggested. Ritual has turned out to be a multifaceted phenomenon,
and modern
ual. For
focused on different aspects of rit

and
singled out E. Thomas Lawson's
ritual theories have
this analysis
I have
Robert
N. McCauley's
cognitive
sentation. The cognitive
science
theory of religious ritual repre

of religion has already proved
fruitful as a heuristic
problems
tool for shedding

(Gragg 2004; Martin 2004).
Lawson's
and McCauley's
Theory
new
light on many
old
of Ritual
and
and McCauley's
theory of ritual (Lawson
Lawson
has
and
been
submitted
1990;
2002)
McCauley
McCauley
to several cross-cultural empirical tests, which have proven its via
2001; Barret and
1995; Barrett and Lawson
bility (see Abbink
Lawson's
2003). The theory focuses on how ritual action is repre

Malley
sented cognitively. Rituals are seen as normal actions, capable of
being represented by ordinary cognitive abilities. The representa
of an agent, an act, and an object. This
forms the basis of what they term "the Action Representation System."
An example of an ordinary action is "the ball breaks the window."
tion of an action
consists
in the surface representa

Prior enabling actions can be embedded
tion of the action structure; in the example quoted that could be
"the boy throws the ball." Thus, the action representation system is
a
recursive
The
system.
difference
between
Postulated
Culturally
resented somewhere
ordinary
and
ritual action
consists
in
agents (CPS agents) being rep

Superhuman
in the full action representation structure, and
in the world
and McCauley
that they effect changes
(Lawson
of CPS agents are ancestors, gods and spirits.
1990:159). Examples
in De
Domo
of persons,
the necessary
properties
of the action's
central for the judgement
acts
Analysis
of Ritual Element
Also
McCauley
Rituals
actual
These
457
Sua
and objects
efficacy. Lawson
are
and
a rich formal system to analyse this.

developed
are often built from multiple embedded
rituals, whether
have
or hypothetical
and legend).
(often found in mythology
embedded rituals are decisive for a rituals' efficacy, in so far
as they achieve connection to a CPS agent. If the CPS agent is rep

resented as somehow acting, either directly or through an interme
An example:
diary, the action will have permanent consequences.
a Christian
the property "Christian" he needs to be

baptised, and for a baptism to count as a baptism it is necessary
for a person with the property "priest" to perform the baptism with
For
to have
consecrated water. The property "priest" is a function of a prior embed

ded action ?
the ordaining of a person by the church, which recur
on
turn
the founding of the church by Jesus (Lawson
and
sively
1990).
McCauley
The most important in this context is thatLawson's
and McCauley's
us
a
and
formal
model
with
frame
for conceptual
theory
supplies
ising special properties of rituals and their interconnectedness. The
example shows that some properties are necessary (being a priest),

while others are not (the time of day, although some might be
more suitable than others). The formal system does not supply us
to distinguish the necessary from the non-necessary.
with a means
others have theorised this distinction, as for example
However,
and James Laidlaw
Emily Ahern (1982) and Caroline Humphrey
(1994:116),
who
rules
borrow
the distinction
between
constitutive
in rituals from Searle
and
Constitutive
(1969:33-42).
the shape of definitions. These are rules that constitute
or define an activity. Regulative
rules can be paraphrased as imper
this
atives, expressing ways
activity should be regulated or carried
out. It is important to find out which rules are regulative and which
regulative
rules have
are constitutive, because this is essential for understanding

and action in general (Ahern 1982).
ritual action
458
Anders
The
of Cicero
(Non-)Dedication
Lisdorf
to Libertas
'sHouse
If we analyse the case of De domo sua according to Lawson's

and McCauley's
theory, we are there dealing with what they call a
"ritual alteration of objects" (1990:103),
that is, an alteration in the
scheme of Cicero's
house from something
religious conceptual
to something with the property sacra. In
is to convince the superior board of priests
{pont?fices) that no embedded actions related to any CPS agent has
no valid
taken place,
thus rendering the final action (dedicatio)
ordinary, non-religious,
this light, Cicero's
goal
By systematising the information from the above analy

formal system,
sis in accordance with Lawson's
and McCauley's
and Searle's distinctions as amendments, we arrive at Figure 1.
dedication.
It can be seen from this figure how Cicero's

speech is structured
so as to undermine the links to previous enabling ritual actions in
a systematic way. It has one purpose:

to show that the dedication
of Cicero's house never took place. It is quite probable that Clodius
and the pontifex were doing something resembling a dedication, but
it was
not a valid
To make his point, Cicero

dedication.
goes
a
ritual
through
relatively complex
history, with the rules defining
and regulating it. Cicero
attacks points which are constitutive at
every level (ql2, q7, q5, q3, and k4), where ql2, q7 and q5 are
embedded actions. It can be seen that in every ritual at least one
constitutive rule is found to have been broken. The really central
rules seem to be q3, a valid reason for the

an
adoption, and k4,
approval of the consecration by the senate. It
seems that precisely the lack of k4 found resonance with thepont?fices,
breaches
as
of constitutive
the case
advantage. We
one
of his letters
the ruling in
know this because Cicero mentions
(att. 4.2.3.). The decree from the pont?fices specifies that the dedi
the people's
cation had taken place populi
iniussu, without
is what
this issue
The
approval.20
20
It has
papiria,
case,
to be
which
because
decided
place
noted
Goar
was
here
calls
to Cicero's
therefore sine
that it can
hardly
be
means
religione, which
due
to a violation
the only strong point (1972:52),

that law only concerns
the plebs
(Lex papiria
of
that Cicero
vetat aedes
the lex
won
the
iniussu
Analysis
ACTION
a5
in De
of Ritual Element
q9
o2
qlO
k6
ql2
k7
a2
459
Sua
k5
qll
Domo
ACTION
r3
q7
ACTION 2
a3
q9
a2
05
q6
ACTION
ACTION
1: The adoption
2: The tribunal
ACTION
3: The consecration
ACTION
4: The dedication
ACTION 1
Fat letters:Part of a constitutive rule
ai
Underscore Was not present
q3
PRP
(property)
ql suitable age for adopter
q2 suitable age for adoptee
q3 legitimate reason for adoption
q4 dignitas should not be diminished
1]
q5 plebeian[ACTION
q6 elected by plebs
q7 tribunus plebis [ACTION 2]
q8 owned by criminal
q9 inaugurated as pontifex
qlO suited for dedication
qll experience/accompanied
by experienced
ql2 should be consecrated/approved by
the people[ACTION
3]
AP (action property)
kl a day without obstructions, where it is
possible to agere cum populo
k2 trinum nundinum given before law is
voted for
k3 Pontifex present
k4 the people approves the consecration
k5 right words, properly pronounced
k6 proper gesticulation
k7 approved by pontifices
Figure
1. Representation
of
the
kl
k2
k3
02
q4
AG (agent)
al Fonteius
a2 Clodius
a3 Pontifex
a4 An augur
a5 Natta
A
rl
r2
r3
r4
(act)
adopts
becomes tribune
consecrates
dedicates
0 (objekt)
01 Cicero's
02 Cicero's
ritual
history
estate
house(portico)
in De
domo
sua.
460
Anders
that it was
Lisdorf
not sacrum.
Thus the dedication had not taken place

in one of the prior embedded ritual actions.
Cicero did not, however, substantiate that errors at deeper lev
els, that is, in the adoption and in his tribunate in general, had occurred.
because
of deficiencies
phrased, the pont?fices did apparently not take the

as
rules infringed
being constitutive, but rather as regulative. The
reason for this might very well be that the gods were thought to
More
precisely
respond during the adoption ritual or inauguration to the tribunate

had a ritual fault been made, an event for which there was prece
since no such sign had occurred, there could be noth
with
either his adoption or his tribunate.
ing wrong
dence.
But
Conclusion
It can be
seen from this analysis that earlier research has mis

De domo sua. The personal attacks on Clodius
understood Cicero's
are part of the style, and probably something most of the senate
would agree with anyway. The political comments were just com
the ritual history was the core of the speech, as is
ments, while
by the final ruling. Instead of being a moralising

it is something as
attack on an opponent, or political manipulation,
as
or
a
a
ritual
rather
about
simple
history
something that
history,
seemed to be a ritual, but turned out not to be. Cicero's
prime
demonstrated
to demonstrate
that the dedication, which would
objective was
have changed the properties of his house to sacra, had not in fact
taken place. This was achieved through pinpointing ritual flaws in
previous enabling ritual actions. In so doing, Cicero was making
explicit some of the implicit beliefs entailed by the ritual. It turns

out that perhaps Cicero was not a hypocrite after all, but a con
cerned citizen who did not want to bring potential harm to the
state by
plebis
ference
of a divine
illicit habitation
consecran
between
{dorn.
plebs
128).
This
and populus
of course
residence.
is a technicality,
in republican
terminology.
As
but
was
noted
there is a dif
in De
of Ritual Element
Analysis
Domo
Sua
461
still have
So Cicero may
the gods were also citizens.
above,
in the sanctity of Libertas and in the general efficacy of
believed
that Libertas owned
the dedicatio
ceremony, while not believing
his specific property, because a proper dedicatio
ceremony had not
been performed there. The ritual argument is based on the type of
and it can be
and Scheid,
belief identified by Linder
Romans were
because
Lawson's
and
with
theory
McCauley's
analysed
as
we
are.
same
cognitive system
equipped with the
implicit
interpretation has served to bring us a small step

proposed
to the thought world of the Romans without reverting to
that moral purity
ideas such as Goar's
Christianising
proposition
The
closer
necessary for ritual efficacy. This has allowed us to see some

in an admittedly messy text. The theory of Lawson
and
coherence
has been helpful in detecting and investigating the struc
McCauley
was
ture of Cicero's
been
seen. The
argument, a structure which has not previously

in Cicero's
final ruling documented
letters corrob
orated
this interpretation.
Is there evidence
that the Romans
belief
did not have
any sincere
their
manipulate
religion to
I think not. It seems reasonably clear that
in their rituals? Did
achieve
the Romans
personal aims?
was motivated,
among other things, by a wish to reacquire
his house, and, had he not had this motive, the ritual faults would
Cicero
have gone unnoticed.

This does not mean,
that the
however,
Romans
did not care for ritual propriety in general. Just as a pre
viously undetected crime is not evidence of an indifferent attitude
to justice, a previously undetected ritual fault is not evidence of an
indifferent attitude to ritual; actually the conclusion
is the exact
while
research
has
often
opposite. So,
previous
ignored Roman rit
ual because
exact
itwas
seen as devoid
that the Romans
of sincerity, my conclusion
is the
in
believed
and
rituals
sincerely
opposite:
their relation to the gods.
I hope also to have shown that cognitive theories of religion can
help shed light on some of the dark points in the history of Roman
religion
and provide
a constructive
basis
for a reinterpretation of
462
Anders
Lisdorf
how ritual and belief are related
in Roman
religion. This
and McCauley's
also has
some general consequences

as Lawson's
theory
can help us gain a better understanding of strongly ritual religions
and cultures without assuming an ethnocentric understanding
of
belief along the lines of Christian theology.
of Copenhagen
of Cross-Cultural
Department
Studies
Regional
Anders
University
History
of Religions
Artillerivej 86
Lisdorf
and
Section
S
2300 Copenhagen
Denmark
andersl@hum.ku.dk
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20),
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2004
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Michels,
1967
Robert
The
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1975
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Whitehouse
History,
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and
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Lawson
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Cambridge
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RELIGION INMIND: A REVIEW ARTICLE

OF THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
JESPER S0RENSEN
Introduction
In recent years, the cognitive approach to the study of culture in
in particular
has gained
and of religious
general
phenomena
in
of
From
the
academic
religion.
study
increasing support
being
an approach championed by few, though important scholars, it now
its own dedicated journal (Journal of Cognition and Culture),
has
a dedicated
academic
institute (Institute of Cognition

and Culture,
Belfast), and soon we will see the emergence
Queen's
University
of an International Association
of the Cognitive
Science
of Reli
gion (to be inaugurated in Aarhus, January 2006).J

But what is all the fuss about? What
is so attractive about
the
to religion? Is it really a genuinely new ap

cognitive approach
can
proach that
yield new results and solve persistent problems? Or
is it just the most recent academic fad taking over where semiotics,
post-structuralism and cultural studies have left off? This paper will
argue that cognitive science does in fact present a genuinely new
to explaining
and very promising approach
religious phenomena.
By addressing both old and new problems by means of new theo

ries and methods,
cognitive science offers an opportunity for the
study of religion
scientific
to break
free of the inertia imposed

the
is not
by postmodernist
cognitive approach
solipsism. Further,
a fad. Even
a
newcomer
to
the scientific study of
though it is
ICC's
Cognition
website:
and
www.qub.ac.uk/icc/.
at University
Culture
research/current/cognition.
?
Koninklijke
Also available
Website
Website
of Aarhus,
for the IACSR:
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
for four-year
Denmark:
project
on Religion,
www.teo.au.dk/en/
http://www.iacsr.com/
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
466
Jesper S0rensen
religion, cognitive science is an established, cross-disciplinary pro

and theoretical traditions.
gram with distinctive methodological
In what follows I will first address two basic problems and state
some meta-theoretical
done within
I will thereafter review work

principles.
areas: the nature of religious concepts and
behaviour. Unfortunately
(for a reviewer),
two broad
the nature of religious

the field of cognitive science of religion is already vast, addressing
numerous problems
through a growing number of methods. This
means
important and relevant work has to be omitted

and other positions do not get the in-depth treatment they deserve.
A regrettable example of omission is the growing literature on the
that much
aspects of religion, i.e. how children's

cognitive
development affects the transmission of both religious concepts and
religious practice.2 This field deserves its own thorough review as
developmental
factors has played

the role of developmental
in traditional theories of religion.
Two Problems
and Five
a far too limited role
Principles
of the problems first addressed by the cognitive science of

in the comparative
study of
religion have long been recognised
religion: Why do we find religion in all human cultures and why
the apparent recurrence of specific religious phenomena? Whether
Many
are going back in history by means of textual and archaeolog

ical evidence or roaming the farthest regions of the globe we find
the
ideas and practices keep appearing:
religions and equivalent
we
of superhuman agents (e.g. gods, spirits or ancestors,

with knowledge about and power over human affairs); narratives of
how the world was created by these superhuman agents; evil spir
existence
its or witches
power
of religious
E.g. Bering
Kelemen
to harm people by disease or misfortune; the

to deal with both benevolent
and
specialists
seeking
(1999
(2005);
Bering
and 2004);
and Bj?rklund
Kelemen
(2004);
and DiYanna
Bering
(2005);
and Shackelford
Rosengren
et al.
(2004);
(2000).
Cognitive
malevolent
superhuman
Science
agents;
467
of Religion
specific
types of actions,
such as
sacrifice or spirit-possession,
involving superhuman agents; ideas
that a part of a person lives on after the body is dead. These are
but a small
sample
of a possible
list of cross-cultural
recurrences
of religious phenomena.
The questions of (a)
the universality of religion and (b) recur

rence of religious phenomena
have been central to the study of
religion ever since its origin in the 19th century, and numerous attempts
to answer them. The methods
have been made
and theories used
by the cognitive approach to tackle these questions are, however,
rather different, largely as a result of the meta-theoretical
principles
underlying the formation of specific theories. These meta-theoreti
cal principles can be formulated in five points upon which there is
agreement in the cognitive science of religion.
First, in order to understand religion we need explanatory
broad
ries. Even
localised
if attempting to understand
cultural
this cannot be
and historical
theo
in their
religious phenomena
context is a laudable endeavour,
of the scientific study of religion.
the sole purpose

the universal
to address
We
need
questions raised above and this
cannot be done by means of localised interpretations. Further, explana
tory theories not only enable us to address such general questions
interpretations by supplying a more solid

terminological grounding and presenting new potential lines of enquiry.
All interpretations are theory-dependent and the more explicit the
but also
to fertilise local
theories are, the better. Thus the cognitive science of religion does
not reject the role of interpretation in the academic
study of reli
an
to
but
unbalance
gion,
merely attempts
right
by insisting on the
necessity of explanatory theories.3
the concept of religion must be "refractioned"
into its
Second,
constitutive parts in order to be amenable to scientific investigation.
3 For
a discussion
of
the relation
between
interpretation
Bloch (1998); Jensen (2002); Lawson and McCauley

Sperber (1996).
and
explanation
see
(1990); Pyysi?inen (2004);
468
Jesper S0rensen
attempts to explain religion struggled to find a "magic bul

let," i.e. one theory that would
explain all religious phenomena.
Whether
seeing religion substantively (e.g. as explaining the world)
Earlier
or functionally (e.g. as alleviating anxieties), it was never hard to

find empirical counterexamples
that pro
(e.g. religious concepts
duce more questions
than they answer, or religious actions that
generate anxiety). Instead, we should recognise the historical and
not in order to get
non-scientific origin of the term "religion" ?
rid of it, but in order to recognise that it is a synthetic category
a broad
that covers
These must all be
range of phenomena.
separately in order to construct explanatory theories and
can only subsequently be related in order to investigate their pos
sible mutual relations.4
addressed
Third, the refraction of religion into its constitutive parts means

can be studied by methods used to study
that religious phenomena
Thus, religious concepts are a kind of
non-religious phenomena.
is a kind of behaviour, religious group

concept, ritual behaviour
formation is a kind of group formation etc. In investigating what is
special, if anything, about religious concepts we need to understand
what
characterises
in general: how they are remembered,

systematised etc. So, in contrast to calls for
or hermeneutics
of religious studies, the
concepts
transmitted, produced,
a special methodology
cognitive science of religion places the study of religion within the
broader scientific community and emphasises that religious phenomena
are underpinned by the same cognitive mechanisms
other types of human phenomena.5
responsible
for
with
is concerned
the cognitive
science of religion
Fourth,
man
or
processes underlying visible
finding the causal mechanisms
and
ifestations of religion. In order to prevent the cross-cultural
For
a discussion
Boyer
(1996,
Boyer
(1993a,
5Atran
2001);
2001);
on
the refractioned
Hinde
Lawson
(1999).
For
concept
critical
and McCauley
see: Atran
of religion,
(2002);
assessment
of older theories see:
(1990).
(2002); Boyer (1994, 2001); Lawson andMcCauley
(1990).
Cognitive
Science
469
of Religion
from becoming a barren

study of religious phenomena
list of observed phenomena,
classifications must be
in
theories
grounded
explanatory
outlining underlying causal processes.
This may solve the problem of universality (that some phenomena,
comparative
and shallow
even
are not found everywhere).

the
though widespread,
Only
are
emer
mechanisms
and
whereas
the
universal,
processes
underlying
at a particular
time and place
gence of a specific phenomenon
on
factors. By analogy,
the possible
other, contextual
depends
sound-patterns in human language can be explained by appealing

to underlying neural, cognitive and physiological mechanisms.
But
a
when appropriating the sounds of
specific language the individ
ual will manifest only some of these possibilities whereas
others
impossible to learn at a later stage. Thus, even

are
ifmechanisms
need not be. Further, by
universal, phenomena
the
causal
mechanisms
it becomes possible
underlying
addressing
will become
almost
to construct more
refined and consistent
scientific classifications.
into different categories can be seen as

and phenomena
of the same mechanisms,
grouped
products
on
be understood as pro
will
based
superficial similarity
together
duced by very different mechanisms.6
Phenomena
now
divided
Fifth, all scholars involved in the cognitive science of religion

agree, not surprisingly, that the human cognitive system is a good
place to start in order to explain religion, even if there is heated
concerning whether it is the only causally relevant factor.
refers to certain types of behaviour and ideas entertained
Religion
(if not
by people, and the human cognitive system is a necessary
debate
of religion. As with any

sufficient) element in any explanation
there is no religion without human cog
other cultural phenomenon,
that the construction of
nition, and it is therefore rather puzzling
adequate
theories of its role has been neglected
Boyer (1992, 1994, 2001).
for so long.
470
The Cognitive
Jesper S0rensen
Study of Religious
Beliefs
traditions are commonly defined by the beliefs that

Religious
so-called
"believers"
if this focus on the
purportedly hold. Even
side of religion might represent a distortion and that
so far, there is no
is more
important than recognised
that
of
ideas
characterise
question
specific types
religion. Since Tylor's
famous minimum definition of religion as "the belief in supernatu
conceptual
behaviour
ral beings," most definitions have focused on the fact that religions
contain references to special beings that are not part of the natural,
empirical world. In line with its focus on underlying mechanisms,
the cognitive science of religion has attempted to explain how reli

gious ideas are distinct from other ideas, and how this distinction
may affect memory and transmission.
In a series of seminal articles
in the 1980s and 1990s, the French

an approach that focuses on the
Dan
framed
anthropologist
Sperber
differential transmission of ideas. This epidemiology of representa
tions follows three steps: First, we need to distinguish between
public and mental representations in an act of communication. Whereas

are mental
mental
states entertained by persons
representations
involved in communication,
public representations are the exter
nally accessible
part of the communication
(sounds, pictures, ink
on a paper). Sperber argues that no deterministic relation can be
found between the public and the mental representation and there
fore the meaning of the message
cannot be deduced from the pub
lic representation.
is constructed
Instead, meaning
through a
amount of
cognitive process in which a receiver infers a maximum
relevant meaning based on minimal

input. Second, this constructive
a
takes
process
range of mental mechanisms
place by activating
that produce specific types of inferences when triggered. Thus suc
uses public representations with the ability

communication
to trigger the production of inferences in the receiver's cognitive
system that potentially lead to a mental state more or less similar
cessful
to that of the sender. Third, as the role of public representations is

it is feasible to study the cultural sue
processes,
to activate mental
Cognitive
Science
All
of Religion
representations as a function of their ability to

produce relevant inferences in individuals. Thus, representations
can be studied as an epidemiological
i.e. as the dif
phenomenon,
cess
of individual
of specific representations
through a population.
that trigger our cognitive system are more likely
Representations
to be remembered and transmitted and will therefore be widely
ferential
spread
distributed.7
to the study of religious
the epidemiological
approach
Pascal
concepts, anthropologist
Boyer argues that only by under
our
standing
cognitive system will we be able to understand the
traditional
origin and recurrence of religious phenomena. What
Taking
scholars of religion are studying are the public representations involved

in transmission. Failure to recognise the importance of underlying
on the "exotic"
cognitive processing has lead to an over-emphasis
nature of religion. Religions
abound with witches
acting from a
distance, omnipresent gods, and listening statues, but as in the case
of other public representation, explicit religious ideas underdeter
the mental representations they give rise to. Thus, receivers
will enrich the information given through inferences supplied by
mine
cognitive devices. Boyer

representations are a special case
explicit minimally counterintuitive
specific
therefore argues that religious

of representations that combine
aspects that are easy to remem
implicit intuitive aspects that are good to reason with.

distinction between intuitive and counter-intuitive represen
tations is based on meticulous
studies in developmental
and cross
ber with
This
cultural psychology
supporting the hypothesis that human cognitive
architecture is "domain-specific."
Thus, instead of an all-purpose
mechanism
that treats all types of information and problems by
of the same general methods, human cognition is more real
as a number of more or less separate mecha
istically described
means
The
essays
(1996).
The
argued
in Sperber
on
epidemiology
importance
of
of cognitive
and Wilson
(1995).
representations
in a
relevance
are
collected
in Sperber
theory of communication
is
472
Jesper S0rensen
to processing
nisms dedicated
specific types of information. Domain

of human cognition support the argument that our
specific accounts
into a number of
implicit understanding of the world is divided
domains.
We
have
for individual
ontological
specific expectations
phenomena because we subsume them into broad ontological domains.
When
hearing
that the invented word
is an animal, one
it has a physical body;
"huchit"
automatically has a number of expectations:

it is born from other "huchits"; it can move
by itself; it will grow

of this information needs
to be made
die, etc. None
a
we
In
similar
have
intuitive expectations about domains
way
explicit.
old
and
such
as
object,
artefact,
interaction
everyday
dictable. Thus
plant
with
and
the world
person,
both
as
this
makes
our
faster and more
pre
the intuitive ontology
is not scientifically based
but a result of evolutionary
heuristic
developed
knowledge,
devices.8
argues that successful religious concepts are characterised

intuitive inferences
by involving either a breach of domain-specific
or a transfer of a restricted number of inferences from another
Boyer
domain. Representations
of ancestors, ghosts and spir
ontological
its are examples of an ontological breach. All violate the intuitive
them
expectation that a person has a physical body and this makes
attention grabbing, if not downright uncanny. All of them, however,

retain a large number of intuitive properties. They are expected to
perceive the world, to have beliefs, and to act motivated by these
beliefs.
ancestors,
ghosts and spirits can be persuaded,
or tricked. In short, they can be interacted with in a man
Thus
coerced,
ner that is strikingly similar to how we interact with other human
of transfer from another ontological domain are
beings. Examples
numerous.
Just think of statues that hear what
they are told or mag

cases
In
these
vocally.
aspects of agency
is transferred to entities ordinarily categorised as not having agency
ical medicines
The
addressed
literature on domain-specific
of culture and religion
ing discussions
Premack
and Premack
(1995).
is vast, but helpful anthologies

includ
cognition
are Hirschfeld
and Gelman
(1994), and Sperber,
Cognitive
artefact,
(object,
and
Science
In most
plant).
473
of Religion
cases,
however,
the
breach
and what guides our interactions is almost

on
intuitive
exclusively
assumptions.
This does not mean
that people cannot come up with religious
that concepts
concepts not following these rules. It merely means
or transfer is minimal
based
that are minimally

counterintuitive
all
else
therefore,
being equal, more
are cognitively optimal and

likely to be successfully trans
counterintuitive religious concepts

theory of minimally
thus explains the recurrence of specific types of religious concepts
in all religious traditions as a result of a selective process. Reli
mitted. The
the transmission process

traditions end up as they do because
or
out
weeds
transforms
that are not cogni
concepts
effectively
gious
tively optimal.9
If being minimally
counterintuitive
is what
characterises
reli
them from concepts

such as
distinguish
gious concepts,
combines
intuitive elements with
Mickey Mouse?
Mickey Mouse
attention demanding breaches or transfers, but even for the most
what
observer Mickey Mouse

is not a religious agent. Why
is this
answer
in the role of agents. Humans
so? One hypothesis seeks the
casual
a well-documented
tendency to search for agents in the per

as faces in the clouds or traces in
whether
ceptible environment,
are espe
the sand. But not all agents are equally
important. We
have
or
cially prone to imagine agents that are either anthropomorphic
if the gods, spirits and ancestors
have a human-like mind. Even
need not look like us, they always have a mind like us. This is im
portant because representations of another human mind trigger a wealth
of possible
inferences due to the social nature of Homo
sapiens. An
important part of such social cognition are the so-called "theory of

as a "mirror
mind" mechanisms
that make us see other people
our
own
as
an
of
self:
with
(limited) perceptual
agent
image"
9 Besides
great
Boyer (1994, 2001, 2002), Pyysi?inen (2001, 2002, 2004) places
emphasis
cultural
concepts,
on
experimental
see Boyer
the counterintuitive
studies
confirming
and Ramble
(2001).
aspects
of religious
the positive
selection
concepts.
For
cross
of counterintuitive
474
Jesper S0rensen
access
to the environment, based on which
beliefs
that motivate
that will
know
help
us understand
and believe,
it forms (potentially flawed)

constantly seek out information
actions. We
other people
us
it helps
understand
because
what
have
perceived,
and predict their
behaviour.
Two
things distinguish
religious agents from Mickey Mouse.
First, ancestors, spirits and gods are interested in socially relevant
information. The gods we interact with the most
(the "popular
gods") are those interested in what their "followers" do and think.
Second, contrary to ordinary people,
or less unrestricted access to social
superhuman agents have more

strategic information. In con
trast toMickey Mouse,

the gods know ifwe cheat on our spouses
or steal from our neighbour, even if no one else does. Because
of
this they become
thetic figures.10
A
highly
relevant
social partners and not just aes
second
hypothesis argues that the difference between Mickey

and religious agents lies in their respective meta-represen
are representations about rep
tational content. Meta-representations
Mouse
resentations
or beliefs
about beliefs. Whereas
Mickey
is a cartoon
'Mickey Mouse
the meta-representation
Mouse
has
figure' as a
agents have
to all other representations,

superhuman
that somehow indicate their reality. Ancestors
meta-representations
background
can
for instance
'what we
become
in mythical
be meta-represented
when we die' which
ferent status than Mickey
Mouse.
sentation is not self-evident. When
narratives
as
them a dif
naturally gives
the status of a meta-repre
religious figures are transformed
But
legend (as in the case of the Nordic

gods) this can be explained as a transformation of the validating
from that of truth to that of legend. This points
meta-representation
into characters
10
A
theory
of
anthropomorphism
of agency
detection
ory of superhuman
of cultural
on
based
religion
was first developed
for religion
agents
oped by Boyer (2001).
with
the cognitive
by Guthrie
is further argued
access
unlimited
importance
(1993,
2002).
of animism
and
The
importance
2004). The the
by Barrett (2000,
to strategic information
is devel
Science
Cognitive
are intimately related to struc

of religion, to religious author
in a religious institution, or in a
to the fact that meta-representations

tures of authority and, in the case
itywhether
found in a holy book,
specific person.11
A third hypothesis
focuses
475
of Religion
on the role of actions
in general
and
in validating
in particular
agents. In
superhuman
are no
a
there
not
because
Mouse
is
short,Mickey
religious agent
as
with
the
in
which
he
is
actions
interfering
represented
validating
ritual actions
the exis
the most efficient way of validating
world. Accordingly
tence of a superhuman agent is creating social situations in which
as acting or being acted upon. Testing
he or she is understood
cases that illustrate this point are concepts such as Santa Claus or
on the preceding argument it is predicted

Fairy. Based
that children whose family perform actions involving these agents
(bringing presents etc.) will be more likely to ascribe these a vali
than children from families that do not
dating meta-representation
the Tooth
engage in such practices.12

These three hypotheses are potentially complementary. Superhuman
agents will typically be socially interested parties with unrestricted
as real and
they will be meta-represented
is most efficiently
this meta-representation
actions
with
orchestrated
superhuman
socially
access
to knowledge;
important agents; and
created
through
agents as either agents or patients.
Religion,
Some
described
religions
11The
Tradition
12The
sised
role
are
of meta-representations
emphasised
as
(2004)
by Pyysi?inen
(2002).
importance
by Lawson
importance
agents
Systems
to what extent the mechanisms

readers might wonder
the apparent systematicity of some
above can explain
and the historical construction of elaborate theologies. In
as Atran
well
and Conceptual
of
is argued
of the role of superhuman
and McCauley
ritual
(1990)
performance
in S0rensen
(2000b,
in validating
and
agency
and McCauley
belief
forthcoming
in ritual action
and Lawson
in specific
(a)).
is empha
(2002).
The
superhuman
476
Jesper S0rensen
short, are religious traditions really nothing but more or less coin
cidental conglomerates
of cognitively optimal concepts or do we
find a cultural "ratchet effect" that ensures that religious innova
tions stabilise
and enables
the cumulative
construction
of a reli
gious tradition?13
There is no agreement
about this question. Some argue that cul

that
and religion as a tradition is an epiphenomena
effect. Supporting
this view, psychologist
Justin
demonstrated
that, when performing under pressure,
ture in general
has no causal
Barrett
has
tend to make
inferences
people
their explicitly
that are often in sharp contrast to

convictions, and instead fall back
held theological
on intuitive ideas. This distinction between
explicitly held theolog

ical ideas and implicit theological incorrectness highlights the ques
tionwhether we can understand behaviour by reference to the teachings
of religious systems. Alternatively, the formation of religious tradi
tions can be understood
as a result of the creation
of a guild of
In order to
circumstances.
religious specialists in specific historical

create a privileged position, a priestly class must protect itself from
competition and ensure control. By streamlining orthodoxy itbecomes
to control access
to the group (only people with the right

to distinguish
admitted);
persons
legitimately
authority (ensuring religious authority); and to control the
possible
training will
wielding
be
areas (policing a
uniformity of teachings in different geographical
of
social
the
formation
religious doc
larger
group). Accordingly,
to do with the cognitive systems underlying the
trines has more
formation of social
than with
groups
the semantic
content of the
doctrines.14
can be raised to the argument presented

Still, two objections
above. First, is the intuitive character of inferences produced under
13
Tomasello
opment
that (a)
(1999)
uses
cannot
be undone
cumulative
development.
14
Barrett (1999, 2004).
and
Slone
(2004).
Boyer
the term "ratchet-effect"

without
Theological
(2001)
serious
Incorrectness
discusses
to describe
consequences,
is also discussed
the formation
a cultural
and
(b)
devel
leads
in Boyer
of religious
guilds.
to
(2001 )
Cognitive
Science
of Religion
All
stress really an adequate

indication of the importance of doctrinal
should we really contrast intuitive knowledge
systems? Second,
with theologically elaborate systems, or should we instead look for
the importance of religious traditions in less consistent and more

systems?
widely distributed cultural conceptual
the
first
concern,
Addressing
anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse
the important role of explicit religious concepts

emphasised
in general and in the ability to acquire new
in human behaviour
if humans tend to resort to intuitive
in particular. Even
concepts
has
reasoning when put under pressure, most of the time humans do

not reason under cognitive pressure. In contrast they have time to
ideas and think about future lines of
ruminate about religious
in light of these. Further, as most existing cultural knowl

edge is distributed between different kinds of people (some are nuclear
physicists, others carpenters), people do not acquire new concepts
action
counterintuitive con
though minimally
cepts may form part of the optimal bedrock of religious transmis
sion, acquiring new religious concepts often requires a considerable
Based
amount of cognitive effort and a high level of motivation.
with equal
readiness.
Even
on fieldwork experience
in Papua New Guinea
and theories of
of such
that
the
transmission
human memory Whitehouse
argues
one
to
of two
will
be
take
ideas
likely
cognitively costly religious
forms. In the "doctrinal mode of religiosity" complex religious rep
are transmitted through a process of continual ritual
that
enables the teachings to become part of participants'
repetition
terms de-contextualised
and
semantic memory. Semantic memory
resentations
and Whitehouse
schematic knowledge,
argues that the
explicit
transmission of this kind of religious knowledge has several impli
cations:
(a) it is dependent on frequent reiteration and therefore
runs the risk of a "tedium-effect"
in which people
lose motivation
to redundancy and familiarity effects. Methods must be found
to counter this tendency; (b) successful transmission of explicit doc
trinal ideas is dependent on skilled orators, which in turn strength
due
ens representations
between
religious
of religious
leadership
leadership; (c) the intimate relation

and religious
teaching necessitates
478
Jesper S0rensen
frequent "orthodoxy checks" ensuring that believers are adhering to

the right doctrine and the creation of adequate centralised bodies to
police it; (d) frequent repetition will render memory of ritual per
formance
implicit which
in turn enhances
the survival potential for

interpretation; (e) being based
the teaching by inhibiting individual

on decontextualised
semantic memory,
tates the construction
of anonymous
the doctrinal mode
religious
communities
facili
and are
easily spread through proselytising.

In the "imagistic mode of religiosity" transmission of religious
the episodic memory
system.
knowledge
exploits more heavily
as it relates to the
is highly context-dependent
Episodic memory
argues that transmission
specific experience of the subject. Whitehouse
based on this memory system results in an altogether different reli
(a) episodic memory is activated by infrequent
gious morphology:
and emotionally
(b) this encourages
arousing ritual performance;
to
the
ritual
actions
participants
interpret
through Spontaneous
(c) no orthodoxy is formed since SER
Exegetical Reflection (SER);
tends to be highly idiosyncratic; (d) due to the emphasis on trans

via group action, dynamic religious leadership based on
is difficult to establish,
verbally-transmitted
revelatory knowledge
no orthodoxy checks are needed, and there can be no proselytising;
mission
the high emo

(e) instead of widespread
anonymous communities,
tional arousal
in infrequent rituals effect the creation of small
social groups with strong cohesion based on shared experience of
highly arousing ritual ordeals.15

It is important to recognise thatWhitehouse
does not argue that
individual religions belong to either one or the other mode. Rather,
the theory of modes of religiosity specifies two attractor positions
in cultural transmission each with specific consequences
for social
most
A
will
tradition
likely contain
morphology.
single religious
both, but one or the other may
15
The
house
mode
(2000,
of religiosity
2004a,
and
theory
2004b).
be the prevalent mode
is most
systematically
of transmit
explained
in White
Cognitive
Science
479
of Religion
ting religious ideas. The theory merits discussion

by scholars of
as
not
it
religion,
only seeks to explain the transmission of 'non
it makes
optimal' religious ideas and concepts, but also because
predictions
about
phology (group
cal trajectories.16
the relation of religious ideas to both social mor

size, type of leadership etc.) and to likely histori
the question of the relation between intuitive repre

Addressing
sentations and widely
distributed
the con
concepts
highlights
tentious role the concept of "culture" plays in studies of human
cognition. Whereas
the agenda purported in the epidemiological

approach largely regards culture as an epiphenomenon without any
causal effect, other writers have been less willing
to discard this
level and have instead focused on the intimate inter

explanatory
action between
stable conceptual,
semiotic and social structures
on the one hand and universal cognitive abilities on the other. S0rensen
this project an "immunology of cultural systems" sup
plementing the epidemiological
project with an attempt to describe
how pre-established
models
conceptual
impose a selective pressure
has named
on the distribution of novel
concepts. Thus, cognitive systems and

are not sufficient to explain why some counter
pragmatic encounters
intuitive representations are culturally
distributed) where others fail.17
successful
(i.e.
are widely
While
the general discussion of the relation between culture and

?
cognition is rather extensive
incorporating anthropology, linguistics
?
and psychology
the application of this to the study of religious
concepts has been more limited. Taking inspiration from linguistic
studies of categorisation, metaphor and conceptual blending, some
scholars have focused on the importance of underlying schematic
16The
orations
Studies
to criticisms
of religiosity has been subjected
and elab
theory of modes
in numerous
to anthropology:
in relation
Journal
publications:
of Ritual
and Laidlaw
in relation to history: Alles
16(2), Whitehouse
(2004);
(2004),
Ketola (2004), Paden (2004), Vial (2004),Whitehouse andMartin (2004), Wiebe

and in relation
(2004);
17
S0rensen
(2004).
to cognitive
science:
Whitehouse
and McCauley
(2005).
480
Jesper S0rensen
structures
in a cultural
systems, and how individual

conceptual
in larger theory-like conceptual domains.
concepts are "embedded"
It is argued that the meaning of concepts is not only defined by the
intuitive inferences it generates but also by its, often hierarchical,
relationship to other concepts. Thus the existing ecology of ideas
in a given population will itself attain a degree of stability. Nor

should religious concepts only be seen in relation to other religious
concepts or explicit theological
systems. Religious
concepts form
of
much
and
stable
clusters
of
part
mutually rein
larger
relatively
forcing concepts with basic schemata that inform a wide variety of
concepts and behaviours. Thus the concept of sin in theWestern
is not only defined relative to a Christian theological doc
trine known to a select few, but permeates other cultural domains
such as theatre, literature and the visual arts and forms part of ordi
world
nary everyday language. Further, specific concepts (e.g. sin, repen

in stable narratives that not
tance, and redemption) are combined
only structure religious myths but also supply a skeleton structure
to organising and giving meaning
to individual experience. Thus
tend to be presented
memory will
long-term autobiographical
even
structures
narrative
through already existing
though it is doubt
ful that memory

itself is stored in a narrative format.18
When
structures, the role
relating religion to overall conceptual
of basic sch?mas and entrenched conceptual mappings becomes highly
on theories of conceptual metaphor developed
relevant. Based
by
and Johnson, some scholars have argued that it is possible
to extract the fundamental conceptual structures that inform reason
ing and religious innovation in a given cultural context. Religious
Lakoff
18
On
the relation
explanatory
level
between
see Jensen
see Malley
representations,
cepts as complex
concepts
(1993).
Bloch
On
(1998).
the relation
On
(1995,
(2002) and S0rensen (2004).
culture
defending
the latter as
On
an
an ecology
of
concepts
religious
forming
con
On
the understanding
of religious
to cosmological
ideas see Keller
and Lehman
1997).
related
between
narratives
and
cognition
(2002).
Long
mediating
Term Memory
between
culture
and
and
narrative
cognition,
structure
see
see
Jensen
Cognitive
Science
481
of Religion
is creative in its frequent blending of different

conceptualisation
ontological and conceptual domains, but the viability of newly con
structed concepts seems to be strongly dependent on the degree to
which
it is adaptable
to already entrenched conceptual metaphors
and widely
spread cultural sch?mas. Thus people understand new
in light of already existing conceptual

structure. These
concepts
basic metaphors
and sch?mas are sensitive to cultural differences,
but it should be emphasised
that this is not a defence for cultural
relativism.
system is constrained
conceptual
by our bodily
the surrounding environment. Thus,
it is almost
Our
interaction with
in all cultures have a cognitive schema of

and it is very likely that such a basic schema is widely
used to represent spatial relations both literally and metaphorically.
The extent of such use will, however, vary considerably. While
cul
certain
that individuals
containment
tural conceptual
systems vary, they are formed on the same basis
same
using the
cognitive principles.19
So even if most scholars in the cognitive
science of religion
that
the
of
ideas
transmission
is
agree
religious
subject to a process
on cognitive mechanism,
there is disagreement
about (a) the role of more systematised structures of religious con
cepts in the transmission ideas, (b) the impact on actual behaviour,
and (c) the formation of social structures. One of the goals of the
of selection
based
that
cognitive science of religion is to develop precise hypotheses
can be tested and thereby, hopefully, develop a more precise under
the
standing of the relation between individual cognitive processes,
formation of cultural patterns of concepts
and behaviour,
and social
structure.
19On
metaphor
(1980).
Hanks
(a).
The
tentious.
(1990);
of metaphor
(1993);
Keesing
relation
see Johnson
theory
Application
between
See Geertz
(2004)
(1987);
and
S0rensen
the different
Lakoff
schema
(2000a.
cognitive
for a discussion.
(1987);
theory
2000b,
Lakoff
to the study
2002),
approaches
and
and
of
Johnson
religion:
forthcoming
is con
discussed
482
Jesper S0rensen
The Cognitive
Study of Religious
Behaviour
One might argue that the preceding argument has an intellectu

alist flavour. Is religion really all about ideas and not about actions
and behaviour? When considering religious behaviour one must ask
it is possible to distinguish religious from non-religious behav

that is explicitly or implicitly motivated
iour. Is it behaviour
by
involves
somehow
that
it
behaviour
Is
beliefs?
religious
religious
how
concepts, such as gods, spirits or ancestors? Or is there really no

that some
such thing as religious behaviour, but only behaviour
times is coincidental with religious concepts?20 These questions
by the cognitive science of religion,
seems to be recalcitrant to tradi
these questions
far from answered
have been
and
investigating
tional experimental methods. Further, there is a growing realisation
have different cognitive under
that different types of behaviour
pinnings and effects and therefore must be explained by different

theories. This work has barely begun, but in order to restrict the
I shall discuss only recent cognitive theories of ritual.
discussion,
This
is because
as
understood
is a prototypical case of what is traditionally

several theories
and because
religious behaviour
ritual
in order to explain this elusive phenomenon.

have been developed
influential theories of ritual is the
One of the first and most
and Robert
by Tom Lawson
developed
transformational
grammar, Lawson
McCauley.
Inspired by Chomsky's
and McCauley
argue that in order to understand the surface phe
Ritual
Form Hypothesis
ritual performance we need to unearth the "deep

that generate the rules on which performance is based.
structures language
In the same way as grammar unconsciously
a
knowl
conscious
without
all
(we
language
speak
performance
nomena
of actual
structures"
rules structure
edge of the grammatical rules), so will unconscious
the performance of ritual action. People have a tacit "ritual com
that guides
petence"
20 See
Bering
in explaining
(2004)
behaviour.
the performance
for a discussion
of
and evaluation
the importance
of ritual per
of religious
concepts
Cognitive
Science
483
of Religion
for the
however, is not a competence
developed
sake of performing ritual actions. First, Lawson
and McCauley
defend a stipulative definition of religious rituals as actions involv
formance.
This,
ing representations
man agents. Thus
of more
or less active participation of superhu

the theory does not say anything about the
in general. Second,
the competence
involved in
not
is
and
rituals
evaluating
just concerned
religious
performing
on
with religious ritual, but is based
cognitive structures used to
the
evaluation
of
and
actions in general. In line
guide
performance
of ritual
category
theories of religious concepts, no special cognitive domain is

to explain religious ritual. Rather, ordinary cognitive
postulated
architecture (the Action Representation
is mobilised
and
System)
with
the form of religious ritual. In short, the Action Repre

to
sentation System ensures that humans have specific expectations
a number of structural roles whenever
an
or
event
understand
they
constrains
happening as an action. In itsmost simple form, these roles include

an agent, and action and a patient. When processing
information as
an action we will automatically
look for who is acting, how he/she
is acting, and on what or on whom the action is performed. In reli
gious ritual a superhuman agent will in varying degrees of prox
imity fill the role of either agent or patient. Either the ancestors,
spirits or gods are seen as acting in the ritual (e.g. baptism), or the
ritual is enacting upon them (e.g. sacrifice).21
Ritual action faces the peculiar problem that its purported effect
is often not perceptible.
will judge
its
Therefore,
participants
i.e. the extent to which it con
efficacy by its "well-formedness,"
forms to generative
ritual
rules, and by relating it to embedded
a
can
act
the
of
Thus,
priest
perform
baptism only by
virtue of being ordained, and the bread in communion can infuse a
actions.
state of grace
transubstantiation, which,
21 The
Ritual
2002); McCauley
only due to the preceding rite of

in turn, depends on being performed by
in the communicant
Form
Hypothesis
is presented
in Lawson
(2001); McCauley and Lawson (2002).
and McCauley
(1990,
484
Jesper S0rensen
an ordained
priest. In both cases some element in the ritual has a

ritual.
special quality due to its role as a patient in an embedded
This embedded
structure, in which one ritual action is buttressed
by another, stops with a ritual presumably performed by the super
human agents themselves.
In this manner,
ritual performance
is
to
related
structures
that
halt
the
infinite
ultimately
conceptual
potential
involved
regress
By
in the search for legitimacy in prior ritual.

on the role of superhuman agents in the structural
focussing
description of the ritual, i.e. whether it is the agent or the patient
of the ritual action, it becomes
to explain a number of
possible
facts. Lawson
and McCauley
argue that rituals with a superhuman
are
not
agent acting
repeated, can be reversed, and involve rela
tively higher levels of sensory pageantry (more pomp and circum
stance). In contrast, when the superhuman agent is the patient, the
ritual can be
repeated,
cannot
be reversed,
and will
involve
less
sensory pageantry. So, baptism is performed only once, can be reversed

and involves more
than
(excommunication),
sensory pageantry
other rituals in the same tradition. In contrast, the act of commun
ion can be repeated, cannot be reversed, and will involve less sen
aims to explain some
sory pageantry. The Ritual Form Hypothesis
of the same phenomena as Whitehouse's
Modes
of Religiosity
and
spurred a debate between the two parties.22

Whereas
the Lawson
and McCauley
argument is built on a min
imal difference between religious ritual action and ordinary action,
other scholars are convinced that ritual behaviour has more distin
this has
characteristics. Following
ethological and anthropological
of "ritualisation,"
several scholars argue that ritualised
behaviour
is distinct from ordinary behaviour
on a number of
guishing
theories
points. First, the actions performed in the ritual are stipulated rather
than specified by the intentions of the participants. The reason an
agent performs a ritual does not determine the form of the ritual
as
performed. The form of the ritual can instead be understood
22 See
McCauley
and Lawson
(2002),
and Whitehouse
(2004a:Ch.
8).
Cognitive
Science
485
of Religion
defined by the intentions of another, possibly

superhuman agent.
Second, there are no intuitive causal representations of how the actions
performed in the ritual have their purported effect. Instead focus
goes to either the perceptual features found in the ritual action (e.g.
or to established
relations of similarity and contagion)
symbolic
a
the presence
connection.
such
Again,
interpretations establishing
of superhuman agents solves a problem,

works. Thus rituals are actions removed
namely why the ritual

from their instrumental
domain, which result in specific cognitive responses aimed to relate

to intentional agents and to represent
their causal
the actions
efficacy.23
Boyer and Lienard
a further investigation into the cogni

of ritual. They
tive mechanisms
triggered by the performance
are present in
that a number of common characteristics
observe
make
ritualisation
pathological
found in patients suffering from Obsessive

of
ritualisation
in children's
spontaneous
Disorder,
behaviour
(e.g. bedtime rituals), in adults' preoccupations
everyday
and specific behaviours
appearing at particular life-stages, and in
cultural ritual, including religious rituals. These characteristics include
Compulsive
a compulsion
to perform the action, an extreme focus on action
to rigidity of script, redundancy and iteration,
and
adherence
details
goal-demotion where actions are devoid of any obvious instrumen
a restricted number
tal effect, and
themes, such as
and danger/security.
that ritualised actions
of recurrent
intrusion/protection, contamination/purification
To explain these commonalities,
they claim
found in all the domains are the result of an
interaction
of two
System whose evo

threats to fitness from specific cues
structures. The first is a Precaution
neuro-cognitive
lutionary role is to infer potential
23 On
relation
Boyer
relation
how
ritual actions
(1994),
provoke
ritual actions
between
Humphrey
between
a search
and
for meaning,
representations
and Laidlaw
ritualisation
(forthcoming(b)).
and
(1994),
representations
see Sperber
of intentionality
and Whitehouse
of ritual
(1975).
in
On
the
(2004a).
efficacy,
The
is discussed
see
S0rensen
486
Jesper S0rensen
in the environment
(e.g. smell indicates possible risk of contami

and a repertoire of corresponding actions (e.g. avoidance/
are thus hardwired to detect specific cues in
cleansing). Humans
as
a sign of potential danger and we have an
the environment
nation)
innate repertoire of atavistic action-sequences

aimed at reducing poten
tial danger. The second system deals with parsing of actions into
to
parts. Ordinary actions are parsed into sequences
meaningful
goals can be ascribed and where actions become more or
less automatic
(as in ordinary actions, such as getting dressed).
Ritualised
actions, by contrast, parse actions at the lower level of
which
gesture (specific behavioural

patterns), which entail that no direct
can
be
ascribed
and
the
action cannot be automatised. The
goal
of gestures swamps the working
performance of long sequences
a
or
to obsessive
and
this
for
reduce access
will,
time,
memory
intrusive thoughts produced by the activation of the Precaution System.
At such a psychological
level, ritualised action "works." Ironically,
however,
ritualised
in the longer perspective

the very performance of such
action will make the feeling of potential risks even more
salient, and as such the short term remedy, ritualised actions, will
make future activation of the Precaution System more likely.
to
Some might argue that even if this is a promising model
ritualisation found in patients suffering from
pathological
it is a long way from explaining cultural rituals. The model,
however, does not suggest that cultural rituals are pathological, nor
explain
OCD,
that it is all there is to say about them. It merely argues that suc
cultural rituals, i.e. rituals that are transmitted successfully,
cessful
are scripted social action-sequences

acquired through social exchange,
thatmimic the potential hazards and atavistic action-sequences
trig
the
Precaution
The
of
existence
gering
System.
specific types of
ritual is thus a result of a selection
cultural
as
way
24
See
religious
Boyer
also
in the same
concepts.24
and Lienhard
Boyer
process
(2001).
(forthcoming)
and Lienhard
and Boyer
(under
review).
Cognitive
Science
of Religion
487
of the outstanding questions about ritual that need to be

addressed by the cognitive science of religion is why certain types
of activities, and not others, are related to ritual actions and to
Some
extent the performance of ritual alters people's understanding

of the these activities. Even
though there have been preliminary
answer
to
these
attempts
questions, much more work has to be
what
done.25
Concluding
Remarks
to scholars
presenting cognitive theories and hypotheses
a
common
of
reaction
is
the
reasonable
(and students)
religion
can
me
when dealing with
question: how
cognitive theories help
concrete historical data? This is a complicated question that cannot
When
in these concluding remarks.26 In a more

programmatic fashion, however, a few points arguing for the fun
damental relevance of cognitive science for historical studies can
be adequately
dealt with
be presented:
is generally based on explicit public repre
sentations (text etc.). Theories
that persuasively
argue that public
are
one
must
side
of
the
coin
therefore be
representations
only
taken seriously. Keeping universal cognitive mechanisms
inmind
Historical
research
can help historians avoid historical exoticism, in the same way as

it helps anthropologists avoid cultural exoticism.
events involve acting subjects with cognitive systems.
Historical
of the constraints and mechanisms
Knowledge
imposed by such
can
therefore
historians
understand
historical events.
systems
help
science of religion attempts to construct universally
valid explanatory theories of religious phenomena. Understanding
The
cognitive
25
and Pyysi?inen
both address
the relation between
the
(2001)
(2004)
Boyer
of ritual action and change of social status.
performance
26
see Martin
For a more
For the applica
(2004a,
2004b).
thorough discussion
see Lisdorf (2004); Sj?blom
tion of cognitive
theories to explain historical phenomena
(2000); Whitehouse andMartin (2004).
488
Jesper S0rensen
religious concepts and religious behaviour can

help historians construct their object of study. It is preferable that
the construction of objects of study is performed by means of
explicit rather than implicit theories.
what
constitutes
scientific
Cognitive
theorising attempts to construct a precise
based on underlying causal principles. This will
classification
help creating more precise historical (and ethnographic) descrip
tions as well
as facilitate comparative historiography.

theories of religious
applicable
and universally
ena can help historians
Precise
accessible.
ical material
phenom
that is not immediately
it possible to systematise histor
look for material
Further, it will make

in new ways.
that the scientific study of

it should also be emphasised
it
religion is much more than a historical study. As a discipline
addresses religion and religious phenomena wherever we find them
In all cases, however, humans are
and through numerous methods.
of how human psychology constrains the
involved and knowledge
Finally,
of religious phenomena
understanding such phenomena. Thus
formation
is therefore
a conservative
a necessity
for
assessment of
the role of the cognitive science of religion points to its role in

resuscitating the psychology of religion and will result in adequate
in the generation of reli

of the role of psychology
gious phenomena. A less conservative assessment will see the cognitive
science of religion as much more revolutionary by changing both
explanations
the questions
we
pose
Institute of Cognition
Queen's
University
Belfast BT7 INN
Northern
Ireland, UK
j.sorensen@qub.ac.uk
and the methods

and Culture
we
use
to answer
them.
Jesper S0rensen
Science
Cognitive
489
of Religion
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and Cognitive
Press.
Foundations
of
OBITUARIES
Andr?
Caquot
(24 April 1923-31 August 2004)

are sad to announce
We
life member
an honorary
the death of Andr? Caquot,
of the IAHR.
Born
in Epinal, Andr? Caquot graduated from the ?cole Normale

time at the Institut
in 1948, subsequently
spending
Sup?rieure
in Beirut
fran?ais arch?ologique
Mission
fran?aise
arch?ologique
to the ?cole Pratique des Hautes
and as a member of the

(1949-52)
in Ethiopia
He returned
(1953-55).
?tudes in Paris to take up a teach
before moving on to Strasbourg (Facult? protes

ing post (1955-56)
Semitic religions (1957-60),
and
tante) to a post in comparative
to
back
Hebrew
and
Israelite
Paris,
religion
subsequently
teaching
at the Sorbonne
of Hebrew
remained
was
He
Soci?t?
(1964-68).
and Aramaic
In 1972 he was
at the Coll?ge
until his retirement in 1994.
an active member
Asiatique,
the Soci?t?
of several
des ?tudes
appointed to the chair

de France, where
he
learned
Juives,
societies
the Soci?t?
(the
des
and
the Soci?t?
d'Histoire
des
Fran?aise
a
in
and
member
of
the
all,
holding
Religions),
becoming
Institut de France (Acad?mie
des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres) in
1977. He was also the recipient of several honours: Chevalier
de
?tudes
Renaniennes,
offices
la L?gion d'Honneur, Commandeur

de l'Ordre des Palmes
Commandeur
l'?toile
de
l'Ordre national
acad?miques
du M?rite,
and Chevalier de
d'Ethiopie.
publications
spanned fifty-four years, ranging from the
new
texts in Syria to a number of
Aramaic
regular presentation of
and RHPR, and discussions of theDeir
papers inAnnales d'Ethiopie
Caquot's
Alia
inscriptions, Qumran matters,
Koninklijke
Also
available
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
and a number of thornyUgaritic
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
496
Obituaries
problems
in various
He was
a major contributor (col

de Tarragon and Cunchillos)
to
publications.
laborating with Sznycer, Herdner,

the two volumes of Textes ougaritiques,
and
1989. These
published by Cerf in 1974

reference
material for the trans
important
texts. He also contributed to the History of
remain
lator of the Ugaritic
section of the Encyclop?die

de
Religions
in the translation of Psalms
collaborated
in the Traduction
skills and
logical
la Pl?iade
and
and
(1970-72)
1
the
and 2 Samuel
cum?nique de la Bible (1996). His broad philo

intimate knowledge of a number of Semitic lan
guages and epigraphy enabled him to offer nuanced and perceptive

cov
interpretations of many cruces across the range of materials
ered by his publications.
Nicholas
Manuel
Wyatt
Marzal
Manuel
of the IAHR, died in

Marzal,
honorary life member
on July 16, 2005. Our association
has lost one of his most
He was born Spain in 1931. At the age of
respected academics.
twenty he left for Peru, the place where he lived the largest part of
Lima
his life and where
he developed his academic career. He completed

in philosophy
in Ecuador
in 1964; he also studied
at the Instituto Teol?gico
de Jesu?tas in Mexico,
and
his doctorate
theology
obtained an M.A.
Americana
pology,
in social
Ibero
anthropology at the Universidad
in 1968. It is precisely in the field of anthro
in the anthropology
of religion, that he
specifically
of Mexico
and
his teaching and

developed
Pontificia Universidad
Cat?lica
research
work,
de Peru
from
1968
in the
and in the last five
(Lima),
years of his life, successfully creating in Lima the Jesuit University
Antonio Ruiz de Montoya,
of which he became the first president.
In his research trajectory we can highlight his ethnographic task,
centered
around
ties in Peru
mundo
pesina,
and
the study of the religion of the peasant communi

the migrants
from the rural areas to Lima
(El
de Urcos, Cusco
1971; Estudios de religi?n cam
religioso
Lima
1977; Los
caminos
religiosos
de
los inmigrantes de
497
Obituaries
to the values of religious

Lima, Lima
1988). Sensitive
change, so essential in Latin America, he dedicated different works
of synthesis to these processes
(La transformaci?n religiosa peru
Lima
sincretismo
El
Lima
ana,
iberoamericano,
1985),
1983;
la Gran
which
career
of an academic
resumed, from the global perspective
de
Tratado
at its height, in his book Tierra encantada.
he
2002). A
(Madrid-Lima
religiosa de Am?rica Latina
antropolog?a
was the
project to which he dedicated his efforts in the last years
consolidation
of theEIR
(Enciclopedia
in whose academic
Madrid,
2002-),
most active members
and where
Iberoamericana
committee
he was
de Religiones,
one of the
he was
he editor of the fourth vol
ume on Andean
religions (Religiones andinas, Madrid

he saw published only two months before his death.
2005), which
A great anthropologist and a very intelligent person disappears

but also a scholar who did not show disdain for gen
with Marzal,
in trying
eral analyses and for the use of the comparative method
the complexity of religions in their diversity and sim
ilarities, an intellectual profile and an ambition which seems to be
a distinctive stamp of the IAHR since its foundation.
to understand
Francisco
Diez
de Velasco
BOOK REVIEWS
Philip
Jenkins, Dream
How
Catchers.
Mainstream
America
Discovered
Native
? New York: Oxford

Spirituality
University Press 2004 (xii + 306 p.)
ISBN 0195161157 US$ 28,00.
This book is not about Native American
spirituality. Philip Jenkins, who

Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsyl
vania State University, produced a book on the way the image of Native
American spiritualitychanged dramatically in the last 150 years. He describes
and analyzes the complex historical process in which Native American
is Distinguished
became
spirituality
of mainstream
part
culture.
American
His
story
begins
in theNineteenth century.Artists and anthropologists had just discovered

that Native
called
Americans
religious.
some
possess
observers
These
attractive
cultural
a minority,
formed
traits
for most
still abhorred the savage ways of Native Americans. A

has
taken
dorsed
place.
Nowadays,
in mainstream
Native
American
which
many
remain
American
Jenkins
Native
American
180-degree shift
how
clear
spirituality
Indians
an
from
actors
competing
with
went
and
evolved
enormous
of
range
to reverence
revulsion
varied
pursued
facts,
but
goals.
his
en
is warmly
spirituality
makes
be
Americans
for
why
from
into a highly regarded religious tradition. Popular
worship'
history
America.
Americans
mainstream
Native
that could
white
'devil
images of
in a history
Jenkins
presents
and
description
in
this
analysis
lucid.
One of the interesting points of the book is the way Jenkins treats the
debate on New Age appropriation of Native American spirituality. In
lodges,
many
culture
who
an
dream
other
ancient,
tion. These
Koninklijke
Also
catchers,
available
to pay
authentic
for
it. For
and
some,
pure
critics claim
medicine
and
practices
in workshops,
It
everywhere.
sticks,
talking
commodities,
it is offered
wants
it is found
America,
contemporary
ideas.
circles,
As
books,
lectures
Native
American
wisdom.
Others
like
part
and
NUMEN,
shamanovels,
of
rituals
to ridicule
for anyone
possesses
this assump
is just
Vol.
and
consumer
the
spirituality
that this 'tribe of wannabe'
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
in sweat
is manifested
'playing
52
Book
Indian'.
Commentators
state
and
claims,
modern
romantic
call
construction.
themselves
silly
their
Native
or medicine
shamans
on
based
American
on
attacks
and/or
religious
play-acting,
Several
venomous
launch
spokespersons
who
to debunk
like
it is just
that
499
Reviews
the
men
erroneous
and
organizations
entrepreneurs
spiritual
and
spiritual
an
make
in this
money
field of Native American spirituality.They accuse them of new colonial

ism, exploitation, or disrespectful blasphemy. Critics use epithets like
medicine
plastic
shamans,
New
men,
New
shame-ons,
Age
frauds,
cultural
Age
morons,
and
thieves,
white
exploiters,
cultural
thieves.
Evidently,
the authenticity and validity of thismovement of dream catchers is easily

degraded.
interesting
movement
is
contain
'newly
tization
He
minted',
that
And
American
the
can
he
is not
Jenkins
and
uncritical
the
For
practices.
more
other
him,
fundamental
another,
of
may
the
of
roman
the unequal
But
appropriated.
he
truth of the ideas

are
issues
the
that
deny
the movement
of
avoids judgements about the validity and theological

and
takes
not
because
especially
appropriators
He
defame.
the history
Indians,
between
or
that
admits
or
of deceit'.
of Native
relations
to accuse
want
standpoint.
'elements
power
not
does
Jenkins
Philip
more
important.
By
telling the history of the changing mainstream attitudes toward Native

spirituality,he shows how theunderstanding of religion itselfhas dramatically
And
changed.
In
disputed.
this
as
counts
what
is one
of
the
religion
this way,
the book
aspects
important
is continually
debated,
the story he
defined,
the reader
urges
of
narrates;
and
challenged
to think
the mean
about
ing and use of the word religion. Jenkins demonstrates that labelling is a
powerful value judgement. It makes a huge difference if a cultural prac
tice
is called
the New
follow
religion
Age
the
or
same
of Native
as
routine
In a
superstition.
appropriation
those
certain
150
who,
those
way,
American
spirituality
earlier,
years
who
as
depicted
depict
aberrant,
Native
Americans as devil worshippers. In a concluding chapter Jenkins explains

his
own
is one
thoughts
that people
Finally,
assortment
Pocahontas,
on what
are
the book
of different
Rolling
constitutes
prepared
is worthwhile
intriguing
Thunder,
to treat
For
him,
real
religion
such.
because
characters
Joseph
religion.
as
and
Campbell,
it comprises
anecdotes.
Helena
a fascinating
Carlos
Casta?eda,
Blavatsky,
Hiawatha,
500 Book Reviews

Richard
Aldous
Nixon,
others
play
D.H.
Huxley,
roles
interesting
Mircea
Lawrence,
in this
impressive
Faculty of Theology and Religious

University of Groningen
and many
Eliade,
book.
Studies
Jeroen
Boekhoven
Oude Boteringestraat 38
9712 GK Groningen
The Netherlands
Leif
Round
Carlsson,
to Heaven,
Trips
Leif
book
Carlsson's
deals
with
the
in History of Reli
of heavenly
subject
in Early
Travelers
Otherworldly
Judaism and Christianity, Lund: Lund Studies

gions 2004 (398 p.), ISBN 91-02106-X.
as
journeys
nar
rated in a set of captivating Jewish and early Christian texts, namely (in
approximately chronological order): I Enoch, 2 Enoch, the Testament of
Levi, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, Paul's
2 Corinthians 12,1-5, theMartyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah, the Life
of Adam
and
and
Eve,
3 Baruch
whose
and
long
precise
ends
study
the
book. All of these texts share the same difficulties about their respective
origin: they display both Jewish and Christian elements, and it is not easy
to place
any
of
a particular
texts within
these
context.
historical
In the introduction (Background and Method), the author exposes how

themotif of heavenly journeys has already been handled until now. According
to Carlsson,
a
textual
the heavenly
which
genre
in a historico-critical
and
framework,
their
to be
contexts.
The
with
dealt
way,
by
is more
journey
has
specific
by
relating
introduction
in the following
gives
pages.
The
motif:
author
it constitutes
the
a good
of
function
general
However,
and
of
texts
social
texts
these
view
some
the
studies
to their historical
them
to reconstitute
trying
a mere
than
functions.
in
the matter
statements
about
heavenly journeys in traditions other than in early Christianity and

Judaism, as well as a justification of the contexts chosen (why Jewish and
texts
Christian
would
have
instead
been
here
of
Jewish
and
Greco-Roman
texts,
for
example)
useful.
The author points out that providing a group an identity is frequently a

major function of a heavenly journey. He shows that there is interplay
between identity (how a person sees himself), legitimacy (how a person
Also
available
online
www.brill.nl
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
Book
by a group) and what he calls the "Tradition Group."
is acknowledged
This
latter
501
Reviews
of
concept
"Tradition
can
Group"
some
raise
:while
questions
it is self-evident that every text has a social and historical background, it

so
not
is perhaps
"Tradition
obvious
a
with
Group"
that
text was
given
aim.
particular
Indeed,
actually
used
by
text may
have
been
used by many groups (and interpreted inmany differentways), or itmay

have
been
cern
used
no
by
at all
group
function
particular
(for
some
behind
it is often
example,
To
texts).
poetic
to dis
hard
for a specific
look
function behind a text could also drive the study towards the question of
the text's origins which, for the texts being studied, can hardly be
answered.
he
the author
Nevertheless,
is next
that "it
expresses
is well
conscious
to impossible
of
these
as
problems,
a possible
to reconstruct
wholly
original text" (28), and that "every version should be looked upon as a
new
text"
(ibid.).
all
For
tive
report
and
debates
shows
texts
the
about
that he
all
two main
He
studies.
the history
concerning
that
the author
examines,
existing
functions
of
the composition
the
heavenly
exhaus
the
exposes
remarkably
and
a quasi
provides
of
theories
texts.
the
journeys
He
can
texts
be
pointed out, namely: identityproviding and death informing (188).

The author begins his study with 1 Enoch. The text of 14,8 to 16,3 is
clearly related to the priesthood: the description of the heavenly space is
after
patterned
of
the high
author
had
a crisis
Enoch.
with
no
Enoch
allowed
is, moreover,
that
Group
about
ditions
ing
He
priest.
maintains
Tradition
in Jerusalem.
the Temple
although
Enoch
priestly
function,
This
could
is
the role
God's
but merely
indicate
that
had
text was
the
of a priest,
a
on
composed
In replacement
the
priest,
to pass
of
or
The
presence.
as
appointed
in Jerusalem.
the priesthood
has
to enter
tra
dur
the earthly
temple, the text provides a heavenly temple. A second heavenly journey

is described in 1 Enoch 70,1-71,17, with a different function. While
I Enoch 14,8-16,3 has an identity-providing function for the group, the
second
has
journey
died.
more
The
resigned
groups,
informs
author
attitude
looked
but
the reader
shows
which
for a
that
about
the
did not
solution
what
second
journey
try anymore
to
the Temple.
probably considered
The
could
to polemize
be
the righteous
related
against
to a
opposed
in the eschatology.
In the Testament of Levi, like in I Enoch,

according
after
happens
focus
here
the cosmology
is on
Levi,
themselves to be his heirs. The
whose
is designed
supporters
link to Levi
could
502
Book Reviews
have been used to reaffirm the legitimacy of members of the group to do

service
in the Temple.
The Apocalypse of Abraham depicts the travel of Abraham through

seven heavens as well as his encounter with God himself. Abraham is said
to have more authority than Azazel
(the devil). This could relate to
the destruction of theTemple in 70 ce, and to the necessity tomanage

text
The
catastrophe.
Abraham
"Tradition
(the
Group"),
and
having
fallen
relatives
Abraham's
among
three
distinguishes
those
groups:
two
"evil"
away,
and
who
from
those
groups:
the rest of
from
those
the
follow
mankind, to be identifiedwith those having taken part in the destruction

of the Temple. The text could have Gnostic elements (141).
In the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, the heavenly journey describes what
is probable
out
the death.
after
happens
that
further
any
the
Since
the
all
The
distinction.
is represented
Jerusalem
text addresses
text may
have
been
it
in the heavens,
of
inhabitants
with
Jerusalem,
written
to
in reaction
two groups: those progressively abandoning the Jewish faith (influenced

by Hellenistic ideas), and those attracted by Judaism and considering a
conversion.
12,1-5 mentions a short report of a heavenly

taken
Paul
Even if the heavenly journey meant little
himself.
by
journey
The text of 2 Corinthians
it was
for Paul,
some
of
probably
for Paul's
importance
in
opponents
Corinth, who recognized a heavenly journey as the proof of validity for

an
which,
makes
textwhich has much
unfortunately,
similar
author
the
Here,
apostle.
Talmudic
he
does
is related
journey
an
to
connection
interesting
importance in early Jewish mysticism (for

not
give
Ben
about
the exact
cAzzai,
reference,
Ben
R.
Zoma,
where
177),
Acher
and
cAqiva. In his opinion (186-191), however, the text has more to do

with the legitimization of the status of the apostle through a heavenly
journey (the author suggests thatPaul would tend to agree with his oppo
R.
nents'
advice
that
a heavenly
journey
performatively
gives
an
apostolic
authority), than with early Jewish mysticism.

The
rather
and
Martyrdom
complex
cosmology
and can hear God

has
the vision
Ascension
of
of
with
seven
Isaiah,
a Christian
heavens.
Isaiah
text,
travels
(but does not see Him). The prophet, while
Jesus
descending
on
Earth.
From
the
text's
presents
to heaven,
in heaven,
description
that Jesus will only appear to the people, when he will have descended
on
earth,
we
could
infer
that
this
text
is related
to docetism.
The
author
503
Reviews
Book
that everyone in the group could take heavenly journeys, similar
believes
to those
taken
parison
Isaiah
by
to other
and
Christian
which
Jesus,
them
gave
in com
precedence
groups.
In the Life of Adam and Eve, which exists inmany versions (the author
the Latin
examines
and
Greek
to heaven
of Adam
the journey
versions),
is described. In the Latin version, the elevated position conferred toAdam

is passed on to Seth. It is clearly an identity-providing journey, with an
intermediary (Seth) between the group and the first traveler (Adam). The
Greek version depicts what has happened afterAdam's

to the Paradise,
taken
situated
an
3 Baruch,
Finally,
in the
soul is
death. His
third heaven.
a
text, presents
apocalyptic
of death:
"paradigm"
it shows where the persons go after the death, waiting for the final judg
ment.
text could
The
ing
"instead
have
a possible
of
been
to the earthly
renunciation
worldly
in the context
written
goods
and
values.
future
renewal
of
a crisis,
of
As
Jerusalem
imply
states
the author
and
it,
tem
the
ple for the Jews, the focus is directed towards the status of all people
after
on
death"
This
(302).
moral
general
could
to a universal
refer
In
principles.
this
form
of
based
Judaism,
some
of 3 Baruch,
study
to the
links
Jewish rabbinical tradition could have been valuable (e.g. the Talmudic
text of Chagigah 12b, which presents a very similar cosmology).
a conclusion,
As
an
the author makes
interesting
work
comparative
between
all the texts, showing their respective functional and formal similarities
and differences. Also the graphic sch?mas (263-269) are helpful to have
a clear
view
before
the
and
tions
In
these
of
study
results
summary,
. .
of 3 Baruch,
an
which
have
could
the book
provides
written
in many
texts,
complex
Slavonic
texts. A
complex
.), and
dealing
with
bit
text whose
important
been
a
study
detailed
languages
the fascinating
ques
some
of
study
Latin,
(Hebrew,
topic
raises
in the conclusion.
meaningful
good
comes
the conclusion
strangely,
very
Greek,
of heavenly
journeys.
The author coped very well with the difficulties related to the composi
tion
of
the
texts
and
clearly
explains
all
the past
work
done
already
on
these texts. The
idea of pointing out the function of the texts by relating

them to the socio-cultural context is well handled (although one could
the very
question
fact
that a
text always
has
a function
to be
The analysis itself is rigorous and interesting, succeeding

particular
have
study
expected
of
more
text with
references
theoretical
to rabbinic
statements.
However,
apocalyptical
discovered).
in linking the
one
texts.
could
Finally,
504
Book Reviews
some
and
comparative
the
Judeo-Christian
contrastive
other
from
examples
have
could
context)
been
traditions
(outside
a
to get
in order
useful
wider view of the heavenly journey theme.

Philippe
de Lausanne
Universit?
D?partement
Bornet
d'Histoire
Interfacultaire
et de Sciences des Religions
BFSH2
1015
Lausanne-Dorigny
Suisse
@ unil. ch
Philippe .bornet
Hosts
their American
and
Berlin:
M?nchen,
in New
York
2001
Waxmann,
In
the
series
of
recent
City
?
ISSN
New
M?nster,
?
Religion
York,
Unterricht.
1430-2667.
are
which
publications
(Jugend
Band 6.) ISBN 3-8309-1053-3;
Tibetans
of Tibetan Buddhism:
The American Occupation
Eve Mullen,
ten
the Western
criticizing
dency to idealize Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism as "Shangri-la," this book

is a
of
contribution
from
Starting
importance.
special
on Identity
basis prepared in publications by Anthony Giddens
ological
R.
in late Modernity,
Formation
on The
Warner
Stephen
method
solid
of American
Structure
Religiosity, and Margaret Nowak on Tibetans in Indian Exile, it presents

a field study into recent changes in the interaction between exile Tibetan
Buddhist lays and monks inNew York City.
In
were
other
ally
ticing
help
as
being
the one
everyday
rituals
by
the
their
most
lamas
full-time engaged
New
York
Tibetans
City
Koninklijke
Also
nearly
The
needed
had
time.
the
and
York,
however,
are
frequented
however,
and
the New
York
nearly
available
occupation
of Tibetan
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
- www.brill.nl
online
as
the
On
materi
entertained
in the seven Tibetan Buddhist meditation
which,
inter
nuns.
the presence
Instead,
and
people
education
religious
to be
of New
Tibetans
lay
and mutual
by monks
executed
are missing
them,
all
frequent
nunneries
and
between
contacts
prac
the
active
lamas
are
centers in
exclusively
(45f). It is this rather disillusioning fact which Mullen
"American
?
of
relations
lay people
prayers
gifts.
laypeople's
Buddhists
of
and
by
the
hand,
the monasteries
hand,
these
culture,
characterized
On
dependence.
well
Tibetan
traditional
monastics
by non
calls the
Buddhism."
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
reasons
The
for
this
505
Reviews
Book
are
"occupation"
described
and
clearly
convinc
in Chapter 2. Since thematerial struggle for survival in

New York is equally hard for Tibetan monks as for laypeople, themonks
ingly by Mullen
are
forced
ing
in the meditation
centres
to work
most
most
in
The
enough.
are
sively,
events
programs
aiming
on
centering
nor
present
oriented
look
for
their western
for
of
and
same
the
new
sponsors
The
success
gather
disciples
the meditation
reason,
the wealthier
among
of
the meditation
at
the
a meditation
an
center
alternative,
contribute
the books
they
exclu
Americans
oriented
self-help
psy
(52ff.), while the ethnic Tibetans of New York are
interested.
the
"Through
Mullen
institutions,"
simple
the
within
assumptions
organizational
and Buddhist-related
as
of white
interests
to
able
be
as well
centers
spiritual
as
not
would
classes
of
Buddhism
chotherapeutic method
neither
time
Because
by its financial income to which any Tibetans even if
the
are
selling
their
are white.
of whom
is being measured
interested
to
have
themselves
population
of
centres.
states,
of capitalist
workings
Tibetan
existing
"Tibetans
cultural
become
excluded"
(50). The fact thatmany Americans tend to overemphasize their devotion

to theirTibetan lamas in a way Tibetan laypeople consider "damaging to
the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as a whole" (55) adds to their disinterest in
the Western-dominated
visiting
centers.
meditation
As
Chapter
shows,
this ethnic Tibetan disinterest and disproval is extended to other Tibet

activities in America and NYC, for instance charity dinners for Tibetan
freedom, American Tibet films like Kundun or Little Buddha or the activ
ities
in Tibet
run by Robert
House
of Tibetology
F. Thurman,
who
as
even
professor
is known as one of themost influential and successful ide
alizers of Tibet. Mullen shows how the "Orientalist" image of Tibet in

many American minds forms the basis for the alienation of theNew York
City Tibet activities from the real, living Tibetans among them.
In Chapters 3 and 5, Mullen centers on the Inner-Tibetan religious
made
innovation
Tibetan
necessary
and
political
by
religious
this
identity:
in order
situation
to maintain
a consequence
As
from theirown Buddhist teachers, theTibetan lay community ofNYC

by
becoming
the few
them
and
self-reliant"
"religiously
traditional
taking
annual
care
of
Tibetan
the
(63).
festivals
education
the
are
They
time
actively
and money
children
in
the
cut
of being
off
reacted
organizing
are
allowing
the Tibetan
way.
The one and only Tibetan monk who spends his time exclusively serving
theTibetan ethnic community of New York ismainly working in the latter
506
Book Reviews
field. One
of the most
importantmotivations for the Tibetans of New

York for keeping and developing their Tibetan identity is the peaceful
movement for the liberation of Tibet led by the present Dalai Lama. In
his person as well as in their own lay Buddhist practice, they see hope
for
the
future
the Tibetan
of
existence
nation.
the
Thus,
and
religious
political self-responsibility had the effect that, in spite of what one could
the factual
expect,
of the Tibetan
separation
monastics
from
the ethnic
Tibetan
laity in NYC did not damage, but even strengthen the sense of national
and religious identity among Tibetan transnationals inAmerica.
Mullen's
However,
book
leaves
the
reader
somewhat
feeling
uneasy.
are neither living in New York nor practising Tibetan

Buddhism may begin to consider if it really can be true that, given all the
Western charity towards Tibetan refugees and political opposition against
Even
those who
Chinese
of Tibet,
occupation
Another
Western
of concern
point
intellectuals
even
in this occupation,
participating
if on
is certainly
another,
the question
tion do
are
in fact
viz.
the spiritual
the
why
themselves
lamas
level.
in ques
let themselves be "occupied," somehow ignoring their spiritual

duties towards the Tibetan laity they are expected to feel but obviously
don't, as some Tibetan lay critics of New York observe (69ff.). All these
are newly raised issues being described by Mullen for the first time in
clarity and stringency.Eve Mullen's book is an important contribution to
the field
of
religious
change
and
encounter.
intercultural
All
those
inter
ested in either questions of religious change or inTibet and Tibetan Buddhism,

as
whether
notice
of
practitioners,
scholars
or
interested
lay
people,
take
should
its results.
Europabadstr.
Adelheid
Herrmann-Pfandt
35041 Marburg, Germany
Chu yen, Who is a Brahmin? The Politics of Identity in India. New

Delhi: Manohar, Centre de Sciences Humaines 2004 (294 p.) ISBN
81-7304-603-4
US$ 20.75.
Gilles
Since the 1980s there has been in India a perceptible constant growth in
the politicization
of
tations
the measures
has
Koninklijke
Also
available
been
the caste
system.
taken
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
One
by
of
the
its most
Indian
manifes
important
government
to support
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
the
This
crimination.
India
which
process,
and
tremendously
has
conditions,
the middle
of
emancipation
engendered
and
lower
has
changed
has
which
507
Reviews
Book
an
had
sudden
castes
through
of
proliferation
of
landscape
on
influence
enduring
dis
positive
the political
academic
social
publica
tions pertaining to socially underprivileged groups. Although this tendency

ever
toward
has
new
uninterrupted,
persisted
castes,
higher
change
present
publication
on
is based
Institute
Indian
III. With
his
tity, his
about
political
the concept
approach
in the Studies of Religions

The
is clearly
book
to fill
as
accepted
area
lowed
the
by
to
according
Chuyen's
information
gap.
from
the
Aix-Marseille
Brahminical
iden
to researchers
important
and Indology.
The
structured:
three main
the most
of
process
dissertation
of present-day
the
of
Gilles
this
introduction
sections
of
his
variables
important
its historical
In
study.
and
development
on
section
(chapter 1) are fol

these
the Brahmin
of
and
Brahmin typology for those interviewed by Chuyen

cusses
this
University,
a thematic
touches
with
attention.
at the Aix-en-Provence
Science
inquiry
scant
etc.
Classes,"
the members
dealt
attempt
was
Backward
to how
have
received
a welcome
which
study
of Political
"Other
as
has
society
offers
the "Dalits,"
the question
the Brahmins,
particularly
in the
It
on
studies
the
author
dis
construct
identity
its present-day
expression
(part 1: profession (chapters 2-3), part 2: geographical origin (chapters

4-5), part 3: political presence of the underprivileged (chapters 6-7)). The
book
closes
more
arranged
some
with
to
according
an
conclusions,
general
for some particular
details
the main
appendix,
which
offers
interview patterns, a bibliography

as well
themes,
as
content
and
name
index.
begins his introduction (9-32)
Chuyen
and
meaning
He
jati.
which
related
on
the history
criticizes
the
terms
these
discussions
to
his
researchers
of
who
a uniform
very
and
decidedly
static
society,
society
"cultural
of
and
varna,
caste,
hierarchical
Indian
criticism
particular
ory advocated by Louis Dumont,
terms
the
"symbolic
the present
to "orientalism,"
pertaining
with a commentary on the

for
the
of
application
involve,
etc. With
manocentrism,"
of definitions
system",
and
"brah
imperialism,"
caste
the holistic
to
refers
the
the author identifies himself with those
take
standpoint
stratified
solely
against
on
Dumont's
the basis
of
image
a
purity
principle, and with those who try to disprove this theory by means of his
torical,
as well
as
case
and
field
studies.
So,
it is also
Chuyen's
(repeated)
508
Book
Reviews
intention to provide evidence for the dynamic of the system, for the diver
the caste
sity of
from
apart
and
concept
any
the ramified
for
focus
The
dimension.1
religious
which
aspects
constitute
research
of his
it,
is the
then,
political dimension of "caste" and its influence on the diverse Brahmin

constructs:
identity
"The
main
of
purpose
the
is to assess
study
the plu
ralism of contemporary Brahmin identity in the context of the major

socio-political debates taking place in the Indian democracy" (24).
to
Subsequent
ture")
some
further
a few
follow
there
definitions
The
work.
claims
author
"identity,"
(25-26).
"cul
"group,"
No
clear
very
pic
procedure is in the empirical part of his
ture illuminates what Chuyen's

research
(e.g.
on method
remarks
no
to have
emphatically
to include
intention
study with representative results (25, 27). That is thor

oughly legitimate. Yet to estimate the strengthof his work and the qual
a quantitative
ity of his
results
however
correctly,
they are,
interesting
information
important
seems to be lacking here. For example, in his introductionChuyen defines

his work as "fieldwork"; but his remarks on method fail to describe the
details
finer
view
of fieldwork
he
partners,
details
specific
and
partners
the
ducted
and
Agra
are
needed.
and
he
how
instance,
interviews"
"non-directive
the other
On
Chennai.
For
their cooperation
solicited
of members
selection
under
(location,
example
(25)
today?"
an
as
even
it mean
does
"What
"open
to you
the
hand,
here
frequency,
con
It
time-span).2
(guide-lines). His
is insufficiently
question"
too,
he
a Brahmin
to be
urban
interview
his
conditions
what
inter
from
found
would have been desirable had he disclosed his models

one
to his
In respect
duration.
e.g.
his
justify
in Delhi,
middle-classes
more
conditions,
does
in
India
in the
precise
light of his research problematic and hypotheses. Itmakes one inquisitive

(perhaps not his intention)about theother non-political aspects of theBrahmin
1The
same
for instance,
goal,
of Caste:
When
New
Series,
2 A broad
newest
Citizens:
nation
Identity
band
of reflections
sociological
Dalit
and
Publications
studies
Movements
the Dalit
2005.
Trumps
Issue, Vol.
Special
has
to Indian
of the journal Contributions
on
been
Sociology:
Gupta,
to Indian
Sociology,
38/1, 2, 2004.
are found,
on method
the Dalit
movement:
and D?mocratisation
challenge
issue
(ed.), The Certitudes
Dipankar
Contributions
Hierarchy.
in a special
in articles
expressed
4), New
Delhi:
for example,
Hugo
Gorringe,
in Tamil Nadu
Thousand
Oaks,
in one
of the
Untouchable
(Cultural
London:
subordi
Sage
509
Book Reviews
identity structure (for example,
to include
decided
not
focused
interviews
in his
religion) which Chuyen

Furthermore,
study.
of Brahmins
and
Chuyen
non-Brahmins";
"more
are
these
yet
has
however
mentions
not
fur
thermentioned. Particularly positive in this respect is thathe draws amply

from
out
quotations
of his
interview
to support
material
his
and
argument
assigns them to the respective interviewees listed in his appendix, where

is more
there
on
information
state
of
of
place
origin,
birth,
age,
profes
etc.
sion,
In chapter 1 Chuyen presents a Brahmin

viewed
The
33-58).
anticipated
categories. At
whom
which
and as Brahmin
each
of
spectrum
these
responses
he
which
"pluralism,"
plots
inter
individual
to politics
Brahmins and
relates
of the relationship between middle-class
("Classification
authors
typology for the 69
and manner
the degree
as Brahmin
identifies himself
politics,"
on
based
Brahmins,
to
the
indexing
corresponds
a
along
scale
the one end of his scale stands the individual type for
as Brahmin
self-identity
no
plays
nor
roll,
has
any
political
impli
cations. At the other end stands the individual type who identifies totally
with his Brahmin status and who is most conscious of its superiority and
of its political dimensions. Such a finely scaled differentiation, consider
scant
the
ing
detailed
as
an
number
of
interrogation
arbitrary
The
to
contribute
Brahmin
enabled
view
material,
can
vary
those
of present-day
remains
aspect
on Brahmin
by
the
very
and
systematic
it appears
less
aspects,
(56).
aspects
(27,
identity.
example
first case
f.). The
in
study
of
to the polit
from
study
the
inter
("Brahmin
deals with the influence of pro
demonstrates
Chuyen
of Brahmins
the
degree
procedure
relevant
drawing
identity,
55
the
what
just
particularly
of
part
how
of
However,
Brahmin
obscure
the main
understanding
identity and the professional variable")

fession
pertinent
constitute
profound
to extract
Chuyen
dimensions
which
studies"
a more
identification
ical
the most
categorization.
"case
three
demands
interviewees,
to access
the
the
army
significance
service.
The
of
this
following
historical survey of the Brahmin military tradition (chapter 2: "History of

Brahmins
covers
and
the military.
texts from ancient
A
Indian
long-term
literary
from
analysis:
sources,
the Vedas"
63-92)
and
approved
acknowledged
of by the Brahmins interviewed, up to British enlisting strategies and to

the development of special Brahmin communities (e.g. theMohyals) and
present-day
military
institutions.
At
the same
time
the author
refers
frequently
510
to
Book
the
text,
armed
as
with
value
justice
from
and
the
In chapter
then
Chuyen
secular
his
"Brahmin"
theoretical
any
Not
model.
material
to a
identifies
institution
professional
The
caste:
norm
military
before
and
greater
his
than with
has
the
and
identity
interview
Brahmin
con
this military
by
("Brahmin
evaluates
armed
present-day
own
his
defined
otherness,"
status.
are soldiers
in the armed
forces
first" (105).
?
service
("service
system
duty, communal
?
as
etc.
caste
has replaced
and
principle
"Brahmins
our,
93-115)
that
degree
"self
to social
forces,"
concludes
and
of
concepts
as well
Reviews
hon
self),
them
estranged
to members
in respect
of
other castes do they define their social position but in respect to civilians
with
and
status,
comparable
among
partiality,
e.g.
other
whom
policemen,
Thus
things.
accuse
they
of
violence
in the armed
the Brahmin
forces
corresponds to Chuyen's individual type distinguished by his impersonal

attitude toward caste membership (56).
On
the contrary, the Tamil
Brahmin
concept.
his
study involving a regional aspect

and
variable")
regional
he
looks
identifies intensely with
Brahmin
confirms
Chuyen
with
assumption
the
(Part II: "Brahmin
the
case
identity and the
for a plausible
at history
second
reason.
In chap
ter 4 ("Brahminism in the history of South India. Medium Period: From

the late nineteenth century," 121-145) Chuyen describes the stages of
South Indian anti-Brahmin politics, which was engendered by the privi
leged status of the Brahmin caste and which led in the course of the 20th
to a
century
reservation
policy
measures
involving
that would
encourage
a positive discrimination of the underprivileged and a negative discrimi

nation
the elite.
of
The
and
social
psychological,
economic
consequences
of this "degradation" would have, according to Chuyen, induced a height

sense
ened
caste
of Brahmin
In
consciousness.
the
interviews
5:
(chapter
"Portrait of Tamil Brahmins," 146-190) the diverse tactics employed to

encounter the institutionalized hostile policy are reviewed. Beside the
heightened
sense
new
of
areas
"Indianization"
ism
and
As
country
tradition
of
their children,
However,
economy
or
and
(social
responsibility
justice).
the private
cation
of caste,
engagement,
cultural
dedication
personal
at
themselves
from
the non-Brahmins
caste
colleagues
and
same
this quite
search
time
and
from
their North
Indian
human
a movement
into
frequently.
the Tamil Brahmins underwent a process of heightened

they differentiated
for
advancement,
to tolerance,
there was
?
emigration
the
there was
superiority
as
of
"the
identifi
their own
others."
511
Reviews
Book
In order to illustrate the situation in North India, the author examines

in detail at the beginning of part 3 ("Dialogues on identity and otherness
in the 1990s") the history and present-day impact of the Dalit and OBC
to
movements
and how their strength is founded on opposition
of
Brahminism and its ideology (chapter 6 "Construction
anti-Brahmin
identities
untouchables,"
by
caste
progressed,3
has
an
essential
of
chapter
privileged?"
228-258).
social
threatening
of
situated
as
discussions
are
Who
justice:
from
ranged
to a demand
superiority
for a classification
and
emancipation
in political
the under
to
reaction of the interviewed Brahmins
have
change
caste
their
social
and
("Brahmins
The
of
the process
element
sketches the diverse standpoints in the
involving social justice. Chuyen

beginning
As
191-227).
become
"backward"
an
emphasis
by
for government
the economically
by
the better
protection
worse-situated.
Contrary to theirTamil colleagues who preferred individual solutions, the

North Indian Brahmins have tended to defend solutions for their political
as a collective
interests
for an
exclusive
"Hindu
(e.g.
group
nationalist
refers
Chuyen
identity.
that is, a demand
movement"),
to a North-South
frequently
contrast in light of the reaction pattern he has observed

262,
(119f., 248ff.,
etc.).
In his final chapter ("Conclusion," 259-266) Chuyen summarizes the

diverse factors which have influenced the present-day Brahmin identity
constructs.
His
thorough
which
developments
political
on
work
research
the historical
illuminate
stages
current
and
circumstances
the crucial
and
social
con
self-identity is the outstanding strength of Chuyen's

study (in view of quantity, his historical interpretations are about equal in
texts of Brahmin
to his
number
interview
evaluations).
However,
his
historical
can
analysis
not suffice as evidence
and social
for the fundamental psychological
dimensions of the development of the Brahmin identity. Should an "iden
tity" theme be central, then very basic definitions and models for identity,
group,
group
tory. These
3
conflict,
requisites
identity
crisis
are missing
etc.,
supported
in Chuyen's
and recent study handling

A widely
comprehensive
not take into consideration
for his publication
Christophe
India,
Jaffrelot, India's
London:
Hurst
Silent
&
Revolution:
Company
2003.
The
Rise
theory,
his
study;
could
North
by
are manda
observations
this theme, which

is his
of
Ph.D.
the Lower
on
Chuyen
advisors:
Castes
in
512
Reviews
Book
pages 22-24 are insufficient.Complex psychological ramificationsare implied

and
as Chuyen
rightly,
for
the "other"
But
what
252).
when
Indian
in
Brahmins
and
psychological
Indian
forces
"identity-oth
social
select
are
processes
or
the police
as
colleagues
of
importance
(for example,
self-identity
armed
the
the North
Brahmins
the enormous
to
points
of
erness-dynamics,"
evident
repeatedly
the realization
South
to
groups
comparison
define theirown identity?

What strategies for identity
management are already
out
of
the question
the USA
and
and North
when
why,
Indian
Tamil
ing recognition as "backward"? What

ones
An
of
perception
exposition
structure
social
basic
of
Brahmins
choose
Brahmins
to
emigration
demand
downgrading,
does the choice of tactic imply for

and
theoretical
choose
social
ones
of
concepts
within
place
to
equivalent
its frame?
those
offered
by other disciplines which are intensely concerned with identity issues,

like sociology and psychology, would have contributed not only to an
improved
ated
a part
of
tities
in the case
represents
of present-day
that
South
Asian
status
"Social
can
studies
who
in ancient
and
University of Z?rich
Department of Indology
R?mi strasse 68
8001 Z?rich
Switzerland
structure.
not
ideology. And
the ritualistic
and
recommendable
analysis
image of caste
reservations
social
are
India
of Tamil
in the army
of Brahmins
be
to see
over
priority
in the case
assumed
perhaps
differenti
caste
identity
other
as
solely
under
(partial)
iden
and North
Brahmins,
method,
Chuyen's
service.
concerning
it is an
deduced
to studies
contribution
stimulating
Thus,
more
that this becomes
and
has
and
and
for example
of a person
salient
India's
credible
confident
fruitful
the above-mentioned
Despite
view,
as
occasionally,
work
be
identity
circumstances
not
to more
also
It would
the social
particular
but
but
clarity
conclusions.
from
reminder
impressive
a
and
static
timeless
that should hold true for researchers in

concerned
needs
the economic
to be
and
with
India,
pre-colonial
analysed
from
two
too:
points
political."
Annemarie
Mertens
of
Armin
Lange/Hermann
Diethard
Lichtenberger/K.F
Demons.
D?monen.
Die
513
Reviews
Book
der
D?monologie
R?mheld
Die
(eds.),
und
israelitisch-j?dischen
fr?hchristlichen Literatur imKontext ihrerUmwelt. The Demonology

of Israelite-Jewish and Early Christian Literature in Context of the
Environment? T?bingen: Mohr 2003 (687 p.) ISBN 3-16-147955-6.
The discussion
about the monotheism

the question
accompanied
by
bols."1
is why,
This
in
about
the
last
of the Hebrew
Goddesses
"Gods,
few
years,
has been
Bible
exegetics
and
divine
has
increasingly
sym
focused on the history of Israelite religion and has tried to describe

from
development
via
polytheism
to monotheism
monolatry
the
in
the
Hebrew Bible.2 The anthology at hand takes this issue one step furtherby
into
taking
view
"demonology"
so-called
as
of bracket
The
34
by
the
from
already
ical
B.
Near
ancient
and
Persian,
nistic-Roman
world,
similar
but
9 on
the destruction
after
on
but
more
O.
Keel
See
in
on
the
its comprehensive
non-canon
on
definition
exilic,
gnosis,
The
temple.
of
on
articles
and
on
contributions
the environment
Testament
second
inferred
in pre-exilic,
two
only
the New
and Ch. Uehlinger,

zur Religionsgeschichte
Erkenntnisse
of
interna
be
and
part
only
Israel
chapters
can
(as
canonical
find
ancient
point lies less in a historical-religious

topic,
an
from
introductory
weighting:
of
on
we
The
times.
an
Petersen,
15
a bunch
together
date
literature
emphasis
after
but
Hellenistic
Christianity
Judaism
A.K.
East,
show
an
is why,
and
Gladigow
early
and
"demon"
in the fall of 2001. The overall focus
Christian
with
subtitle),
That
scriptures.
the
and
Israelite-Jewish
notions
that keeps
contributions
tional symposium held in T?bingen

is on
The
"demons."
a kind
contributions.
diverse
quite
the
serve
early
the Helle
two
and
volume's
on
strong
and systematic treatment of the

and
detailed
G?tter,
G?ttinnen
Kanaans
und
of
presentation
und Gottessymbole.
Israels
aufgrund
the
Neue
bislang
uner
schlossener
Herder, 41998.
Quellen
(QD 134), Freiburg/Basel/Wien:
ikonographischer
see W. Popkes
On monotheism
and R. Brucker
(eds.), Ein Gott und ein Herr. Zum
Kontext
des Monotheismus
im Neuen
Neukirchener
2004.
Verlag
2
See R. Albertz, Religionsgeschichte
G?ttingen:
?
Vandenhoeck
Koninklijke
Also available
Testament
Israels
(BThS
68),
Neukirchen-Vluyn:
in alttestamentlicher
Zeit
(GAT
8),
NUMEN,
Vol.
52
21996.
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
514
Book Reviews
rature.
of
discussion
thorough
and ancient Jewish lite
the NT
in the Hebrew Bible,
relevant material
texts
classical
is offered,
Gen
from
and Ex 4:24-46
(W. H?llstr?ng,
160-181)
(M. K?ckert,
182-196) to 1 Cor 8 und 10 (P. Lampe, 584-599). Although the perspec
tive of the history of religions stands back against an exegetical view
and thus of the
point, it helps to draw an image of demonology
32:23-33
topic.
anthology's
In
this
that one
clear
it becomes
respect,
cannot
with
of demons
speak
regard to the ancient Egyptian (D. Kurth, 45-60) and Phoenician-Punic

religions (H.P. M?ller, 108-121), just as there do not exist any clear-cut
demon figures in pre-exilic Israel. Accordingly, K. van der Toorn (61-83)
in Babylonian and Assyrian litera
speaks of an "implicit Demonology"
ture,while Othmar Keel (211-238) can find no more than "weak signs for
at
Near
ancient
if one
least
East,
the authors
follows
the Zoroastrian
only
of
this
the
of
In
anthology.
a
has
religion
names
for the emergence
is crucial
This
world-view.
here
Keel
world-view."
dualistic
strongly
a dualistic
point:
?
demology
of
the construction
decisive
the
demo
dualistic
nology (G. Ahn, 122-136). Moreover, in the religious history of Israel,

demonology is linked to the evolution of a dualistically stamped world,
which is again linked to the theoretical monotheism of the post-exile age
(A.
H.-J.
254-268;
Lange,
also
but
as
Finally,
the
regards
litera
age, one finds not only a dualistically structured
ture of the Hellenistic

world-view,
269-291).
Fabry,
a clear
and
richly
illustrated
of demons,
presentation
be it in the Book Tobit (B. Ego, 309-317), in the Book of Giants (L.T.
Stuckenbruck, 318-338), or in the Book of Jubilees (J.C. Vanderkam,
339-364). Qumran already hosts exorcistic texts (see E. Eshel, 395-^415
that are similar to those characteristic of
und H. Lichtenberger, 416-421)

Testament.
the New
classic
view
on exorcism
the
However,
the contributions
In part,
authors
some
place
differ
in the New
and demonology
on
emphasis
to a
leads
material
the religious-historical
See
Stuttgart:
Taufe
O.
B?cher,
Katholisches
im Neuen
focus.
constricted
rather
Neue
Das
is of
Testament
Bibelwerk,
Testament
that
(BWANT
interest,
but
92),
Stuttgart
(O. B?cher).3
the
which some
so much
the question
of what
Exorcista.
u.a.:
the
it is not
und die d?monischen

Christus
from
concerning
505-518)
Accordingly,
1972;
clearly
questions
historic Jesus (T. S?ding, 519-549; G.S. Oegema,

times
quite
Testament
M?chte
(SBS
D?monismus
Kohlhammer
1972.
58),
und
515
Reviews
Book
role is assigned to the individual demonic powers in the face of the idea
of theocracy.The concluding contributionby G. Stemberger (636-661) shows
that demons
a minor
only
play
role
in com
literature
in classical-rabbinic
parison to Jewish apocalypticism.

This
strong
anthology's
is its broad
point
of
presentation
mate
relevant
rial; its weak point is the lack of clarification of the concepts used. For
use
should
of
the category
interreligious
It
languages.5
is
thus
or
"Zwischenwesen"
who
assigns"
to apply
no
adequate
to
one
could
can
and
in ancient
of
speak
use
it in
the term designates "the
religion, where
instance,
are
there
term
this
Alternatively,
"Mittlergestalten."6
fateful
more
be
It might
its original sense within Greek

one
"daimon,"
to be found in another of the
questionable
contexts.
non-Christian
and
term
the
Furthermore,
polemics."4
adequate equivalents for this Greek word

ancient
at all
It is a religiously highly charged term and belongs
given its meaning.

"into
one
whether
it is debatable
example,
be
in a way
used
synony
mous with theos (Iliad 3, 418-20). In consequence, demons may stand for
both gods and lesser spirits (Petersen, 38). The lack of a definition results
in a multitude
of
of demonology
Another
up
B.
"demons";
or
demons
Gladigow's
shows
that especially
to fill
in a
issue
discussed
scarcely
"Zwischenwesen"
take
of
interpretations
the question
consequently,
is lost from sight.
In
approach.
"insular
"religious
may
concerns
his
monotheisms"
vacuum"
(3-22).
the
It might
have.
introductory
require
A.K.
to
fruitful
proven
he
contribution,
"concurrent
Petersen
such
that
function
have
polytheisms"
these
complements
thoughts by determining the notion of "demon" as a discursive entity that

serves as a bridge between two otherwise inaccessible worlds (23-41).
Such
a functional
notion
could
be
formulated
even
more
as was
pointedly,
apparently done by religious scholars in the concluding discussion of the
4 P.
Handbuch
"D?mon,"
Habermehl,
Grundbegriffe
religionswissenschaftlicher
at 203 (my translation).
Kohlhammer
1990, 203-207,
II, Stuttgart/Berlin//K?ln:
5
Anchor Bible Dictionary
J.K. Kuemmerlin-McLean,
II, New York,
"Demons,"
at 138f.
etc. 1992, 138-140,
6 For
this, see G. Ahn,
"Grenzg?ngerkonzepte
Engeln,
(eds.),
D?monen,
Engel
geschichtliche
G?tterboten
und D?monen.
Aspekte
des Guten
Theologische,
und B?sen,
Von
in der Religionsgeschichte.
und anderen Mittlerwesen,"
inG. Ahn
anthropologische
M?nster:
Ugarit-Verlag
and M.
und
Dietrich
religions
1997,
1?48.
516
Book
it was
B.
again
no
religion
were
sium
shows,
question
demons.
For
ontology
the predators
participants
the
"actually
M?ller
took
was
point
put
thesis
possible
the
sympo
on
emphasis
experienced
a
and
of
discussion
traditional
that demons
interest
further
rather
up
so
explanations,
of
point
the
of
trollable
the
of
background"
of
the Hellenist
G.J.
"(xi),
human
and K.
fear
van
der Toorn
ascribes
of an unpredictable
and
the
uncon
fate.
the anthology
sum,
ily accessible
reader
man
the early
to the general
of demons
In
"at what
Here,
controllable
that "the demon in its form of an animal of prey is a projection
Baudy
idea
H.P.
example,
was
religion
the concluding
of
and
far
sufficient
raises
that
however,
of
of
This
documentation
"how
and,
to give
capable
(xii).
The
asked
'demon'"
acronym
longer
produced"
research.
who
Gladigow
the narrative
by
of the latter, see xi-xiv).
documentation
(for accompanying
symposium
Reviews
find
will
offers
huge
through the extensive
amount
cross-connections,
interesting
apart
is eas
which
of material,
indices (665-687).
The
from
attentive
information
on
special questions (Satan: Fabry, 276-289; Lilith: Van der Toorn, 67-71).
Not only the 'P' tradition (M. Baucks, 239-253),
but also Josephus
man
the
demonic
within
himself and sees
(R. Deines, 365-394) places
demons
as
elements
of different
However,
not
posed,
more
and
far-reaching
for
except
the
systematic
already
and Petersen and the questioning

(O.
268,
Keel
on
annotation
Universit?t
the
dangerous
in Deuteronomy
religions
197-210) as well as inTertullian (H. Cancik, 447-460).
(U. R?tersw?rden,
concept
of
questions
mentioned
concerning
of conceptions
"demon,"
21 If.;
exegetics
contributions
R.
are
of Gladigow
in individual articles
Deines
on
"exorcism,"
10).
Bremen
P.O. Box 33 04 40
28334 Bremen, Germany
Bernd
U.
Schipper
Brigitte
and
Luchesi
Diskurs
seinem
zu
Stuckrad
(eds.),
in Cultural Discourse.
/ Religion
Kippenberg
von
Kocku
517
Reviews
Book
65.
G.
Festschrift f?r Hans
/ Essays
Geburtstag
im kulturellen
Religion
in Honor
of Hans
G.
of His 65th Birthday (Religionsge

Kippenberg on the Occasion
schichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 52) ?
Berlin, New York:
Walter de Gruyter 2004 (xix, 649p.) ISBN 3-11-017790-0
(hb.)
EUR
German
178,00.
has
(speaking)
recently
a gener
undergone
ation shift following the untimely deaths of Hans-Joachim Klimkeit

(1999) and Fritz Stolz (2001), and the recent retirement of some other
prominent exponents of our discipline, including Burkhard Gladigow
(T?bingen), Michael Pye (Marburg), and Hans Gerhard Kippenberg (Bremen).
a former
Kippenberg,
internationally
owes
editor
renowned
to
much
of
this journal,
German
the Dutch
academic
of
milieu,
contributions
65th
in German,
written
All
scholars.
Israeli)
while
(mainly
also
in Groningen
mixture
equal
are
scholars
by German
are
of
but also Dutch,
American,
papers
remaining
the more
of
Kippenberg
worked
almost
the contributions
the
one
this Festschrift published on
an
presents
birthday,
and non-German
by German
and
Swiss,
his
of
as
religion.
having
for several years in the 1980s. Consequently,

the occasion
out
stands
scholars
in English.
Interes
tingly,Luther H. Martin is the only scholar contributing to this Festschrift

who also contributed to that published in honour of Michael Pye. This
fact is a telling sign of the heterogeneity and diversity of the discipline in
not
Germany,
a recent
ing
to mention
picture
of
its internal
the honouree
rifts. Unfortunately,
and
tors do not provide any bibliographical

even
demic
the date
of his
To
genealogy.
birthday
is disclosed
for
compensate
selected
includ
although
the edi
bibliography,
information on Kippenberg ?
?
or
this, many
clues
any
of
as
not
aca
to his
the contributions
take
up threads from his oeuvre or follow up projects inwhich he was involved

as
a colleague,
or
mentor
supervisor.
Three papers (all by German contributors) can be placed within the

"visible religion" project that Kippenberg was instrumental in launching
while
"alien
ception
still at Groningen. Hubert Cancik

images,"
of
arguing
religions
that
they
in antiquity,
are
that
"alien
as both a tempting reward and a hostile

?
Koninklijke
available
Also
Brill NV, Leiden

(2005)
ideas about
discusses Talmudic
a paradigm
images"
for
the
could
reciprocal
be
per
perceived
threat; and that the attitudes

NUMEN,
Vol.
52
518
Book Reviews
displayed in the two Talmudic treatises range from pragmatism to aggres

sive denial (287). Peter Br?unlein makes an attempt tomeet the challenge
the so-called
by
represented
"iconic
in the study
turn"
of religion.
con
He
vincingly argues that this challenge requires a radical rethinking of the

of
interdependencies
constitute,
practices
ums
(574)
in Germany,1
?
namely
can
sanctuaries
bled
be
by
tourists;
and
action;
emotionally
affiliation
that
(a)
of
that
and
images
a
strengthen
curios
churches,
and
and
religious
visual
of
type
specific
la
museums
and
other
right.
they
as museums
and
She
space"
other
assem
by
obtained
booty
institutions;
religious
from "sacred
transformations
and
since
used
loot
contain
in their own
spaces
lettre
are
they
of muse
heritage
monasteries,
temples,
avant
because
monasteries,
cultic
threefold
as museums
that many
(b)
are
to the
points
churches,
robbing
that museums
torical
and
regarded
sort
different
modern
and
image,
(225). Sabine Offe, the author of an insightfulbook on Jewish
knowledge
museums
text,
convey
(c)
illustrates
and
the his
muse
to "profane"
ums with three examples: Boull?e's 1783 concept of a museum, Schinkels

1830 "Altes Museum" and Liebekinds JewishMuseum in Berlin.
A
number
of
found
Herrmann
modern
age
Schulz's
way,
Gary
John Henry Newman

of
concept
"multiple
paper
on
cultural
sense
Lease
of,
reflects
and Charles Davis.
and
religious
on
the
ideas
Lehmann
(or
cepts
religion,"
discusses
the advantages
on
and
the "return/revival
Kohl begins with Karl Marx's

capital
cross
would
national
of
tone.
the
In his
theologians
the "far-reaching
and
religion."2
reconsti
settings" (337), while

of
disadvantages
"secularisation,"
models)
historiographical
in the
Shmuel Eisenstadt employs his
tution of the religious component in new modern

Hartmut
of
age.
pluralism
the apodictic
despite
to reflect
modernities"
in the modern
interest
Kippenberg's
to make
difficult
characteristic
share
papers
the con
"transformation
of
Karl-Heinz
Anthropologist
prediction that the destructive powers of
borders.
In actual
reality,
however,
the glob
alisation ofWestern capitalism and technology did not lead to a complete

Westernisation of the world. Kohl distinguishes between three forms of
S. Offe,
Ausstellungen,
Einstellungen,
Berlin
and Wien
2000.
Deutschland,
2
See
also H. Lehmann,
S?kularisierung:
Sachen
Religion,
G?ttingen
2004.
Entstellungen:
Der
Museen
in
Sonderweg
in
J?dische
europ?ische
"ethnic"
zierung"
(the
cultures,
for
and
tions),
the
generally
example
and
what
with
type of book,
this
studies
previous
tant
of Max
on
remarks
the
on
work
Weber's
of
implications
foreign
emphatic
tradi
suppressed
reduction"
own
ber of "predictable" contributions.Wolfgang
of
(the
or
blocked
"fundamentalist
Nostrifi
elements
reconstructions
of
of one's
origins"
the case
is often
the
of
appropriation
revitalisation
terms
he
"kulturelle
globalisation:
cultural
cargo-cults),
to the "pure
returning
of
process
unconscious
reinvention,
recovery,
As
to
reaction
519
Reviews
Book
(the
of
quest
tradition).
the volume
a num
contains
Schluchter follows up on his

ancient
the often
Judaism
(with
misunderstood
impor
of
concept
"Entzauberung"); Robert Segal presents yet another paper on Tylor (this

time challenging Kippenberg's
reading of Tylor); Hans Penner again
on
draws
the holistic
of
theory
to offer
in order
semantics
the advice
that
"to know themeaning of a myth is very simple; just read it" (164); and
Strenski
undertakes
ing of Hubert
and Mauss'
Ivan
both
and
or model
as
tices
that programme,
applies
again
torians
from
comparativists
similarities
those
as
this
once
in an
time
the
lines"
more
read
the
promotes
by
relieve
that might
distributed
universally
"prayer,"
"to
effort
data
cultural
seeking
such
among
categorized
"between
Lawson
for the History of Religion," while Luther
so-called "Cognitive Science

Martin
Tom
Sacrifice.
and
"plain"
explain
prac
religious
their data
organizing
his
according
to predictable patterns of human cognition" (124). Martin Riesebrodt

(whose book suggesting a new theory of religion is eagerly expected)
tackles the issue of universality from a refreshingly different angle: He
counters
a "referential"
sketching
that
and
con
the
of
universality
including
on
that draws
of religion
institutions
relations,
reciprocal
the possible
advanced by, amongst others, Talal Asad)
concept
actors
"religious"
diverse
of
scepticism
post-modern
cept of religion (as it was
each
recognized
and
polemics
by
the observation
as
other
in
such
syn
competition,
cretism and identifications, and political statements (royal edicts). In order

to avoid
the
construct,
wider
criticism
range
issue
what
iments
of
(mainly
to Strenski's
sacrifice
I consider
with
the notion
of pre-modern,
In addition
the
that
Riesebrodt
are
non-European
paper,
grouped
is a modern
religion
on
older
other
in a
section
and
essay,
religion
David
"the making
to a
events.
that touch
contributions
on
European
refers
literature)
religions
some
contrastive
?
of sacrificere
stimulating
the concept
drawing
of
and
Frankfurter
sacred
upon
violence.
of
exper
something
In
520
Book Reviews
by (or for) transferring it to a separate, divine realm"

stresses
the often
fact
overlooked
that
is not
sacrifice
(511)
"a
only
rendering things to the divine world but, perhaps more

sacred
producing
mation"
The
(513).
"sacrifices":
Christian
early
on
on
remarks
Islam
with
suicide
on modern
the motivations
Tilman
Shiites,
than with
and
or monstrous
pertinent
to
in order
most
While
the case
discusses
in a
i.e.
Algeria,
some
philological
of martyrs.
Hannemann
of
various
combines
et Felicitatis,
Perpetuae
how
the bodies
polluting
with
transfor
paper,
hand,
Jan Bremmer
bombers
in colonial
self-sacrifice
of
ritual
from
the one
destruction
suicide
regarding
are
on
of
process
above)
residues
contribution,
sanctarum
martyrs
religious
and
In another
of
defined
(as
consecrated
and martyrs
annihilation
conclusions
lucidly
and
importantly, of
in his
sketches
"sacrificing"
of
saints,
the Passio
some
draw
of
the
the other.
remarks
general
that he
production
ascetics,
for
examples
bodies
to do
the
in the course
this world
for
processes
more
have
ever,
materials
context.
Sunni
(I
find it difficult to follow Hannemann when he argues that the actors were
Ideal" in their actions.) Both
guided by a "humanistisch-politisches
Bremmer
vation"
rather
den
the
investigate
provides
of
meanings"
(myth-ritual)
religious
of
the question
would,
Kippenberg
"subjective
a
with
concerned
whereas
the martyrs,
Bosch
are
Hannemann
and
of
following
the
the
Max
"moti
Weber,
van
Lourens
agents.3
of
interpretation
the atroci
ties committed by the Indian "brotherhood" of the Thugs, who would

murder
from
distant
(However,
I do
travellers
Kali.
goddess
and
regions
not
agree
quite
van
with
to the
their victims
"sacrifice"
den
Bosch's
inter
pretation of the omens, since they not only dispelled doubts and pacified
of
the consciences
obvious
mandments,
the Thugs,
that would
troubles
as
elements
reintroducing
van
require
den
Bosch
them
to
of
no mention
See
H.-G.
of
"invention"
whatsoever
Sleeman's
dating
an
to be
of
thuggee
involvement
Kippenberg,
Spiritual Manual
4 K.
"The Deconstructed
Wagner,
Asian
Studies
38
(2004)
931-68,
com
the very
Stranglers:
on
A Reassessment
thuggee."4
the Path
(2005)
is
"there
in material
practice
52
as
Sleeman,
to eradicate
that it is a Raid
of 9/11," Numen
953.
officer
a religious
in the campaign
"'Consider
of the Attackers
created
has recently been questioned and
the colonial
as
also
the divine
Moreover,
contingency.)
idea of a religious basis for Thuggee

revealed
but
argues,
transgress
of God':
pre
The
The
29-58.
of Thuggee,"
Modern
521
Reviews
Book
only other paper dealing with India is Brigitte Luchesi's detailed report
on the erection of a temple dedicated to Siva in the North-Indian village
of Vahisht,
to which
The
is rich
report
in drawing
itant
The
as
are
already
on
Bremen
hes
above.
Offe's
Republic
to place
this
a further
some
provides
essay
one
unfor
in an
project
on
an
the muse
of
in Bremen
developed
?
of Germany
but
education
(Personally,
to address
study
Lott
J?rgen
stu
and
colleagues
the opportunity
above.
provides
years.
somewhat
these.
in German.)
attempting
Brunotte
Ulrike
details,
missed
religious
in recent
but
those mentioned
of
authors
in the Federal
so without
context.
tional
of
city-states
does
tunately
some
mentioned
the model
three
the
from
by writing
been
of field-trips
series
and minute
of Kippenberg's
these
that
readership
has
thoughts
of
as
predictable
international
ums
some
of
it a pity
consider
made
conclusions
strong
contributions
dents
has
she
in observations
interna
"M?nnerb?nde"
and ritual theory in the early 20th century as a preliminary study for her
recent
on
book
recent
issue.5
the
of
transformations
Muslims
young
have
Frese
Hans-Ludwig
in the German
"Islam"
finally
of
part
how
showing
diaspora,6
to become
managed
on
comments
insightfully
the core
of
soci
ety, how they develop new forms of political and religious agency and
how
some
"Islamic"
Bernd
movement.
Schipper
from
the
study
of
an
provides
character
the
interesting
of
civil-rights
reading
apocalyptical
(Die R?ttin, 1986) that nicely illustrates how
of a novel by G?nter Grass

results
assume
organisations
the
literary
and
genre
discursive
styles
of
apoc
shed
alypses from antiquity (studied among others by Kippenberg) may

light
on modern
all
While
literature.
these
focus
papers
on
two
Europe,
further
can
papers
be
explicitly situated within the emerging paradigm of a religious history of

Europe ("Europ?ische Religionsgeschichte")7 which is now being further
5 See
U.
Brunotte,
Berlin
Moderne,
6 See
also
authentischer
2002.
7 As
his
junger
und Krieg:
M?nnerbund
und Ritual
in der
edited
Frese,
"Den
t?rkischer Muslime
Islam
ausleben".
in der Diaspora,
Konzepte
Bielefeld
of a European
the concept
history was
religious
a
Reli
in
the
book
Lokale
seminal
article
in
Gladigow
in
Luchesi
1995.
and
by Kippenberg
programme,
by Burkhard
gionsgeschichte,
Eros
H.-L.
dissertation:
Lebensf?hrung
a research
formulated
Zwischen
2004.
522
Book
even outside
developed
mosaic
of
of Germany.8 Christoph Auffarth presents a
and
reflections
Reviews
on
observations
the Cathars,
in his
culminating
claim that the study of religions inmodernity is in need of a systematic

with
comparison
and
pre-modern
non-monotheistic
to be
in order
religions
able to properly describe religion in themodern world (303). In his con

tribution on the religious innovations initiated by Aleister Crowley,
model
Kippenberg's
and
ity"
rather
student
Kocku
should
be
"Paganism"
than mutually
ing with
exclusive,
the notion
everything
there
Kuiper's
review
voked
is a welcome
discursively
introduces
in one
what
from
books
major
contribution
to
interdependent,
of operat
of a "Chris
which encompasses
or another
"Christian
and
the volume,
it
seem,
Is
semantics"?
Yme
discourse"?
the
to,
referring
may
suggestion
a "Christian
constitutes
apart
of Ginzburg's
that
"Christian
instead
the notion
way
as
Elegant
semantics"
"Christian
or
that
argues
Furthermore,
he
from,
(320).
the question
raises
inevitably
as
("christliches Diskursfeld"),
emerging
semantics"
"Christian
Stuckrad
concepts.
of "Christianity,"
tian field of discourse"

virtually
von
considered
reactions
they
Carlo
Ginzburg's
since
pro
work was prominent in furthering the study of religions in European his

tory, and
not
just
by
professional
historians.
Gustavo
Finally,
Benavides'
essay on Rudolf Otto and Carl Schmitt links historical and theoretical
perspectives.
Kippenberg
proposed
of Tylor's
reinterpretation
of
concept
"sur
vivals," an interpretation that has been challenged by Segal in this

Festschrift. In what I regard as one of the highlights of this volume,
Burkhard Gladigow tackles the issue from a different angle and proposes
an
term:
alternative
?
chronisms"
"anachronism."
instruments,
such
as
tural
context
that
is characteristic
metaphors,10
(or)
of
that are perceived

do
for
not
occur
to Gladigow,
According
modes
actions,9
to be
older
accidentally,
"professional"
and
religion.
are
Less
"ana
devices
conceptual
than
but
such
the respective
part
of
compelling,
cul
strategy
how
thesis that this is part and parcel of the specific func

ever, is Gladigow's
tion of religion in the framework of specialised differentiation of cultural
8
Olav
Hammer
and Tim
Jensen
(Odense,
Denmark)
international
"Research
Network
for the European
History
9
fire by "archaic"
in rituals.
E.g. making
techniques
10
as a shepherd
in the context
E.g.,
referring to a God
have
recently
formed
an
of Religions."
of the industrial world.
Book
and
sub-systems,
reversed
that this process
of functional
line
In this
in religion.
523
Reviews
of
is somehow
differentiation
are
"anachronisms"
thinking,
an a pri
ori condition of religion (13).

a
As
and
assistant
by making
some
student
career
his
of Carsten
Hans
Colpe,
started
Kippenberg
to
contributions
important
the
reli
of
study
gions in antiquity,11 and he is one of the few scholars who master the
fields of both ancient and modern religions. Some contributions to his
Festschrift deal with religions of antiquity. In addition to those already
mentioned
Frankfurter,
(Cancik,
Bremmer),
J?rg
contributes
R?pke
highly stimulating essay in which he illustrates how theoretical insights

from sociology and anthropology fall on fertile ground when applied to
Roman
including
Fritz
stelae,
secrecy
religion
up
and
in Roman
the questions
addressing
so-called
the
another
to distinguish
students
organisations
reli
Anatolian
confes
oeuvre:
of Kippenberg's
thread
secret
of
religions.12
years,
has
Kippenberg
law.13
and
By
in Christianity
takes
and
groups
Christianity.
Graf
in ancient
In recent
on
early
modern
challenges
different
confessions
public
sion
he
time,
between
clearly
gion,
and
This
religion.
more
In
been
in research
involved
increasingly
this Festschrift,
Winnifred
Fallers
ven
Sullivan14
tures to ally herself "with those who believe that a real change has
inwhich the break-up of the
occurred in the last fifty to hundred years?
colonial
the
empires,
triumph
of
explanation
for human
motivation,
the modern
confidence
in free
at
least
is necessary
when
the market,
religion
United
so
has
the
in the rule
and
States
the pace
and
eroded
of
conditions
of
law,
and
for
that caution
to promote
is mobilized
power
scientific
their extension" (611).
11
See
also
his masterpiece
Die
vorderasiatischen
in ihrem
Erl?sungsreligionen
mit der antiken Stadtherrschaft,

Frankfurt
1991.
Zusammenhang
12
See the volume Secrecy and concealment:
studies in the history ofMediterranean
and Near
1995.
13 See
Eastern
the volume
berg co-edited
14
See also
dom,
religions
Princeton
Die
with Gunnar
her
recently
2005.
co-edited
verrechtlichte
Folke
by Kippenberg
Religion,
and Guy
T?bingen
2005,
G.
Stroumsa
which
Kippen
Schuppert.
published
volume
The
impossibility
of religious
free
in
524
Book
Reviews
Some of the 32 essays compiled by Brigitte Luchesi

are
Stuckrad
very
In his
materials.
empirical
the verdict
an
to honour
occasion
academic
ally
enemies
not
on
the
"family
this
rather
on
type
than
von
and Kocku
of
"Festschriften"
these
for
and
thoughts
the
second
edi
within
a Festschrift
"Because
to which
critique,
collections
an anthropological
relations"
of volume:
to contribute,
invited
peer-reviewed,
ity .. . [F]rom
about
are
lemma
a wealth
provide
of Religion, however, von Stuckrad has himself
tion of the Encyclopedia

pronounced
and
stimulating
and
are
rather
friends
because
are
articles
of mixed
academic
is
than
usu
qual
perspective, Festschriften tell a lot

the
academic
community:
con
Who
tributes to a given volume and who does not?" (vol. 5, p. 3041) This
review
may
have
provided
some
such
clues.
And
it may
remind us of the inspiring qualities Hans Kippenberg

scholar,
colleague,
also
serve
personified
and mentor.
Dept. of the History of Religions

0isteinsgate 3
5007 Bergen
Norway
Michael.Stausberg@krr.uib.no
Michael
Stausberg
to
as
to your
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The Brill Dictionary
ofReligion
Edited byKocku von Stuckrad

Original German edition edited by Christoph Auffarth, Jutta Bernard
and Hubert Mohr
The new and impressivelycomprehensiveBrillDictionaryofReligionaddresses
religion as an element of daily lifeand public discourse. Richly illustratedand
withmore than 500 entries,the dictionary is amulti
media
reference
source
on the many
and various
forms
of religious commitment. It isunusual in that itnot

only addresses the differenttheologies and doctrinal
declarations of the official institutionalizedreligions
but italso gives equal weight and consideration to a
multiplicityof other religiousphenomena.
perceive
People
and express
religious
experiences
inmany different
ways: throughdance, sensuality,
in relations
between
sexes and
in compassion
at
death. Religions help determine how people form

and perceive their identityas part of a social group.
The diverse effectsof religions can also be perceived
in the environment,
society
and
the public
sphere.
The BrillDictionary ofReligion helpsmap out and

define the networks and connections created by
various
religions
in contemporary
societies,
and
providesmodels forunderstanding these complex

phenomena.
The unexpectedstrenqht
ofreligionsintheworld today
a new kmdofdictionary.
ThenewBrillDictionary
requires
ofReligionanswersthatneed. Insteadofconveyingreligious
itfocuseson
of theirpresentsignificance
subjectsindependent
issuesthataffectreligionsandar? affected
contemporary
by
them;itdissectshistoricalnotions?hatfeed theillusionofa
itevaluatesmethodsand
timelesstradition(e.g. 'gnosticism');
on religions
theoriesintermsoftheircapacitytoshed light
inourculture;itdisclosestheimpact
modernityhas on
what
seems to be old. Labor migration, media,
violence,
law,
bvoethicsi
theseand othercontemporary
phenomenaare the
new arenasofreligions.
are
Religions enteringthepublic realm;theBr?t?
Dictionaryof
Religionaccompaniestheprocessand helps theusergraspingit!
Prof.Hans G. Kippenberg,Max Weber Center,Universityof Erfurt
December 2005
ISBN 90 04 12433 0
Clotwith dustjacket,(4 elements)
Listprice EUR 499.- / US$ 599.
Introductoryprice EUR 399.- /US$ 499.
All pricesare subjectto changewithoutpriornotice.Prices do not includeVAT (applicable only to residentsof the
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CONTENTS
Articles
David B. Gray, Disclosing theEmpty Secret: Textuality and
.
Embodiment in theCakrasamvara Tantra
Anders Lisdorf, The Conflict over Cicero's House: An Analysis of
.
445
417
Jesper S0rensen, Religion inMind: A Review Article of the

.
465
.
Obituaries
495
Book Reviews
Philip
Dream
Jenkins,
Catchers.
How
Mainstream
America
.
Leif Carlsson, Round Trips toHeaven, Otherworldly Travelers in
.
498
500

.
504
Herrmann-Pfandt)

.
506
(Annemarie Mertens)
(eds.),
Die
D?monen.
Demons.
Die
D?monologie
der
israelitisch

Literature
in Context
of
the Environment
(Bernd
U.
....
Schipper)
Brigitte Luchesi and Kocku von Stuckrad (eds.), Religion im

kulturellen Diskurs / Religion inCultural Discourse. Festschrift
f?r Hans
G.
Kippenberg
zu
seinem
65.
Geburtstag
ofHans G. Kippenberg on theOccasion

.
517
Honor
/ Essays
ofHis 65th
in
513

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NVM

SPECIALISSUE: RELIGIONAND VIOLENCE

should be completely ready for printing.Articles should not be longer than

side of the paper.

The article should contain a summary in English of about 250 words.

Titles of books and journals mentioned should be in italics (in manuscripts

for the whole

in time, the Editors

to the printers. Due

201/US$ 251 for institutions and EUR 99/US$124 for individuals.

Brill Academic Publishers

Brill Academic PublishersInc.

Tel: +31 71 535 35 66

Tel: (617) 263 2323

Fax: +31 71 531 75 32

Religiousness of Violence ................................

Steve BRUCE,Religion and Violence: What Can Sociology Offer? ....

of God": The SpiritualManual of the Attackersof 9/11 ..............

and Religion: Identity,Power, Privilege and Difference

Jiinger on Human Sacrifice, 1937-1945 ........................................

D. Jason Slone, Theological Incorrectness.WhyReligious People

Publications Received ..................................................................

THE RELIGIOUSNESSOF VIOLENCE

Comparethe positions advancedin two recent works: Hans G. Kippenbergand

of the claim that "religion"is a Westerncreation2- an examination

This is the conclusion reached independentlyin Daniel Dubuisson, L'Occident

against orthopraxicalreligions such as Hinduism as well as against

Brekke's discussion of the sacrificialnatureof battle (yuddhayajia)

An issue left unexploredis whetherthe violence found in the legend of Master

Also availableonline- www.brill.nl

lining of religion, and create imagined communities that attribute

What Can Sociology Offer?

supportthe use of vigilanteviolence?And we can comparethe actions

What Can Sociology Offer?

both a limitation and a considerable strengthof sociology that it is

defend the true faith against the encroachmentsof Catholicism and

What Can Sociology Offer?

they attackedthe Darkley,CountyArmagh,PentecostalChurchduring a church service.

If the state abandonsthe citizen then the citizen is released from

opposed to the terrorismused by loyalist groups such as the Ulster

What Can Sociology Offer?

recognitionof this choreographythe rest of the picket would disperse

are men willing to do the job of exterminatingthe IRA. Recruitthem

What Can Sociology Offer?

terrorism.It could be arguedthat by frequentlyeliding Catholicism

What Can Sociology Offer?

God the criterionfor salvation.The groupwas also rejectedby the main

defined threat.In NorthernIrelandthe true believers could plausibly

What Can Sociology Offer?

by violence, it is often self- ratherthan other-directed.Adherentsof

What Can Sociology Offer?

religio-ethnicnationalistsbut in orderto do so convincinglythey have

Separation of Churchand State

What Can Sociology Offer?

people being saved (andhave badgeredthe unGodly)strictlyspeaking

I am not sure about the uniquenessof this broadeningof worship.

What Can Sociology Offer?

matic Imam is not the same as Mawdudi's vision of the community

that Protestantismis unusually well suited to the catacombs.Walzer

For my purposesthe same observationcan be readin reverseorder.