Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production : Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production

The cultural products of new religions and spiritualities are frequently ignored or dismissed within academia, often stemming from a hesitation to acknowledge these movements as genuine. This volume explores the impact of new religions upon cultural production, exemplifying the theological and spiritual principles of particular movements and demonstrating their substantial impact on wider society. Contributions explore the realms of music, architecture, food, art, books, films, video games, and more. This scholarship will be of interest to those who wish to explore the gamut of modern religious expression, and those who wish to broaden their knowledge of the spiritual origins of human culture. Contents 6 Acknowledgements 12 Contributors 14 List of Illustrations 28 Introduction 32 Part One The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 48 “Build a House to My Name”: The Idea of the Temple in Mormon History 50 Mormon Science Fiction: Tales of Interstellar Exodus and Perfection 70 Knock Knocking on Heaven’s Door: Humour and Religion in Mormon Comedy 102 Part Two The Theosophical Society 130 Producing Lost Civilisations: Theosophical Concepts in Literature, Visual Media and Popular Culture 132 The Agency of the Object: Leadbeater and the Pectoral Cross 164 Theosophical Bodies: Colour, Shape and Emotion from Modern Aesthetics to Healing Therapies 184 Part Three Anthroposophy 202 “And the Building Becomes Man”: Meaning and Aesthetics in Rudolf Steiner’s Goetheanum 204 The Anthroposophical Movement and the Waldorf Educational System 224 Cosmic Flavour, Spiritual Nutrition?: The Biodynamic Agricultural Method and the Legacy of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy in Viticulture 244 Part Four The Gurdjieff Work 266 Gurdjieff and the Legomonism of ‘Objective Reason’ 268 G. I. Gurdjieff’s Piano Music and its Application In and Outside ‘the Work’ 302 Gurdjieff’s Sacred Dances and Movements 328 From Ouspensky’s ‘Hobby’ to Groundhog Day: The Production and Adaptation of Strange Life of Ivan Osokin 362 Part Five Modern Paganism 380 Paganism-Inspired Folk Music, Folk Music-Inspired Paganism and New Cultural Fusions in Lithuania and Latvia 382 Bardic Chairs and the Emergent Performance Practices of Paganism 430 Making the Donkey Visible: Discordianism in the Works of Robert Anton Wilson 452 Part Six Afro-Caribbean New Religions 474 ‘When the Gods give us the Power of Ashe’: Caribbean Religions as the Source for Creative Energy 476 Candomblé and the Brazilians: The Impact of Art on a Religion’s Success Story 494 Identity, Subversion, and Reconstruction ‘Riddims’: Reggae as Cultural Expressions of Rastafarian Theology 526 Part Seven New Religious Techniques And Technologies 550 Dancing at the Crossroads of Consciousness: Techno-Mysticism, Visionary Arts and Portugal’s Boom Festival 552 Metal and Magic: The Intricate Relation Between the Metal Band Therion and the Magic Order Dragon Rouge 584 Battlefield Earth and Scientology: A Cultural/Religious Industry à la Frankfurt School? 614 Part Eight New Universal Religions 630 The Bahá’í House of Worship: Localisation and Universal Form 632 Constructing the Cornucopia That Is Caodaism: Themes of Cultural Production in an Increasingly Acephalous Milieu 664 The Cultural Products of Global Sufism 690 Food Practices, Culture, and Social Dynamics in the Hare Krishna Movement 712 Part Nine Modern Christian Offshoots 734 The Manifestation of Queer Theology: The Act of “Promulgating Universal Joy and Expiating Stigmatic Guilt” Through the (Re)Inscription of Rituals, Artefacts, Devotional Practices and Place 736 Visualizing the Lost Temple and Mapping a Straightening World in Solomon Islands: Two Cultural Products of the Deep Sea Canoe Movement 768 Visible Religion, Visible Spirituality: Boundary Management and the Life of Images 784 Index 806 This volume fills a lacuna in the academic assessment of new religions by investigating their cultural products (such as music, architecture, food et cetera). Contributions explore the manifold ways in which new religions have contributed to humanity's creative output.