Handbook of Nordic New Religions (Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion, 11)

When James R. Lewis, one of the editors of the current collection, first moved to Norway in late 2009, he was unprepared to discover that so many researchers in Nordic countries were producing innovative scholarship on new religions and on the new age subculture. In fact, over the past dozen years or so, an increasingly disproportionate percentage of new religions scholars have arisen in Nordic countries and teach at universities in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Baltic countries. Nordic New Religions, co-edited with Inga B. Tøllefsen, surveys this rich field of study in this area of the world, focusing on the scholarship being produced by scholars in this region of northern Europe. Introduction Part 1: Denmark 1 Mikael Rothstein: The Study of New Religions in Denmark: A Brief and Subjective Research History 1985–2014 2 Olav Hammer: Old New Religions in Scandinavia 3 Sara Møldrup Thejls: MISA and Natha: The Peculiar Story of a Romanian Tantric Yoga School 4 Margit Warburg: The Baha’is of the North 5 Kjersti Hellesøy and James R. Lewis: Danish Dianetics: Scholarship in the Church of Scientology in Scandinavia Part 2: Finland 6 Tommy Ramstedt: The Study of New Religious Movements in Finland: An Overview of Previous Research 7 Jussi Sohlberg and Kimmo Ketola: From Western Esotericism to New Spirituality: The Diversity of New Age in Finland 8 Måns Broo, Marcus Moberg, Terhi Utriainen and Tommy Ramstedt: Diversification, Mainstreaming, Commercialization, and Domestication – New Religious Movements and Trends in Finland 9 Terhi Utriainen: Combining Christianity and New Age Spirituality: Angel Relation in Finland Part 3: Norway 10 Ingvild Sælid Gilhus and Lisbeth Mikaelsson: The Study of New Religiosity in Norway 11 Siv Ellen Kraft: Royal Angels in the News: The Case of Märtha Louise, Astarte Education and the Norwegian News Press 12 Anne Kalvig: The Spiritist Revival: The Rising Voice of Popular Religion 13 Ann Kristin Eide: Studying Up, Down, Sideways and Through: Re-presenting Seeking in a Norwegian Setting 14 Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen: The Art of Living Foundation in Norway: Indigenization and Continuity 15 Margrethe Løøv: Acem: Disenchanted Meditation 16 Asbjørn Dyrendal: Norwegian ‘Conspirituality’ A Brief Sketch 17 Trude Fonneland: Approval of the Shamanistic Association: A Local Norwegian Construct with Trans-local Dynamics Part 4: Sweden 18 Liselotte Frisk: New Religious Movements and Alternative Spirituality as an Academic Research Field in Sweden – Some Reflections 19 Liselotte Frisk: The New Religious Movements – What Happened to Them? A Study of the Church of Scientology, the Children of God, Iskcon, the Unification Church and the Rajneesh Movement and Their Development over Time 20 Peter Åkerbäck: The Spiritual Revolution, the Swedish Way 21 Brian Arly Jacobsen, Göran Larsson and Simon Sorgenfrei: The Ahmadiyya Mission to the Nordic Countries 22 Erik A.W. Östling: Herald of the Cosmic Brother Hood: The Story of the Swedish Contactee Sten Lindgren 23 Jessica Moberg: Are the Space Brothers Socialists? Swedish Indigenization of the UFO Mythical Complex Part 5: Baltic States and Outside Perspectives 24 Milda Ališauskienė and Massimo Introvigne: Lithuanian Occulture and the Pyramid of Merkinė: Innovation or Continuity? 25 Rasa Pranskevičiūtė: The “Back to Nature” Worldview in Nature-Based Spirituality Movements: The Case of the Anastasians 26 Anita Stasulane: Activity of Hindu-Related Movements and Western Esoteric Groups in Latvia 27 Ringo Ringvee: New Religious Movements and New Age in Estonia 28 Murphy Pizza: Fire and Ice in Midvestjard: American Religion and Norse Identitiy in Minnesota’s Heathen Community Over The Past Dozen Years Or So, An Increasingly Disproportionate Percentage Of New Religions Scholars Have Arisen In Nordic Countries, Which Now Teach At Universities In Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden And The Baltic Countries. Nordic New Religions, Co-edited With Inga B. Tøllefsen, Surveys This Rich Field Of Study In This Area Of The World, Focusing On The Scholarship Being Produced By Scholars In This Region Of Northern Europe.