ritual – RCS

Metaphors of the religious ritual discourse

Aleksandr Michaylovich Prilutskiy, doctor in philosophy, professor, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (naberezhnaya reki Moiki, 48/20a, Saint-Petersburg, Russia,191186)
alpril@mail.ru

Prilutsky А. М. Metaphors of the religious ritual discourse, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2013, vol. 2, pp. 21–37.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2013-00008

Language: Russian

The article is devoted to the analysis of feature of metaphors in the language of religious rituals with different methods of semiotic and hermeneutic research. The author comes to the conclusion that precisely through metaphorizing revealed deep sense of religious rituals.

Key words: metaphor, symbol, semantics, desemantization, ritual, prayer

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/prilutskiy-2013-en/

Psychology of ritual and magic

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Grigorenko Andrey Yur’evich, PhD in philosophy, professor, The Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (Moika Embankment, dom 48, korpus 20a, St. Petersburg, Russia, 191186)
relig-rgpu@yandex.ru

Grigorenko A. Yu. Psychology of ritual and magic, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2013, vol. 2, pp. 12–20.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2013-00013

Language: Russian

The article analyses psychology of magic and religion. The ritual behavior of both animals and men is investigated.

Key words: magic, ritual, religion, psychology, physiology, ethology, animal, man

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/grigorenko-2013-en/

Classical German Philosophy as a theoretical source of modern religious studies

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Grigorenko A. Yu. Classical German Philosophy as a theoretical source of modern religious studies, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2012, vol. 1, pp.12–21.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2012-00013

Language: Russian

The author evaluates the contribution made by Classical German Philosophy to religious studies that became a separate discipline. The case of nature and origin of magic is examined.

Immanuel Kant was the first to draw attention to the specific character of magic. The difference between Christianity and early forms of religious consciousness was viewed by him as mere formal, not a matter of principle. According G. W. F. Hegel, the primitive religious stage was the religion of nature. It should be characterized mostly not by fear but by human self-assurance in absolute dominion over nature. The «spirit» (taken as an instrument) was set above matter. G. W. F. Hegel distinguished the stages of direct and mediate sorcery. Objectivation of the universal was the third stage; further development would have made a man an instrument of a higher being. G. W. F. Hegel anticipated scholars’ conclusions about instrumental theory of magic (20th C.). It was proposed that magic had been used to supply human actions with primitive tools, because the result was not assured and foreseeable. In the article, G. W. F. Hegel is called a founder of «cognitive religious studies.» There is a view that a primitive man understood cause and effect, natural phenomena incorrectly. The philosopher defined sorcery as the first savage form of religion that should not be virtually called as such, since religion does not imply human power and might. L. Feuerbach concurred with this view and defined magic as «nonreligious form of religion» for in religion itself the power was thought to be transferred to something beyond human beings.

Key words: religious studies, magic, sorcery, I. Kant, G. W. F. Hegel, L. Feuerbach, J. Frazer

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/grigorenko-a-yu-2012-en/

On the temporal specific of religious ritual

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Prilutskiy Aleksandr Michaylovich, PhD, professor, The Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (St. Petersburg, Russia), alpril@mail.ru

Prilutskiy A. M. On the temporal specific of religious ritual, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2014, vol. 3, pp. 18–33.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2014-00002

Language: Russian

The article focuses on the study of the category of time in the discourse of ritual. In spite of religious ritual being well-studied, its semiotic structure lacks analyzes. Contemporary study of ritual in terms of ethnography and anthropology should be supplemented with the concepts of theology and philosophy of religion. In order to examine essence of internal time of ritual scholars should use not only ethnographical methods, but ones of theology and semiotics. The author argues that internal time of ritual acts not only as a context in which ritual reveals its important elements, but has an independent value. In the text of ritual, as well as in other types of texts, internal time is transmitted through a variety of methods and generated at different textual levels — grammatical, lexical, philosophical and theological. Symbolic language of ritual is also manifested at different levels and can be expressed through a variety of discursive and over-discursive elements. Category of time in ritual can also be expressed symbolically. So, the author states that internal time of ritual is not a single continuum: both linguistic and ontological time construct internal time of the text, which is the product of their dialectical correlation. Ritual builds a unique time model, where sacred past and sacred future don’t correspond with any ordinary or grammatical time.

Key words: ritual, semiotics, God, religion, literature, text

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/prilutskiy-2014-en/

The Cardinal of Lorraine and the liturgy in Reims

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Bruno Restif PhD in History, associate professor, University of Reims (Boulevard de la Paix, 9, Reims, France, 51100), bruno.restif@wanadoo.fr

Restif B. The Cardinal of Lorraine and the liturgy in Reims, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2016, vol. 5, pp. 136–157.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2016-00008

Language: English

Charles of Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine, archbishop of Reims since 1538 until his death in 1574, was a major, but complex and enigmatic character, whose capacity to develop several strategies according to changing circumstances, in France and Europe baffled both his contemporaries and historians. The research on the liturgical policy he conducted in his city, diocese and ecclesiastical province of Reims provides better understanding of Cardinal’s aims and level of seriousness. This investigation is rather instructive, because the history of liturgy has been neglected by historians of the Early modern time, whereas it played a central role in the diocesan religious life and in the confessional conflicts of the 16^th century. The parochial manual printed in 1554 reveals an enterprise of moderate, gallican and diocesan reform, which, while perfectly Orthodox also developed the use of the French language. The provincial Council of 1564 was a Tridentine turn, but also a logical continuation of the liturgical reform of the 1550’s, aiming desirable purification of chanting and developing a dream of returning to the antique custom. Finally, the processions clearly expressed the personal devotions of the Cardinal of Lorraine, especially to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Holy Cross, as well as the penitential aspect of the last years of his life.

Key words: Catholic Reformation, Council of Trent, local policy, liturgy, ritual, sacraments, chanting, processions, French language, Blessed Sacrament, penitential devotion

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/restif-b-2016-en/