Conference Papers
The following papers have been presented at conferences organized by the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality since its inaugural conference in 2022.
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438 results
438 results
2024
Abstract: Over a period of only two decades, First Nations people transformed Australia’s Christian churches from supporters of mining on Indigenous land to among its most vocal opponents, joining First Nations people in describing the land as ‘sacred’...
Abstract: In my paper, I would like to read Emily Dickinson's poems from the perspective of environmental spirituality, for which the key elements will be spirituality inspired by the earth, taken from pagan practices and ecofeminist works (Merchant...
Abstract: Summer camps are spaces for spiritual transformation, initiation, and development; acting as a rite of passage for many North American adolescents. Beyond the friendship bracelets and campfires, the origins of summer camp are rooted in Muscular...
This paper examines Rudolf Steiner’s early work, Christianity as Mystical Fact (1902) within the context of Theosophical interpretations of early Christian history. Contemporary Theosophists such as Annie Besant and G. R. S. Mead constructed narratives of...
This paper will explore connections between how scientists write about the current state of the climate crisis and environment-themed esotericism. Both climate researchers and esoteric practitioners run up against the limits of “reading” or “knowing” a...
Modern Earth-based spiritual paths encourage direct encounters with the natural world. However, many people live in significantly altered and damaged landscapes. Can a sense of the Divine still be found in such places? In this paper I explore a case study...
2025
How do musical arts and performances ways express the sacred or become sacred in themselves in a postcolonial African Pentecostal context? What might it mean to explore the gospel adaption of popular music genres like highlife music and African folksongs...
2023
Abstract: The present paper focuses on conceptualizing the uses of power by training the mind to control the senses in order to realize the true purpose of the soul. The spectrum of this training of the mind is from evolution to involution. Love is the...
How can Osho simultaneously be regarded as both an impactful spiritual teacher and the most dangerous man on Earth? This paper seeks to hold the paradox of this dynamic in tension without succumbing to the either idealization or demonization so often...
Abstract: Entrenched definitions and genres are incredibly hard to dismantle, even those created in the early days of modern Pagan and New Age modalities. And yet what if those original definitions were blind spots rooted in an [un]conscious colonialism...
Abstract: The misuse of power in alternative spiritual communities is similar and different than the misuse of power in most mainstream religious communities. In this workshop we will explore an archetypal understanding of leadership and power...