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Religious experience and rituals in Czech Neopaganism
El Ouri, Filip ; Horská, Kateřina (advisor) ; Klepal, Jaroslav (referee)
The subject of this thesis is to present the results of my ethnographic research in the setting of one of the most active Czech neopagan organizations, "Slovanský kruh" ( the Slavic Circle ), focusing primarily on capturing the course of gatherings organized by this group, including their ritual component, and how participants describe their experience from these gatherings. In addition, I focus on the role participants attribute to these meetings and experiences in their daily lives, and how they describe their other religious practices. My findings in this thesis are based on data collected during my participant observation at the gatherings of this organization and from interviews with some of the participants of those gatherings. Keywords neopaganism, Slovanský kruh, the Slavic Circle, religion, religious experience, ritual, ethnography, anthropology, the Czech Republic
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Unusual Spiritual Experiences in the context of Occulture
Horská, Kateřina ; Nešpor, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Pokorný, Vít (referee) ; Václavík, David (referee)
This work studies the environment of contemporary alternative spirituality in the Czech Republic, specifically unusual spiritual experiences and techniques for inducing them. It is based on long-term field research utilizing the method of participant observation carried out primarily in the environment of neo-shamanism, but also the use of psychedelics, dark therapy, and other movements and practices. I perceive and analyze these practices both as psychotechnologies - i.e. techniques through which their users strive to alter their thinking - as well as spiritual techniques aimed at establishing and cultivating a relationship with the spiritual world. The focus of this study is a comparison of neo-shamanism and other practices in three main aspects: the induction of experiences, the connection between spiritual experiences and the actor's life as a whole, and the changes in the perception of reality brought about by long- term practicing. I point out that in all these areas, techniques traditionally thought of as closely related exhibit fundamental differences. A non-negligible part of this study consists of methodological and theoretical considerations. I show that the field of alternative spirituality has many specifics compared to other religious environments, and that mainstream methodological...
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