BOOK of ABSTRACTS XXTh WORld COngReSS InTeRnATIOnAl ...

These latter often include a use of the body in public
which transgress socio-cultural norms. Asceticism,
de-feminization of the sexually attractive female body,
trickery, call to a divinity, female solidarity, suicide, and
metamorphosis into other types of bodies are among the
ways used to protect the female body perceived as
vulnerable and subject to threats from men and gods.
This will be illustrated with a few examples of both
contexts, taken from the poetic songs attributed to the
16th century Indian bhakti poetess Mirabai and from
various historiographical and mythological narratives
from ancient Greece (Plutarchus, Pausanias, Antoninus
Liberalis, Diodorus of Sicily, etc.). This paper is part of the
panel “Religion and the Body: Gender Issues and
Comparative Perspectives”
Pasi, Marco – University of Amsterdam,
The Netherlands • m.pasi@uva.nl
tHe origins of tHe concePt of ‘Western
esotericism’ in tHe context of 19tH century
occultism
This paper builds up on an article I have recently devoted
to the role of Jewish kabbalah in the early Theosophical
Society, more particularly in the writings of H.P. Blavastky
(1831–1891). My focus was on the use of kabbalah as a
foil in the creation of specific boundaries between a
“western” and an “eastern” esoteric tradition. Whereas
H.P. Blavatsky, who gave preeminence to the East as
source of all esoteric wisdom, had an ambivalent attitude
towards kabbalah, because it could be perceived as either
eastern or western depending on the circumstances, other
occultists posited that westerners should be concerned
with western esoteric doctrines and practices alone.
Jewish kabbalah would then be included in a western
esoteric “canon” that would be systematized by a series of
authors. This paper will focus on some of these authors,
in order to understand how the very concept of “western
esotericism”, today widely used as an etic term by
scholars, had its origins in their discourses. Special
attention will be given to A.E. Waite (1857–1942), whose
work is particularly significant in this respect.
Pasi, Marco – University of Amsterdam,
The Netherlands • m.pasi@uva.nl
varieties of magical exPerience: aleister
croWley’s vieWs on occult Practice
Aleister Crowley’s special place in the history of occultism
is determined not only by the significant influence that he
and his works have had on the development of esoteric and
new religious movements in the 20th century, but also by
the originality and creativity of his thought, which
positively tries to renew and reinterpret the meaning of
occult practices in a modern framework. He represents and
encapsulates, almost paradigmatically, the attempts made
by occultism as a whole to come to terms with traditional
esoteric concepts in a world that has been deeply
transformed culturally and socially by the impact of
secularisation and modernity. In my paper I will first
discuss Crowley’s attitudes towards paranormal
phenomena in general, particularly in relation psychical
research and to spiritualism. Then, I will focus on two
particular aspects of Crowley’s attempts at elaborating new
interpretations of occult practices, namely his attitudes
towards yoga and towards magic. The aim is to highlight
certain aspects of them that will – I hope – illustrate the
ways in which Crowley transformed the epistemological
approach towards occult practices. It will be clear then that
this transformation should be understood in the wider
context of the psychologisation and naturalisation of
esotericism, which took place during the second half of the
19th century and the first half of the 20th.
Penny, Benjamin – The Australian National
University, Australia • Benjamin.penny@anu.edu.au
PerfectaBility and tHe Paranormal in
contemPorary cHina
In the 1980s and 1990s China experienced a genuine
mass enthusiasm for qigong , an umbrella term referring
to all kinds of practices involving the manipulation of qi
(breath, pneuma , life energy). The motivations for
engaging in qigong were varied: different forms claimed
to heal diseases, especially chronic and life-threatening
ones, others asserted that practitioners could acquire
supernormal powers: immense strength, clairvoyance,
telekinesis, flight, etc. Some movements that originated
during the qigong boom also developed into fullyfledged
new religions. The term used for supernormal
powers in Chinese was teyi gongneng, a modern phrase
that describes many of the same powers as shentong did
in pre-modern and modern Buddhist circles.
This paper will discuss the broad outlines of teyi
gongneng theory in contemporary China along a
continuum from highly spiritualized accounts to studies
of paranormal powers in academic journals in the hard
sciences. It will focus, in particular, on the figure of
Zhang Baosheng (1958– ), proclaimed to be one of
China ‘s “great qigong masters”: healer to the elite,
research subject for the military, celebrity to the general
public and arch-charletan to the sceptic. Thus, the topic
of teyi gongneng in general, and the way the Zhang
Baosheng phenomenon was reported in the mainstream
and the qigong press, illuminates the ways traditional
Chinese religious discourses have thrived and been
transformed in contemporary times. It sheds light,
specifically, on the age-old Chinese idea that humans
and the human body are perfectable through the
performance of spiritual disciplines.
144 BOOk Of ABstRACts • RELIGION: A HUMAN PHENOMENON • 15-21 AUGUst, 2010 • tORONtO, CANAdA