scholarly journals Goddess Worship and New Spirituality in the Postmodern World: a Brief Overview

Author(s):  
T. V Danylova

Purpose. The paper aims at examining the phenomenon of the rebirth of the Goddess in the contemporary world. The author has used the hermeneutic approach and cultural-historical method, as well as the anthropological integrative approach. Theoretical basis. The study is based on the ideas of Carol Christ, Margot Adler, Miriam Simos, and Jean Shinoda Bolen. Originality. The rebirth of the Goddess is not a deconstruction of the God. The face of the Goddess is one side of the binary opposition "Goddess – God". Life on the earthly plane presupposes masculine and feminine dualism. However, these polarities are not mutually exclusive and mutually suppressive, but complementary to each other. The return of the Goddess to the throne and a profound appreciation of Femininity is a necessary step forward in establishing true equality and restoring lost harmony. As humanity returns to the Absolute that transcends duality, as divinity is revealed in feminine and masculine forms, and, finally, as humans get in touch with their true self, the two faces, feminine and masculine, will inevitably merge. Conclusions. Identifying herself with the images of the Goddesses, a woman develops self-awareness and self-acceptance that contribute greatly to her reintegration with a wider spiritual reality. The cult of the Goddess finds practical application in women’s lives. These are magical rituals, work with the archetypes, life-changing tours. Recognizing her right to the fullness of being, a woman overcomes rigid gender roles and stereotypes, ceases to be an object of manipulation and becomes the supreme arbiter of her own life.

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Eiko Hanaoka

In this paper I discuss the new possibility of social transformation by religion in order to save the global nihilistic situation in the contemporary world because of the modern technology which neglected human dignity in all over the world since the Industrial Revolution started from England in the latter half of the 18th Century. Such possibility by religion can be realized, in my view, by “the way of walking” on the ground of “self-awareness”, where each person realizes the great death of egoistic ego and is aware of the true self, which is common to each of all nature, which awareness then results in the faith in God as action, God who is non-substantial and has no peculiar nature of its own. Such religion could be found in the religion and the philosophy of religion advocated by A. N. Whitehead and K. Nishida.


Author(s):  
António Calheiros

Leadership has long been a topic of interest for both academics (Hiller, DeChurch, Murase, & Doty, 2011; Sanders & Davey, 2011) and practitioners (Bennis, 2007; George, 2003). Academics have tried to understand the concept and identify its consequences and determinants. Practitioners have focused their efforts in its training and development hoping to reap its promised benefits. Over the last decade, authentic leadership has emerged as the fashionable leadership theory. More than just promising impacts on performance and subordinates’ work satisfaction, authentic leadership addresses management’s long term demand for and ethic and moral commitment (Ghoshal, 2005; Rosenthal et al., 2007). Authentic leadership is “a process that draws from both positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors on the part of leaders and associates, fostering positive self-development” (Luthans and Avolio, 2003). The components of authentic leadership’s self-regulated authentic positive behaviours are balanced (non-prejudice) processing, relational orientation and internalized moral perspetive. One key point of authentic leadership is the authenticity of leaders, which can be defined as “knowing, accepting, and remaining true to one’s self” (Avolio et al., 2004). Recent research (Ford & Harding, 2011) have argued that this demand for one’s true self privileges a collective (organizational) self over an individual self and thereby hampers subjectivity to both leaders and followers, and could lead to destructive dynamics within organizations. This paper discusses the seeming paradox of developing authenticity in leaders, (namely addressing the issues raised by Ford & Harding) and clarifies the aim of authentic leadership development. It also assesses the suitability of traditional leadership development methodologies in meeting the challenges posed by a process-based approach to leadership with a focus on individual and social identification.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3704
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Karman ◽  
Andrzej Miszczuk ◽  
Urszula Bronisz

The article deals with the competitiveness of regions in the face of climate change. The aim was to present the concept of measuring the Regional Climate Change Competitiveness Index. We used a comparative and logical analysis of the concept of regional competitiveness and heuristic conceptual methods to construct the index and measurement scale. The structure of the index includes six broad sub-indexes: Basic, Natural, Efficiency, Innovation, Sectoral, Social, and 89 indicators. A practical application of the model was presented for the Mazowieckie province in Poland. This allowed the region’s performance in the context of climate change to be presented, and regional weaknesses in the process of adaptation to climate change to be identified. The conclusions of the research confirm the possibility of applying the Regional Climate Change Competitiveness Index in the economic analysis and strategic planning. The presented model constitutes one of the earliest tools for the evaluation of climate change competitiveness at a regional level.


2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Holmes Katz

It has long been recognized that much of the richness of Muslim women's ritual lives has been found outside of both the mosque and the “five pillars of Islam,” in a wide set of devotional practices that have met with varying degrees of affirmation and censure from male religious scholars. This recognition has given rise to a valuable literature on such practices as shrine visitation, spirit-possession rituals, and Twelver Shiʿi women's domestic ceremonies. The prevalence of such noncanonical rituals in Muslim women's lives, although waning in many parts of the contemporary world, raises questions about the relationship between women's religious practices and the constitution of Islamic orthodoxies. Have women, often given lesser access to mosque-based and canonical rituals, historically resorted to autonomous and rewarding religious practices that are, nevertheless, fated to be marginalized in the male-dominated construction of Islamic normativity—a normativity that women may ultimately internalize and master only at great cost to their religious lives?


Author(s):  
Wenjian Yang ◽  
Huafeng Ding ◽  
Andres Kecskemethy

The number of synthesized kinematic chains usually is too large to evaluate individual characteristics of each chain. The concept of connectivity is useful to classify the kinematic chains. In this paper, an algorithm is developed to automatically compute the connectivity matrix in planar kinematic chains. The main work is to compute two intermediate parameters, namely the minimum mobility matrix and the minimum distance matrix. The algorithm is capable of dealing with both simple-jointed and multiple-jointed kinematic chains. The present work can be used to automatically determine kinematic chains satisfying the required connectivity constraint, and is helpful for the creative design of mechanisms. The practical application is illustrated by taking the face-shovel hydraulic excavator for instance.


2019 ◽  
pp. 257-278
Author(s):  
Денис Владимирович Макаров

Основная цель исследования - изучение эволюции световых образов в творчестве И. С. Шмелёва. В работе применяется сравнительно-исторический метод и метод филологического анализа. Для достижения указанной цели анализируются световые образы в прозе писателя за период с 1895 по 1937 г. Наиболее важные результаты исследования: художественное мышление Ивана Сергеевича Шмелёва изначально было связано с образами света; в ранних произведениях преобладает свет естественный, который отождествляется с положительными началами жизни; начиная с периода Первой мировой войны в художественном мире Шмелёва появляется евангельский образ духовного света - «свет во тьме»; в произведениях Шмелёва, написанных после 1917 г., духовный свет открывается герою на грани земного бытия, как правило, перед лицом смерти. Значение основных результатов исследования в том, что в нём освещается процесс эволюции световых образов в творчестве И. С. Шмелёва и раскрывается глубокая укоренённость писателя в православной культурной традиции. The main purpose of the study is to disclose the evolution of light images in the works of I. S. Shmelev. The paper uses comparative-historical method and the method of philological analysis. To achieve this goal, light images in the writer’s prose in the period from 1895 to 1937 are analyzed. The most important results of the study: the artistic thinking of Ivan Shmelev was initially associated with the images of light; natural light prevails in the early works, which is identified with positive beginnings of life; since the period of World War One Evangelical image of spiritual light appears in the artistic world of Shmelev - «light in darkness»; the works of Shmelev written after 1917 show how spiritual light opens to the protagonist on the verge of earthly existence, usually in the face of death. The significance of the main results of the study is that it highlights the process of light images evolution in the works of I. S. Shmelev and reveals the deep rootedness of the writer in the Orthodox cultural tradition.


2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiva Kumar Srinivasan

This paper argues that there is an intrinsic link between the concepts of “learning-to-learn” and the “knowledge worker” in the work of Peter Drucker. This is because the increasing life-span of knowledge workers and the decreasing life-span of organizations in the contemporary world have changed the underlying nature of the “social contract” that has hitherto governed the relationship between workers and organizations. Furthermore, these changes are forcing all stakeholders to confront the demands of learning-to-learn and self-management as the necessary modalities of professional and social mobility for knowledge workers in the global economy. Drucker therefore argues that formalizing an ethic of learning-to-learn will provide both knowledge workers and organizations, by implication, with a competitive advantage in “the next society.” Understanding the importance of learning practices and knowledge management will also make it possible for knowledge workers and knowledge-based organizations to continually renew themselves despite the intensity of competition and the relentless demands for individuation, differentiation, and innovation in the global economy. Drucker cites his own career as an example of such a possibility by demonstrating that “intellectual omnivorousness” can serve as an emotional and intellectual reservoir of possibilities for knowledge workers over a long life span. What knowledge workers need then is a “method of study.” In addition to spelling out a possible model of study based on his own formative experiences, Drucker also cites the sources from which he initially learnt the modalities that he calls for in a general theory of learning-to-learn in knowledge workers and organizations. The essential modality in making knowledge “actionable” for Drucker is “feedback analysis,” a practice that he identifies with the Jesuits and the Calvinists in Europe. In other words, decision-makers must have the confidence and patience to write decision reports and check to see if they have been able to anticipate the consequences of a given decision through feedback analysis. They must also develop a high degree of self-awareness on what constitutes their cognitive style by deciding whether their style of information-processing demands the style of a “reader or listener” and act accordingly. This relates to the larger necessity of acting from strengths rather than from weaknesses in Drucker's thought. And, finally, the knowledge worker must be willing to learn from the experience of artists, musicians, and scientists on the possibilities of creativity in old-age and internalize the moral obligation to pursue perfection whenever or wherever possible.


2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-164
Author(s):  
Tess Moeke-Maxwell

In the bicultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori (people of the land) and Tauiwi (the other tribe, i.e. Pākehā and other non-indigenous New Zealanders), continue to be represented in binary opposition to each other. This has real consequences for the way in which health practitioners think about and respond to Māori. Reflecting on ideas explored in my PhD thesis, I suggest that Māori identity is much more complex than popular representations of Māori subjectivity allow. In this article I offer an alternative narrative on the social construction of Māori identity by contesting the idea of a singular, quintessential subjectivity by uncovering the other face/s subjugated beneath biculturalism’s preferred subjects. Waitara Mai i te horopaki iwirua o Aotearoa, arā te Māori (tangata whenua) me Tauiwi (iwi kē, arā Pākehā me ētahi atu iwi ehara nō Niu Tīreni), e mau tonu ana te here mauwehe rāua ki a rāua anō. Ko te mutunga mai o tēnei ko te momo whakaarohanga, momo titiro hoki a ngā kaimahi hauora ki te Māori. Kia hoki ake ki ngā ariā i whakaarahia ake i roto i taku tuhinga kairangi. E whakapae ana au he uaua ake te tuakiri Māori ki ngā horopaki tauirahia mai ai e te marautanga Māori. I konei ka whakatauhia he kōrero kē whakapā atu ki te waihangatanga o te tuakiri Māori, tuatahi; ko te whakahē i te ariā takitahi, marautanga pūmau mā te hurahanga ake i tērā āhua e pēhia nei ki raro iho i te whainga marau iwiruatanga. Tuarua, mai i tēnei o taku tuhinga rangahau e titiro nei ki ngā wawata ahurei a te Māori noho nei i raro i te māuiuitanga whakapoto koiora, ka tohu au ki te rerekētanga i waenga, i roto hoki o ngā Māori homai kōrero, ā, ka whakahāngaia te titiro ki te momo whakatau āwhina a te hauora ā-motu i te hunga whai oranga.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Xiao ◽  
Xiaoya Wang

The study aims to explore the entrepreneurship education of overseas Chinese returnees with the swindler syndrome through psychological resilience. First, a questionnaire survey is conducted to analyze the current situations of entrepreneurship education of overseas Chinses returnees and college students, and it is found that the entrepreneurship education received by overseas Chinese returnees is more advanced and perfect than that by domestic students, which makes overseas Chinese returnees have the ability to solve the problems in the process of entrepreneurship, realizing their entrepreneurial dream. However, the emergence of swindler syndrome changes the self-awareness and psychology of these returnees, which is improved through appropriate entrepreneurship education under resilience analysis. The results show that entrepreneurial resilience and entrepreneurial optimism covered by psychological resilience have a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial intention, indicating that entrepreneurial resilience and entrepreneurial optimism can enhance individual’s entrepreneurial intention. The scores of the subjects with the experience of studying abroad are higher than those without such experience, indicating that overseas Chinese returnees have stronger resilience and more optimistic attitudes in the face of difficulties and setbacks, which provides a new perspective for in-depth analysis of Chinese returnees’ entrepreneurship education and promotes the development of entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities in China.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Gittan Jewad ◽  
Zargham Ghabanchi ◽  
Mohammad Ghazanfari

This research tackles two chapters from the Holy Quran, the sura of Prophet Yusuf, and the sura of the Cave (al-Kahf) to find out whether the theories of Leech (1983) and Brown and Levinson (1987) can be applied to find out the positive and negative politeness strategies and the politeness maxims. The Leech’s model (1983) consists of six maxims, and for Brown and Levinson (1987), consists of two major politeness strategies. It consists of two principles of politeness, where one of them is positive, and the other is negative politeness. This study aims at investigating politeness strategies, and politeness principle linguistically in two Suras from the Holy Quran, how politeness strategies and politeness maxims used within the Holy Quran. This study tries to investigate the image of the main characters in the most sacred book. A qualitative approach is employed to provide interpretations of selected verses. In this paper, we will discuss the politeness strategies, positive and negative politeness strategies, and politeness maxims. The study falls into two parts. It begins briefly to overview the theoretical framework underlying politeness, in particular discussing some definitions of politeness and politeness principle and its maxims, exploring the face theory and its strategies by Brown and Levinson, and how far these strategies affect polite style then, dealing with politeness maxims by Leech. The other part displays a practical application of what has presented theoretically. Also, the researcher examined the politeness strategies, and politeness maxims of two Suras (Yusuf and Al-Kahf). Moreover, the study observed that approximately the majority of negative politeness in two suras then positive politeness, and the last one is politeness maxims.


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