An Initiation Rite in Tibetan Historiography

I shall investigate a quasi-historical event in the biographies of the second ‘Dharma King’ of the Tibetan Empire, Khri-srong Lde-btsan (Trisong Detsen). As the newborn heir to the throne, he was stolen from his mother by a rival queen; however, at a ceremonial event the still infant prince indicated his true descent by sitting on the lap of his maternal uncle. As Ruzsa (2016) noticed, the complex motif of the new ruler choosing his family by sitting on the lap of a male representative can be found in the Indian legend of Śunaḥśepa, embedded in a much richer structure. Following his reconstruction, by analysing further parallelisms in a wider corpus, it appears that the seemingly innocent story of a baby prince is, in fact, a remnant of an archaic rite. I suppose that originally this was a rite of passage, a special variant of puberty initiation: the consecration of the heir apparent. Furthermore, its relationship to the Indian legend of Śunaḥśepa connects it indirectly with the stories of Isaac and even Snow White and also with several rites of passage in ancient Greece. I will also suggest that some versions of the legend point to a probably even more archaic cycle of maternity rites with parallels in Solomon’s judgment and the Chinese Chalk Circle.

Hazers' Personality Characteristics and the Perception of School Climate in Slovenia

This article presents the initiation rite for the admission of newcomers to Slovenian upper secondary education, which is called “pheasanting” and has similar characteristics to hazing. It examines the relationship between certain personality traits of hazers with their perception of the school climate and the severity of the hazing activities they engage in (subtle, harassing, and violent hazing). In a sample of 460 students in the fourth grade of upper secondary education, 25.4% of them had carried out hazing in the previous 3 years, of which 47% performed only subtle, 24% harassment, and 29% violent hazing. Violent and harassment hazers justified their actions much more often than subtle hazers by dominating and distorting of the consequences and by diffusing responsibility. They also had less empathy and perceived the school climate as enabling more aggressive attitude. However, violent hazers had the most negative attitude toward hazing, while harassment hazers found hazing most acceptable. Finally, some practical implications of the results at individual and school level are discussed.

Occasional Services

In addition to services that take place regularly, every day or every week, the Book of Common Prayer includes a number of “occasional” services, which are conducted when circumstances call for them. This chapter describes the Prayer Book’s provisions for these services—its three rites of Ordination; the wedding service, formally called the Solemnization of Matrimony; the initiation rite of Baptism and the closely related service of Confirmation; and liturgies used at the Visitation of the Sick and the Burial of the Dead—as well as other related texts. The discussion points out some of the theological issues and emphases that have been inseparable from these ad hoc liturgies.

Ritual Settings I

How did the church building become sacred space? Early Christians understood two models of sacred presence. In the first, sanctity was invoked by the congregation coming together in common prayer, an experience that was formalized into the liturgy. In the second, sanctity was represented by the presence of relics or the tombs of martyrs and saints. In Rome, the early churches inside the walls of the city were primarily liturgical; those outside the walls were commemorative, set in relationship to the tombs of martyrs and the surrounding catacombs and cemeteries. Subsequent centuries witnessed a collapsing of the two categories. At the same time, the building vocabulary expanded, with baptisteries serving as symbolic settings for the initiation rite and mausolea offering special settings for privileged burials. By the fifth century, monasticism became a regular part of the Christian landscape.

Sacramentos. Entre a prática eclesial e o sentimento antropológico

Os sacramentos fazem parte da vida do cristianismo desde as primeiras comunidades cristãs, mesmo que o entendimento da experiência e da teologia sacramental tenha acompanhado os tempos e o decurso da história. As comunidades eclesiais hodiernas encontram, na prática da administração dos sacramentos, motivações distintas que vão desde a perspectiva ritual e teológica, concebida pela Igreja católica, até os critérios da vivência e convivência. Identificar as consonâncias e dissonâncias presentes nas perspectivas teológicas, rituais e vivenciais dos sacramentos torna-se o objetivo deste artigo, que entende que tanto a comunidade eclesial como o cristão podem assumir diferentes perspectivas na vivência dos sacramentos.Abstract: The sacraments have been part of the life of Christianity since the earliest Christian communities, even though the understanding of experience and sacramental theology has accompanied the times and the course of history. The ecclesial communities of today find, in the practice of the administration of the sacraments, different motivations ranging from the ritual and theological perspective, conceived by the Catholic Church, to the criteria of living and coexistence. Identifying the consonances and dissonances present in the theological, ritual and experiential perspectives of the sacraments becomes the objective of this article, which understands that both the ecclesial and Christian communities can assume different perspectives in the life of the sacraments.Keywords: Christian initiation; Rite of passage; Baptism; sacramental theology.

Verbalization of Nomadic Culture in Yakut Fairytales

The paper presents a linguocultural study of some aspects of nomadic culture, which are reflected in the texts of the fairytales of the Yakuts. The analysis of Yakut fairytales reveals that their storylines are often centered around the concept of the road – the core element of nomadic culture. The road is viewed as transition, both physical and metaphorical, from the ordinary world to the world of magic. This is the place where the key events of fairytales usually happen. Furthermore, the rites and customs of nomadic people, including the initiation rite, the wedding rite, the traditional holiday of the Yakut horse herders (ysyakh), the horse worship, etc., are represented in the texts of Yakut fairytales. They correspond to the world view of the nomadic Turkic peoples, based on the worship of nature. Nomadic cattle breeding has determined the lifestyle of the Yakuts for many centuries. It resulted in the formation of the principles of life based on archaic mythological concepts – hero, horse, alaas, serge, ysyakh, etc.