Soulless Matter, Seats of Energy

1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-78179-128-8
Verlag: Equinox Publishing Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 316 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 640 g

Soulless Matter, Seats of Energy: Metals, Gems and Minerals in South Asian Traditions investigates the way in which Indian culture has represented inorganic matter and geological formations such as mountains and the earth itself. The volume is divided into four sections, each discussing from different angles the manifold dimensions occupied by minerals, gems and metals in traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The various chapters offer a rigorous analysis of a variety of texts from different South Asian regions from a range of perspectives such as history, philology, philosophy, hermeneutics and ethnography. The themes discussed include literature (myth and epics), ritual, ethics, folklore, and sciences such as astrology, medicine, alchemy and cosmetics. The volume critically reflects on the concept of "inanimate world" and shows how Indian traditions have variously interpreted the concept of embodied life and lifelessness.Ranging from worldviews and disciplines which regard metals, minerals, gems as alive, sentient or inhabited by divine presences and powers to ideas which deny matter possesses life and sentience, the Indian Subcontinent proves to be a challenge for taxonomic investigations but at the same time provides historians of religions and philosophers with stimulating material.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ferrari, Fabrizio

Dahnhardt, Thomas

Dähnhardt, Thomas

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionssoziologie und -psychologie, Spiritualität, Mystik
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

IntroductionFabrizio M. Ferrari and Thomas Dahnhardt Section 1: Myth and Ritual1. Five Stones - Four Rivers - One Town: the Hindu Pancayatana PujaMikael Aktor, University of Southern Denmark 2. A "Sulphurous" Sakti: The Worship of Goddess Hingula in BaluchistanFrancesco Brighenti, University of Hyderabad 3. From Iron to Sapphire: Indian Myths and Rituals about Saturn, the Implacable Lord of Celestial SpheresMonia Marchetto, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Manuel Hoefer, Venetian Academy of Indian Studies Section 2: Science and Health4. Mineral Healing: Gemstone Remedies in Astrological and Medical TraditionsAnthony Cerulli, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, and Caterina Guenzi, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales5. Mercury Tonics (Rasayana) in Sanskrit Medical LiteratureDagmar Wujastyk, University of Zurich6. When Ngulchu is not Mercury: Tibetan Taxonomies of 'Metals', Barbara Gerke, Humboldt University of BerlinSection 3: Power and Devotion7. In Search of the Sadhu's Stone: Metals and Gems as Therapeutic Technologies of Transformation in Vernacular Asceticism in North IndiaAntoinette E. DeNapoli, University of Wyoming 8. Deg Tegh Fateh: Metal as Material and Metaphor in Sikh Tradition Eleanor Nesbitt, University of Warwick Section 4: Body and Embodiment 9. A Little Lipstick Goes a Long Way: Chit-chatting with Women in the Ramayana and MahabharataDeeksha Shivakumar, Emory University10. Ratna: A Buddhist World of Precious ThingsMattia Salvini, Mahidol University, Thailand 11. Living Earth: Earth-bodied Beings in Jain TraditionAna Bajzelj, University of Rajasthan

Über Autor(innen)

Fabrizio M. Ferrari is Professor of Indology and South Asian Religions in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Chester. Thomas Dähnhardt is Assistant Professor in Hindi and Urdu Languages and Literatures in the Department of Asian and Mediterranean African Studies at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.