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Photo of Jeffrey Kripal looking off into the distance

Audio: Pop Apocalypse: Ecstatic Knowledge and the Study of Religion featuring Jeffrey Kripal

March 6, 2024

For episode five of the pod, we are honored to welcome Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair of Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. In this career-spanning chat, we discuss Kripal’s Catholic upbringing, psychoanalysis, and the ecstatic experience in Calcutta that changed the direction of his career. From there, we touch on Jeff’s role at Esalen, historical mystics and paranormal powers, telepathic insects, and how the study of religion and popular culture come together in film, comedy, and comics.

Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in...

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Audio: Pop Apocalypse: Inside the Mind of a Spirit Channel – A Conversation with Paul Selig

March 6, 2024

For our sixth episode, we welcome the spirit channel, teacher, and playwright Paul Selig. In this conversation, we explore Selig’s early career as a playwright and professor, his spiritual awakening during the Harmonic Convergence of 1987, how he cultivated his mediumship abilities, and the twelve books Selig has channeled from “the Guides.” On the way, we explore what happens to Selig in the channeling state and the metaphysics of mind that make these states possible.

Paul Selig is considered to be one of the foremost spiritual channels...

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Towards Intersectionality in Critical Psychedelic Studies: The Psychedelic Intersections Conference

March 5, 2024

The "Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-cultural Manifestations of the Sacred" conference, held at Harvard Divinity School on February 17, 2024, provided an unprecedented forum for the exploration of psychedelic spirituality across diverse cultural and disciplinary landscapes, and welcomed more than 230 in-person and 800 remote attendees. Hosted by the Center for the Study of World Religions, the conference sought to deepen the understanding of how psychedelics intersect with religion, spirituality, and medicine across traditions, modern and ancient, as well as across social stratifications, such as race, class, gender and culture. This year's programming built upon the foundational work of the previous year's conference, expanding the conversation beyond Harvard and investigating the capacity for psychedelic spirituality encounters at the intersections of diverse belief systems, disciplines, and communities.... Read more about Towards Intersectionality in Critical Psychedelic Studies: The Psychedelic Intersections Conference

Rebecca Carrol smiling into the camera

Reflections on the Reimagining Psychedelic Integration Workshop

March 4, 2024

Since participating in Tristan Angieri’s “Reimagining Psychedelic Integration” workshop at the Center for the Study of World Religion (CSWR) Psychedelic Intersections Conference, I’ve been thinking and moving differently. The workshop was about psychedelic integration, but the questions that arose apply to other areas of my life, too. What’s the point of “integrating” or “processing” something? What does that mean—and do we always necessarily need to do it? When might an experience stand on its own or even be the very integration we’re seeking?  

Tristan started the...

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Andrew Jacobs

The Vulnerable Bible in Fact and Fiction

February 27, 2024

In 2023 the Society of Biblical Literature released a print edition of the newest scholarly translation of the Bible: the “updated edition” of the New Revised Standard Version, or NRSVue. This new version introduced minor alterations to the NRSV, which was itself a revision of the Revised Standard Version first published in 1952. New translations and critical editions of the Bible are nothing new in biblical studies; the field is grounded in new discoveries and developments in textual...

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The Science and Philosophy of Plant Intelligence: A Reflective Encounter with Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna

February 27, 2024
On February 16th, the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School became the meeting ground for an exploration into the realms of plant intelligence, consciousness, and the symbiosis between science and spirituality. The event offered attendees the opportunity to delve into the intricacies of human and non-human interaction, guided by the insights of Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna.... Read more about The Science and Philosophy of Plant Intelligence: A Reflective Encounter with Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna
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Is Religion True? Christians, Buddhists, and the Difficult Quest for Truth

February 27, 2024

The following "Researcher Reflection" from Dr. Fabien Muller is part of an ongoing series where we spotlight CSWR scholars and their research.

In the twentieth century, certain Christian theologians argued that religion cannot be true, for that would imply that it is coherent with other forms of truth, such as scientific or historical truth. Ancient and medieval Christian thinkers believed that the truth of religion and the truth of science were not only compatible but ultimately identical. The God of the Bible was also the primordial cosmic cause, and nature confirmed the supernatural. One overarching Christian truth encompassed all singular truths.... Read more about Is Religion True? Christians, Buddhists, and the Difficult Quest for Truth

Anne Harley

CSWR The Muscle of the Self Workshop: An Interview with Anne Harley

January 30, 2024

In four 2-hour sessions on Fridays from February 9 through March 8, 2024, Scholar-in-Residence Anne Dorothy Harley of Scripps College will lead “The Muscle of the Self: Using the Voice to Map Psyche: Special Voice Workshop” at the CSWR. In a small group setting, the workshop will investigate how the voice and the vibrating body can be employed to reveal to ourselves our constructions of inner self and external world. 

CSWR: Your scholarship and your creative practices reveal deep intersections between music, performance, and spirituality. I'm curious how...

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The Muscle of the Self: A Vocal Journey into Self-Discovery at CSWR

January 30, 2024

Starting in February 2024, Harvard Divinity School's Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) will host the groundbreaking workshop "The Muscle of the Self: Using the Voice to Map Psyche." Led by Scholar in Residence Anne Dorothy Harley of Scripps College, this series of four sessions from February 9 to March 8 is set to be a transformative exploration into the power of voice and its connection to the inner self. 

Harley, known for her deep intersections between music, performance, and spirituality, has designed the workshop to accommodate a small group of...

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CSWR Ifa Divination Workshop: An Interview with Ayodeji Ogunnaike 

January 30, 2024

In a six-part series from January 24 through February 28, 2024, Ayodeji Ogunnaike, Assistant Professor of Afro-Brazilian studies at the University of Virginia, will introduce the Yoruba wisdom tradition of Ifa divination in a workshop titled “Ifa Divination, Pedagogy, and the Cultivation of Wisdom in Modern Settings”. The workshop will explore Yoruba philosophical concepts and the training of Ifa devotees, with each session focusing on themes like embodied wisdom, sacred arts, narrative pedagogy, mnemonics, diversity, and poetic form. 

CSWR: So, the...

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