History of Religion

In this essay, Paolo Rosati discusses one of the numerous factors that contributed to the emergence of the Tantric cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā: the relationship between death imaginary and sexual symbolism. Mythological sources reveal that when Naraka—the first mytho-historical king of Kāmarūpa—ascended to the throne of Prāgjyotiṣapura, the cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā was institutionalised within the folds of Brahmanism. The Kāmarūpa kingship, through the legitimation of Naraka as the royal ancestor and his related symbols of sexuality and death, integrated and justified the Tantric cult of Kāmākhyā centred on blood sacrifices and sexual rites, while the ritual violence of shedding blood emerged as the prescribed ritual in acceding to the kingship of Kāmarūpa.

The thesis is historical with a linear time-line. It starts with what a cult actually is and then heads back to the 50’s when Paul started writing his mystery letters to mystery church’s--which later progressed into the Christianity that we know today.
  Using quotes from Christian, agnostic and Jewish historians along-side Paul’s cultish theology gives the reader clues as to how this cult progressed throughout the centuries. This includes the later persecutions of Pagans and Jews through history and up to the Reformation era.

The concept of nTrw has many assumptions, which had been used in the ancient Egyptian religion and literature, as gods, good spirits, evil spirits, snakes, king’s helpers, king’s enemies and other various meanings. The first conception is talking about the nTrw as Gods in positive and negative roles in general meaning which the word nTrw had been mentioned through in various texts, some of these texts are: n ir.tw nTrw ir nn pn , there is nothing which the Gods did against this king, (PT:1464b). This spell is considered as unhelpful appearance, because it refers to Seth and his followers “demons”, however there is another example to helpful spells appearance as: Dd mdw hA wsir nn .in n.k Gb Hrw inD.f Tw in.f n.k ibw , he may save you, he brings to you the hearts of the gods.(PT:634b). The second conception is talking about the nTrw as nouns and Gods themselves, adjectives and also gathered with some of the king’s names to give the sacristy impact.

Este livro reúne um conjunto de textos redigidos por diversos autores e que constituem os principais testemunhos sobre o saque de Évora, durante os dias 29, 30 e 31 de Julho, de 1808, pelo exército francês, comandado superiormente por Junot e nesta operação militar pelo general Loison, também conhecido como o maneta. Alguns dos textos são manuscritos que se encontram no espólio bibliográfico de D. Frei Manuel do Cenáculo, que também deixou no seu diário uma Narração objectiva das barbaridades perpetradas pelos invasores; outros foram obras impressas no rescaldo dos acontecimentos, como a Évora Lastimosa, ou a Évora no seu Abatimento Gloriosamente Exaltada. O cariz jornalístico, que os autores imprimiram ao relato, possibilita uma leitura repleta de momentos de atracção, conjugada com a possibilidade de ter uma informação pormenorizada sobre os atentados cometidos, contra as pessoas e o património artístico e cultural da cidade, particularmente nas muitas casas religiosas, conventos, mosteiros, recolhimentos e igrejas, que foram saqueadas pelos franceses. De facto, os textos descrevem os roubos e actos de iconoclastia, mas também falam dos mortos, das pessoas ultrajadas, das mulheres e donzelas violadas. Como tal, constituem um ponto de partida para uma reflexão sobre os horrores das guerras de ontem e de hoje

Throughout Egyptian history, high-ranking Egyptian priests were the scholars responsible for the creation of the very material that constituted the core of Egyptian intellectual culture. During the first millennium BCE, and particularly in the Graeco-Roman period (late fourth century BCE–fourth century CE), they were the social group in charge of mediating and negotiating the terms of the relationship between traditional Egyptian culture and the new foreign rulers of the country. As such, they are fundamental figures for our understanding of the greater Mediterranean and Near Eastern world of the time.
Marina Escolano-Poveda offers for the first time a detailed analysis of the most relevant Egyptian priestly characters from Egyptian and Graeco-Roman literary and paraliterary sources. The examination of these sources contrasts the self-presentation of Egyptian priests in texts created and circulated within the temple environment with images presented by outside sources, providing a solid base to analyze how these figures were seen in their historical milieu. In the second part of the book, the results of the previous analysis are contrasted with a series of widely-used models employed to understand the historical and intellectual context of Egyptian religion and the Egyptian priesthood in the Graeco-Roman period, questioning the usefulness and applicability of such models. Escolano-Poveda proposes new ways of understanding the role of the Egyptian priests in this context as fundamental actors in the development of the philosophical, scientific, and literary culture of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Antique worlds.

https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/The_Egyptian_Priests_of_the_Graeco-Roman_Period/title_6581.ahtml

This paper stands as a natural appendix to Antrum, a miscellany curated for Morcelliana Publishing House in 2017. It examines the structure of the cave as an elective space for the performing of religious rituals. After a brief explanatory introduction, it focuses on two of the cases in which the hypogean sites, as well as being intrinsically linked to the world of nature, had a remarkable importance especially for their sacred quality as in Mithraic religion and Michaelic cult. In relation to the latter, the study examines in particular the sanctuary of Monte Tancia, which in recent years has received considerable attention within the FIRB researches "Sacred spaces and identity paths. Foundation texts, iconography, religion and traditions in the Christian Italian shrines between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages" (Future in research 2010. National Coordination University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Local Unit "Sapienza" University of Rome).

This paper deals with the possibility of retracing the monumental setting of ancient contexts now lost and not documented directly by the study of indirect sources that describe them, literally or visually. The assumption is that monuments that did not come down to the present day can nonetheless be studied and contextualized thanks to what is echoed in literary or epigraphic sources and to their depiction in other media.
Here, the possibility that one or more now-lost statues representing the mušḫuššu, the serpo-dragon of Marduk, were erected at Babylon at least since the Late Babylonian period is discussed on the basis of both epigraphic and iconographic evidence.

W Kościele Zachodnim obchodzony 2 listopada Dzień Zaduszny, choć treściowo połączony jest obecnie z poprzedzającą go uroczystością Wszystkich Świętych, to jeszcze niedawno w zaskakujący dla przeciętnego człowieka sposób, nawiązywał w swej obrzędowości do współczesnych zwyczajów związanych ze świętami Bożego Narodzenia. Kapusta i pierogi z grzybami, kutia i obdarowywanie się prezentami, jak opowiadają pochodzące z różnych krajów stare księgi to zwyczaje, które towarzyszyły niegdyś dniom, w których wspominano zmarłych. Przyczyn takiego stanu rzeczy doszukać się można już w samym pojmowaniu problematyki eschatologicznej, gdzie w różnych kręgach kulturowych podejście do śmierci i rzeczy ostatecznych, znacznie się różni w praktyce oraz myśli teologicznej i ludowej. Niewiele na ten temat można znaleźć w pracach teologicznych, choć powtarzające się każdego roku tradycje ludowe w wielu miejscach zakorzenione są głęboko w obrzędach pogańskich, takich jak choćby " dziady " , z którymi kapłani wytrwale i z poświęceniem przez wieki walczyli. Więcej informacji na ten temat znajduje się w pracach etnografów, którzy skrupulatnie śledzą zarówno te ginące, jak i pojawiające się w społeczeństwie i konkretnych jego grupach, nowe zwyczaje. Obrzędom tym, często dalekie jest teologiczne rozumienie, gdzie świętych obcowanie oznacza wzajemną duchową łączność między Świętymi w niebie, cierpiącymi w czyśćcu i wierzącymi na ziemi. Według nauczania Kościoła łączność ta przejawia się właśnie w kulcie Świętych, modlitwie za zmarłych oraz w modlitwie o wstawiennictwo tych, którzy już przeżywają stan nieba lub czyśćca. Najwyższym wyrazem takiej łączności Kościoła na ziemi z Kościołem w niebie i w czyśćcu, we wspólnym uwielbieniu Boga jest liturgia eucharystyczna. Znacznie mniej wymagające poświęceń jest rozumienie i celebracja Dnia Zadusznego wśród ludu, który w ostatnich latach poza obrzędami starosłowiańskimi coraz częściej oddaje się różnego rodzaju zabawom...
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7373-2227

For many people „a mystic experience”, inexpressible by nature, is a sudden act of realizing that a human mind directly experiences God it believes in. There were always people who doubted, who questioned the truthfulness of revelations and demanded proofs confirming the supernatural nature of God’s message. Strong piety and visions of Blessed Dorothea of Montau were not ordinary and evoked much interest among Prussians. According to the acts of the canonization process, Dorothea of Montau had a gift for seeing though eyes, internal seeing and direct visions, as well as internal spirit talk. She explained such revelations in supernatural terms, and thanks to spiritual management of Jan of Kwidzyn, they were also confronted with the Bible and current theology. Dorothea of Montau’s prophetic visions confirm statements, given under oath by the senior representatives of the Order of Teutonic Knights, which described warnings of Dorothea and which saved the expedition and life of the Grand Master - Konrad von Jungingen. Teutonic Knights’ statements prove that the Mystic of the North experienced prophetic visions which concerned not only her fate but also others’ fates. 
The descriptions of visions of Blessed Dorothea of Montau, her experience of spiritual nuptials, experience of “exchange of hearts”, prophetic prophecies, stigmas and uplifting prayers prepared by the confessor, were also experienced by other mystics of the late Middle Ages. Similar to Blessed Dorothea who used often unacceptable piety methods (self-flagellation, wound irritation), other mystics of those times had their own behaviors which were more understandable and acceptable back then than they are now. For instance, Saint Mechtilde of Hackeborn and Saint Gertrude wore a hair shirt, whereas Bridget of Sweden was lying on the table and prayed.   
The recluse’s spiritual experiences (the recluse of Kwidzyn) define Blessed Dorothea of Montau, as Christ’s beloved, as a member of the group of Great Mystics of the Church.

Kowalczyk M., Doświadczenia duchowe bł. Doroty z Mątów na tle przeżyć wybranych mistyczek średniowiecznych, w: red. W. Zawadzki, Beata Dorothea Montoviensis, Prusiae Patrona. 40 rocznica zatwierdzenia kultu bł. Doroty z Mątów Wielkich, Kwidzyn 2017, s. 80-101.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7373-2227

By her visions, Hildegard of Bingen tried to show and explain the truth of the faith about God in Trinity, about the Son of God incarnate and redemption, about the Church and sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and angels. Comments applying to the second and sixth vision from the First Book of Scivias were concerned with angels. In this work, basing on revealed God’s mystery, Saint Hildegard at first shows in concentric processions, and then in capitula describes angelic choirs which combine into a harmonious whole, praising God’s works. These are angels, archangels, powers, might, rule, authorities, thrones, cherubs and serafins. The mystic divides these beings into three choirs, which then can be categorized into: two, five and again two processions.
Although she did not have currently available scientific instruments, Saint Hildegard of Bingen used her wisdom, sensitivity and openness to contemplate the word of grace and noticed immemorial truths of God, which she described and explained in Scivias to the benefit of the saved. Nine angelic choirs, which remained loyal to the God, praise all his works and support maintenance of the order to renew the initial order, allowing men to have eternal life.     
PL
Obecnie za dogmat uroczyście przez Kościół ogłoszony teologowie, w oparciu o orzeczenia Soboru Laterańskiego IV (BF V 10) i Watykańskiego I (BF V 19; por. także enc. Humani generis Piusa XII), uważają istnienie aniołów, jako bytów rozumnych i osobowych. Dogmatem wiary z nauczania zwykłego jest teza, że aniołowie nie mają ciała takiego jak ludzie, gdyż są duchami czystymi, nie złączonymi jakąkolwiek materią. Natomiast dogmatem z powszechnego nauczania jest również nauka o pomocy indywidualnej i społecznej udzielanej przez aniołów stróżów człowiekowi. Aby te sformułowania mogły dojrzeć i zostać podane do powszechnej wiadomości Ludowi Bożemu w nauczaniu Kościoła potrzeba było wieków doświadczeń duchowych poszczególnych mistyków i świętych oraz wytężonej pracy biblistów, dogmatyków i teologów innych specjalności. Święta Hildegarda z Bingen, choć nie dysponowała takimi instrumentami naukowymi, jakie dostępne są obecnie, dzięki własnej mądrości, wrażliwości i otwarciu na kontemplowanie Słowa Bożego dostrzegła odwieczne prawdy Stwórcy, które opisała i wyjaśniła na stronicach Scivias ku pożytkowi wiecznemu zbawionych. Dziewięć chórów anielskich, które pozostały wierne Bogu, sławi jednogłośnie Jego wielkie dzieła i wspiera stworzenie w zachowaniu porządku dążącego do odnowienia pierwotnego ładu, pozwalającego osiągnąć człowiekowi życie wieczne.

W laicyzującej się Europie coraz więcej kościołów traci swój sakralny charakter. Adaptowane są do celów świeckich, wzbudzając często swoim nowym przeznaczeniem oburzenie społeczne a nawet protesty i manifestacje. Przekazywanie świątyń na cele świeckie pozostaje niezrozumiałe szczególnie dla ludzi starszych, którzy zazwyczaj nie zdają sobie sprawy, że procedura ta jest bardzo stara i praktykowana była przez Kościół przez wieki przede wszystkim w odniesieniu do budowli, które uległy ruinie, zostały zalane przez powódź, spalone lub po prostu opuszczone przez wiernych.
Artykuł niniejszy wskazując na konkretne przykłady świątyń przekazanych na różnego rodzaju cele świeckie próbuje odnaleźć najwłaściwsze laickie przeznaczenie dla budynków sakralnych, które nie naruszałoby porządku sfery sacrum, pozwalając jednocześnie dawnym kościołom na funkcjonowanie nie wywołujące emocjonalnych reakcji sprzeciwu wśród wiernych. Według autorki kluczową kwestią powodującą w takiej sytuacji u wielu osób poczucie swoistej profanacji, a co za tym idzie sprzeciwu, jest często brak zrozumienia rytuału dekonsekracji oraz brak informacji, co do rzeczywistej przyczyny przekazania danej świątyni na cele świeckie.
Granicę pomiędzy dwoma strefami – sacrum i profanum – wytycza cienka linia, która niekiedy się rozmywa. Dopóki jednak osoby odpowiedzialne za desakralizację kościołów będą dbały o dopełnianie odpowiednich rytuałów, dopóty nie jest groźna utrata wartości i godności oraz pomieszanie pojęć prowadzące do destrukcji relacji społecznych.
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The deconsecration of churches: a sacred or profane ritual?
More and more church buildings are losing their sacred character in the secular-minded Europe of today. They are adapted for secular purposes and often their new fate provokes social indignation or even protests and manifestations. It is usually older people who find it hard to understand the surrender of church buildings for secular purposes. Quite often, they are unaware of the fact that this procedure is very old and was practiced by the Church through the ages, especially in respect of buildings, which fell into ruin, were submerged by flooding, burnt down or simply abandoned by the faithful.
By indicating certain definite instances of church buildings handed over for secular use, this paper attempts to find a secular use of sacred buildings, which would be most proper for them: one which would not infringe on the order of the sacred sphere and which would permit the former churches to function without arousing emotional reactions of opposition on the part of the faithful.
In the author’s opinion, the key-issue responsible for the awakening in many people of a feeling of profanation (as well as of their opposition), is a lack of understanding of the ritual of deconsecration and a lack of information regarding the actual reason for the decision of surrendering a particular church building for secular purposes.
The dividing line between the sacred and the profane is not all that distinct and quite often ceases to be visible. However, as long as those responsible for the deconsecration of churches show care and act responsibly when carrying out the appropriate rites, the loss of values and dignity will not be at stake and misunderstandings regarding concepts will not jeopardize social relations.

DOCUMENTS OF THE ORDER OF MALTA IN THE PARCHMENTS  OF DIGITAL IMAGES ARCHIVE OF THE LIBRARY  OF THE LITHUANIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 

At present the Division of Manuscripts of the Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences has retained 1412 parchments dating back to XI-XX century. It is one of the largest collection of parchments in Baltic countries. The content of the parchments concerns a current territory of Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Latvia,  Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Austria and Italy.  Among them we can find nine historically important documents related to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and beginnings of its operation on Polish lands: Confirmation letter by Bishop Benedict of Poznan to the Order of St. John. (Bishop Benedict of Poznan confirms the right of the Order of the Hospital (of St. John) of Jerusalem to manage the shelter of St. Michael’s Church in Poznan, donated by Duke Mescho of Poland, and to use the tithes from (villages of) the Kostrzyn province, donated by Bishop Radovanus of Poznan, for the maintenance of the shelter; and also donates St. Michael’s Church and all its tithes to the Order of St. John and Confirmation letter by Pope Celestin III to the Order of St. John. (Pope Celestin III confirms the right of the Order of the Hospital [of St. John] of Jerusalem to manage the shelter in Poznan with all the tithes donated for the maintenance of the shelter).