Marion Bowman (born 1955) is a British academic working on the borders of religious studies and folklore and ethnology. She is Professor Emerita in Religious Studies, The Open University. [1]
Bowman is a long-standing researcher into New Age and alternative spiritualities. [2] Her research focus is predominantly contemporary spirituality in the UK and Europe, particularly "the practices and beliefs of individuals both within and on the margins of institutional religion". [3]
Bowman began her university education at Glasgow University but moved to Lancaster University to study under Prof Ninian Smart. [2]
Bowman completed her MA in Folklore at Memorial University, Newfoundland: her dissertation was on devotion to St Gerard Majella in Newfoundland. [4] She completed her PhD at the University of Glamorgan in 1998 on 'Vernacular Religion and Contemporary Spirituality: Studies in Religious Experience and Expression'. [5]
From 1990 to 2000 Bowman was based at Bath Spa University in the department of Study of Religions. [1]
In 2000 Bowman joined the Religious Studies department at The Open University. She was Head of Department between 2010 and 2013. [1]
Bowman has carried out a long term study of Glastonbury, seeing it as a sight of "significant pilgrimage destination and microcosm of contemporary spirituality and vernacular religiosity". [6]
Bowman is a member of the Steering Committee of the Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion, based in the Classical Studies Department at the Open University. [7] She was also a Co-Investigator on the Arts Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals, Past and Present, which ran from 2014-2018. [8]
The research of Bowman and Open University colleagues into alternative religions has been seen to have a number of impacts: both at an academic level in influencing research agendas but also in influencing a more positive public awareness of practitioners of alternative religions. [9]
Bowman has been a visiting lecturer or professor at a number of European universities, including the University of Oslo, Norway; [10] University of Bayreuth, Germany; University of Pecs, Hungary and University of Tartu, Estonia. [11]
She is a former president of the British Association for the Study of Religions and a former Vice-President of both the European Association for the Study of Religions [12] and Theology and Religious Studies UK. [1]
Between 2002 and 2005, Bowman served as president of the Folklore Society: her Presidential Lectures derived from her research into Glastonbury and Newfoundland. [13] [14] She is an International Fellow of the American Folklore Society. [15]
The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man", oriented at "the image of God" as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. The term was used within early Christianity to refer to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during the Late Middle Ages to include mental aspects of life.
Glastonbury Tor is a tor near Glastonbury in the English county of Somerset, topped by the roofless St Michael's Tower, a Grade I listed building. The site is managed by the National Trust and has been designated a scheduled monument. The Tor is mentioned in Celtic mythology, particularly in myths linked to King Arthur, and has several other enduring mythological and spiritual associations.
Religious philosophy is philosophical thinking that is influenced and directed as a consequence of teachings from a particular religion. It can be done objectively, but it may also be done as a persuasion tool by believers in that faith. Religious philosophy is concerned with the nature of religion, theories of salvation, and conceptions of god, gods, and/or the divine.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines religiosity as: "Religiousness; religious feeling or belief. [...] Affected or excessive religiousness". Different scholars have seen this concept as broadly about religious orientations and degrees of involvement or commitment. The contrast between "religious" and "religiose" and the concept of "strengthening" faith suggest differences in the intensity of religiosity.
Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The various methods and frameworks can be summarized according to the classic distinction between the natural-scientific and human-scientific approaches. The first cluster amounts to objective, quantitative, and preferably experimental procedures for testing hypotheses about causal connections among the objects of one's study. In contrast, the human-scientific approach accesses the human world of experience using qualitative, phenomenological, and interpretive methods. This approach aims to discern meaningful, rather than causal, connections among the phenomena one seeks to understand.
Folklore studies is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the folklore artifacts themselves. It became established as a field across both Europe and North America, coordinating with Volkskunde (German), folkeminner (Norwegian), and folkminnen (Swedish), among others.
Beliefnet is a pseudo-Christian lifestyle website featuring editorial content related to the topics of inspiration, spirituality, health, wellness, love and family, news, and entertainment.
Celtic neopaganism refers to any type of modern paganism or contemporary pagan movements based on the ancient Celtic religion. One approach is Celtic Reconstructionism (CR), which emphasizes historical accuracy in reviving Celtic traditions. CR practitioners rely on historical sources and archaeology for their rituals and beliefs, including offerings to spirits and deities. Language study and preservation are essential, and daily life often incorporates ritual elements. While distinct from eclectic pagan and neopagan witchcraft traditions, there is some overlap with Neo-druidism.
Secular spirituality is the adherence to a spiritual philosophy without adherence to a religion. Secular spirituality emphasizes the inner peace of the individual, rather than a relationship with the divine. Secular spirituality is made up of the search for meaning outside of a religious institution; it considers one's relationship with the self, others, nature, and whatever else one considers to be the ultimate. Often, the goal of secular spirituality is living happily and/or helping others.
The Folklore Society (FLS) is a registered charity under English law based in London, England for the study of folklore. Its office is at 50 Fitzroy Street, London home of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism, is a type of tourism with two main subtypes: pilgrimage, meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, traditional religion, or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. The precise definition of folk religion varies among scholars. Sometimes also termed popular belief, it consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of a religion; but outside official doctrine and practices.
"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), or less commonly "more spiritual than religious" is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as the sole or most valuable means of furthering spiritual growth. Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion, but in contemporary usage spirituality has often become associated with the interior life of the individual, placing an emphasis upon the well-being of the "mind-body-spirit", while religion refers to organizational or communal dimensions. Spirituality sometimes denotes noninstitutionalized or individualized religiosity. The interactions are complex since even conservative Christians designate themselves as "spiritual but not religious" to indicate a form of non-ritualistic personal faith.
Postmodern religion is any type of religion that is influenced by postmodernism and postmodern philosophies. Examples of religions that may be interpreted using postmodern philosophy include Postmodern Christianity, Postmodern Neopaganism, and Postmodern Buddhism. Postmodern religion is not an attempt to banish religion from the public sphere; rather, it is a philosophical approach to religion that critically considers orthodox assumptions. Postmodern religious systems of thought view realities as plural, subjective, and dependent on the individual's worldview. Postmodern interpretations of religion acknowledge and value a multiplicity of diverse interpretations of truth, being, and ways of seeing. There is a rejection of sharp distinctions and global or dominant metanarratives in postmodern religion, and this reflects one of the core principles of postmodern philosophy. A postmodern interpretation of religion emphasises the key point that religious truth is highly individualistic, subjective, and resides within the individual.
Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deities, and spirits of nature and place. Theological beliefs among modern Druids are diverse; however, all modern Druids venerate the divine essence of nature.
Scholarly studies have investigated the effects of religion on health. The World Health Organization (WHO) discerns four dimensions of health, namely physical, social, mental, and spiritual health. Having a religious belief may have both positive and negative impacts on health and morbidity.
Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America is a folkloric and anthropological study of the Wiccan and wider Pagan community in the United States. It was written by the American anthropologist and folklorist Sabina Magliocco of California State University, Northridge and first published in 2004 by the University of Pennsylvania Press. It was released as a part of a series of academic books titled 'Contemporary Ethnography', edited by the anthropologists Kirin Narayan of the University of Wisconsin and Paul Stoller of West Chester University.
Peter Jan Margry is a Dutch historian and European ethnologist who was till november 2022 professor European Ethnology at the University of Amsterdam and, from 1993 to 2022, senior fellow at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences research center Meertens Institute in the Netherlands. Previously, he worked in The Hague and Den Bosch where he held positions as archivist-researcher, historian and archival inspector successively at the Dutch National Archives, the Court of Audit (Netherlands) and the Province of North Brabant. During the 1990s he was also active as a consultant on document heritage, working in Suriname and Papua (Indonesia).
Patricia Lysaght is an Irish folklorist. She is Professor Emerita of European Ethnology, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Anna Halafoff is an Australian sociologist who is Associate Professor in Sociology at Deakin University and former president of the Australian Association for the Study of Religion.
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