Objects of Special Devotion

Objects of Special Devotion
Author: Ray Broadus Browne
Publisher: Popular Press
Total Pages: 384
Release: 1982
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780879721916

This book demonstrates the importance of the study of fetishes and fetishism in the study of popular culture. Some of the essays cover rather "conventional" manifestations in the world today; others demonstrate the fetishistic qualities of some unusual items. But all illustrate without any doubt that, like the icon, the ritual, and many other items in society, fetishes, fetishism and fetishists must be studied and understood before we can begin to understand the complexity of present-day society.

Lent in Plain Sight

Lent in Plain Sight
Author: Jill J. Duffield
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2020-01-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611649803

God is often at work through the ordinary: ordinary people, ordinary objects, ordinary grace. Through the ordinary, God communicates epiphanies, salvation, revelation, and reconciliation. It is through the mundane that we hear Gods quiet voice. In this devotion for the season of Lent, Jill J. Duffield draws readers attention to ten ordinary objects that Jesus would have encountered on his way to Jerusalem: dust, bread, the cross, coins, shoes, oil, coats, towels, thorns, and stones. In each object, readers will find meaning in the biblical account of Jesus final days. Each week, readers encounter a new object to consider through Scripture, prayer, and reflection. From Ash Wednesday to Easter, Lent in Plain Sight reminds Christians to open ourselves to the kingdom of God.

Another Insane Devotion

Another Insane Devotion
Author: Peter Trachtenberg
Publisher: Da Capo Press, Incorporated
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2012-11-13
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0738215260

An exploration of the mysteries of love and marriage, pleasure and obligation--through the lens of cat ownership

Advent in Plain Sight

Advent in Plain Sight
Author: Jill J. Duffield
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2021-09-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1646982037

At Christmas, God came into our ordinary world in the form of a child, and still today, God is at work through the ordinary stuff of life, if we train our eyes to see. In this daily devotional for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, Jill J. Duffield draws readers' attention to ten ordinary objects that appear in the biblical narratives of messianic prophesy and incarnation—objects we encounter in our own lives. Through objects such as gates, trees, cloth, light, and water, readers will find new meaning in the biblical account of Jesus’ coming. By connecting everyday objects with biblical texts, Advent in Plain Sight prompts readers to see the near kingdom of heaven on earth and ponder what that divine proximity enables and asks them to do and be. Each daily devotional features a Scripture reading, prayer, and reflection, reminding Christians that God still dwells among us, even in the most ordinary places.

Sun of Devotion, Stream of Blessings

Sun of Devotion, Stream of Blessings
Author: Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Publisher: Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2016-08-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1891868683

The key to happiness is the mind. With the mind, we can switch our life to suffering or we can switch it to happiness, just as we change television channels, choosing to watch programs about fighting and war, or peaceful things, like the nature programs people seem to enjoy. Experiencing happiness or suffering depends entirely on what we do with our mind. -Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Sun of Devotion, Stream of Blessings Sun of Devotion, Stream of Blessings is the record of a remarkable series of powerful and clear Dharma teachings given by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 2014 to students at Leeds and London in the United Kingdom. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive⿿s editor Gordon McDougall was present throughout these teachings and has now skillfully edited them into written form that retains the flavor of a great master giving precise instructions to the students sitting before him. In Sun of Devotion, Stream of Blessings, Rinpoche explains how to take care of our minds so that our happiness is in our own hands, gives profound teachings on the Buddhist philosophy of emptiness, discusses the need for ethics and a solid refuge, shows us how to cut the root of samsara, explores why practicing certain tantras is important and especially emphasizes how the guru is the most powerful object of our Dharma practice. Gordon has presented the subjects taught by Rinpoche in the order in which they were given, beginning with a deep commentary on the meaning of sang-gyä, the Tibetan term usually translated as "buddha," and retaining the powerful method by which Rinpoche would repeatedly reinforce and expand upon earlier topics. Rinpoche also spends much time discussing the great qualities of Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma), the incredible being who has become so important to Tibetan Buddhism, FPMT and the world.

Islam and the Devotional Object

Islam and the Devotional Object
Author: Richard J. A. McGregor
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2020-05-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108483844

A new history of Islamic practice told through the aesthetic reception of medieval religious objects.

Fragmented Devotion

Fragmented Devotion
Author: Schnütgen-Museum
Publisher: Boston College Museum of Art
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2000-01
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9781892850010

Medieval art survives today as fragments of larger works, usually displayed by historical period, geographic location, artistic medium, or iconographic theme. Fragmented Devotion is the first exhibition to explore the meanings these fragments have in our understanding of medieval art and religious life from the Middle Ages to the present. Most of these objects have never been shown before in North America, and many have not been published since the beginning of the twentieth century. The catalog includes essays by historians, art historians, philosophers, and theologians. The writings discuss the meanings these objects had in medieval religious practice. The essays then go on to trace how those original meanings changed when the objects were collected and installed by Alexander Schnutgen within the larger context of Catholicism and nationalism in nineteenth century Germany. Finally, the contributors look at the 1920s and 1930s when the objects were installed in a museum-like setting and consider this installation in light of the developments in medieval art history and the policies of national socialism.

Islam and the Devotional Object

Islam and the Devotional Object
Author: Richard J. A. McGregor
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2020-05-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 110858506X

In this book, Richard J. A. McGregor offers a history of Islamic practice through the aesthetic reception of medieval religious objects. Elaborate parades in Cairo and Damascus included decorated objects of great value, destined for Mecca and Medina. Among these were the precious dress sewn yearly for the Ka'ba, and large colorful sedans mounted on camels, which mysteriously completed the Hajj without carrying a single passenger. Along with the brisk trade in Islamic relics, these objects and the variety of contested meanings attached to them, constituted material practices of religion that persisted into the colonial era, but were suppressed in the twentieth century. McGregor here recovers the biographies of religious objects, including relics, banners, public texts, and coverings for the Ka'ba. Reconstructing the premodern visual culture of Islamic Egypt and Syria, he follows the shifting meanings attached to objects of devotion, as well as the contingent nature of religious practice and experience.