Carole M. Cusack's Books

Invented Religions

Imagination, Fiction and Faith

By: Professor Carole M Cusack

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Invented Religions

Imagination, Fiction and Faith

By: Professor Carole M Cusack

Utilizing contemporary scholarship on secularization, individualism, and consumer capitalism, this book explores religious movements founded in the West which are intentionally fictional: Discordianism, the Church of All Worlds, the Church of the SubGenius, and Jediism. Their continued appeal and success, principally in America but gaining wider audience through the 1980s and 1990s, is chiefly as a result of underground publishing and the internet. This book deals with immensely popular subject matter: Jediism developed from George Lucas' Star Wars films; the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, founded by 26-year-old student Bobby Henderson in 2005 as a protest against the teaching of Intelligent Design in schools; Discordianism and the Church of the SubGenius which retain strong followings and participation rates among college students. The Church of All Worlds' focus on Gaia theology and environmental issues makes it a popular focus of attention. The continued success of these groups of Invented Religions provide a unique opportunity to explore the nature of late/post-modern religious forms, including the use of fiction as part of a bricolage for spirituality, identity-formation, and personal orientation.

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Page Count

192

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409481034

ISBN 13

9781409481034

The Sacred Tree

Ancient and Medieval Manifestations

By: Carole M. Cusack

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The Sacred Tree

Ancient and Medieval Manifestations

By: Carole M. Cusack

The fundamental nature of the tree as a symbol for many communities reflects the historical reality that human beings have always interacted with and depended upon trees for their survival. Trees provided one of the earliest forms of shelter, along with caves, and the bounty of trees, nuts, fruits, and berries, gave sustenance to gatherer-hunter populations. This study has concentrated on the tree as sacred and significant for a particular group of societies, living in the ancient and medieval eras in the geographical confines of Europe, and sharing a common Indo-European inheritance, but sacred trees are found throughout the world, in vastly different cultures and historical periods. Sacred trees feature in the religious frameworks of the Ghanaian Akan, Arctic Altaic shamanic communities, and in China and Japan. The power of the sacred tree as a symbol is derived from the fact that trees function as homologues of both human beings and of the cosmos. This study concentrates the tree as axis mundi (hub or centre of the world) and the tree as imago mundi (picture of the world). The Greeks and Romans in the ancient world, and the Irish, Anglo-Saxons, continental Germans and Scandinavians in the medieval world, all understood the power of the tree, and its derivative the pillar, as markers of the centre. Sacred trees and pillars dotted their landscapes, and the territory around them derived its meaning from their presence. Unfamiliar or even hostile lands could be tamed and made meaningful by the erection of a monument that replicated the sacred centre. Such monuments also linked with boundaries, and by extension with law and order, custom and tradition. The sacred tree and pillar as centre symbolized the stability of the cosmos and of society. When the Pagan peoples of Europe adopted Christianity, the sacred trees and pillars, visible signs of the presence of the gods in the landscape, were popular targets for axe-wielding saints and missionaries who desired to force the conversion of the landscape as well as the people. Yet Christianity had its own tree monument, the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, and which came to signify resurrected life and the conquest of eternal death for the devout. As European Pagans were converted to Christianity, their tree and pillar monuments were changed into Christian forms; the great standing crosses of Anglo-Saxon northern England played many of the same roles as Pagan sacred trees and pillars. Irish and Anglo-Saxons Christians often combined the image of the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden with Christ on the cross, to produce a Christian version of the tree as imago mundi.

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195

Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1443830313

ISBN 13

9781443830317

Sacred Suicide

By: Carole M. Cusack

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Sacred Suicide

By: Carole M. Cusack

The label 'Suicide Cults' has been applied to a wide variety of different alternative religions, from Jonestown to the Solar Temple to Heaven's Gate. Additionally, observers have asked if such group suicides are in any way comparable to Islamist suicide terrorism, or to historical incidents of mass suicide, such as the mass suicide of the ancient community of Masada. Organizationally and ideologically diverse, it turns out that the primary shared trait of these various groups is a common stereotype of religion as an irrational force that pushes fanatics to undertake acts of suicidal violence. Offering a valuable perspective on New Religious Movements and on religion and violence, Sacred Suicide brings together contributions from a diverse range of international scholars of sociology, religious studies and criminology.

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Page Count

295

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317060180

ISBN 13

9781317060185

Invented Religions

Imagination, Fiction and Faith

By: Carole M. Cusack

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Invented Religions

Imagination, Fiction and Faith

By: Carole M. Cusack

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Page Count

164

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Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

131711325X

ISBN 13

9781317113256

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

By: Carole M. Cusack

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Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

By: Carole M. Cusack

This book is a study of the process of conversion among the Germanic peoples from the third to eleventh centuries. The intention is twofold: firstly, to examine previous scholarship on conversion and to develop a model of conversion appropriate to the Germanic peoples; and secondly, to produce a comparative study of six Germanic conversions. Chapter 1 reviews the existing models of conversion developed by scholars in a number of fields, principally psychology, anthropology and religious studies, and develops an alternative model. Chapters 2-7 are case studies which apply this model to the conversions of the Goths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, continental Saxons, Scandinavians and Icelanders. The final chapter presents in summary form the insights from the case studies.

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232

Publisher

A&C Black

Published Date

ISBN 10

0304701556

ISBN 13

9780304701551

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

By: Carole M. Cusack

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Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

By: Carole M. Cusack

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232

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A&C Black

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ISBN 10

0304701556

ISBN 13

9780304701551

The Sacred Tree

Ancient and Medieval Manifestations

By: Carole M. Cusack

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The Sacred Tree

Ancient and Medieval Manifestations

By: Carole M. Cusack

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Page Count

195

Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1443830313

ISBN 13

9781443830317

Book's by Carole M. Cusack

Invented Religions

Invented Religions

The Sacred Tree

The Sacred Tree

Sacred Suicide

Sacred Suicide

Invented Religions

Invented Religions

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples

The Sacred Tree

The Sacred Tree

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