The Society of Biblical Literature Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism Group has placed several of their papers online, in fact most of their papers from 2000-2002 seem to be online. The papers from the 2003 session in Atlanta are not online at this site, but can be accessed from the SBL site of that conference. Go here, and scroll a little down.
In the 2002 conference Celia Deutsch, (Barnard College), read a paper on "Study, Ritual, and Mystical Experience: Philo's de Vita Contemplativa." She believes that The Therapeutae was a real group, living somewhere in the neighborhood of Alexandria. In this paper she explores ways in which study becomes a ritual site for mystical experience. The article is quite interesting, and describes the various ways ritual is present in Philo's descriptions. Her own conclusion runs thus:
Philo's De Vita Contemplativa presents a description of a group which exemplifies the contemplative life. According to that description it is a community whose life is framed by the temporal boundaries of the liturgical cycle and the spatial boundaries of the sanctuaries, individual and communal. These frames display clearly the sacred texts and its study which are intextricably associated with mystical experience through the oral reading which provides an aid to altered states of consciousness, as well as the metaphors which serve as the content of the visualization process.
Celia Deutsch is Adjunct Associate Professor at Barnard College, Columbia University.
No comments:
Post a Comment