Dance has proliferated in movies, television, Internet, and retail spaces while the spiritual power of dance has also been linked with mass consumption. Walter marries the cultural studies of dance and the religious aspects of dance in an exploration of consumption rituals, including rituals of being persuaded to buy products that include dance.

Discos, clubs and raves have been focal points for the development of new and distinctive musical and cultural practices over the past four decades. This volume presents the rich array of scholarship that has sprung up in response. Cutting-edge perspectives from a broad range of academic disciplines reveal the complex questions provoked by this musical tradition. Issues considered include aesthetics; agency; 'the body' in dance, movement, and space; composition; identity (including gender, sexuality, race, and other constructs); musical design; place; pleasure; policing and moral panics; production techniques such as sampling; spirituality and religion; sub-cultural affiliations and distinctions; and technology. The essays are contributed by an international group of scholars and cover a geographically and culturally diverse array of musical scenes.

This book sheds light on the consumption of spiritual products, services, experiences, and places through state-of-the-art studies by leading and emerging scholars in interpretive consumer research, marketing, sociology, anthropology, cultural, and religious studies. The collection brings together fresh views and scholarship on a cultural tension that is at the centre of the lives of countless individuals living in postmodern societies: the relationship between the material and the spiritual, the sacred and the profane. The book examines how a variety of agents - religious institutions, spiritual leaders, marketers and consumers - interact and co-create spiritual meanings in a post-disenchanted society that has been defined as a 'supermarket of the soul.' Consumption and Spirituality examines not only religious organizations, but also brands and marketers and the way they infuse their products, services and experiences with spiritual meanings that flow freely in the circuit of culture and can be appropriated by consumers even without purchase acts. From a consumer perspective, the book investigates how spiritual beliefs, practices, and experiences are now embedded into a global consumer culture. Rather than condemning consumption, the chapters in this book highlight consumers' agency and the creative processes through which authentic spiritual meanings are co-created from a variety of sources, local and global, and sacred and profane alike.

"Creative Spirituality is a fascinating, brilliant, and suggestive book, to be read and appreciated both for its spiritual insights and for the author's astute observations on artistic creativity and spiritual practice. Robert Wuthnow explores the intimate engagements of art and spirituality in their common quests for meaning. This volume represents a substantial contribution to the growing literature on art and religion in the United States and an intelligent appeal to the artist and the truth-seeker in each of us."—Sally M. Promey is author of Painting Religion in Public and coauthor of The Visual Culture of American Religions "Wuthnow's careful listening to the voices of working artists speaking of their work, and his analysis of the rich variety of their experiences, show the universally human, transforming power of creativity. Creative practice reveals itself here as a primary spiritual practice. While some of these artists follow a traditional religious path and make fascinating connections between their working experience and their religious faith others speak directly of spirituality as a discovering of the power of Spirit. Whether religious or not, their voices are witness to the holy power of human creativity and to the mystery in which it leads."—Reverend Donald Schell, St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco "Robert Wuthnow has written a brilliant, insightful exploration of how contemporary artists struggle to express their deepest spiritual yearnings. At a time when the notion of spirituality seems inchoate, artists, writers and musicians can often eloquently articulate the mysterious otherness of our lives. Especially powerful are the personal testimonials which reveal the empowerment of transcendence over alienation and disbelief."—Marci Whitney-Schenck, Publisher and Editor, Christianity and the Arts "Here one finds wonderful stories about artists and of the creative spirituality arising out of their work. Wuthnow goes beyond telling us simply that these are people living at the edges of our culture, suggesting that they are spiritual models for our time—people who cultivate spiritual depth through sustained practice, or doing something that is fresh, expressive, and worthwhile. The book addresses the serious, many-sided aspects of their search—indeed, of our search—for 'moments of transcendence' today."—Wade Clark Roof, J. F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society, University of California at Santa Barbara and author of Spiritual Marketplace

"A regional history of contact between Utes and white settlers, from 1879-2009, that examines the production of an idealized American religion in the American West through the intersection of religion, land, and cultural memory."--Provided by publisher.

This dictionary attempts to give direct access to the development of Christian Spirituality. It is a series of pieces written by experts to provide instant, accurate and thought-provoking information of high scholarship.

Achieve balance, connect to Spirit, and tap into the sacred power of dance with 365 daily movement meditations. Throughout human history, people all over the world have recognized dance as an age-old yet timeless connection to Spirit. In celebration, to mark moments of change, and in times of despair, dance has been used to seek the Divine, connect with the Earth, and call into being the sacred energy we each possess within ourselves. In Sacred Dance Meditations, Carla Walter, PhD, offers readers 365 dances--one for every day--rooted in traditions from around the globe. From Polynesia to Peru, each dance is different in origin and technique but connected in common purpose: as sacred conduits for hope, love, connection, community, and spirituality. Walter provides a theme each new day, drawn from mystical and spiritual principles that originate from pre-colonial religious traditions. Descriptions, video links, accessibility modifications, and invitations for deeper reflection allow the reader to engage their Spirit fully with the sacred power of dance, carrying it in their heart as they move throughout each day. Readers who want a more active style of meditative practice will discover powerful regenerative healing and a new way to awaken. Broken up day by day and month by month, Sacred Dance Meditations makes it simple and gratifying to practice each day's dance and fulfill its intended theme. Readers can begin at any "point of entry" section, and work their way throughout the year with a time commitment of just ten to twenty minutes a day. Importantly, each dance is designed to supplement any existing (or non-existent) religious or spiritual practice, allowing all to tap into the Divine through the spirit of dance.

Bring the Life of the Dance into the Dance of Your Life Movement Medicine is a grounding and uplifting modern meditation practice rooted in the traditions of ecstatic dance. It's suitable for anybody in a body. Everyone, no matter their age, shape or background, has a dancer inside them. This dancer has the capacity to access wisdom, vitality and creativity that we cannot access with intellect alone. The exercises in this book combine movement and meditation to guide you on a profound and transformational journey. Movement Medicine invites you to take a journey to the soul through 9 Gateways. It is informed by a wealth of healing and transformational modalities, and is designed to support your soul to grow and flourish to face the challenges of life in the 21st century. The 9 Gateways are broken down into three journeys, each with a specific intent: The Journey of Empowerment - the Gateways of Body, Heart and Mind The Journey of Responsibility - the Gateways of Past, Present and Future Living the Dream - the Gateways of Fulfilment, Interconnection and Realisation. These 9 Gateways are all woven together to help you embody your essential self, expand your consciousness and live the most creative and fulfilling existence you can.

To varying degrees, classic religions are associated with critique of materialistic values. Onto this opposition of the market and the temple other binaries have been grafted, so that 'North' and the 'West' are portrayed as secular and materialistic, 'South' and 'East' either as 'tigers' pursuing western-style affluence and economic growth or locked into retrospective fundamentalisms. These characterisations are called into question in a context of diversity and global movements of peoples and goods. In this collection this complexity is addressed in an analysis of the interconnections between religious and consumption practices and cultures, and the ways in which both are responding to the ecological threat posed by continuous economic growth. International in scope, the book combines empirical and theoretical work in its attempt to interrogate the traditional opposition of spiritual and materialistic values, and to explore the interplay of religious and consuming passions in contemporary cultures. This analysis leads to a consideration of the ways in which religions and secular spiritualities can contribute to a new ecological consciousness, and to the adoption of less destructive and rapacious ways of life.

Vast numbers of western youth have attached primary significance to raving and post-rave experiences. This collection of essays explores the socio-cultural and religious dimensions of the rave, 'raving' and rave-derived phenomena.