Interest In Beliefs Research Articles

“If the Kingdom be Ruled According to the Tao”: Politics as “Eastern Wisdom” in Aleister Crowley’s Reception of the Daodejing

Abstract The fascination with the “Eastern Wisdom” exhibited among esoteric movements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is often understood as an interest in spirituality. Existing research has focused on how these movements took an interest in beliefs in doctrines like karma and reincarnation, as well as in practices of meditation and divination. Although this characterization is broadly correct, it is not the whole picture. This article explores a case where “Eastern Wisdom” was instead conceived in a way that explicitly included politics: Aleister Crowley’s interpretation of the instructions for government given in the Daodejing. During the early twentieth century the Daodejing was the focus of broad interest by sinologists, artists, and esoteric writers alike, among them Crowley. Although intensely engaged in divination and esoteric ritual practices, Crowley was also a utopian political thinker who wanted to see radical societal reform in line with his religious and political ideals. The article explores Crowley’s interpretation of the political aspects of the Daodejing and how he strove to interpret them in light of his own religious beliefs. It suggests that, far from being exclusively private and individualistic, the esoteric understanding of “Eastern Wisdom” could include elements like political theory and utopian thinking.

Les « superstitions » à l’épreuve de la modernité : un retour en grâce ?

Have we finished with superstition, from the point of view of history, of ideas and of psychology? Nothing is less certain. On the basis of some ancient or recent publications on this topic, this article attempts to pinpoint the fact that, owing to the empirical and theoretical topicality of superstition, it certainly deserves better than the ideological and intellectual disqualification it has been subjected to. Recent reflections, inspired by anthropological and psychological approaches, seem part of a new interest in beliefs and symbols previously mastered by dominant and exclusive systems of thoughts, be they religious or profane. But a close examination of the effective uses of the notion of ‘superstition’ demonstrates that the projective stigmatization of the ‘Other’ remains a relevant point of departure from which it can be rehabilitated, alongside the latest psychological approaches of belief.

PEACEFUL WARRIORS: CODES FOR VIOLENCE AMONG ADULT MALE BAR FIGHTERS

Considerable theoretical and empirical inquiry has focused on the role codes for violence play in generating crime. A large part of this work has examined the attitudes and codes condoning retaliation and violence as well as the prevalence of these among minorities residing in impoverished neighborhoods. Much about the nature of codes remains unknown, however, and this may in part reflect a narrow interest in beliefs about provocation and uses of violence among the inner‐city poor. In this study, we elaborate on a code of violence as part of a system of order and honor as articulated by a network of White, working‐class males in a southern U.S. city who participate in bar fights. The findings suggest that the code these men use prohibits predatory violence, puts exclusive limitations on situations that warrant violence, and constrains the level of violence in a fight. We detail the contours of this code (e.g., purpose of fighting, the rules of honorable fighting, and justifications for violating these rules) and discuss the code as both a cause and a consequence of behavior.