spirituality
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Freemasonry – a brief overview
While Freemasonry is probably the largest and most influential brotherhood in the world, it is the least understood among the public, which in turn serves as a perfect soil to grow numerous misconceptions and myths about it. In reality Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values, which are promoted by assignments and meetings, and taught by a series of rituals that are often allegorical to the initial stonemasons’ customs. In its classic form, Freemasonry is a male society, but there are women’s lodges now too. The term “freemason” once described a member of a building guild in the Middle Ages who was free to travel…
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Notes on the book by M.C.Brannigan “Cultural Faultlines in Healthcare: Reflections on Cultural Competency”
This book is meant to draw the readers’ attention to the problems of providing the sensitive care to the patients within American health care system. Brannigan describes the problems caused by the diversity of worldview and values among the patients and doctors that meet through the health care system. The differences in approaches and understandings are causing what he calls cultural faultlines, the divisive issues that cause misunderstandings and create obstacles for better care. This outstanding problem is further fuelled by the fact that the American society in general has grown a profound distrust of the healthcare. Having described the essential problem, the author proposes a solution. He believes that…
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Notes on the book “Modern and Global Ayurveda : Pluralism and Paradigms”
Modern and Global Ayurveda is a collection of papers presented at a 2004 conference convened by the Dharam Hinduja Institute of Indic Research at the University of Cambridge edited by Dagmar Wujastyk, an independent scholar in Indology at the University of Bonn and Frederick M. Smith, Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions at the University of Iowa. This book briefly touches the history of Ayurveda and then explores in detail its development in the modern times, its coexistence with classical western medicine, the ideological differences between the “ancient” and modern ways of teaching and practice, its growth in the West and it’s new appearance back in India. In other…
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Candomblé – a very short overview
One of the African-derived religions in Brazil together with Umbanda, Xango, Batuque, Cantimbo, and Macumba, is Candomblé. It is most interesting for being a sort of a collection of various African religious traditions, especially those of Yoruba, Fon, and Banto ethnic groups. In addition, it draws on Catholic faith, having integrated its teachings into its own interpretation, for example, the deities of the pantheon (orixás) are associated with Catholic saints. This is a bright example of syncretism – a blending of religions that occurred due to the need of slaves to hide their beliefs under the cover of Catholicism. Brazil, colonized by the Portuguese, was one of the largest importers…
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Notes on the article by Joseph A. Adepoju “A Study of Health Beliefs and Practices of the Yoruba”
The study presented in the article describes in full the dualistic approach to treating illness. We see how the spiritual and physical treatments become complementary to each other within the Yoruba community. This approach is common not only for the immigrant community but also to the Yoruba living in Nigeria – there are always two sides seen in an illness – a physical and a spiritual, and both must be treated with equal importance. The holistic approach to healing in the Yoruba community is described in the quote below: “The practice of magic and medicine is comprehensive and holistic in nature and encompasses the healing of the body, mind and…
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Notes on the article by A. Baez and D. Hernandez “Complementary Spiritual Beliefs in the Latino Community: The Interface with Psychotherapy”
The article demonstrates that the successful provision of culturally sensitive and culturally inclusive mental health services depends in large part on the level of congruence between the client’s and the mental health practitioner’s respective views of mental illness and its treatment. So, it is vital for mental health professionals to draw the distinction in these matters in order to find the best approach to their patients. This article is intended to help non-Latino mental health practitioners reach that “level of understanding and respect, and also to achieve the adjustment of clinical techniques necessary for better cultural responsiveness to these patients, a matter seldom addressed directly in the mental health literature”…
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Notes on “Medicine, Religion and Health” by Koenig
In his book “Medicine, Religion and Health” Koenig raises several important questions about the role of spirituality in the healthcare settings. First of all, he address the problem of definition of the term spirituality. As it is shown, due to the fact that spirituality in itself is a very private matter, it can be described differently by every person. Koenig brings up several definitions of different researchers and eventually offers his own. In his opinion, spirituality should be linked to religion even though it does not necessarily imply religious belief. While there may be different opinions on the precise definition of spirituality, Koenig points out that in the clinical settings…