Paulson Lectures in the Study of Religion are organized by the Estonian Society for the Study
of Religions in cooperation with the School of Theology and Religious Studies of the
University of Tartu. This year the lectures will be held by Kocku von Stuckrad who is
widely known scholar of Western Esotericism, discursive study of religion as well as many
other issues related to the history of religion, science, and philosophy in Europe and North
America.

Dates and location:
07.11.2023 – 16:15-17:45 at Jakobi 2-114: The Colonial Invention of Animism
08.11.2023 – 16:15-17:45 at Jakobi 2-114: European Animisms Today
09.11.2023 – 16:15-17:45 at Jakobi 2-114: The Relational Turn and the Study of Religion

Detailed descriptions of the lectures:
The Colonial Invention of Animism
07.11.2023 – 16:15-17:45 at Jakobi 2-114
The concept of animism is deeply rooted in colonial structures. Introduced by the British
anthropologist Edward B. Tylor (1871) as the belief in the animation of nature and the
existence of spirits, colonial religious studies imagined animism as a ‘failed ontology.’ This
‘primitive religion’ could be found outside of Europe, mainly in Indigenous, Buddhist, and
Hindu traditions, but also in segments of European societies that seemed to be untouched by
the project of rational, disenchanted European modernity. The lecture situates the early
discourse on animism in an ambiguous European setting that is torn between fascination and
rejection of animism and related trends in religion and philosophy.

European Animisms Today
08.11.2023 – 16:15-17:45 at Jakobi 2-114

While postcolonial critique resulted in a rejection of the concept of animism in most
academic settings, since the 1980s, the term has gained a lot of traction in new religious and
spiritual movements, first in North America and then in Europe. Particularly in nature-based
spiritualities such as paganism or shamanism, animism became a positive identity marker for
many people, including environmental activists and artists. Scholars, too, revisited the
concept of animism and suggested new interpretations that look at animism as a relational
approach to the more-than-human world. The lecture describes these developments as a
general societal change, which involves ‘discourse communities’ formed by scholars,
practitioners, artists, and other actors.

The Relational Turn and the Study of Religion
09.11.2023 – 16:15-17:45 at Jakobi 2-114
The academic and popular work on the concept of animism is clearly linked to a broader
change that characterizes European and North American intellectual culture today. The new
scholarly interpretations of animism resonate with the ‘relational turn’ across academic
disciplines, the arts, and politics. Taking seriously the relationality, entanglement, and
situatedness of our knowledges is key for the study of religion as well. As it turns out, the
acknowledgment of animism as a European tradition may even contribute to attempts at
decolonization and de-Westernization. Against this background, the lecture formulates a few
programmatic ideas for the study of religion in the 21st century.

Kocku von Stuckrad is a professor of religious studies at the University of Groningen, the
Netherlands. He has published extensively on topics related to the history of religion, science,
and philosophy in Europe and North America. Using a discursive approach to religion, he has
worked particularly on nature-based and esoteric spiritualities as influential currents in
European tradition. His most recent book is A Cultural History of the Soul: Europe and North
America from 1870 to the Present (Columbia University Press, 2021).

Ivar Paulson lectures is a lecture series organized by the Estonian Society for the Study of
Religions that focus on the most noteworthy topics, issues and new developments in the
contemporary study of religion. Ivar Paulson (1922-1966) was known for the wide range of
peoples, religious beliefs and practices he was interested in and which he studied by
combining a number of different research approaches. Similarly, Paulson lectures aim to
highlight and bring together some of the more significant developments from various
approaches and perspectives in the contemporary study of religion.

In cooperation with the University of Tartu the Estonian Society for the Study of Religions is organizing the first Ivar Paulson lectures in the study of religion. This year the lectures will be held by the well-known scholar of Indian Tantra, Paolo E. Rosati. He is a distinguished scholar of Indian Tantra, in particular of its historical development in the wider social, cultural and religious context.

Dates and location:

02.11.2022 – 16:15-17:45 at Ülikooli 18-139: Tantra and Beyond

03.11.2022 – 16:15-17:45 at Ülikooli 18-139: The Cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā (Assam)

04.11.2022 – 14:15-15:45 at Ülikooli 18-139: Blood, Sex, and Magic: The Power of the Yonipīṭha at Kāmākhyā

Detailed descriptions of the lectures can be found below:

Tantra and Beyond

02.11.2022 – 16:15-17:45 at Ülikooli 18-139

This lecture is a short introduction to Tantra as a religious phenomenon related not only to the Sanskritic élite and its textual production (such as, e.g., the highly philosophical Kashmiri Śivaism and its non-dualistic view of the universe) but also to the cross-cultural dialectic between Brahmanism and non-mainstream religions, such as tribal and folk traditions. After an analysis of the proposed definitions of Tantra in the history of the studies, the characteristics of Tantra will be point out in order to explain the problematic identification of Tantra as an univocal category because the extreme fluidity of its elements. Hence, also a differentiation between left-hand and right-hand or soft-core and hard-core Tantra emerges as a flawed attempt of classification. Finally, the controversial issue regarding the ‘birth’ of Tantra will be discussed highlighting the possibility of a multiple origin of what we call Tantra.

The Cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā (Assam)

03.11.2022 – 16:15-17:45 at Ülikooli 18-139

The mythology of the goddess Kāmākhyā was introduced in the early medieval Kālikāpurāṇa (ninth–eleventh century CE), a Śākta text that linked the yoni of Satī to the Assamese goddess Kāmākhyā. This lecture will analyse the medieval and pre-modern Purāṇas and Tantras compiled in northeastern India—focusing on their mythological accounts of the cosmogony of the yoni-pīṭha—in order to outline the intersection of Kaula-Tantra and Purāṇic elements in the formation of the Goddess’s cult at Kāmākhyā.

Blood, Sex, and Magic: The Power of the Yonipīṭha at Kāmākhyā

04.11.2022 – 14:15-15:45 at Ülikooli 18-139

This lecture explores the connection between Tantra and the magic tradition of Nīlācala in Assam in order to explain the encounter between Brahmanism and magic. First, the doctrinal, ritual, and mythical background of the cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā, whose roots go back to the esoteric sexual path of Kaula Tantra praxis will be discussed. Having traced the history to this path, which around the 10th century switched from blood sacrifice to a mystic-erotic ritual centred on the yoni-pūjā (worship of the vulva), homologizing blood offerings and erotic rituals focusing on the human body as a source of sexual fluids necessary to obtain such supernatural accomplishments (siddhis), this lecture then examines the concept of siddhi as a ‘magical power’ that can be acquired only by those belonging to the kula (clan), the only ones who know the yoni’s secret (the restricted transmission of siddhis over kula’s generations being a complement to the ideology of blood sacrifice). Finally, it considers the intersection of indigenous traditions and Brahmanical ritual praxis in Assam as the source of the peculiar cult of the yoni of Kāmākhyā. From this discussion, Assamese Tantra emerges as a religious phenomenon that crosses socio-cultural boundaries and encompasses apparently irreconcilable categories

Paolo E. Rosati is an independent scholar based in Rome (Italy). He obtained a PhD in ‘Asian and African Studies’ (South Asian Section) from Sapienza University of Rome (2017). Since 2016 he has regularly published articles on the yoni cult at Kāmākhyā in peer-reviewed journals and collective volumes. His publications include a double special issue on Tantra for Religions of South Asia (vol. 14, nos. 1–2) and a volume (coedited with Andrea Acri) entitled, Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia: Texts, Practices, and Practitioners from the Margins (Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions). Actually, he is editing an upcoming volume Magic, the Supernatural, and Danger across Pre-Modern and Modern Monsoon Asia. Paolo’s main field of research is the medieval and pre-modern development of Assamese Tantra, although nowadays his research’s focus is expanding to the intersection of Tantra, magic, gender, and memory in the modern period.

Ivar Paulson lectures focus on the most noteworthy topics, issues and new developments in the contemporary study of religion. Ivar Paulson (1922-1966) was known for the wide range of peoples, religious beliefs and practices he was interested in and which he studied by combining a number of different research approaches. Similarly, Paulson lectures aim to highlight and bring together some of the more significant developments from various approaches and perspectives in the contemporary study of religion.

Estonian academic societies express their deep indignation about the military invasion of the Russian Federation into sovereign Ukraine. The current situation does not leave any space for illusions that the Putinist imperial formation might change politically and morally. Relying on our nation’s historical experience and our academic competence, we know only too well what the national chauvinism of the aggressor state and its will to suffocate peoples’ independence, self-determination and free thought mean. The wish of the current regime of the Russian Federation to assert itself but also its weakness is shown by creating festering crisis pockets on its borders. We can see that Russia will not be able not achieve much more than that in Ukraine either. Still, the war has already caused sufferings and losses to millions. We express our support to the Ukrainian academic community and wish them determination in defence of their state and democratic values.

The great sufferings of the Ukrainian country and people are starting to bring it home to the Western welfare society how far the Russian Federation is ready to go for the sake of the ambitions of its authoritarian leaders. We are convinced that the West must show greater unity than ever before, be irreconcilable towards the aggression and jointly oppose Putinist imperialism. Currently, we can see a U-turn in the West against Kremlin’s aggressive activity. Relying on our knowledge and competence, we can contribute to the increase of social expertise in the West. Let’s do it! We are always ready to support our Ukrainian colleagues with advice and skills in our specialities and otherwise, now and in the future. Violence cannot suppress academic freedom, no matter how critical the situation is. Let’s keep and protect it!

9 March 2022

Estonian Academic Agricultural Society

Estonian Academic Folklore Society

Estonian Academic Theological Society

Estonian Association of Engineers

Estonian Association of Sociologists

Estonian Biochemical Society

Estonian Chemical Society

Estonian Economic Association

Estonian Geographical Society

Estonian Learned Society in Sweden

Estonian Mathematical Society

Estonian Mother Tongue Society

Estonian Musicological Society

Estonian Naturalists’ Society

Estonian Oriental Society

Estonian Physical Society

Estonian Semiotics Association

Estonian Society for Immunology and Allergology

Estonian Society for the Study of Religions

Estonian Society of Human Genetics

Estonian Society of Toxicology

Estonian Union of the History and Philosophy of Science

Learned Estonian Society

Society of Estonian Areal Studies

Supporting: University of Tartu School of Theology and Religious Studies

Religion(s) and Power(s)

Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania

October 5-6,2017

The Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions in cooperation with Latvian Society for the Study of Religions and Estonian Society for the Study of Religions invites proposals for its upcoming international conference “Religion(s) and Power(s)” To encourage new directions in critical research of interrelations of religion(s) and power(s) from a broad range of approaches, we are seeking proposals on a wide range of topics including:

• Private and public religions;
• Religions and politics;
• Non-religion and power;
• Religious inequalities and discrimination;
• Religions, human rights and justice;
• Powers of/within religions;
• Religion and nationalism;
• Mythology, divine kinship and power;
• Religion and colonialism;
• Religions and education.

Other topics related to the conference theme are also encouraged.

Conference paper and session proposals must be sent by April 1,2017. Please send your 250-300 word abstract and a 200-word personal bio to email: religiousstudieslt@gmail.com

Important conference dates:

June 15, 2017 – submission of conference papers and sessions proposals;
July 1, 2017 – notification of paper/session proposal acceptance;
July 1, 2017 – opening of registration for the conference;
August 15, 2017 – closing of registration for the conference;
September 1, 2017 – announcement of the conference program.

Conference Registration Fees:

- Members of national associations of Baltic States associations for the study of religions - 50 EUR;

- Permanent/full-time faculty and non-affiliated participants - 80 EUR;

- Graduate students and emeritus faculty - 50 EUR;

- Late bird conference fee - 100 EUR.