Joseph Laycock is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Texas State University. He books include Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism (Praeger, 2009), The Seer of Bayside: Veronica Lueken and the Struggle for Catholicism (Oxford University Press, 2014), and Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says About Religion, Play, and Imaginary Worlds (University of California Press, 2015).
THE WARRENS TIMELINE 1926 (September 7): Edward (Ed) Warren Miney was born. 1927 (January 31): Lorraine Rita Warren (née Moran) was born. 1944: Ed and Lorraine first met. They married the following year. 1945: Ed enlisted in the Navy. 1950 (July 6): Judith Spera (née Warren) was born. 1952: The Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research. 1952: The Warrens began collecting artifacts for their Occult Museum 1970: The Warrens reportedly began investigating reports of a reportedly haunted Raggedy Anne doll named Annabelle. The Warrens took possession of the doll and stored it in their Occult Museum. 1972-1977: The Warrens investigated stories of a haunting at West Point Military Academy, the Lutz family home in Amityville, New York, and the Perron family. 1980: Gerald Brittle published The Demonologist,…
OOM THE OMNIPOTENT TIMELINE 1876 (October 31): Pierre Bernard was born as Perry Arnold Baker in Leon, Iowa. 1889: Bernard met his yoga teacher, Sylvais Hamati. 1893: Bernard and Hamati traveled to California. 1898: Bernard ran the San Francisco College for Suggestive Sciences. He performed the “Kali Mudra” stunt to advertise the power of yoga. 1902: Bernard was arrested for practicing medicine illegally. 1906: Bernard published Vira Sadhana: The International Journal of the Tantrik Order of America 1906: Bernard left San Francisco, traveling to Seattle and then New York City. 1910: Bernard was arrested in New York City on charges of abduction. The charges were subsequently dropped. 1918: Bernard and Blanche DeVries married. 1919: Bernard created the Braeburn Country Club in Nyack, New York, with funding provided by Anne Vanderbilt.…
MICHELLE BELANGER TIMELINE 1973 (January 11): Michelle Belanger was born in Ravenna, Ohio. 1991–1994: Belanger wrote the earliest iteration of The Psychic Vampire Codex. 1991–1996: Belanger edited the gothic literary magazine Shadowdance. 1995: Belanger founded the International Society of Vampires (ISV), a group for real vampires that emerged out of correspondence through Shadowdance. Belanger started a newsletter for members of the ISV called Midnight Sun, which featured a serialized version of The Psychic Vampire Codex. 1996: A group of friends formed what would later become House Kheperu. A version of The Psychic Vampire Codex was distributed under the title “Codex Vampiricus.” 1999: House Kheperu was formally named as such, when it was invited to join The Sanguinarium. 2000: Belanger helped to revise “The Black Veil,” a set of ethical guidelines…
Scholar’s Corner hosts and connects to a diverse set of video materials related to the study of emergent and alternative religions and spirituality: Nova Religio and WRSP have created a joint video project. Nova Religio produces video interviews with Nova Religio authors on their scholarly work and new trends and issues in religions. The World Religions and Spirituality Project conducts video interviews with authors on topics related to the academic study of emergent and alternative religions. The video interviews organized by Nova Religio can be accessed directly through the Nova Religio YouTube Video Channel and through Scholar’s Corner page. WRSP videos are posted on the WRSP YouTube Channel and are also available through the Scholar’s Corner page. Video interviews, conferences and seminars conducted under the auspices of INFORM (Information Network Focus…
Ethan Doyle White PhD specializes in the religions of early medieval England and in modern Paganism and related forms of occultism. He is the author of Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Sussex Academic Press, 2016) and co-editor of Magic and Witchery in the Modern West (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). His published research has covered such topics as the modern Pagan use of archaeological monuments, the influence of occultism in the music of David Bowie, and the revived worship of Hadrian’s deified lover Antinous. He is currently on the editorial board of Reading Religion, the review website of the American Academy of Religion. Ethan Doyle White is serving as the Senior Project Director of WRSP's Interview Forum. He has served as interview host for a number of interviews…
Lorne. Dawson. 2017. Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements. Toronto: Oxford University. Joseph Laycock. 2022. New Religious Movements: The Basics. New York: Routledge. Hugh Urban. 2015. New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
COURSE RESOURCES The resources listed in this section of the Teaching &Learning Project represent the most recent available volumes are are intended primarily for academics organizing courses on alternative and emerging religious/spiritual movements. Recent Authored Course Texts Lorne. Dawson. 2017. Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements. Toronto: Oxford University. Joseph Laycock. 2022. New Religious Movements: The Basics. New York: Routledge. Hugh Urban. 2015. New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press. Recent Edited Volumes Eileen Barker and Beth Singler, eds. 2021. Radical Transformations in Minority Religions. New York: Routledge. Henrik Bogdan and James R. Lewis, eds. 2016. Sexuality and New Religious Movements. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Emily Suzanne Clark and Brad Stoddard. 2019. Race and New…
Round Table on Identifying, Naming and Treating Harm in New Religious Movements 00:00-1:15:51 Part 1: Introduction of Panel and Opening Statements 01:46-14:48 Erin Prophet 14:49-34:36 Susan Palmer 34:37-48:34 Jeff Levin 48:35-1:01:08 Jessica Pratezina 1:01:09-1:16:02 Brett Merrill 1:16:03-1:42:43 Part 2: Panelist Questions What are the current methods of identifying harm in NRMs, and how can they be improved?; When should practices in NRMs be labeled abuse?; How can we promote greater accountability and transparency?; 1:42:46-1:57:22 Part 2A: What are appropriate therapeutic approaches for current and former members?; How can the therapeutic community interact with NRM scholars to create better resources? 1:57:23-2:43:14 Part 3: Audience Q&A (including J. Gordon Melton and Holly Folk) Identifying, Naming and Treating Harm in New Religious Movements. How can we prevent harm and abuse in “cults” and…
There are many forms and expressions of religious and spiritual organization and activity. Scholars with recognized expertise in selected areas have been invited to organize the Thematic Projects listed below. ESOTERICISM (Western)(Project Director: Manon Hedenborg White) MARIAN APPARITIONAL AND DEVOTIONAL GROUPS(Project Director: Joseph Laycock) RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS AND THE VISUAL ARTS(Project Director: Massimo Introvigne) SPIRITUAL AND VISIONARY COMMUNITIES(Project Director: Timothy Miller) WOMEN IN THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUALITY PROJECT(Project Directors: Rebecca Moore, Catherine Wessinger) YOGA IN WORLD RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUALITIES(Project Directors: Suzanne Newcombe and Karen O’Brien-Kop)