WORLD RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUALITY PROJECT (WRSP) WRSP HISTORY What has become WRSP originated with the New Religious Movements Homepage Project, which was founded in 1995 by Professor Jeffrey K. Hadden at the University of Virginia as part of an undergraduate course on New Religious Movements (NRMs). Student researchers compiled profiles of a broad range of NRMs. Given the paucity of information online at that time, the Religious Movements Homepage rapidly grew into one of the largest academic sites of its kind in the world. Professor David Bromley consulted with Professor Hadden regularly on the project during this period. Following Professor Hadden’s untimely death in 2003, Professor Douglas E. Cowan, Renison College of the University of Waterloo, managed the project website for the next seven years to assure its continuation. Ultimately…
THE SATANIC TEMPLE TIMELINE 2012: The first public presence of what became The Satanic Temple occurred with the posting of a Facebook page to promote a planned documentary film. 2013 (January): The Satanic Temple hosted a rally in support of Florida Governor Rick Scott in support of prayer in schools. 2013 (June): The Satanic Temple began to raise money for its “Adopt-a-Highway” campaign. 2013 (July): Members of The Satanic Temple performed a Pink Mass in Meridian, Mississippi at the grave of the mother of Westboro Church's founder, Fred Phelps. 2013: Doug Mesner acknowledged that Lucien Greaves was his movement identity. 2013-2014: In Michigan, both national and local The Satanic Temple organized opposition to gay marriage and to religious holiday displays in public space. 2013-2014: The Satanic Temple protested the distribution…
TEMPLE OF THE VAMPIRE TEMPLE OF THE VAMPIRE TIMELINE 1970-72: Dr. Jeanne Keyes Youngson began receiving, as president/founder of The Count Dracula Fan Club (now The Vampire Empire), letters from people who self-identified as vampire. The organization’s purview was subsequently extended, making The Count Dracula Fan Club the first research organization to study real vampirism. 1972: Stephen Kaplan established the Vampire Research Center in Suffolk County, New York and oversaw a “vampire hotline” that received numerous phone calls from people claiming to be vampires, albeit many were hoaxes. 1986-1988: Vampire fanzines and newsletters began to experience broader distribution. 1989 (December): The Temple of the Vampire gained tax-exempt status as a religious organization in the U.S. 1989: The Vampire Bible was published. 1990s: The Temple of the Vampire ran ads claiming,…
OUR LADY OF BAYSIDE TIMELINE 1923 (July 12): Veronica Lueken was born. 1968 (June 5): Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Robert Kennedy. This event was tied to the onset of Lueken's first mystical experiences. 1970 (June 18): The Virgin Mary appeared to Lueken for the first time at St. Robert Bellarmine's Church. 1971-1975: “The Battle of Bayside” occurred. This period saw escalating tensions between Lueken's followers and the Bayside Hills Civic Association. Vigils would draw thousands of people. At the height of the controversy, up to 100 police officers were needed during vigils to keep the peace. 1971 (March 31): Monsignor Emmet McDonald of St. Robert Bellarmine's Church wrote Bishop Francis J. Mugavero, asking for his help in removing Lueken's movement. 1973: A Canadian group called the Pilgrims of Saint Michael began…
OTHERKIN OTHERKIN TIMELINE* 1930: Dion Fortune wrote about nonhuman persons and vampires in human bodies in Psychic Self-Defense . 1967: The Church of All Worlds was established. 1972(ca.): Elf Queen‘s Daughters was founded. 1972: Stephen Kaplan opened the Vampire Research Centre. 1974: Dungeons & Dragons RPG was first released. 1975: Elf Queen's Daughters was renamed Silver Elves. 1976: Brad Steiger's Gods of Aquarius referred to aliens on earth as “star people.” 1976: Anne Rice began to publish her enormously successful vampire novels. 1979: Silver Elves renamed Silvan or Sylvan Elves, began to publish the zine, Magical Elven Love Letters . 1980s: Mailing lists were used to keep contact between Elven groups. 1984: Elfquest RPG was released. 1986: The revised version of Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon [1979] included a…
There have been many thousands of Marian apparitional and devotional groups through history. This WRSP special project presents profiles of these groups, particularly those in the modern era. New profiles are being developed, and supporting materials will be posted along with the profiles. PROFILES Army of Mary / Community of the Lady of All Peoples Ballinspittle Fadia Ibrahim Lady of All Nations Marian Mercy Mission National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes Necedah Shrine Nova Cana Order of St. Charbel Orthodox Church of the Sovereign Mother of God (OCSMG) Our Lady of Aparecida Our Lady of Bayside Our Lady of Clearwater Our Lady of Emmitsburg Our Lady of Good Help Our Lady of the Pillar Our Lady of Yankalilla Palmarian Catholic Church Saut-d'Eau Dr. Joseph Laycock or Dr. Jill Krebs, Project…
WRSP FORUM INTERVIEWS The collection of WRSP FORUM INTERVIEWS are print interviews on topics that address the interests of scholars studying religion. The individuals interviews are drawn primarily from original WRSP interviews moderated by the special project directors, the joint interview project with the Albion Calling Blog, and interview posts produced by The Religious Studies Project. A few interviews are drawn from other online sources, with appropriate credits. BRANCH DAVIDIANS "Deadly Encounter At Mount Carmel: The Branch Davidian - Federal Agency Confrontation, February 28 - April 19, 1993" Interview with Stuart Wright Publication Date: 9/13/2013 CONSPIRACY THEORIES, GNOSTICISM, AND THE CRITICAL STUDY OF RELIGION Interview with David G. Robinson Published jointly with On New and Alternative Religions Publication Date: 3/22/2021 CULT AWARENESS MOVEMENT "Scientology, Anti-Cultists, and Scholars" Bernadette Rigal-Cellard Interview…
THEMATIC PROJECTS RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS AND THE VISUAL ARTS (Project Director: Massimo Introvigne) WOMEN IN THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS AND SPIRITUALITY PROJECT (Project Directors: Rebecca Moore, Catherine Wessinger) MARIAN APPARITIONAL AND DEVOTIONAL GROUPS (Project Directors: Joseph Laycock and Jill Krebs) SPIRITUAL AND VISIONARY COMMUNITIES (Project Director: Timothy Miller) NATIONAL RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE PROJECTS AUSTRALIAN RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS (Project Directors: Carole Cusack, Bernard Doherty) JAPANESE NEW RELIGIONS (Project Directors: Ian Reader, Erica Baffelli, Birgit Staemmler) CANADIAN RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS (Project Directors: Susan Palmer, John Peterson)
TEACHING & LEARNING TEXTS AND ORIENTING MATERIALS Orienting Authored Volumes David Kim, ed. 2022. New Religious Movements in Modern Asian History: Sociocultural Alternatives. Lanham: Lexington Books. Joseph P Laycock. 2022. New Religious Movements: The Basics. New York: Routledge. Hugh B. Urban 2015. New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press. Thomas Ezala Yohane. 2021. New Religious Movements. London: LAP Lambert. Orienting Edited Volumes Emily Suzanne Clark and Brad Stoddard, eds. 2019. Race and New Religious Movements in the USA: A Documentary Reader. London: Bloomsbury Dereck Daschke and Michael Ashcraft, eds. 2005. New Religious Movements: A Documentary Reader. New York: New York University Press. Derek Davis and Barry Hankins eds.. 2020. New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America. Waco: Baylor University Press.…
KARDECISM TIMELINE 1767: Franz Anton Mesmer began to practice medicine in Vienna using “magnetized” water as a cure. 1784: The Marquis de Puységur discovered “magnetic somnambulism.” 1787: Swedenborgians in Sweden reported regular communication with spirits of the dead via mediums in mesmeric trance. 1849 (November 14): The Fox sisters held the first public demonstration of Spiritualist practices in Rochester, New York. 1857: Allan Kardec published Le Livre des Esprits (The Spirits’ Book) in Paris. 1858: Allan Kardec founded La Revue Spirite (the key Kardecist journal) and the Société Parisienne des Études Spirites (the leading association and institutional model). 1858–1862: Kardecist publications began to be printed in Mexico, Brazil and Chile. 1872: Kardecist Spiritism began to attract interest in Puerto Rico. 1877: The first Kardecist group in Argentina was founded. 1882:…