What has happened to religion in its present manifestations? In recent years, Enlightenment secularization, as it appeared in the global spread of political structures that relegate the sacred to a private sphere, seems suddenly to have foundered. Unexpectedly, it has discovered its own parochialism--has discovered, indeed, that secularization may never have taken place at all. With the "return of the religious," in all aspects of contemporary social, political, and religious life, the question of political theology--of the relation between "political" and "religious" domains--takes on new...

What has happened to religion in its present manifestations? In recent years, Enlightenment secularization, as it appeared in the global spread of political structures that relegate the sacred to a private sphere, seems suddenly to have foundered. Unexpectedly, it has discovered its own parochialism-has discovered, indeed, that secularization may never have taken place at all.With the return of the religious, in all aspects of contemporary social, political, and religious life, the question of political theology-of the relation between politicaland religiousdomains-takes on new meaning and...

This book takes the reader on a fantastic journey through a wide range of cultures and traditions to examine the phenomenon of ecstatic visionary experiences--from Sumerian Gilgamesh and the Taoist Immortals to the imaginative fiction of Jorge Luis Borges. The author provides a comprehensive tour of otherworldly journeys common from immemorial times among shamans, magicians, and witches, and illustrates their connection with such modern phenomena as altered states of consciousness, out-of-body experiences, and near-death experiences.