Department of Religious Studies

In the twentieth century, certain European elitist circles embraced Traditionalist thought, most notably promoted by its pioneer René Guénon (1886-1951). Ever since, a lose movement of like-minded people has handed down religiously-influenced theories opposing the modern world. Modern Traditionalists and modernity are thus fierce enemies. Any progress, modernization, or technological advances are to Traditionalists what regression, stagnation, and reactionary forces are to the avant-garde. So, what could be a possible link between Traditionalism and modern technology? Perhaps, the fundamental doubt of technology's belonging to the modern world. From the 1960s onwards, a self-proclaimed radical Traditionalist, who was further cherished as a New Age prophet, advocated ancient technology. True to the motto 'opposites attract,' the English writer John Michell (1933-2009) had reconciled many antagonisms. By linking astro-archaeology and various speculative earth mystery theories, Michell aimed to fuse prehistoric megalithic science and flying saucers. To Michell, the rejection of modernity and its by-products did not contradict the belief in extra-terrestrial means of prehistoric technology. The aim of this paper is the exposition of Michell's approach towards flying saucers as a technological means of prehistory from a modern Traditionalist and alternative archaeologist perspective.

The emblems on the previous page and the front cover show various logos/symbols representing the religious traditions and contexts discussed in this volume. Permission to reproduce the KPÖ logo has been granted by the KPÖ. The emblems signify (from left to right) Chinese Popular Religion (the symbol used is the Chinese character for "filiality" or xiào 孝, which is a crucial aspect of Chinese popular religion); Chinese New Year or Spring Festival ancestral commemoration (the symbol used is the Chinese character for "a blessing that brings good fortune" or fú 福, which is a paradigmatic icon of this event); Chinese Buddhism (the symbol used is the dharmacakra or fǎlún 法輪/法轮, that is, the "dharma wheel" representing Buddhism in general); Naikan (the symbol used is a calligraphy of the kanji for Naikan by its founder Yoshimoto Ishin); and the Austrian Communist Party.

The English writer John Michell (1933-2009) occupied a significant position within British alternative religion. Michell's manifold books revolve around his life-long aim to re-enchant the English landscape and launch a new golden age. Michell was a devoted Traditionalist and is widely considered the founding father of the vast field of British Earth Mysteries. Associated groups embrace speculative theories of the earth, claiming the existence of telluric (dragon) energies. As Michell's impact on such groups is widely acknowledged, within the context of Earth Mysteries, this article centers on cerealogy and the Dragon Environmental Network as examples in exploring Michell's discursive and enduring influence.

In 1976, US-American Psychiatrist Lee Sannella published a small book entitled Kundalini -Psychosis or Transcendence? Due to his research at the San Francisco-based Kundalini Clinic, Sannella postulated in his book that the tantric notion of kundalini might mimic psychotic e�fects, yet it must be distinguished from mental disease. Although Sannella's hypothesis was built upon previous assertions of presumably adverse e�fects of kundalini, such as those articulated by the Indian Pandit Gopi Krishna (1903Krishna ( -1984)), Sannella popularised the idea of kundalini's potential threats. Concurrently, he underlined kundalini's transformational potentiality. By highlighting discourse and interpretation of kundalini as a trigger for spiritual emergencies, this chapter aims to examine the dual perspective of kundalini as a hazardous and therapeutic force as well as shed light on hitherto little-known details about the Kundalini Clinic. Additionally, it delves into the ritual implications of spiritual emergencies.

This study explores the modern history of kundalini with an emphasis on its scientification. Concepts of kuṇḍalinī originated in South Asian tantra and yoga texts and practices and have undergone significant transformations since the late nineteenth century. Modernisation processes transformed the premodern South Asian views of kuṇḍalinī into modern kundalini concepts, which became a globally discussed topic of late twentieth-century religion. This transformation process can be divided into three chronological periods. The first period involved the initial interest of and interpretations by the Theosophical Society, Hindu reformers, and other South Asian intellectuals during the 1880s and early 1890s. The second period (c. 1896 to 1933) features influential South Asian writers and publication projects, such as Swami Vivekananda, Vasant Rele, and the works published under the name Arthur Avalon, which resulted from the collaboration of several South Asian tantra specialists and John Woodroffe. The third period, the focus of this study, spans from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, marked by the international prominence of the South Asian author Gopi Krishna (1903–1984), whose book Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man (1967) catalysed kundalini’s modern heyday. Krishna was also significantly involved in elevating the importance of using empirical scientific methods to research kundalini during this period. This study emphasises the institutionalisation and international collaborations of empirical kundalini research during the third period. Gopi Krishna’s pivotal role in initiating and promoting empirical kundalini research through his international projects and collaborations forms the main case study. In addition to Gopi Krishna, the present study examines the involvement of (mainly) US-based institutes as historical examples of empirical kundalini research, such as the Kundalini Clinic and the Esalen Institute. As a concluding analysis, I assess kundalini’s relevance within the broader social, cultural, and religious processes of the 1970s and 1980s. I argue that kundalini’s significance extends beyond its immediate context, as it uniquely reflects developments in recent religious and cultural history. This study posits that kundalini became so popular because it functioned as a unifying symbol around which different currents of the era converged. The study of kundalini, therefore, facilitates a deeper understanding of the cultural landscape of the time.