New Religions and Spiritualities

Stephen Hunt is Reader in Sociology at the University of the West of England, UK

• Contents: Introduction; Part I Sexual Affirmation: Sex in the city of God: free love and the American Millennium, Cathy Gutierrez; Calamus in Bolton: spirituality and homosexual desire in late Victorian England, Harry Cocks; Women's 'cocoon work' in new religious movements: sexual experimentation and feminine rites of passage, Susan J. Palmer; Sex, gender, and New Age stereotyping, Lata Ta'eed; 'We are God's children, y'all': race, gender, and sexuality in lesbian- and gay-affirming congregations, Krista McQueeney. Part II Sexual Restraint and Abuse: Sexuality, gender and the abuse of power in the master-disciple relationship: the case of the Rajneesh movement, Elizabeth Puttick; Reconceptualising the human body: Heaven's Gate and the quest for divine transformation, Susan Raine; Sex roles in the Jesus Movement, Mary W. Harder; Sexuality, marriage and piety among charismatics in Nigeria, Matthews A. Ojo; Social change, gender roles, and new religious movements, Angela A. Aidala. Part III Neo-Paganism, The Occult and Esotericism: Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) experiences with Earth-spirited faith, Brandy Smith; Sexology and the occult: sexuality and subjectivity on theosophy's new age, Joy Dixon; Magia sexualis: sex, secrecy, and liberation in modern Western esotericism, Hugh B. Urban; A woman in the grip of the archetype of the sexual priestess, Kim Marie Vaz; Inappropriate sexuality? Sex magic, S/M and Wicca (or 'whipping Harry Potter's arse!...), Jo Pearson. Part IV New Spiritualities and Quasi-Religiosity: Queer spirituality, Claudio Bardella; Godly sex, a queer quest of holiness, Jane M. Grovijahn; Coming out stories framed as faith narratives, or stories of spiritual growth, David J. Roseborough; Ritual, liminality and transformation: secular spirituality in Sydney's gay bathhouses, Jason Prior and Carole M. Cusack; Not pretty girls? Sexuality, spirituality, and gender construction in women's rock music, Kate McCarthy; Name index.

'focuses on those religions that have come to prominence since World War II...This book melds old and new...' Religion and Human Rights Journal ’...a fascinating insight into both the origins of early religious traditions and sexuality, and into the modern world of religion and sex. Hunt has accomplished a feat at collecting a rich and varied selection of essays and articles that create a thorough, well-developed three-dimensional context within which sex, religion and society intersect. These works are valuable tools to consider these intersections, the lives of both modern and historical humankind.’ Sexuality & Culture