Transformative practices of Western Sufis
Oleg Yarosh My individual research is associated with the CAS-E project Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective funded by the DFG. The research investigates spiritual practices within Western Sufi communities, focusing particularly on practitioners’ perspectives – both those of community leaders and ordinary members. It examines ‘traditional practices,’ understood as those embedded […]
Exploring knowledge as transformation of the self in Sufi circles
Lili Di Puppo During my July talk at CAS-E, I presented initial reflections on what I call “the vertical dimension of knowledge.” This perspective, which I developed together with my colleague Fabio Vicini in the introduction to our 2024 special section Muslim Ontologies: Divine Presence, Anthropology, and Transcendence (Vicini and Di Puppo 2024, HAU – […]
Buddhist Psychology as Esoteric Activism?
By Albrecht, Jessica A “Buddhist psychology” is a naming of a specific understanding of Buddhist teachings (such as mindfulness) and practices (such as meditation) that came up first in the late 19th century. Back then, it was one of the main interests of orientalist scholarship. The most prominent producer of such scholarship in the realm […]
Excursion to Bamberg
Check out some images from a sunny trip to Bamberg by CAS-E fellows Lili Di Puppo, Tommaso Previato and Sergio González Varela on June 28, 2025! Sergio González Varela Lili Di Puppo Tommaso Previato
The Mind in Hand: Introducing the Knowing Hands Project
Marta Hanson The opportunity to speak on May 27th (2025) in the CAS-E summer semester lecture series, turned out to be a timely and appropriate milieu to introduce the “Knowing Hands” project.1 The Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) will jointly fund this project for three years (6.2025-5.2028). On the ANR […]
Almost a Religion: Spirits, Ancestors, and Powerful Persons in Afro-Brazilian Capoeira
Sergio González Varela Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian ritual that combines elements of martial arts, music, and playfulness. Introduced by slaves in Brazil in the seventeenth century during the colonial period, it maintains strong connections to Africa and the African diaspora. Performed by two practitioners known as players within a circle or combat ring called a […]
CAS-E Year in Review 2023/24
CAS-E Year in Review 2022/23
Reflection upon “Dreamcraft in the Malay Art World”
By Douglas Stephen Farrer Living in Singapore and Malaysia for nine years (1998-2007) I researched Malay mysticism for a doctoral thesis in anthropology at the National University of Singapore (Farrer 2009). Visiting the beautiful gardens of political author S. H. Alattas in Janda Baik, Malaysia, at the fin de siècle, I stumbled across a variant […]
Summer Semester 2025, CAS-E Fellow Cohort & Team
