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Bodies in place: the transformative atmospherics of lightscapes in Mahikari

Swift, Philip; (2021) Bodies in place: the transformative atmospherics of lightscapes in Mahikari. Asian Anthropology , 20 (3) pp. 173-189. 10.1080/1683478x.2021.1903134. Green open access

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Abstract

Practice centers (dojos) in the Japanese new religion Mahikari are perceived to be spaces suffused with divine light. This article examines this understanding in terms of the enactment of a particular kind of atmosphere – a lightscape – which is deemed to be capable of automatically producing transformative effects. As a key ethnographic example of this idea of atmospheric effects, I consider the case of the primary training course, participation in which is the means of entry into Mahikari. Although the course itself appears to be didactic in design, I suggest that, as an event, a different dynamic is at work, in which the major aim is less about the transmission of information than it is about the elicitation of transformation, a change which is understood to be largely a consequence of the atmospheric conditions in the dojo.

Type: Article
Title: Bodies in place: the transformative atmospherics of lightscapes in Mahikari
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/1683478x.2021.1903134
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1683478x.2021.1903134
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Mahikari, atmosphere, transformation, religion, conversion
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10198821
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