Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from antiquity to the present

Exhibition of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” on the body in the religions of the world – at the Archaeological Museum and the Bible Museum of the University of Münster in 2024/2025

The body has always been part of the practices and ideas of religions across the world. This was shown in the exhibition “Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from antiquity to the present” organized by the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster. The exhibition could be seen at the Archaeological Museum and the Bible Museum of the University of Münster from 25 October 2024 to 26 February 2025, and was part of the Cluster of Excellence’s interdisciplinary annual theme for 2024/25 on “Body and Religion”. Read more

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Archaeological Museum

Divine Figures

Concepts of deities or superhuman beings and powers are often human-like, but not always. Concrete physical images make it easier to access and understand something higher and invisible. However, perceptions of the divine are diverse in every religion and sometimes differ considerably.

The "divine" encompasses not only the individual deities in the narrower sense, but also a multitude of invisible powers. Read more

 

 

 

Gender Roles?

Male and female are central, but not absolute categories of physicality, which are also religiously legitimised and defined, from which role attributions – social, reproductive and sexual – arise.

In scholarship, a distinction is often made between the ‘biological’ gender on the one hand, i.e. the gender assigned to a person on the basis of physiological attributes, and social gender on the other hand, which refers to behavioural expectations that are associated with biological gender. Read more

 

 

Religion and Healing

Diseases are considered part of the body’s transience. However, they are sometimes attributed to supernatural causes, negative energies, disharmonies, bad karma and the like.

Religious practices such as prayers, confessions of sins, sacrifices, incantations or other ritual acts are intended to counteract this, serve healing or help the sick person to bear his fate more easily. Read more

 

 

 

After Death...

Death biologically represents the end of life, but the treatment of the dead body in many religions reflects ideas of an "afterlife".

In some traditions, an essential component of continued existence is the preservation of the body, which is why attempts are made to stop or slow down the natural process of decay by means of various practices such as mummification. Read more

Bible Museum

Purity of the Body

Purity and impurity are important categories in many religions. Water and smoke in particular are used for religious purification rites that focus on the body.

Two major types of purity regulations can be distinguished: prophylactic and cathartic purity regulations. The first regulations are preventive and are intended to keep people away from impurities, while the second regulations show how impurities can be reversed. Read more

 

 

Rituals of Life

People pass through various social stages in their lives. The transitions between these stages are often characterised
by religious beliefs and associated actions that are performed on the individual body.

In many societies, the transition between certain stages is accompanied by rituals of formal acceptance – known as "initiation" – into the new stage of life. Initiation processes or rituals exist worldwide in different societies and eras. Read more

 

 

Disembodiment

Body and soul or spirit are understood as a unit, but can also be separated. The soul or spirit can leave the body, at the latest at death.

However, people can also disembody themselves during their lifetime through religious practices and attain a different consciousness. Every person experiences one form of disembodiment: dreaming. They therefore experience a difference between their physical existence and their phenomenal consciousness. Read more

Annual theme “Body and Religion” at the Cluster of Excellence

In the world’s religions, the body is both an object and an expression of religious beliefs. The Cluster of Excellence is investigating this phenomenon in the 2024/2025 annual theme “Body and Religion”. Whether healing and purification rituals, asceticism and fasting, head coverings and tattoos, or practices performed on the dead body – religious ideas about people, gods, and the worlds beyond are reflected in how the human body has been treated across epochs and cultures. The lines of tradition range from ancient polytheistic religions to today’s interpretations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The annual theme presents the Cluster of Excellence’s current research on “Body and Religion” in an exhibition and an extensive programme of events that provides space for discussion between researchers and the general public. Read more

Programme of events accompanying the exhibition

The Cluster of Excellence’s 2024/25 annual theme “Body and Religion” featured an exhibition that was accompanied by a diverse programme of events that provide the general public with further insights into the diverse relationships between the body and how it has been conceived in religious ideas of the past and present. The programme included panel discussions, lectures and films, guided tours of the exhibition with the curators, as well as the opportunity to “walk and talk”. The events provided a space for people to think about and discuss the themes of the exhibition, as well as to reflect on current issues relating to the body, health and spirituality, and religious clothing in public spaces. A dance workshop invited those interested to experience spirituality in various types of dance. The Cluster of Excellence’s anthropological documentary film “Drugs & Prayers” examines how people with mental illnesses are treated with medication and prayers at the Sufi shrine of Mira Datar in northern Gujarat, India.  Read more

Catalogue and volume of essays for the exhibition

Erhardt, S.; Graefe, J.; Lichtenberger, A.; Lohwasser, A.; Nieswandt, H.-H.; Strutwolf, H. (eds.): Body. Cult. Religion: Perspectives from antiquity to the present. Münster 2024.

Lichtenberger, A.; Lohwasser, A.; Strutwolf, H. (eds.): The Body in Religion: Images and practices. In the Ergon-Verlag series “Religion and Politics”. Baden-Baden. In print.

Conference “Body images and body practices in the religions of the world”

In preparation for the exhibition, the interdisciplinary conference “Body images and body practices in the religions of the world” took place at the Cluster of Excellence from 13 to 15 November. The Protestant theologian Prof. Dr. Christoph Markschies, president of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and president of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, gave the keynote speech on “God and the body – some unusual perspectives from the Jewish-Christian tradition”.

Press release on the conference “Body images and body practices in the religions of the world”