Call for Papers Autumn 2019:
“Rituals of Resistance: Keeping Our Hearts Whole and Strong”

Submission Period is Open.

Somehow we know that only living beings can be responsible and experience freedom. What is it about living beings, and about human beings in particular, such that this is the case? And what does that imply to the way we organize our human enterprises? – Reflection, Responsibility and Freedom: we are not robots. Humberto Maturana Romesin and Pille Bunnell, 2001

• Projected Publication Date: September 15, 2019
• Query/Abstract Deadline: June 10, 2019
• Paper Deadline: upon acceptance of abstract

Submission guidelines may be found at: http://societyforritualarts.com/coreopsis/submissions/ Send queries and full papers prepared for peer review to: [email protected]

Rituals of Resistance

• Creation
• Action
• Reflection

From a spiritual perspective, what was effective? Empowering? What and how did you approach the ritual? If a public event,how did you keep safe space? Any and all Traditions and all positive actions are welcomed.

Throughout the world, resistance to tyranny has become an increasingly urgent part of modern life. Tyranny comes in many forms from overt military or theocratic dictatorships, the rise of fascism in democratic states, the invasion of everyday life by technologies that invade our privacy, corporate claims of ownership over our information and, even, the very DNA that makes up our identity as individual humans. The restriction of art and scholarship by moneyed and political interests. The attack on the rights of protest by government interests.

For the Autumn 2019 issue of Coreopsis Journal of Myth & Theatre we have created the theme of “Rituals of Resistance“. While we will continue to review papers that address the theme of resistance through art, performance, and ritual, we are creating a special invitation to scholars, artists and healers who study and practice shamanism and shamanic belief systems (broadly stated) and will be devoting a significant portion of the Autumn 2019 issue to this topic. We are not seeking papers of personal journeys or definitional studies, or the psychology of shamanism, but ask scholars to address these questions of resistance and survival particularly among traditional peoples in their committees and in the diaspora:
Keeping alive the traditions and mythos under the multiple pressures of political oppression and the rise of the extreme right in Europe, the US, and elsewhere; environmental stresses as whole communities are forced to relocate due to climate change and rising seas; cultural factors that have led to the dilution and, even disappearance, of language, traditions, spiritual and artistic heritage worldwide. (Please feel free to share this call at will!)

Dr. Denita Benyshek once sent a poem that contained the lines:
“…Shamans work for the benefit of their communities,
plug in their electric guitars and collect the garbage.
During times of disbelief or persecution,
shamans secretly do their work standing
in lines, in banks, in grocery stores,
along the branches of family trees. …” (Denita M. Benyshek, © March 1, 2010)

We ask that you send a query beginning at any time and until the first week of June and/or your papers prepared for peer review by June 20th. The full submission guidelines are here. We ask that you study them and submit your paper following the guidelines closely.

We believe that this may be one of the most important issues that we hope to publish and welcome your submissions. If you would like to participate in the peer review process, and have not done so for a previous issue of Coreopsis, please send a note with your qualifications to this address: [email protected]

Some topics to consider are the “nut & bolts” of ritual creation and how they may differ from individuals and groups. How does ritual creation differ from other forms of expression – both spiritual or artistic? What is the role of media, the visual arts and music? What role do folk customs and and myth play within ritual creation? Do purpose and intent play a large or smaller role in ritual outcomes?

It is clear that ritual is very ancient, as archeology has shown us, utilized by peoples of of all continents. Ritual is also important in the development of theatre in the ancient pan-Mediterranean and throughout the middle ages through miracle plays and mummers. In the 20th century, the tradition of mummer’s plays and Comedia Del’Arte was re-imagined during the Cold War and Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe by small theatre troupes to resist a totalitarian regimes. Papers exploring the themes of re-creationist, surviving traditions and the known experience of ancient peoples are all welcomed.

Send Query and Abstracts to the Editors at “Autumn 2019, Submission”: [email protected]

Submission guidelines may be found at: http://societyforritualarts.com/coreopsis/submissions/

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