Papers Session: Human Bodies, Heavenly Bodies, Sacred power
Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)
This paper theorizes ibbur (mystical pregnancy) as a model for ritual, cultural, and cosmic synthesis in Jewish kabbalistic works from the 16th-20th centuries. Over time, we see that while the porous, open models of body and cosmos are relatively consistent, both the body and the rituals to impregnate it absorb more and more so that it literally becomes pregnant with the entire cosmos, with different religious practies, and with new cultural and scientific discourse. This state of absorption is understood as a constant and idealized as spiritual, religious and psychological health.
Authors