This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McClenon, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Firewalking in Japan, Sri Lanka, and the USA: Social Ecology and Applied Ideology

Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC, U.S.A.

A cross-cultural study of the ideologies justifying firewalking illustrates the manner in which ideas are shaped by their environment. Firewalking can be interpreted as part of a rhetorical process producing a society's "folk knowledge." Japanese firewalkers, of the Bud dhist Shingon sect, firewalk as an exercise in "mind control," an activity thought to yield benefits for the community as well as the individual. Sri Lankans (both Hindu and Buddhist) participate in firewalking ceremonies in fulfillment of religions vows. American entrepreneurs organized secular firewalking "seminars," using the activity as a form of psychotherapy. Skep tical scientists firewalked, seeking to debunk the notion that "mental powers" are associated with firewalking success. The study's conclusions support those of Wuthnow (1981) regarding the relationship between social ecology and the production, selection, and retention of ideologies.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?