The embodiment of a floating signifier.

Area of Science:

• Social Anthropology
• Sociology of Religion
• Medical Anthropology

Background:

• The concept of

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine Western formulations of 'energy' and their parallels with non-Western concepts like Melanesian mana.
• To investigate the relationship between the embodied experience of ritual orgasm (Pra-Na) and the notion of cosmic energy within a specific community.
• To determine if the community's understanding of embodied energy is rooted in somatic experience or is arbitrary.

Main Methods:

• Participant observation fieldwork conducted between 2008 and 2009 within a religio-therapeutic community in San Francisco.
• Analysis of the community's cosmology, which integrates reified Western notions of 'vital energy' and popular Chinese medicine.
• Examination of ethnographic descriptions of 'floating signifiers' in social anthropology and their comparison to Western concepts of energy.

Main Results:

• The community's practices, particularly ritual orgasm (Pra-Na), are intrinsically linked to their cosmology and beliefs about vital energy.
• Western concepts of 'energy' share similarities with non-Western notions such as Melanesian mana, suggesting a cross-cultural resonance.
• The study indicates a probable causal link where the experience of ritualised orgasm influences the members' perception of cosmic energy.

Conclusions:

• The embodied experience of ritual orgasm is likely the source of the community's concept of cosmic energy.
• This finding aligns with Durkheim's concept of 'effervescence' in religious life.
• The understanding of embodied energy within this group is suggested to be more than a purely arbitrary somatic perspective.