Yulia Ustinova
Biographic Data
| ID | 672401 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Yulia Ustinova |
| GIVEN NAMES | Yulia |
| FAMILY NAME | Ustinova |
| SIGNATURE | USTINOVA Y |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9035-7553 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 43 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 18 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The Greeks and the Irrational by E. R. Dodds and the Paradigm Shift in the Study of Greek Religion
“Hands of gods” at Work
In ancient Greece, some basic Hippocratic practices were almost indistinguishable from magic healing, and above all, catharsis was essentially a magic action. The use of cleansing, usually by hellebore, in the treatment of various ailments, is a shining example of the vitality of the magic worldview, which did not turn into an insignificant modest detail, but was a major method in Hippocratic therapy. The main principle behind purification can be…
“The Story of a New Name”
Strong links between the cults of apoikiai and metropoleis, forging the Hellenic identity of the colonists, have long been recognised. It becomes increasingly clear that in addition, the mental world of the population of colonies was conditioned by an amalgamation of Greek and local identities. Many important cults of Greek cities in the northern Aegean and the Black Sea area, such as Abdera, Odessus, Olbia, Chersonesus, and the Cimmerian Bosporu…
Mental well-being in ancient Greece
In her thought-provoking article, Graiver (see record 2021-21903-001) argues that many early Christian monks achieved sustained psychological health, perceived as joyful serenity by their contemporaries, and admired within their milieu and the society at large. This state was attained by means of dispassion (apatheia) and culminated in spiritual enlightenment. In the author's opinion, conclusions of this historical research call for a reassessmen…
Alteration of consciousness in Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece was unique in its attitude to alteration of consciousness. Various altered states of consciousness were commonly known: initiates experienced them during mystery rites; sacred officials and enquirers attained them in the major oracular centres; possession by various deities was recognized; and some sages and philosophers practised manipulation of consciousness. From the perspective of individual and public freedom, the prominent po…
Combat stress disorders and their treatment in ancient Greece
Every disorder is embedded within multiple sociocultural aspects, and in mental disorders they acquire paramount significance. Nonetheless and despite the cultural diversity of ancient and modern societies, the consistency of psychiatric reactions to combat stress throughout history is remarkable. The situation in ancient Greece was quite different from the contemporary one. Hippocratic physicians turned a blind eye to a series of worrying condit…
To Live in Joy and Die With Hope
The paper focuses on embodied mystery experiences of initiates in ancient Greek mystery cults. Four main questions are addressed: what kind of experience was considered the core of Greek mystery initiations, how was this experience attained, in what way did it influence the life of the initiates, and what real-life experience could prompt the idea of mystery initiations. Mystery initiation may be defined as ersatz-death, a rehearsal of the real o…
Modes of Prophecy, or Modern Arguments in Support of the Ancient Approach
La prophétie inspirée et la divination par les signes impliquent des activités distinctes et requièrent des compétences différentes de ceux qui les pratiquent. Une relecture des sources anciennes débouche sur l’idée que la suprématie de la prophétie directe ne peut être écartée comme une invention platonicienne. Des modes de prophétie sont loin d’être une interprétation moderne et ils étaient déjà perçus ainsi au second millénaire avant notre ère…
Cave Experiences and the Human Mind
This chapter surveys the wealth of literature on altered states of consciousness which in many cases lead to the sensation of ineffable revelation of superhuman truth. Altered states of consciousness often occur in people exposed to sensory deprivation. As a result, seers, shamans, and other mediators between gods and mortals practise prolonged isolation in caves and other closed spaces in their quest of ecstatic illumination. The tunnel sensatio…
Near‐Death Experiences, Real and Make‐Believe
The Greeks knew of at least two ways of ‘brushing with death’: near-death experiences and mystery initiations. The chapter surveys literary descriptions of passages through darkness in the visions of people who had been pronounced dead and eventually returned to life. These testimonies allude to tunnel experiences. This chapter also presents an overview of complex and richly documented cave experiences during mystery initiations (Eleusinian, Dion…
Retrospect
The Retrospect draws together the major themes explored in the book, focusing on the modalities common to prophecy, early philosophy, and mystery cults. It offers new integrative interpretations of these phenomena, highlighting the role of seers and sages as intermediaries between immortals and mortals who sought superhuman knowledge in altered states of consciousness, inside caves or isolated rooms, and stressing that for the Greeks, cave experi…
Sages and Philosophers
Oracles and Caves
Seers and Poets
This chapter envisages the mental frame of freelance ‘impresarios of gods’, their behaviour, method of attaining illumination, and especially the role of cave experiences in their lives. The cave environment required for the Sibyls reflects the traditional Greek views on the conditions necessary for the quintessential seers. The blindness of sightless prophets and poets emphasizes their constant state of visual deprivation. The insistence of myth…
Cave Experiences and Ancient Greek Oracles
A great number of Greek oracular cults focused on caves, notwithstanding the divergent nature of the divine patrons of these cults. The fundamental reason for locating prophetic activities in caves was the need of the gods' mediums to attain divine inspiration, that is, to alter their state of consciousness. For the purposes of divination the Greeks used at least two methods. The easiest and universally practiced technique was sensory deprivation…
Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind
In ancient Greece, a common method of search for divine wisdom was to descend into caves or underground chambers. Entering caves persistently appears as a major requirement for prophecy-giving, both in established cults and in the activities of individual seers. Underground sojourns recur in the activities of several early Greek sages and philosophers. Mystery initiations comprise rites located in caves or dark chambers. The sages, seers, and ini…
Ethnicity and Culture in Late Antiquity
The period 300-600 AD saw huge changes: the Graeco-Roman city-state was first transformed then eclipsed; much of the Roman Empire broke up and was reconfigured; new barbarian kingdoms emerged in the Roman West. Above all, religious culture moved from polytheistic to monotheistic. Here, 20 papers by international scholars explore how group identites were established against the shifting background. Separate sections treat the Latin-speaking West, …
Orgeones in Phratries
A mechanism of social integration in Artica
Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind
In ancient Greece, a common method of search for divine wisdom was to descend into caves or underground chambers. Entering caves persistently appears as a major requirement for prophecy-giving, both in established cults and in the activities of individual seers. Underground sojourns recur in the activities of several early Greek sages and philosophers. Mystery initiations comprise rites located in caves or dark chambers. The sages, seers, and ini…
To Live in Joy and Die With Hope
The paper focuses on embodied mystery experiences of initiates in ancient Greek mystery cults. Four main questions are addressed: what kind of experience was considered the core of Greek mystery initiations, how was this experience attained, in what way did it influence the life of the initiates, and what real-life experience could prompt the idea of mystery initiations. Mystery initiation may be defined as ersatz-death, a rehearsal of the real o…
Orgeones in Phratries
A mechanism of social integration in Artica
Modes of Prophecy, or Modern Arguments in Support of the Ancient Approach
La prophétie inspirée et la divination par les signes impliquent des activités distinctes et requièrent des compétences différentes de ceux qui les pratiquent. Une relecture des sources anciennes débouche sur l’idée que la suprématie de la prophétie directe ne peut être écartée comme une invention platonicienne. Des modes de prophétie sont loin d’être une interprétation moderne et ils étaient déjà perçus ainsi au second millénaire avant notre ère…
Orgeones in Phratries
A mechanism of social integration in Artica
Ethnicity and Culture in Late Antiquity
The period 300-600 AD saw huge changes: the Graeco-Roman city-state was first transformed then eclipsed; much of the Roman Empire broke up and was reconfigured; new barbarian kingdoms emerged in the Roman West. Above all, religious culture moved from polytheistic to monotheistic. Here, 20 papers by international scholars explore how group identites were established against the shifting background. Separate sections treat the Latin-speaking West, …
Cave Experiences and the Human Mind
This chapter surveys the wealth of literature on altered states of consciousness which in many cases lead to the sensation of ineffable revelation of superhuman truth. Altered states of consciousness often occur in people exposed to sensory deprivation. As a result, seers, shamans, and other mediators between gods and mortals practise prolonged isolation in caves and other closed spaces in their quest of ecstatic illumination. The tunnel sensatio…
Near‐Death Experiences, Real and Make‐Believe
The Greeks knew of at least two ways of ‘brushing with death’: near-death experiences and mystery initiations. The chapter surveys literary descriptions of passages through darkness in the visions of people who had been pronounced dead and eventually returned to life. These testimonies allude to tunnel experiences. This chapter also presents an overview of complex and richly documented cave experiences during mystery initiations (Eleusinian, Dion…
Retrospect
The Retrospect draws together the major themes explored in the book, focusing on the modalities common to prophecy, early philosophy, and mystery cults. It offers new integrative interpretations of these phenomena, highlighting the role of seers and sages as intermediaries between immortals and mortals who sought superhuman knowledge in altered states of consciousness, inside caves or isolated rooms, and stressing that for the Greeks, cave experi…
Sages and Philosophers
Oracles and Caves
Seers and Poets
This chapter envisages the mental frame of freelance ‘impresarios of gods’, their behaviour, method of attaining illumination, and especially the role of cave experiences in their lives. The cave environment required for the Sibyls reflects the traditional Greek views on the conditions necessary for the quintessential seers. The blindness of sightless prophets and poets emphasizes their constant state of visual deprivation. The insistence of myth…
Cave Experiences and Ancient Greek Oracles
A great number of Greek oracular cults focused on caves, notwithstanding the divergent nature of the divine patrons of these cults. The fundamental reason for locating prophetic activities in caves was the need of the gods' mediums to attain divine inspiration, that is, to alter their state of consciousness. For the purposes of divination the Greeks used at least two methods. The easiest and universally practiced technique was sensory deprivation…
Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind
In ancient Greece, a common method of search for divine wisdom was to descend into caves or underground chambers. Entering caves persistently appears as a major requirement for prophecy-giving, both in established cults and in the activities of individual seers. Underground sojourns recur in the activities of several early Greek sages and philosophers. Mystery initiations comprise rites located in caves or dark chambers. The sages, seers, and ini…
To Live in Joy and Die With Hope
The paper focuses on embodied mystery experiences of initiates in ancient Greek mystery cults. Four main questions are addressed: what kind of experience was considered the core of Greek mystery initiations, how was this experience attained, in what way did it influence the life of the initiates, and what real-life experience could prompt the idea of mystery initiations. Mystery initiation may be defined as ersatz-death, a rehearsal of the real o…
Modes of Prophecy, or Modern Arguments in Support of the Ancient Approach
La prophétie inspirée et la divination par les signes impliquent des activités distinctes et requièrent des compétences différentes de ceux qui les pratiquent. Une relecture des sources anciennes débouche sur l’idée que la suprématie de la prophétie directe ne peut être écartée comme une invention platonicienne. Des modes de prophétie sont loin d’être une interprétation moderne et ils étaient déjà perçus ainsi au second millénaire avant notre ère…
Combat stress disorders and their treatment in ancient Greece
Every disorder is embedded within multiple sociocultural aspects, and in mental disorders they acquire paramount significance. Nonetheless and despite the cultural diversity of ancient and modern societies, the consistency of psychiatric reactions to combat stress throughout history is remarkable. The situation in ancient Greece was quite different from the contemporary one. Hippocratic physicians turned a blind eye to a series of worrying condit…
Alteration of consciousness in Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece was unique in its attitude to alteration of consciousness. Various altered states of consciousness were commonly known: initiates experienced them during mystery rites; sacred officials and enquirers attained them in the major oracular centres; possession by various deities was recognized; and some sages and philosophers practised manipulation of consciousness. From the perspective of individual and public freedom, the prominent po…
“The Story of a New Name”
Strong links between the cults of apoikiai and metropoleis, forging the Hellenic identity of the colonists, have long been recognised. It becomes increasingly clear that in addition, the mental world of the population of colonies was conditioned by an amalgamation of Greek and local identities. Many important cults of Greek cities in the northern Aegean and the Black Sea area, such as Abdera, Odessus, Olbia, Chersonesus, and the Cimmerian Bosporu…
Mental well-being in ancient Greece
In her thought-provoking article, Graiver (see record 2021-21903-001) argues that many early Christian monks achieved sustained psychological health, perceived as joyful serenity by their contemporaries, and admired within their milieu and the society at large. This state was attained by means of dispassion (apatheia) and culminated in spiritual enlightenment. In the author's opinion, conclusions of this historical research call for a reassessmen…
“Hands of gods” at Work
In ancient Greece, some basic Hippocratic practices were almost indistinguishable from magic healing, and above all, catharsis was essentially a magic action. The use of cleansing, usually by hellebore, in the treatment of various ailments, is a shining example of the vitality of the magic worldview, which did not turn into an insignificant modest detail, but was a major method in Hippocratic therapy. The main principle behind purification can be…
The Greeks and the Irrational by E. R. Dodds and the Paradigm Shift in the Study of Greek Religion
History (10 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Classical Antiquity Studies (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies (7 works) · Archaeology (6 works) · Art (6 works) · Cave (6 works) · Aesthetics (5 works)