Charisma and Memory in a Spiritual Community

The Case of Damanhur in Italy

Bibliographic Data

ID3541099
AuthorsAlberto Ghio (0009-0003-9693-6259, University of Turin, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume15
Issue2
Pages219
Publication date2024-02-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15020219
OpenAlexW4391882186
LanguageEN
References cited14

This paper explores the dynamic relationship between the spiritual community of Damanhur and its founder, Oberto Airaudi. Scholars consider Airaudi to be an example of Weberian charismatic leadership that was sui generis; the community, however, experienced an early routinisation, which granted it longevity and stability. Doctrinal and social evolution instead suggests a change in this charismatic relationship over the years, which occurred in four phases. His charisma passed from the ability to perform occult practices (occultist), to ideate a syncretic cosmology centred on Damanhur (religious), eventually allowing him to become an "inspirer from the outside" (inspirational). The last phase explains the survival and partial routinisation of the charisma after his death (post mortem). The study primarily relies on the analysis of Damanhurian writings, with a particular focus on the initial ten years. It also incorporates qualitative data from fieldwork and ethnographic material available in the scientific literature. The analysis suggests that Damanhur did not start as a charismatic community but as a social experiment. The development of Airaudi's charisma, via a syncretic mythology based on a religious concept of memory, absorbed Damanhur's social dimension, shaping it according to a collective spiritual endeavour aimed at reconnecting human beings with their divine inner nature

Charisma · Psychoanalysis · Theology · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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