Ritual Nudity in History and Religion - Ronald Hutton

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 27. 05. 2024
  • This lecture looks at the role played by nudity in European religion and magic from ancient times to the present, with some reference to a global context.
    It reveals the unexpected pattern and explains why it has been marginal to religion, except in initiation ceremonies, but very important in magical practices.
    This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on 6th March 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
    Ronald is Gresham Professor of Divinity.
    He is also Professor of History at the University of Bristol.
    The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
    www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/r...
    Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/support/
    Website: gresham.ac.uk
    Twitter: / greshamcollege
    Facebook: / greshamcollege
    Instagram: / greshamcollege

Komentáře • 87

  • @khaledadams4329
    @khaledadams4329 Před měsícem +54

    Nothing gets my attention like a lesson on the weirdness of our past with Professor Hutton.

    • @sugarpuddin
      @sugarpuddin Před měsícem

      He speaks with authority yet has no experience.
      Like a professor of business who never built or run an actual business.

    • @lizb2637
      @lizb2637 Před měsícem +3

      Yeah why isn’t he 1000 years old or have a Time Machine, then he could have experience with the past cultures he speaks with such authority about! Lol

    • @kp6215
      @kp6215 Před měsícem

      Me Too 😁

    • @khaledadams4329
      @khaledadams4329 Před měsícem

      @St.Buddha_Brahman-Sun_of_Light Very true. :)

  • @unclemontypython
    @unclemontypython Před měsícem +53

    Ronald is one of the hardest-working men in his field, and to be gifted with a fresh hour of him talking is always a pure delight. National treasure.

    • @HLBear
      @HLBear Před měsícem +1

      International treasure. 😊❤

    • @unclemontypython
      @unclemontypython Před měsícem

      @@HLBear You are quite correct!

    • @inregionecaecorum
      @inregionecaecorum Před měsícem

      As I have said before, never a dull moment in his lectures.

  • @josephturner7569
    @josephturner7569 Před měsícem +36

    Granny Weatherwax had very definite views on this kind of thing.

    • @paganbaby7777
      @paganbaby7777 Před měsícem +11

      With quite a few remarks concerning the weather, nettles and the occasional hedgehog

    • @aprilcalhoun8984
      @aprilcalhoun8984 Před měsícem +7

      I do miss Granny

    • @josephturner7569
      @josephturner7569 Před měsícem +7

      @@paganbaby7777 And you know what they say about hedgehogs.

    • @josephturner7569
      @josephturner7569 Před měsícem +4

      @@aprilcalhoun8984 And her alter ego 😞. But, you know. The Creators final message. (No. Not that one 🙄).

  • @missbornlucky6676
    @missbornlucky6676 Před měsícem +7

    listening to Professor Hutton's lecture has always been and will always be a delight for me

  • @louisemay974
    @louisemay974 Před měsícem +7

    Thank you Gresham College. Another marvellous Professor Hutton talk, the man is indeed a national treasure - just wonderful.

  • @sosukelele
    @sosukelele Před měsícem +20

    Unfortunately I am obligated to watch all of Professor Hutton's lectures to see if he ever misses. Yet to witness it

  • @minui8758
    @minui8758 Před měsícem +9

    Ok the bit on the initiation of ritual for early Xian Baptism is beyond fascinating!

    • @NathanDudani
      @NathanDudani Před měsícem +1

      XPian

    • @minui8758
      @minui8758 Před měsícem +3

      @@NathanDudani I guess if we were being very pedantic it’d be ☧ian. But given the chi rho isn’t on most keyboards and everyone knows the meaning Xian is the standard abbreviation

  • @GavinM161
    @GavinM161 Před měsícem +5

    Truly interesting lecture on something I had no particular interest in. Bravo Professor Hutton.

  • @logiclust
    @logiclust Před měsícem +25

    it's amazing how prudish people have become

  • @reversefulfillment9189
    @reversefulfillment9189 Před měsícem +2

    We have a large nude beach in Vancouver. I always loved going there and being amongst a thousand people just enjoying the sun and being free. The kind of people that show up there are a unique breed, 👌

  • @deadsteve2180
    @deadsteve2180 Před měsícem +6

    Love is the Law! Love under Will.

  • @gunkwretch3697
    @gunkwretch3697 Před měsícem +2

    One tradition he missed, from ancient Greece, see "The Liturgy of Love" translated by Dr John Opsopaus, referring to the teachings of Philotes, daughter of Aphrodite... but then Greeks had other orgiastic traditions with Dionysus too... This is like Greek Tantra in some ways.

  • @jamiegallier2106
    @jamiegallier2106 Před měsícem +1

    Always an interesting discussion with Professor Hutton.

  • @user-fh6ov3wl4h
    @user-fh6ov3wl4h Před měsícem +1

    This is such a great sociological analysis

  • @frankshifreen
    @frankshifreen Před měsícem +6

    great lecture

  • @dinnerwithfranklin2451
    @dinnerwithfranklin2451 Před měsícem +2

    Very interesting lecture. Thank you.

  • @kp6215
    @kp6215 Před měsícem +7

    I was invited to a nudist camp in 1977 had no embarrassment of no clothes but the men couldn't stop staring at me that I thought was reason why the men started these places for men's benefit never allow women power still in 2024.

  • @myparceltape1169
    @myparceltape1169 Před měsícem +4

    A woman seen broadcasting seed for the next year is described as a witch.
    The witness must have wanted some of that crop.

  • @alexzicker
    @alexzicker Před měsícem +8

    more people should go on holiday to the Brazilian beaches

  • @thishandleistacken
    @thishandleistacken Před měsícem +3

    In the tradition I was in for many years (one which pre-dates Wicca but greatly inspired it and which Gardener was familiar with, the O.T.O.) a particular initiation involves going nude then being given the robe of the Order (which is handmade by the initiate before attending the ceremony).

  • @JCResDoc94
    @JCResDoc94 Před měsícem +2

    gr8 questions tonite. gr8 lecture. _JC

  • @16252
    @16252 Před měsícem +4

    great thanks

  • @caitgems1
    @caitgems1 Před měsícem +4

    "You dirty old man"
    ~Harold Steptoe

  • @sarahlynn7807
    @sarahlynn7807 Před měsícem +1

    Very interesting!

  • @jarrettperdue3328
    @jarrettperdue3328 Před měsícem +1

    Next lecture: "How Ronald Got His Groove Back"?

  • @tracyrupp4882
    @tracyrupp4882 Před měsícem +10

    Aversion to nudity is a societal construct which has not served us well, creating an unnecessary barrier between two-legged beings and the natural world. The book "A Brief History of Nakedness" is a lovely visual jaunt for those who value the sky-clad state. (Poor Conan - a lot to give up for his chosen discipline).

    • @djquinn11
      @djquinn11 Před měsícem

      Not if you live in a northern climate like I do.

  • @eldraque4556
    @eldraque4556 Před dnem

    and it just so happened we had the key!

  • @ScooterFXRS
    @ScooterFXRS Před měsícem +7

    As a male I absolutely believe in magical nudity and when one finds it in mutual attraction, affection, and state of being in love.

  • @theseustoo
    @theseustoo Před měsícem +2

    Lol! "Conan the Bashful!" I'd love to see a movie by a young Arnold Schwartzenegger playing the lead role... And maybe Sophia Loren playing the female lead... Or Raquel Welch... Or Ursula Andress... or Elke Sommer... or... or... well... the list of candidates is very long. There were a lot of beautiful women around at that time. I'd have loved to be the casting director for such a movie! 😉

  • @MendocinoMotorenWerk
    @MendocinoMotorenWerk Před měsícem +3

    I clickbaited myself by reading royal nudity instead of ritual nudity :-) when glancing across the subscriptions page

  • @DeathRayGraphics
    @DeathRayGraphics Před měsícem +14

    Was there ever a more click-baity piece of art than "Magical Nudity"?

  • @cmcg9035
    @cmcg9035 Před měsícem

    Thank you for the lecture. I don't know what went on in Louisiana in the 1872, but Voodoo today does not contain magical nudity during services. There isn't the parallel with Wicca there.

  • @theseustoo
    @theseustoo Před měsícem +2

    I hope the professor has recovered from the cold he seems to be suffering from... one cannot help but wonder how he caught it... personal research, perhaps? 🤔

  • @hanbeihood3202
    @hanbeihood3202 Před měsícem

    Wonder what word(s) the Greeks of antiquity used for worship/religious rites

  • @theseustoo
    @theseustoo Před měsícem +2

    Hmmm... the original 'Olympic Games' were all performed nude... and were offered as a sacrifice to Zeus. So I suppose this can be seen as a form of ritual nudity, offered as worship.

  • @migranthawker2952
    @migranthawker2952 Před měsícem

    For "Ritual" swap "we don't really know"!!!!

  • @jeffgrove1389
    @jeffgrove1389 Před měsícem

    The experience of nudity in nature and even more so at night takes you out of the “human” and gives you a closer approximation of an appreciation of each and everyone’s animality. In discarding the encoding inbuilt in the clothes you are wearing are laid aside. On another note - weren’t the original Olympic Games actually contested nude? Wasn’t this offering of your effort a religious offering.

  • @VJacquette
    @VJacquette Před měsícem

    What about sky-clad Jains? It's not ritualistic, but the men are supposed to be nude for religious/spiritual purposes.

  • @Mai-Gninwod
    @Mai-Gninwod Před 18 dny

    I know this man's mouth sounds more than my own mother's voice

  • @gradyratliff2034
    @gradyratliff2034 Před měsícem

    Ordo...templi....oriensis...😊

  • @maxsonthonax1020
    @maxsonthonax1020 Před měsícem

    What's the deal with Magical Nudity!

  • @wolfa5151
    @wolfa5151 Před měsícem +3

    Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool. ( Mark Twain)

    • @carlosgaspar8447
      @carlosgaspar8447 Před měsícem

      quotes were invented when the first tossed stone became the first tool.

  • @erickent4248
    @erickent4248 Před měsícem

    I guess there is not much evidence historically, but it felt like this speech was 90% conjecture.

  • @hermitthefrog8951
    @hermitthefrog8951 Před měsícem

    More likely they're just a bit randy.....

  • @dieterschonefeld7428
    @dieterschonefeld7428 Před měsícem

    You are always serious and of interest, however on this one You are "out biking" so to speak.

  • @life42theuniverse
    @life42theuniverse Před měsícem +1

    A ritual of spring fertility now Easter.

    • @HLBear
      @HLBear Před měsícem +1

      Oestara, aka spring equinox.

  • @hansleijonmarck9768
    @hansleijonmarck9768 Před měsícem +1

    "Engineering is as close you can come to Magic." Elon Musk

  • @dogglebird4430
    @dogglebird4430 Před měsícem +2

    Nudity has its place. In fact, it has two places - 1. in the bath; and 2. in the shower. Let's keep it that way.

  • @roughout
    @roughout Před měsícem +9

    There is nothing wholesome about public nudity. Public and common nudity robes the sanctity reserved for husband and wife private relationships. We see increasing acceptance and it represents our degrading society.

    • @HLBear
      @HLBear Před měsícem +9

      Thank you for sharing your own religious mores. Now, please listen and learn about history, and other religions' beliefs. He discusses the place of nudity in early Christianity, so it may be worth your while to listen.

    • @dogglebird4430
      @dogglebird4430 Před měsícem

      @@HLBear I am an atheist and I agree with him.

  • @rhwinner
    @rhwinner Před měsícem +1

    I am against nudity of all kinds.

  • @dshe8637
    @dshe8637 Před měsícem +3

    This kind of nonsense brings ridicule on the reputation of Gresham College.

  • @peterkiedron8949
    @peterkiedron8949 Před měsícem +3

    Nonsense

    • @HLBear
      @HLBear Před měsícem +3

      Lots of other things to watch if history of human activity isn't your thing. :)

    • @dshe8637
      @dshe8637 Před měsícem +1

      This is presented as history, but it is really a niche and personal opinion based in superstition and occult nonsense

    • @Smoug
      @Smoug Před měsícem +2

      @@dshe8637braindead take