Religion and Spirituality In Life Transitions. Ritual Practices, Embodied Experiences and Emotional Atmospheres In Birth and Death.

Life transitions are often understood as transcendental processes within human experience and existence. Birth and death, in particular, are often experienced as liminal states, opening the scope to a range of beliefs and practices surrounding these human stages. As these life events are shaped by diverse cultural orientations and practices, they are also embedded in embodied, sensory, and emotional atmospheres related to specific worldviews where spirituality and religions are present. This session aims to discuss works that study birth and death as life events, experiences, and rites of passage, with a central focus on the spiritual and religious practices and worldviews that confer meaning on them. The themes related to these life transitions include, but are not limited to, pregnancy, birth, abortion, the accompaniment at the end of life, death, and critical life experiences where death is constantly at the border (war, violence, among others). This includes studies that examine community practices and meanings, embodied experiences, materiality, and the emotional atmospheres surrounding birth and death in an ample sense.