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Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

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Year 2013 
Volume 11 
Issue 1

The House of Mirrors: Reflections of an Academic on the Monastic Rituals of Death on Mount Athos

Christopher Russell
Cardiff Metropolitan University

2013 11 (1) Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to relate the rituals of death practised in the Monks’ Republic of Mount Athos in northern Greece, and to reflect on them as an academic. To do this fifty days and nights were spent on the Holy Mountain conducting ethnography; this enabled both the monks’ enactments to be captured and their interpretations recorded. The monastic rituals of death on Mount Athos are presented according to three emergent, paradoxical themes. These are that death is: both near and far; both a blessing and a tragedy; both uniting and dividing. The paper, the first study of monastic rituals of death on Mount Athos, then reflects on these themes in relation to being an academic, concluding that the limited commemoration of our colleagues in universities is intertwined with the slow death of the academic vocation.

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APA style

Russell, Christopher (2013). The House of Mirrors: Reflections of an Academic on the Monastic Rituals of Death on Mount Athos. (2013). The House of Mirrors: Reflections of an Academic on the Monastic Rituals of Death on Mount Athos. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, 11(1), 7-14. (Original work published 2013)

MLA style

Russell, Christopher. “The House Of Mirrors: Reflections Of An Academic On The Monastic Rituals Of Death On Mount Athos”. 2013. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, vol. 11, no. 1, 2013, pp. 7-14.

Chicago style

Russell, Christopher. “The House Of Mirrors: Reflections Of An Academic On The Monastic Rituals Of Death On Mount Athos”. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry, 11, no. 1 (2013): 7-14.