Academic Conferences
Organization of Conferences
Organization of Conference Sessions
Invited Lectures
Conference Papers
Non-Academic Lectures
Organization of Conferences
- In the organization committee for ESSWE4 conference. General theme: Esotericism and Health. June 26-29, 2013. Gothenburg University, Sweden.
- 1st International Conference on Contemporary Esotericism. August 27-29, 2012. Stockholm University, Sweden. Organized with Egil Asprem (University of Amsterdam).
- En dag om återförtrollning (interdisciplinary symposium on re-enchantment). May 3, 2012. Stockholm University, Sweden. Organized with Eva Kingsepp (Stockholm University).
- Satanism in Western Culture: International Conference on the Devil’s Disciples. September 25-26, 2011. Stockholm University, Sweden. Organized with Per Faxneld (Stockholm University).
Organization of Conference Sessions
- Convening panel discussion on Contemporary Esotericism at ESSWE 4. With with Egil Asprem (University of Amsterdam). June 26-29, 2013. Gothenburg University, Sweden.
- Convening panel on “Esotericism and New Religions” at the 2013 CESNUR Conference: Changing Religious Movements in a Changing World. June 21-24, 2013. Dalarna University, Sweden.
- Planning and convening of two sessions on “Religion, Media, and Societal Change” at the EASR 2012. With Marcus Moberg (Åbo Akademi University). August 23-26, 2012. Södertörn University, Sweden.
- Planning and convening of the session “Esotericism and Sociology” at EASR 2012. with Egil Asprem (University of Amsterdam). August 23-26, 2012. Södertörn University, Sweden.
- Planning and convening the session “Religion as Entertainment and Pastime” at the 19th Nordic Conference in Sociology of Religion. August 13-15, 2008. Åbo Akademi University, Finland.
- Planning and convening the sessions “Western Esotericism and New Religiosity – I & II” at the2008 CESNUR/INFORM International Conference. April 16-19, 2008. London School of Economics, UK.
- Planning and convening the session “If Not New Age, Then What?”at the 2008 CESNUR/INFORM International Conference. April 16-19, 2008. London School of Economics, UK.
Invited lectures
- “The Devil’s Music” (keynote lecture). Modern Heavy Metal Conference 2015. June 8-12, 2015. Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki, Finland.
- “New Arenas of Religion and the Demand for New Methodological and Theoretical Approaches” (plenary/keynote lecture). Innovative Methods in the Study of Religion. March 29, 2010. Dexter House Conference Centre, London, UK.
- “The Allure of the Occult: (Pseudo)pagan Mythology, Demonic Presence, and Esotericism in Superhero Comics”. NGG 2007. November 2-3, 2007. Conference Hotel Kapellerput, Heeze, Netherlands.
- “Metal Music and Esoteric Spirituality”. Art as a Vehicle for Religious Insight. May 14-16, 2007. University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
- “Death as Initiation: Left-Hand Path Spiritualities and Approaches to Death”. INFORM Seminar: Death and New Religious Movements. May 5, 2007. London School of Economics, UK.
- “Ockultism i tid och otid”. Meeting of Historiska samfundet [The Historical Society]. December 2005. Åbo Akademi University, Finland.
- “Symbolic Death and Rebirth in the Left Hand Path”. The 2005 Seminar of USVA. April 26, 2005. Åbo Akademi University, Finland.
Conference Papers
- “Discursive Complexes as a Tool to Systematize the Study of Contemporary Esotericism”. 2013 CESNUR Conference: Changing Religious Movements in a Changing World. June 21-24, 2013. Dalarna University, Sweden.
- “Popular Culture as Esoteric Mediation: The Case of Occult Metal”. 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion. November 17-20, 2012. McCormick Place Convention Center. Chicago, USA.
- “Welcome and Introduction”. With Egil Asprem. 1st International Conference on Contemporary Esotericism. August 27-29, 2012. Stockholm University, Sweden.
- “Esotericism and Sociology”. With Egil Asprem. EASR 2012. August 23-26, 2012. Södertörn University, Sweden.
- Presentation and Discussion on the research of Christopher Partridge and the Concept of Re-Enchantment. En dag om återförtrollning [interdisciplinary symposium on re-enchantment]. May 3, 2012. Stockholm University, Sweden.
- ”Det esoteriska och populärkulturens ’oftentliga rum’: Postsekulära utvecklingar på det religiösa fältet”. Nordisk konferens om forskning om nyreligiositet [Nordic Conference on New Religiosity]. October 27-28, 2011. Sigtunastiftelsen, Sweden.
- “The Finnish Theosophical Satanist and anti-Semite Pekka Siitoini”. Satanism in Western Culture. September 25-26, 2011. Stockholm University, Sweden.
- “Visual Popular Culture and the Esoteric”. ESSWE 3: The Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism. July 6-10, 2011. University of Szeged, Hungary.
- Respondent. Meeting of the Nordic Research Network for the Mediatization of Religion and Culture: Perspectives on Mediatization and Religious Change. October 25-27, 2010. Sigtunastiftelsen, Sweden.
- “Western Esoteric Currents: A Discourse Analytical Approach”. XXth IAHR Quinquennial World Congress. August 15-21, 2010. University of Toronto, Canada.
- “The West – non-West Dynamic in European Esotericism”. XXth IAHR Quinquennial World Congress. August 15-21, 2010. University of Toronto, Canada.
- “The Role of Popular Culture in ‘Mainstreaming the Alternative’ and ‘Undeviating the Deviant’”. 7th International Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture. August 9-13, 2010. Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.
- “What’s in a Name: Theoretical and Methodological Musings on the Scholarly use of the term Satanism”. Satanism in the Modern World. November 19-20, 2009. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
- “Locating the West: Problematizing the ‘Western’ in Western Esotericism”. ESSWE2: Capitals of European Esotericism and Transcultural Dialogue. July 2-4, 2009. University of Strasbourg, France.
- “Grant Morrison and the Practice of Magic Through the Comic Book Medium”. 2009 National Popular Culture & American Culture Associations Conference. April 8-11, 2009. New Orleans Marriott Hotel, New Orleans, USA.
- “The Mass-Appeal of the Occult”. Media, Spiritualities and Social Change. June 4-7, 2008. School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA.
- “Contemporary Magic and Approaches to Nature”. ASE Conference 2008: Esotericism, Religion, and Nature. May 29-June 1, 2008. College of Charleston, USA.
- “New Age or Mass-popularized Esotericism?”. CESNUR/INFORM International Conference 2008. April 16-19, 2008. London School of Economics, UK.
- “Western Esotericism and the Study of New Religiosity”. CESNUR/INFORM International Conference 2008. April 16-19, 2008. London School of Economics, UK.
- “Neo-Pagan Rune Magic or Rune Magic with Pagan Influences? The Rune-Gild and Scholarly Definitions of Neo-Paganism”. EASR 2007. September 23–27, 2007. University of Bremen, Germany.
- “Post-Secular Esotericism? Some Reflections on the Transformation of Esotericism”. The Donner Institute 2007 Symposium on Western Esotericism. August 15–17, 2007. Linnasmäki Conference Centre, Åbo, Finland.
- “The Left-Hand Path: Sociological Perspectives on Late Modern Esotericism”. 29th ISSR/SISR Conference: Secularity and Religious Vitality. July 23–27, 2007. University of Leipzig/Alma Mater Lipsiensis, Germany.
- “Non-hierarchical Hierarchy: Initiatory Degree Systems in Left-Hand Path Magic Orders”. Inaugural Conference of the ESSWE: Constructing Tradition: Means and Myths of Transmission in Western Esotericism. July 19–22, 2007. University of Tübingen, Germany.
- “’The Prince of Darkness on the Move’: Sociological Perspectives on Contemporary Esotericism”. 2007 CESNUR International Conference: The Globalization of Religious Movements. June 7–9, 2007. Université Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux, France.
- “The Left-Hand Path: Sociological Perspectives on Late Modern Esotericism”. Religion on the Borders: New Challenges in the Academic Study of Religion. April 19–22, 2007. Södertörn University College, Sweden.
- “Subversion eller underkastelse. Häxflickan i populärkultur”. Populärkultur – reality, text och scen. Joint seminar by the departments for Comparative Religion and Nordic Folkloristics at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. November 6–7, 2006.
- “The (spiritual) Deconstruction of Gender in Witch-girl Fiction”. Gender and Religion in Global Perspectives. October 26–28, 2006. University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
- “The Left-Hand Path”. FINYAR 2006. October 20, 2006. University of Stockholm, Sweden.
- “Occultism for the Teenaged Viewer: The Case of the Witch-Girl in Popular Media”. 2006 CESNUR International Conference: Religion, Globalization and Conflict: International Perspectives. July 13–16, 2006. San Diego State University, USA.
- “Subversion or Submission? The Case of the Witch Girl in Popular Media”. Fifth International Conference on Media, Religion and Culture: Mediating Religion in the Context of Multicultural Tension. July 6–9, 2006, Sigtunastiftelsen, Sweden.
- “Symbolic Death and Rebirth in the Left Hand Path”. CESNUR 2005 International Conference. June 2–5, 2005, Resort Hotel Saracen, Palermo, Italy.
- “Symbolic Death and Rebirth in the Left Hand Path”. FINYAR 2005. April 23–24, 2005, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
- “Den vänstra handens väg och moraliska val” [The Left-Hand Path and Moral Choices]. Våld och Aggression Symposium [Symposium on violence and agression]. Fall of 2004. Åbo Akademi University, Finland.
- “Feminine Symbolism and the Left Hand Path”. ASANAS Second International Conference. May 21, 2004, University of Wolverhampton, England.
- “Dark Magic and Strategies of Epistemology”. CESNUR 2002 International conference: Minority Religions, Social Change, and Freedom of Conscience. June 20–23, 2002, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.
- “Dragon Rouge – A Spiritual Organization in Opposition to the Society and the Church?” CESNUR/INFORM 2001 International conference: The Spiritual Supermarket: Religious Pluralism and Globalisation in the 21st Century: The Expanding European Union and Beyond. April 19–22, 2001. London School of Economics, England.
Non-Academic Lectures
- “Den vänstra handens väg i jämförande perspektiv” [The Left-Hand Path in Comparative Perspective]. March 17, 212. Dragon Rouge. Stockholm, Sweden.
- “Den vänstra handens väg” [The Left-Hand Path]. November 21, 2010. Luna. Uppsala, Sweden.
- “The History of Neopaganism”. Incubate Festival 2009. September 13-20, 2009. Natuurtheater, Tilburg, Netherlands.