Helen Crovetto
Independent Scholar
Contact Information
P.O. Box 130 Paulden, AZ 86334-0130 E-mail: mystic@tantricmysticism.com |
BiographyHelen Crovetto is an independent scholar of new religious movements within Hindu Tantrism. She studied tantra yoga and related disciplines in Kolkata, Varanasi, and Sweden in the late 1970s. Her research and social service work in education brought her in contact with students of these disciplines in many countries; including Germany, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Austria, the former Yugoslavia, the former USSR, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Cyprus, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and Iran as well as in India. Helen currently resides in Paulden, Arizona with her husband Alex. |
Publications and Presentations |
Publications |
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• “Ananda Marga, PROUT and the Use of Force.”
Chapter 12 in Violence and New
Religious Movements. Edited by James R. Lewis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. |
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• “Ananda
Marga and the Use of Force,” Nova Religio:
The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 12, no. 1 (August 2008): 26-56. A translation of this article into German is available in PDF format here. |
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• “Bhairavi Cakra: Goddess Mandalas/ Rituals in Contemporary Tantra’s NonDualism,” Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 3, no. 8 (Fall 2006): 237-268. Volume in honor of James H. Sanford. |
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• “Embodied Knowledge and Divinity: The Hohm
Community as Western-style Bauls,” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 10, no. 1 (August 2006): 69-95. A translation of this article into German is available in PDF format here. |
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• “Ananda Marga’s Tantric Neo-Humanism.” In The Encyclopedia of
Religion and Nature. Edited by Bron Taylor and Jeffrey Kaplan. London: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005. |
Scholarly Presentations |
• “The Unknown
Traveler with his Magic Mirror appears as the Beggar King
and his True Heart-Son: Metaphors, Literary Images, and Leitmotifs of Contemporary Hindu Tantric Poetry.” Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. September 26, 2010. Available here. • “Building Tantric Mystical Infrastructure in North America: Rudi’s Kashmir Saivism.” North American Hinduism Consultation, American Academy of Religion. Montreal, Canada. November 8, 2009. • “Pancavati and Microvita: Science and Spirituality Re-Enchant Nature in contemporary Tantra Yoga.” International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture. Second International Conference. Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. January 18, 2008. An abbreviated version of this presentation is available here. • “Ananda Seva Mission: Schism as a Response to the Egalitarian Social and Political Urges of Modernity.” Western Regional Meeting, American Academy of Religion. Claremont Graduate University. Claremont, California. March 12, 2006. • “Bhairavi Cakra: The Role of Yantra and Mandala in Two Contemporary Tantric Rites.” Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. September 30, 2005. • “From Tiruvannamalai to Prescott and Bozeman: The Western Baul Lineage.” Tantric Studies Consultaion, American Academy of Religion. San Antonio, Texas. November 21, 2004. • “Embodied Knowledge and Embodied Divinity: Yogic spiritual practices, the Four Moons, and the role of Sexual Rites among the Western Bauls.” Western Regional Meeting, American Academy of Religion. Whittier College. Whittier, California. March 21, 2003. • “The Nexus between Trifarious Development and Cosmic War: A Hindu Tantric Sect’s View.” North American Hindu Association of Dharma Studies, American Academy of Religion. Atlanta, Georgia. November 23, 2003. • “White Peace, Goats and Tigers: Ananda Marga’s post-colonial Tantric Doctrine of Cosmic War.” Society for Tantric Studies. Flagstaff, Arizona. October 13, 2002. |
Professional Organizations
• Member, Society for Tantric Studies. |
The Helen Crovetto Award
for Excellence in the Study of New Religious
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The Helen
Crovetto Award for Excellence in the Study of New
Religious Movements with Ties to South Asia was announced
in the November 2010 issue of Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and
Emergent Religions. |
The First Crovetto
Award went to Scott Lowe (University of Wisconsin, Eau
Claire) for his article titled “Transcendental
Meditation, Vedic Science and Science” in Nova Religio
14, no. 4 (May 2011).
The Fourth
Crovetto Award went to Peter Heehs (Independent Scholar)
for his article titled “Sri Aurobindo and his Ashram
1910-2010: An Unfinished History” in Nova Religio 19, no. 1
(August 2015).
The Fifth Crovetto Award went to Nicole
Karapanagiotis (Rutgers University-Camden) for her
article titled “Of Digital Images and Digital Media:
Approaches to Marketing in American ISKCON” in Nova
Religio 21, no. 3
(February 2018). The Sixth Crovetto Award went to Jeff Wilson
(Renison University College) for his article
titled “Blasphemy as Bhāvana:
Anti-Christianity in a New Buddhist Movement” in Nova
Religio 22, no. 3 (February 2019).
The Seventh Crovetto Award went to Irina
Sadovina (University of Toronto) for her article
titled |
For further information please see: |
Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions |
Association for the Academic Study of New Religions (AASNR) |
Last updated May 18, 2023.