tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66070468107478787802024-03-13T07:17:27.136+00:00On New and Alternative ReligionsA blog by Dr Ethan Doyle WhiteEthan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-79782476505600949042024-02-19T13:37:00.000+00:002024-02-19T13:37:06.608+00:00New Publication: "The New Witches of the West: Tradition, Liberation, and Power"<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I
just wanted to post a quick update to alert readers to my latest
publication, <i>The New Witches of the West: Tradition, Liberation,
and Power</i>. This short academic book is part of Cambridge
University Press’ Elements in New Religious Movements series,
edited by scholar Rebecca Moore, who kindly invited me to contribute.
The book discusses why practitioners of various different new
religions active in modern Western societies have embraced the witch
as a self-identity, drawing on examples including Wicca, ‘traditional
witchcraft’, LaVeyan Satanism, and African diasporic traditions
like Hoodoo. To my knowledge, this is the first monograph-length
academic study to really deal with these varied forms of modern
religious witchcraft in tandem.<br />
<br />
The book is available as a
free download from the publisher’s website until 23rd February 2024
(<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/new-witches-of-the-west/45D3E534B9335FDBF333F8BDDABCD9D0" target="_blank">here</a>). Print copies, both in paperback and hardback, should also be
available soon.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYyVsGoM5Nm8L9Wkr5sweggzZ81VNxUerj-bkTvwsZG-CTu9wLDFlV82sb-gpsBwqryFcdXe8V5XcKrlGUy2NGWvxAGCSI4PNr-4WEKHNk1NSrNq-GVvtS98cIp0BaMLcdpdYPw9HGiWkMSHj7dpcwkw57bq7XEkQw5QaqmZZn_JhKFxI_BaCbWhRGw/s1080/Doyle%20White's%20The%20New%20Witches%20of%20the%20West.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="717" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYyVsGoM5Nm8L9Wkr5sweggzZ81VNxUerj-bkTvwsZG-CTu9wLDFlV82sb-gpsBwqryFcdXe8V5XcKrlGUy2NGWvxAGCSI4PNr-4WEKHNk1NSrNq-GVvtS98cIp0BaMLcdpdYPw9HGiWkMSHj7dpcwkw57bq7XEkQw5QaqmZZn_JhKFxI_BaCbWhRGw/w265-h400/Doyle%20White's%20The%20New%20Witches%20of%20the%20West.png" width="265" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-38961362972098210262024-01-09T13:43:00.000+00:002024-01-09T13:43:45.054+00:00Pagans, Dressed Trees, and the Green Man: My 2022 and 2023 Roundup<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCxLWxWHSHEqLLet5PWqAVjGeS_C_XQY76vUTNtDh_JrhIvYL-E6BBpI5NDDs2agsbuC0BumKfVohDhgTTQOwCJGYgFuIiyaGQFik9lJGk7EvK69roDMO-GAp_G9zWOhyvrzTQoKu05ThZLO_rCK2JsNSHSI77AhPKOUscbA0BXNJdB4_VSt7d604aA/s426/Ethan%20Doyle%20White's%20Pagans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCxLWxWHSHEqLLet5PWqAVjGeS_C_XQY76vUTNtDh_JrhIvYL-E6BBpI5NDDs2agsbuC0BumKfVohDhgTTQOwCJGYgFuIiyaGQFik9lJGk7EvK69roDMO-GAp_G9zWOhyvrzTQoKu05ThZLO_rCK2JsNSHSI77AhPKOUscbA0BXNJdB4_VSt7d604aA/s320/Ethan%20Doyle%20White's%20Pagans.jpg" width="225" /></a></span></span></div><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Following
on from my round-ups of <a href="https://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2020/04/from-david-bowie-to-ukip-my-2019-roundup.html" target="_blank">2019</a> and <a href="https://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2021/12/from-linear-earthworks-to-x-files-my.html" target="_blank">2020–21</a>, it’s probably time to
share a brief overview of what I’ve been up to in 2022 and 2023. My
publication output has been a little reduced compared with previous
years, largely because I’ve been focusing primarily on several
larger, book-length studies that will hopefully see the light of day
in a few years time, but I have still tried to keep up with publications for both academic and general audiences. <br /><br />Probably my most prominent publication of 2023
has been <i>Pagans: The Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and
Rituals</i>, a richly-illustrated work published as part of Thames
and Hudson’s ongoing series on different religious traditions. As well as the original English language edition, there are also translations available in French, Spanish, and Korean, with a Japanese translation in the works. This
was the first time that I had written a book for a general audience,
and while doing so has its challenges (it is a more collaborative
process than academic writing, for instance), I really hope that
<i>Pagans</i> finds a welcome readership. Certainly, reviewers have
tended to like it. <br />
<br />
I’ve also had a few academic
publications out. My abiding interest in the Green Man resulted in an
article in a special issue of the <i>Journal for the Study of
Religion, Nature, and Culture</i> – “<a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JSRNC/article/view/20036" target="_blank">A New God for a New Paganism: The Green Man in the Modern Pagan Milieu</a>.” There has been
a growing interest in the Green Man figure in recent years, but I
think few people realise the extent to which the character’s
promotion has been interwoven with modern Pagan subcultures. My
interest in human interactions with plant life can also be seen in a
recent book chapter, “<a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003374138/folklore-people-places-jack-hunter-rachael-ironside" target="_blank">Bedecked in Ribbons and Bows: Dressed Trees as Markers of Heritage, Hope, and Faith in the Landscapes of Southern England</a>.” This has been published as part of Rachael Ironside and
Jack Hunter’s edited volume <i>Folklore, People and Place:
International Perspectives on Tourism and Tradition in Storied
Places</i>. While Routledge hardcovers certainly aren’t cheap, we
can hope for a paperback edition at some point in future.<br />
<br />
Again
writing for a more general audience, I was invited to produce a
series of articles for <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>, helping them
to update their coverage of culturally alternative religions. To that
end, my contributions have included new articles on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/paganism" target="_blank">Paganism</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/modern-Paganism" target="_blank">Modern Paganism</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wicca" target="_blank">Wicca</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Heathenry" target="_blank">Heathenry</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Satanism" target="_blank">Satanism</a>, with several additional
entries also being due in the coming months. In addition, I have
continued working with the <a href="https://wrldrels.org/" target="_blank">World Religions and Spirituality Project</a>
(WRSP), not only as their Lead Director for interviews, but also in
providing <a href="https://wrldrels.org/2022/07/22/doreen-virtue/" target="_blank">an in-depth entry</a> on the prolific New Age author (and
subsequent Evangelical convert) Doreen Virtue, a figure who has been
surprisingly overlooked by previous academic writing.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of
course, I have also continued my book reviewing, doing so for
journals including <i>Folklore</i>, <i>Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative
and Emergent Religions</i>, <i>Time and Mind: The Journal of
Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture</i>, and the American Academy
of Religion’s <i>Reading Religion</i> website. Topics covered in
these reviews include <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/263/article/905135" target="_blank">the esoteric artist Pamela Colman Smith</a>, <a href="https://readingreligion.org/9781905816903/the-boggart/" target="_blank">the boggart lore of northern England</a>, and <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/263/article/869575" target="_blank">the place of psychic science in American history</a>.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-2654200461944516702023-11-21T13:20:00.001+00:002023-11-21T13:20:16.263+00:00An Interview with Associate Professor Per Faxneld<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last
year, one of the scholars of religion <a href="https://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-interview-with-associate-professor.html" target="_blank">that I interviewed was Joseph P. Laycock</a>, whose work has included a study of the Temple of Satan, a
group founded in the United States in 2012. Although the Temple have
gained considerable attention for their socio-political stunts over
the past decade, Satanism itself has a far older and more complex
history. To learn a little more about it, I had the pleasure of
interviewing one of the world’s foremost specialists on the topic,
<b>Dr Per Faxneld</b>, currently an Associate Professor and Senior
Lecturer at Södertörn University in Stockholm. We talk about his
book <i>Satanic Feminism</i>, his interest in Japanese religion, and
the relationship between esotericism, the arts, and cinema.<br /><br /></span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglA4o1YWowUj3lVw1rrFAhCxxJWVreIcb7-G2HmwfltToJw8RKr5PPzYp_C_B5KygPv06Haz4UcPxBumo4aPQBNw929r901hpW6MyQ-04HGRWB7iyVt2s4_6f7p8P6x5KNKgsn2oBihQ6tAe0Jlv12jAhgv6KzcMKupX-l9Ve5prFlIgojesUssmVDrA/s2316/Per%20Faxneld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2316" data-original-width="2316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglA4o1YWowUj3lVw1rrFAhCxxJWVreIcb7-G2HmwfltToJw8RKr5PPzYp_C_B5KygPv06Haz4UcPxBumo4aPQBNw929r901hpW6MyQ-04HGRWB7iyVt2s4_6f7p8P6x5KNKgsn2oBihQ6tAe0Jlv12jAhgv6KzcMKupX-l9Ve5prFlIgojesUssmVDrA/s320/Per%20Faxneld.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>[EDW]</b>
Your academic research has predominantly dealt with esotericism and
new and culturally alternative religions, with a particular focus on
Satanism. Were these subjects that interested you prior to entering
academia, or rather something that you developed an interest in while
in the university system?</span></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
The initial plan for my BA thesis in History of Religions back in
1999 was actually to write about Shintō. I took Japanese – but
gave up after half a term as I didn’t have the tenacity needed to
tackle the kanji. At a loss for ideas, I then reverted to the topic I
had written an earlier undergraduate thesis about, namely
esotericism. However, at this time, in the late 1990s, I was not yet
aware of “esotericism studies” as a field in its own right and
figured what I was doing belonged to new religious movement (NRM)
studies. When NRM studies later on sort of fizzled out and
esotericism became the next big thing as I began my MA, my topic
proved quite timely (I still think NRMs is a fascinating and
important field, though). Esotericism is something I have always been
captivated by. As a kid growing up in the 80s and early 90s,
esotericism was present in all the things I liked best: metal, goth,
and industrial music, Warhammer, role-playing games like Call of
Cthulhu, comic books by Alan Moore, horror films. I also happened to
have a paternal grandmother who was a co-mason and Rosicrucian
(AMORC), and for my tenth birthday she gave me a tarot deck. That
certainly also helped steer me in this direction.</span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The work for which you are best known is </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Satanic
Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century
Culture</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">, a monograph
first published in Sweden in 2014 as your doctoral thesis. It has
since been republished by Oxford University Press as part of their
‘Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism’ series. Could you tell us
more about what this “Satanic feminism” is and what led you to
undertake this significant project?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
It was quite simple, really: reading up on the pre-history of modern
Satanism, as well as contemporary manifestations of it, I caught
sight of a prominent feminist strand in both – that had not really
been discussed by scholars before. I took the idea to the head of the
History of Religions department at Stockholm University, the
Buddhologist Per-Arne Berglie, and he said “Sure, go ahead, write a
doctoral thesis about it” (an easy thing for him to say, as the
department did not have to offer salaried PhD positions back in those
days!). And the rest is history. Well, actually it was not intended
to be primarily about </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">history</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">:
as originally proposed, the monograph would be one third historical
background and two thirds ethnography on contemporary Satanic groups.
I did two rounds of fieldwork among Satanists on the US East Coast,
but after a while it became clear to me that the historical material
was so rich, and so huge, that it demanded being the sole focus of
the study. Indeed, the first published version of the thesis ran to
724 pages, and then I had cut out 300 pages of discussion of
additional source texts. I dare not think what a monster of a book it
would have become if the contemporary stuff had also been included.
Some of the fieldwork and analysis of present-day texts made it into
my 2013 </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">International
Journal for the Study of New Religions</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
article “Intuitive, Receptive, Dark: Negotiations of Femininity in
the Contemporary Satanic and Left-hand Path milieu”.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Satanic
feminism arose as a response to bigoted, male chauvinist use of
Christian myth. According to the Bible, Eve was the first to heed
Satan’s advice to eat the forbidden fruit and thus responsible for
all of humanity's subsequent miseries. The notion of woman as the
Devil’s accomplice is prominent throughout Christian history and
has been used to legitimize the subordination of wives and daughters.
In the nineteenth century, rebellious females therefore performed
counter-readings of this misogynist tradition. Lucifer was
reconceptualized as a feminist liberator of womankind, and Eve became
a heroine. In these reimaginings, Satan is an ally in the struggle
against a tyrannical patriarchy supported by God the Father and his
male priests. Such “Satanic feminism” was expressed in a wide
variety of nineteenth-century literary texts, autobiographies,
pamphlets, newspaper articles, paintings, sculptures, and even
artifacts of consumer culture like jewellery. I investigated how
colourful figures like the suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
gender-bending Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, author Aino Kallas,
actress Sarah Bernhardt, anti-clerical witch enthusiast Matilda
Joslyn Gage, decadent marchioness Luisa Casati, and the Luciferian
lesbian poetess Renée Vivien all embraced Satan as an empowering
symbol, and had the most wonderful time immersing myself in
turn-of-the-century culture (an era I have been obsessed with since I
read Sherlock Holmes and Bram Stoker’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Dracula</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
at age eight).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">By
exploring the connections between esotericism, literature, art, and
the political realm, I attempted to shed new light on neglected
aspects of the intellectual history of feminism, Satanism, and
revisionary mythmaking. What I did not expect was the impact the book
would have on contemporary Satanic groups (for example, it ended up
on official Satanic Temple reading lists) and, even more surprising,
how conservative Christians across the world (for example in Italy,
Australia, and the US) would employ it as “proof” that feminism
is the Devil’s creation. In fact, the first to order the book from
the Swedish publisher was the Vatican Library (they even wanted two
copies!). The fact that Satanists, feminists, and conservatives have
all found the book so useful quite neatly illustrates the theoretical
points I make in it about the malleability of texts. Happily,
academic colleagues have also appreciated it, and it received rave
reviews in journals like </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">History
of Religions</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Nova
Religio</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Aries</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">,
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Reading Religion</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">,
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Comparative Literature
Studies</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">,
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Nineteenth-Century French
Studies</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Feministiskt
perspektiv</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, and
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Tidsskrift før
kjønnsforskning</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> (as
well as being awarded The Donner Institute Research Prize).</span></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1ae4Bh1uFTYXXel8E3Wmoko8B1VkIhnhCx4KASJEnl4vYuwCkxgjuB5IMvPLQckZaS5-05c0ynkn9xA_lzx22rX-apQQGB2dRB5JNiilgzhhPUJK5hv3gasi5jFYjiFs5fnwt6vrDJkU_F4cz7RzYbdfEz6S__S1_k3yUrt_9Yh4WpSE0YwgQ_0hZw/s1520/Per%20Faxneld%20Satanic%20Fem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1ae4Bh1uFTYXXel8E3Wmoko8B1VkIhnhCx4KASJEnl4vYuwCkxgjuB5IMvPLQckZaS5-05c0ynkn9xA_lzx22rX-apQQGB2dRB5JNiilgzhhPUJK5hv3gasi5jFYjiFs5fnwt6vrDJkU_F4cz7RzYbdfEz6S__S1_k3yUrt_9Yh4WpSE0YwgQ_0hZw/s320/Per%20Faxneld%20Satanic%20Fem.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[EDW]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Satanic Feminism</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
deals heavily in literature, looking at works like Sylvia Townsend
Warner’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Lolly
Willowes</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">. In the book
you make an important point about how literature has value for those
studying the history of religion. Could you tell us more about this
argument? How does the approach to literature that you take differ
from the perspective adopted by literature scholars?</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
The basic argument is that literature powerfully shapes life worlds,
creates shifts in public discourse (or reproduces it), and that the
representation (and, in this case, subversion) of religion in
literature is therefore of key importance to the historical study of
religions.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m
not sure my approach is necessarily that different from what scholars
of literature do – it’s a vast academic field, with a multitude
of methodological schools of thought. One thing, perhaps, is that I
am quite interested in biographical details regarding authors, but
not, I should emphasize, as some sort of corrective or sole
determinant when it comes to interpreting texts. Rather, this
dimension is interesting to help understand why certain themes and
sources became popular to use (often linked to social class and
gender) and as a para-textual determinant of the </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">reception</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
of texts – the public persona of the author often being of
significance to how readers understood their works. This, I suppose,
differs from the “death of the author” notion embraced by </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">some</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
literature scholars, where the text itself is the sole focus, but
there are also many whose methods are much like mine.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Your work in </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Satanic
Feminism</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> focuses on the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but I wondered if you had
thoughts on these discourses of Satanic feminism as they have
developed since that time? Do popular culture portrayals, such as the
recent Netflix series </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Chilling
Adventures of Sabrina</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(with its clear feminist messaging in its portrayal of Satanic
witches), indicate a growing mainstreaming of these discourses?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
I have to admit I haven’t watched </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Chilling
Adventures of Sabrina</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
(the trailer did not appeal to me much), though I must do so sooner
or later for professional reasons. Certainly, such pop culture
portrayals indicate a growing mainstreaming of what we can call
Satanic feminism. Robert Eggers’ 2015 film </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The
VVitch</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> is another
example. Well, at least many viewers have understood it as an
empowering depiction of devil-worshipping witches, though it could
arguably also be read as an example of demonized feminism or at least
a very traditional riff on witchcraft tropes – which is fine, as
it’s meant to be entertainment or a work of art, not a political
pamphlet that you need to agree with (many of the best horror films
have horrible politics).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
You have also played an important role in raising academic awareness
of some of the earliest self-described Satanists, namely Stanisław
Przybyszewski and Ben Kadosh. How did you come across these figures
and what do you see as their significance in the broader history of
Satanism?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
I found both of them when I wrote my BA thesis back in 2001–2002.
The topic of the thesis was Satanism prior to the establishing of the
Church of Satan in 1966, and I dug pretty deep and hard to find
examples of actual, self-designated earlier Satanists. Przybyszewski,
Kadosh, Herbert Sloane, Maria de Naglowska, and Fraternitas Saturni
(the latter two, however, with come caveats) were what I came up
with. Them, and the pro-Satanic tendencies present in certain texts
by Eliphas Lévi and H.P. Blavatsky. Plus, of course, numerous
literary and socialist figures employing Satan as a positive symbol
of rebellion. The BA thesis was then expanded into my first published
monograph, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mörkrets
apostlar</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> (“Apostles of
Darkness”) in 2006, subsequently accepted as my MA thesis. Once I
started my PhD in 2007, I looked further into these figures, and
wrote academic articles and book chapters about some of them.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Their
significance lies in that figures like Anton LaVey or Michael Aquino
should be understood as part of a longer tradition of lauding Satan,
that is not merely literary in nature. Pre-LaVeyan Satanism is
interesting as a sort of dark, sinister underbelly of more mainstream
forms of esoteric thought, and the fact that it had this subaltern
position speaks volumes about the broader historical esoteric milieu.
It is also thought-provoking with the complex and ambiguous
pro-Satanic ideas nested in Blavatsky’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The
Secret Doctrine</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> (1888).
Though of marginal importance to Theosophy at large, they arguably
laid the ground for much of the esoteric Satanism to follow.</span><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2dIxSmkrzpdao7DvDqQAVgcaCn1z6JmrxrUNac3kco1zsvhDgPCXrplQECECTDSwFZRslTrJLDlU_fHOoIZxTjACRqsrV9ageV7G1Sj29fVyHghxxqeVkeeHKfwu-bflbSwJ_C5IDi9YnmfJ1w7mUqvv-PXDOWCEW-u_yAV37A32KpigBKpYzX8FyA/s279/Per%20Faxneld%20Morkrets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="200" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2dIxSmkrzpdao7DvDqQAVgcaCn1z6JmrxrUNac3kco1zsvhDgPCXrplQECECTDSwFZRslTrJLDlU_fHOoIZxTjACRqsrV9ageV7G1Sj29fVyHghxxqeVkeeHKfwu-bflbSwJ_C5IDi9YnmfJ1w7mUqvv-PXDOWCEW-u_yAV37A32KpigBKpYzX8FyA/s1600/Per%20Faxneld%20Morkrets.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[EDW]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
With Jesper Aa. Petersen, you are the co-editor of the 2013 edited
volume </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Devil’s
Party: Satanism in Modernity</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">.
How did that project come to fruition? Did it emerge from an existing
network of scholars engaged in researching Satanism?</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
That book resulted directly from the first SatCon, an academic
conference on Satanism organized by me and Jesper and Asbjørn
Dyrendal in Trondheim, Norway in 2010 (I think it was). One of the
more memorable things about that conference, aside from the many
interesting papers and discussions, was the soft ice machine the
Norwegians had leased – meaning all these experts in diabolical
matters stood slurping away on ice cream cones during the coffee
breaks. Suitably gluttonous, I suppose. You could say an
international network of scholars working on the topic was properly
established at that very conference. We did a second SatCon a few
years later in Stockholm, co-organized by me and Kennet Granholm (who
has since sadly left academia), and there is occasional talk of a
third one any year now…</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Has your work attracted much interest from contemporary Satanic
groups, and/or practitioners of other esoteric currents? If so, what
has that response been?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
It has, and with very few exceptions the reactions have been
positive. As mentioned, some groups have even added my work to their
official reading lists. I think it is important for scholars of
religion to have a cordial and respectful relationship with groups
they study, though this should of course not keep us from
deconstructing insider historiographies (Ronald Hutton’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The
Triumph of the Moon</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
being a perfect example of how this should be done) or dissecting
power dynamics within the religious field.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
You are also interested in the relationship between art and
esotericism, having for instance published an article on that topic
in </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nova Religio</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
This intersection is something that a growing number of scholars,
such as Amy Hale, have delved into over the past decade or so. What
do you see as the importance of this avenue of research?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
In one way, art can function like literature, shaping life worlds and
creating shifts in public discourse (or reproducing it) on religion
and esotericism, and so on. Discussions about esoteric art, for
example in the art criticism of a period, also often have much to
tell us about contemporary society. So, there is that sociological
dimension to why the topic is interesting. Careful analysis of the
esoteric context for works of art will also facilitate a deeper
understanding of art history, for example the by now well-known role
of Theosophy in the development of abstract art. Large chunks of
modern art history are really impossible to comprehend correctly
without a basic grasp of esotericism. It is furthermore a vital key
to unlocking deeper layers of meaning and resonances in the work of
individual artists. I have just finalized an article on the
surrealist Leonora Carrington, who I think is a good example of how
we can engage more fully with an artistic production via esotericism.
She is also paradigmatic for how it is nonetheless seldom possible to
lock down a </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">single</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
meaning using esotericism as some sort of matrix for interpretation.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Many of your early writings, largely in Swedish, focus on cinema. Is
the intersection between esotericism and cinema an ongoing interest
of yours?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
It is indeed. I took three terms of cinema studies, plus a summer
course on Japanese cinema, and film remains one of my great passions
– I spend a lot of time at the Cinematheque in Stockholm! My mother
also had a background in cinema studies, so I had something of a
cinephile upbringing. Even though I enjoy many different genres,
horror is close to my heart and also the genre where my academic
expertise in esotericism is most useful for doing analysis.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The
early publications you refer to deal with topics like the cultural
history of zombie films, mummy films and Egyptomania, Japanese horror
films, and German silent horror films. I have recently written pieces
on occult dimensions of </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Nosferatu</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
(1922, my all-time favourite film and a work I constantly find myself
returning to in my writing), the bizarre “documentary” </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Häxan</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
(1922), and personifications of death in cinema. Coming up is also an
overview chapter on esotericism and cinema that I’m co-writing with
my good friend Francisco Santos Silva. This spring, a cinema in
Stockholm invited me to select a series of classic early horror films
and I then gave talks on their religious dimensions before the
screenings – great fun, with very enthusiastic audiences.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
From 2015 to 2017 you also worked on a post-doctoral project focusing
on the character of Lilith, and her transition from Jewish lore into
Christian and post-Christian contexts. Could you tell us more about
this particular project? </span></span>
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
The Lilith monograph, a short one compared to for example </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Satanic
Feminism</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, has been 60%
finished since back in 2017. The reason I did not wrap it up at that
time as planned was that in the middle of my post-doc my mother
suddenly became ill and died. This hit me very hard, and I
temporarily re-focused my publishing strategy on clearly delimited
articles (so I still gave my post-doc financers more than their
money’s worth in terms of publications!). A sprawling monograph,
focusing on the period from around 1800 until the present day, was
simply a bit much to handle under the circumstances. Immediately when
my post-doc ended, I was tenured at a different university. This
meant I was thrown into a world of heavy teaching and administration
duties, and Lilith ended up in the desk drawer. I still hope to
return to this project at some point, as it’s a quite agreeable
little book and I did an awful lot of fieldwork and digging for
obscure primary sources that would be a shame to waste. However,
there’s a very promising PhD thesis being written by Brennan
Kettelle in Amsterdam right now on queer dimensions of Lilith, so I
will at least wait until that is published so as not to unnecessarily
duplicate anything, and to be able to enter into dialogue with the
present cutting edge of Lilith studies.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Your current focus is on martial arts and the sacralisation of
physical exercise. Could you tell us more about this?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
I have a three-year project funded by The Swedish Research Council
where I’m looking at notions of spirituality in Japanese martial
arts in Sweden. Primarily, I’m analysing how ideas about subtle
energy (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">ki</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">),
martial practice as a form of meditation, the development of a “sixth
sense”, attaining unity with the cosmos, a sacralisation of the
self, and so on, have been negotiated in relation to Swedish
secularity over time, ever since the arrival of Japanese martial arts
in the early twentieth century. There are also interesting tensions
and polemics within the martial arts milieu itself over whether there
is, or should be, a spiritual dimension at all to such activities.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
view among westerners of East Asian martial arts training as
spiritual has been around for a long time and is found across Europe.
For example, a 1983 survey among West German Kyūdō (Japanese
archery) practitioners determined 84% claimed they were drawn to it
as a spiritual training. The theme of martial arts spirituality has
occasionally caused controversy, as evidenced by discussions in the
International Olympic Committee. When Japan applied to have Judō
included in the programme for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, concerned
voices claimed Judō was insufficiently “secular”. This rhetoric
reared its head anew in 2008, when China (unsuccessfully) attempted
to incorporate Wushu for the Beijing Olympics. In terms of a broader
impact outside martial arts practice as such, this milieu has also
functioned as a contact point with Buddhism for many. Moreover, it
has, alongside yoga, arguably been pivotal in a broader sacralization
of bodily exercises in the West. Such dimensions make martial arts
relevant to all scholars working on the transnational circulation of
East Asian religiosity and/or Western alternative spirituality.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’m
also looking at how masculinity is constructed in this milieu.
Insider discourses often hold up Western masculinity as limiting for
the individual, tied to unnecessary violence and to a (supposedly)
destructive hard-line secularism. Eastern masculinity, by contrast,
is constructed as spiritual, semi-pacifist, and encompassing a
broader spectrum of situation-specific softness and hardness.
Enlightened Zen samurai and (paradoxically pacifist) warrior monks
are ideal figures, connecting spirituality and forms of
“alternative”, “non-Western” masculinity. There are always
multiple constructions of masculinity in any given culture, which
stand in a hierarchical relation to each other as well as to the
varieties of femininity. Awareness of this provides a scaffolding for
analysing the martial arts milieu and what hegemonic masculinities
its counter-ideal of “spiritual, peaceful warriors” has
historically been positioned in relation to. Conceivably, however,
martial arts masculinities often need to be conceptualised as “hybrid
masculinities”, a recent term designating when men in a position of
privilege nominally distance themselves from dominant ways of “doing
gender”, yet to some degree reproduce hegemonic masculinity.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Are there any future research projects or publications of yours that
we should be looking out for?</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[PF]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Last month, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Satanism: A
Reader</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, co-edited by me
and Johan Nilsson, came out from Oxford University Press. And just a
couple of weeks ago, the huge volume </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Det
esoteriska Sverige</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
(“Esoteric Sweden”), where I have contributed three lengthy
chapters, was published. It will appear in English translation next
year.</span><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJmVhWGiHt-IKVHbvInJd7Vf2Fft7V3dfirW1Cy79bER3KZ5wifsysF2zjkuWtqEibdS-KdopuvauXWMiwMVQxMcW-1v6Tc1MLsL3y10OY2w8SG_k11OQXW8iGOuogciGTaz2Q6stfkMFa3X9yPEBfxwDSLSoFQzN7PNqQ836CR2faavnQRcJbyMc8w/s7576/Per%20Faxneld%20Satanism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7576" data-original-width="5000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJmVhWGiHt-IKVHbvInJd7Vf2Fft7V3dfirW1Cy79bER3KZ5wifsysF2zjkuWtqEibdS-KdopuvauXWMiwMVQxMcW-1v6Tc1MLsL3y10OY2w8SG_k11OQXW8iGOuogciGTaz2Q6stfkMFa3X9yPEBfxwDSLSoFQzN7PNqQ836CR2faavnQRcJbyMc8w/s320/Per%20Faxneld%20Satanism.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Together
with the historian and folklorist Fredrik Skott, I’m applying for
funding for a project on Swedish folk grimoires that I have high
hopes for. I’m also looking for funding to write a monograph on the
Spiritualist group The Edelweiss Society (that I contributed a
chapter on in <i>Det esoteriska Sverige</i>).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">On
a completely different note, I have a new book coming out in the
spring of 2024 called </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Secret
Stockholm</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> – a
guidebook to peculiar places in my native city. Much of the content
is, unsurprisingly, related to esotericism. The book is part of the
brilliant series from French publisher Jonglez, that has already
covered many other cities across the world.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Finally,
my book of “folk gothic” short stories, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The
Tree of Sacrifice</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
(2020), is being published in English next year (originally written
in Swedish, it has since been translated into Finnish and Danish,
with a Ukrainian edition also on its way). Moreover, I have a new
fiction book in the works, with a similar setting (rural northern
Sweden a hundred years ago or so).</span><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmY1I6lUU3j78r1BHEXvMcK-psnrK8ZuEUP8aKoQ8bWZbtYDYjQHv7dlBgW_K3440CQ8Zi9oxK82jd2vlw5xzwhmqXl2NP9Y48vwH5GlT3qjyyAliQvsMEaSBTMJLMsY0JtZeidcbi_Ojz73alxGRP0-E4_fvxOZf3pZlqmJykIKkxgba_cBqaBfcUA/s1961/Per%20Faxneld%20Novel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1961" data-original-width="1275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmY1I6lUU3j78r1BHEXvMcK-psnrK8ZuEUP8aKoQ8bWZbtYDYjQHv7dlBgW_K3440CQ8Zi9oxK82jd2vlw5xzwhmqXl2NP9Y48vwH5GlT3qjyyAliQvsMEaSBTMJLMsY0JtZeidcbi_Ojz73alxGRP0-E4_fvxOZf3pZlqmJykIKkxgba_cBqaBfcUA/s320/Per%20Faxneld%20Novel.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[EDW]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Are there topics to do with Satanism, or with esotericism and
alternative religion more broadly, that you feel are really in need
of further investigation?</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[PF]</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Numerous. “Folk magic” (and its intersections with so-called
“learned magic”, in itself a problematic category in many ways)
is a topic that needs to be more fully integrated into esotericism
studies (something I hope to do with the folk grimoire project just
mentioned), which as currently constructed has a very classist bias
in many ways. In general, social class is a topic I plan to do more
work on. Often mentioned in passing in discussions of for example
Theosophy, its full ramifications need to be explored in-depth.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Regarding
Satanism, I think there has been an unfortunate emphasis on US, UK
and Scandinavian Satanism. This field is in dire need of a more
global approach. Right now, I’m a visiting scholar at Tōhoku
University in Japan, and I’ve had the opportunity to talk to some
local Satanists. It’s fascinating to see the differences between
Anglo-European Satanism and the varieties present in a country where
only around 1% identify as Christians. I would love to do a
conference and collected volume on global Satanism!</span></span></span></div>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></p><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-9589603941572706122023-05-11T10:53:00.000+01:002023-05-11T10:53:34.730+01:00Out Now - Pagans: The Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals<p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On 27<sup>th</sup> April, my latest book – <i>Pagans: The Visual
Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals</i> – was officially
released. As I wrote here in March, the book was commissioned by
well-established publisher Thames and Hudson to serve as a general
introduction to the concept of paganism and has been lavishly
illustrated with over four hundred colour images. I’ve had some
nice reviews (such as <a href="http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/03/review-pagans-visual-culture-of-pagan.html" target="_blank">this one</a> at A Bad Witch’s Blog), for which I
am grateful. Sales have been good, so the English-language version
has already gone into a second printing, allowing me to correct a few
small errors (mostly in the image captions) that slipped into the
final-stage proof for the first printing. As well as being available
in French, Spanish, and Korean translations, a Japanese language
translation is also in the works. </span></span>
</p><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbUAnerLatEwjyPCOtl-tOX8GLu8oVzEwVFl0q8-sHfpwSUSXRqI48lD5ULo7QFvUM26P4F2K55U1H_zO6_SHivSdGzAPLrp7dw8EYtCk-VSFatJzBMP9KdPFUdHA7SxB36B5m4bV--7lqxCZ31d--BFj0Yr-_FwENkDQUEYT1iK-ZmcZ8j7OJbc/s2560/Pagans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1804" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbUAnerLatEwjyPCOtl-tOX8GLu8oVzEwVFl0q8-sHfpwSUSXRqI48lD5ULo7QFvUM26P4F2K55U1H_zO6_SHivSdGzAPLrp7dw8EYtCk-VSFatJzBMP9KdPFUdHA7SxB36B5m4bV--7lqxCZ31d--BFj0Yr-_FwENkDQUEYT1iK-ZmcZ8j7OJbc/s320/Pagans.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-61079660388213011902023-03-09T16:07:00.000+00:002023-03-09T16:07:24.950+00:00New Thames and Hudson Book - Pagans: The Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals <p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">Early last year, the well-known
publishing company Thames and Hudson asked me if I could write them a
book about paganism as part of their ongoing series on the visual
culture of various religious traditions. A little over twelve months
on, the book is now set for release in April 2023 as <i>Pagans: </i><i>The
Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals</i>. You can check
it out at the publisher’s website <a href="https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/pagans-the-visual-culture-of-pagan-myths-legends-and-rituals-hardcover" target="_blank">here</a>, although you’ll probably
also find it for sale at your bookseller of choice. As well as the
English language version, translations are also being released in
French, Spanish, and Korean.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Working
on this lavishly illustrated coffee-table book was a collaborative
effort, with my main text being supplemented by over 400 images
obtained by the publisher themselves. Thames and Hudson have a great
record at publishing wonderfully illustrated works accessible to a
broad readership, and I still have fond memories of devouring some of
their volumes on witchcraft and esotericism in my teenage years.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzIrL9oP_yqLDn-34h0V5Tpm8G5bAr0PN5ZFwQ9jUkaX4zUBh0iBkOcKEDKXMZA5xywNiFijZe7sUNdgNyX2NPmtM6kZ8nc_lDHHY9zCTkCbgxBu7dFezrsXGt1NXyFgsDqLa2uleO3O9e0PeKL3Qvv9XEHwbjyGtABZPx5dN6SonuGyJGauzGl0/s426/9780500025741_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzIrL9oP_yqLDn-34h0V5Tpm8G5bAr0PN5ZFwQ9jUkaX4zUBh0iBkOcKEDKXMZA5xywNiFijZe7sUNdgNyX2NPmtM6kZ8nc_lDHHY9zCTkCbgxBu7dFezrsXGt1NXyFgsDqLa2uleO3O9e0PeKL3Qvv9XEHwbjyGtABZPx5dN6SonuGyJGauzGl0/w281-h400/9780500025741_300.jpg" width="281" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Of
course, writing about paganism is a bit more complicated than writing
about, say, Catholicism, as Suzanna Ivanič did in the previous
volume in this Thames and Hudson series, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Catholica: </i><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The
Visual Culture of Catholicism</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
(which has <a href="https://thamesandhudson.com/catholica-the-visual-culture-of-catholicism-9780500252543" target="_blank">also been beautifully put together</a>)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">. That is
because paganism is not just one thing, but (at least) two. On the
one hand, ‘paganism’ is a Christian theological concept with
which Christians since the fourth century have characterised every
religious tradition not worshipping the God of Abraham. In this
Christian sense, ‘paganism’ describes everything from the
polytheistic religions of the ancient Romans and the early medieval
Vikings to thriving living traditions like Hinduism and Shinto today.
On the other, ‘Paganism,’ usually with a capital P, is the term
typically embraced to describe a family of related new religions that
arose largely in Europe and North America during the twentieth
century. These modern Pagans, who include among their ranks Wiccans,
Heathens, and modern Druids, are heavily inspired by the extinct
pre-Christian religions once found across Europe and in adjacent
parts of North Africa and West Asia. </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">For today’s Pagans, the distant past is a resource with which to craft meaningful spiritual traditions for the present.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Pagans</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
seeks to give a good overview of both of these phenomena. I try to
make it clear how the term ‘pagan’ has been used in different
ways, and why some people embrace it while others dislike it.
‘Paganism’ can be a controversial term, especially when used in
the Christian sense, and we should not shy away from that fact. Alongside considering these terminological issues, I seek to offer a thematic overview of many of the
recurring traits that we find in religions that do not venerate the
God of Abraham, such as their acceptance of many different deities,
their use of divination, and their view that divinity can manifest
through material culture and the natural world. In this way I
highlight some of the rich diversity that can be found within the
world’s non-Abrahamic religious traditions.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Unlike
my previous publications, such as my 2016 book </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wicca-History-Belief-Community-Witchcraft/dp/1845197550" target="_blank">Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft</a></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, this is not a
volume aimed primarily at an academic audience. Rather, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Pagan</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">s
is intended for a broader, popular readership, people who may have a
general interest in paganism but not know a great deal about it, or
who may be put off reading strictly academic books. Hopefully there
are many readers out there who</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">will find it to be exactly what they
are looking for.</span></span></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-54021690894765824892023-01-11T11:08:00.001+00:002023-01-11T11:08:22.196+00:00An Interview with Professor Marie W. Dallam<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">In the latest interview in my
ongoing series, produced for the World Religions and Spirituality
Project (WRSP) but also reproduced here, I’m pleased to have
<b>Professor Marie W. Dallam</b> of the University of Oklahoma with me. Dallam’s
research has looked into some of the less well known facets of
American Christianity, resulting in her two books <i>Daddy Grace: A
Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer</i> (2007) and <i>Cowboy
Christians</i> (2018), the former looking at an early Pentecostal
figure and the latter at the growing number of Protestants who are
strongly inspired by the cowboy culture of the American West. We discuss these projects as well as her interest in the relationship between religion, food, and attire.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamVbMmSliRjK9k6Uwz_I0OnX16HNCD9h_QFt0BsDB-_VDW4aQBYI8jKYoFu5MhJKAz0mqjiGkuY7nMRSAjibEZbmi5IDx1lsL7re9fL7egPMPAod5nmFnXR02ZfbDiByFmn-fxMttMA4_MoQ2P2pOIaRwwdkSFMxWGzKNJR7w81tfXTHVOE0b7dI/s350/Marie%20Dallam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamVbMmSliRjK9k6Uwz_I0OnX16HNCD9h_QFt0BsDB-_VDW4aQBYI8jKYoFu5MhJKAz0mqjiGkuY7nMRSAjibEZbmi5IDx1lsL7re9fL7egPMPAod5nmFnXR02ZfbDiByFmn-fxMttMA4_MoQ2P2pOIaRwwdkSFMxWGzKNJR7w81tfXTHVOE0b7dI/s320/Marie%20Dallam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]
You have been interested in religion for a long time, having first
received a BA in religious studies in 1996 and then stayed on that
track throughout your career. What is it about this subject that
fascinates you?</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Religious belief can be such a strong motivator in human lives, yet
often in ways that are more like undercurrents rather than being
readily observable, identifiable, and nameable. I find it endlessly
fascinating to peek under the blanket and try to understand how the
whole picture fits together.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]
Your first book was <i>Daddy Grace: A Celebrity Preacher and His
House of Prayer</i> (New York University Press, 2007). Could you tell
us something about who this figure was and what led you to devote
your attention to him while in graduate school?</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Daddy Grace (Marcelino Manuel da Graça, 1881 or 1884–1960) was an
immigrant from Cape Verde who founded a church in the Pentecostal
tradition, called the United House of Prayer for All People. I first
came across his name in a seminar during my master’s degree work
and wound up writing my term paper about his church. My research led
me to see that the academic treatment of Grace and his church was not
only scant but polemical, with many people boldly dismissing him.
Even though he built an organization that served tens of thousands of
people over the years, almost no one had investigated his work in a
serious and balanced way. Was that because he presented as a bit of a
caricature? Was it because he did things that made people
uncomfortable? Was it because poor, black people have often been
overlooked as a matter of course? It’s probably all of these
things, and others. In any case, it struck me as deeply sad. I
thought his work and his legacy were worthy of recovering and I set
out to do that for my doctoral dissertation, eventually published as
the book with New York University Press.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCo62mdDq3T5y9hvfqPi9t0m35KQ7F0W2-q5uk9DZ5pWgLmwwL30AJDqW5fPPFOzymzJCxgzJlcee8mVCryUPgS7j7t28lvVhclCbEp2gKQRcinQy6YRYuUcFzQYN8OSC5MX8dsFr0F5UHIhMg3uyFhj05ZnNibLbB1LKcxANBdZX1FJpzvrhBWU/s668/Daddy%20Grace%20Dallam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="444" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCo62mdDq3T5y9hvfqPi9t0m35KQ7F0W2-q5uk9DZ5pWgLmwwL30AJDqW5fPPFOzymzJCxgzJlcee8mVCryUPgS7j7t28lvVhclCbEp2gKQRcinQy6YRYuUcFzQYN8OSC5MX8dsFr0F5UHIhMg3uyFhj05ZnNibLbB1LKcxANBdZX1FJpzvrhBWU/s320/Daddy%20Grace%20Dallam.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">[EDW]
You were previously a steering committee member on the American
Academy of Religion’s (AAR) “Religion, Food, and Eating in North
America” seminar and subsequently brought out a co-edited volume on
<i>Religion, Food, and Eating in North America</i> (Columbia
University Press, 2014). What interests you about the relationship
between religion and food, and how did this particular project get
off the ground?</span></b><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Within religious contexts, I am interested in material objects and
the range of relationships people have with them. I like to reflect
on ways that both the objects themselves and the relationships
function in religious meaning-making, and in turn how that effects
peoples’ everyday lives and behavior. Our AAR seminar on food and
the anthology that came out of it were followed by an AAR seminar on
Religion, Attire, and Adornment in North America, and it too has a
volume that is now in press (Columbia University Press, 2023). There
was some overlap in the group of scholars involved in both projects
because of our common interests in the material culture of religion
and the types of questions we explore. For the newest volume I both
co-edited, with Dr. Benjamin Zeller, and I contributed a chapter
about the Church of Body Modification. And who knows, there could
even be a future third volume in this series!</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]
Your most recent monograph, <i>Cowboy Christians</i> (Oxford
University Press, 2018), looked at the growing number of
self-described “cowboy churches,” especially in Texas and
Oklahoma. Could you give us a rough idea of what cowboy Christianity
is and how you came to study it?</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Cowboy Christians are people who feel personally grounded in a
subculture of the American West, which they themselves tend to call
“cowboy culture,” and for whom Christianity blends with that
culture on a deep level. Of course, some of this cowboy culture is
real and some aspects of it are based on an entrenched mythology
about cowboys and the “Old West.” Many cowboy Christians feel
they have been marginalized from mainstream churches over the years,
and cowboy churches have sprung up to make an intervention on that.
The cowboy church itself is defined mostly by behaviors and
structures, and perhaps somewhat by values and expectations, but not
really by theology; theologically they are on the conservative end of
evangelical Protestantism.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
its ideal form, the cowboy church eschews formality and deliberately
lowers social barriers in order to welcome people who don’t
typically feel comfortable in traditional churches. The attire is
casual, the atmosphere is informal, the music is identifiable, the
sermons are relatable, and the social activities are things that
interest a cowboy culture crowd. They won’t ostracize people who
demonstrate “sinful” behavior; the idea is that through
involvement with the church, you will gradually shed your sinful
tendencies, but no one expects it to be a quick, easy, or permanent
process. In the meantime, everything might look a bit messy.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Every
book begins with a question. I began studying cowboy Christianity
simply because I didn’t know what it was, and I was trying to get
my questions answered. And as with most things, the deeper I looked,
the more I found. That’s part of why I think of it as a cowboy
Christian “movement,” rather than just a type of church.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMR3YBTmydatNYO-RJKsp6yY6C7iO_ofozj3-8sYsghKIcp94VKJ5qba9Zkjmz-kgIFZoVetD4R6QfxgmC2q9CVsBIVzo3ziwWU5Zf8qOD-vbMQfzQbryp-AyEGKPUlNmhNlHGYGC5V8WDrZ3Z8SIxqPpAUG6z09jOpggO5tW0EYdVdZcjyM0Y74/s499/cowboy%20christians%20dallam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMR3YBTmydatNYO-RJKsp6yY6C7iO_ofozj3-8sYsghKIcp94VKJ5qba9Zkjmz-kgIFZoVetD4R6QfxgmC2q9CVsBIVzo3ziwWU5Zf8qOD-vbMQfzQbryp-AyEGKPUlNmhNlHGYGC5V8WDrZ3Z8SIxqPpAUG6z09jOpggO5tW0EYdVdZcjyM0Y74/s320/cowboy%20christians%20dallam.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
You characterise cowboy Christianity as a new religious movement
(NRM), a concept that I feel (in the popular imagination at least)
often tends to be associated more with groups that are wholly
distinct from mainstream religions (Wicca, Scientology, and so on)
rather than new variants of established traditions. That being the
case, I wondered if you had any additional thoughts about the value
of the NRM framework for understanding new denominations or trends
within existing religions like Protestantism?</b></span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
My interests skew toward alternative religions, rather than “new”
religions, because they can actually be more controversial. What I
mean by that is that people are less likely to fear something that
they perceive as dramatically different from themselves (“new
religions”), whereas something that is similar to them but slightly
different can be more deeply disturbing—the “variants of
established traditions,” as you phrased it. Daddy Grace’s church
is a slightly different type of Pentecostalism, and for that reason
most Pentecostals prefer to significantly distance themselves from
it. The same is true of the cowboy church: it’s just a little bit
different from “mainstream” Christianity, and that causes
discomfort for some. I find that dynamic interesting.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
that’s not what you asked, is it? The answer to your question is
that yes, much of the sociological work that has been done on new
religious movements can readily be applied to more mainstream
religious developments. The social dynamics themselves are largely
the same across religions. They’re just points on a continuum.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>[EDW]
Have you had much of a response to the book from cowboy Christians
(or other Christians) since it was published? </b></span>
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
I had some positive responses from several of my interviewees, but I
suspect that the ones who didn’t like the end result are too nice
to hunt me down and tell me that. Cowboy Christians are, after all,
polite! I spoke on the phone for a couple hours with one gentleman
I’d interviewed, and he really grilled me about some things I’d
written, but it was all a good-natured effort to come to a peaceful
understanding about it (which we did). I also had one man who pointed
to a part of my introduction in which I acknowledged that some
readers in the cowboy Christian world would not agree with my take on
things; he said that was true and that he was glad I’d written the
book nonetheless. I really appreciated him saying that. Honestly,
though, people of faith were not my target audience. It’s a book
for scholars. It’s a book for the history shelves. It’s a book
that gives insight into how this movement is unfolding and
self-styling, and I suspect it will be more intellectually valuable
in a few decades when scholars are trying to puzzle through the past.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>[EDW]
In your book you refer to a comparative lack of overt politicization
within the cowboy Christian churches, and I wondered if that had
potentially changed in the past few years given the growing
ideological polarization of U.S. society? Do you think that there are
connections between the cowboy Christian movement and what is now
often being called “Christian Nationalism”? </b></span>
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
That’s a good question, but I don’t know the answer. Certainly,
many cowboy Christians would identify closely with the feeling that
they have been long left out and tossed aside from the world of
mainstream politics. So a safe bet would be that political issues and
candidates have become discussion points in cowboy churches in recent
years. However, since the conclusion of my research I have distanced
myself from engagement with the cowboy Christian milieu, so I don’t
really know that for certain. Hopefully another young researcher is
out there as we speak, gathering the answers.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
<b>[EDW]</b><b>
Has there been an expansion of the cowboy Christian movement outside
its U.S. heartlands? Has it extended into either Canada or Mexico,
for example? </b></span>
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
Yes, absolutely. There are cowboy churches and cowboy Christians all
over the world: Canada, Mexico, Australia, several countries in Asia.
I don’t have any idea what those communities are like, nor what
aspects of the cowboy church model they do and don’t choose to
follow. But I know some leaders have deliberately undertaken mission
efforts in those places and they intend to stick closely with the
model while also incorporating local relevance.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]
Are there any future research projects or publications of yours that
we should be looking out for?</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[MWD]</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
In the past couple of years, I’ve been exploring intersections of
religion and the arts. I published an article last year in the </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">MAVCOR</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
journal about Mormon art
(https://mavcor.yale.edu/mavcor-journal/art-religious-memory-and-mormon-polygamy).
Now I’m in the earliest stages of a project that is a consideration
of religious theatre. I am interested in different genres of
theatrical performance that are deliberate efforts at evangelism,
particularly (but not solely) among new religious movements, and I’m
looking at the phenomenon across time periods and geography.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]
Professor Dallam, thank you for your time and all the best with your
future research.</b></span></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-6996136139328038332022-08-16T09:23:00.000+01:002022-08-16T09:23:10.483+01:00An Interview with Associate Professor Joseph P. Laycock<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today
in my ongoing series of interviews for the World Religions and
Spirituality Project (WSP – check out the site <a href="https://wrldrels.org/">here</a>)
I am pleased to provide an interview with <b>Dr Joseph P. Laycock</b>,
an associate professor at Texas State University. As well as being
co-editor of <i>Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent
Religions</i>, he has published a string of fascinating books on
various culturally alternative and new religions, from The Satanic
Temple to the Baysider Catholics. We discuss his varied research and
the role that scholars of new religious movements can play in today’s
world.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhW-LWkD6FAluULjJ5Nbmssh1gMhB5CTuPlDeE0Re0vpA4Wvtu5mS4sRMKaBEJ7vcq9v0Z_bKopAIYNTvrH36M6eg9YObhL1baY5YYXIJhZalcmKNp3K4siFqQ747GxXdxF3r5-euSt8lxVlYdmOV9hnGawxOeVUu2DnEzreDp4JbyCCq9HbppiEE/s1280/Joe%20Laycock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="853" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhW-LWkD6FAluULjJ5Nbmssh1gMhB5CTuPlDeE0Re0vpA4Wvtu5mS4sRMKaBEJ7vcq9v0Z_bKopAIYNTvrH36M6eg9YObhL1baY5YYXIJhZalcmKNp3K4siFqQ747GxXdxF3r5-euSt8lxVlYdmOV9hnGawxOeVUu2DnEzreDp4JbyCCq9HbppiEE/s320/Joe%20Laycock.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Your first book was </b><i><b>Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern
Vampirism</b></i><b> (Praeger, 2009), and both there and elsewhere
you’ve written about people identifying as vampires and the broader
Otherkin movement. Could you tell us more about these movements and
what led you to investigate them?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
This was a “crime of opportunity.” I was teaching high school in
Atlanta when I learned of the existence of the Atlanta Vampire
Alliance. I was really fascinated by this group because they were
collecting data on their community, trying to understand why they
weren’t like other people. There would be no need for a group to do
that if they were just playing at being vampires or delusional. I had
planned to give a paper on this group to the American Academy of
Religion (AAR), but Praeger approached me about a book contract.
(Unlike me, they knew <i>Twilight</i>-mania was on the horizon). So
this became my first book and I had 15 minutes of fame as a “vampire
expert.”</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Basically,
vampires feel they aren’t like other people and they use the word
“vampire” as a kind of shorthand to describe that difference.
Some of them drink human blood (consensually) and report health
issues if they go without blood for too long. A related group are the
“Otherkin,” who identify (on a metaphysical level) as non-human
entities like angels, elves, or dragons. Previous scholarship on the
vampire community was abysmal: It was basically part of the Satanic
Panic literature, warning that vampires are a “cult” who hate
Christians, commit murders, etc. Many of the vampires I met <i>were</i>
Christians! That research was also getting published without ever
having met a self-identified vampire, which seems pretty
unacceptable. One reason the Atlanta Vampire Alliance was doing this
research project was to raise the standard of evidence for making
claims about the community.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
found that the vampire community members are neither mentally ill nor
practicing a “religion” in the way that word is traditionally
used. Our culture doesn’t have a box yet for this kind of identity.
By studying vampires, I came to realize that the history of Western
society is one of more and more options becoming available for
thinking about and talking about ourselves. Foucault argued that the
concept of “sexual orientation” was invented in the nineteenth
century. And in only the last ten years or so I have seen an
unprecedented number of students who identify as “non-binary.” Of
course, I am not equating vampires with the LGBTQ community. But I
argue that vampires are what Foucault called a “technology of
self.” In this sense, they aren’t abnormal at all, but are part
of much larger trend as our culture evolves.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuFbO209BbnSlkZ0a5hSR8fvwkiUvi76oNAVOREbqulU8UXMe9Cvi0ZAgJNKQf78UAL1DOpW_X9JxUSV-ONLEFlbTDK6F6zDfEUdMJaYKvS0rBvMDmc7MusABYu2otmJRVVgBdMXWHnIAdd0jeizCIc8eQLQ7GlVf_mm95Cm2saP6CfyheNz2fB8/s500/Laycock%20-%20Vampire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuFbO209BbnSlkZ0a5hSR8fvwkiUvi76oNAVOREbqulU8UXMe9Cvi0ZAgJNKQf78UAL1DOpW_X9JxUSV-ONLEFlbTDK6F6zDfEUdMJaYKvS0rBvMDmc7MusABYu2otmJRVVgBdMXWHnIAdd0jeizCIc8eQLQ7GlVf_mm95Cm2saP6CfyheNz2fB8/s320/Laycock%20-%20Vampire.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Your next monograph, </b><i><b>The Seer of Bayside: Veronica Lueken
and the Struggle to Define Catholicism</b></i><b> (Oxford University
Press, 2015), explored the Baysiders, a Roman Catholic group
established in 1960s New York. Can you tell us a bit more about this
group and why you decided to study them?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
<i>The Seer of Bayside</i> began as my dissertation. Beginning in the
1960s a woman from Bayside, Queens, New York named Veronica Lueken
began to experience visions of the Virgin Mary. A group called simply
Baysiders, followed her and collected her messages from Mary until
her death in 1995. Most Baysiders were traditionalist Catholics
reeling from the changes of Vatican II (1962–1965). Through Lueken,
Mary condemned Vatican II and even said Pope Paul VI (papacy,
1963-1978) had been replaced by a KGB agent altered with plastic
surgery. The Baysiders had a contentious relationship with the
Diocese of Brooklyn, which eventually condemned Lueken’s visions as
fraudulent. They still meet regularly in Flushing Meadows Park where
they believe Mary is still present on Catholic holy days.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
one level, this was simply an ideal dissertation topic. There was
enough data in archival sources to do the dissertation, but not so
much that it would take years to complete. More importantly, no one
had done a book on Bayside before. There’s a saying, “If you want
to stand out in your field, pick an empty one.”</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhDFqxoXtLe94mJYGy2o3U25LYltNcKo09bbJoMGj_zs9iL_fjXmYzezVMrQPe0jTJ1GGCcLIUtrGEMcVKZIfWLWpgmdPZtelKkAs615dNv0D7N7KFaDheFuFUIxx0SZrVSHfhNTlpdphYfsn_0M0QPDR2r4woafoLAbtBfD1B5GUjJwEigIi_AI/s400/Laycock%20-%20Seer%20of%20Bayside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhDFqxoXtLe94mJYGy2o3U25LYltNcKo09bbJoMGj_zs9iL_fjXmYzezVMrQPe0jTJ1GGCcLIUtrGEMcVKZIfWLWpgmdPZtelKkAs615dNv0D7N7KFaDheFuFUIxx0SZrVSHfhNTlpdphYfsn_0M0QPDR2r4woafoLAbtBfD1B5GUjJwEigIi_AI/s320/Laycock%20-%20Seer%20of%20Bayside.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
One thing that I found interesting in </b><i><b>The Seer of Bayside</b></i><b>
was your point that one of the Baysider groups said that they would
not respond to your phone calls and emails, something you felt was
possibly because they disapproved of your previous research topics. I
wonder if you had any additional thoughts about the ways in which the
topics that we as scholars cover results in other religious groups
not wanting to communicate with us? Are there ways of overcoming
this?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
Negotiating entry with the Baysiders was extremely difficult. There
are two rival groups active in Flushing Meadows Park. (They literally
hold services a few meters apart and aggressively ignore each other).
They notice which group you approach first. They also have a
“fortress mentality” in which most institutions and media are
corrupted and corrupting, so they can be mistrusting of outsiders.
But the biggest issue is that the media has not been kind to them.
Even academic researchers who interviewed them have been dismissive
in their writing. This sort of “poisons the well” for future
researchers seeking to engage with these groups. Of course, the
answer can’t be to never say anything critical about the groups you
study. But there are costs when academics or the media interview
groups like the Baysiders just to get a quote for a derisive story
about a kooky group.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
should also say here that I don’t believe in “covert research.”
I could have feigned religious interest in the Baysiders, but this
would be unethical. It could also contaminate the data and, when the
book came out, they would feel that their paranoia was justified!</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
In </b><i><b>The Seer of Bayside</b></i><b>, you describe a personal
background in Roman Catholicism and also relate that as a scholar you
are “drawn to groups that are understudied, misunderstood and
maligned,” something that is very evident in the choice of
movements you have studied. What is it that draws you to
“alternative” religions as a topic? Was this an interest that led
you towards religious studies at university?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
I think all academics <i>should</i> be studying things that are
understudied. I think religious studies is profoundly perverse in
that it discourages research on understudied groups. We love to moan
about the “world religion” paradigm,* but the job market is king
and if you don’t study a so-called “major world religion,” you
won’t get a job. Good advisors know that, so they discourage their
PhD students from studying anything that hasn’t already been
written about for generations. Can you imagine if another discipline
did this? Can you imagine a PhD in biology discovering a new kingdom
of animals at the bottom of the ocean and being told not to study it?
That you can only get a job if you focus on one of the six or seven
accepted animal kingdoms?</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
I wrote my first book, I was a high school teacher and I figured I
would never get a job as a professor anyway. When I started my PhD I
tried to market myself as an “Americanist,” but the Americanists
never seemed interested in the topics I was studying. I kept being
told that I studied “new religious movements” (NRMs). That
annoyed me because I never made a conscious decision to be a scholar
of new religious movements––others just labeled me as such. And,
of course, there are no jobs for NRM scholars. So I fell on the
Baysiders as a topic almost out of defiance. It was sort of like, “Go
ahead, I dare you to tell me the Roman Catholic Church is an NRM.”</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
have since given in and accepted the label of NRM scholar. And I now
believe research on NRMs is one of the most important things religion
scholars do. The groups we study are the ones most in need of
“worldview translators,”* the ones whose rights are the most
vulnerable, and the ones where––as with the Branch
Davidians––there are preventable episodes of violence.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*
= [EDW] The World Religions Paradigm is a framework for studying
religion that only focuses on five or six religions, chosen for their
numerical size and/or influence upon Western history (i.e.
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and sometimes
Sikhism).</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*
= [EDW] The term “worldview translator” was used in by Phillip
Charles Lucas, “How Future Wacos Might Be Avoided,” in <i>From
the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco, </i>ed. James R. Lewis (Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield, 1994), 209-12, to refer to the role that
religious studies scholars could have played in the negotiations
between the FBI and the Branch Davidians in the conflict outside Waco
in 1993.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
You have also looked at moral panics over role-playing games,
primarily in your book </b><i><b>Dangerous Games: What the Moral
Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined
Worlds</b></i><b> (University of California Press, 2015). Could you
tell us more about this project?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) in Texas in the
1980s. I basically lived through <i>Stranger Things</i>, minus the
monsters and psychic powers. As a child, I kept encountering
authority figures who were certain my favourite pastime was evil and
involved Satanic worship. I knew empirically that these claims were
absurd. Looking back, this was my first inkling that adults acted
like they had all the answers but actually had no idea what they were
talking about. They were ignorant and frightened—traits they
attributed to children.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
knew for awhile I wanted to write <i>something</i> about religion and
D&D, but I wasn’t ready to write this book until I got my PhD.
This book tries to explain why conservative Christians focused on
this game (as opposed to thousands of other social issues). D&D
was created by two devout Christians and I also found it odd that
when Christian critics found Christian elements in the game (cleric
spells with names like “atonement,” for example) they interpreted
this as evidence of Satanism. I conclude that on some level this was
what Freud called “the narcissism of small differences.” In
convincing themselves they were fighting demons and Satanic cults,
these conservative Christians were playing a game very much like D&D.
They were the ones lost in their game of heroic fantasy! But I also
think D&D resembles a religion in that it involves human beings
joined together in a state of play creating an alternate reality. I
think that’s as good a definition of religion as any: An alternate
reality brought about through the collective effort of human beings
engaged in a unique mode of communication and activity. I also think
on some level, the conservative Christians were right to fear D&D.
Antonio Gramsci argued that the ability to imagine things as being
different than they are creates a radical form of autonomy that makes
people harder to control. So D&D is a problem if you’re trying
to raise a generation of children that will remake society in your
image.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKJogqw8XdaQFtFuNooAvyxkX6gN1hzdZc8u6Hhrk3DWyhe_IXl2a_3Tck-wMH52lMK1yqXrg4hrfwRhquOPZfJDNafTf_8XxqXIPDmEp0zBq6eOqaeLRHYrThZ_r5q4CFTxCZvr5pe9fMTjudlSuLbzA7xm-RQRqf1S2NhMw8UwV6RoHS0KC5p8/s450/Laycock%20-%20Dangerous%20Games.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKJogqw8XdaQFtFuNooAvyxkX6gN1hzdZc8u6Hhrk3DWyhe_IXl2a_3Tck-wMH52lMK1yqXrg4hrfwRhquOPZfJDNafTf_8XxqXIPDmEp0zBq6eOqaeLRHYrThZ_r5q4CFTxCZvr5pe9fMTjudlSuLbzA7xm-RQRqf1S2NhMw8UwV6RoHS0KC5p8/s320/Laycock%20-%20Dangerous%20Games.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Your most recent monograph, </b><i><b>Speak of the Devil: How The
Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion</b></i><b>
(Oxford University Press, 2020), is devoted to The Satanic Temple, a
U.S.-based organisation that has attracted quite a bit of attention
over the past few years. Could you give us a brief introduction to
what The Satanic Temple is? What led to your decision to study it?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
The Satanic Temple (TST) is a political and religious group of
Satanists. They are essentially atheistic but regard the Satan of
Milton and the Romantics as a powerful symbol for their values of
resistance to arbitrary authority, reason, autonomy, etc. They are
known for “stunts” (they might say “experiments” or
“provocations”) designed to change the conversation about topics
like abortion or the separation of church and state. I think a lot of
people first noticed them when they offered to donate a statue of
Baphomet (a goat-headed deity) to be displayed at the Oklahoma state
Capitol in 2014. Their argument was that The Ten Commandments
monument placed at the state Capitol was illegal (the Oklahoma
Supreme Court agreed with them on this), but that if they had a
Satanic monument as well, the monuments would no longer constitute an
illegal government endorsement of religion.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
first interviewed TST leader Lucien Greaves about the proposed
monument for <i>Religion Dispatches</i> and basically asked him, “Are
you serious about this?” It turned out, TST was pretty serious! The
media loves TST and I kept covering their various campaigns and
projects. As I did so, I watched the group evolve from basically a
handful of political gadflies into a community with sincerely held
beliefs, rituals, etc. I started to get annoyed when people who
didn’t know anything about this group told me they were “obviously
trolls.” I was also very interested in whether the things they were
doing were having any effect. Were they changing laws? Were they
getting people to think about the First Amendment differently? In
many cases, they succeeded in getting their opponents to publicly
admit that they did <i>not</i> believe in religious freedom and
separation of church and state––they believed in Christian
hegemony, but not rights for groups like The Satanic Temple. So my
book was intended as a definitive history of this group and how it
formed, but also an analysis of the way TST has shaped public
discourse about ideas like “religion” and “religious freedom.”
That’s why the title is “Speak of the Devil” and not “The
Satanic Temple.”</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVS5uNEJ2UO_mF7KpMQcuIfRWtWTk-nozj2rNw6zc-ldsnfdRQlBuw7-rlHl0rxp04W6GYv8L6QPgG6a8T0zozzR1W6aOaGP2x16DEwQLo1iKhpxBOsQ5JrNv6j9QfpW8KCitiSTXYgbyU1ZyCcWDyRJTvUYeq9CAgb-Fy55NRYxw3wWqh-3UsUI/s550/Laycock%20-%20Speak%20of%20the%20Devil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="362" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVS5uNEJ2UO_mF7KpMQcuIfRWtWTk-nozj2rNw6zc-ldsnfdRQlBuw7-rlHl0rxp04W6GYv8L6QPgG6a8T0zozzR1W6aOaGP2x16DEwQLo1iKhpxBOsQ5JrNv6j9QfpW8KCitiSTXYgbyU1ZyCcWDyRJTvUYeq9CAgb-Fy55NRYxw3wWqh-3UsUI/s320/Laycock%20-%20Speak%20of%20the%20Devil.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Since </b><i><b>Speak of the Devil</b></i><b> was published, the U.S.
Supreme Court overturned </b><i><b>Roe v. Wade </b></i><b>on June 24,
2022, with significant ramifications for abortion access in many
states. Given that abortion access was already an issue that The
Satanic Temple was very involved with, have you observed the group
changing or being significantly impacted by the court decision? Do
you think this decision (and others that may follow on topics like
same-sex marriage) will have a long-term impact on The Satanic
Temple?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
This is a big can of worms! This really begins with the 2014 decision
<i>Burwell v. Hobby Lobby</i> where the Supreme Court ruled that the
retail company Hobby Lobby was exempt from certain requirements of
the Affordable Care Act because of their religious beliefs. The
Satanic Temple said, “If Hobby Lobby can be exempt from some laws
ensuring access to contraception, we should be exempt from laws
restricting abortion access.” They filed a series of lawsuits in
Missouri (and then Texas) arguing that state restrictions on abortion
violated their sincerely held belief that one’s body is inviolable.
Missouri and Texas both had 1) laws that made obtaining an abortion
extremely difficult, and 2) Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)
laws that essentially require the state to accommodate religions if
they possibly can.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
far, no court has actually answered the basic question raised by TST:
Does religious freedom mean Satanists can get abortion on demand,
just as Hobby Lobby can be exempt from parts of the Affordable Care
Act? Instead, their cases have been thrown out on procedural grounds.
In one case, a judge sat on the case for nine months and then told
the plaintiff (a pregnant Satanist) she no longer had standing to sue
because she was no longer pregnant. TST created an “abortion
ritual” that has to be completed in a certain amount of time, in an
effort to prevent this sort of loophole.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TST
has no plans to back down now that <i>Roe</i> was fallen, but it will
change the situation in several ways. First, TST is nervous to
approach this Supreme Court, which seems amenable to a Christian
nationalist agenda. Taking a case to this Supreme Court could result
in a really radical ruling, setting a disastrous precedent. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Second,
RFRA laws require the government to provide a “compelling interest”
to restrict religious freedom. When abortion was recognized as a
right, Missouri had to claim its restrictions on abortion were
necessary so that women could make an “informed decision about a
medical procedure.” Now they no longer need to make such a
pretence: They can simply state that abortion is murder and the state
has a compelling interest in preventing it. This could mean TST
members have no more right to get an abortion then to perform a human
sacrifice. (In theory, TST could argue that claiming abortion is
murder is itself a religious belief and therefore a violation of the
establishment clause.)</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Third,
people are reasonably scared of what a post-<i>Roe</i> America will
look like and some have turned to TST. This has resulted in both more
interest in TST and more criticism. On social media, some people have
wrongly claimed that by becoming a Satanist, you can legally get
abortion on demand. Some of TST’s long-time critics are furious
about this and claim TST is putting pregnant women in danger.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Another of the topics that has attracted your interest has been
spirit possession and exorcism, resulting in two volumes that you
have edited, </b><i><b>Spirit Possession around the World:
Possession, Communion, and Demon Expulsion across Cultures</b></i><b>
(ABC-CLIO, 2015) and </b><i><b>The Penguin Book of Exorcisms</b></i><b>
(Penguin Classics, 2020). What do you find particularly interesting
about this and are you pursuing the topic further?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
As a PhD student I wrote a paper on <i>The Exorcist</i> that became
one of my first publications. Then ABC-CLIO tapped me to edit an
encyclopaedia on possession and exorcism across cultures. That’s a
pretty good introduction to the topic! I created a course on exorcism
to attract students to our new Major in religious studies. This led
to some media interest and eventually an invitation from Penguin to
do another book.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
find it fascinating that spirit possession occurs in nearly all
cultures. Of course, cultures disagree profoundly on what exactly
happens when people enter a state of possession and whether it is a
good thing or a bad thing. In the end I am interested in possession
because it shows that we as human beings really don’t understand
ourselves. As inheritors of the Enlightenment, Westerners are led to
believe we are autonomous individuals with distinct personalities
that are solid and consistent. But this isn’t really true. We can
effectively be different people depending on our mood, and especially
the social situation we find ourselves in. We adopt social roles and
conform with others without even realizing we’re doing it. Spirit
possession can be one way of talking about these changes, as can
various diagnoses of so-called “dissociative disorders.” But both
these explanations assume there is some stable personality that is
“really you” to begin with. In the end, I think we don’t
understand the spirits because we don’t understand ourselves!</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0sfO9t_pZMILv6taS2VAdlqcnJFl4-xtrS_2VCh00bx1GtoxBBQDFk90VgyLfXeOuNtgjpmpYFCVavM2sIxrP5lwqcYTgiGE3Tg2vtgg6IRbsMW6k0DtYURwcCJOygv3Nq2eJfdImn8D7u5OfZ0wo0sHGbq6yYGbRuhMvcJN_nr1o2NtDXWgHXw/s2325/Laycock%20-%20Penguin%20Book%20of%20Exorcisms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2325" data-original-width="1519" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0sfO9t_pZMILv6taS2VAdlqcnJFl4-xtrS_2VCh00bx1GtoxBBQDFk90VgyLfXeOuNtgjpmpYFCVavM2sIxrP5lwqcYTgiGE3Tg2vtgg6IRbsMW6k0DtYURwcCJOygv3Nq2eJfdImn8D7u5OfZ0wo0sHGbq6yYGbRuhMvcJN_nr1o2NtDXWgHXw/s320/Laycock%20-%20Penguin%20Book%20of%20Exorcisms.jpg" width="209" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
What has the feedback been like following publication of your various
books? Have you had much of a response, for instance, from The
Satanic Temple, the Baysiders, or the modern Vampires? Moreover, what
has the response been like from other academics? Do you feel that
those scholars of religion who focus on “mainstream” movements
have been receptive?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
Overall, I would say the feedback has been very positive. I wrote
these books with other scholars in mind, and they have generally
spoken well of them. Several PhD students had <i>Speak of the Devil</i>
on their exam lists, which is about the biggest honor I can imagine.
I also still have a lot of friends among these communities. The
Baysiders are a contentious group and the first two comments on
Amazon both trashed the book––one for implying Veronica Lueken
might not be a mentally ill con artist, and the other for implying
she might not be a genuine Marian seer sent to save the world from
divine chastisement. So I guess I did my job right!</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some
right-wing troll heard my interview about <i>Speak of the Devil </i>on
the New Books Network and wrote to tell me I’m “a progressive
liberal satanist chucklehead douchebag.” More recently I have
received some attacks from former members of The Satanic Temple. They
claim the group they joined is actually a greedy cult and that
despite being publicly progressive it secretly supports anti-Semitism
and the alt-right. Even though I discussed many of these accusations
in my book, these critics feel that if I’m not with them, I’m
against them. Therefore, I must be a shill for the group I study. I
actually find these accusations perversely flattering. Nobody is
anybody in NRM studies until they have been accused of being a “cult
apologist” by ex-members of the group they study. So I guess I’ve
made it!</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
You’ve been writing for </b><i><b>Religion Dispatches</b></i><b>
since 2009. What do you see as its role in disseminating information
about religious topics to a wider readership? Do you think scholars
of religion as a whole are doing enough to engage wider audiences
outside the academy?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
Two of my mentors were Diane Moore at Harvard and Stephen Prothero at
Boston University, both of which have called attention to the dire
need for religious literacy. The media is largely part of the problem
here. For example, when Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire in 2019, a
priest told the media he had rescued “the body of Christ” from
the burning building. <i>The New York Times</i> reported that the
priest had rescued a <i>statue</i> of Jesus, because what else could
“the body of Christ” refer to? So I think it’s really important
that scholars have an outlet to discuss contemporary issues involving
religion. I’ve also written for a lot of outlets and I find the
editors at <i>Religion Dispatches</i> the easiest to work with.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
think religion scholars are more open to the public than ever before
with podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. But I also think there is still
an attitude that these efforts are working against your career
instead of with it. A media article that informs the public about an
important issue doesn’t carry the same weight as a dense academic
monograph that costs $200 and will only sell a dozen copies.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Since 2016 you have been co-editor of </b><i><b>Nova Religio: The
Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions</b></i><b>, and in 2019
you also became co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s New
Religious Movements Unit. What do you see as the importance of having
the study of new religions as a distinct sub-field and where do you
think it currently stands in relation to the study of religion as a
whole?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
As I’ve already said, I feel like NRM studies chose me more than I
chose it. NRM studies emerged out of “the cult wars” when there
was a moral panic that “cults” possessed secret techniques of
brainwashing and were taking over America in the form of an
“information disease.” Expert witnesses were making a fortune
testifying about the dangers of brainwashing and religious freedom as
we know it seemed to hang in the balance. NRM studies began as a
group of religion scholars and sociologists who sought to combat this
nonsense.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since
the cult wars, NRM studies has tried to find a new purpose. One of
the important functions of the AAR group and <i>Nova Religio</i> is
to platform research on emerging religious movements in the Global
South: Africa, Asia, and South America are teeming with movements
that no one else is paying attention to. We also provide a space for
research on all manner of magical traditions, parody religions,
entheogenic practices, and other sundry religious phenomenon that
have fallen through the cracks of the world religion paradigm.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
I also think history is repeating itself and that the cult wars are
beginning anew. QAnon and the January 6 attack on the Capitol in
Washington, D.C. were so bizarre and so scary that the public was
once again turned to the facile narrative of “brainwashing” to
explain this behaviour. Figures like Steve Hassan, who was a
deprogrammer in the 1970s, have resurfaced as “cult experts” who
can explain “the cult of Trump.” (To be clear, I think Trump-ism
is both toxic and dangerous, but this is all the more reason to take
a nuanced, rational approach to its causes.) Adding to this problem
is a glut of sensationalist media about “cults.” It feels like
everyone with access to Wikipedia and a microphone is starting a
podcast about cults these days. It’s a stark example of the
Dunning-Kruger effect in which incompetence leads to a feeling of
confidence. These podcasts often amount to little more than
pornography describing the abuses of cult leaders, but there is never
thought given to what makes a group a “cult” or even whether this
is a valid category. Furthermore, the deprogrammers and anti-cultists
are much more adept than NRM scholars at getting their message out in
the popular media. So I think we will need the wisdom of old school
NRM scholars once again.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0h9k6dKrT9d3D1n9EBT4Yv5VUldJiQlQZJ1xnvwyJMqwCa5gkQsz35p1tEfi06uL3IGTI2MHALscKebqiQYnhz-z1H9S6hwnJdTp1wSq6_gKyB6L2toGR4rlYAvucbTli2DQ0-ebEsnvRC4zk8RsjtAc427DARW2b_KToYXizIm46uAyVsszYJHU/s475/Laycock%20-%20Nova%20Religio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0h9k6dKrT9d3D1n9EBT4Yv5VUldJiQlQZJ1xnvwyJMqwCa5gkQsz35p1tEfi06uL3IGTI2MHALscKebqiQYnhz-z1H9S6hwnJdTp1wSq6_gKyB6L2toGR4rlYAvucbTli2DQ0-ebEsnvRC4zk8RsjtAc427DARW2b_KToYXizIm46uAyVsszYJHU/s320/Laycock%20-%20Nova%20Religio.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Are there topics to do with new and “alternative” religions more
broadly, or with the groups that you have studied specifically, that
you feel are in crying need of more research?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
One thing NRM studies has inherited from the world religions paradigm
is a focus on organizations. We still ask questions like “Who is
the founder of this religion? How many members does it have?,” etc.
But with the internet, we are dealing less with organizations and
more with networks, ideas, and (dare I say it) <i>memes</i>. These
are cultural flows that are methodologically much harder to study.
How do you do an ethnography of Tik-Tok where everyone has a unique
algorithm feeding them videos catered to their viewing history? How
do you study subversive groups that meet primarily on the dark web?
But I think such work is important so that scholars can study things
like QAnon that have serious consequences for democracy.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">More
broadly, I think what is being called “Conspirituality” needs to
be taken more seriously. Kooky conspiracy theories are fun to talk
about, but these ideas have now entered the mainstream. I think a lot
of the ideas associated with QAnon begin as “play,” then somehow
metastasize into belief, and finally conviction. How exactly does one
go from talking to their friends on Facebook to attacking a pizza
parlor with an assault rifle looking for Hillary Clinton’s satanic
torture dungeon? In some ways I think religious studies is uniquely
suited to answer this question and in other ways I think it is
unprepared. Religious studies scholars understand the power of
belief, but not enough about where new beliefs come from––especially
in an age where “prophets” flourish on sites like 8chan.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Do you have any projects on the horizon that we should be looking out
for?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[JPL]</b>
I have been kicking around an idea for a book on hoaxes. Charles Fort
once said it is possible that all religions began as hoaxes. I am not
interested in making claims that certain religions were founded by
con artists or false prophets or anything of that sort. Rather I am
interested in the collective nature of a hoax in which multiple
people construct an alternate version of reality. Many of the
exorcism cases I studied clearly began with adolescents engaged in
play––but once religious leaders labeled that play as demonic
possession, that interpretation became a social fact. It was
thereafter impossible for the adolescent to be anything other than
demonically possessed. So the people labeling the play are in a way
more the authors of the hoax than the players themselves. I think
there is something important going on in these cases that can help us
understand how human beings go about performing the social
construction of reality.</span></span></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-5250919986487380452022-08-15T13:23:00.001+01:002022-08-15T13:23:34.915+01:00An Interview with Dr Aled Thomas<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Today,
</span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">my</span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">
interview series conducted for the World Religions and Spirituality
Project (WRSP – see their website <a href="https://wrldrels.org/">here</a>)
</span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">continued with </span><span style="font-size: medium;">a
conversation with <b>Dr Aled Thomas</b>, a specialist in the previously
unexplored world of Free Zone Scientology. </span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Having</span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">
devoting his doctoral thesis to the subject, Dr Thomas has since
published his research as the monograph </span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><i>Free
Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion</i></span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">
</span><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">(Bloomsbury, 2021), a
fascinating insight into the forms of Scientology practised by people
not belonging to the Church of Scientology itself. Dr Thomas was
recently appointed Teaching Fellow at the University of Leeds and is
an Associate Lecturer at the Open University.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-epxC976tqNlTNute8_Bt3ZpXeiq9VKpJWHLORLySN4Hqr3NeUNur4FXzSGYS24fFv-F78vnhy2At3snDByeMk_pv4mg40tvgeIxZcFC9GkmkSWgDoZwKepTWkcyT4FgBn_5KDdWMoWHXZWASN5yVT8DP7B3nZLm_4H8PDwufVRRnIYaafeXDgCA/s1440/Aled%20Thomas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-epxC976tqNlTNute8_Bt3ZpXeiq9VKpJWHLORLySN4Hqr3NeUNur4FXzSGYS24fFv-F78vnhy2At3snDByeMk_pv4mg40tvgeIxZcFC9GkmkSWgDoZwKepTWkcyT4FgBn_5KDdWMoWHXZWASN5yVT8DP7B3nZLm_4H8PDwufVRRnIYaafeXDgCA/s320/Aled%20Thomas.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]
You’ve stayed within the academic track of Religious Studies from
the undergraduate to the PhD level—and have also picked up a PGCE
teaching qualification in Religious Education along the way—so
religion has clearly been a topic of great interest to you. Where
does your interest in religion, and especially in what we might call
‘alternative religion’, come from?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
I think, like several academics in the UK, I was initially drawn to
the topic of religion by my two fantastic Religious Education (RE)
teachers in secondary school. They were engaging and exciting—and
very open to debate (always a good thing!). I knew quite early on
that I wanted to pursue Religious Studies as my undergraduate degree
and that’s where my interest in ‘alternative religions’
started. My RE teachers had to work within the limitations of a
precise curriculum, which left little room for exploring the
‘alternatives’. I remember that one of my earliest undergraduate
modules was called ‘Cults and Sects’ (what a name!), and
discovering religions outside the World Religions Paradigm* was a
revelation.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>*
= </b><b>[EDW]</b> The World Religions Paradigm is a framework for
studying religion that only focuses on five or six religions, chosen
for their numerical size and/or influence upon Western history (i.e.
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and sometimes
Sikhism).</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
It is probably fair to say that Scientology has proven more
controversial than almost any other new religion active in Western
countries over the last fifty years or so, inspiring really emotive
responses from both members and detractors. This being the case, what
brought about your decision to devote your PhD research to this
particular topic? Did you have hesitations about doing so? </b></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
Admittedly I had no hesitations. The controversies associated with
Scientology did play a part in my interest, particularly the heated
discourses surrounding it. But I always envisaged the research as a
purely scholarly endeavour rather than an exposé or polemic
piece—avoiding value judgements to the best of my abilities and so
forth. My fieldwork participants certainly seemed to appreciate that.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Can you tell us a bit more about Free Zone Scientology? How is it
different from the Church of Scientology, an organisation that thus
far has dominated both media and academic discussions of the
Scientology movement? Is it probable, as some have suggested, that
the number of Free Zoners will soon be larger than the number of
Church members? </b></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
Simply put, the term ‘Free Zone Scientology’ is most often used
to identify any type of Scientology (I use the term ‘Scientologies’)
or Scientologist which exists outside the Church of Scientology. The
divisions between the two largely come down to two factors: (1) the
application of L. Ron Hubbard’s* spiritual technology and (2) the
organisational management of the Church of Scientology. The Free
Zone, broadly conceived, is mostly concerned with the application of
Hubbard’s ‘tech’, while the Church has expanded its practices
into a variety of areas, such as life management courses (designed by
Hubbard) and religious ceremonies, such as weddings. In terms of
numbers, it is difficult to contrast the two. Many ‘Freezoners’
do not advertise their services publicly in fear of litigation from
the Church of Scientology (due to the use of copyrighted L. Ron
Hubbard texts and ideas). While others, following their departure
from the Church, have continued to make use of Hubbard’s work as
part of a broader practice. For example, I’ve interviewed
‘spiritual counsellors’ who no longer identify as Scientologists,
but have maintained aspects of Scientology in their practices. These
little nuances and boundaries are fascinating from a critical
perspective, but can cause a headache for those seeking membership
numbers!</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*
= [EDW] L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) was the American writer
responsible for founding Scientology.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
The main topic of your PhD thesis, and a key theme in your book on
Free Zone Scientology, is auditing—sometimes seen as the central
ritual within Scientology, and one that is often presented as having
both scientific and religious components. Can you tell us more about
auditing and its role in Scientology?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
For many Scientologists, especially those in the Free Zone, auditing
<i>is</i> Scientology. It is the practice upon which Scientology was founded
and is the core process of the movement to this day. Auditing is a
practice consisting of question-and-answer exercises, in which the
Preclear (the person being audited) answers questions directed by a
trained auditor. The auditor seeks to discover ‘engrams’ (traces
of anxieties and neuroses) within the Preclear’s mind in an attempt
to remove them, thus enabling the Preclear to move forward in life,
unhindered by their engrams. This began as a secular process, as
published in Hubbard’s <i>Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental
Health</i> in 1950. However, he soon claimed to discover that people
were affected by engrams from past lives, which lead to the ‘religion
angle’ of auditing. It is here that auditing transitioned from
‘Dianetic auditing’ to ‘Scientology auditing’—with a
simultaneous emphasis on improving mental health and spiritual
development. Today Scientologists engage with auditing as they
progress through Hubbard’s ‘Bridge to Total Freedom’, a series
of levels to be traversed in attaining spiritual liberation.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
How did you approach Scientologists, whether they be in the Church or
Free Zone, and explain that you wanted to research them? Did you feel
that you were welcomed, or was there considerable distrust that you
had to overcome?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
Scientology has a history of being difficult to navigate for
academics—most notably due to the experiences of sociologist Roy
Wallis, who experienced some pushback from the Church of Scientology
during the publication of <i>The Road to Total Freedom</i> in 1976.
Some academics have since expressed hesitation in researching
Scientology for this reason, but there has been a considerable
improvement in relationships between scholars and the Church of
Scientology in recent decades. Religious studies scholar Donald A.
Westbrook’s doctoral research and monograph (<i>Among the
Scientologists: History, Theology, and Praxis</i>, 2019) involved a
significant amount of fieldwork with the Church of Scientology,
during which he was able to undertake Scientology courses, auditing,
and meet/interview dozens of everyday Scientologists. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
my own research, I was welcomed by Scientologists within both the
Church of Scientology and Free Zone. Interestingly, Freezoners were
especially keen to use my work as a platform to promote their vision
of Scientology (as something that can exist outside the Church), and
were very open about the more esoteric elements of
Scientology—sharing aspects of its practice that would usually be
kept confidential by the Church. The Church were also very welcoming
in allowing me to tour their Orgs in London and Saint Hill, near East
Grinstead in West Sussex. This included a tour of the Saint Hill
Manor (Hubbard’s former home), which contains many of his
possessions and writings on Scientology—exciting stuff for a
scholar researching Scientology! Some participants in the Church were
a little hesitant regarding my interest in the Free Zone and how the
relationship between both groups would be presented in my work. Their
concern is understandable—the Church of Scientology has experienced
a considerable amount of negative coverage in reports and
journalistic accounts over the years. However, my focus is purely
scholarly—my work does not ‘take sides’ in the discourses
between both groups.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]
</b><b>Although there are few if any scholars of new religious
movements who reject the idea that Scientology is a religion, there
have been considerable attempts by the movement’s critics to insist
that Scientology is not-a-religion (and specifically to ensure that
governments do not recognise the Church of Scientology as a religious
organisation). In countries such as France and Germany, these efforts
have so far had greater success than in the United States and
Britain. How does this public contestation over the very suitability
of the label ‘religion’ for Scientology impact the work of
scholars like yourself who focus on this movement?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
Interesting question! I am one of those frustrating scholars who sees
religion everywhere—the conversations surrounding whether
Scientology ‘is a religion’ ties in with theoretical questions in
the wider study of religions, not only the study of new religious
movements. I am interested in religion as something people ‘do’,
and Scientology is an interesting case of people ‘religioning’ in
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. But as you correctly
mention, its status as a religion is hotly contested by
anti-Scientologists and some former members. It is not uncommon for
scholars researching Scientology to experience some pushback
(especially online) from those who oppose the notion of Scientology
as a religion. I think it is important to remember that the term
‘religion’ is not used as an endorsement in the study of
religions—perhaps this is a failing on our part (as a wider
scholarly community) in communicating some of the core aspects of our
discipline. From a critical and academic perspective, however, I have
not experienced any pushback in considering Scientology to be a
religion.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
In your book, you draw on the concepts of ‘lived religion’ and
‘vernacular religion’ when trying to understand Free Zone
Scientology. These concepts have not been heavily employed by
scholars of new religions (who have tended to adopt sociological
perspectives), so what do you feel that these approaches bring to the
table when examining younger religious movements like Scientology?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
I was very excited to approach Scientology with these methods. The
lived/vernacular approaches are an excellent way to understand how
religion is practised ‘on the ground’, rather than relying on
institutional projections of what a particular religion entails. For
a group like Scientology, particularly the Free Zone, this approach
is invaluable. As a fluid network of a variety of Scientologists with
different understandings of ‘what Scientology is’, examining
their beliefs and practices as lived religion is a useful way of
researching how different Free Zone Scientologies emerge, the
relationships they hold with one another, and the role Scientology
plays in the day-to-day life of a Scientologist. As younger movements
like Scientology are generally under-researched, this is an ideal way
to unpack the nuances found within their communities.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxAJQWxCkHv_z4Gl0K5QPKjg8AGWtKmL62bloyMuaPaMfDwMEbXQrwZpUvvBgwBL9jpIaNVSb43o26HbafGXvemiapj7vygsg-JJSvGAWD7nCk99z6OwL_LTWaFhQZMSgAij5DwrXQPw8xc60YvI_8b6YJWwfh1q0HAzrHs3WbdXPeGbt3HTTsd-I/s500/Free%20Zone%20Scientology.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxAJQWxCkHv_z4Gl0K5QPKjg8AGWtKmL62bloyMuaPaMfDwMEbXQrwZpUvvBgwBL9jpIaNVSb43o26HbafGXvemiapj7vygsg-JJSvGAWD7nCk99z6OwL_LTWaFhQZMSgAij5DwrXQPw8xc60YvI_8b6YJWwfh1q0HAzrHs3WbdXPeGbt3HTTsd-I/s320/Free%20Zone%20Scientology.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Have you had much feedback to your PhD thesis and subsequent book,
</b><i><b>Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New
Religion</b></i><b> (2021), either from Scientologists themselves
(whether Church members or Free Zone) or from anti-Scientologists?
What has been the response from other scholars of Scientology and/or
religion more broadly? Do you feel that scholars whose focus is on
‘mainstream religions’ like Christianity and Islam take research
on ‘alternative religions’ seriously enough?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
I’ve had a few responses from former Scientologists which have been
very interesting. One email I received from an ex-Scientologist
thanked me for exploring an under-researched area of Scientology.
They framed Scientology as a cult, not a religion, but were
nonetheless interested to learn more of my findings. Like other
scholars researching Scientology, I have also experienced some
pushback from anti-Scientologists, most notably due to my positioning
of Scientology as a religion. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
terms of the academic community, I’m very happy to say that my work
has been warmly received by scholars of NRMs [new religious
movements] and Scientology. The academic study of Scientology is
experiencing a resurgence of interest of late, so it’s been a
thrill to contribute to that discourse and discuss my work with
scholars whose work has been invaluable to me. We are standing on the
shoulders of giants, after all. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Your
question regarding scholars of ‘mainstream’ religions is an
interesting one as it reminds me of an experience I had during my PhD
studies. I once presented a paper on Scientology practices at a
conference, during which a significant number of (senior) scholars
openly laughed at the beliefs of Scientologists throughout my talk. I
was somewhat taken aback—since I had not seen any laughter directed
towards the range of other beliefs I heard discussed during the rest
of the conference. A reminder of how some religions/beliefs are often
more respected than others, particularly those within the World
Religions Paradigm, even amongst the scholarly community.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
The past fifteen years or so have seen a considerable growth in the
number of studies of Scientology, resulting in several edited volumes
and monographs on the subject. Although scholarly understandings of
the movement have improved accordingly, what parts of Scientology do
you feel are crying out for greater scholarly investigation? </b></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
I think an aspect of Scientology that could do with further research
are ex-Scientologists. While the anti-cult movements of the 1970s and
1980s were largely organized networks, many anti-Scientologists now
interact with one another online, and have essentially formed their
own digital communities in which they discuss Scientology (mostly the
Church of Scientology) and air their objections. These online groups
include a significant member of former Scientologists, and their
journey out of the Church and into anti-Scientologist networks blurs
the insider/outsider binary that is often applied to Scientology and
its critics.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
You have also published on religion and comics, namely Hergé’s
series </b><i><b>The Adventures of Tintin</b></i><b>. Could you tell
us more about this and what you see as the significance for analysing
how religion has been portrayed in the comic book medium? </b></span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
I am heavily interested in the study of religion and popular
culture—particularly the ways in which it tells us about how people
engage with religion on a day-to-day basis. Comic books are a useful
way of doing this—telling us about the stories people enjoy
reading, the ideas that resonate with them, and how religion is
understood in these narratives. <i>The Adventures of Tintin</i> is
notable for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is a very European
series. Hergé, a Belgian artist, drew from contemporary European
events and figures while constructing his Tintin stories. Secondly,
Hergé was a devout Catholic for the majority of his life, which fed
its way into his stories. Notably, however, Hergé did experience
disillusion with the Catholic Church, and became interested in
Eastern religious practices, notably Tibetan Buddhism. He presented
the ways he navigated between both Catholicism and Buddhism within
his comics—offering a critique of European Catholicism, whilst also
allowing us to gain an insight to his own life. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
You are one of the founders of the alt-ac.uk website, through which
you have sought to promote “alternative academia”. Could you tell
us more about this project and what it seeks to achieve?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
We’re very proud of Alt-Ac. It is an organization that aims to
promote academia outside the ivory towers it often finds itself
restricted to. We believe that good scholarship should not only be
celebrated, but communicated with wider publics. We organise
workshops and conferences, whilst also providing an open access
journal. We are always keen to find new ways of approaching academia
and encourage anyone with any ideas to get involved.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[EDW]</b><b>
Do you have any other projects on the horizon that we should be
looking out for?</b></span></span></p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>[AT]</b>
I’m currently editing a volume on twenty-first century cultic
discourses, <i>‘Cult’ Rhetoric in the 21st Century:
Deconstructing the Study of New Religious Movements</i>, with Edward
Graham-Hyde from the University of Central Lancashire. It should be
published by Bloomsbury next year. The volume collates contributions
from a variety of figures in the study of new religions to not only
consider paths forward for the discipline, but to consider how
normative cultic language is deployed and understood in the
twenty-first century. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.4cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’m
also the co-host of the Religion and Popular Culture Podcast, which
unpacks the ways in which religion and popular culture are deeply
tied to one another. It can be found here:
https://www.incidentalmythology.com/religion-and-popular-culture-podcast</span>
</span>
</p><br /><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-22768430861505420972022-01-27T19:31:00.000+00:002022-01-27T19:31:07.590+00:00An Interview with Professor Sarah M. Pike<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Today I have the pleasure
of presenting an interview with the religious studies scholar <b>Sarah M. Pike</b>,
currently Professor of Comparative Religion at California State University –
Chico. Professor Pike’s first monograph, <i>Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves:
Contemporary Pagans and the Search for Community</i> (2001), remains one of the
most important studies on modern Paganism in the United States, a topic Pike
followed up on in her textbook, <i>New Age and Neopagan Religions in America</i>
(2004). Since then, she has also pursued important ethnographic research among
radical environmentalist and animal rights activists in the U.S., research that
culminated in her book <i>For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical
Eco-Activism</i> (2017). Other publications have explored spirituality and ritual
at the Burning Man festival and the ancestral skills movement. Professor Pike’s
most recent book is an edited volume put together with Jone Salomonsen and Paul-François
Tremlett, <i>Ritual and Democracy: Protests, Publics and Performances</i> (2020).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5TBCAsZd7REFNKw1VgfPOfCkeaXP7uaLvVQAyl7wcT1sHJ1SqgPpH2b-MNII8C-dFhDNlBSxbj9f8Gb4oMYpSjGAMP9d2VLuR6Z5J38ZcCTars0vC7Ny5bYlHjUSzboAfOdJcMojgMbPk2JChoSE-2odY0skFTyw_2dGo7VYC4-aeeDjsZ2JypUw=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1280" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5TBCAsZd7REFNKw1VgfPOfCkeaXP7uaLvVQAyl7wcT1sHJ1SqgPpH2b-MNII8C-dFhDNlBSxbj9f8Gb4oMYpSjGAMP9d2VLuR6Z5J38ZcCTars0vC7Ny5bYlHjUSzboAfOdJcMojgMbPk2JChoSE-2odY0skFTyw_2dGo7VYC4-aeeDjsZ2JypUw=w400-h250" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You’ve built a
career around studying religion in the United States; where did this interest
come from? Much of your research has focused on culturally alternative and
non-mainstream communities, namely modern Paganism and radical environmentalism
– were these things that you were interested in prior to moving towards
academia?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> My
childhood religious background was in a liberal Episcopal church my parents
attended, though I became an atheist as an adolescent. Still, I remained
curious, both intellectually and personally, about other people’s religious
worlds. Perhaps at first this was because they possessed something I did not
and I wanted to find out why. Over time, this curiosity tended to be piqued by
religious or spiritual individuals and communities who chose unorthodox beliefs
and practices. Growing up, my parents encouraged a pluralistic view of the
world and the need to understand others unlike myself (my father founded an
alternative urban high school and my mother was a psychiatrist). They nurtured
my suspicion of and critical approach to dualistic views of the world. In part
for this reason, I gravitated towards communities that were demonized by the
media or popular opinion, but that held values I found attractive, such as
environmental commitments. Because these communities were often misunderstood,
I was driven by a desire to make their beliefs and practices understandable to
a larger public.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] As part of your PhD
project, conducted at Indiana University, Bloomington during the 1990s, you
focused on the modern Pagan festival circuit in the United States. Could you
explain a bit about what modern Pagan festivals are like and how you set about
exploring a topic that, at that time, was essentially unexplored territory for
scholarly investigation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> For
a graduate class with the anthropologist Michael Jackson (now teaching at
Harvard), I needed to find a research paper topic. Around the same time, I
happened to walk by a small occult bookstore, The Eye of Osiris, in downtown
Bloomington. The “Eye” was owned by two of the Pagans who started a nature
sanctuary called Lothlorien in a wooded rural area outside of Bloomington. The
community that ran the sanctuary, the Elf Lore Family, held several festivals
at Lothlorien during the year and I started attending them. What a find for a
young religious studies scholar! Diverse religious traditions converged at
these festivals in rural southern Indiana—Wicca, ceremonial magic, Druidism,
Radical Faeries, Voudon, and others—and the material culture of costumes,
altars, jewelry, and ritual objects of all kinds was fascinating, as were the
many rituals that took place at these events. I soon discovered that
Lothlorien’s festivals belonged to a busy calendar of Pagan gatherings across
the United States, each with its own character, but all offering a space for
people who felt isolated from like-minded practitioners. Many of these
festivals I visited in the 1990s continue today (at least they did before
Covid-19). A number of them are planned around Solstices and Equinoxes and
welcome anyone who wants to attend, regardless of their beliefs (or unbelief
for that matter). They feature rituals, music, workshops on various traditions
and magical techniques, body work, storytelling, dancing around bonfires, and vendors
selling books, clothing, and ritual tools.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] The monograph
derived from your PhD research, <i>Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves: Contemporary
Pagans and the Search for Community</i>, was brought out by the University of
California Press in 2001. It was part of a selection of pioneering studies of
modern Paganism that emerged between 1999 and 2005, alongside works by the
likes of Ronald Hutton, Helen Berger, Susan Greenwood, Sabina Magliocco, and
Kathryn Rountree. Was there much communication and interaction between these
scholars during the late 1990s and early 2000s, or did you feel that you were
all conducting your research very much independently of one another?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> When
my research began in the early 1990s, it was early years for the Internet, so
easily accessed social media connections that we take for granted today were
not available. The first scholar I met studying Paganism was Sabina Magliocco,
whom I met at a Pagan festival when I was just starting my field work. For a
few years, she was the only other person I knew who was studying Paganism, but
not long after that I met Pagan theologian Michael York at the American Academy
of Religion (AAR) through the New Religious Movements (NRM) Group. In the 1990s
and early 2000s, the NRM Group played an important role in supporting scholars
of Paganism, before Contemporary Pagan Studies became its own program unit at
the AAR. The NRM group’s annual AAR sessions and evening reception were
important spaces for networking, and probably where I also met Helen Berger and
Graham Harvey for the first time. So, I knew about these scholars’ work when it
was published, but there wasn’t much networking, for me anyway, outside of that
AAR context.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSQXhSSuknoN-2dw9zRJI56O-WAGnu42V6n9O5BGvWhCRNqrJCfBOru0GYWjEOe1sZP9bnCwokW0pYj6-FLyVruY5UO1rHJVNUOQGGh8OuJu4O266tDNq4Ahu8peRa5ObRrbQTcdUxmxobMYFMh0L869ZcrAciHJFS0FztTPG35pVX9XO1Y2rfwuU=s648" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSQXhSSuknoN-2dw9zRJI56O-WAGnu42V6n9O5BGvWhCRNqrJCfBOru0GYWjEOe1sZP9bnCwokW0pYj6-FLyVruY5UO1rHJVNUOQGGh8OuJu4O266tDNq4Ahu8peRa5ObRrbQTcdUxmxobMYFMh0L869ZcrAciHJFS0FztTPG35pVX9XO1Y2rfwuU=s320" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] In 2004, Columbia
University Press brought out your book, <i>New Age and Neopagan Religions in
America</i>, a useful introduction which was probably the first textbook-style
monograph to cover both phenomena. Was this book your own idea or something
that the publishers requested you put together?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Columbia
wanted a book on New Age religion in America as part of a series on religion in
the US and I was the one who pushed to include contemporary Paganism. I tried
to use the opportunity to explore common roots of New Age and Paganism, as well
as their significant differences, in a slim volume designed for general
readers. That was a challenge. Deep ethnographic work is where I feel most
comfortable and when that book was finished, I swore I’d never write another
textbook again!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQ9G2llxbnMk4jboaK2VlCnEmN8XLstuh6-ZKHNV3b7e508KQNs1H8EBN-LkfbteDVSzP3Gr4IyeP6GZZjNyHZJ5AjGxZGVOm2afWL5_Y_9bmSqViDoqOizNYcF6nRt6J9IJwHUu1LXonvQwJC3uApSdTazz4dz9QCd8kgxNK7i1BN_EJ7lcsBdbI=s400" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQ9G2llxbnMk4jboaK2VlCnEmN8XLstuh6-ZKHNV3b7e508KQNs1H8EBN-LkfbteDVSzP3Gr4IyeP6GZZjNyHZJ5AjGxZGVOm2afWL5_Y_9bmSqViDoqOizNYcF6nRt6J9IJwHUu1LXonvQwJC3uApSdTazz4dz9QCd8kgxNK7i1BN_EJ7lcsBdbI=s320" width="214" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You’ve published
several articles and book chapters on the Burning Man festival that takes place
in the Nevada desert, with a focus on topics like ritual and sacred space.
There are obvious commonalities here with your work on modern Pagan festivals;
was it a straightforward transition from researching one to the other? What do
you feel a perspective rooted in the study of religion brings to the study of
an event like Burning Man, which is not officially framed as ‘religious’?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
credit for my discovery of Burning Man belongs to a student in a seminar I
taught at the beginning of my career at Chico in 1997. This student came up to
me after the first class when I had introduced my research interests and asked
if I’d ever heard of “the biggest Pagan festival ever,” which he said was
Burning Man. It’s not a Pagan festival of the type I wrote about in <i>Earthly
Bodies, Magical Selves</i>, but it does raise many similar issues. At the time,
Burning Man was often trivialized by the media and demonized by conservative
Christians. It probably still is, to some extent. But I saw it an important
cultural phenomenon, especially in its role as a site for expressions of being
spiritual but not religious. It went on to grow and spread into multiple events
around the world as well as influencing a large network of other similar
events, usually referred to as “transformational festivals.” Burning Man
showcased so many fascinating religious themes and was a venue for cultural
experimentation and ritual improvisation that deserved to be taken seriously.
People made pilgrimages to Burning Man’s site in the desert and described their
experiences as “spiritual” and “transformative” in this space apart from and in
opposition to ordinary life, all themes that came up in my research at Pagan
festivals. The event included specific religious rituals held by religious
communities, such as Zen meditation, as well as ironic takes on religion in
many of the art works on display. Burning Man also offered large-scale
collective ritual events and sacred spaces, such as a temple for memorializing
dead loved ones constructed every year in the center of the festival. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The Temple has been the
main focus of my research since 2001. Throughout the week of the festival, tens
of thousands of “Burners” make offerings at the Temple. They write letters to
the dead, create altars out of photos and mementos, read strangers’ messages,
look at strangers’ photos of their beloved dead, meditate, weep, and pray. It’s
a beautiful space that is burned to ashes in a sombre ritual involving
thousands of Burners on the last night of Burning Man before everyone returns
home. The Temple is certainly not a “religious” site in the traditional sense,
as it is not connected to an institution or ancient tradition. However, it
serves many of the functions of sacred spaces and collective rituals in other
religious contexts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Your most recent
book, <i>For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical Eco-Activism</i>, was
published by the University of California Press in 2017. As you describe it in
the book’s introduction, <i>For the Wild</i> is “a study of radical
environmental and animal rights activism in late twentieth- and early
twenty-first-century America.” At various points in the book you also highlight
the presence of new religions like contemporary Paganism and ISKCON in that
milieu. What set you on the path to conduct this project and how did you
overcome any initial suspicion among activists?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> In
the first decade of the twenty-first century, I began reading about activists
who were being charged as “eco-terrorists” and were receiving severe prison
sentences for actions that harmed no living beings. I wanted to find out what
was behind the terrorism label and what motivated these young people to risk
their freedom for trees and nonhuman animals. I wrote letters to prisoners since
they had already been charged and sentenced and had less to lose by telling
their stories. And fortunately for me, they wrote back. They were articulate,
thoughtful, and their stories were compelling, belying their characterization
in news headlines as crazy and dangerous. Some of them had political agendas
(anti-capitalism), but most of them had spiritual motivations that included a
deep love for the nonhuman world, a profound sense of compassion for the
suffering of other beings, and a deep anger for the destructiveness of our
culture. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">To find out more about
what was happening in activist communities, I attended their gatherings, which
were open to anyone. At that time, between 2009–2016, there was a lot of
paranoia, based on actual cases of FBI informants and undercover agents in
their midst. My approach, which I also took in my earlier research with Pagans,
who had their own fears around anonymity, was to hang out informally,
participate in protests, and let these activists get to know me. Some activist
event organizers asked me not to write about anything but my own experience,
and I honored that. Others were grateful, once they had some trust in me, to
have more accurate accounts of their intentions and commitments circulating in
public.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJyi0wl0oIv5Tc2QMeL4r9voy16zYXvPIN5jlgJNi4avGvJSk45U6mzEGtjSkIYWnyhDpi5ynQkRBlBUS0ZyAcohuVY-tf4V7MidXH3qKYF2MsMBA2Xdx0_-Eszw3AnjakcWcX1wbRgW_w2CoEii9JsPEWj5bGOkO6uagWI1FW5MUC2jhocSWtFdo=s1000" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJyi0wl0oIv5Tc2QMeL4r9voy16zYXvPIN5jlgJNi4avGvJSk45U6mzEGtjSkIYWnyhDpi5ynQkRBlBUS0ZyAcohuVY-tf4V7MidXH3qKYF2MsMBA2Xdx0_-Eszw3AnjakcWcX1wbRgW_w2CoEii9JsPEWj5bGOkO6uagWI1FW5MUC2jhocSWtFdo=s320" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] The past decade or
so has seen a blossoming of research on the intersections between religion and
environmentalism, a development that probably owes much to the efforts of Bron
Taylor. What do you see as the prospects for this broader field of research, as
well as its value in a period of escalating environmental devastation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Bron
Taylor deserves a huge amount of credit for founding the International Society
of Religion, Nature, and Culture (ISSRNC) and getting religion into larger
environmental studies conversations. But he is one of many other important
figures in an early generation of scholars training graduate students,
organizing conferences, and writing books and articles that shaped this field.
Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, Rebecca Gould, Laurel Kearns, David Haberman,
Adrian Ivakhiv, these are just a few names of religious studies scholars, along
with Bron, who deserve a lot of credit for bring ecological issues into
religious studies venues and for promoting the importance of studying religion
to understand and address environmental issues. The field of religion and
ecology could not be more important at our current historical moment and the
growth of this field, especially among younger scholars, is exciting. The
ISSRNC that Bron founded, with its conferences and journal, continues to be an
essential organization promoting scholarship on religion and ecology and
supporting younger scholars. It is currently under the leadership of religious
studies scholars Evan Berry and Lisa Sideris, whose research is especially
relevant to compelling contemporary issues such as oil extraction and climate
change. Scholars of religion and ecology have stepped up to focus on a number
of urgent topics, such as racism and white privilege in the environmental
movement, environmental justice, and religion and climate change, including
climate denial among religious people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] How has your work
been received, both within the communities that you have studied and among
scholars of religion and related topics?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> My
work on contemporary Paganism has been well-received, especially by readers who
knew little about Pagan religious worlds. Other scholars have told me they
appreciated gaining a better understanding of Pagan religious practices, since
my publications tend to focus more on ritual than belief, which is well-covered
by other writers. Colleagues tell me they gain a sense of the lived religion of
Pagans through my work. To my great relief, Pagans have also had positive
reactions to my books, for the most part, even though I discuss issues of
tension and conflict that do not idealize their communities. Most of these
issues are ones Pagans themselves debate, so nothing I have written was
surprising to them. I was especially happy to be told by one Pagan festival
organizer some years back that she made her staff read my book! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">As for activists, their
reception has been generally positive, although a few have expressed discomfort
at being examined under an academic lens. Some asked me to not include quotes
from interviews I did years before I was ready to publish <i>For the Wild</i>
because their thinking had changed, and I had to delete some quotes that I
really wanted to include. Most important is that in the case of both Pagans and
radical activists, they recognized themselves in my writing, even if they might
not agree with every aspect of my interpretations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Are there
particular areas in the study of modern Paganism, or the study of animal rights
and environmentalist activist communities, that you think are crying out for
more in-depth research?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SWP]</span> <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">• Research on Paganism beyond North America, Europe, and
Australia is still scarce. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">• No one has yet written an extensive study of Radical
Faeries or the Church of All Worlds, both fascinating communities that emerged
in the 1960s and 1970s. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">• Another pressing topic, though quite challenging on the
ground, is Paganism in US prison populations. The AAR has held a number of
workshops for directors of prison chaplains that I and other scholars, usually
those of us specializing in non-Christian religions, have participated in. These
chaplains’ questions and the issues they deal with are interesting and
problematic given the constraints of our penal system. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">• Pagans in the military is another topic that deserves
sustained scholarly attention. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">• As for activism, climate activism is getting some
scholarly attention, but deserves more. Many religious communities are active
in climate protests, especially on the boundary of protest-ritual, such as
creating funerals for extinct species, and many non-religious protesters have
spiritual/religious motivations. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">• On the animal rights front, <i>For the Wild</i> could have
been twice as long if I’d expanded my coverage of animal rights activists. How
did the ethical commitments of this movement kickstart the trend towards
veganism and how are ethics and morals involved in contemporary vegan practices
and beliefs? How do animal rights activists live their beliefs in contexts such
as animal sanctuaries?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] What projects are
you presently working on? Do you have any forthcoming publications that we should
be keeping an eye out for?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[SMP]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> In
terms of forthcoming work, I have an article on virtual Burning Man during
Covid-19 coming out soon in a special issue of <i>Religion</i> on “Religion and
the Covid-19 Pandemic.” I’m also in the process of working on a special issue
on transformational festivals for the <i>Journal of Festive Studies</i>,
co-edited with anthropologist Graham St John, which is scheduled to be
published in January 2023. The other topic I have published on recently is the
ancestral skills movement, which has received no attention from scholars. A
growing number of gatherings across North America focus on reviving and
teaching about pre-industrial skills such as fire-making, basket-weaving,
foraging for food, and other survival type skills that are identified as
ancient. The focus of my research is on ritualized activities in ancestral
skills communities and how they express and constitute particular kinds of
relationships between humans and plants or nonhuman animals. My recent articles
on this topic are “Prayerful Living with Animals in the Ancestral Skills
Movement” (in <i>Bloomsbury Religion in North America</i>, 2021) and “Rewilding
Hearts and Habits in the Ancestral Skills Movement” (in a special issue on
“Ethnographies of Worldviews/ Ways of Life” in <i>Religions</i>, 2018).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I’m currently working on
two research projects that are in the areas of ritual studies and
religion/spirituality and ecology. One is on Pagan nature sanctuaries,
revisiting some of the themes I wrote about in <i>Earthly Bodies, Magical
Selves</i>, but focusing more on interactions with specific landscapes and
their nonhuman inhabitants. The other project that is currently taking most of
my time and attention is about ritualized responses to recent catastrophic
wildfires in California, including everything from Indigenous-led restoration work
to memorial events. When I’m not teaching, you might find me planting seeds in
the 2018 Camp Fire burn scar, coppicing willow, or doing biomimicry, such as
creating “beaver” dams. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[EDW] Professor Pike,
thank you for taking the time to provide us with this additional interest in
your work. I wish you well with your future projects.</span></b>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-42165073800135547202021-12-26T15:33:00.003+00:002021-12-26T21:52:14.281+00:00From Linear Earthworks to The X-Files: My 2020 and 2021 Roundup<p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Having last provided a <a href="https://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2020/04/from-david-bowie-to-ukip-my-2019-roundup.html">round-up
of my publications and projects back in 2019</a>, it is perhaps time for an
update covering the last two years, a period in which the COVID pandemic has of
course overshadowed everything. Readers of this blog will probably be most
aware that this year I relaunched the scholarly interview series that I
originally ran between 2012 and 2015. In its original form, I selected scholars
from any background whose work interested me – folklorists, archaeologists, and
philologists among them – although in its current iteration I am focusing more
narrowly on those whose work explores new and culturally alternative religious
movements. It is for this reason that I have renamed the blog from “Albion Calling”
to the more fitting “On New and Alternative Religions.” The relaunch has been
initiated at the encouragement of Professor David Bromley of the Virginia Commonwealth
University and operates in conjunction with his <a href="https://wrldrels.org/">World
Religions and Spirituality Project</a> (WRSP), a really useful encyclopaedic
resource for those interested in learning more about different religious traditions,
especially those lying outside the cultural mainstream. Each interview appears
both here and over at the WRSP website, and I am now lead director of
interviews for the WRSP.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRDcqfFwHPG8ZXXC448m_N0Q1JjWGAR-0CNWRDTLNYXkJPDNRuBmUZAxCN4x4GP-OoJZ7EVenau5rAzG6tt_SYwgBD_VZ-h3wk-YlqbmuUCmQSrjeOzCn3Vm3S6SHYzXylpDnMWl5xYxaB7EH9fG-JoXdF9yxQig7GZNxGydLaI3MhNQcA19RW-Yg=s2846" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2846" data-original-width="1890" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRDcqfFwHPG8ZXXC448m_N0Q1JjWGAR-0CNWRDTLNYXkJPDNRuBmUZAxCN4x4GP-OoJZ7EVenau5rAzG6tt_SYwgBD_VZ-h3wk-YlqbmuUCmQSrjeOzCn3Vm3S6SHYzXylpDnMWl5xYxaB7EH9fG-JoXdF9yxQig7GZNxGydLaI3MhNQcA19RW-Yg=s320" width="213" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I’ve written a couple of
encyclopaedia entries for the WRSP in the past, and a third also appeared earlier
in 2021, devoted to <a href="https://wrldrels.org/2021/03/16/janet-farrar/">the
prominent English Wiccan Janet Farrar</a>. Unlike most academic publications, it’s
freely available to read. Those interested in Wicca may also wish to check out
a newly published chapter of mine – “<a href="https://brill.com/view/book/9789004466005/BP000010.xml">Drawing Down the
Moon: From Classical Greece to Modern Wicca?</a>”. Exploring the history of one
of the central components of the Wiccan ritual liturgy, it appears in the new
Brill volume <i>Fictional Practice: Magic,
Narration, and the Power of Imagination</i>, edited by Berndt-Christian Otto
and Dirk Johannsen. I know Brill books are rather expensive, but
hopefully those interested will be able access the book through their local or university library service – there are a lot of really fascinating chapters in the edited
volume.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A</span> chapter of mine titled “Wicca as Witchcraft” also appears in Darren Oldridge’s third edition of <i><a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Witchcraft-Reader/Oldridge/p/book/9781138565425" target="_blank">The Witchcraft Reader</a></i>, published by Routledge last year. My contribution to this reader is a revised version of a chapter from my 2016 book, <i><a href="http://www.sussex-academic.com/sa/titles/history/White.htm" target="_blank">Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft</a></i>, and it</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">’s quite an honour to see my writings alongside those by the likes of Norman Cohn, Gustav Henningsen, Jacqueline Simpson, and Stuart Clark. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My interest in witchcraft is also reflected in an article that I have
out in the latest edition of the </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alternative Spirituality and Religion
Review</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> journal – “</span><a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/scholarpdf/show?id=asrr_2021_0999_12_16_78&pdfname=asrr_2021_0999_12_16_78.pdf&file_type=pdf" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“She
Comes from a Cursed Lineage:” Portrayals of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Satanism in <i>The
X-Files</i></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.” As I hope this article shows, there’s still much research to
be done when it comes to depictions of witchcraft in popular culture, especially
with regard to the interplay between traditional concepts of witchery and those
new religions whose practitioners claim the identity of the witch for themselves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Over the past few years I’ve
been increasingly active in the study of medievalism, the ways in which post-medieval
societies have interpreted and utilised the Middle Ages. To that end, I have an
article in the thirtieth edition of the <i>Studies in Medievalism</i> series, “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/studies-in-medievalism-xxx/in-wodens-shadow-anglosaxonism-paganism-and-politics-in-modern-england/684641DB8FD9FD8DC30687F36858A43C">In
Woden’s Shadow: Anglo-Saxonism, Paganism, and Politics in Modern England</a>.”
Based on a paper I gave at the 2019 ‘Remembering the Middle Ages? Reception,
Identity, Politics’ conference in London, the article looks at how certain
modern Pagan groups based in England have drawn their sense of identity from
the early medieval, or “Anglo-Saxon,” period of English history – the same
period I looked at in my PhD research. My interest in both medievalism and
early medieval archaeology is also evident in an article of mine that appeared
in <i>Offa’s Dyke Journal</i> last year, “<a href="http://revistas.jasarqueologia.es/index.php/odjournal/article/view/272">Saxon
Kent versus Roman London? Presenting Borderland Heritage at the Faesten Dic in
Joyden’s Wood, Kent</a>.” Here I look at the Faesten Dic (pictured below), a linear earthwork
lying just outside Greater London, discussing both the archaeological evidence
with which we can try to fathom its age and purpose as well as the ways in
which the highly dubious narrative about it representing a fifth-century Saxon-Roman border are presented to
visitors of the site. The latter article is open-access, meaning that it’s free
to read.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirIaUo6BaDE-y3eilQLAgFMSQLKgssbkISzjXr3EcqTDkLj99cy9QLzbR-ooXPZoXu6Hw2z84MavG71ru17yJWP_OPyFNA2Tgm-6eMjhfcPTqS_TW9RvHcXeDuYz7cinvvEyWrLnGeyAPJzxq2YIF47zuT_6SY7LruoJG0S3JLR0P8LO5Sy9R7BT0=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirIaUo6BaDE-y3eilQLAgFMSQLKgssbkISzjXr3EcqTDkLj99cy9QLzbR-ooXPZoXu6Hw2z84MavG71ru17yJWP_OPyFNA2Tgm-6eMjhfcPTqS_TW9RvHcXeDuYz7cinvvEyWrLnGeyAPJzxq2YIF47zuT_6SY7LruoJG0S3JLR0P8LO5Sy9R7BT0=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I’ve also kept up my work
as a book reviewer, doing so for the American Academy of Religion’s <i>Reading
Religion</i> website (on whose editorial board I still sit), <i>Nova Religio:
The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions</i>, and <i>Time and Mind: The
Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture</i>. Topics covered in these
reviews include <a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/pre-christian-religions-north">the
reception of Old Norse religion</a>, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/766243">depictions of witchcraft in US film
and television</a>, and <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/772861">femininities
in the esoteric religion of Thelema</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-46130040983404292762021-12-23T21:02:00.002+00:002021-12-28T22:00:35.513+00:00An Interview with Professor Bron Taylor<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Today, I have the
pleasure of presenting an interview with <b>Bron R. Taylor</b>, Professor of Religion
and Environmental Ethics at the University of Florida and a Fellow of the Rachel
Carson Center for Environment and Society at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
in Munich. Perhaps the world’s best-known scholar working on the intersections
between religion and environmentalism, Taylor is responsible for formulating the
concept of ‘dark green religion,’ outlined in his book <i>Dark Green Religion:
Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future</i> (2010). He is also the author
of <i>Affirmative Action at Work: Law, Politics and Ethics</i> (1992) and has
edited or co-edited <i>Ecological Resistance Movements: The Global Emergence of
Radical and Popular Environmentalism</i> (1995), <i>Civil Society in an Age of
Monitory Democracy</i> (2013), <i>Avatar and Nature Spirituality</i> (2013),
and the multi-volume <i>Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature</i> (2005). He is a
founding member of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature
and Culture (ISSRNC) and its <i>Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and
Culture</i>, of which he is editor. More information about Professor Taylor</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">s projects, lectures, and publications can be found at his personal website, <a href="http://brontaylor.com/">http://brontaylor.com/</a>. We discuss how he got involved in academia,
the potential for ‘greening’ the world’s largest religions, and the spirituality
of surfing.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw1D9rZJdglAwV4yFqyCw_xXvirl9HUT76PtcduoXg9tKwPkVUtt4bN-TAYd56YuEdlgAD5NhfjUWkFv4_CkUe7ynP60-wAyWf0oVrmz5ReveaCCW7zizPaqlTxnviuj95vLFL5KmuIzAFAMQQpRqtremqCz-KS5TIb2Fjp647D-siGNhA1xp1Bqs=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1148" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw1D9rZJdglAwV4yFqyCw_xXvirl9HUT76PtcduoXg9tKwPkVUtt4bN-TAYd56YuEdlgAD5NhfjUWkFv4_CkUe7ynP60-wAyWf0oVrmz5ReveaCCW7zizPaqlTxnviuj95vLFL5KmuIzAFAMQQpRqtremqCz-KS5TIb2Fjp647D-siGNhA1xp1Bqs=s320" width="287" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Growing up in
southern California, you worked as a lifeguard for almost fifteen years before
securing a PhD in Social and Religious Ethics from the University of Southern
California in 1988. What led you from the beach to an academic career?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> On
my 13th birthday I was fortunate to move to Ventura, California, a short walk
to the beach. I spent a lot of time there which led to a love of, and knowledge
of, the ocean and the kind of skills that enabled me to land a coveted ocean
lifeguard job. In California, ocean lifeguarding is a well-paying blue-collar
job, which enabled me to go to college and eventually to graduate school. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">During high school, I
became involved in evangelical Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a religious studies class at college, however, I was introduced to a
completely different variant of Christianity known as liberation theology; it
blends leftist social analysis with what these theologians consider to be the
economically radical message of Jesus as a basis for resisting authoritarian
and plutocratic regimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was surprised
to learn about this sort of Christianity and for my own reasons, identifying with
those who are marginalized and struggle for justice, I was attracted to it.
Liberation theology helped to kindle my long-term activist interests and
eventually, my scholarly curiosities, especially about how social movements,
including religion-related ones, might promote positive social change. Not long
ago I was asked by the editors of <i>The Ecological Citizen</i> to write an
autobiographical essay about my pilgrimage. Given the sometimes embarrassing
details this involved, I only reluctantly agreed; it was published as “</span><a href="https://ecologicalcitizen.net/article.php?t=ecocentric-journey"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">An
Ecocentric Journey</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Your first book was
<i>Affirmative Action at Work: Law, Politics, and Ethics</i>, brought out by
the University of Pittsburgh Press in 1991. This is quite a different topic of research
than that which you are well-known for – how did it come about?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> As
a blue-collar guy, I never really expected the academic thing to work out,
although as I left college, I did have the idea that I would love to teach and
open the world to others in a way similar to how my professors had done for me.
Nevertheless, I loved lifeguarding, a job that, despite the tragedies one
experiences, has many satisfactions, so I assumed it would be my lifelong
career. I turned permanent, which with State Parks involves becoming a peace
officer. This, I also valued, since it involves protecting park visitors and
the park itself. But I was also open to adding to these responsibilities as one
who was studying ethics and interested in analysing issues related to state
power and violence not from the ivory tower but from in the midst of real-world
contexts. Southern California beaches are places where all the problems from
that highly populated urban society appear. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As it happened, the State
Personnel board had officially sanctioned State Parks for having discriminated
against women and people of color and consequently, our Department had
established an Equal Employment Opportunity Committee to work toward
establishing a workforce that represented the diversity of California’s
population. Because I had become known as an academically inclined park animal
who was doing graduate work in ethics, I was invited to serve on the committee.
My efforts on the committee, which involved among other things developing
curricula to and teaching the department’s anti-discrimination and affirmative
action policies and practices, and the rationales for them, to rangers,
lifeguards, and other parks personnel, cohered with my sense of justice. These
experiences also underscored my understanding of the extent and ways in which
these policies were controversial. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Given my desire to
grapple with ethical issues in specific conflictual contexts, I pitched to
departmental leadership the possibility of doing a study that, I hoped, would
illuminate the various ways our employees thought about these policies, with
the idea that such a study might even help us to make them more effective and
better accepted. Both the department director and the chief affirmative action
officer were supportive: they let me interview over 50 employees “on the
clock,” and send a unique survey instrument that I designed to test hypotheses
developed from the literature about such policies and my interviews to over
1000 randomly selected employees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost
no one was doing mixed methods research at the time and it led to my testifying
to the US Congress in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1990, which was being
debated at the time. My findings undercut many of the most common arguments
against affirmative action policies that philosophical and political opponents
of such policies had advanced. Although I shifted my scholarly focus to
environmental issues, I have sought to integrate diverse disciplines and
methodologies into my research ever since.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJn7I-JO0OjAtyvH7gfAHOWxMnoc476fJhYpzX3uxUEc-R1rF5BL6F07DLMWF2vScS1LE6_4uOv55y-DDB5IWACOdwJIWSg2NsTZyJiBdAmCHI_J0q2X7OCUYMEz2VS9Xdk-O8OXlkoVwTYIIUf-HrsUS2cGVCmNLK_hywRiwqnL2AUdgzv8bGrik=s628" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="413" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJn7I-JO0OjAtyvH7gfAHOWxMnoc476fJhYpzX3uxUEc-R1rF5BL6F07DLMWF2vScS1LE6_4uOv55y-DDB5IWACOdwJIWSg2NsTZyJiBdAmCHI_J0q2X7OCUYMEz2VS9Xdk-O8OXlkoVwTYIIUf-HrsUS2cGVCmNLK_hywRiwqnL2AUdgzv8bGrik=s320" width="210" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] From your earliest
publications, your interest in environmentalist movements, both in the U.S. and
elsewhere, has been clear. Your articles on the subject first appeared in 1991
and an edited volume of yours, <i>Ecological Resistance Movements: The Global
Emergence of Radical and Popular Environmentalism</i>, was published in
1995.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I understand correctly, you
were one of the first scholars to write about radical environmentalist groups
such as Earth First! Where did this research interest come from, and how easy
was it to conduct fieldwork with activist groups who can be fairly cautious
about their interactions with outsiders due to fears regarding infiltration by
law enforcement?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> While
still in graduate school and working for the park service during the late
1980s, I began to notice efforts to sabotage environmentally destructive
activities by self-described radical environmental activists operating under
the moniker Earth First!. I was intrigued, in part, because I had long found
something missing in the writing and activism of the self-described liberation
theologians, namely, a concern about non-human organisms and environmental
ecosystems themselves. I arranged to get Earth First!’s tabloids and quickly
realized that there was something deeply religious (or at least religion-resembling)
animating these wildlands activists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought, after I wrapped up the affirmative action work, that I would go find
these folks and study them and their claims, in part, so I could begin to work
out my own environmental ethics, which was on my radar but undeveloped because
none of my professors were focused on such ethics and related social movements.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Soon after receiving my
Ph.D. I was fortunate to join the faculty at the University of Wisconsin,
Oshkosh. During my second semester there, in the Spring of 1990, the most
charismatic of Earth First! founders, Dave Foreman, was slated to give a public
lecture. Foreman had recently been arrested by the FBI for allegedly
orchestrating an attack on a nuclear power station, and was at the peak of his
infamy. Although I had nothing to do with the invitation, I knew more about the
movement than anyone at the university and managed to arrange to be his escort,
interview him, and introduce him before his rabble-rousing talk. Afterward, I
hosted him and a dozen of his rather feral associates at my home. On that
occasion, one of the regional leaders invited me to a gathering which took
place soon after in a National Forest in northern Wisconsin. There I was able
to introduce myself, my interest in learning about the movement and using it as
a muse for my own efforts to figure out my own environmental ethics and political
views. Fortunately for me, the leader who had come to hear Foreman speak and
who had invited me to the gathering, vouched for me, which helped to create the
conditions of trust that I was able to build on subsequently. This trust was
dramatically enhanced when in 1991 the first article I wrote about the
movement, “</span><a href="http://www.brontaylor.com/environmental_articles/pdf/Taylor--ReligionPoliticsEarthFirst.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
Religion and Politics of Earth First!</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">,” was published in a
British journal, <i>The Ecologist</i>, which was then the most widely
distributed environmental journal in the world. Activists in the United Kingdom
and the United States viewed the article as accurate, fair, and insightful
(despite a few quibbles), and it was widely distributed among them. It had the
effect of opening doors because I was then considered to be a fair-minded
analyst whose writings were, on balance, good for the movement, especially
since they were so used to being pilloried by their adversaries and much of the
media as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I am more than willing to
say that the movement has indeed been a valuable muse – it has posed a host of
critically important questions that I needed to consider as I sought to work
out my own environmental values and spirituality. The movement is exceptionally
diverse, despite some unifying beliefs and shared practices, so a discussion
about its strengths and weaknesses, contributions and mistakes, promise and
peril, cannot be put briefly.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrOP0NtJm6uVSZbzlvOfnwP62a6SbX2rEUK_UgT3a8TAZRFKrAwm0KENjLMyh8iKFwoWHJnQRw3z-ZOt1YQxExAyB_yyiwLrMafKGY6AVLueLp2Pw59odeJWqzKDYju6JOdi6VngtNFlkq35H7654YXAnBTbRNt18DjOcaGgZ0LThJPnJfpNMbseE=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="849" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrOP0NtJm6uVSZbzlvOfnwP62a6SbX2rEUK_UgT3a8TAZRFKrAwm0KENjLMyh8iKFwoWHJnQRw3z-ZOt1YQxExAyB_yyiwLrMafKGY6AVLueLp2Pw59odeJWqzKDYju6JOdi6VngtNFlkq35H7654YXAnBTbRNt18DjOcaGgZ0LThJPnJfpNMbseE=s320" width="212" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You are the editor
of the <i>Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature</i>, which appeared in 2005. How
did this project come about?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">
Knowing of my research interests, in the late 1990s Jeffrey Kaplan, a colleague
of mine in Oshkosh who had recently completed an encyclopaedia of his own,
suggested that the area of religion and the environment would be a great focus
for an encyclopaedia. I loved the idea and he offered to help so we pitched the
idea to several publishers, all of whom were interested. Most of them, however,
had a template for their encyclopaedias that did not fit our vision for it,
which included inviting practitioners of various religions, not just scholarly
analysts, to write for it. These contributions were labelled practitioner
entries and this was an innovation that some traditionalists likely thought was
inappropriate for an encyclopaedia. Janet Joyce, however, who was then with
Continuum International publishers, loved and supported the approach and offered
a generous contract. This enabled me to hire and create a website with what were
then innovative online tools to manage what became a monster project.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The process began with
brainstorming an initial list of about two hundred entries and dozens of possible
contributors, after which I recruited a diverse editorial board and hosted
several meetings at conferences, adding to the prospective entry and
contributor lists. I also orchestrated some religion and nature panels at the
2000 meeting of the International Association for the History of Religions in
Durban, South Africa, which was an enriching event that contributed to the
encyclopaedia eventually including 97 Africa-focused entries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The project was originally under contract for
350 entries but through a multi-year snowball method, it was published with
1000 entries and over 1.5 million words. It also won awards, which I attribute
in part to its historical, geographical, and interdisciplinary range, as well
as its innovative nature, which included ‘perspectives’ essays from scholars
that were more provocative and went beyond the standard encyclopaedia entry,
which are supposed to remain neutral with regard to the interpretive
disagreements scholars may have about the given subject matter.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc_VcAufDHzcBXmVY3bMwGzUB7riV3Jrp_HckLC14RcTPlJL_iSgfAHK6J5oFYXzJvshIIPLKNIreKBrgPmixn6cY5OI6RJZXcObt_Na-kmbQMjXRJMAhQ75_qOv3ymjPy1_inoTzeQPp4fp8Qmp1JtNxXyUgLNEG_rZk_17uBx_5gW47rqtnvvdA=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="983" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc_VcAufDHzcBXmVY3bMwGzUB7riV3Jrp_HckLC14RcTPlJL_iSgfAHK6J5oFYXzJvshIIPLKNIreKBrgPmixn6cY5OI6RJZXcObt_Na-kmbQMjXRJMAhQ75_qOv3ymjPy1_inoTzeQPp4fp8Qmp1JtNxXyUgLNEG_rZk_17uBx_5gW47rqtnvvdA=s320" width="246" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]</span> </b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In
2006, you founded the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature
and Culture, and were subsequently elected to serve as its president from 2006
to 2009. What was the impetus behind this and what do you see as the Society’s
impact within academia?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
idea goes back to the late 1990s and a conversation with Northwestern
University Professor Sarah McFarland Taylor (no relation apart from our
long-term friendship). We shared a frustration that at the huge annual
conferences of the American Academy of Religion it was difficult to find and
have extended conversations with those most interested in the religion and
nature nexus. A few years later, in 2002, I was hired as an endowed professor
at the University of Florida and charged with helping to launch a new Ph.D.
program with an emphasis on religion and nature. By then, the encyclopaedia
project was well under way and had grown far beyond my original expectations
for it, so I thought the time was ripe to create a democratically structured
scholarly organization, to build on the ferment unfolding in the
encyclopaedia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the modest funds
then available to me I orchestrated several meetings to refine the idea,
develop bylaws, and officially established the non-profit organization the year
after the encyclopaedia was published. The ISSRNC, as we abbreviate the
organization’s name, was launched with a major conference at the University of
Florida in 2006. Scores of individuals helped to bring the society into
existence. The </span><a href="https://www.issrnc.org/about/history/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">ISSRNC
history</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> is available at the society’s website as are more
details in the early </span><a href="https://www.issrnc.org/newsletter/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">ISSRNC
newsletters</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Since its inaugural
conference, the ISSRNC has held meetings, which are usually co-hosted with
universities, in Morelia, Mexico (2008); Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009);
Perth, Australia (2010); Vatican City, Rome, at the Vatican Museums (2011);
Malibu, California (2012); again at the University of Florida for its 10th
anniversary meeting (2016); New York City (2017); Cork, Ireland (2019); and a
virtual one in collaboration with Arizona State University in 2021. The society
website provides more details about the </span><a href="https://www.issrnc.org/conferences/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">ISSRNC conferences</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">,
which have played a significant role in increasing interdisciplinary scholarly
collaborations and research exploring the natural dimension of religion and
religion-resembling social phenomena.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Through the
Society, you launched the <i>Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and
Culture</i> (JSRNC) in 2007 and which you still guide as editor. Was the
journal your idea and what do you see it as having achieved?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
had the idea for the journal well before initiating the meetings that led to
the society. I felt that much of what was going on within what some called the
field of religion and ecology was insufficiently critical, too narrowly focused
on the world’s predominant religions, and too little informed by the
evolutionary and other natural sciences. I initially expressed this point of
view in a ‘scholarly perspectives’ essay adjacent to an encyclopaedia entry
titled “<a href="http://www.religionandnature.com/ern/sample/Taylor--ReligiousStudies+EnvironmentalConcern.pdf">Religious
Studies and Environmental Concern</a>.” A few years later I expanded on this perspective
in the <a href="http://www.religionandnature.com/journal/sample/Taylor--JSRNC(1-1).pdf">JSRNC
introduction</a>. In it, I called for a taboo-free, interdisciplinary enquiry
into the complex relationships between religious and religion-resembling social
phenomena and Earth’s socioecological systems. I think the journal has
fulfilled its promise of providing a valuable venue for such enquiry and, like
the society, has helped to build scholarly capacity for such research.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] In 2010, the
University of California Press brought out <i>Dark Green Religion: Nature
Spirituality and the Planetary Future</i>, perhaps your most important work.
Here you promote “dark green religion” as a concept through which to understand
“religion that considers nature to be sacred, imbued with intrinsic value, and
worthy of reverent care.” You then set forward four sub-types – Naturalistic
Animism, Spiritual Animism, Gaian Spirituality, and Gaian Naturalism – through
which you interpret a range of past and current thinkers and communities, from
Edmund Burke to the surfing subculture. What led you to write this book and
what do you see as the value of your concept of dark green religion to scholars
of religion more broadly?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> By
the late 1990s, having been studying environmental movements around the world,
as well as other actors seeking to understand and protect environmental
systems, I had observed patterns that were common among them. These included
religious, or at least religion-resembling beliefs, perceptions, values, and
practices. Indeed, these patterns existed despite great diversity among the
environmental milieu, which included those who believed in non-material
spiritual beings and forces as well as atheists and others who were entirely
naturalistic in their methods and views. Indeed, there were so many similarities
among these actors that it seemed to me that I was witnessing the emergence of
a new kind of global, nature-based worldview. The historian in me recognized
that most of what I was observing had continuities with earlier thinkers and
movements around the world, of course. But there were many innovations,
including the ways that perceptions were being shaped by evolutionary and
ecological understandings, and new means of expressing and promoting these
nature-reverencing spiritualities. Impressed with its increasingly global reach
and fledgling global influence it dawned on me that, with the right analytic
lenses, we might be able to identify the rise of a new, planetary, Earth
religion. The notion of nature religion, a trope introduced by American religion
historian Catherine Albanese, is an important form of religion that is too
little recognized, studied, and taught by scholars of religion. Moreover, the
forms of contemporary nature religion that prioritize the protection of
non-human organisms and environmental systems are especially important if
religion scholars are to keep up with the religious dimension of human
experience today, and think about not only the future of religion but of the
coevolution of religion and Earth’s living systems.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc_oZay42Xk_JbHbep4D8RMVozakzz-YRVTa1QDbGu543dN0Z2XiSk2iCtLbbifrQcfL9VXWf3x3_ZUdtkCMeuSzuZh3DVRkCsop7SY8FBpWFYgh1TMOat22Z3vdFXmaAntYXEi5I5vQb_GzulQ2ihLBWkyUzgxEfyqs575_GWotZRjdpkPxrSsds=s1000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="661" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc_oZay42Xk_JbHbep4D8RMVozakzz-YRVTa1QDbGu543dN0Z2XiSk2iCtLbbifrQcfL9VXWf3x3_ZUdtkCMeuSzuZh3DVRkCsop7SY8FBpWFYgh1TMOat22Z3vdFXmaAntYXEi5I5vQb_GzulQ2ihLBWkyUzgxEfyqs575_GWotZRjdpkPxrSsds=s320" width="212" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] As you acknowledge
in the book, your use of the term “religion” is a fairly broad one, one that
encompasses many atheists, agnostics, and those who do not believe in any form
of supernaturalism. Could you give us more of an understanding of how you
employ this term and what you see as the advantages of such a broad definition?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> There
is no scholarly consensus about what constitutes religion, and thus, no
consensus about where the boundary of religion ends and that which is not
religion begins. I am not interested in boundary setting or its enforcement.
Rather, along with others who take what is called the ‘family resemblances’
school of social analysis, I have found that it can be illuminating to examine
the diverse traits and characteristics typically associated with ‘religion’
when analysing social phenomena that have many of these dimensions and
dynamics. It is fine with me, by the way, if some other scholar wants to borrow
or make up a definition of religion, analyse phenomena based on that analytic
template, and conclude that some or all of the examples of dark green religion exemplify
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scholars should be at liberty to
deploy the definitions in ways that they find lead to insights.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">What I have been doing is
focusing attention on social phenomena taking place under the global
environmental milieu (which I define as the contexts in which diverse actors
working to advance environmental protection encounter, engage, and typically
influence one another). And when I do this, I think that when spotlighting
environmental social phenomena it has tremendous explanatory power to do so
with the analytic tools that have typically been deployed by those who study
religion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Those within this milieu,
for example, typically use religious terminology to express and promote their
most profound experiences, understandings, and concomitant values, and they
often promote and participate in ritualizing and ethical practices that are
religion-resembling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
aforementioned <a href="http://www.religionandnature.com/journal/sample/Taylor--JSRNC(1-1).pdf">JSRNC
introduction</a>, I provide a pithy primer to the “family resemblances” school
of religion analysis, which I have learned has been useful to many readers. <i>Dark
Green Religion</i>, of course, provides many examples – including in the lives
of scientists, environmental philosophers, activists, historians, artists,
musicians, filmmakers, nature writers, literary critics, museum and aquarium
curators – who in their own ways express and promote such spirituality. I think
this research illustrates why scholars with narrow definitions of religion
cannot illuminate the full range of nature-related spiritualities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You’ve expressed
hope that dark green religion will spread internationally and thus help move us
all towards more sustainable ways of living, but I’d be interested to hear more
on what you thought was the future of what you describe as “green religion”,
i.e. religions which posit “that environmentally friendly behavior is a
religious obligation” without actively regarding the natural world as sacred.
(Might we call it “light green religion”?). Christianity and Islam are both
huge and, on a global scale, are unlikely to contract substantially in the next
century – what are the prospects for a greener Christianity and Islam,
especially as many of the countries where these religions are strongest are
going to be hit really heavily by climate change?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
have spent a great deal of time examining these issues and, with Gretel Van
Wieren and Bernard Zaleha, two colleague-friends, produced the most
comprehensive review of extant social scientific research focused on the
environmental potential of the so-called world religions, including
Christianity and Islam, in “<a href="http://www.brontaylor.com/environmental_articles/pdf/Taylor--etal-GreeningofReligionHypothesisJSRNC10.3.pt2.pdf">The
Greening of Religion Hypothesis (Part Two): Assessing the Data from Lynn White,
Jr., to Pope Francis</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Unfortunately, the
evidence is not encouraging.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The problem with those
who think differently, who believe that the presence of ardent greens within
these traditions represents evidence that a significant greening of religion is
underway, is that they do not consider Émile Durkheim’s insight that religions
tend to reflect the societies in which they are situated. It is not surprising
that there are environmentally concerned individuals (and even groups) inside
Christianity, Islam, and indeed all of the world’s predominant religions,</span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">who
are trying to convince their fellow religionists about the gravity of the
situation and the need to respond. The real questions are whether a religion
(1) has ideas and practices endemic to it that tend to hinder, or conversely,
encourage, devotees’ understandings of and care for environmental systems and
the organisms who constitute them; and (2) are the devotees of a religion <i>more</i>
(or potentially more) proenvironmental than others who are otherwise similar
socially and demographically similar but who do not share that religion. With
regard to the first of these questions, the weight evidence is that the world’s
predominant religions tend to occlude understandings of and care for
environmental systems; and with regard to the second question, the weight of
available evidence indicates that, in fact, those in the world’s predominant
religions are less likely to be environmentally aware and concerned than the
societies are in general where they live.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The good news is that
religions can be brought along when a society is increasingly focused on
providing environmental education and explaining why protective action is
needed. But there is little reason, as yet anyway, to expect <i>effective</i>
environmental leadership to dramatically emerge from the world’s religions,
despite the sincere efforts of some individuals in these religions to
accomplish just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our review of
research, we explored the reasons for these unfortunate findings. The in-depth
versions of these studies can be download at my website. I wrote summaries of
this research in two short articles that have been published online by <i>The
Ecological Citizen</i> as “<a href="https://www.ecologicalcitizen.net/article.php?t=religion-environmental-behaviour-part-one-world-religions-fate-earth">Religion
and Environmental Behaviour (part one): World Religions and the Fate of the
Earth</a>,” and “<a href="https://www.ecologicalcitizen.net/article.php?t=religion-environmental-behaviour-part-two-dark-green-nature-spiritualities-fate-Earth">Religion
and Environmental Behaviour (part two): Dark Green Nature Spiritualities and
the Fate of the Earth</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] In 2013, the
Wilfrid Laurier University Press brought out your edited volume, <i>Avatar and
Nature Spirituality</i>, in which you assembled contributions looking at James
Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi blockbuster <i>Avatar</i>. You’ve discussed your interest
in the film both in the book and elsewhere, and how you see it as potentially
promoting dark green spirituality or related perspectives among a substantial
audience, but I wondered if you could provide a little more background on your
interest in the film. Did it stem from a broader interest in the relationship
between religion and cinema?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT] I saw <i>Avatar</i>
shortly after it was released in December 2009, the same month <i>Dark Green
Religion</i> was printed. I immediately recognized it as superb cinematic
example of the kind of cosmogonies, politics, and Gaian and animistic
spiritualities that are common in dark green religion. I thought, had it come
out a year earlier, I would have discussed the film in the book. More
importantly, I wondered whether, given its blockbuster nature, the film would
become the most effective propaganda for a dark green worldview and politics
yet produced. I issued a call for papers about the film, expressing special
interest in research analysing audience responses and its societal impacts.
Several of the contributions did provide fascinating examples of the ways
people have responded to the film, including resonating with the film’s
nature-drenched spirituality.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEje6wW3gXh4IvSJXLcDPwMD0byD7n7v-87nVwxjW0V8jPQhB_9CJww-MD423pdjmvxlLUBnFGMx8zTplnlc9lsy_Wju0e0FtZUEriEH_f84hkrgL7xmJmMw85YwMDf7wQX1eu6TwIbsQxanAgVxGGNdpfOP44H4-ROUZVOdthVad10uscPW6e4Y2fk=s499" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEje6wW3gXh4IvSJXLcDPwMD0byD7n7v-87nVwxjW0V8jPQhB_9CJww-MD423pdjmvxlLUBnFGMx8zTplnlc9lsy_Wju0e0FtZUEriEH_f84hkrgL7xmJmMw85YwMDf7wQX1eu6TwIbsQxanAgVxGGNdpfOP44H4-ROUZVOdthVad10uscPW6e4Y2fk=s320" width="214" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] At various points
you’ve talked about your interest in surfing and the spiritual or religious
experiences that members of the surfing subculture often have. Could you tell
us more about this?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> As
one who has been deeply immersed in surfing and lifeguarding subcultures, I
have long been aware of the religion-resembling aspects of the surfing, such as
the ritual-like dawn patrols; reports of experiences using religious terminology
to explain them; learning stories about Native Hawai’ian cultures and their
spiritualities and connections to marine ecosystems and their inhabitants. And
I could see that for some surfers, the complex of feelings, understandings,
values, and practices was another example of dark green spiritualities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, it has been quite natural to
include these sorts of surfers in my overall analysis of contemporary nature
religions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] What does the study
of religion bring to the table both in understanding humanity’s relationship
with the broader natural world, but also in seeking to find more
environmentally sustainable solutions for how we as a species live?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Extant
research is pretty clear that religion plays a significant role in hindering,
and sometimes enhancing, human understandings of environmental systems and
sustainable lifeways and livelihoods. Awareness of this research could, and I
think should, inform strategies to promote sustainable and equitable
socioecological systems, including communicative and political strategies for
reaching religious individuals who are, of course, important political actors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] How has your work
been received by environmentalist activists, whether radical or mainstream? At
the same time, how has it been received by scholars of religion (and those
working in adjacent fields)? Have you experienced much resistance to your
ideas?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I’ve
heard from many environmentalists (professional and not) that they consider
themselves to be a part of what I called ‘dark green religion,’ and I am
unaware of any of them disputing the fairness of my descriptions or my
analyses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I have heard, from a
few scientists and science-rooted activists who fit well with what I called
dark green religion, that they feel discomfort with religious terminology
because they think any association with religion, and especially with Paganism,
would erode their credibility. Of course, as any of the book’s readers would
know, I was arguing that environmental subcultures resemble religions in many
ways, and that there was evidence these could even become a kind of new global
religion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Religion and
environmental studies scholars aware of the book have found it provocative if
not also compelling. The only scholarly complaints I encountered, really, was
with my using the world ‘religion’ when discussing radical environmentalists,
when some of them might not consider themselves to be religious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that I so carefully discussed the term
and how I had used it, I surmise that these complaints, whether expressed by
environmentalist actors or scholars, came from those who had not got much past
the book’s title.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Criticisms aside, the
argument and evidence have held up very well, and frankly, the way it has sold
and been embraced in many countries, as evidenced by translations of excerpts
or even the entire book, suggest that indeed, as I argued, there are people all
around the world who feel and act in the ways I conveyed in the book.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] What topics would
you like to see tackled by future scholarship on the relationship between
religion and the natural world? Are there any areas of that topic that have
been seriously overlooked by prior scholarship?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
quest to understand religion and environmental behavior has expanded dramatically
in recent years but huge lacunae remain. There are scores of regions and
religious traditions that have received no attention whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to me, the most important question is,
what if any communicative strategies can mobilize people in general, including
religious individuals and groups, to respond effectively to the accelerating
erosion of Earth’s life support systems?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Answering this question would require an ambitious and well-funded group
of interdisciplinary researchers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] What projects are
you now working on that we should look out for in future?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[BRT]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
am working on an ethnographic and historical book about radical
environmentalism in North America, as well as developing special issues of the <i>JSRNC</i>
focused on the Green Man, and on Religion and Covid. I’m also working with
others on survey research exploring religion and environmental behavior.
Specifically, I have developed a survey instrument that examines how
environmental attitudes are entangled within not only nature-based religions
but also all of the world’s predominant religions. I hope to commence research
using these surveys in diverse regions around the world. And I’m working to
facilitate translations of <i>Dark Green Religion</i> into Russian, Mandarin,
Italian, and Turkish, to complement the translation that has already been
published as <i><a href="https://www.fink.de/search?f_0=author&q_0=Bron+Taylor">Dunkelgrüne
Religion</a></i> in German. I hope to eventually revise and expand Dark Green
Religion, for there is so much more now worth discussing.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvap2xLG6i4GnEMz2NUs10WrmNpEs-Q6V82mhLVDAEgfv-P2lZt9qzWI99DzLyhFn4E3oyOpjpJMaJNAwGoDtjmggvWtqOV1oSHGSS9Zuqtmhv95snel56ULLJR51cOtrk6zImPQHtLdzo_32DRNbHq2ELX6v33GVIBX0j3iu7X9qSDGsBUMj78J0=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="844" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvap2xLG6i4GnEMz2NUs10WrmNpEs-Q6V82mhLVDAEgfv-P2lZt9qzWI99DzLyhFn4E3oyOpjpJMaJNAwGoDtjmggvWtqOV1oSHGSS9Zuqtmhv95snel56ULLJR51cOtrk6zImPQHtLdzo_32DRNbHq2ELX6v33GVIBX0j3iu7X9qSDGsBUMj78J0=s320" width="211" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Professor Taylor,
thank you for taking the time to give us more of an insight into your life and
work. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-71499236424458401072021-11-19T16:31:00.000+00:002021-11-19T16:31:37.359+00:00An Interview with Professor Helen A. Berger<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Anyone
familiar with the study of modern Paganism in the United States will know the
name of <b>Helen A. Berger</b>, one of the foremost academic authorities on
this new religious milieu. Since completing her PhD research on the early
modern witch trials in the 1980s, Berger has devoted her career to the
sociological analysis of modern-day communities whose practitioners call
themselves witches. Her first book, <i>A Community of Witches: Contemporary
Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States</i> (University of South
Carolina Press, 1999), was a landmark in the subject and was followed up with
important studies such as <i>Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of
Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States</i> (with Evan A. Leach and Leigh Shaffer,
University of South Carolina Press, 2003), <i>Teenage Witches: Magical Youth
and the Search for the Self</i> (with Doug Ezzy, Rutgers University Press,
2007), and most recently <i>Solitary Pagans: Contemporary Witches, Wiccans and Others
Who Practice Alone</i> (University of South Carolina Press, 2019). Currently a Professor
Emeritus at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and an Affiliated Scholar
at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University in Massachusetts,
Berger is continuing to work on the modern Pagan milieu, exploring its
relationships with far-right politics. She tells us about her career and her
thoughts on the future of the academic study of modern Paganism.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLP5yzmpABVSF35_x8QwWNb9CUWEM6mNmiDpvtfcx0D_OISYGu7lc2KfVPCLQewiASscxgxAH6UBB5ZGORy6hqK3x9FNsKdaeKNE7B2fUkSGMsNx98afkM1EyGC-8ET23_Gvp9uq2VgO0/s1200/Helen+Berger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLP5yzmpABVSF35_x8QwWNb9CUWEM6mNmiDpvtfcx0D_OISYGu7lc2KfVPCLQewiASscxgxAH6UBB5ZGORy6hqK3x9FNsKdaeKNE7B2fUkSGMsNx98afkM1EyGC-8ET23_Gvp9uq2VgO0/s320/Helen+Berger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
For those who might be unfamiliar with the topic, how would you define modern
Paganism and Wicca?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> One
of the problems with defining Paganism or Wicca is that there is no one
organization or authority that sets the rules and definitions. This results in
individual variation. Almost anything I say will prompt at least one person to
say, “I’m a Pagan or a Wiccan and that is not true of my practice or lineage.”
Nonetheless, there are certain practices and beliefs that are basic and adhered
to by the vast majority. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Contemporary
Pagans of all stripes now most often refer to themselves as practitioners of an
earth-based religion. When I began my research thirty-five years ago they were
more often referred to as magical religions. Both remain true today. These are
religions that base their practices on pre-Christian religious or spiritual
practices that have been updated and changed to fit more modern sensibilities.
Gaps in the historical or archaeological record are filled in with aspects of
other religions, such as Theosophy, Hinduism, or other metaphysical religions
and practices. Sometimes elements of science fiction or other more modern
literature or movies become assimilated into individuals’ practices. In all of
these various forms the earth is normally viewed as sacred, something to be
revered and celebrated. In many the earth is referred to as the Mother from
whom one is born and to whom one returns in death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rituals typically follow a yearly cycle that
is connected to the turning of the year and the seasons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">It
is also common for Pagans to practice some form or forms of divination and
magic, that is, using non-scientific means to create a change they wish to see.
Magic is an important element of the practice for most if not all
Pagans as it is a way of interacting with the otherworld, whether that other
world is viewed as divinities, spirits, or forces of nature. In most forms of
Paganism the focus tends to be on practice instead of belief, which makes
rituals and direct contact with the spirit or otherworld central to the
religions. Magic is more central to some practices than others, but I have yet
to find a Pagan path where it is truly completely missing, even if it is
referred to by another name. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Wicca
is a particular form of Paganism and, at least in the US, the most popular
specific form. It is an initiatory religion, which when I began my research
required in most instances that someone join a coven and be trained by a High
Priestess and High Priest. Even at the beginning of my research I met one
Wiccan who told me she was initiated by the Goddess and had not been trained in
a coven. Now it is more common for Wiccans in the US to be solitary
practitioners and to self-initiate. Wiccans typically have three levels of
training. The High Priestess and High Priest would decide when the person moved
up the ranks. As more people practice alone, they determine their own ranking
or avoid it all together. I recently did a short piece on Wicca for <i>The
Conversation</i> and include the link here: </span><a href="about:blank" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">https://theconversation.com/what-is-wicca-an-expert-on-modern-witchcraft-explains-165939</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <b>During
the 1980s, a key focus of yours was on the witch trials of the early modern
period. Not only was your PhD thesis devoted to the witch trials of early
modern England, but in 1986 you gave a series of talks on witchcraft in early
modern New England for the Boston Public Library. You’ve written about how this
latter experience led you to take an interest in living communities whose members
self-identify as witches, especially Wiccans. Could you tell us more about how
this new interest arose – and how it came to occupy such a huge part of your
subsequent career?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
My life was changed by that lecture series on witchcraft in New England that I
did for the Boston Public library in October of 1986. I still have a poster on
my study wall that the library created to publicize the lectures. The library
had received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to have
several lecture series open to the public on topics relevant to the Greater
Boston area. For October they choose to have the series on witchcraft. At the
time I jokingly referred to my lecture series as the Halloween special. Salem,
Massachusetts or more correctly Salem village, now Danvers, is the site of the
only large-scale witchcraft accusations in what was then the American colonies.
There were scattered other accusations and hangings in other of the American
colonies, but none involved more than single individuals or a couple of people.
The actual trials took place in Salem, which refers to itself as “Witch City.”
The local high school football team is named “the Witches.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The
library asked me to do five lectures starting with the first Thursday in
October and continuing for each of the other Thursdays throughout the month. As
I was thinking about topics that would be appropriate for a public audience I
returned to New York City, where I grew up and where I received my PhD at New
York University. I met an old friend, Paul Shapiro, at a local café in the East
Village and was throwing around possible topics with him. He asked if there
wasn’t something current that I could end the series with to bring the topic
into the present. I told him about an article I had read in the <i>Boston Globe</i>
about the Witches’ Anti-Defamation League led by Laurie Cabot that was
protesting <i>The Witches of Eastwick</i> movie. The more we talked the more
this seemed like an interesting end to the series. I had six months and thought
I could easily do enough research to give a public talk. When I began
researching in 1986, I found that there was very little research on modern day Witches
other than Margot Adler’s book, <i>Drawing Down the Moon</i>, and one academic
article. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
decided the only thing to do to fill in the gaps was to do my own research. But
this was not easy as at that time most contemporary Pagans were secretive about
their practice. I managed to put together a lecture using the scant published
research augmented by my own very minimal research to create an hour-long
lecture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The
audience for each of the lectures varied with some people who attended every
week and others who came only for a particular lecture. One elderly woman with
white hair always sat in the front row, listened intently, and asked
interesting questions. I looked forward to seeing her there every week. At the
final lecture, when I said what was then a surprising fact; Witches looked like
everyone else. You could be living next door to, or working with, a Witch and
not know it. She stopped me mid-lecture and asked, “are you saying there could
be Witches in the room.” As the average age of the participants had dropped
significantly for this lecture, I offered that I thought there probably were
Witches in the room. She stood up, turned around with her hands on her hips,
and asked, “are there any Witches here?” I think it is because she looked like
the quintessential grandmother that a number of people raised their hands. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Because
this was my last lecture the library was serving refreshments to give
participants a chance to chat with me. When I went to talk to the group who
said they were Witches, they invited me to join as a researcher a coven that
was just forming. Another man invited me to an EarthSpirit event for Samhain* where
I met Andras Corban (now Corban Arthen). I always say this subject came to find
me, more than I it. I had become intrigued and just went for it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
transformed myself from an historical sociologist to a sociologist of religion,
updating my interview skills among other skills that were needed for this type
of research. I never looked back. Thinking about it now, I marvel how readily
those in the contemporary Pagan movement welcomed me in and how quickly I
abandoned the research I had been doing for this unknown and, at the time, odd
topic. It was the right thing for me to do. I helped to found a subfield and
realized that working with living people is much more consistent with my
personality and skills than historical research. Having a background in the
history of the trials is nonetheless useful as it is a metaphor that keeps
resurfacing within Pagan circles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">*=[EDW
– Samhain is a Wiccan and broader modern Pagan festival celebrated on 31
October]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
The relationship between ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ perspectives has been long
debated among scholars of modern Paganism, culminating in the concerns raised
in the first half of the 2010s about the numerical dominance of practitioners
within the field. How has your perspective as an ‘outsider’ influenced your
research, especially as you were conducting fieldwork among Pagans in the
northeast U.S. states in the late 1980s and 1990s?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAD]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
First, although my primary research was in the Northeast of the US, I did do
research in other parts of the country as well. I also interviewed Wiccans and
other Pagans who travelled to New England to attend festivals and other events.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Turning
back to your questions, being an outsider to the religion initially made me an
outsider among contemporary Pagan researchers as well. Some kept me at arm’s
length. I think there was a concern that I would be taken more seriously than
they just because I was an outsider. Their concerns had a basis, although I
felt then and now that there should be both when studying any religion or
group. There were some things that only insiders were part of and could speak
to, such as how it felt to be initiated or to feel the divine enter you as you
drew down the moon.* At least initially, some of those insiders were very
protective of the community, seeing it as being under siege and therefore off
limits for criticism. This of course has changed. As an outsider I started with
a different mindset and set of questions about why people joined, how they
could take magic seriously, why they continued in their practice of a religion
that certainly at that time many needed to conceal due to employment and safety
concerns. Starting from ignorance or presumed ignorance has its benefits as
people felt the needed to tell me in detail about the correct way to practice
etc. I think I therefore learned a lot about how people were conceiving their
practice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">*=[EDW:
‘Drawing Down the Moon’ is a Wiccan ritual in which the Goddess is invoked to
enter the body of the High Priestess. For an extended discussion of its history
see my chapter on “Drawing Down the Moon: From Classical Greece to Modern
Wicca?” in the new Brill volume <i>Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration, and
the Power of Imagination</i>.]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Your first book, <i>A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and
Witchcraft in the United States</i>, came out in 1999, making it one of the
earliest academic monographs to be published on the subject. Based largely on
ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Boston area, it argued that Wicca and
related forms of modern Paganism should be best understood in the context of
late modernity. It came out at a key juncture for the field; not only was 1999
the same year that Ronald Hutton’s <i>The Triumph of the Moon: A History of
Modern Pagan Witchcraft</i> appeared, but your book also foreshadowed a range
of other ethnographically-based monographs on Wicca and related forms of
Anglophone Paganism that were published over the next five years (by Susan
Greenwood, Jone Salomonsen, Sabina Magliocco, Kathryn Rountree, Sarah M. Pike,
etc). How did you set about conducting the research for this book and securing
a publisher at a time when there was very little like it out there?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Yes,
my book was one of the early ones, which argued that contemporary Paganism, or
as I and others called it then ‘neo-Paganism,’ was a religion of late modernity
and that practitioners did form a type of community. The latter is still
something that is debated. I think the definition used by many people of
community is too narrow and that there are many different forms of community;
some now are based on the Internet. Communities have always included more than
just groups that meet regularly and face-to-face. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">My
research for that book began at the last lecture of the series I did for the
Boston Library. As I noted in my answer to an earlier question, I met a group
that was starting a coven that I was invited to join. I was also invited to an
EarthSpirit Community open Samhain ritual at a church in Cambridge and
introduced to Andras who then invited me to his classes and to attend other events.
Each person I met introduced me to others, creating a snowball sample. Everyone
I met was generous with their time and knowledge and open to introducing me to
more people. There weren’t many people doing research at that time and I think
that Witches and other Pagans wanted researchers to take them as seriously as
other religions were taken. They very much wanted someone to research them,
from the outside, as they had nothing they were embarrassed about. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Frederick
Denny, the religion series editor for the University of South Carolina Press,
came to one of the early papers I presented at the Society for the Scientific
Study of Religion and asked to chat with me after. He asked if I wanted to
write a book on the topic. Fred became a friend who worked with me as I wrote
my first book proposal. Fred regularly went to meetings looking for new
authors, people doing something interesting in the field. He launched a number
of us in our academic careers, encouraging each of us to publish our work as a
book.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXUh9QrSY3Pth_DatAecVuj7ClwQo_iVNPbrmbMDhLnK2TQl1UU5vNaLaOTSAAsWR-qq12cdxPnNccXTP7piVbp5THNM8EYuju-ry0J1yPyUYC9SDKyDxChlk6j5fs_aYiOV4vrn8_aY/s500/Berger%2527s+Community+of+Witches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXUh9QrSY3Pth_DatAecVuj7ClwQo_iVNPbrmbMDhLnK2TQl1UU5vNaLaOTSAAsWR-qq12cdxPnNccXTP7piVbp5THNM8EYuju-ry0J1yPyUYC9SDKyDxChlk6j5fs_aYiOV4vrn8_aY/s320/Berger%2527s+Community+of+Witches.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
With Andras Corban Arthen, you conducted the Pagan Census between 1993 and
1995, which at the time was the largest survey of modern Pagans ever completed.
The findings of this project appeared in <i>Voices from the Pagan Census: A
National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States</i> (University
of South Carolina Press, 2003), co-written with Evan A. Leach and Leigh
Shaffer. Since then, you have also engaged in the Pagan Census Revisited of
2009 to 2010 and the Pagan Census Revisited II in 2014 with James R. Lewis. How
did these projects take shape?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
initial Pagan Census was Andras’ idea. He wanted to do a Census of all American
Pagans to assess the numbers and to learn more about them. As I am a
sociologist, he asked me to work with him on the project. We worked together on
the questions. A colleague of mine suggested that we should include some
questions from the General Social Survey (GSS), to permit comparisons between
contemporary Pagans and the general American public. I searched through the GSS
codebook and found the most appropriate questions I could and Andras and I
chose from among those. These posed some problems as a Christian bias was
evident in most of them. Andras understood the value of having a comparison
with the general population, but we were both aware that it might make some in
the Pagan community less comfortable. We came up with a solution of writing a
note stating that some of the following questions were from the GSS and
therefore were less geared directly to the Pagan community but were important
for comparative reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">These
questions were invaluable in the end as they permitted us to show both ways in
which the Pagan community differed from, and were similar to, or the same as,
other Americans. Some of those findings were no real surprise; for instance,
more Pagans, at that time, self-identified as feminists than did members of the
general population. What was surprising to me was how common paranormal
experiences were in the general population as well as among Pagans. Other
questions were targeted to Pagans and these too were very important. Our survey
never did become a census but it was the largest survey of American Pagans in
its time. Andras was able to gain the support of every major Pagan leader and organization,
which was key to our getting so many responses<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Initially
we had visions of a random sample of people who belonged to a series of Pagan
organizations. But that never happened. Pagans wanted to be counted and heard.
They Xeroxed the survey and shared it with others, paid their own postage and
sent it to me at my university. Someone put it on the Internet and it went
viral. My initial response was to sit in my office with more returned surveys
than Andras and I had sent out and cry. I had gotten some grant money for this
and I thought I would have to return it. Leigh Shaffer, my colleague, the
methods person in my department,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
office neighbour, stopped in and said “this is great.” “You have a snowball sample
and it is even better than the original plan.” He then helped me rethink how to
analyse the data from this perspective. We then involved another colleague,
Evan Leach, to help crunch the numbers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The
survey is still online at the Murray Institute at Harvard University. They
consider it the baseline for all subsequent surveys of contemporary Pagans. It
served as the basis of the Pagan Census Revisited, which was a revised,
updated, and somewhat changed survey that James ‘Jim’ Lewis invited me to do
with him. That survey garnered even more responses than did the first and
served as the basis for my most recent book <i>Solitary Pagans</i> as well as a
number of publications by Jim.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9HD3IP1GX5lvetfHvfcf-kYdGbDv1Am36wkeea-e-x5NDquqFr7U9blX8TGVuaSjqUNsMpkPnwVYMga6ivdPvstG4796HQEXDMsRcEdhZ5Aw3jVIoPLr6MP3GbAH7PlLkE_UQRgK0D8/s475/Berger%2527s+Voices+from+the+Pagan+Census.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9HD3IP1GX5lvetfHvfcf-kYdGbDv1Am36wkeea-e-x5NDquqFr7U9blX8TGVuaSjqUNsMpkPnwVYMga6ivdPvstG4796HQEXDMsRcEdhZ5Aw3jVIoPLr6MP3GbAH7PlLkE_UQRgK0D8/s320/Berger%2527s+Voices+from+the+Pagan+Census.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
You were also responsible for editing the 2005 volume <i>Witchcraft and Magic
in the New World: Contemporary North America</i> for the University of
Pennsylvania Press. How did this book come about? Have you considered editing
another volume since?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
I was asked by the acquisitions editor of the University of Pennsylvania Press
to do this edited volume. I agreed immediately and then found out quite how
much work editing a volume is. Will I do it again? Maybe, but so far I haven’t
signed up for another. Nonetheless I am pleased with the volume and the essays
in it. This, like all my books, still remains in print.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
The 1990s and early 2000s saw a growing number of teenagers identifying as
witches and/or Wiccans, influenced both by literature aimed at that demographic
and TV shows like <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i> and <i>Charmed</i>. With the
Australian sociologist Douglas Ezzy you embarked on a major study of this
phenomenon, resulting in your co-written 2007 book <i>Teenage Witches: Magical
Youth and the Search for the Self</i>. How did this research get off the
ground?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Teenage
Witches appeared to be everywhere in the 1990s and early 2000s, just as they
are again now. It was intriguing. I was just beginning to do research on it
when I ended up at a conference at the London School of Economics on new
religious movements. I had not planned to attend this conference but an elderly
and old friend of mine was very ill and I decided to come over to see him
before he died. Michael York and his partner Richard invited me to stay at
their flat in London. Michael was going to the conference and I just signed up
for it at the last moment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
would take a break in between hospital visits to listen to papers as a relief
from the immediate sadness of my friend’s illness and impending death. One of
the papers I heard was by Doug Ezzy. I asked for a copy, suggested we talk and
proposed we join forces doing the research. It was rather impetuous on both of
our parts. I enjoyed working with Doug, most of it of course was done on the
Internet. We were able to meet in person twice while researching teen Witches. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Initially
we were going to do research only in the US and Australia—two English speaking
countries on opposite sides of the globe and the ones where each of us lived. I
had a meeting scheduled with the acquisitions editor at Rutgers University
Press at an upcoming academic meeting in the US. He was very interested in the
project but wanted England included. I consulted with Doug and we decided to
include England. We each then got grants to do the research in the UK and were
lucky to meet up there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">As
our interviews got transcribed we would share them and each read through
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did twenty in each country;
Doug and I each did ten in England. I got two small grants that made it
possible for me to go to England to do the research. Because Americans and
British drive on different sides of the road, I did not feel safe driving in
the UK. Instead, I got a British rail pass, which permitted me for a set fee to
travel anywhere on the train, I think it was for two weeks. Michael and Richard
very kindly and generously gave me their flat to use in London so that became
home base for me. Michael was teaching at that time in Bath and Richard decided
to join him while I was in residence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
put a notice on the Internet site, Witchvox,* stating that I was looking for
teenage Witches to interview. I asked friends throughout England to put up
notices at metaphysical bookshops, their universities, and anywhere else they
could think of. And once I had one interview scheduled I asked the person if
they knew anyone else who was a teen Witch and would be willing to speak to me.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
recall that two young women came with an older man to the metaphysical bookshop
to check me out before we spoke. As a small sized woman, I think I had an
easier time of getting respondents than Doug. He did manage nonetheless to
interview ten respondents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Once
we read through the transcripts we developed an outline for the book. Each of
us took responsibility for a first draft of half the chapters, except for one
that we divided in half because we both wanted first shot at it. After
completing a rough draft of a chapter, we sent it to the other person for
revisions, changes, and discussion. Each chapter went back and forth between us
several times before we were both pleased with it. On the whole the process
worked well, although there are some advantages to being able to meet in person
more often. Today it would be easier as there is Zoom, although the huge time
difference between Australia and the US would still create some problems.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">*=[WRSP:
Witchvox, also known as The Witches’ Voice, was probably the most popular
website for Wiccans during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Its use was
gradually supplanted by later forms of social media and it closed in 2019.]</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXze5q0qDyXWXxMmMpUH8dwdXC5jsPhvTAWUG9rJIDmxaJaFqvQ1cRaecxwNaiR53OSWuEAEw1-xpYVoqyiqyzfA_WRnNrNmu8HazsW6B1hMDIfWWUpqqNQEuwi88ZwcIIHU4KWbo7ho/s500/Berger%2527s+Teenage+Witches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXze5q0qDyXWXxMmMpUH8dwdXC5jsPhvTAWUG9rJIDmxaJaFqvQ1cRaecxwNaiR53OSWuEAEw1-xpYVoqyiqyzfA_WRnNrNmu8HazsW6B1hMDIfWWUpqqNQEuwi88ZwcIIHU4KWbo7ho/s320/Berger%2527s+Teenage+Witches.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
The majority of U.S. Wiccans now operate as solitary practitioners, rather than
as members of a coven, and your research on this topic has culminated in your
2019 book <i>Solitary Pagans: Contemporary Witches, Wiccans and Others Who Practice
Alone</i>. Can you tell us more about the research that went into this book and
the nature of solitary Paganism itself?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
My book, <i>Solitary Pagans</i>, grew out of the Pagan Census Revisited. I had
initially wanted to do a book that focused on what had changed within Paganism
between the two surveys, based on those questions that had been reused. But
there wasn’t much change to be found there. Possibly if different questions had
been asked we would have found significant differences. However, one thing
stood out; solitary practitioners were now the dominant group. That was the one
overarching change and it was major. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">My
focus was two-fold: to see how similar and dissimilar those who practiced alone
or in a group were, and to try to assess how isolated solitaries really are. On
the one hand, I found that solitaries aren’t really isolated. They join other
Pagans on the Internet, phone, texts, go to open group rituals and some
festivals or gatherings. On the other hand, there was a real difference both in
political activity and the frequency of performing rituals and having
metaphysical activities. In all areas those in groups did more. Interestingly,
on many political activities solitary Pagans still did more than the typical
American but not as much as those Pagans in groups.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSaAS6_XoiZdV5k238ZFIvIerwLgYi9hrOhauzMrGncID5lr5KAmOYOvOwvGTZRtq35lmIUocMYY8X_WUBsc8kcU1aIs731qV4Gkd-4UuP72oTKMgeZ0qXjyqJK4yPWgGOdFmFKROpF8/s400/Berger%2527s+Solitary+Pagans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSaAS6_XoiZdV5k238ZFIvIerwLgYi9hrOhauzMrGncID5lr5KAmOYOvOwvGTZRtq35lmIUocMYY8X_WUBsc8kcU1aIs731qV4Gkd-4UuP72oTKMgeZ0qXjyqJK4yPWgGOdFmFKROpF8/s320/Berger%2527s+Solitary+Pagans.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
How has your work been received, both within modern Pagan communities
themselves and among scholars of religion and related topics?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> On
the whole, my work has been well received. My statistical data has been used by
others in their own work. In the early days of my publishing, I felt that I was
not completely trusted by those scholars of Paganism who were also
practitioners. I no longer feel that way. I think that as their scholarship has
gained more support, they no longer need to fear that mine will be taken more
seriously because I am an outsider. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Within
the larger discipline of new religious movements or sociology of religion my
work has always been well received. I think to begin with some scholars of
sociology of religion did not take Paganism seriously. They thought it would
disappear—a youthful movement with no staying power. I recall a prediction
being made that some aspects of the religion, like goddess worship, would be
absorbed into more mainstream religions, but the religion itself would
dissipate. At this point it is no longer a new religion. It has grown in the
number of adherents and how open people are about practicing Paganism. The
youth of the 1960s are now grandparents and I no longer hear anyone predicting
the religion will just disappear in a few years. Questions are still raised
about its staying power over a longer haul of a hundred or two hundred years,
but it certainly has proven not to be a flash in the pan. I think once you
conceive of the religion as one of late modernity and start thinking about the
implications of that for the religion, it appears to be more stable and to have
a longer trajectory. There are now new forms of community, of spiritual
practice, and of connection that are consistent with the changes in technology,
communication, and lifestyle in the past half century.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <b>As
someone who has observed the Wiccan and modern Pagan communities in the U.S.
over a thirty-year period – a span of time that has of course seen the Internet
exert a significant influence over most people’s lives – what do you think have
been the most noticeable, or most important, changes within those communities?
How do you think these new religious movements will adapt going forward?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
Actually this past October I just celebrated the 35th year of studying
contemporary Paganism. The most notable change I noticed is the growth of
solitary practitioners. They have grown in number and in respectability within
the religions. Thirty-five years ago, solitary practitioners were not taken
very seriously. With the growth of solitary practitioners there has also been a
growth in those who are eclectic practitioners; the two phenomena are related.
The Internet has made it easier for people to learn about and practice Paganism,
even in remote places. As more people are training outside of a coven, grove,
or other group, more are taking the label ‘eclectic’ as well. And this is more
common for solitary practitioners than for those in groups. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
think the Internet has probably helped to fuel the current teen Witch craze.
The young don’t need to involve their parents in their searches or choices. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">At
the same time there has been an increased interest in ethnic Paganism—such as
Heathens, Hellenic, and Druids. Although most ethnic Pagans are not right
leaning, more are so than those who self-identify as Wiccans, Witches, or
eclectics. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Those
who entered the movement in the 1960s and 1970s are now old. Many of the Pagan
umbrella organizations are being run by people in their seventies or older.
These organizations have always played an important role in providing open
rituals, newsletters, and festivals. They will in the next twenty years be in
transition. Who will take over running them? Will organizations survive? If not,
what will fill the role they have carved out? The religion is decentered, but
it has had a number of different overlapping centers or organizations. I am
thinking here of EarthSpirit, Circle Sanctuary, and others. I think that the
next few decades will be a turning point for the religion in the US. I am
interested to see where it leads.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <b>What
areas of modern Paganism do you think could really do with scholarly research
in future?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
Contemporary Paganism is a rich area for research. There are so many topics
that need more study. To name a few: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">1.
TikTok Witches and the new generation of teen Witches<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">2.
What happened with the last influx of teenagers? How many stayed and are
practicing Witchcraft or another form of Paganism? How many left? And of course
what resulted in their either staying or leaving? For those that left did they
keep any of the practices from Witchcraft?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">3.
More is needed on Pagans in the military. I just wrote an article for the
online journal <i>The Conversation</i> that was reprinted in <i>The Washington
Post</i> (<a href="about:blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/wiccans-in-the-us-military-are-mourning-the-dead-in-afghanistan-this-year-as-they-mark-samhain-the-original-halloween/2021/10/20/edbc0868-31b6-11ec-8036-7db255bff176_story.html</a>)
It was for Samhain. I was surprised how few people realized there were Pagans
in the US military. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">4.
Research on Paganisms in prison. Which forms of Paganism are popular in
prisons? Why? And how do these shape the prison experience? What are the
differences in men’s and women’s prisons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">5.
Ethnographic work needs to be done on solitary practitioners to learn more
about their form of practice and their links to other Pagans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">6.
The influx of conspiracy theories and far right ideology among Pagans,
particularly but not limited to folkish Heathens.*<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">These
are the issues most on my mind right now. But, there is so much more to look at
as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">*=[EDW:
Folkish Heathenry describes forms of Heathenry, the modern Pagan religion revolving
around the pre-Christian deities of linguistically Germanic Europe, that
emphasise links between the religion and a perceived Germanic racial identity]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Your work has focused heavily on modern Paganism, and Wicca in particular, but
I wondered if you had a particular interest in any other religious movements?
Have you also kept up an interest in the sociology of early modern witchcraft
accusations?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
I have not kept up with the scholarly research on the early modern witchcraft
trials. I have left that mostly behind. I still do read some articles and an
occasional book on the issue and will be going to the exhibition at the Peabody
Essex Museum in Salem on the witchcraft trials there but the trials are no
longer my area of research. I read about other religions as background to my
interest in contemporary Paganism but there is no other religion that I study.
I have focused completely on contemporary Paganism primarily within the US. As
there is still so much that grabs my interest in contemporary Paganism, I doubt
I will move on to another religion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
What value do you believe that sociology as a discipline brings to the study of
modern Paganism and to new and alternative religions more broadly? What does it
offer that disciplines like history and anthropology just can’t?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
borders between sociology, history, and anthropology are porous. At one time it
would have been easy to say history studies the past, anthropology other
cultures, and sociology the present day developed world, but that hasn’t been
true for decades. I am no longer sure what tools, if any, are used exclusively
by one discipline. Both sociologists and anthropologists do ethnography and
look to history for context and placement of phenomena. Sociologists
traditionally are more likely to do largescale surveys, but anthropologists are
now doing them as well. To some degree it is the perspective used in analysis,
but even that is murky as we read each other’s work and apply all those useful
texts and concepts. Sociologists have traditionally had a greater concern for
issues of stratification—social class, gender, age, race—but historians and
anthropologists are concerned with those as well. Anthropologists remind us
about colonialism and its influence on religion as well as other aspects of
society, but most sociologists are concerned about that as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
I’m given to understand that your current research explores Pagan relationships
and responses to the far right. How is this progressing, and do you have any
other projects on the horizon?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[HAB]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
Yes, I am now looking at responses to the far right and more generally the
degree to which those ideas are entering into contemporary Paganism. I feel as
though I am still at the beginning of this project. I am excited about it. At
this moment I do not have any other projects in the works but if I were to do
anything it would be something about the new teen Witches. I am still
fascinated by the young who join. If I were to do it again, I would really like
to follow 20 young Witches from when they first started exploring the religion
for a five-to-ten-year period. It would allow me to find out about those who
dabble and those that stay. But that is only a fantasy at the moment. My actual
work is on the growth of far-right ideas within contemporary Paganism. It has
been most noted among folkish Heathens and is clearly the most pronounced
there, but I am seeing some evidence that some of it might be seeping into
corners of the larger Pagan community. I am still at the beginning of this
research and am not sure where it will lead me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Thank you, Professor Berger, for this insight into your career and ongoing
research.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-37149639145865875092021-07-18T11:09:00.001+01:002021-07-26T16:17:50.302+01:00An Interview with Dr Jefferson F. Calico<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This
week’s interview is with <b>Dr Jefferson F. Calico</b>, an associate professor
at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Dr Calico completed
his PhD research at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,
Kentucky in 2013, for which he conducted fieldwork among American practitioners
of Heathenry, a modern Pagan religion whose adherents seek to reconstruct the
pre-Christian traditions of Europe’s linguistically Germanic communities. This
research provided the data for his subsequent book, <i>Being Viking: Heathenism
in Contemporary America</i> (Equinox, 2018), which is one of two important
works on American Heathenry that have appeared over the past decade, the other
being <i>American Heathens: The Politics of Identity in a Pagan Religious
Movement</i> (Temple University Press, 2015) by Dr Jennifer Snook, who was
previously interviewed <a href="https://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2021/03/an-interview-with-dr-jennifer-snook.html" target="_blank">here back in March</a>. In this interview, Dr Calico
discusses how he first came to be interested in Heathenry, his experiences
conducting ethnographic research, and the impact of growing ideological
polarisation on the U.S. Heathen community.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAfBfzRCB1HCt1BdpjMqrnRfHJ5api858U1BHOLSezjLz1KPgYmYCwrxWhb-xNtrZDMBB7pMPxRkcUeuHzv-Lty-0IiuvoIpOy4n2rQ-FhVJtvjQu8uw_X3oYsF3afuEnfSnk4V4rhcw/s650/Calico.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="517" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAfBfzRCB1HCt1BdpjMqrnRfHJ5api858U1BHOLSezjLz1KPgYmYCwrxWhb-xNtrZDMBB7pMPxRkcUeuHzv-Lty-0IiuvoIpOy4n2rQ-FhVJtvjQu8uw_X3oYsF3afuEnfSnk4V4rhcw/s320/Calico.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
For readers who may not be familiar with the topic, could you give us an idea
as to what the modern Pagan religion of Heathenry is?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JFC]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Heathenry
is a new religious movement/milieu that looks to ancient Norse and Germanic
cultures for inspiration in creating contemporary approaches to life,
spirituality, and the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">From
a historical perspective, the “modern Pagan religion of Heathenry” can be
traced back to a particular set of people and religious awakenings in the early
1970s. I look at this historical process in chapter one of <i>Being Viking</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 20pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">For these early adherents, the religious
entrepreneurs of Asatru, the Norse heritage, history, customs, and stories
suddenly and powerfully took on more than historical and cultural significance.
They awakened to a new life-way, a paradigm that could transform life, a
roadmap for the creation of a new culture. The Christian age was over. The time
had come for the old gods to reassert themselves amongst their human kin in the
reconstruction of an ancient religio-cultural community. (<i>Being Viking</i>,
58)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Ideologically,
<i>Heathen</i> and <i>Heathenry</i> or <i>Heathenism</i> are umbrella terms
covering a diverse array of more specific approaches. That diversity encompasses
differences in orientation along political/social lines (this spectrum is the
one of which most observers are aware), but also differences in theological, cultural,
ethical, and aesthetic opinions and approaches. For American Heathenry, I think
that my book <i>Being Viking</i> and Jennifer Snook’s book <i>American Heathens</i>
both describe some of that diversity among Heathens.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">What
makes it Heathen—rather than historical re-enactment or <i>Vikings</i> fandom
for instance—is a shared spiritual core. This includes texts (the Lore), Gods,
ancestors, nature spirits often called “land vaettir” (because Heathen LOVE to
use words derived from Old Norse and other Germanic languages. Really, a Heathen
gathering isn’t complete if someone doesn’t drop some Old Norse or
Anglo-Saxon), concepts, runes, time, and rituals—derived from the pre-Christian
cultures of northern Europe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As
I said to a writer from “How Stuff Works” [<a href="https://people.howstuffworks.com/paganism.htm">https://people.howstuffworks.com/paganism.htm</a>]
Heathens look at these pre-Christian traditions of the past as repositories of
ancient sacred wisdom and lifestyles that connected humans and their
communities to the cosmos and to each other in ways that are holy and sacred. For
Heathens, reconnecting to these spiritual resources—the ancient wisdom, beings,
and forces—is a return to a fully human life – living “tru.” The old ways (Forn
Sed or <i>forn siðr</i>) established relational networks to these resources and
beings that nourished human life and produced thriving. In <i>Being Viking</i>,
I devote chapter four, “Spears and Shieldwalls,” to a discussion of this
Heathen concept of life. Rather than the “coming home” idea that been used to
describe Pagan conversion, I would use “re-connecting” to talk about how
Heathens relate to their religious system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Where did your interest in Heathenry come from and what led you to pursue your
doctoral research on this new religious movement? Did you have a longstanding research
interest in new and alternative religions?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JFC]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
can look back into my personal history and see how many moments played into my
craft and practice. I have been interested in religion and culture for as long
as I can remember and was encouraged to explore these aspects of life through
reading, experiences, and friendships. Living in an Inupiaq community in
northern Alaska opened my eyes to the importance of culture as a human
phenomenon. Stepping into a classroom for the first time to teach world
religions came to be a challenging and deeply creative experience for me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Many
of us have experienced paradigm shifting moments during our educational
journeys— those moments of discovery that unfold for us along new and
unexpected paths. These moments arise from all sorts of stimuli—disciplined
reading, insights from our teachers, and from seemingly random “aha” moments,
to name a few. In my own journey, one of those moments came for me in reading
Carole Cusack’s <i>Invented Religions</i> (Routledge, 2010; <b>[EDW: Professor
Cusack was interviewed <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-interview-with-dr-carole-m-cusack.html" target="_blank">here</a> back in 2014]</b>). The cumulative effect of that
book rescued me from a previously dismissive attitude about new religious
movements and opened a new world of scholarly interest. I had entered my PhD
program initially intending to pursue research on Islam. However, a conversation
with my supervisor—strangely enough about the 1994 Olympics hosted by Norway—caused
me to re-evaluate and drew my attention to the growing presence and influence
of Paganism in the contemporary world. As I discuss in the introduction to <i>Being
Viking</i>, an offhand question in a graduate seminar stirred my initial
curiosity about Heathenry and led to it becoming a major interest. A chance
conversation with a friend, Dr Thad Horrell, while walking to an American Academy
of Religion (AAR) venue in San Diego led to a new line of inquiry and research
that helped me to better understand the tributaries of American Heathenry. Rather
than one over-riding passion, my interests and work have been nudged along by
these sorts of important and transformative experiences.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gJ6AtOjBMlO7NchyphenhyphenPDqjoJGOf-ZB3C6HEGkmOV4dj6ZGAI3ATg374OEFJrrqW4XguO-c3IWYJ8eDfxifLFXHoGJdsFv-U4J0iIYtge1qaXjInqxH8BZjeeVM9-QLA_mJ9kiDGkf6nGc/s525/Being+Viking.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gJ6AtOjBMlO7NchyphenhyphenPDqjoJGOf-ZB3C6HEGkmOV4dj6ZGAI3ATg374OEFJrrqW4XguO-c3IWYJ8eDfxifLFXHoGJdsFv-U4J0iIYtge1qaXjInqxH8BZjeeVM9-QLA_mJ9kiDGkf6nGc/s320/Being+Viking.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
The study of modern Paganism (including the study of Heathenry) has tended to
be dominated by practicing Pagans, but – if I understand correctly – you are
not coming at Heathenry from a practitioner perspective. How do you feel that
this status as an ‘outsider’ impacted your reception when conducting
participant-observation with Heathen groups, and has it impacted your
interactions with other scholars of Paganism? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JFC]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Look,
field work is difficult. It raises all sorts of challenges. When engaged in
field work, all of us who are doing anthropology and ethnography bring aspects
of identity, personal history, and value/ideology differences that must be
negotiated with our host communities and within ourselves. As a guest in
people’s homes and religious events, researchers are being invited into sacred
and intimate settings, so respect and trust is essential. I quickly found that
methodology has ethical implications and in this regard Jone Salomonsen’s work
on methodology was influential for my approach. The relationship with a host
community and different individuals therein is a process, an ongoing effort to
analyze, evaluate, and respond. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not
think it is categorically different for “insiders” except that the issues and
dilemmas themselves may vary. And the stakes are potentially higher for those
who are devotionally committed to the religions they study. Insiders also experience
a range of responses from their communities and face challenges in negotiating
their presence and their relationships. I think—for some insiders—the
relationship with their religious community is forever changed for better or
worse by their research experience. I do want to push back against a
dichotomizing assumption that “outsider” and “insider” are clearly definable
terms. Both insiders and outsiders can and do take both emic and etic
perspectives during the research process. The methodologies we employ for field
work should weave us through both of these perspectives, thereby complicating
the outsider/insider perspective. That said, the goal for both insiders and
outsiders is always good research. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">But
yes as an outsider certain difficulties presented themselves from the outset.
When I was attempting my first field experience with a Heathen group, my
positionality (i.e., the institution with which I was affiliated for my PhD
work) was an immediate red flag to my hosts. This was no surprise to any of us.
There were good reasons for their hesitancy. Any religious group—and
particularly Pagans who have experienced religious persecution from hegemonic
religions—want to protect the integrity of their events, avoid persecution and
exploitation. From my perspective, this was a challenge that I was committed to
working through. And to their immense credit, the group did not simply cut me
off. They were willing to enter into a discussion and negotiation that resulted
in the leadership of that group getting to know me and granting permission to
attend their religious event as a researcher. Several of those leaders went on
to become friends and collaborators and are people whom I greatly respect. As I
moved among Heathen religious communities and groups during field work, similar
vetting processes took place repeatedly. From my perspective, the onus is on
the researcher to establish and maintain working relationships. There are
always people who are going to be suspicious and even hostile, and some people
with whom work is not possible—but that’s okay. For the most part, I found that
Heathen people were careful but hospitable and willing to take a risk with a
stranger as long as trust can be established. I am grateful for the many
Heathens who spoke with me about their religion and shared their thoughts and
experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Regarding
the scholarly community, I feel strongly that we should avoid tribalizing our
fields of study along lines of religious affiliation. As scholars who want to
understand the world more fully, insularity is not a positive trait.
Positionality is important and we need to be serious about how it impacts our
work. However, it should not be a barrier to scholarly inquiry or participation
in scholarly community. Any field of study benefits from participants from a
variety of perspectives. Are there limits to scholarly inclusivity? Of course,
some positionalities do create conflicts of interest. Work that promotes
anti-social, racial, and religious persecution is to be shunned. But generally
speaking, scholarly communities should strive to be generous in whom they
include as constructive participants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Have you observed changes in the American (or international) Heathen community
since you started your research on the topic in 2010? Obviously, there has been
growing ideological polarisation within U.S. society during the last decade;
has this had a significant impact on Heathenry? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JFC]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
ideological polarization has dramatically affected Heathenry in the American
context. We have observed a hardening of folkish positions* as well as the
emergence of anti-racist and inclusive Heathen identities – these aren’t new by
any means, but have attained a new degree of prominence. I think that the older
generations of Heathens, even those who were anti-racist, were more likely to
hold a “live-and-let-live” perspective. These early generations of Heathens were
part of building the religion with few adherents, little infrastructure, and resource
scarcity. This situation impacted their understanding of community. However, due
to incidents of racial violence, change in the American culture, and growth of
the Heathen community, ideological positions within Heathenry have also become more
pronounced and Heathens are more willing to draw hard and fast ideological lines
such as Declaration 127 (http://declaration127.com). I see Heathenry
experiencing a couple of “reformations” – an earlier one that sought to weed
out Christian influence in Heathen culture and lore, and a current one that
directly confronts the legacy of racism and neo-Nazi ideology. As an example,
consider the new edition of The Troth’s tome <i>Our Troth</i> (<a href="https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/ben-waggoner/our-troth/paperback/product-dd2v8g.html?page=1&pageSize=4">https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/ben-waggoner/our-troth/paperback/product-dd2v8g.html?page=1&pageSize=4</a>)
which contains a new chapter dealing with the influence of Völkisch and Nazi
tributaries on the development of contemporary Heathenry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
importance of the internet has only increased in the last decade. Heathenry has
seen the emergence of more extra-organizational voices—influencers with their
own social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Patreon. And on the
far-right of Heathenry, ideologues have shifted toward alternative social media
like Gab and VK as they have been de-platformed from mainstream social media
sites. That is an important structural change. And these voices are often
exploring new ways of being Heathen. Both ideological sides of Heathenry have
seen the growth of new forms of (online) community that are not primarily
religious in nature. More than just getting people together to do a ritual,
Heathens are increasingly exploring cultural and lifestyle issues and thinking
about how these work out in the contemporary world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[*
= EDW: Folkish Heathenry is a wing of the religion that generally argues that Heathen
practice should be restricted to members of a putative Northern
European/Germanic/Nordic racial group. Typically, it is characterised as being
politically right-wing to far-right.]</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUiVzlOWlBo8IZjlzJKtjEP0lkUbPuyfalnv2AE8W_ZKHDsTh73CS4zdhxaAv6scLOYH2ykItFA3FNGA36JNRrpbaskCz-ge5Bh1QbsgGbSq7h8V4UR_fqLaa0lUnRQxw0WmsRQ_xrfus/s1267/Jefferson+Calico.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1267" data-original-width="1091" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUiVzlOWlBo8IZjlzJKtjEP0lkUbPuyfalnv2AE8W_ZKHDsTh73CS4zdhxaAv6scLOYH2ykItFA3FNGA36JNRrpbaskCz-ge5Bh1QbsgGbSq7h8V4UR_fqLaa0lUnRQxw0WmsRQ_xrfus/s320/Jefferson+Calico.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
What has the response to your thesis and book been like? How have Heathens
themselves responded to the work, and what was the response at the primarily
Christian environment where you conducted your doctoral research (Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary)?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JFC]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> It
has been rewarding to find <i>Being Viking</i> showing up in bibliographies,
presentations at the AAR, and being used constructively in the research of
other scholars. I hope it will continue to be a springboard for further work.
And I hope it contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of Heathenry as
much more than a hot mess of far-right racism. I think my book has a lot to say
for those who will take some time with it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I
chose to pursue my PhD in World Religions where I did for a variety of reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the benefits of that program was being
able to work very closely with my supervisor, Dr James D. Chancellor. He was an
impressive and inspiring ethnographer and researcher, and a great teacher, who
wrote an important work on the new religious movement known as the Children of
God, or The Family (<i>Life in the Family: An Oral History of the Children of
God</i>, Syracuse, 2000). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Generally
speaking, those of us who are researching and writing about Paganism and/or
other socially controversial religious communities—and especially those of us
who do intensive fieldwork with those groups—find ourselves potentially
misunderstood by both our host <i>and</i> home communities. This experience of
mistrust is an old story for all sorts of cross-cultural people. As Mary
Douglas elucidated, doubts and suspicions about purity are frequently raised
against boundary-crossers. Again, it is something that I find myself continually
negotiating.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">While
the research for <i>Being Viking</i> began during my dissertation, it grew and
expanded as I moved on from that degree program. So <i>Being Viking</i> is not
a revision of my dissertation. It was a significantly different work. It
reflects my own growth as a researcher and my continued interaction with the
Heathen community. The book was guided by a completely different set of
advisers and editors. Again, I can’t speak too highly of my editors Chas
Clifton, author of <i>Her Hidden Children</i> (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006) [<b>EDW:
interviewed <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2012/12/an-interview-with-chas-s-clifton.html" target="_blank">here</a> back in 2012</b>], and Scott Simpson, co-editor of <i>Modern
Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe</i> (Routledge,
2013), and the team at Equinox Publishing. They all made significant
contributions to my life as a scholar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
What do you see as the areas of Heathenry that really require further academic
research?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JFC]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> How
is Heathenry contributing to the re-emergence of polytheism in the West? And
what is this polytheism like? How might it be like and unlike the polytheism of
the ancient past and the polytheistic continuity of other world religions?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I
am especially interested in how Heathenry changes the daily life and practices
of people in the real world. How does Heathen practice and ritual create new
networks—religious, social, economic—that build more sustainable ways of life? Scholars
such as Barbara Davies and Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen are exploring these areas in
their work. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As
Heathen culture continues to change, scholars like Jennifer Snook are helping
us to see into the diversity of the Heathen world, looking at how Heathenry
manifests in different political spheres and flows into other subcultures. More
work could be done on the permutations of Heathen identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">We
need to learn more about the influence of the internet on Heathenry. Scholars such
as Ross Downing have just begun to explore the complex forms that Heathenry is
taking online. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Stephanie
Schnurbein and other scholars have done a lot of work in uncovering and
explicating the völkisch and Traditionalist tributaries to the contemporary
confluence of far-right racism and violence. There is still work to be done in
understanding this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><b>[EDW]
Are you continuing to pursue research into Heathenry or are you switching focus
to other topics? Have you any forthcoming projects that we should be keeping an
eye out for? </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><b>[JFC]</b>
My ongoing research into Heathenry looks at how certain groups have propagated
a white supremacist and nationalist agenda in recent years. In this vein, my
chapter “Performing ‘American Völkisch’” is included in the recently published
book <i>Paganism and Its Discontents: Enduring Problems of Racialized Identity</i>
(Holli S. Emore, Jonathan M. Leader, editors, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, 2020). I am also presenting work at the American Academy
of Religion along these lines. At the 2020 AAR I presented to the New Religious
Movements Unit on “White Nationalism and the Performance of Religion in
Heathenism” which looked at Heathen internet memes and racist radicalization.
For the upcoming 2021 AAR, I along with other scholars of Heathenry will be
presenting to the Pagan Studies and the Religion and Ecology units on the
impact of blood and soil ideology in Heathenry. Over the years, the AAR has
played an important role in my research process and scholarly life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have valued and benefited from the
hospitality of the Pagan Studies group and the New Religious Movements group as
spaces to present research and to refine my work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In
addition to Heathenry, since moving to the Appalachian region, I have a growing
interest in Appalachian religion. I am hoping to pull together a project on
Paganism in Appalachia in the near future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><b>[EDW]
Thank you very much for this additional insight into your work, Dr Calico, and
I look forward to your future research on the Pagans of Appalachia!</b></span></p><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-41088894938154007642021-07-15T10:42:00.002+01:002021-07-18T10:09:07.911+01:00An Interview with Dr Kaarina Aitamurto<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Today,
I have an interview with <b>Dr Kaarina Aitamurto</b>, the head of training at
the Aleksanteri Institute, which is the Finnish Centre for Russian and East
European Studies at the University of Helsinki. Dr Aitamurto is a specialist in
the study of religion in Russia, with her current work exploring the role of Muslim
migrant minorities living in that country. Her previous research project, which
resulted in her PhD thesis, delved into the Rodnoverie, or ‘Native Faith’ movement
in Russia, a form of modern Paganism that seeks to recreate the religious
system adhered to by pre-Christian Russians. On that subject she is the author of
<i>Paganism, Traditionalism, Nationalism: Narratives of Russian Rodnoverie</i> (Routledge,
2016) and, with Scott Simpson, also co-edited the important <i>Modern Pagan and
Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe</i> (Acumen, 2013), both
of which should really be required reading for anyone studying modern Pagan
religion. We talk about these research projects and how modern Paganism first attracted
her interest.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-siYhCpR1H9cmNVRSVbujADg6FYeWWGt3Jth0YIhncdMOs_TzJAi9udOcgjEGyK03OexTa1hEZZWZuv0K2o1_vlJHJiAEYp4vg264FDD326QvPMzMv-9JmYIEo6z7Ij-TGWM-Oz1fdw/s2048/Kaarina+Aitamurto.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1363" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-siYhCpR1H9cmNVRSVbujADg6FYeWWGt3Jth0YIhncdMOs_TzJAi9udOcgjEGyK03OexTa1hEZZWZuv0K2o1_vlJHJiAEYp4vg264FDD326QvPMzMv-9JmYIEo6z7Ij-TGWM-Oz1fdw/s320/Kaarina+Aitamurto.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Your main research has been on the Russian religion of Rodnoverie, or ‘Native
Faith.’ For readers unfamiliar with this tradition, could you give us a brief
overview of what it is?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[KA]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
term <i>Rodnoverie</i> comes from the Russian words <i>rodnaya vera</i> (“native
faith”) and refers to a religion that is based on pre-Christian Slavic
spirituality. The question about the terminology is actually quite complex and
there seems to be a recent tendency to define Rodnoverie more narrowly as a
distinct form of Paganism that does not even include all groupings that
subscribe to the Slavic tradition in Russia. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">While
the origin of the movement is still debatable, there were groupings and authors
who had begun to explore Paganism by the 1980s and which were able to become
public after the collapse of the Soviet Union. There are many versions of
modern Slavic native faith and continuous debates are conducted on who has the
right to call themselves a representative of this tradition. Despite the
differences, some common features can still be found. The ritual calendar is
based on folkloric tradition with such celebrations as the midsummer festival,
Kupala, and the winter solstice, Kolyada. In addition, some main deities, such
as Perun, Veles and Mokosh, have their own days of celebration. The festivals
usually take place in nature, in front of deity statues and around fire. The
festivals are usually organised by the communities or umbrella-communities, of
which there are a couple. Naturally, there are also solitary practitioners who
do not participate in the communal festivals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As
in many other Pagan religions, there are debates both about what we can know
about the pre-Christian tradition and how faithfully it should be followed
today. Though the pictures from the festivals of Rodnoverie communities often resemble
each other, the ritual practices – like the theology – are continuously
developing and negotiated. An interesting feature (that I actually noticed only
after starting to study Islam in Russia) is the central role of literature and
reading in Rodnoverie. Although it is a relatively small movement,* there is
much literature published on the topic. This is perhaps not so surprising,
because some studies suggest that people with higher education and students are
overrepresented among Russia’s Pagan community. The majority of Rodnovers also
live in cities and scholars of the topic agree that there are more men than
women in the movement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">*=
there are no exact numbers but the estimations I have recently encountered
usually suggest at least two hundred thousand people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Did you have a pre-existing interest in modern Paganism prior to embarking on
your research with Russian Rodnover communities in 2004? What was it that sparked
your interest in the topic and led you to conduct PhD research on it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[KA]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Back
in the late 1990s, when I was thinking about a topic for my masters’ thesis, I
found a newspaper article about Wicca, which it described as a feminist women’s
religion. This intrigued me and I eventually based my thesis work on interviews
with Finnish Wiccans. I became so fascinated with the topic that I decided to
continue studying it in my doctoral thesis, although this time in Russia. The
country was somewhat familiar to me, and I had already learned the Russian
language at school. I was aware that there were Wiccans in Russia but there
were hardly any references or publications on the topic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I
started my research through esoteric bookstores and stalls as well as inquiring
if my Russian colleagues knew any Wiccan groups in Russia. Every way I turned there
were hardly any signs of Wicca and questions about the topic usually led to
ethnic Slavic Paganism. To be honest, I was initially a bit reluctant to change
the topic of my research because it was the feminist aspect of Wicca that had
appealed to me. In contrast, contemporary Slavic Paganism seemed emphatically
patriarchal and conservative. Moreover, infrequently it was linked to
intolerant nationalism. In many respects, this ethnic Paganism with its
emphasis on warrior spirit and admiration of masculinity seemed to represent an
opposite to the kind of feminist spirituality that had originally drawn me to
Paganism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, gradually I became
captivated by Slavic Paganism. First, I have always loved Russian culture and
folklore so, of course, being able to gain a new perspective on it was
fascinating. Secondly, it was intriguing to notice that Rodnoverie contained
many similar features to the forms of Paganism I had encountered previously and
which had initially drawn me to it: the emphasis on independent thinking and individual
freedom, a connection to nature, the central role of aesthetics and play in
religious practice.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-IktGnuJjVp2JHj5VJIO9oZbgmlzZtrzNl8mne7fnkNrbZlmiAeMCVRYL0gR5N66uAdKB_MNCNGxvvup-TIT7Jp1lerCCJUsMlNe97Ws6e3xFXiqkCJNNSkb8gDbH_Y-fKBUDaRB3hw/s816/Aitamurto%2527s+%2527%2527Paganism%252C+Traditionalism%252C+Nationalism%2527%2527.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="542" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-IktGnuJjVp2JHj5VJIO9oZbgmlzZtrzNl8mne7fnkNrbZlmiAeMCVRYL0gR5N66uAdKB_MNCNGxvvup-TIT7Jp1lerCCJUsMlNe97Ws6e3xFXiqkCJNNSkb8gDbH_Y-fKBUDaRB3hw/s320/Aitamurto%2527s+%2527%2527Paganism%252C+Traditionalism%252C+Nationalism%2527%2527.png" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] In your book, you describe
encounters with Rodnovers who adhere to far-right political ideologies, a topic
that you have written about elsewhere, as in your chapter for the recent <i>Oxford
Research Encyclopedias: Religion</i>. Barring a few exceptions (most notably
Mattias Gardell), such ideologies have tended to be avoided by a great deal of
scholarly research on modern Paganism, at least in Western Europe and North
America, but how significant do you think that they are for our understanding
of modern Paganism as a global phenomenon?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[KA]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> While
far-right and racist Pagans probably form a minority, and in some countries just
a small fraction, of the Pagan scene, omitting these kinds of groups from the
analysis of the global phenomenon would lead to both a biased portrayal and a
partial understanding of it. The reasons why topics such as racism and
nationalism are understudied in Western studies of Paganism are of course
understandable. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">People often
prefer to study things that they find fascinating and which they want others to
know about too. This was indeed also my motive in choosing Wicca as the topic
of my master’s thesis. Another probable reason is that there are still many
prejudices regarding modern Paganism and that therefore many scholars feel it is
their responsibility to evaporate rather than increase these. Having said that,
the situation was almost the opposite in the Russian study of Paganism, especially
in the 2000s; there, the majority of studies focused solely on
ultra-nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism in Slavic Paganism. Admittedly,
addressing these topics is important, especially considering what a huge
problem racism is in Russian society. However, some studies also seemed to set
out to demonstrate that there is not and cannot be reconstructionist Paganism
without nationalist exclusions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This kind of approach is anchored to the common
misconception of religions as something that can be demarcated and revealed in
some “pure” or “original” form. In reality, religions evolve, change and have
countless interpretations. Christianity, for instance, can motivate both
Crusades against “infidels” but also selfless acts of compassion. In a similar
vein, Paganism can be understood and presented in several, even conflicting
ways. In general, the attempts to find borders around particular religions often
limit our understandings of them and exclude some aspect. A prominent example
of this are the claims that some unpleasant phenomena are just misuse of
religion for political purposes. I understand the desire to vindicate religions
and their innocent adherents, but such an approach seems intellectually
dishonest. It is true that some far-right groups use Pagan symbols and rhetoric
very superficially, but none the less that is one of the manifestations of
Paganism in our times. An interesting question is why one religious tradition,
or the idea of it, gets translated differently in different contexts and by
different actors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] What has the response to your
work been, both from Russian Rodnovers and other Pagans themselves, and from
academics working on these subjects?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[KA]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> To
be honest, I think I have been in a privileged situation because, as I
mentioned before, so much of the early research on Russian Paganism took such a
negative attitude toward it. Therefore, I have got the impression that many
have valued my research as more neutral or objective. Of course, I have also received
feedback regarding some mistakes or what someone has considered as
misinterpretation, and I have valued this too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In
recent decades, the study of Paganism has diversified much and there are
interesting studies on such varied topics as Pagan food culture or biographies
of certain central thinkers. Although I am not very active in studying Paganism
in Russia anymore, I have kept in contact with some of my colleagues and
friends in that field. The situation in the study of minority and especially
newer religions in Russia is quite delicate at the moment. For example, some
prominent scholars have lost their jobs after publicly opposing the labelling of
certain religions or groups as extremists (a label which, in Russia, results in
them being banned). Despite this pressure, I greatly admire my Russian
colleagues who have continued to write balanced analyses of contemporary
Paganism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMrdd_WmBcvTdBm3kZXD4HXlipN6Thf9mQjaXXv11uPkVofjBwHEr3oVoaefw7eD5BEqrpXvlPEhpEv2PjCje7ooInsUxEmD6uJc4rPTpWafaAUKMSl8oBdRr4fYaJa_BA_C8F4tISLY/s648/Aitamurto%2527s+%2527%2527Modern+Pagan+and+Native+Faith+Movements+in+CEE%2527%2527.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="443" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMrdd_WmBcvTdBm3kZXD4HXlipN6Thf9mQjaXXv11uPkVofjBwHEr3oVoaefw7eD5BEqrpXvlPEhpEv2PjCje7ooInsUxEmD6uJc4rPTpWafaAUKMSl8oBdRr4fYaJa_BA_C8F4tISLY/s320/Aitamurto%2527s+%2527%2527Modern+Pagan+and+Native+Faith+Movements+in+CEE%2527%2527.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
With Scott Simpson, you also put together an important edited volume on <i>Modern
Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe</i>, which came
out in 2013. How did this project come about and where do you think the study
of modern Paganism in Central and Eastern Europe stands at the moment? Do you
think that there is sufficient interaction between those working on Pagan
religion in these regions and those working on it in Western Europe and North
America?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[KA]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
idea for that book came from James R. Lewis and when I started to look for
possible contributors, I met Scott Simpson online. Back then, there were
usually one or two scholars of Paganism in Central and East European countries
and it was wonderful to be a part of the process when the networks between
scholars began to emerge. In ten years, the study of Paganism in Central and
Eastern Europe has advanced in “leaps and bounds”. There are more scholars and
active networks. The basic idea of our book was to outline the history and the
current situation of Paganisms in different countries. However, now this field
of inquiry has moved on from just offering descriptions of different
geographical areas into focusing on different aspects of Paganism and using
different case studies to participate in larger debates, whether it is, for
example, politics and Paganism or the debates about indigenous traditions. There
is also much more contact and dialogue between Eastern European and Anglophone
scholars of the topic, although of course there could always be more international
collaboration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Have you explored much of the Pagan scene in Finland? What does that look like?
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[KA]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
have not actively followed the Finnish Pagan community since the 1990s. I thus have
a very partial knowledge of it and am hesitant to say anything general. In the 1990s,
Wicca had a very central role in the emergence of the new Pagan networks in
Finland. Back then, some of the main discussions addressed such issues as the
division between eclectic and traditional Wicca or whether philosophical
Satanism can be counted as a part of Paganism. Reconstructionist groups drawing
on local traditions were rather few and for many the idea of ethnic Finnish
Paganism was associated with certain earlier, marginal far-right groupings.
Since the early 2000s, the interest in pre-Christian traditions in Finland has
grown. In 2014, the first modern Pagan group to successfully gain formal
registration as a religious organization was Karhun Kansa (the People of the
Bear), which follows the Finnish pre-Christian tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Your work has since moved on to look at the presence of Islam in Russia. How is
that progressing and what outputs can we expect? Do you see interesting
parallels, or very distinct differences, between the place of Islam and
Rodnoverie in contemporary Russia? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[KA]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> My
study of Islam in Russia has turned into more of a mosaic or quilt patch than a
coherent research project. When I started to work on this topic I focused on
the “obvious” cases of Islamic organizations and mosques. However, it soon
turned out that Islam as a lived religion cannot be captured by interviewing
the muftis of established organizations and reading the literature, published
by the Muftiates or publishing houses, which are connected to them. This is of
course the case regarding virtually all religions, but I would argue that this
is especially pertinent regarding the Muslim community in Russia. In line with
the political authoritarianization, there is a pressure to channel all Islamic
religiosity to the hierarchical, state sanctioned Muftiates. At the same time,
migration has rapidly diversified the Muslim community in big cities such as
Moscow and St. Petersburg. Even though many local Muftiates make efforts to
reach the new migrant community, they still often seem to represent a
completely different world and are occasionally criticised for not always
understanding the life or even the religious traditions of the migrants. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Although
I had conducted some interviews with the representatives of migrant Muslim
religious communities, I realised that I had very little understanding of how
Islam configures in the everyday life of Muslims. Therefore, I was very happy
to be invited to take part in the project “Migration, Shadow Economy and
Parallel Legal Orders in Russia” that was conducted between 2016 and 2019.
Religion was not the focus of the project, but in our interviews with Central
Asian migrants living in Moscow we also included questions about religiosity. I
am definitely not an expert on Islam among Central Asian migrants in Russia,
but this fieldwork offered me a new perspective on Islamic religiosity in the
European part of the country. I am at the moment in the process of writing an
article on the basis of my fieldwork, but I think that in future, I will focus
more on the publicly available material on Islam while also using the insights
I have gained. A fascinating topic is, for example, how the established
Muftiates and mosques seek to integrate migrants into their community and how
they perceive them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
reason why I have decided to relinquish or at least minimise the role of fieldwork
and interviews is the precarious situation of Islamic actors or Muslims in
general, especially of migrant background, in contemporary Russia. For example,
although in our interviews in Moscow we asked about such sensitive topics as
corruption and harassment by the police, often the questions that scared the
respondents most were whether they attended mosques often and whether religious
networks provided them support in their everyday life. This can be explained by
the fact that under the auspices of its anti-terrorist policies the government has
implemented ruthless repression of religious activists. However, I had already noticed
that even some Russian representatives of the established organizations
preferred to repeat the official rhetoric about the respected position of Islam
in Russia rather than address certain challenges faced by the community.
Therefore, I concluded that the ethical challenges of ensuring that no harm or
discomfort would be caused to the people who are being studied might prove too
demanding. Getting proper access to migrant communities is not impossible for
an outsider and I have some brilliant Russian colleagues who have produced
fascinating ethnographic studies among these groups in recent years. However, that
would require much time on site and unfortunately, I do not have the
opportunity for that at the moment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In
many respect, Islam and contemporary Paganism are on the opposite ends of the
spectrum. Paganism is connected to Russian nationalism and in this way to the “majority,”
while Islam is increasingly often the target of nationalist rhetoric and
Muslims are associated with negative portrayals of migrants. At the same time,
Islam is one of the four so-called “traditional religions” in Russia, the representatives
of which regularly appear in stately events and have meetings with the
President, while Paganism can be argued to belong to the group of new religious
movements, which are still often labelled sects. In their own ways, both
religions are thus infrequently associated with social problems and
consequently are in a precarious position. The similarities and differences in
the challenges these two religions face and the way they respond to them certainly
seem to beg for a closer look. In fact, just before the Coronavirus pandemic I
participated in a conference panel in which we analysed the use of expertise in
those cases where religious minorities like Muslims and Pagans have been
persecuted for extremism. The misuse of anti-extremist laws is a very topical
issue in Russia and I would like to address that in future too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Dr Aitamurto, thank you so much for this fascinating insight into your work. I
wish you the very best in your future research.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-13901212473279139362021-04-20T10:07:00.002+01:002021-05-24T15:18:50.718+01:00An Interview with Dr. Amy Hale<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Today’s interview is with
<b>Dr Amy Hale</b>, an anthropologist and folklorist based in Atlanta, Georgia who
has published on a range of topics since the early 2000s, including modern Celtic
identity in Cornwall, esoteric intersections with right-wing politics, and the overlap
between esotericism and art. Her recent book, <i>Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of
the Fern Loved Gully</i> (Strange Attractor, 2020), represents the most
in-depth study of the eponymous English artist and occultist who made Cornwall
her home and is a must-read for anyone interested in that area. She is also the co-chair of the Contemporary Pagan Studies Section of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and sits on the editorial board of both <i>Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism</i> and the Black Mirror Research Network. We talk about
Colquhoun, the growing body of research on occultism and the arts, and the
place of the “independent scholar” in academia.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDVO5yQ4qJ3BzSktjLzuz0KdHcTw3GDr3Bp_zM7VZfQNK7yKssFBr6pDeChnwUPEu4NOQkoViTEXVPfHNgDgFT0I-3jJ_jX_JOMj6oSezi_M4YrFZcFGbmmcPb75DkwP7sR6X_GUlpV8/s2048/Amy+Hale.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDVO5yQ4qJ3BzSktjLzuz0KdHcTw3GDr3Bp_zM7VZfQNK7yKssFBr6pDeChnwUPEu4NOQkoViTEXVPfHNgDgFT0I-3jJ_jX_JOMj6oSezi_M4YrFZcFGbmmcPb75DkwP7sR6X_GUlpV8/w300-h400/Amy+Hale.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Your PhD thesis in
Folklore and Mythology, which you completed at the University of California,
Los Angeles in 1998, was devoted to modern Celtic identity in Cornwall, a
county (and, in some views, a nation) in the southwest of Britain. What was it
about Cornwall that attracted your interest and brought you all the way over
the Atlantic to conduct research?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> People
are surprised to discover that my interest in Cornwall is not the result of
having any Cornish ancestry. I don’t have any that I know of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My interest started out as a series of
intellectual and theoretical questions which eventually transitioned into an
emotional connection. I had been interested in modern Celtic identities since
high school. A lot of people interested in Celtic culture and history are drawn
to the romance of the mythology and imagined pagan (and Pagan) pasts, but that
was never my thing except for very briefly as a teen. I wanted to explore the
core of what makes people so obsessed with the idea of “The Celts”, although I
wasn’t sure what that meant or where my journey might take me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I majored in Anthropology
as an undergraduate and for my BA thesis I conducted independent research in
Galway, Ireland looking at how Irish mythology was informing contemporary Irish
identities on the eve of the coalescing of the European Union (this was
1989-90).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was during this time that I
realized that the stories so often told about the continuity and spread of
Celtic peoples since the Bronze Age were fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reality of the idea of the Celts is
fragmented, modern and in many ways the result of a mix of colonialism and
efforts at cultural taxonomies that frequently served political interests.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In 1994 I did exploratory
fieldwork toward my PhD in Cornwall, staying with Cornish language speakers and
cultural activists. Cornwall was a site of interest for me because there is
still so much (mainly external) dissention about Cornwall’s Celtic identity and
the legitimacy of Cornish ethnicity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was utterly blown away and very moved by the complexity of the cultural and
political situation there. Likely because I’m an American I get a very
different picture of the Cornish/English cultural dynamic that is invisible to
many English people in particular. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
ended up moving over in 1995 and stayed until 2001, finishing my PhD in 1998
and eventually working as Lecturer in Contemporary Celtic Studies for the
Institute of Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">My interest continues to
be in the political and economic circumstances under which Celtic identities
coalesce, change, and develop. I still see Celtic cultures through the lens of
the dynamics of colonialism and economic and cultural marginalization, and that
is the context which informs my research. In my view Cornwall is still the most
interesting place to explore the dynamic terrains of modern Celtic culture. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is never boring, and I don’t think I will
ever not have a connection with Cornwall and the Cornish people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You have also been
one of the comparatively few scholars to have published research on modern
Druidry, having an article on the subject in the <i>Cornish Studies</i> journal. Was
Druidry part of the main theme of your thesis or a side-project that spun out
of it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Druidry
has never been a primary subject of interest for me, but in the study of the
development of modern Celtic identities you can’t escape Druids, as Ronald
Hutton’s work so clearly shows. It’s really unavoidable. Druids are the blank
slate upon which all sorts of Celtic fantasies can be projected, whether it’s
the idea of an ancient pre-Christian priesthood of a nature-based religion, the
politicized symbol of the shared cultural substrate of an imagined once unified
Britain, or the missing link between a nativist, homegrown British Paganism and
Christianity. Modern Druidic
organizations, both spiritual and cultural, (by which I mean the <i>Gorseddau</i>
of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany) have become important points of focus and networking
for modern Celtic identities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can
take the form of promoting the use of Celtic language in the case of the <i>Gorseddau</i>,
or the way in which many spiritual Druids focus on environmentalism, which has
been widely believed to be a “Celtic” value. Even though these organizations
differ widely in their aims, we can still compare them and see how people
variously understand the idea of a Celtic cultural legacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] During the 2000s, you
were involved in the <i>Journal for the Academic Study of Magic</i> (JASM), which had been
co-founded by Alison Butler and Dave Evans [interviewed <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2012/12/an-interview-with-dr-dave-evans.html" target="_blank">here</a> back in 2012] and which was one of the first
peer-reviewed journals to focus on esotericism and related topics. You
contributed to the second volume and then co-edited the fifth (and final)
edition of the journal; how did you get involved in this project? What was it
like working on British esotericism when there really was little institutional
framework for supporting such research topics?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> In
many ways I think my work with <i>JASM</i> helped to realign my career more
toward the study of esotericism and away from a professional alignment with Celtic
Studies, which in the US is a rather limiting and restrictive field mostly
focused on medieval literature and philology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I became involved when the late Dave Evans, who was a close friend at
the time, was having trouble managing the editorship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I offered to help, and Susan Johnston Graf
and I took over the editing duties for the final edition. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>JASM</i> was a very ambitious project, working
to include scholarship on modern practice as well as including an empirical and
historical approach, which at the time characterized much of the European scholarship
on the esoteric.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sad that it
couldn’t be sustained and I think there could be a lot of promise in another journal
project of this kind, although <i>Correspondences</i> comes close. [The founding editors of <i>Correspondences</i> were interviewed <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2013/08/an-interview-with-jimmy-elwing-and-aren.html" target="_blank">here</a> in 2013].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>JASM</i> also generated a lively research
network for a while and the online discussion used to be very vibrant when
there were fewer opportunities for that sort of interaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it still technically exists as a
mailing list, it has become greatly diminished.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I would really love to
see more institutional support in the UK for solid academic work on esotericism
and Pagan topics. It’s not that it isn’t out there, but there is no journal or organization
that reflects British approaches in the way that I feel <i>JASM</i> did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have always believed that British
scholarship is quite creative and innovative and, in many ways, pushes
boundaries that American programs just don’t. Some of the approaches you find
in British universities, Cultural Studies for example, would lend themselves
well to the study of esotericism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
solid British institutional presence would genuinely enrich the field. I know
this likely sounds odd coming from an American scholar, but I still feel that
the UK in many ways remains my scholarly and professional home base. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Where does your
interest in modern Paganism and occultism come from? Was this an interest you had
had since childhood or something that emerged while you were engaged in your
PhD research?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> It
was absolutely an interest from my youth but I had never anticipated that it
would become such a central part of my wider research profile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as I noted with Druidry, you can’t really
look closely at modern Celtic identities and not end up dealing with Paganism
and the occult. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Sure, I was a weird kid
and interested in witchcraft at a very young age. I had friends, but like many
young people who are drawn to esoteric topics, I was certainly an eccentric
child and I spent much of my free time seeking out wooded areas on my bike,
having imaginative adventures. I discovered the occult in high school when I
started leveraging my eccentricities to more productive social ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a walking cliché, with wild blonde
Stevie Nicks hair, listening to a ridiculous amount of Led Zeppelin. My mom
bought me [Aleister] Crowley’s <i>Magick in Theory and Practice</i> when I was 16. I don’t
think she knew what she was buying, to be honest but she wanted to support my
interests. I was raised in a very confirmed and explicitly atheist household,
but my parents were also tolerant, inquisitive, and smart. They provided a
critical framework for me around religion and spirituality that I retain to
this day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This was around the same
time that I started becoming obsessed with all things romantically Celtic, and
I got a hold of some esoteric Arthuriana from the 19th and early 20th century which was republished in the mid-1980s. Those became a huge focus of
interest at the time. In fact, I still have a huge soft spot for the all the
weird contexts of esoteric Arthuriana and would love to do a major project on
it one day. I didn’t focus on Paganism academically in my undergraduate
curriculum to any degree, but it so deeply intersects with some of the ways
that historical ideas of the Celts have informed modern Cornwall that Paganism
became an integral part of my PhD research. As time went on, Paganism and the
occult became more strongly featured in my work in general. Now I’m the
Co-Chair of the Contemporary Pagan Studies section of the American Academy of
Religion, but I suspect that is less because of my research history and more
because I am a sucker with some slick administrative talents.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Your new book, <i>Ithell
Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully</i> (Strange Attractor, 2020)
explores the Surrealist artist and occultist who spent much of her life in
Cornwall. Can you tell us a little about who she was and how you came to be
fascinated by her story?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Ithell
Colquhoun (1906-1988) was a Surrealist artist and occultist, and I firmly
believe she was one of the most prolific and engaged woman occult practitioners
of the 20th century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was
a visual artist whose archives contain over 5000 paintings and drawings. She
was a novelist, essayist and poet who wrote early Earth Mysteries style
travelogues on sacred sites in Cornwall and Ireland in the 1950s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She moved to Cornwall part time in the 1940s,
full time in 1959, and Cornwall was a central part of her own engagement with her
own romantic Celtic Spirituality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unusually, though, she also had a great deal of respect for Cornish
culture and the Cornish language, and while she was not really a Cornish
activist she advocated for some level of autonomy for Cornwall and the
preservation of Cornish culture. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Studying Colquhoun was a
natural for me as her work and interests were a perfect intersection of my
own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is emblematic of the spiritual
seeker who comes to Cornwall for spiritual reasons, but she also had a nascent
understanding of the political sensibilities that drive ethnic Celtic political
movements. A lot of this was likely inspired in her by the work of W. B. Yeats who
shared these conceptual traits in his life and work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The complexity of her work is utterly
boggling and she still keeps me busy.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEuh1fbsvmO4956qtAiSeztrzkniC7O_nnPya_B5YKjND_E7NMHq-hgqG1zjiHGG_yODdZNTSD-5UVAqi9oAfgH2LyjszHOvOlBq7lufWndIGU8VpK7-0Oux992JiBEjQulL9rlhuSA_k/s1523/Ithell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1523" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEuh1fbsvmO4956qtAiSeztrzkniC7O_nnPya_B5YKjND_E7NMHq-hgqG1zjiHGG_yODdZNTSD-5UVAqi9oAfgH2LyjszHOvOlBq7lufWndIGU8VpK7-0Oux992JiBEjQulL9rlhuSA_k/w263-h400/Ithell.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] There seems to have
been a growth in interest in the connections between art and occultism over the
past decade, a topic that you have explored in several of your publications.
What do you see as the importance of this area of research and what potential
does it offer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
think the strong focus on art that we have seen in scholarship about the occult
in the past decade or so has helped to provide an accessible introduction to
scholarship about esotericism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Art is
tangible. It provides a way to demonstrate how esoteric and occult principles
are used in a way that people can see and maybe even have a personal response
to. In a way literature provides similar points of discussion. What is changing
is that in the past decade we are seeing a movement away from a discussion of
esoteric symbolism in the arts to the role of practice and worldview of the
artist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scholars are no longer fixated
on tracing the freaky social networks and “weird” interests of the artist,
which was a dominant approach in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are now looking at how their art becomes a vehicle for spiritual practice,
and how esoteric ideas shape and inform a wider body of work. Art becomes a way
to discuss practice without jumping straight into ritual, which frankly some
scholars still find a challenge to talk about. It’s been a safe gateway subject
and as such a very popular topic. Also, let’s be honest, the occult has
produced a lot of art and literature! Not all of it is great, but some
certainly is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I do have some concern,
though, that the topic is in danger of being played out. There have been a lot
of books and conferences devoted to it and I think that while there will always
be productive inquiry in this area, as a field I’d like to see us branch out a
bit. I’d love to see more focus on topics like place and space, aesthetic and
style, intersections with science and medicine and yes, ritual. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having said that, I am still finding
interesting and productive angles in my work with contemporary artists
especially in terms of performance, space and reception, which feature in some
upcoming publications. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Another of the
topics that you have published on is the intersection of the modern Pagan and
Earth Mysteries milieus with right-wing politics, especially in forms that have
been influenced by Traditionalism. How did you come to pursue this line of
enquiry and what has been the response from within the Pagan and esoteric
communities? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Again,
this focus emerged from the double headed beast that is the study of
contemporary Celtic identities. A huge core of my work is about how people
construct and perform their identities in various contexts, and this led me
early on in my graduate career into a deep dive into the relationship between
folklore and nationalism, which as many people know, isn’t the prettiest of
tales. Nativist spiritualities ride the ethnonationalism line pretty tightly,
so the right-wing element has always been a historical feature of them. Ithell
Colquhoun was a Traditionalist, as was W.B. Yeats, and these two were hardly
alone in their understanding and embrace of ethnicized spiritual identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Traditionalism as a discrete and
historical philosophical movement is still not particularly well known. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suggest Mark Sedgwick’s <i>Against the
Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the
Twentieth Century</i> for a good introduction. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">During my early research
into Colquhoun, I noticed similar right-wing, nativist tendencies in both the
writings of John Michell and in a lot of the rhetoric around the Archangel
Michael in British New Age and Earth Mysteries culture and I wrote articles on
both those topics. A decade ago, a lot of people thought I was making a
mountain out of a molehill, and some people got genuinely upset with my
research into John Michell and the way he has been claimed and refashioned by
the radical right. I lost friends over that one. But the political landscape
has changed so much since then, that people are now very hungry to understand
what the relationship between Paganism, occultism and the radical right is, and
how it got that way. The seeds have been there all along, but because a lot of
Pagans, especially in the US, see themselves as progressive they are deeply
unsettled by right-wing applications of their values. In fact, many of these
values are just as legitimately emblematic of conservative values, such as
environmental preservation or a love of folk culture. While I know the nature
of my research interests in nativist- inspired spiritualities will always have
me encountering the radical right to some degree, it’s a topic that I need to
take a break from every now and then. Working with contemporary artists has
proved to be a restorative balm for the soul because the political research is
pretty dark.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You operate as an
independent scholar and have run classes helping PhD students consider options
other than professional academia. What do you see as the role of the
independent scholar in research, especially when it comes to the study of
modern Paganism and occultism?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Permit
me to jump on my soapbox a minute about the phrase “independent scholar”. I’m
still not really comfortable with the term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In academic circles it generally
means someone is non-affiliated with an academic institution, but not having an
academic affiliation comes with its own problems when operating in academic
settings. It carries a stigma. We all know it, and no one likes to talk about
it. People quietly wonder what is wrong with you. Independent scholars are
extremely under supported. I can’t apply for major grants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t be a research lead. I struggle for
access to research libraries and academic publications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many people conferences are outside their
reach. Some colleagues won’t consider you for collaboration. For people seeking
academic jobs it’s almost impossible to stay competitive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">taught
for 15 years, and when I became a higher ed consultant I had to drop all my
affiliations as a condition of the job. Then I retired from that job to focus
on my writing and now I’m truly an “independent scholar” because I’m not
anything else, but I’m not sure this is the best label for everyone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe strongly that we should be
encouraging people to pursue other careers outside academia while still being
part of scholarly conversations and production if they so choose, and people
should be supported in this choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
those non-academic careers remain invisible to the scholarly community because people
are labelled as “independent scholars” it doesn’t help to support or legitimize
other career paths, which is something we all need to be doing. Not everyone
wants to be part of the professoriate or work in a university.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I think it would be great
if our academically employed colleagues would help create better conditions for
non-affiliated scholars to feel valued, and support greater access to research
collections and professional libraries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would also be great if more institutions would allow the
non-affiliated to apply for grants!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
small and marginal fields like Pagan Studies, Celtic Studies or the study of
esotericism, there may well be even more scholars without an academic home who
would benefit from collegiality and support.</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">While I would like
to say that independent scholars can have a role of providing critique or
innovation because they are not constrained by the needs of academic
production, I think for many this is not the case because they don’t have the
luxury to work outside such a rigidly defined system or to take chances with
their work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Jumping down off the
soapbox, though, those of us who are genuinely comfortable as scholars not
working within academic institutions do have enormous potential to become
public scholars, take on creative projects, and be innovative in the research
questions we take on. I want people to read my work! I can write about what I
like for whatever publishers I choose and my work is more creative than it has
ever been. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I personally am very happy
with where I am at this stage in my career, but I also admit I’m very privileged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Have you got any
projects on the horizon that we should be keeping an eye out for? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[AH]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Absolutely!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am quite thrilled about a collection coming
out with Palgrave that I edited, <i>Essays on Women in Western Esotericism:
Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses. </i>No publication date yet, but likely
late 2021, early 2022. I have a piece on the occult performance art of Barry
William Hale coming out in a summer edition of the journal <i>Correspondences</i>,
which I’m pretty excited about. I’m also working on an edition of Ithell
Colquhoun’s magical essays, and returning to a big work on Cornwall. There’s a
lot going on and I’m pretty excited about it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Dr Hale, thank you
for taking part in this interview; I look forward to reading your future
endeavours!</span></b></p><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-84927363287461715742021-04-03T14:43:00.003+01:002021-05-24T15:16:19.264+01:00An Interview with Dr. Manon Hedenborg White<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Today, I am interviewing <b>Dr Manon Hedenborg White</b>, a postdoctoral
researcher at</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Södertörn University in Sweden. Dr Hedenborg White is
a specialist in the study of Thelema, the religion founded by famous occultist
Aleister Crowley, on the subject of which she has written an important recent
monograph, <i>The Eloquent Blood:</i></span><i> </i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Goddess
Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">
(Oxford University Press, 2020). She has also co-edited special issues of both <i>The
Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies</i> and <i>Aries:
Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism</i> and contributed chapters to
volumes including <i>Magic and Witchery in the Modern West</i> and <i>Controversial
New Religions</i>. We discuss her new book, the Mexican folk saint Santa
Muerte, and the increasing scholarly attention being paid to gender within esotericism.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Wd3AxBhmooqssaBcCveO9XkKsur1ZL8rf5piHn_gF94hbemDIPnhqkwRugcaV_QXEpgxaEZT1srM17qqfbVtNDv-FCxuq6UZ62RQ4j1AnK77zkk_-3eBLFOoqQ4gXw9-8AMs4_c4g8/s2048/Manon+Hedenborg+White.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1539" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Wd3AxBhmooqssaBcCveO9XkKsur1ZL8rf5piHn_gF94hbemDIPnhqkwRugcaV_QXEpgxaEZT1srM17qqfbVtNDv-FCxuq6UZ62RQ4j1AnK77zkk_-3eBLFOoqQ4gXw9-8AMs4_c4g8/w300-h400/Manon+Hedenborg+White.jpeg" width="300" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Thelema is not a particularly well-known religion, even among scholars of new
religious movements, and Aleister Crowley himself is often misunderstood and
even demonised. For that reason, could you give readers a very basic
introduction to what Thelema is.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Thelema
(Greek for “will”) is the religion founded in 1904 by Aleister Crowley. Its
foundational document is <i>The Book of the Law </i>(or <i>Liber AL vel Legis</i>),
a text Crowley held was dictated to him by a discarnate being named Aiwass. The
central maxim of Thelema is “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”
and the related “Love is the law, love under will”. Rather than an injunction
to follow each impulsive whim or desire, this refers to what Crowley described
as the “true Will” — the unique purpose of each life, which it is incumbent on
each individual to discover and fulfil. <i>The Book of the Law </i>(and
Crowley’s later interpretations thereof) suggests a dialectical ontology,
centring on the generative coupling of the goddess Nuit, representing limitless
space, and her consort Hadit, the infinitely condensed life-force of each
individual. Their ecstatic union generates Ra-Hoor-Khuit, a manifestation of
the Egyptian god Horus. This is important as <i>The Book of the Law </i>also heralds
the advent of a new age in the spiritual evolution of humanity (with Crowley as
its prophet), which Crowley later identified as the Aeon of Horus, and which he
believed would be characterised by radical social transformation, the union of
the spiritual and material, and a focus on individual liberation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Crowley’s
system of Magick combined ceremonial magic in the style of<i> </i>the Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn with yogic techniques he learned while travelling in
India, Ceylon, and Burma. After joining the initiatory fraternity Ordo Templi
Orientis and being made head of its British section in 1912, Crowley also began
experimenting systematically with sexual magic, and came to view sexuality as a
supremely potent magical force. Crowley has frequently been demonised due to
his advocacy of sexual freedom – and not least the fact that he was openly
bisexual – as well as his liberal use of drugs and engagement with various
forms of social and religious transgression. Of course, many of the ideas he
espoused relating to sexual liberalism and individual self-development are much
more mainstream today, so I think it’s fair to say that Crowley was ahead of
his time in many ways. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Where does your interest in occultism come from? Is this something that you’ve
had from childhood/young adulthood or did it develop while you were at
university?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I’ve
held this interest since childhood, though it took many years for it to take
form. When I was very young, my grandfather used to read to me from a children’s
book of Greek mythology, which I adored. When playing make-believe with my
friends, I’d adopt the names of Greek goddesses or mythological women like
Ariadne and Atalanta. When I was five or six years old, my father introduced me
to his Thoth Tarot deck (the tarot deck co-created by Crowley and the artist
Frieda Harris), which we used to play around with and draw cards from. Growing
up, I was fascinated by “fringe” religious movements and belief systems, and
was attracted to occultism, but didn’t have a context for it at all — none of
my friends held similar interests, so I mostly explored magical worlds in
fiction and films (though I briefly ran a secret society of my own – the Order
of the Mistletoe – complete with degrees and initiatory pledges, which I
recruited my siblings into). I devoured anything I could find that pertained to
witches, vampires, demons, secret societies, arcane rites, or ancient paganisms,
and wrote short stories and spin-offs to my favourite novels. Donna Tartt’s <i>The
Secret History</i> exerted a huge fascination, as did Marion Z. Bradley’s <i>The
Mists of Avalon, </i>and anything related to ancient Egypt<i>. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I
was also fascinated by stories about pacts with the Devil, watching Polanski’s <i>The
Ninth Gate</i> in my teens. It became (and remains) an instant favourite. Like
many people in my field (or so I’ve heard), I remember thinking that being an
occult “book detective” (like the film’s protagonist, played by Johnny Depp) would
be a dream gig! But it wasn’t until I began attending university that I realised
this was something I could seriously pursue, and which could even turn into a
profession. I studied social anthropology during my first semester, but quickly
moved on to history of religions as this seemed to be the way to go if one
wanted to pursue PhD studies around an esoteric topic (which I decided halfway
into my first semester at university that I wanted to do). Though Lucifer
hasn’t materialised before me on any of my research trips (at least not yet),
my teenage self would have been over the moon to learn that she would get to
sift through arcane manuscripts and study magical rituals for a living. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Related to the previous question, what led you to choose the specific PhD topic
that you pursued? Did the topic shift over the course of your research?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> From
the outset of my academic studies, I was interested in the nexus of (Western)
esotericism, gender, and sexuality. One of my earliest undergraduate papers
focused on a comparison between the Virgin Mary and the Thelemic goddess
Babalon, who appears in Crowley’s visionary record<i> </i>of 1909 and is
inspired by his favourable re-interpretation of the Whore of Babylon from the
Book of Revelation. This project subsequently turned into my first
independently authored peer-review article (published in Swedish in the journal
<i>Aura </i>in 2011), and – gradually – into a PhD project proposal on the
changing construction of femininities and feminine sexuality in the discourse
around the goddess Babalon from Crowley until today. I was fascinated by the
way in which a biblical antagonist could be reshaped as an emblem of divine
femininity in the early-twentieth century, and – especially – the ways in which
it seemed to challenge pervasive notions of femininity and feminine sexuality in
wider society around that time. In the early twentieth century, even feminists
mostly tended to focus their political efforts in the area of sexuality on
protecting women from sexual harm and damage — and won crucial political
victories in doing so. But there were few who actively and unapologetically
celebrated female sexual desire – and especially outside of a monogamous,
heteronormative context – so it was quite a radical move for Crowley and his
followers at this time to envision the divine feminine in the form of the whore
goddess Babalon, celebrating the free expression of sexuality in all its forms,
for all genders. I wanted to understand what this symbolic reconfiguration
meant for the understanding of femininity and women’s roles, and how it evolved
over the twentieth century and up until today in the interface with feminist
and queer thought (which have impacted the contemporary occult landscape in
many ways). The end result – my dissertation – remained relatively faithful to
the original idea in terms of topic and materials, though my theoretical
framework evolved considerably, and came to incorporate theorisation on
femininities, femme, and sex radical feminist perspectives that I hadn’t
considered to begin with. One of my PhD supervisors, Professor Ulrika Dahl
(Uppsala University), is a trailblazer in the field of critical femininity
studies and was instrumental to bringing these tools to my awareness. The work
of feminist theorists such as Luce Irigaray, Mimi Schippers, Rosi Braidotti,
Ann Cvetkovich, and Ulrika herself has been absolutely indispensable to me in
learning to think about femininities – in the plural – beyond rigid binaries of
essentialism/constructivism, both as symbolic constructs and modes of being
that are not predetermined either by a specific biological morphology nor by
heterosexuality. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
As part of your research you’ve placed quite an emphasis on Thelemites other
than Crowley, including those whose most significant work took place after
Crowley’s death (Jack Parsons, Marjorie Cameron, Kenneth Grant etc). Although
there are others who have done this (namely Martin P. Starr and Henrik Bogdan),
academic discussion has primarily focused on Crowley himself rather than on his
followers. Where do you think scholarship stands when it comes to Thelema
beyond Crowley? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
study of (Western) esotericism is still fairly young in an academic context, so
of course there are still a lot of gaps in what has been researched. I mean, we
still lack solid, academic biographies for many of the foundational figures of
modern occultism, not to mention their disciples! Within the last few decades,
there have been major advances in the study of Crowley and Thelema, but of
course there is still work to be done, not least in terms of situating the
ideas of Crowley and the other Thelemites within their historical, cultural,
and social contexts. Crowley is such a colourful character, whose <i>oeuvre </i>and
life story are so rich with possibilities for scholarly exploration that he sometimes
tends to overshadow those around him. But of course, religious or esoteric
movements are rarely the sole creation of a singular individual. I think there
is something to be said for viewing early Thelema not solely as Crowley’s
invention, but as the product of a social milieu wherein others participated
and made meaningful contributions. Martin P. Starr’s <i>The Unknown God:
Wilfred T. Smith and the Thelemites </i>(Teitan Press, 2003)<i> </i>is a great
example of this, as is <i>Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism </i>(eds.
Henrik Bogdan and Martin P. Starr, Oxford University Press, 2012), which also
shows how Crowley’s ideas have been developed in later forms of esotericism. Going
forward, I hope to see more of this, in addition to sociological and
ethnographic scholarship on Thelema (as well as other forms of esotericism) in
a contemporary context, showing how Thelemic practices and beliefs have evolved
over time in the interface with other forms of esotericism as well as social
and political movements.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Your thesis combined historical analysis with ethnographic work among
contemporary Thelemites, especially in the United States; if I understand
correctly, that makes you one of the first scholars to publish research based
on ethnographic work among Thelemites. How were you received among these
Thelemites and subsequently how have Thelemites (and other Crowley-oriented
occultists) responded to the publication of <i>The Eloquent Blood</i>? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> My
experience doing fieldwork among contemporary Thelemites was overwhelmingly
positive. My interlocutors were a very well-spoken, easy-going crowd, with a great
sense of humour and a genuine interest in academic research on their tradition.
I am tremendously grateful for their time and input, and not least the help I received
in accessing unpublished archival sources, which has been invaluable to me.
Many of those I got to know during my fieldwork remain my good friends. I am also
very happy to say that the general response to my book from the Thelemic
community and beyond has been very positive: many Thelemite readers (as well as
other esoteric practitioners) have reached out to me with positive feedback,
and I frequently receive speaking invitations from various branches of the
Thelemic community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Of
course, there have also been critical comments: for some readers, mere mention
of words such as “gender”, “feminism”, or “Judith Butler” seems to provoke indignation.
Conversely, I have also been accused of being anti-feminist as I am seen as defending
a “stereotypical” or passive femininity. It’s true — things like lipstick, high heels, garters, and sexual availability do figure in many (but of course not all) esotericists’ rituals, artistic renditions, and imaginings of Babalon. I don’t see this as inherently problematic or oppressive to women, and I take seriously the ways in which such aesthetic styles and practices entail both receptivity and agency. Moreover, I don’t view it as my job as a scholar to rate or judge esoteric movements or practitioners according to my own personal standards of empowerment or liberation. To some, this reads as a betrayal of feminist ideals. I think this is telling — as I address in the book, femininity has often been seen as a problem, even within many feminist circles; as an artificial, debilitating mask that women must discard in pursuit of liberation. As a scholar, I find such readings of femininity too simplistic. Firstly, viewing femininity as something exclusively performed for the benefit of the male gaze marginalises queer feminine desire, and secondly, I feel it is important to consider the ways in which all gendered expressions are, to some extent, culturally constructed. Thirdly, vulnerability and restriction (as some conventionally “feminine” aesthetic styles may certainly connote!) do not preclude agency, and I am inspired by femme and sex radical theorists in this regard. I find these reader responses interesting, as they indicate how femininity is still a tender spot, something that incites disdain as well as desire. But most of all, I am happy to see all kinds of responses to the book as it means it is being read — this, to me, is the most gratifying thing of all.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVzMOqQWaZr0aRa_bP6pBHwfd9oKt4WNmxOMdv65BDqWQJkOQmOAcX9sZWBYBxzaOtDhWrTGyFppCkLFm_5jEhh_yb1ZR2SGYcRqPenXVEvqZGs_CrpgSpBJWPkmfUvB5NxKT6_RB-DjY/s705/The+Eloquent+Blood.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="460" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVzMOqQWaZr0aRa_bP6pBHwfd9oKt4WNmxOMdv65BDqWQJkOQmOAcX9sZWBYBxzaOtDhWrTGyFppCkLFm_5jEhh_yb1ZR2SGYcRqPenXVEvqZGs_CrpgSpBJWPkmfUvB5NxKT6_RB-DjY/w261-h400/The+Eloquent+Blood.png" width="261" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
One of the most striking features of <i>The Eloquent Blood</i> is that it draws
from theoretical perspectives rooted in critical theory, feminist philosophy,
and related currents of thought. Although various historical works on
Spiritualism and Theosophy have certainly been informed by women’s studies,
generally speaking these theoretical approaches are not something we see a lot
of in the study of esotericism; do you think that these sorts of approaches are
going to have a much greater impact on the field going forward and what do you
feel they are bringing to the table? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> It
is difficult for me to answer this question succinctly as I think critical
theory and gender and queer studies have tremendous potential for the study of
esotericism. These paradigms have been essential to my development as a
scholar, and my manner of thinking and asking questions about the topics that I
study is completely informed by a critical approach to established categories
and binaries. Gender and feminist theory allows us to think about very concrete
things like: why were Theosophy and Spiritualism attractive to many first-wave
feminists, while contemporary Satanism has tended to attract a higher number of
men? How and why did early-modern alchemy function as a forum in which women
alchemists were able to construct theories about gender that could challenge
official notions of men’s and women’s social roles? What are the historical
inspirations for the idea of gender as a polarity, as seen in the writings of
late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century writers on sexual magic, and what
were the implications of these ideas? And why are young LGBTQ folks today
turning towards – and creatively reformulating – currents and practices like
astrology, witchcraft, and tarot? These, and countless other examples,
demonstrate how questions of gender are not peripheral to the study of
esotericism, but are central to the ways in which esoteric currents have taken
form and developed over time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
academic study of esotericism has often overlooked gender, resulting in
frequent obscuration of the experiences and contributions of women and
gender-nonconforming persons, but also to esoteric masculinities being
under-examined. There has been much excellent research aimed at addressing this
imbalance, especially in recent decades, and there will certainly be more — I
am particularly looking forward to Professor Christine Ferguson (University of
Stirling) and Dr. Tanya Cheadle’s (University of Glasgow) forthcoming special
issue for <i>Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism </i>on
“Masculinities, Sexualities, and Esotericism”. However, I often find that
gender is still viewed as supplementary or “add-on” knowledge within the study
of esotericism; as something that is primarily of relevance to those who are
particularly interested in women, rather than something with the potential to
challenge the way we think about esoteric currents, groups, and thinkers at a
general and conceptual level. Given the historical marginalisation of women and
femininities from hegemonic institutions of knowledge production and scientific
rationality, the notion of esotericism as “rejected knowledge” (as pioneered by
Wouter J. Hanegraaff) could productively be engaged from perspectives of
gender. Conversely, a gender perspective can also highlight how esoteric
epistemologies, while in some sense rejected from these institutions, have also
reproduced hegemonic logics that have subordinated women, people of colour, and
gender and sexual minorities. It is also interesting to note that historically,
the marginalisation of Platonic worldviews coincident with the advent of Western
modernity also paralleled with a gradual transition from a hierarchical model
of gender to a model of biological, sexual dimorphism and complementarity.
Thus, knowledge of the ways in which esotericism has developed in relation to
the cultural mainstream also helps us understand changing notions of gender. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
You’ve just edited a special edition of <i>Aries: Journal for the Study of
Western Esotericism</i> devoted to “Rethinking Aleister Crowley and Thelema.” Could
you tell us a bit more about this?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> As
noted, Crowley has attracted serious scholarly attention in the last few
decades, but much fertile soil remains for scholarly interventions
contextualising his ideas and those of his followers historically and
culturally. With this special issue, I wanted to bring together a selection of
essays that approach the study of Crowley and/or Thelema in novel ways.
Christian Giudice (independent scholar) explores Crowley’s early poetry,
proposing a re-evaluation of the British occultist as a genuine representative
of British Decadence. Henrik Bogdan (University of Gothenburg) analyses the
concept of God in Crowley’s magical writings, situating the latter within contemporary
tensions of modernity, disenchantment, and disillusionment with organised
religion. Matthew Fletcher (University of Bristol) examines Crowley’s <i>The
Book of Thoth </i>(1944), linking Crowley’s decision to change the names of
several tarot trumps to his wish to rid the tarot of Christian influences in
favour of the tenets of Thelema. Deja Whitehouse (University of Bristol) traces
Frieda, Lady Harris’s relationship with Crowley’s Thelema, thus providing new
context for the collaborative relationship that birthed the Thoth Tarot.
Finally, my own article explores the role of Crowley’s lover and disciple Leah
Hirsig (1883–1975) through a Weberian lens, proposing an addition to Weber’s
tripartite typology of authority in the form of “proximal authority” — authority
ascribed to or enacted by a person based on their real or perceived closeness
to a leader. It is my hope that the publication of this special issue will give
rise to new discussions and approaches, and inspire further revisitation of
familiar topics in novel ways.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
With Fredrik Gregorius, you also have an article in the journal <i>Religions</i>,
looking at the uses of the Mexican folk saint Santa Muerte within the Anglo-American
occult milieu. It’s a fascinating topic; how did you come to pursue it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This
has been a fascination of mine for some time. It started while I was travelling
in the U.S. in 2012. Visiting <i>botánicas </i>(stores selling religious goods,
medicinal herbs, oils, perfumes, incenses, et cetera), especially in California
and Texas, I increasingly came across statues and paraphernalia depicting a
robed, Grim Reaper-esque figure — the Mexican folk saint Santa Muerte
(literally “Saint Death” or “Holy Death”). Looking into the origins of this
figure brought me to read R. Andrew Chesnut’s <i>Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint </i>(Oxford University Press, 2012), from which
I learned that Santa Muerte is seen as an extremely powerful and
non-judgmental miracle worker. Traditionally something of a patroness for marginalised
or disenfranchised people in Mexico – women, the working classes, LGBTQ people,
and sex workers, as well as for people involved in both sides of the drug war
– she has become increasingly popular on both sides of the Mexico–U.S.
border. Doing fieldwork among occult practitioners in the U.S., I came across
Santa Muerte statues in the homes and ritual spaces of many of my
interlocutors. I’ve also had the opportunity to visit and attend services in
shrines to Santa Muerte in the U.S. and Mexico, including what is likely the
most famous one — the Santa Muerte shrine in Tepito, Mexico City. I find the
cult of Santa Muerte to be a fascinating example of lived religion and the ways
in which it can function as a site of resistance, and it’s something I would
love to research further at some point. Sadly, my current Spanish skills aren’t
sufficient to do fieldwork in Mexico, but maybe someday? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
With Professor Christine Ferguson of the University of Stirling you launched
the Esotericism, Gender, and Sexuality Network (ESOGEN) as part of the European
Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) in 2019. Could you tell us
more about the launch of this group and what you see as its role within the
study of esotericism?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Affiliated
with the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, ESOGEN is a
thematic network that aims to bring together research efforts around the nexus
of esotericism, gender, and sexuality, and organise funding bids, conferences,
and panels around these topics, and promote inter-disciplinary dialogue between
scholars and students. Our inaugural event will be ESOGEN Symposium, an
international one-day Zoom conference organised in collaboration with the
Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, taking place on
April 16 this year. This event will feature paper presentations from around 20
MA and PhD students, as well as a keynote lecture by Christine. We will also be
hosting a panel discussion at the next ESSWE conference (taking place in Cork,
and scheduled for 2022) around the topic of Western esotericism, gender, and
the creative arts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
You are presently engaged in a postdoctoral project at Södertörn University on
the subject of “Power through Closeness? Female Authority and Agency in a
Male-Led New Religion” as part of which you were looking at Thelemite women
Leah Hirsig, Jane Wolfe, and Marjorie Cameron. Can you tell us more about this
new project?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> In
a sense, the purpose of this project has been two-fold. Firstly, it has aimed
to analyse 20th-century Thelema through the perspective of some of the women
who were essential to its development: the Swiss-American music teacher Leah
Hirsig (1883–1975), who was Crowley’s lover and disciple in the early 1920s,
and co-founded his Abbey of Thelema at Cefalù, Sicily; the American silent film
actress Jane Wolfe (1875–1958), who studied under Crowley at Cefalù and was
integral to the establishment of Thelema in the U.S. in the 1930s and 1940s;
and the artist, poet, and avant-garde icon Marjorie Cameron (1922–1995). To
that end, I have been working with archival sources, mostly unpublished:
diaries, letters, ritual descriptions, visionary records, and so on, in order
to understand these women’s lives and esoteric practices at the intersection of
gender, sexuality, and alternative religiosity. Secondly, the project utilises
these women’s roles in Thelema as a starting point for an investigation of
female religious authority. To that end, I’ve been drawing on scholarship on
women in new religious movements more broadly, and have proposed an addition to
Max Weber’s tripartite categorisation of authority: proximal authority, which I
define as authority ascribed to or enacted by a person based on their real or
perceived closeness to a leader. My hypothesis is that the category of proximal
authority is particularly productive for understanding how women (and other
potentially marginalised groups) navigate authority via close relationships,
and in a future project I will be developing this terminology based on a
broader range of case studies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW]
Are there any new projects of yours in the pipeline that we should keep our
eyes out for?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[MHW]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Right
now, I am involved in two book projects, both of which focus on women in 20th-century
Thelema. With Dr. Christian Giudice, I am co-editing a volume entitled <i>Women
of Thelema, </i>to be published by Kamuret Press, comprising a selection of
historical essays on some of the most important women in the Thelemic
tradition. With Professor Henrik Bogdan, I am working on an annotated edition
of the magical diaries of Leah Hirsig, 1923–1925, which has been accepted for
publication by Oxford University Press. This will be the first academic,
annotated, and complete edition of Hirsig’s diaries from a crucial period of
her life and magical career, and will feature a selection of contemporary
letters as well as previously unpublished photographs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[EDW] Dr Hedenborg White,
thank you for this insight into your ongoing research. I wish you all the best
for the future.</span></b>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-25457410416577694042021-03-28T10:11:00.001+01:002021-03-28T10:15:19.024+01:00An Interview with Dr. Jennifer Snook<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This week I have the
pleasure of interviewing <b>Dr. Jennifer Snook</b>, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology
at Grinnell College in Iowa. Dr Snook is one of the foremost scholars of Heathenry,
a modern Pagan religion inspired by the pre-Christian traditions of linguistically
Germanic communities, of which she is also a practitioner. Her monograph, <i>American
Heathens: The Politics of Identity in a Pagan Religious Movement</i> (Temple
University Press, 2015), is one of the most important scholarly studies of this
new religious movement. We discuss her role as a practitioner-scholar, the
polarised politics of the Heathen community, and areas of the subject in need
of further research.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuJXYXtuC8aoaSy2_t9r_pfYftVSTV0wuhbP_VgZq2pmXfgMJXp2nIk_bEAYk9F9FCotjLEwkCZ_bxPBj-IuN4tGuPU8L-8oRW7kETuE71tqwVTVjMMUIaYYD5_v_fVEVXtGVVZtZ5jk/s1280/Jennifer+Snook.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuJXYXtuC8aoaSy2_t9r_pfYftVSTV0wuhbP_VgZq2pmXfgMJXp2nIk_bEAYk9F9FCotjLEwkCZ_bxPBj-IuN4tGuPU8L-8oRW7kETuE71tqwVTVjMMUIaYYD5_v_fVEVXtGVVZtZ5jk/s320/Jennifer+Snook.jpg" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] When it comes to
forms of modern Paganism, Heathenry is smaller and not so well known as Wicca.
For the benefit of those readers who may not be familiar with it, could you
explain what Heathenry is?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JS]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">
Heathenry is an umbrella term for the milieu of Germanic Paganisms. It’s what
some scholars have referred to as a “reconstructionist” Paganism, as
practitioners are inspired by the Eddas and Sagas as well as the archaeology,
folklore, histories and religious beliefs of the people of pre-Christian
Northern Europe. Many Heathens try to approximate “authentic” historical
reconstruction, based upon their perception of the beliefs and practices of Old
Norse religion, and some prefer to use that material as inspiration for
spiritual or ritual innovations. Heathenry has actually grown in the past few
years thanks to Marvel’s Thor movies, and shows like History Channel’s <i>The
Vikings</i>, which romanticises and cobbles together bits of history and
fantasy about ancient Heathens – as well as games like <i>Assassin’s Creed
Valhalla</i>. “Vikings” in the media get people interested in the lore and
history and ultimately some of these fans find their way to Heathenry, once
they realize that there are people for whom these stories are sacred.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] In <i>American
Heathens</i>, you are quite open about being a practitioner of Heathenry
yourself, having been introduced to modern Paganism through Teen Wicca in the
mid-1990s. What drew you to this alternative religious practice and how do you
feel it has informed your research on the subject? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JS]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">
Like most Gen-X Heathens, I came through Wicca because it was the most
accessible and popular form of Paganism, and it was a hot topic in the 1990s
primarily due to how it tapped into the anxieties of people still freaking out
from the Satanic Panic of the 80s and early 90s. Up until that time, I </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">channeled</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> my deep nerdiness and
interest in witchcraft, German myths and legends, and swords and sorcery into
Norse-Flavored Wicca. Then once day in 1998, I sat down at my computer, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">dialed</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> into Compuserve, and found an
article on the internet called “The Pentagram and The Hammer,” which
articulated the differences between Wicca and Heathenry, or “Ásatrú” as it’s
sometimes called. I hadn’t heard that there was a particular name, set of
practices, and Germanic-history-focused Paganism before, and it struck me as a
revelation. It became part of my identity. When I began my work years later, I
was pretty clear that it wasn’t just an academic exercise, but that Heathens
were the audience for my work. I wanted them to feel seen, and not simply
observed. I wanted to do it in a way that would both protect, and challenge,
the Heathen community that I was a part of. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4iOnbUVvWtwSAT3oMgEM1yXnbhR6bw3uVmvNUq6InJK0uXCsyBhgUlOv3z5UzhyphenhyphenHSRoo6cUhK5_5xbNhKeUAb_SNt3yLDCvvSVDD0jTtBvUzNWB3VxsjTCX-zS4TXPxodeixm0Cv-jE/s499/American+Heathens.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4iOnbUVvWtwSAT3oMgEM1yXnbhR6bw3uVmvNUq6InJK0uXCsyBhgUlOv3z5UzhyphenhyphenHSRoo6cUhK5_5xbNhKeUAb_SNt3yLDCvvSVDD0jTtBvUzNWB3VxsjTCX-zS4TXPxodeixm0Cv-jE/s320/American+Heathens.jpg" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You earned your PhD
from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2008; how much does <i>American
Heathens</i> draw upon your PhD research and what led you to conduct this
particular project to begin with?</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JS]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <i>American
Heathens</i> hangs upon the skeleton of my dissertation. I started my fieldwork
in 2002 when I got to Boulder, but continued fieldwork until 2014 when I turned
in my book manuscript. So there are years of fieldwork and interviews included
in my book that were not yet completed when I graduated – and a major revising
of my theoretical framework, plus the addition of a few new chapters. The
entire idea for this project came out of my pre-existing interest in
contemporary Paganism, my own immersion in it, and the realization that many
ethnographers conduct auto-ethnographic work, studying sites in which they are
already situated. So I logged on to the internet and found myself a Heathen. We
met at a coffee shop and he invited me to join him at a blot (Heathen ritual)
with some Boulder / Denver area Heathens – and the research began
spontaneously. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Over the years, I
realized how I’d really stumbled into something not just intellectually curious
about the construction of a new religious movement, but also a microcosm of
American hierarchical power dynamics that played itself out in gender, race,
identities, and political labelling. When Heathens spoke about how “Heathen”
something was, I understood – as a sociologist – that they were producing and
sharing in an entire system of meaning around that label. In the field, when I
watched American Heathens playing “Viking Games” like “capture the wench,”
while chatting with Heathen women about how they imagined themselves as
Valkyries or Shield Maidens, I understood that there was a gendered nature to their
relationship with Heathenry. The hypermasculine “Viking” stereotype and
“warrior” ethos was the other side of the gendered coin, influencing all
genders’ performance of Heathenry, and this seemed notable. Right away, I
understood that Heathenry also held an appeal to white nationalists at the same
time that many anti-racist white people experienced a sacralized connection to
Old Norse religion and lore as a marker of ethnic identification. There were so
many interesting sociological questions coming out of these rather immediate
observations that the project snowballed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] How did you find
that your work was received, both during your research and after publication? Did
you feel that sociologists of religion and scholars in other fields were
interested? <i>American Heathens</i> explored topics like gender and race, and
perhaps because of this there have been Folkish Heathens* who have responded
negatively to it, regarding it as being too motivated by left-wing thought; how
do you respond to that kind of reception?<br />[* = Folkish Heathenry is a wing of the religion that generally argues that Heathen practice should be restricted to members of a putative Northern European/Germanic/Nordic racial group. Typically it is characterised as being politically right-wing to far-right.]<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JS]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">
During my research people were often very supportive, and often very aloof.
Heathenry has no shortage of people saying that they are “doing research,” or “writing
a book.” Heathens expect this – they joke about how Heathenry is “the religion
with homework,” and so my work wasn’t particularly interesting to them, save a
select few. And other scholars have found my work valuable, particularly those
interested in new religious movements, subculture, or Heathenry’s link to white
nationalism, and there are an increasing number of scholars interested in
Heathenry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In regards to my response
to the criticisms of Folkish Heathens – I generally don’t respond. Sociology as
a field is criticised by the right-wing in general, on principle – as are any
disciplines whose line of work demands a critical engagement with structures of
power and are therefore labelled “left-wing.” These politics bear themselves
out daily in the labelling of “liberals,” or “feminists,” or other-such
“political opponents” of those on the Right. My work is in the mix – and let’s
be clear – the subtitle of my book is “The Politics of Identity…” so the book
is situated firmly in sociological literature and self-consciously and
explicitly about the impact of political labeling in the process of
meaning-making, boundary maintenance and identity construction among Heathens. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Back in 2019, you
spent some time here in Britain. Did you have much contact with British
Heathens and if so, did you note any particular differences between the British
and American Heathen communities?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JS]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I was living in London from August-December of 2019 and during
that time, had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with the folks of
AUK (Ásatrú UK) up in Bedford at an Air BnB weekend-retreat. Then I met back up
with a couple of those AUK Heathens in London at their regularly-scheduled pub
meet-up. The differences are largely cultural – because UK Heathens were born
and live on the land that they imagine their pre-Christian Heathen ancestors
inhabited, there is a certain cultural and historical continuity that U.S.
Heathens do not have. The Neolithic sites that you and I visited together have
deep spiritual significance to Heathens (and other Pagans), because they
imagine their pagan forebears at those same sites thousands of years ago. So
they have a different relationship to the land and their own history than
Americans do. In addition to this big difference, I noticed a lot of
similarities. The AUK contains members that have had a lot of experience in The
Troth [a U.S.-based Heathen organisation] and others who are similarly
inspired, and so much of their ritual form and practice mirrors what I had
already seen a thousand times in the U.S. It was very familiar, and the
conversations were the same - about the antics of Folkish Heathens in the UK,
about anti-racist activism and outreach, in addition to conversations about
personal ritual and practice, gods and land spirits. I am friends with many of
these people on social media and we are all still in touch, in whatever
ephemeral way that people online stay in touch, and they still help me with my
work when I have questions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] While there had
been earlier work by the likes of Mattias Gardell, Jeffrey Kaplan, and Jenny
Blain, this had tended to focus on narrow topics such as white nationalist
Heathenry or seiðr, and it was really only in the 2010s that we saw the growth
of academic publications focusing on what we might call ‘mainstream’ elements
of Heathenry. Your work obviously has played a major role in that, followed up
by other publications by scholars like Jefferson Calico. This being the case, where
do you think the academic study of Heathenry stands at present and what areas
do you believe could do with greater academic treatment? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JS]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">
A lot of scholarship continues to focus on the white supremacy problem in
Heathenry, as mass-shooters and insurrectionists in the U.S. appropriate Nordic
symbols and the public begins to ask questions and scholars have to answer
them. This is unavoidable. I’d like to see an update on my work on the role of
social media and popular culture in shaping newcomers to Heathenry, as their
discursive online community shapes and influences growth. It would be nice to
see a sociological treatment of the political divisions that have widened the
chasm between left and right leaning Heathens since Trump’s campaign in 2015.
These things matter because new religious movements are realms of meaning that
shift with the fluidity of cultural and political change. I think the most
useful work on Heathenry will take into account the political roots of the
meaning and interpretation of lore or ritual, moving beyond descriptive
accounts. Few, if any, scholars have engaged deeply with the increasing
popularity and significance of the god Loki to nonbinary and LGBTQ+ Heathens –
I would be excited to see that done. And of course there’s a growing gaggle of Academic
Heathens and Paganisms scholars brainstorming how to recover Heathenry from the
clutches of growing white nationalism and white supremacy, and so more
public-facing sociology and scholarly outreach is urgent. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Are you continuing
your research on Heathenry or have you moved on to a different project? Do you
have any forthcoming projects that we should be keeping an eye out for? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[JS]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
have considered a variety of other field sites, but my presence among Heathens
and interaction with other scholars of Paganism keeps me firmly embedded in the
thought-world of Heathenry. I have three projects going right now. The first
project is an old project, a data set from a questionnaire that I was just
wrapping up when we returned back from London and stumbled right into a
pandemic that shut down the world – and our College data lab. The analysis of
this data is in the works and sure to birth more projects. The second topic is
a documentation of the rise of Inclusive Heathenry in the U.S. and Europe in
direct response to the increase in right-wing activity. How this branch of
Heathenry came about in this political, historical and cultural moment is
another example of how new religious movements are creatures of their time and
place. It challenges the image that Heathens are primarily Folkish,
right-leaning straight guys – because they get all the media. The third project
I’m thinking about is how Heathens imagine Place – as so many of them idealize,
make reference to, visit, think about, and find places in Northern Europe
sacred, or at least significant, in their imagining of their pre-Christian
forebears. This connection between place and identity is not a new field of
scholarship, but connecting all of the Heathen pieces to it – about ethnicity,
race, ancestry, belonging, peoplehood, sacrality, land – is particularly
interesting to me in the American context in which U.S. Heathens do not live
on, and were not born on, the lands from which Heathenry comes. As an
additional piece to that, I’m curious about how American Heathens conceptualize
indigeneity – and not just in the sense that Folkish Heathens have appropriated
“indigenous” identity and politics as a shield against political criticism –
but in the sense that Heathens conceptualize, honor, and practice intentional
ritual to connect with the land spirits and indigenous heritage of the tribal
lands upon which they are situated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[EDW] Dr Snook, many
thanks for this insight into your work. I look forward to your future projects.</span></b>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-76639592121032971312021-03-21T22:33:00.007+00:002021-03-28T10:58:21.766+01:00An Interview with Dr David G. Robertson<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">From 2012 to 2015 I ran a
series of interviews here at Albion Calling with scholars (both professional
and independent) who worked on topics pertaining to what might best be termed
‘alternative’ religions. Now, in collaboration with the <a href="https://wrldrels.org/about-us/" target="_blank">World Religions and Spirituality Project</a> (WRSP) run by the Virginia Commonwealth University, I’m
relaunching this series in the hope of interviewing more scholars engaged in
research on this fascinating topic. First up I am fortunate to have with me <b>Dr David G. Robertson</b>, Lecturer
in Religious Studies at the Open University here in the UK. I’ve been really
interested in Dr Robertson’s work since reading his fascinating first
monograph, <i>UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age: Millennial
Conspiracism</i>. He has since moved on to produce a forthcoming work on the
concept of “Gnosticism” and has taken on the helm as co-editor of the journal <i>Implicit
Religion</i>, becoming one of the foremost voices arguing for the critical
study of religion here in the UK. Many readers will however know him best as the co-creator of the <a href="https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/" target="_blank">Religious Studies Project</a>, the podcasts of which have interested many of us over the past decade.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzD3hL7wCEX6OmnWxQL0XYesJLPgWztSUV1aw9FPd_K1IJzY33IB4CGOdD4Spevc87OFLuUZV4VLY3kFkmjZMgTDJiyDzVLCMfj7RZnjUh6xfoVcL-brj1fKY73Cbz8xD8BwMxWh9uwKk/s370/David+G.+RObertson.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzD3hL7wCEX6OmnWxQL0XYesJLPgWztSUV1aw9FPd_K1IJzY33IB4CGOdD4Spevc87OFLuUZV4VLY3kFkmjZMgTDJiyDzVLCMfj7RZnjUh6xfoVcL-brj1fKY73Cbz8xD8BwMxWh9uwKk/s320/David+G.+RObertson.png" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Your PhD thesis,
and then your first book – <i>UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age:
Millennial Conspiracism</i> (Bloomsbury, 2016) – dealt with the place of
conspiracy theories and UFOs in the New Age milieu of the late twentieth and
early twenty-first centuries. Many readers may not understand why UFOs and
conspiracy theories are being studied by a scholar of religion; how would you
explain this project to them?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
fact that it’s not <i>obviously</i> religion is part of the point. Religion is
a hugely contested category, and the more you look into it, the less clear it
becomes. It is in things that are on the edges of the category where the
processes by which the category is maintained become most clear. And the point
is not for me to ask is this religion or not, but to think about why others
classify certain things as “religion” and not other things? Is religion “belief
in supernatural agencies”? Is it a community who hold a similar worldview? Is
it a set of ideas about transcendence? Each of those applies to UFOs and
conspiracy theories as well as to things we usually identify as religions.
These questions – and the processes of the politics of knowledge they reveal –
are what makes this project interesting from a scholarly perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">But funnily enough, it
showed me that the approach of Religious Studies – which uses ideas and methods
from history, sociology and anthropology – is applicable more widely than
simply those groups we can usually classify as “World Religions”. It allows you
to bridge sociological models and individual beliefs and practices in ways
which are vital to understanding contemporary worldviews – including religions,
but also conspiracies, ideologies, and any other case where identities, belief
and social structures interact.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hbAX1KSiUPa5pohJq9khK3FsEmRczhcBhqh2gT0zGtkObDDQmbDi8dHNQsTvTkFO9cKaTlvSINtzWwUczSgFXBqt7L55C0ShGWAseP6SQYDLintrHyGGBhX-kXtMRQrovoOJ3ItGITQ/s630/UFOs%252C+Conspiracy+Theories+and+the+New+Age.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="420" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hbAX1KSiUPa5pohJq9khK3FsEmRczhcBhqh2gT0zGtkObDDQmbDi8dHNQsTvTkFO9cKaTlvSINtzWwUczSgFXBqt7L55C0ShGWAseP6SQYDLintrHyGGBhX-kXtMRQrovoOJ3ItGITQ/w266-h400/UFOs%252C+Conspiracy+Theories+and+the+New+Age.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You talk a little
bit about your background in the prologue to your monograph, where you describe
yourself as “a lifelong atheist,” but I’d be interested to learn more about
what got you interested in religion, Ufology, and conspiracism to start with?
What led you to decide that this was the PhD topic you wanted to pursue?</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> I
always found interesting ideas interesting, even if I never really had any kind
of religion or ideology of my own. It’s really that simple. As I approached
thirty, I realised that maybe I should be working with ideas, and decided to go
to university to train my ability to think. I initially considered philosophy,
but I eventually took Religious Studies, focusing on the New Testament and
Koine Greek. I loved the historical investigation, but it felt like everything
had already been done, and I didn’t fancy spending my career butting heads with
the more religiously-motivated scholars. I was getting more and more interested
in New Religions anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The specific topic came
to me when I came across a reference to David Icke in a book on the history of
the New Age movement. Now, being a decade older than most of the other
students, I remembered his famous interview on the Wogan show, and I was also
aware of his later conspiratorial material too. So I started to wonder how he’d
gone from one to the other. I was never primarily interested in UFOs though –
they’re the McGuffin of the story. They were a way to focus the huge amount of
material into a coherent narrative, and to develop the argument of shared
discursive objects (like UFOs) facilitating a transfer of ideas across
different areas of the cultic milieu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Your research topic
was, I think it’s fair to say, somewhat unusual. How did people receive it?
Particularly, I’m wondering how it was received both by your fellow scholars of
religion and also by those who espouse the sort of UFO-based and conspiracist
beliefs that you were examining?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Some
examiners and reviewers have certainly been dismissive, even indignant,
especially early in my career. Most of the scholars I met were intrigued,
however, including some quite conservative people. RS scholars love novel areas
of research. Nobody else was really looking at religion and conspiracy (or not
that I knew of at that time, at least), so there weren’t special conferences or
journals or anything. I had to work in mainstream venues, so I put a lot of
effort into the theoretical issues, and how to justify my work within Religious
Studies. And of course, I wasn’t getting opportunities to teach on conspiracy
theories, it was all Religion 101, so that tightened up my broader knowledge of
the discipline, as did starting the Religious Studies Project.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I’ve had largely positive
responses from the groups I’ve written about. They thought I treated them
fairly and reported things accurately, even if they didn’t always agree with
all my conclusions. I put it down to just common decency. I didn’t patronise
them, and I made it clear that I wasn’t out to write a hatchet piece. In fact,
I stayed in touch with some of them for a while, they were mostly pretty sweet
and interesting people. I remember someone saying in a review that I’d
misrepresented Whitley Strieber in an encyclopedia entry, and being able to
respond “Well, Whitley said I’d done a better job of describing his career in
1500 words than he could”! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Since the
publication of your monograph, you’ve also brought out the <i>Handbook of
Conspiracy Theories and Contemporary Religion</i> (Brill, 2018), co-edited with
Asbjørn Dyrendal and Egil Asprem, in which you bring together contributions
from a broad range of academics. Where do you think the scholarly study of
conspiracy theories is at the moment and where would you like to see it headed?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Over
the last ten years or so, there’s been a move to seeing conspiracy theories as
a global phenomenon, and much more focus on the cultural significance. Much of
the work prior to this was more concerned with exposing “wrong thinking”.
Clearly, the broader cultural relevance is easier to see in the last five or
ten years, and there are many more research projects being funded today than
previously, although I do have concerns with the normative character of some of
these. Conspiracy theories inherently challenge power – governments as well as
academia – and scholarship that legitimises the control of free speech and free
enquiry in the name of controlling conspiracy theories is more likely to get
funding then that which addresses the systemic reasons that people are less
inclined to trust authorities, or the state’s own use of narratives of a
conspiratorial Other, for example.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The next step is to begin
to conceptualise conspiracy theories as an intrinsic part of the episteme of
the Post-Truth world. Do they, as Bruno Latour, Steve Fuller and Erica
Lagalisse have suggested, represent a popularised version of critique, and so a
“levelling up” sophistication in popular discourse? Perhaps this
democratisation of the means of knowledge production is precisely why
conspiracy theories threaten the traditional institutions of political and
epistemic power, and those who benefit from their hegemony. Why are some
irrational beliefs challenged in the public sphere, and others defended?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvfpWkhqyK83KWlyDKKoexMrMxr8ubG1dnBM9CusPgoqM-nlkOkqNWCjCJjoH7Td1k3Np5srvDYD_86kc66jdNRIyoiTecD5__Dk_QMGrSwxWK6NYuekeCJH8WTn4TZm82TqZrApWCaE/s2048/Handbook+of+Conspiracy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvfpWkhqyK83KWlyDKKoexMrMxr8ubG1dnBM9CusPgoqM-nlkOkqNWCjCJjoH7Td1k3Np5srvDYD_86kc66jdNRIyoiTecD5__Dk_QMGrSwxWK6NYuekeCJH8WTn4TZm82TqZrApWCaE/w265-h400/Handbook+of+Conspiracy.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] The existence of
conspiracy theories has really been brought to mainstream attention since your
monograph appeared, especially through the emergence of QAnon, discourses about
“fake news,” and conspiracist ideas pertaining to Covid-19. Do you think that
there has been a genuine change in either the content or popularity of
conspiracy theories in Western countries in the past five years, or is the
growing visibility primarily a result of increased media attention?</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> It’s
partly a result of media attention, and partly the increasingly polarised
relationship between “official” and unofficial knowledge. With the benefit of
hindsight, it’s hard to see how the current QAnon stuff is so substantively
different from McCarthyism, or the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s, or
beliefs about Jews in the early twentieth century. When I was growing up, the
IRA – a religious, political and nationalist movement – were regularly bombing
sites in the UK because they thought there was a Royalist Protestant plot
against them. Large numbers of people will believe quite extreme things about
other groups of people with alarming ease. Religious ideas and supernatural
beliefs are held by the majority of people, and they are no more “rational”
than conspiracy beliefs, and they can lead to violence too. But the category
“conspiracy theory” is relatively recent, not being really in mainstream use
until the 1990s. The distrust of institutions has increased steadily since then
– as has the gap between rich and poor – and with it the perceived need to
protect the institutions they challenge against the barbarians at the gate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You’ve moved your
research focus away from conspiracy theories and are now working on a critical
history of Gnosticism in the so-called “History of Religions” paradigm, on the
subject of which you have a forthcoming book. Could you tell us about this
project and what it reveals? Do you feel that “Gnosticism” a term that scholars
should be using, or would we be better off abandoning it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
book is a history of how scholars (and others) took a term for heresy in the
second century AD, transformed it into a religion in the nineteenth century and
then again into an ahistorical religious essence in the twentieth. It’s a really
interesting case study in this sort of reification because almost everything we
think we know about Gnosticism was already in place before we discovered the
Nag Hammadi texts, and even though they challenged what had been hypothesised
from the accounts of Church Fathers, those ideas stubbornly persist in
Religious Studies (though not in Biblical Studies). The historical narrative
should make it clear that if you choose to use the term, you’re not referring
to any historical reality, but rather to a narrative about some kind of pure,
elite religious knowledge straight out of the Eranos meetings and the
phenomenological History of Religions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDtr77RFMyodwVQM7GYhlUUgsJ_NWtSdx0jfvFC86-M-G5FdIqEicTRKlKfCMclpsvgGroJ0eQ_O61r_FgjhHAC6N5S2-JU7Xy1iYl3AIC8ecat5Ebjl0pzNqcF3xRlmnDlYk3x_VtAo/s750/Gnosticism+and+the+History+of+Religions.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDtr77RFMyodwVQM7GYhlUUgsJ_NWtSdx0jfvFC86-M-G5FdIqEicTRKlKfCMclpsvgGroJ0eQ_O61r_FgjhHAC6N5S2-JU7Xy1iYl3AIC8ecat5Ebjl0pzNqcF3xRlmnDlYk3x_VtAo/w266-h400/Gnosticism+and+the+History+of+Religions.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] With Christopher
Cotter, you co-edited the volume on <i>After World Religions: Reconstructing
Religious Studies</i>, published by Routledge in 2016. Could you tell my
readers a little bit more about the concept of “world religions” and why you
have joined other scholars in critiquing its utility? If we shift-attention
from teaching about the so-called “world religions,” how do you think we can
best teach about religion, whether in schools or universities?</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> There
are really a lot of problems with thinking about religions through the World
Religions paradigm. First, why is it always the same five traditions? If it’s
numbers, then why is Judaism there, and not, say, African or Greek traditions?
If it’s importance, well, how do we ascertain that? The answer is that the WRP [World Religions Paradigm] presupposes a Protestant Christian model of religion, so religions are ranked
on historical proximity to Christianity (so, Judaism) and on similarity –
whether or not they have scriptures and priests, or offer a message of
salvation, and so on. It also hugely misrepresents the religious lives of
adherents – we “know” that Buddhists are pacifists, Catholics believe in
transubstantiation and the Vedas are the sacred texts of Hinduism, yet none of these
things are true of the majority of adherents to those religions. It
oversimplifies the historical and vernacular diversity of traditions to create
these monolithic entities, which usually marginalises non-elite voices like
women and the poor. And it ignores that people don’t necessarily belong to a
single religion in the way we tend to in the West.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The important thing to
remember is that the concept of ‘world religions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> – and indeed, ‘religion’ –
comes from a particular historical context: colonialism. It’s the equivalent of
the Tree of Life with humans as the pinnacle of evolution, except here it’s
Christianity as the paragon of religions. The religions of people that the
Victorians weren’t interested in ruling or trading with were simply ignored. It’s
high time that the way we teach about religion moves past “descriptions of the
strange beliefs of foreigners”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The book is focused on
teaching, so there are lots of suggestions in it for how to teach after world
religions. My approach is to say to the students, “I’m not going to tell you
what religion is – I’m going to help you to see all the different ways that
people understand it, and for you to get better at seeing which one is at play
at any given circumstance.” Then we can take some examples chosen to show when
these different models come into dispute – like yoga being banned in schools in
Alabama, or whether racist nationalist Christians are “really” Christians, or
whatever. This gives them a really useful toolkit for thinking about people,
wordviews and societies, not just a set of inaccurate “facts” about some
religions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] With Carmen Becker
you co-edit the peer-reviewed journal <i><a href="https://journals.equinoxpub.com/IR" target="_blank">Implicit Religion</a></i>. This isn’t a
term that will be widely understood outside certain academic circles, so can
you explain what you mean by the term “implicit religion” and what you see as
the journal’s aims?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> “Implicit
religion” is the name of the journal, and no more. We inherited it when we
inherited the journal from Edward Bailey. Implicit Religion was his thing, the
idea that anything that people found profoundly meaningful was essentially
religious, whether they thought so or not. It has some fans, but was never
widely used in RS, and I certainly had no interest in it. When he died, Equinox
wanted to reinvent the journal as a critical religion journal, and approached
me because of my work with the Religious Studies Project. We recently added the
subtitle, <i>Journal for the Critical Study of Religion</i>, to make it clearer
that it’s really a different journal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Carmen and I want to
focus on cases on the borders of the category, where the ideas of what religion
is – implicit or explicit – come into play. So we’ve had issues on how religion
is conceptualised in the law, in nationalism, in Alcoholics Anonymous, features
on how scholars study non-religion and Scientology, and a retrospective on
Timothy Fitzgerald’s <i>The Ideology of Religious Studies</i>. We’ve built an
incredible editorial board which brings together the best critical scholars
from Europe and North America. I’d urge anyone who’d be interested in
contributing to get in touch with me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] You are also a
co-founder of the <a href="https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/" target="_blank">Religious Studies Project</a>, which is a really excellent
website on which you feature recorded interviews with scholars working on the
study of religion. What led you to establish this site, how did it get off the
ground, and what do you see its role within the field?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Chris [Christopher B. Cotter] and I were graduate students together at Edinburgh. We’d been hanging out, and
one night I suggested we could record a few seminars and put them out as a
podcast. The idea developed, and we recorded our first interviews at the BASR [British Association for the Study of Religion] conference in 2011. That was ten years and about four hundred episodes ago. Now
it’s a whole international team, we’re a registered charity and we’re expecting
to hit a million downloads this autumn. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The aim was to demystify
Religious Studies a bit, presenting ideas in an accessible way and in a
natural, conversational style. But we also wanted to embed the whole think in
the critical paradigm, always bringing it back to broader theoretical issues
about the category “religion”. It’s funny to think of a whole generation of
scholars coming up having listened to the RSP, but if it means that they have
internalised some of the critical approach, it will have been worth it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] We are seeing a
decline in the popularity of most humanities subjects at the undergraduate
level, at least in Britain, and that probably doesn’t bode well for the study
of religion as an academic field. How is the field faring, and what do you
think are its prospects for the future? Do you think its future health will
necessitate greater reliance on independent scholars and on academics working
in other (arguably institutionally stronger) disciplines like history and anthropology?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
humanities have been hit hard in the UK through the neoliberalisation of higher
education (the introduction of student fees) and the financial crash of 2008,
which led to research funding cuts. Religious Studies was always a small
subject, but it isn’t faring too badly, in fact – though this isn’t too clear
from the way the figures are counted (Philosophy, Religion and Ethics courses,
for example, are actually growing, but aren’t counted part of Theology and
Religious Studies by UCAS). Moreover, the WRP has meant that departments have
been increasingly staffed by area specialists, further weakening the
disciplinary identity. So we are still vulnerable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Religious Studies has two
major issues to overcome, however, if it is to thrive as an academic subject.
We lack institutional power, because almost every RS department is controlled
by religiously-motivated scholars, as are all the bodies who make decisions at
policy level or funding research. For such people, RS is at best “the other
religions”, or at worst an atheist upstart out to undermine them. This brings
me to the second point: we have failed to make the case publicly or
institutionally for the unique contribution and value of the social-scientific
non-confessional study of religion. If we cannot do so, then we cannot hope to
move the public discourse on religion forward. I personally think that the two
are related – we cannot hope to make the case so long as we are shackled to
those in whose interest it is that we don’t. Either RS has to start cutting
ties and work to establish itself among the social sciences, or we should move
into sociology and anthropology departments and stop shoring up theology
departments with the student numbers and interdisciplinary potential we bring.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Are there any other
projects of yours that we should be keeping an eye out for? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[DGR]</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> If
you like melodic prog rock, you might like to check out my new album at <a href="https://zenarchy.bandcamp.com/releases">https://zenarchy.bandcamp.com/releases</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[EDW] Many thanks for this
insight into your work, Dr Robertson, and I wish you all the best for the
future.<br /><br />This interview is also available at the World Religions and Spirituality Project website (</span></b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>https://wrldrels.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Wessinger-Edit.-Robertson-interview2.pdf</b></span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">).</span></b></p><p></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-22622837478288589252020-04-18T21:56:00.003+01:002021-02-11T15:09:47.420+00:00From David Bowie to UKIP: My 2019 Roundup<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The past year has been a
busy one, during which I completed my PhD on the archaeological and historical
evidence for the religious uses of watery places in early medieval England. It
is hoped that this research will see publication in the coming years, alongside
other smaller projects that I have been undertaking on the early medieval
period and its reception in subsequent centuries.</span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">2019 also saw the
publication of my second book, an edited volume put together with the Israeli
historian and scholar of religion Shai Feraro (who I interviewed here <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2014/08/an-interview-with-shai-feraro.html">back
in 2014</a>). The volume is titled <i><a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030155483">Magic and Witchery in the
Modern West: Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of ‘The Triumph of the Moon’</a></i>.
As its title suggests, it has been put out in honour of <i>The Triumph of the
Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft</i>, Professor Ronald Hutton’s
ground-breaking work on Wiccan history that first appeared in 1999 (but which
has just been re-released in a newly revised edition by Oxford University Press).
Hutton has been kind enough to produce an afterword to the edited volume, which
also contains chapters on modern witchcraft and related topics by Feraro, Hugh
B. Urban, Helen Cornish, Jenny Butler, Sabina Magliocco, Sarah M. Pike, Léon A.
van Gulik, Manon Hedenborg White, and Chas S. Clifton. My own contribution,
“Navigating the Crooked Path: Andrew D. Chumbley and the Sabbatic Craft,”
represents the first scholarly biography of Chumbley, an influential
figure in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century occult scene and
one of the foremost figures in the “Traditional Witchcraft” milieu. The book
has been published by Palgrave Macmillan as part of their series on Palgrave
Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic. Like many academic volumes, it
isn’t exactly cheap, but those interested in buying a copy can keep an eye out
for the publisher’s next sale.</span><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_-sn331e-CrDmwdTz92NbAWPIU7g7HyKnQhBYfe8BLqSv_5zAB5NVjnz4ZsVtYJXGpO4wR45Ay74_CDACSa31F4hfGut0wVgMmQ1C0bydhsd55t7-k20QoI3iZhyUoSIF3nG_37MFuA/s960/Magic+and+Witchery+in+the+Modern+West.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="683" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_-sn331e-CrDmwdTz92NbAWPIU7g7HyKnQhBYfe8BLqSv_5zAB5NVjnz4ZsVtYJXGpO4wR45Ay74_CDACSa31F4hfGut0wVgMmQ1C0bydhsd55t7-k20QoI3iZhyUoSIF3nG_37MFuA/w285-h400/Magic+and+Witchery+in+the+Modern+West.jpg" width="285" /></a></div></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I have also had two of my
articles published in peer-reviewed journals over the past year. One of these,
titled “<a href="https://correspondencesjournal.com/18603-2/">“One Magical
Movement from Kether to Malkuth”: Occultism in the Work of David Bowie</a>,”
has appeared in volume seven of <i>Correspondences: Journal for the Study of
Esotericism</i>, an excellent open-access publication that allows anyone to
read its online contents for free. The article offers the first scholarly
appraisal of how Bowie drew upon forms of occultism in creating his music. As a
Bowie fan, I have long been interested in this side of his oeuvre, a topic that
clearly intrigues many others given the considerable amount of online speculation
about it. A conference held in the summer of 2018 at Goldsmiths, University of
London, “Decadence, Magic(k) and the Occult,” permitted me the opportunity to
delve deeper into this subject, resulting in the <i>Correspondences</i>
article.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The second of these two
articles explores another theme that interests me, the intersections of
religion, heritage, and politics. Specifically, the article focuses on the
contrasting attitudes toward Christianity and Islam within the UK Independence
Party (UKIP), the right-wing group whose successes at the ballot box paved the
way for Brexit. Titled “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcs/article-abstract/61/3/381/5303803?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Christianity,
Islam, and the UK Independence Party: Religion and British Identity in the
Discourse of Right-Wing Populists</a>,” the article appears in the sixty-first
volume of the <i>Journal of Church and State</i>, published by Oxford
University Press. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I have also continued my
work as a book reviewer for various journals, including <i>Nova Religio: The
Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions</i>, <i>Time and Mind: The
Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture</i>, and the American Academy
of Religion’s <i>Reading Religion</i> website, on whose editorial board I
continue to sit. For the latter I have reviewed books on <a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/fairies-demons-and-nature-spirits">fairies</a>,
<a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/charms-liturgies-and-secret-rites-early-modern-england">early
medieval rituals</a>, <a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/magical-house-protection">the material
evidence for counter-witchcraft</a>, and <a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/paranormal-and-popular-culture">the
paranormal in popular culture</a> over the course of 2019. All of these are
available online for free, for anyone who might take an interest in such
topics.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-28769198782156397042018-12-21T15:38:00.005+00:002021-02-11T15:08:18.065+00:00From Antinous to Traditional Witchcraft: My 2018 Roundup<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">Following on from <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2018/02/folkish-heathenry-and-modern-satanism.html">my roundup of 2017 publications</a>, I thought it time to take stock of the past year and provide a
brief overview of my scholarly output over the past twelve months. With such a
profusion of academic journals existing and new monographs and edited volumes
appearing all the time, it can be difficult to keep up with the specific topics
of one’s interest, let alone research in one’s broader field. It is certainly
the case that my recent research will not be of interest to everyone, but I
hope that this quick round-up might alert interested persons to certain
publications of mine which might otherwise pass them by. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">Two of the articles that I have had published
this year have explored the boundaries between the modern Pagan milieu on the
one hand and the modern Satanic and Luciferian milieu on the other. Too often
these are seen as completely separate phenomena, often by practitioners with
vested interests in policing their taxonomic boundaries in certain ways.
In “<a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/asrr/content/asrr_2018_0999_10_9_50">Between the Devil and the Old Gods: Exploring the Intersection between the Pagan and Satanic Milieus</a>,” published in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review</i>, I tried to tackle
this issue head on, providing three case studies that illustrate how modern
religious groups can mix and match elements and strategies from both milieus.
This argument will not, of course, surprise many specialists in these fields,
but I thought it important to provide a specific and focused examination of
this issue given that nobody had done so before. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">The second article is a more refined
exploration of a particular sector of the contemporary occult scene: “Traditional
Witchcraft”. This is a term that has become increasingly popular among Pagans
and Luciferians since the early 1990s, and has attracted commentary both from
many occultists and from scholars observing the subject, among them Ronald
Hutton, Helen Cornish, and myself. In “<a href="https://brill.com/abstract/journals/arie/18/2/article-p188_2.xml">The Creation of “Traditional Witchcraft”: Pagans, Luciferians, and the Quest for Esoteric Legitimacy</a>,” published in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aries: Journal for the Study
of Western Esotericism</i>, I provide the first full-length academic discussion
of this increasingly popular term and why it has proliferated in recent decades.
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">My work on the modern Pagan veneration of the
god Antinous – the deified boyfriend of the Roman Emperor Hadrian – has continued
with a new article discussing several issues raised by the movement’s use of
archaeological and historical material: “<a href="http://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/IJSNR/article/view/37618">Archaeology, Historicity, and Homosexuality in the New Cultus of Antinous: Perceptions of the Past in a Contemporary Pagan Religion</a>.” Modern Paganism brings to the fore interesting questions
regarding present-day people and their relationship with the past and I hope
that this article encourages others to begin thinking more about these issues
as well as contributing to greater dialogues between those who study modern
Paganism, reception studies, ancient history, and archaeology. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The article stems from work done for <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2014/06/my-reflections-on-new-antiquities.html">the 2014 ‘New Antiquities’ conference</a> held at the Free University of Berlin and has appeared
in a special issue of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">International
Journal for the Study of New Religions</i>. It is also appearing in <a href="https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/new-antiquities/">an edited volume arising from the conference</a>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New
Antiquities: Transformations of Ancient Religion in the New Age and Beyond</i>,
that Equinox are bringing out imminently.</span></div><div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajZCBsbEpFfZ1iEOL7N0R4DtpDa8zW-kJYwkzq-d1v0Fc5FfpSgL3adr3s2-5-xUdCW6nFO2Xe5wN_O8rcqKhpsUZsx0NyK7ufWHVsboE3fihlXr1fcU9oqWi-Hs4KU2l_QBflke-sxo/s525/New+Antiquities+Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajZCBsbEpFfZ1iEOL7N0R4DtpDa8zW-kJYwkzq-d1v0Fc5FfpSgL3adr3s2-5-xUdCW6nFO2Xe5wN_O8rcqKhpsUZsx0NyK7ufWHVsboE3fihlXr1fcU9oqWi-Hs4KU2l_QBflke-sxo/w266-h400/New+Antiquities+Book.jpg" width="266" /></a></div></span></div><div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">Those looking for an introduction to the modern
Antinous movement might be interested in the article of mine which appeared in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nova Religio</i> back in 2016 (<a href="http://nr.ucpress.edu/content/20/1/32">here</a>), or the
entry on the topic which I was asked to write for <a href="https://wrldrels.org/">The World Religions and Spirituality Project</a> (<a href="https://wrldrels.org/2018/06/19/the-new-cultus-of-antinous/">here</a>). This useful website has been set up to provide overviews
of a wide range of religious groups and individuals, and unlike most academic publications,
access is entirely free. This year I also wrote the project’s entry on a
related form of ‘Queer Paganism’, a Wiccan tradition known as The Minoan Brotherhood
(<a href="https://wrldrels.org/2018/10/01/minoan-brotherhood/">here</a>). Formulated for gay and bisexual men, the Brotherhood were founded in
the 1970s and draw much of their imagery from the archaeological evidence from Bronze
Age Crete. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">I’ve also remained active as a book reviewer for
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nova Religio</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture</i>,
and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reading Religion</i> website, on
whose editorial board I presently sit. Published by the American Academy of
Religion, Reading Religion is a fantastic free resource that anyone could (and
should) read. Over the past year I’ve reviewed books on <a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/nordic-neoshamanism">neoshamanism</a>, <a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/vexed-devils">early modern witchcraft</a>, <a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/rise-contemporary-spiritualism">Spiritualism</a>, and the <a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/spirits-crossbones-graveyard">Crossbones ritualists</a> for the site. I’ve
also dipped into reviewing exhibitions again, in this instance <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17432200.2018.1442255">the British Library’s exhibit on magic</a> for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Material
Religion</i> journal.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">2019 looks set to be a big year for me. I have
several new publications scheduled to appear, including a co-edited volume, and
will also be rounding off my PhD research into popular religious practices in
Anglo-Saxon England. What happens then… who knows what the Fates have in store!
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
</div>
Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-34658473318490203342018-12-11T13:10:00.002+00:002021-02-11T15:10:31.537+00:00Two Calls for Papers for special editions of The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Those with a keen
interest in the academic study of modern Paganism should be very familiar with <i>The
Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies</i>, the foremost (and
indeed, only) peer-reviewed scholarly journal devoted to the field. Always on
the lookout for new submissions, <i>The Pomegranate</i> has recently issued a
number of CfPs for special themed issues, each edited by a particular editor:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Impact of
Traditionalism on Contemporary Magical Communities</span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Traditionalism is a
philosophical school which has significantly impacted religious communities and
political movements in the twentieth and twenty first centuries, yet it remains
virtually unknown among scholars and the general public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet when Steve Bannon cited Réne Guénon and
Julius Evola as key influences in formulating his political positions, this
inspired new interest in the history and ideas informing the growing Alt Right.
However, both Guénon and Evola have been known within Pagan and occult
communities for decades as esoteric theorists. Overall, the tenets of
Traditionalism, which include Perennialism, the cultivation of an initiated
elite, the notion of cyclical time, a past golden age and anti-modern
sentiments, have increasingly impacted Pagan and occult communities, as some of
these ideas are complementary to Pagan and occult aesthetics, values and
practices.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This special volume of <i>The
Pomegranate</i> would feature articles examining the ways in which
Traditionalism has influenced Pagan and occult subcultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Topics could include:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">·<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traditionalism and Pagan or esoteric
publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">·<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The intersection of Traditionalist ideas
with Pagan values and ethics.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">·<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neofolk music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">·<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traditionalism and Polytheism,
Reconstructionism and Heathenry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">·<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pagan and occult themes in
Traditionalist theory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">·<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The impact of Traditionalist debates in
various orders, such as the O.T.O.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">·<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The impact of Traditionalism on historic
individuals relevant to Paganism, for example W.B. Yeats or Kathleen Raine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Please note that while
papers may reflect the impact of Traditionalism on the Alt Right or New Right
in relationship to these topics, that we would like to ensure that we focus on
relevant philosophies and frameworks explicitly inspired by Traditionalism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you would like to contribute to this issue
of <i>The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies</i> edited by
Amy Hale, please submit an abstract of 300-500 words to amyhale93@gmail.com by
April 1, 2019.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Final Submissions of
5000-8000 words will be due August 1, 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Digital Pagan and Occult
Practice</span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Potential topics may
include, but are not limited to Pagan and/or Occult intersections with mobile
technologies, game design, programming, hacking, social bots, trolls, sock
puppets; spellcasting in OSNs (on-line social networks); on-line covens;
software as spell crafting; virtual familiars, fetches, and spirit homes;
blogging and Craft community ; digital spaces and virtual collectives of
marginalized witches; young Millennial and GenZ Pagans in on-line spaces; Pagan
generational gaps and the ‘digital divide’; digital chaos magick, both historic
and contemporary; ritual magick in virtual spaces or with digital tools;
challenges in the ‘Nature vs. Technology’ binary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">What is the current
interplay between digital technologies and Pagan and Occult practice? Many
deliberately distance their Craft from new media technologies, seeing
screen-based mediation as antithetical to a nature-based practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet many Millennial and GenZ Pagans and
Occultists embrace these new tools. While earlier generations of Pagans used
sites like Witchvox.com to find fellow practitioners, the rapid development of
commerical on-line social networks, such as Facebook, present new avenues for
Pagans and Occultists to pursue community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Digital spaces have created myriad new tools
and opportunities for magickal practice, from Phantasmaphile’s WitchEmojis to
the mass binding spell on President Donald Trump. Online magickal practices,
tools, and actions leverage the power of vast social networks, making normally
hidden and secretive acts highly public — sometimes as a side-effect, sometimes
deliberately. Millennial and GenZ Pagans appear to use sites such as Facebook,
Tumblr, Instagram, Reddit, and Twitter for their practice in a radically
different way from older users. But is this actually the case? And if it is,
are Millennial and GenZ beliefs and practices also different? Indeed, numerous
blog posts on Patheos - Pagan have consider this question, with discussions
ranging from ‘validity’ to a consideration of how digital natives adopt new
technologies for magical practices. But are these new trends in on-line magical
practice also new religions? Do Millennial and GenZ Pagans and Occultists have
a different relationship to the gods and spirits and, if so, is this because of
digital technology? Is there really an on-line schism between GenZ magical
practitioners and older generations, or does it just appear that way on
Instagram?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">But these publicly
available and searchable Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr feeds are only the
most forward facing manifestations of Digital Paganism. What of ‘back end’
digital magick? On-line social networks are rich with (or polluted by,
depending on your perspective) social bots, trolls, and sock puppets, which are
software and account behaviors used to skew the appearance of popularity and
therefore algorithmic rankings. Chaos magicians used software code in their
operations from the 1990s onwards, yet there has been little written about this
practice since the explosion of social media technologies in the last decade.
MySpace, which is arguably the first widely adopted social media platform, come
out in 2006; the first iPhone in 2007; the incredibly rapid development and
adoption of these information technologies is astounding. It seems obvious that
Pagan programmers would adopt these new technologies towards their practices,
but where are they? What are they doing, and why has this become so hidden,
even as so-called “aesthetic witchcraft” has become so popular? There are
certainly Pagans and Occultists building divination and astrology apps, but are
they also discrete apps as spells? Or are their spells entirely backend? How do
digital technologies (including OSNs, video games, mobile apps, AR, and VR, and
other forms) present new ways for Pagans and Occultists to Know, to Will, to
Dare, and to Be Silent? What are the roles of gender, race, age, class, and
global location in the adoption and manipulation of digital media technologies
for the pursuit of Hidden Knowledge? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">And if there is a
generational schism growing between GenZ and older generations of magickal
practitioners, what might this mean for the future of Paganism in an
increasingly networked and connected global society?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">If you are interested in
contributing to this special issue of <i>The Pomegranate: The International
Journal of Pagan Studies</i> Please, email an abstract (200 – 400 words) to
Heather D. Freeman (heatherfreeman@uncc.edu). Heather D. Freeman is Professor
of Art – Digital Media at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and
Director/Producer of the feature documentary <i>Familiar Shapes: The Story of
Social Bots, Early Modern Witches, and How Information Technologies Reveal Them</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-33270941757741709812018-02-01T13:57:00.001+00:002021-02-11T14:30:38.226+00:00Folkish Heathenry and Modern Satanism: My 2017 Publications<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">2017 was a busy year for
me as my PhD research continued apace, and unfortunately several other
projects, such as this blog, fell by the wayside somewhat. However, I was able
to get a few academic publications out reflect the increasing diversification
of my research interests and which may interest some of those reading this blog.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The <i>Journal of
Religion in Europe</i> published my article on “<a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/jre/10/3/article-p241_241.xml?language=en">Northern
Gods for Northern Folk: Racial Identity and Right-Wing Ideology among Britain’s
Folkish Heathens</a>,” itself based on a presentation given at the “<a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2015/09/reflections-on-generation-hex-politics.html">Generation
Hex: The Politics of Contemporary Paganism</a>” conference held at Cambridge
University in September 2015. This article was the first sustained exploration
of Folkish Heathenry in Britain to be published in an academic form and
hopefully offers a useful complement both to Mattias Gardell’s excellent work
on Folkish Heathenry in the United States and to <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2014/06/an-interview-with-dr-robert-j-wallis_4.html">Robert
Wallis</a> and Jenny Blain’s research into Universalist Heathenry in Britain. I
also hope that it serves as a timely reminder that although in the popular
imagination modern Paganism is often stereotyped as a left-wing, ‘hippy-esque’
phenomenon, there are also modern Pagan groups of a decidedly right-wing and
ethno-nationalist bent. The only way for scholars to really get to grips with
modern Paganism as a contemporary milieu is to recognise this diversity of
perspectives. This was my first publication to deal explicitly with the
intersections of ‘religion’ and ‘politics’, a theme that I intend to pursue in
further depth over coming years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The second publication of
note that I produced last year was a review essay put together for <i>Correspondences:
An Online Journal for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism</i>, the
excellent open-access journal put together by <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2013/08/an-interview-with-jimmy-elwing-and-aren.html">Aren
Roukema, Jimmy Elwing</a>, and (as book review editor) <a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.com/2013/11/an-interview-with-dr-egil-asprem.html">Egil
Asprem</a>. The review is titled “<a href="http://correspondencesjournal.com/ojs/ojs/index.php/home/article/view/57">Sympathy
for the Devil: A Review of Recent Publications in the Study of Satanism</a>”
and provides an overview of three good publications on the subject that have
appeared in recent years. Moreover, after reviewing these tomes it also offers
my own thoughts on the development of the field and some of the terminological
and taxonomic issues it has thrown up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">In addition, I’ve also
had the privilege of reading and reviewing a range of books for such journals
as the <i>Religious Studies Review</i>, <i>Nova Religio: The Journal of
Alternative and Emergent Religions</i>, and <i>Time and Mind: The Journal of
Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture</i>. I’ve also brought out a couple of
reviews for the <i>Reading Religion</i> website (of <a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/paganism-traditionalism-nationalism">Kaarina
Aitamurto’s <i>Paganism, Traditionalism, Nationalism</i></a> and <a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/paranormal-america">Christopher Bader
et al’s <i>Paranormal America</i></a>). Anyone unfamiliar with this site, which
is run by the American Academy of Religion (AAR), should definitely <a href="https://readingreligion.org/books/paranormal-america">check it out</a>.
Unlike most journals, <i>Reading Religion</i> makes its reviews of the latest
publications in the study of religion freely available for all to read. It’s a
brilliant idea which will hopefully help to make scholarly research access to a
far broader audience outside of the so-called ivory tower. I have recently had
the honour of having been invited to join the site’s editorial board, which is
an exciting prospect. Hopefully, 2018 will prove to be as interesting and as
productive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-65913838950176122302016-10-23T15:53:00.002+01:002021-02-11T15:15:06.989+00:00My Religious Studies Project Podcast and the ensuing debates<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">Back in June this year, <a href="https://edinburgh.academia.edu/DamonZachariasLycourinos">Dr. Damon Lycourinos</a> interviewed me for a podcast that has just appeared on the
website of the <a href="http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/">Religious Studies Project</a> (RSP), a fantastic site that brings
together insights from a wide range of scholars studying religion. In this
podcast, I offer “A Critical Introduction to the History, Beliefs, and
Practices of Wiccans,” a new religious movement to which I have devoted a
significant amount of scholarly attention over the past decade (and on the
subject of which I have published a range of research articles and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wicca-History-Belief-Community-Witchcraft/dp/1845197550">a recent book</a>). The podcast is freely accessible and downloadable <a href="http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/a-critical-introduction-to-the-history-beliefs-and-practices-of-wiccans/">here</a>, so I hope that you enjoy it!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBnuFNtXACR_JrhPlMPBGSy_haLU2KZb8XvyesUEL7dQo7wmF_g2XXhIkp_5mv7VNar0kX0U7xuV02K4SRnf_JYcBly9TqBgAebc_bBDF3z4E79TN4EumLyd_FUOIryj0IuMqSocZqEw/s400/Ethan+Doyle+White%2527s+Wicca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBnuFNtXACR_JrhPlMPBGSy_haLU2KZb8XvyesUEL7dQo7wmF_g2XXhIkp_5mv7VNar0kX0U7xuV02K4SRnf_JYcBly9TqBgAebc_bBDF3z4E79TN4EumLyd_FUOIryj0IuMqSocZqEw/w266-h400/Ethan+Doyle+White%2527s+Wicca.jpg" width="266" /></a></div></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;">The RSP has also published two written responses to my podcast interview, one
from the independent scholar <a href="https://racemochridhe.wordpress.com/">Race Mochridhe</a> (<a href="http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/2016/10/20/what-is-right-with-pagan-studies/">here</a>) and the other from the
<a href="https://glasgow.academia.edu/PatriciaIolana">Reverend Dr. Patricia ‘Iolana</a> (<a href="http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/2016/10/22/pagan-scholarship-from-a-pagan-perspective/">here</a>). Mochridhe is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditionalist_School">Traditionalist</a> and ‘Iolana a
Pagan and thus the pair offer significant insights into my work from their own
perspectives, which obviously differ from my own secular approach. Both commentators raise some interesting issues, although I also
think that they have misunderstood my arguments and theoretical approach to
some extent, so I have tried to set the record straight in the Comments
section. Still, it</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">s great to see a debate developing.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
</div>
Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607046810747878780.post-26790393639502727292016-08-27T14:02:00.002+01:002021-02-11T15:00:56.529+00:00The Pomegranate, Nova Religio, and Material Religion: My recent publications on the study of modern Paganism<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The past few weeks have
witnessed the publication of a number of my research articles (and a book
review) in several peer-reviewed journals, all of which I hope will be of
interest to those active within the field currently known as “Pagan studies.”
They reflect my increasing diversification away from the study of modern Pagan
Witchcraft and toward the study of other expressions of modern Pagan
religiosity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The first, and perhaps
the most important, of these articles is titled “<a href="https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/POM/article/view/28457/27839">Theoretical,
Terminological, and Taxonomic Trouble in the Academic Study of Contemporary
Paganism: A Case for Reform</a>,” and appears in the latest issue (volume 18,
no 1) of <i>The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies</i>. It
outlines my concerns about the state of the field as it currently exists, and
then provides some suggestions for how these problems might be dealt with; one
of my major suggestions is that we should cease talking about “Pagan studies”
and instead embrace “the academic study of modern Paganism.” The article caught
the eye of the scholar of esotericism Egil Asprem, who kindly posted about it
in a very positive manner over at his blog, Heterodoxology (<a href="https://heterodoxology.com/2016/08/18/reform-among-the-people-who-study-pagans/">here</a>).
This post subsequently resulted in an interesting debate in the blog’s comment
section which contained contributions from the prominent scholar of esotericism
Wouter Hanegraaff and from the scholars of Paganism Chas S. Clifton and Amy
Hale.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhSDmqAURprf1ZPIoBu58k3CVl49y47k6NsIPqAityK1-b82vGLcJZIDr76eP1qhxb3boQOaoot7uxoWNbRxgs4RWR1GPp2l9cKGiQangW2-jR3T6NRQ_xnPb20lGXAo3TbjueiWa_Jc/s209/The+Pomegranate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="140" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhSDmqAURprf1ZPIoBu58k3CVl49y47k6NsIPqAityK1-b82vGLcJZIDr76eP1qhxb3boQOaoot7uxoWNbRxgs4RWR1GPp2l9cKGiQangW2-jR3T6NRQ_xnPb20lGXAo3TbjueiWa_Jc/w268-h400/The+Pomegranate.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The second article of
mine to have been recently published is titled “<a href="https://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-abstract/20/1/32/70859/The-New-Cultus-of-AntinousHadrian-s-Deified-Lover?redirectedFrom=fulltext">The
New Cultus of Antinous: Hadrian’s Deified Lover and Contemporary Queer Paganism</a>.”
Appearing in <i>Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions</i>
volume 20, issue 1, this article outlines some research that I carried out into the Pagan new religious movement that has grown up in veneration of
Antinous, the male lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian who was deified upon drowning
in the Nile. Far less theoretically oriented than my <i>Pomegranate</i> paper,
this article instead seeks to document a new religious community that has
largely sprung up only in the last fifteen years and which thus far has evaded
any sustained academic attention. Particularly interesting is that the modern
veneration of Antinous represents a form of ‘Queer Paganism,’ with the majority
of its practitioners being gay men who revere Antinous as “the gay god.”</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvLoIarEvqrAH7ny8sCyGNW3lRxx14Po3jAU9sN-QHafWSbN8vMacZyLk8xPr0yzZQzlfRsdI4UBnVb3GHXfIX2GvjWvLUITw3jgRbyuwhs8zSQcEV9zyq-6OikrbRiW6RBiyBrmwffg/s220/Nova+Religio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="147" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvLoIarEvqrAH7ny8sCyGNW3lRxx14Po3jAU9sN-QHafWSbN8vMacZyLk8xPr0yzZQzlfRsdI4UBnVb3GHXfIX2GvjWvLUITw3jgRbyuwhs8zSQcEV9zyq-6OikrbRiW6RBiyBrmwffg/w267-h400/Nova+Religio.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">My third article is on
the topic of “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17432200.2016.1192152?journalCode=rfmr20">Old
Stones, New Rites: Contemporary Pagan Interactions with the Medway Megaliths</a>,” published in <i>Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief</i>
volume 12, issue 3. Those familiar with my work will be aware of my
longstanding interest in the ways that modern Pagan and other religious
communities interpret and make use of archaeological material (see for instance
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.2013.860766?journalCode=rfol20">here</a>
and <a href="https://presentpasts.info/article/10.5334/pp.73/">here</a>), and
this article takes that approach further by examining how the Medway Megaliths
of Kent have been utilised by the area’s Pagan community. In particular I have
examined how different Pagan groups approach these prominent landscape
features; for certain Heathens, these are places that symbolically cement a connection
to their ancestors of the blood, whereas for Druids, they cement a connection
to their ancestors of the land. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">For those perhaps more
interested in my work on modern witchcraft and Wicca (on the subject of which I
wrote my recent book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wicca-History-Belief-Community-Witchcraft/dp/1845197550">Wicca:
History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft</a></i>), I have also
published a book review of Philip Heselton’s recent biography, <i>Doreen
Valiente: Witch</i>, again in the latest issue of <i>The Pomegranate</i>.
Unlike the other works cited here, this one is available to read and download
for free, either from the <i>Pomegranate</i> website (<a href="https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/POM/article/view/30254">here</a>)
or my own academia.edu account (<a href="https://www.academia.edu/28045891/Review_of_Philip_Heseltons_Doreen_Valiente_Witch_Doreen_Valiente_Foundation_2016_">here</a>).<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Y2S0C1tQQplE54EoZzvo_YI8GYSQEFBbLWcp7ZKidIHz0jgieuXwg0XUP270371NxRC2ZgDga2OYofLk567o9sXz4P59-gYAhQaUt16pC36-XUBxhqFPtTxL25_BGlWuuo5aPe2nSjA/s851/Wicca+Books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="851" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Y2S0C1tQQplE54EoZzvo_YI8GYSQEFBbLWcp7ZKidIHz0jgieuXwg0XUP270371NxRC2ZgDga2OYofLk567o9sXz4P59-gYAhQaUt16pC36-XUBxhqFPtTxL25_BGlWuuo5aPe2nSjA/w640-h237/Wicca+Books.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My first book, <i>Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft</i>, is out now <br />from Sussex Academic Press. It represents the first (and so far only) academically-oriented<br />introduction to this modern Pagan religion.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footer"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of figures"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The past month has borne
witness to a number of academic workshops and conferences here in London which I
suspect would be of interest to a great many of those involved in the academic
study of contemporary Paganism and esotericism. Given that for most of my
colleagues in these fields, particularly those living in North America and
Australia, a quick trip over to Britain just isn’t feasible, here I’ll provide
a brief overview of these events coupled with some of my own personal
reflections on them, with the hope that doing so will help to ensure that
scholars of these fields will be able to gain a better appreciation
of some of the work currently being undertaken in my own little corner of the
world. </span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJwttxJ-_wX-RSyX00NgLRtG6w5BuVI2c8oJJFHE4nu6oAF8f7ggQCiuJENAVDWQQF1tgiTKcpPFjOmYWJvDNULf3zbTQ8Umd_aWEl4AB2rfV9RXKPSP5EvBZfByE1fh-2CZNe70JdIw/s1600/Jonathan+Woolley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJwttxJ-_wX-RSyX00NgLRtG6w5BuVI2c8oJJFHE4nu6oAF8f7ggQCiuJENAVDWQQF1tgiTKcpPFjOmYWJvDNULf3zbTQ8Umd_aWEl4AB2rfV9RXKPSP5EvBZfByE1fh-2CZNe70JdIw/s1600/Jonathan+Woolley.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Social anthropologist Jonathan Woolley talked about <br />
methodological approaches to the study of Paganism</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The first of these events
was “Researching Pagans and Paganism”, held in the basement of <a href="https://www.treadwells-london.com/">Treadwell’s bookshop</a> in Bloomsbury on Monday 20<sup>th</sup> June. This evening workshop
consisted of two talks on the subject of how best to conduct research into
contemporary Paganism(s), the first from social anthropologist <a href="http://cambridge.academia.edu/JonathanWoolley">Jonathan Woolley</a>,
a doctoral student at Cambridge University, and the latter from <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/profiles/staff/whw-network/douglas-ezzy">Douglas Ezzy</a>, a
sociologist from the University of Tasmania currently visiting Europe. While I
cannot recall all of the details of their respective arguments, their talks
dealt with such issues as how to define Paganism, the insider/outsider debate,
and how to respond to the concerns raised in <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1544410/What_is_Wrong_With_Pagan_Studies">Markus Altena Davidsen’s 2012 critique of Pagan studies</a> (many of these issues will be dealt with in an article of mine in the
forthcoming issue of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pomegranate"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies</i></a>, an unpublished draft of which
Woolley was kind enough to cite in his talk). The two talks were followed by a panel
discussion between Woolley, Ezzy, and the audience of approximately twenty
attendees, most of whom were members of the Pagan community – among them a
number of prominent names – but also a few of those active in the academic
study of contemporary Paganism too, such as myself and <a href="http://soas.academia.edu/KavitaMaya">Kavita Maya</a>, a doctoral
candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies. This was the first
British event devoted to the academic study of Paganism since last summer’s “<a href="http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/reflections-on-generation-hex-politics.html">Generation Hex: The Politics of Contemporary Paganism</a>” conference at Cambridge (which was co-organised
by Woolley and Maya alongside Elizabeth Cruse), and hopefully reflects growing activity
among the coterie of scholars of Paganism presently active within the United
Kingdom. Certainly, it has been good to have a public academic discussion of the
methodological and theoretical issues facing this field take place here in the
UK, given that in recent years such discussions have been largely restrained to
the Pagan Studies Session of the American Academy of Religion</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">’</span>s annual conference.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMeMnU2t4j_6NMMFLBCWo0uTZH6cYn4lUeaiGIs0Wv1p7n6cVHsjTW5OCww3cAHoELjanf3jC2Oz8O4I5ipZXcukod-yshVhRnrRhVttgLJNNFMqkSF6Ae5aC2FMiSmAKlAlA9S6dQaE/s1600/Upturned+pentagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMeMnU2t4j_6NMMFLBCWo0uTZH6cYn4lUeaiGIs0Wv1p7n6cVHsjTW5OCww3cAHoELjanf3jC2Oz8O4I5ipZXcukod-yshVhRnrRhVttgLJNNFMqkSF6Ae5aC2FMiSmAKlAlA9S6dQaE/s200/Upturned+pentagram.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The upturned pentagram is the most common symbol of Satanism </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Treadwell’s was
subsequently involved in co-organising “UK Satanic Abuse Scare, 25 Years On”, an
evening conference on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_ritual_abuse">Satanic ritual abuse</a> (SRA) hysteria that hit Britain
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Held at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_School_of_Economics">London School of Economics</a> (LSE)
on Tuesday 5<sup>th</sup> July, the event was produced in conjunction with
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INFORM">INFORM</a>, a charity based at the LSE that is dedicated to promoting accurate
knowledge about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_religious_movement">new religious movements</a> and other alternative and/or
controversial spiritual groups. The conference was divided into two halves, the
first comprising academic and scholarly approaches to the subject, the second
devoted to the voices of Pagan practitioners who were negatively impacted by
the moral panic. Kicking off the event was a talk by the anthropologist Jean La
Fontaine, whose influential (yet at times controversial) research in the early
1990s demonstrated that there was no evidence for a widespread conspiracy of
Satanists involved in the ritualised abuse and murder of children (as a number
of evangelical Christian groups and media outlets were then claiming). This was
followed by INFORM’s <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/Experts/profile.aspx?KeyValue=s.harvey@lse.ac.uk">Sarah Harvey</a> and <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/Experts/profile.aspx?KeyValue=l.a.twist@lse.ac.uk">Amanda Van Eck</a>, who delved into the
charity’s archives to look at how the British public’s response to contemporary
Paganism and occultism has shifted since the group’s founding in 1988, paying
particular attention to the concerns generated by the SRA panic. Next up was
the journalist <a href="http://www.city.ac.uk/people/academics/rosalind-waterhouse">Rosie Waterhouse</a> of City University London, whose own research
during the early 1990s helped to demonstrate and publicise the lack of hard
evidence behind most accusations of SRA. She outlined her own experiences and
work on the subject, also drawing parallels between the SRA panic of the late
80s/early 90s and the way in which some journalists have reported on the allegations
of sexual abuse directed at various celebrities in recent years. After a brief
break, the conference continued with an interesting talk from <a href="http://www.prudencejones.co.uk/">Prudence Jones</a>,
the former President of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan_Federation">Pagan Federation</a>, and then <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hine">Phil Hine</a>, the former
editor of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pagan News</i>, who each described
their own experiences as prominent figures within the British Pagan community during the time of
the hysteria.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The event was obviously
dealing with a very sensitive and contentious subject matter, and one on which
many people have strong and vocal opinions. However, one thing that I thought notable
about the event was that the speakers invited all fell very much on one side of the debate (i.e. they were those who strongly believe that
accounts of SRA are all, or virtually all, unsubstantiated and untrue, the
product of a moral panic). There are of course others who have contested this
approach and argued that – while an international conspiracy of child molesting
and murdering Satanists is unlikely – some of those claiming to have been the
victims of ritualised abuse are accurately relating events that they have experienced. Moreover, since the late 1990s, a number of Pagans and/or occultists have been arrested and
convicted of sexually abusing minors: prominent examples include <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/witch-sex-offender-set-to-be-freed/2006/05/29/1148754923425.html">Robin Angus Fletcher</a> in Australia, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12703785">Colin Batley</a> in Wales, <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/white-witch-who-raped-abused-8766069">Redvers Barnard</a> in Greater Manchester, and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-20705898">Peter Petrauske</a> in Cornwall. Clearly,
sexual abuse affects the Pagan and occult communities in much the same way that
it affects many other religious and indeed secular communities. Moreover, in certain instances (in
particular that of Fletcher) that abuse is carried out in a manner that
religious studies scholars could perhaps categorise as being “ritualised”, with
perpetrators seeking to legitimise their actions by reference to their religious
beliefs. This is clearly a different phenomenon from the idea of a massive
Satanic conspiracy involving mass molestations and murders, but it muddies the
waters and makes the entire issue more difficult to explore, particularly in a dispassionate manner. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhna05GG7K-zEjDoIGGyftq4MzskzXQY4PYAE7goJtRIYM2yAckXdiNZ2Qw7G8GjSdsP4ygrEqVfcoPx90_SI9tCM0t-h4MpshpOp7ztGLI0pU2AhFFKER4-zRQE-dm6ewdkmp3Tdn882w/s1600/The_Warburg_Institute.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhna05GG7K-zEjDoIGGyftq4MzskzXQY4PYAE7goJtRIYM2yAckXdiNZ2Qw7G8GjSdsP4ygrEqVfcoPx90_SI9tCM0t-h4MpshpOp7ztGLI0pU2AhFFKER4-zRQE-dm6ewdkmp3Tdn882w/s320/The_Warburg_Institute.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Warburg Institute. Photograph by Philafrenzy, Wikimedia </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Two days later, on
Thursday 7<sup>th</sup> July, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_Institute">Warburg Institute</a> played host to “Magical
Traditions and Medieval Religions of the Book”, a one-day workshop organised by
UCL’s <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/history/people/academic-staff/sophie-page/sophie-page">Sophie Page</a> on behalf of the <a href="http://www.esswe.org/">European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism</a> (ESSWE). The event was designed primarily for MA and PhD students,
and included a session on doctoral and early career advice (special thanks must
go out to <a href="https://ntnu-no.academia.edu/EgilAsprem">Egil Asprem</a> and <a href="https://oxford.academia.edu/LianaSaif">Liana Saif</a> for their recommendations on how to secure
post-doctoral funding, something of particular concern to me). However, the
event also contained lectures from a number of guest speakers, including <a href="https://exeter.academia.edu/SiamBhayro">Siam Bhayro</a> from Exeter University on his research into the Jewish Aramaic
inscriptions on the so-called ‘<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incantation_bowl">magic bowls</a>’ of late antique Mesopotamia, Saif
on the place of magic in Medieval Islam, and <a href="https://manchester.academia.edu/AdelinaAngushevaTihanov">Adelina Angusheva-Tihanov</a> from the
University of Manchester on Slavic amulet books from the Balkans. This was then followed by a
keynote from <a href="https://www.univ-orleans.fr/polen/cesfima/jean-patrice-boudet">Jean-Patrice Boudet</a> of the University of Orleans, in which he spoke
on the different ways in which magical traditions were approached in Medieval
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It was great to see how well attended the
event was, particularly given that this was ESSWE’s first event to be held in London.
The first of many, perhaps? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Despite being a major
global hub and home to some of the world’s foremost universities, London has arguably
lagged behind many other parts of the Western world when it comes to the academic
study of contemporary Paganism and esotericism. Over the past few decades, the study
of Western esotericism has begun to blossom in much of continental Europe while
the study of Paganism has advanced in the United States, but Britain – perhaps because
of its weaker institutional framework for the study of religion than many other
Western nations – hasn’t quite kept up. I’m really hoping that the events which
we have seen in London this summer, alongside the Cambridge conference last
year, reflect that that is changing. Britain, and indeed London itself, has
played a crucial role in the development of many Pagan and occult traditions, from
Wicca and Druidry to Thelema and the New Age movement, and so it is only apt
that this nation and this city also comes to be seen as an important centre for
the study of these fascinating phenomena. </span></div>
Ethan Doyle Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07698715233107060162noreply@blogger.com0