Description
Book SynopsisResearchers of Paganism from a variety of disciplines examine how they have been affected by their contact with this nontraditional religion, how this religion has been affected by academic researchers and what this reveals about participative research methods.
Trade ReviewResearching Paganisms successfully portrays the multiplicity of its subject matter. This collection provides a solid place to begin one's explorations of pagan studies and—at the same time—addresses theoretical and methodological issues that will inform future discussions about the role of the academy in the study of contemporary religious traditions as well as the relevance of religion in contemporary societies. Contributions are all first-rate. -- Stephen D. Glazier, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
An interesting set of essays on the study of 'neo-paganism'…a useful reflection on the prejudices, preoccupations, instincts, emotional and personal traits which we all bring to our studies-a useful tool for self-analysis. -- René V.L. Wadlow * Transnational Perspectives *
Researching Paganisms is an important book not only for scholars and students of contemporary Western Paganism, but also for all social scientists and religious scholars who do ethnographic research. Some of the best-known and some newer scholars of contemporary Paganism on three continents explore the role of the ethnographer in mystery religions, the way in which their research has changed them and their perspective, and how their research may have influenced those they study. This book would make a wonderful addition to any social science methods class both for the issues and questions it raises and because all the chapters are written as engaging first-person narratives. -- Helen Berger, West Chester University, Author of A Community of Witches and Voices from the Pagan Census
Table of Contents1 Preface 2 Introduction 3 Part I: Performance and Reflexivity 4 Bardism and the Performance of Paganism: Implications for the Performance of Research 5 Methods of compassion or pretension? The challenges of conducting fieldwork in modern magical communities 6 The Deosil Dance 7 Part II: Challenging Objectivity, Theorising Subjectivity 8 Psychology of religion and the study of Paganism 9 Drugs, Books, and Witches 10 Gleanings From the Field: Leftover Tales of Grief and Desire 11 Religious Ethnography: Practising the Witch's Craft 12 Part III: Embodying Relationships, Community and History 13 At the Water's Edge: An Ecologically-Inspired Methodology 14 Thealogies in Process: Re-searching and Theorising: Spiritualities, Identity and Goddess-talk 15 Living with Witchcraft 16 Part IV: Re-locating the Researcher 17 Between the Worlds: Autoarchaeology and neo-Shamans 18 Tracing the in/authentic seeress: from seid-magic to stone circles 19 Pagan Studies or the Study of Paganisms? A case study in the Study of Religions 20 Index 21 About the contributors
