Researching Paganisms

Should researchers of spirituality and religion be distantly 'objective,' or engaged and active participants? The traditional paradigm of 'methodological agnosticism' is increasingly challenged as researchers emphasize the benefits of direct participation for understanding beliefs and practices. Should academic researchers 'go native,' participating as 'insiders' in engagements with the 'supernatural,' experiencing altered states of of consciousness? How do academics negotiate the fluid boundaries between worlds and meanings which may change their own beliefs? Should their own experiences be part of academic reports? Researching Paganisms presents reflective and engaging accounts of issues in the academic study of religion confronted by anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, historians and religious studies scholars_as researchers and as humans_as they study contemporary Pagan religions. The insights that contributors gain, with resultant changes to their own lives, will fascinate not only other scholars of Pagan religions, but scholars of any religion and indeed anyone who grapples with issues of reflexive research.Table of Content1 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 contributorsReview QuoteResearching 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.Review QuoteAn 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.Review QuoteResearching 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.Biographical NoteJenny Blain is Senior Lecturer, School of Social Science and Law, Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Douglas Ezzy is Senior Lecturer, Sociology, University of Tasmania, Australia. Graham Harvey is Lecturer in Religious Studies, Open University, UK.