A01=Sarah M. Pike
african american
ancient world
Author_Sarah M. Pike
Category=JHM
Category=JHMC
Category=QRAC
Category=QRS
Category=QRVK
christianity
community
costume
cultural history
cultural studies
culture
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
erotic
eroticism
festivals
folklore
gender studies
magic
magical
myths
neopagan
pagan festivals
pagan gods
pagan history
pagan religion
paganism
pagans
religion
religious studies
satanism
social history
social studies
Product details
- ISBN 9780520220867
- Weight: 499g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 24 Jan 2001
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Recent decades have seen a revival of paganism, and every summer people gather across the United States to celebrate this increasingly popular religion. Sarah Pike's engrossing ethnography is the outcome of five years of attending neo-pagan festivals, interviewing participants, and sometimes taking part in their ceremonies. "Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves" incorporates her personal experience and insightful scholarly work concerning ritual, sacred space, self-identity, and narrative. The result is a compelling portrait of this frequently misunderstood religious movement. Neo-paganism began emerging as a new religious movement in the late 1960s. In addition to bringing together followers for self-exploration and participation in group rituals, festivals might offer workshops on subjects such as astrology, tarot, mythology, herbal lore, and African drumming. But while they provide a sense of community for followers, Neo-Pagan festivals often provoke criticism from a variety of sources - among them conservative Christians, Native Americans, New Age spokespersons, and media representatives covering stories of rumored 'Satanism' or 'witchcraft.'
"Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves" explores larger issues in the United States regarding the postmodern self, utopian communities, cultural improvisation, and contemporary spirituality. Pike's accessible writing style and her nonsensationalistic approach do much to demystify neo-paganism and its followers.
Sarah M. Pike is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at California State University, Chico.
