Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet

by Cowan; Douglas E

• ISBN13: 9780415969116
• ISBN10: 0415969115
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2004-10-26
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

InCyberhenge, Douglas E. Cowan brings together two fascinating and virtually unavoidable phenomena of contemporary life--the Internet and the new religious movement of Neopaganism. For growing numbers of Neopagans-Wiccans, Druids, Goddess-worshippers, and others--the Internet provides an environment alive with possibilities for invention, innovation, and imagination. From angel channeling, biorhythms, and numerology to e-covens and cybergroves where neophytes can learn everything from the Wiccan Rede to spellworking, Cowan illuminates how and why Neopaganism is using Internet technology in fascinating new ways as a platform for invention of new religious traditions and the imaginative performance of ritual. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of new religious movements, and for anyone interested in the intersections of technology and faith.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
The Modern Pagan Internet: From Hyperbole to Reality and Back Again	1	(26)
Screenshots from the Modern Pagan Web	1	(2)
From Hyperbole to Reality and Back Again	3	(15)
The Lay Lines of the Cyberland	18	(4)
Click to Continue...	22	(5)
The Road to Cyberhenge: Conceptualizing Modern Paganism Online and Off-	27	(24)
Conceptualizing Modern Paganism	27	(3)
Hacking Religion: The Open Source of Modern Paganism	30	(5)
Personal Gnosis: The Cultures of Modern Paganism Online and Off-Line	35	(14)
The Pandora Problem of Open Source Religion	49	(2)
The Mists of Cyberhenge: Mapping the Modern Pagan Internet	51	(30)
The Internet: Is It Really Virtual or Is It Merely Online?	51	(3)
Online Community: Reality or the Illusion of Reality?	54	(4)
Metaphysical Conversation and the Construction of Magickal Community	58	(3)
A Web of Potential and Opportunity	61	(1)
Anonymity and Disclosure on the Web	62	(4)
``Demigods in a Box'': Modern Pagan Visions of Hardware and Software	66	(7)
``Magick'' or ``Like Magic?'': Conceptualizing Pagan Computing Space	73	(5)
Transparency and Hyperbole	78	(3)
Online Solitaries and Cybercovens: (Re-)Inventing the Modern Pagan Path	81	(38)
Alone and in Community: Modern Pagan Working Practice	81	(9)
From Gardner to Gigabytes: The Evolution of the Wiccan Coven	90	(4)
Cyberhenge: A Typology of Modern Pagan Working Groups	94	(22)
Durability and Decline: Explaining Online Success and Failure	116	(3)
Among the Stones of Cyberhenge: Modern Pagan Ritual on the World Wide Web	119	(34)
The Mystery of the Online Ritual: In Which We Almost Catch a Coven	119	(8)
The Reality of Online Ritual: The Coven at Work on the Web	127	(10)
Performance and Paradox: Parsing the Online Ritual	137	(9)
Drawing Down the Electronic Moon: Translating the Body Online and the Problem of Interphysicality	146	(7)
Coming Out of the Online Broom Closet: Identity and Authority on the World Wide Web	153	(40)
From Dabblers to Demagogues: Identity, Disclosure, and Investment Online and Off-	153	(23)
Peeking Out of the Broom Closet: Disclosing Modern Pagan Identity Online	176	(4)
The Modern Pagan Entrepreneur: Hieratic Authority and Spells for Sale	180	(13)
(In) Conclusion: A Web of Dangers, Benefits, and Research Directions	193	(10)
Growth and the Illusion of Growth: A Cautionary Tale for Scholars and Pagans Alike	193	(5)
Potential and Performance: The Benefits of the World Wide Web	198	(3)
Modern Paganism Online and Off-Line: A Web of Research Possibilities	201	(2)
Bibliography	203	(18)
Index	221