(Techno)Paganism: An Exploration of Animistic Relations with the Digital
Religions November 3, 2023 Victoria Dos Santos 6 citations
Animistic ontology in neopaganism enables embodied and sensuous interactions with virtual worlds, allowing practitioners to experience online contexts as environments for lived religious practices. Focusing on digital games and 3D social virtual platforms, the paper examines how neopagans articulate spatial and material dimensions in their online performances, fostering intimate relationships with technology. Drawing on case studies and interviews with technopagan practitioners, the author connects this animistic approach to Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogism, which recognizes multiple perspectives and denies non-involvement with otherness. This framework helps acknowledge human convergence with techno-digital otherness and explore sensuous, embodied religious experiences.