Techno-paganism
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Technopaganism is the merging of
neopaganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various Paganism, historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of No ...
and magical ritual with digital technologies. This may be through the use of technology merely as an aid, such as video conferencing for example, or it may be a worship of the technology itself. The internet for instance, may be seen by some as having spiritual significance. Techno-music may also be involved in technopaganism. Modern tribal and urban primitive movements such as
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...
,
urban shamanism Urban shamanism distinguishes traditional shamanism found in indigenous societies from Western adaptations that draw on contemporary and modern roots. Urban shamanism is practiced primarily by people who do not originate in a traditional indigeno ...
and
rave culture A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...
are associated with electronic dance music.


Definition

Technopaganism deals with spiritual and magical facets of technology and technological society. Associated with this is the use of technological metaphors (most often computer or telecommunications metaphors) to describe spiritual phenomena, as well as the use of symbolism from popular culture in spiritual contexts. This can include the substitution of technology for traditional magical tools, such as using their oven for a hearth, keeping a "Disk of Shadows" instead of a "
Book of Shadows A Book of Shadows is a book containing religious text and instructions for magical rituals found within the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Since its conception in the 1970s, it has made its way into many pagan practices and paths. The most famous ...
", and using a laser pointer as a wand. In other practice, technology is the target of the magical work, such as the use of stones and other charms to help improve the performance of mundane items or online role-playing avatars


Beliefs

When used to describe belief systems, technopaganism focuses on the spiritual side of technology. This can include the belief that technological items and artifacts of modern living - such as buildings, roads, parks, cars, and other such items - have pseudo-spirits, or totem spirits, of their own. This also extends to cities. One belief that faces substantial objections is that the Internet itself is attaining a unique spirit. Indeed, it is the stated objective of the creator of
VRML VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language, pronounced ''vermal'' or by its initials, originally—before 1995—known as the Virtual Reality Markup Language) is a standard file format for representing 3-dimensional (3D) interactive vector graphi ...
to bring about the merging of the spiritual world with the physical world.


In popular culture

In the TV series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'', the major character
Jenny Calendar Jenny Calendar is a fictional character in the fantasy television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). Played by Robia LaMorte, Jenny is the computer teacher at Sunnydale High School. Unbeknownst to Buffy or anyone else, Jenny Calen ...
is a technopagan.
American Gods ''American Gods'' (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. The book was pub ...
by
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
marries traditional ideas of gods as a form of
egregore Egregore (also spelled egregor; , ) is an occult concept representing a non-physical entity that arises from the collective thoughts of a distinct group of people. Historically, the concept referred to angelic beings, or watchers, and the specif ...
with the results of progress and new technology on society leading to the creation of the "New Gods

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/27/12622944/american-gods-gaiman-explained]


References


Further reading

*Erik Davis. ''TechGnosis : Myth, Magic & Mysticism in the Age of Information''. Harmony, 1998. *Mark Dery. "Deus Ex Machina: Technopaganism," in ''Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century''. Grove/Atlantic, 1996. . *Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein. ''The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle''. Llewellyn, 2002. *Lisa Mc Sherry. ''The Virtual Pagan''. Red Wheel Weiser, 2002. *Christopher Penczak. ''City Magick: Urban rituals, spells and shamanism''. Weiser, 2001. *Steven Vedro. "Digital Dharma: Expanding Consciousness in the Infosphere". Quest, 2007. .


External links


ADF Technopagan SIG (Special Interest Group)
{{Neopaganism Modern pagan beliefs and practices Cyberpunk culture Modern paganism and technology