Papers by Maria Papenfuss
Intuition, Rebellion and Tradition: First Encounter Narratives in Mexican Neopaganism, 2024
Neopagans in Mexico City started to communitise only about 20 years ago. An initial analysis of r... more Neopagans in Mexico City started to communitise only about 20 years ago. An initial analysis of related interview material shows that the narratives they develop about their first contact with neopagan content and their access to the field are framed as a conversion-like process, often connoted as a home-coming or a rebellion against predominant Catholicism. Both narratives are usually mixed with a notion of intuition that led to their further involvement in neopagan groups. Nevertheless, Mexican "folk magic" and vernacular healing traditions, Afro-American religions, and the flourishing esoteric scene in the Mexican capital are already offering links to beliefs and practices that are common in neopaganism, like ritualised ways to interact with transcendent entities, magic, and ideas of an "otherworld". This raises various questions related to the underlying dynamics, in brief: how do heterogeneous sociohistorical situations influence emerging religious fields like the neopagan one in the Mexican capital, and how do these interactions shape personal religious transformation processes in the wider context of glocalisation, transcultural dynamics, digitalisation and the diversification of the religious field overall? In the light of Adler's (1979) influential concept of home-coming and Luhrmann's (1989) theory of the interpretative drift, it remains clear that becoming neopagan is rarely understood as a conversion, and therefore the two contested theoretical approaches are discussed critically and in relation to conversion. Using a grounded theory approach and thus emphasising the emic perspectives of my interviewees, I show how they construct their first encounter narratives and frame them as intuition, rebellion, or tradition, considering the underpinning sociocultural circumstances.
Santería in Catemaco, Mexico: Hybrid (Re)Configurations of Religious Meaning and Practice, 2022
The Mexican city of Catemaco is famous for its diversity of African-American religious traditions... more The Mexican city of Catemaco is famous for its diversity of African-American religious traditions. Although Santería was originally shaped in Cuba, the local Mexican versions show not only a variety of references regarding their origins and influences, ranging from West Africa and Cuba to local indigenous traditions, but also (re)interpretations of historically and geographically diverse contents. Based on interview data gathered during field research in 2017, this article outlines the different hybrid (re)configurations of African-Mexican Santería in Catemaco by tracing the changes made by the practitioners in order to adapt existing traditions. The corresponding adaptation processes include beliefs, practices, lore and material assets. Under a critical perspective, concepts of transnationalism, syncretism and glocalization are discussed, focussing on the dynamics between local and global aspects of Santería in Catemaco and shedding light on the processes of inclusion, exclusion and the shift of boundaries.
Entretejidos. Revista de Transdisciplina y Cultura Digital., 2021
Neopagan religiosities which refer to European, pre-Cristian traditions often use authentication ... more Neopagan religiosities which refer to European, pre-Cristian traditions often use authentication strategies for their religious beliefs and practices that stress the antiquity of their sources and being part of a traditional cultural lineage. From a religious studies perspective, the concept of invented tradition is used to examine those authentication strategies using two examples: the blank rune, habitually utilized by one part of the neopagan community while completely dismissed by the other part, and the “Witch’s Ladder”, an object featured in contemporary books about magic practices whose attributed origin -fin de siècle magical practices in Great Britain- is not confirmed.
Reporte sobre el Bauhütte de la educación artística, 2019
This is a translation of an article published in the magazine Du: kulturelle Monatsschrift in 196... more This is a translation of an article published in the magazine Du: kulturelle Monatsschrift in 1964 and retrieved by the ETH-Bibliothek ETH Zurich. It´s a tribute to Johannes Itten, which outlines some relevant biographical data of the Bauhaus´s influential professor, creator of the Vorkurs of this school.
Cyber-religiosity is a concept proposed for the investigation of
religious phenomena with any kin... more Cyber-religiosity is a concept proposed for the investigation of
religious phenomena with any kind of relation to the Internet. It is
based on the theory of cyber-religion as a cyber cultural phenomenon
and focused on religiosity. The idea of religiosity draws the attention
to the individual beliefs and religious practices in comparison with
the idea of religion in a conservative conceptualization which puts
emphasis on the institutional, hierarchical and group-focused aspect
of religious coexistence. The approach to cyber-religiosity includes
“religion online/online religion” proposed by Christopher Helland.
Consequently, the interfaces between the digital and the analogous
world concerning religious beliefs and practices are considered.
Based on Heidegger’s hermeneutics and the idea of the sacred and
the profane by Eliade, the pres... more Based on Heidegger’s hermeneutics and the idea of the sacred and
the profane by Eliade, the present work is focused the conceptualization of
sacred places from a phenomenological perspective. First, a concept of the
sacred is outlined and based on that, an idea of sacred
places. They are then examined from a hermeneutical perspective which
takes into account the following formal indicators: the symbol, the
hierophany, the rite and the gathering. This approach is exemplified
by the case of the Grove of the Druids in southern Germany.
En el presente ensayo se tratará sobre una religión sincretista: la santería mexicana, así como s... more En el presente ensayo se tratará sobre una religión sincretista: la santería mexicana, así como su adaptación a la era postmoderna distinguida por tendencias como interculturalidad y digitalización. Basado en una breve vista general sobre la santería y características del tiempo postmoderno, se desarrollará un análisis de cómo se amolda esa religión afro-cubana en México a los cambios socioculturales y mediáticos de las últimas décadas.
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Papers by Maria Papenfuss
religious phenomena with any kind of relation to the Internet. It is
based on the theory of cyber-religion as a cyber cultural phenomenon
and focused on religiosity. The idea of religiosity draws the attention
to the individual beliefs and religious practices in comparison with
the idea of religion in a conservative conceptualization which puts
emphasis on the institutional, hierarchical and group-focused aspect
of religious coexistence. The approach to cyber-religiosity includes
“religion online/online religion” proposed by Christopher Helland.
Consequently, the interfaces between the digital and the analogous
world concerning religious beliefs and practices are considered.
the profane by Eliade, the present work is focused the conceptualization of
sacred places from a phenomenological perspective. First, a concept of the
sacred is outlined and based on that, an idea of sacred
places. They are then examined from a hermeneutical perspective which
takes into account the following formal indicators: the symbol, the
hierophany, the rite and the gathering. This approach is exemplified
by the case of the Grove of the Druids in southern Germany.
religious phenomena with any kind of relation to the Internet. It is
based on the theory of cyber-religion as a cyber cultural phenomenon
and focused on religiosity. The idea of religiosity draws the attention
to the individual beliefs and religious practices in comparison with
the idea of religion in a conservative conceptualization which puts
emphasis on the institutional, hierarchical and group-focused aspect
of religious coexistence. The approach to cyber-religiosity includes
“religion online/online religion” proposed by Christopher Helland.
Consequently, the interfaces between the digital and the analogous
world concerning religious beliefs and practices are considered.
the profane by Eliade, the present work is focused the conceptualization of
sacred places from a phenomenological perspective. First, a concept of the
sacred is outlined and based on that, an idea of sacred
places. They are then examined from a hermeneutical perspective which
takes into account the following formal indicators: the symbol, the
hierophany, the rite and the gathering. This approach is exemplified
by the case of the Grove of the Druids in southern Germany.