Editing Technopaganism

{{Short description|Merging of neopaganism and magical ritual with digital technologies}}
{{multiple issues|
{{More footnotes|date=August 2010}}
{{original research|date=August 2013}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2013}}
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[[File:Chaos magic ritual involving videoconferencing.JPG|thumb|An example of modern merging of [[ceremonial magic]] and technology; a [[videoconference]] allows participants to practice the ritual when not physically in person]]
'''Technopaganism''', as described by Victoria Dos Santos, is "a term encompassing a variety of practices and expressions related to [[contemporary paganism]], [[popular culture]], and spiritual pursuits in [[digital environments]]."<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Dos Santos Bustamante |first=Victoria Vanessa |title=Technopaganism: A semiotic approach to digital religious phenomena |date=2022-06-06 |access-date=2024-11-10 |degree=[[Doctorate]] |url=https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/2017614 |format=PDF |website=iris.unito.it}}</ref> The [[Internet]], for instance, is considered by some technopagans to have spiritual significance or unique [[Magic (supernatural)|magical]] applications.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dos Santos |first=Victoria |date=2023-11-03 |title=(Techno)Paganism: An Exploration of Animistic Relations with the Digital |journal=Religions |language=en |volume=14 |issue=11 |page=1382 |doi=10.3390/rel14111382 |issn=2077-1444 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |last=Davis |first=Erik |date=1995-07-01 |title=Technopagans |url=https://www.wired.com/1995/07/technopagans/ |access-date=2022-10-08 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> {{Citation needed span|text=[[Techno music]] may also be involved in technopaganism. Modern tribal and [[urban primitive]] movements such as [[Cyberpunk derivatives|cyberpunk]], [[urban shamanism]] and [[rave|rave culture]] are associated with [[electronic dance music]].|date=November 2024}}

==Definition==
Technopaganism is concerned with spiritual and magical aspects of technology and, sometimes, the interconnections between [[technology and society]]. Dos Santos classified technopaganism into two types: the first pertains to the adaptation of various neopagan currents to online environments (e.g., via [[virtual communities]] or [[collaborative software]]), while the second comprises a body of neopagan beliefs and practices greatly influenced by [[information and communications technology]] and "deeply merged with [[cybernetic]] culture".<ref name=":0" />

A notable instance of technopagan adaptation of neopagan practices is the creation and distribution of virtual [[Books of Shadows]] and sacred texts through the Internet;<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cowan |first=Douglas E. |author-link=Douglas E. Cowan |title=Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |date=2004-11-18 |isbn=978-0-415-96910-9 |edition=illustrated |language=en}}</ref> similarly, [[virtual world]] platforms such as ''[[Second Life]]'' and ''[[VRChat]]''<ref name=":0" /> are used to connect with others and conduct rituals.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Warren |first1=E. E. |title=TechnoWitch: Ancient Wisdom, Digital Tools |last2=Ellwood |first2=Taylor |date=2021-10-07 |publisher=978-1-7345786-2-1 |isbn=978-1-7345786-2-1 |language=English}}</ref>

== Beliefs ==
A common element of technopaganism is the adaptation of neopagan beliefs, such as [[animism]], to technology and [[cyberspace]]. Dos Santos writes that a fundamental aspect of technopagan animism is "a [[Dialogism|dialogic]] relationship with the digital environment itself."<ref name=":0" />

In a 1995 [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] article, technopagan [[Mark Pesce]] describes how, upon first using [[NCSA Mosaic]], he realized that the [[World Wide Web]] was the first [[emergent property]] of the Internet: "It's displaying all the requisite qualities{{Spaced en dash}}it came on very suddenly, it happened everywhere simultaneously, and it's [[self-organizing]]. I call that the Web eating the Net." He went on to create [[VRML]], with one of his motivations having been to bring about a [[Space|spatial]] dimension of the Web.<ref name=":1" />

==In popular culture==
In the TV series ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', the major character [[Jenny Calendar]] is a technopagan.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=I, Robot... You, Jane |episode-link=I, Robot... You, Jane |series=Buffy the Vampire Slayer |series-link=Buffy the Vampire Slayer |network=[[The WB]] |date=April 28, 1997 |season=1 |number=8 |transcript=I, Robot -- You, Jane - Buffy Episode 8 Transcript (at the Wayback Machine) |transcript-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817124932/http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/transcripts/008_tran.html |quote=Ms. Calendar:  Mm. I don't have that kinda power. 'Technopagan' is the term.}}</ref>

''[[American Gods]]'' by [[Neil Gaiman]] marries traditional ideas of [[gods]] with the concept of [[egregore|egregores]], which influence the results of progress and new technology in society and lead to the creation of the "New Gods".<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 June 2017 |title=American Gods Explained: A Guide to the Old Gods and New |url=https://collider.com/american-gods-explained/ |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 April 2017 |title=Why Neil Gaiman's American Gods is so iconic |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/27/12622944/american-gods-gaiman-explained}}</ref>

In other scholarship, dystopian video games such as ''[[Cyberpunk 2077]]'', ''[[Death Stranding]]'', and ''[[Everybody's Gone to the Rapture]]'' have been studied for their capacity to evoke spiritual experiences beyond the bounds of institutional religion, broadening the definition of technopaganism by suggesting that these types of cyberspaces can function as conduits for mysticism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rupčić |first=Tijana |date=13 February 2023 |title=Techno-Religion and Cyberspace Spirituality in Dystopian Video Games |url=https://mdpi-res.com/religions/religions-14-00247/article_deploy/religions-14-00247.pdf?version=1676281618 |publisher=Religions |access-date=11 May 2025}}</ref> 

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Erik Davis. ''TechGnosis : Myth, Magic & Mysticism in the Age of Information''. Harmony, 1998. {{ISBN|0-517-70415-3}}
*Mark Dery. "Deus Ex Machina: Technopaganism," in ''Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century''. Grove/Atlantic, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-8021-3520-9}}. 
*Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein. ''The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle''. Llewellyn, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7387-0259-5}}
*Lisa Mc Sherry. ''The Virtual Pagan''. Red Wheel Weiser, 2002. {{ISBN|978-1578632534}}
*Christopher Penczak. ''City Magick: Urban rituals, spells and shamanism''. Weiser, 2001. {{ISBN|1-57863-206-4}}
*Steven Vedro. "Digital Dharma: Expanding Consciousness in the Infosphere". Quest, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-8356-0859-6}}.

== External links ==
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422101343/https://sites.google.com/site/adftechnopagan/|date=April 22, 2023|title=A Druid Fellowship - Technopagan SIG (Special Interest Group)}}

{{Neopaganism}}

[[Category:Modern pagan beliefs and practices]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk culture]]
[[Category:Modern paganism and technology]]