Methods of Compassion or Pretension? Conducting Anthropological Fieldwork in Modern Magical Communities

Authors

  • Jone Salomonsen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v13i8.4

Keywords:

Neo-Paganism, Wicca, Witchcraft, feminism, feminist witches

Abstract

The community I came to study was the Reclaiming Collective of San Francisco, a well-known feminist Witchcraft community founded in 1979 by Starhawk and her coven sisters .

Author Biography

Jone Salomonsen

Jone Salomonsen obtained her PhD in Theology and Cultural Anthropology in 1996 from the University of Oslo, where she teaches in the Faculty of Theology. She holds a three year post doctorate grant from the Norwegian Research Council to research confirmation and initiation rituals for young people.

References

Berger, Peter. 1980. The Heretical Imperative. New York: Anchor Books.

Csordas T. J. 1994. Embodiment and Experience: The Existential Ground of Culture and Self. Cambridge UP.

Daniel, E. Valiente. 1984. Fluid Signs: Being a Person the Tamil Way. Berkeley: UC Press.

Ewing, Katherine P. 1994. “Dreams From a Saint: Anthropological Atheism and the Temptation to Believe.” American Anthropologist. Vol. 96 (3).

Foltz, Tanice G. & Wendy Griffin. 1996. “‘She Changes Everything She Touches’: Ethnographic Journeys of Self-Discovery.” Composing Ethnography: Alternative Forms of Qualitative Writing. Carolyn Ellis and Arthur P. Bochner (eds.), Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.

Grimes, Ronald L. 1990. Ritual Criticism: Case Studies in its Practice, Essays on its Theory. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.

Jackson, Michael. 1989. Paths Toward a Clearing. Bloomington: Indiana UP.

Lewis, Gilbert. 1980. Day of Shining Red. Cambridge UP.

Ramsey, Nancy. 1998. “Remembering Who You are and Whom You Represent: Researching Wicca as a Scholar and a Witch.” Circle Network News. Summer 98, Issue 68.

Rosaldo, Michelle Z. 1980. Knowledge and Passion. Cambridge UP.

Staal, Fritz. 1975. Exploring Mysticism. Berkeley: UC Press.

Published

2020-08-11

How to Cite

Salomonsen, J. (2020). Methods of Compassion or Pretension? Conducting Anthropological Fieldwork in Modern Magical Communities. Pomegranate, 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v13i8.4

Issue

Section

Articles