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Accepted Paper:
Being, belonging, and relating: methodological challenges while doing ethnography in the context of contemporary paganism in Portugal
Joana Martins
(Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) - NOVA FCSH IN2PAST)
Researching Contemporary Paganism involves deep diving into the magical circle with the ones we work with. This paper explores the ways through which relationality, reflexivity, and creativity are promoted during research on Portuguese Contemporary Paganism.
Paper Abstract:
Researching Contemporary Paganism entails not just working with the people with whom we connect but also with the more-than-human, from spirits, entities, and the earth. This requires great creativity from us, as ethnographers, to describe and engage in a complex web of relationships. At the same time, it also calls for a fully embodied and emotional experience that sometimes can be uncomfortable and makes us confront feelings and sensations that we did not expect.
Based on long-term research with contemporary pagans in Portugal, this paper will focus on the methodological strategies developed throughout the years I have been conducting my research to promote relationality, reflexivity, and presence, discussing the experience of entering the field, and sharing the data with whom it has been done. As both an anthropologist and a practitioner of Contemporary Paganism, I will explore my lived experience of research and how I found that this double identity is extremely valuable, not only for establishing horizontal and empathic connections and being present in the field but also for generating fresh methodological tools that enrich the study of contemporary spiritual practices.