Paper Short Abstract:

Based on the project ReSpell, the paper places emphasis on the elastic nature of contemporary religio-spiritual identities, and the processes of emptying, filling and/or transforming them via vernacular practices that are directly connected to contemporary religiosity, healing and wellbeing.

Paper Abstract:

Placing analytical emphasis on the elastic nature of contemporary religio-spiritual identities, this paper aims to explore the processes of emptying, filling and/or transforming them via vernacular practices that are directly connected to contemporary religiosity, healing and wellbeing during and post-COVID-19 in southern Europe. The ethnographic research and data collection are based on the project ‘ReSpell: Religion, Spirituality and Wellbeing. A Comparative Approach of Transreligiosity and Crisis in Southern Europe ((FCT grant reference: 2022.01229.PTDC). The ethnographic locus is, more particularly, the southern European countries of Portugal and Greece, where comparative research has been conducted in the context of the project in order to study the transreligious aspect of contemporary religiosity, healing and wellbeing. More particularly, attention will be paid to religio-spiritual practices that are directly connected to healing during the pandemic of COVID-19 but also beyond it, which range from traditional religious healing to New Age and holistic therapies. What kind of emptying does it occur and what kind of elasticities are involved in the process? How do these wellness practices transgress boundaries between rural and urban areas, between religion and spirituality, between biomedical and alternative therapeutic discourses and ideologies? How are religio-spiritual identities done and undone in this context?