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- Convenors:
-
Hynek Becka
(Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology)
Helena Dyndová (Charles University)
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- Formats:
- Panel
- Location:
- Historicum, 3.93
- Sessions:
- Thursday 23 July, -
Time zone: Europe/Warsaw
Short Abstract
Moving beyond simple reading alternative spirituality as either gender-essentialist or (eco)feminist, this panel examines how gender identities are constructed within the alternative spirituality milieus, with particular interest in contestations over different notions of gender relations.
Long Abstract
The alternative spirituality, sometimes called holistic or New Age–derived, often frames gender as two distinct poles: male and female. These are frequently understood in cosmological terms, as complementary forces (such as the “divine masculine” and “divine feminine” ). Harmonizing these poles is considered central to human well-being and happiness.
The academic discussions about gender within this context were partly shaped by similar polarization: some have highlighted empowering aspects of alternative spirituality and various overlaps with (eco)feminist thought (especially in the USA and Western Europe), while others have taken a critical stance to gender-essentialist (and thus assumed to be conservative) notions of gender within the milieu. Recently, some scholars have begun to employ a more nuanced perspective, for example by suggesting that even deeply gender-essentialist worldviews might be tied to empowerment (Sointu and Woodhead 2008), or by showing how female-dominated spaces, both offline and online, are increasingly becoming more and more integral for politics informed by conspiratorial narratives (Bloom and Moskalenko 2021).
This panel invites papers that move beyond simple categorization of “progressive” and “conservative,” and explore how different gender relations and identities are constructed within the alternative and holistic milieus. While women have been a major focus on research concerned with gender in this context, we would also appreciate contribution focused on queer bodies and identities, as well as on (re)articulation of masculinities. We are particularly interested in tensions that emerge around these different articulations of gender, especially given the contemporary contestations and mobilizations for, and against, the multiplicity of gender identities and relations.
Accepted papers
Session 1 Thursday 23 July, 2026, -Paper short abstract
This paper explores how femininity and gender are constructed in contemporary alternative spirituality. Drawing on ethnographic material, it examines how spiritual discourses engage with gender-essentialist qualities and discusses whether these ideals foster emancipation or reproduce stereotypes.
Paper long abstract
This paper examines the construction of femininity and masculinity in contemporary alternative spirituality, focusing on the experiences of women and men involved in spiritual practices in the Czech context. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research, it re-explores gender roles and self-understanding in the contemporary holistic milieu.
The analysis of women's perspectives builds on existing scholarship on gender and spirituality, particularly the work of Woodhead and Sointu, to examine alternative spirituality as a space where women negotiate social expectations, work pressures, and unequal distributions of care. It shows how spiritual practices offer symbolic and practical resources for coping with burnout and for redefining personal boundaries, care, and self-care, while relying heavily on gender-essentialist ideas.
Through the lens of holistic cosmology and complementary gender principles, women are encouraged to “return” to their feminine qualities in order to restore personal and relational harmony. While this discourse may reinforce traditional gender binaries, it also revalues womanhood in ways that are rather progressive.
The paper therefore argues that alternative spirituality reproduces mainstream gender stereotypes but also, paradoxically, fosters new forms of “silent emancipation” from below.
Paper short abstract
The project explores masculinity and priesthood in Italian Neopaganism through an ethnographic study of male priests devoted to the Divine Feminine. It examines motivations, gender positioning, marginalization, vulnerability, and the relationship between spirituality, identity, and activism.
Paper long abstract
The project investigates the relationships between masculinity, priesthood, and Neopagan spirituality in Italy through an ethnographic study that includes a diverse sample of men (heterosexual, cisgender, queer, and transgender) who serve as priests within various traditions and movements of Contemporary Paganism, such as Wicca, Witchcraft, Goddess Spirituality, and Druidry. Grounded in a critical and non-monolithic definition of masculinity, and recognizing that “male” is not synonymous with heterosexual manhood, the research explores what motivates these men to dedicate themselves to the worship of the Divine Feminine and how this choice impacts their personal and social identities. It pays particular attention to conditions of marginalization, invisibility, and vulnerability often experienced by male Neopagan priests. Through semi-structured interviews, the project documents the motivations, roles, practices, and lived representations of priests of the Goddess, analyzing their gender positioning and their relationships with priestesses and their respective communities. Additionally, it addresses dynamics of media representation and the relationship between activism and spirituality, highlighting how men serving the Sacred Feminine uphold values of equality and inclusion. Through the narratives and life stories of the interviewees, the research amplifies the experiences of men within the context of the Divine Feminine, exploring the challenges and transformations faced by the Sons of the Goddess in their journeys. It investigates whether, in their priestly roles, gender positioning is decisive or secondary, thereby fostering open dialogue on gender, spirituality, and media, while promoting a deeper understanding of the intersections between masculine and feminine in all their manifestations.
Paper short abstract
One branch of Wicca as a magical-religious tradition, namely eclectic Wicca, offers a new avenue for the gendered expression of practitioner's identities in rituals and everyday life in the Quebec context.
Paper long abstract
In recent years, we have seen a resurgence of interest in witchcraft within Western societies. Television series, films, and newspaper articles are all redefining the representation of witches in a new historical context. However, very few people are aware of the fluid reality of gender identities within pagan and neo-pagan communities, which are often associated exclusively with women. Wicca is a magical-religious tradition with a unique cosmology in which the relationships between practitioners' gender identities and their ritual and magical practices are deeply rooted. From an anthropological perspective, this research explores the construction and expression of a gendered Wiccan identity in Quebec City through public rituals and everyday life. According to the results of this study, which is part of a master's degree in anthropology, I found that the definition of gender in Wicca is constantly changing depending on the socio-historical context. Today, within a specific Wiccan tradition known as eclectic Wicca, gender identity is characterized as the combination of masculine and feminine energies present in each practitioner. Practitioners choose to express masculine or feminine energy depending on a given situation in everyday life. This choice depends on the preferences and characteristics associated with masculinity or femininity according to each practitioner, which constitutes a high degree of subjective fluidity regarding gender identity.
Paper short abstract
This paper examines how the imagined Slavic past shapes gender roles in Rodzimowierstwo (Native Faith), showing how contemporary religious practices both reinforce binary divisions and open spaces for their negotiation and transformation.
Paper long abstract
This article analyzes how the imagined past of pre-Christian Slavs shapes the distribution and legitimization of gender roles within the ritual practices of Rodzimowiercy (Native Faith) in Poland. The religious practices of Rodzimowiercy are largely organized around principles of gender essentialism, expressed through a binary division into male and female roles. These include, for example, gender-based divisions in making offerings to Slavic gods and goddesses, as well as the organization of ritual labor among participants. At the same time, this division is not entirely fixed, and various gender-related issues are actively debated within the community, such as women’s ritual authority and the boundaries of acceptable practice.
Based on ethnographic research conducted between 2024 and 2026 in Kraków, the article argues that gender roles are actively negotiated among Rodzimowiercy through efforts to repeat and continue what are perceived as early Slavic beliefs, as well as through reinterpretations of the past. The ways in which contemporary religious practices challenge an essentialist order also foster new understandings of the past, in which historical imagination and personal values mutually shape one another. Thus, images of the past, understood as a space of dialogue within the community, become a significant arena in which binary gender divisions coexist with ambiguity and contestation.
Paper short abstract
Women and queer individuals disproportionately engage with astrology, especially online. Using ethnographic and netnographic research, this paper explores how gender identities and relations are negotiated in astrological content, revealing plural rationalities in the alternative spiritual milieu.
Paper long abstract
Astrology is ubiquitous in “Western” popular culture and occupies a central position in contemporary alternative spiritual milieus, especially in digitally mediated spaces where it circulates simultaneously as self-help, identity language, and political commentary. Notably, astrology is disproportionately engaged by women and queer people, with Pew’s 2025 data indicating that queer adults consult astrology at nearly double the rate of the general U.S. population. This is paradoxical given astrology’s foundational gender polarity – planets and zodiac signs are gendered. This paper examines how gender identities and relations are constructed, contested, and negotiated through contemporary astrology, moving beyond simple categorizations of the practice as either gender-essentialist or progressive.
Drawing on ethnographic and netnographic research in English-speaking astrological communities, I analyze how binary cosmological idioms are challenged, queered, and strategically redeployed across apps, social media, and activist-oriented astrology. Engaging Alexa Winstanley-Smith’s work on queer political astrology and Christopher Joseph Lee’s analysis of queer astrology’s entanglements with capitalism, I show how astrology functions simultaneously as a resource for empowerment and a site of ongoing tension.
Situating astrology within Descola’s framework of analogism, I argue that astrological practice reflects epistemic and ontological pluralism, wherein multiple rationalities coexist. Gender thus emerges as a contested symbolic terrain shaped by neoliberal consumer culture, digital mediation, political anxiety, and contemporary spiritual transformations. Through case studies of queer and feminist astrologers alongside purportedly “neutral” commentary, this paper demonstrates how astrology operates as a gendered technology of meaning-making – mediating identity, authority, and belonging in a moment of heightened cultural polarization.