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Paper short abstract:

Through this online ethnography on Iranian social media-based esoteric practices, I answer the questions such as: How does the internet affect esoteric practices? How do new-age practitioners communicate with their followers and how these practices connect with material and commercial culture?

Paper long abstract:

Online esoteric practices are getting increasingly popular around the world. Anyone with an internet connection can participate in a wide range of practices, each with its own set of goals, while protecting their anonymity. Online practices are beginning to differ from traditional ones as they become more advertised, transferable, and popular among young people and women.

What are the impacts of the internet on esoteric practices? How do new-age practitioners interact with their followers in this digital realm? How do both practitioners and followers interact with material and commercial culture via social media, and how this media has affected the actual modes and materials in which such esoteric exchanges and rituals take place.

These are some of the questions which will be answered through an online ethnography on the Iranian social media based esoteric practices.

Keywords: online esotericism, social media, cyber anthropology, modern esotericism, and material religion.