{{Short description|Merging of neopaganism and magical ritual with digital technologies}} [[File:Chaos magic ritual involving videoconferencing.JPG|thumb|A chaos magic ritual that uses videoconferencing]] '''Technopaganism''', as described by Victoria Dos Santos, is "a term encompassing a variety of practices and expressions related to contemporary paganism, popular culture, and spiritual pursuits in digital environments."<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Dos Santos Bustamante |first=Victoria Vanessa |title=Technopaganism: A semiotic approach to digital religious phenomena |date=2022-06-06 |access-date=2024-11-10 |degree=Doctorate |url=https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/2017614 |format=PDF |website=iris.unito.it}}</ref> The Internet, for instance, is considered by some technopagans to have spiritual significance or unique magical applications.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dos Santos |first=Victoria |date=2023-11-03 |title=(Techno)Paganism: An Exploration of Animistic Relations with the Digital |journal=Religions |language=en |volume=14 |issue=11 |page=1382 |doi=10.3390/rel14111382 |issn=2077-1444 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |last=Davis |first=Erik |date=1995-07-01 |title=Technopagans |url=https://www.wired.com/1995/07/technopagans/ |access-date=2022-10-08 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>
==Definition== Technopaganism is concerned with spiritual and magical aspects of technology and, sometimes, the interconnections between technology and society. Dos Santos classified technopaganism into two types: the first pertains to the adaptation of various neopagan currents to online environments (e.g., via virtual communities or collaborative software), while the second comprises a body of neopagan beliefs and practices greatly influenced by information and communications technology and "deeply merged with cybernetic culture".<ref name=":0" />
A notable instance of technopagan adaptation of neopagan practices is the creation and distribution of virtual Books of Shadows and sacred texts through the Internet;<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cowan |first=Douglas E. |author-link=Douglas E. Cowan |title=Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet |publisher=Psychology Press |date=2004-11-18 |isbn=978-0-415-96910-9 |edition=illustrated |language=en}}</ref> similarly, virtual world platforms such as ''Second Life'' and ''VRChat''<ref name=":0" /> are used to connect with others and conduct rituals.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Warren |first1=E. E. |title=TechnoWitch: Ancient Wisdom, Digital Tools |last2=Ellwood |first2=Taylor |date=2021-10-07 |publisher=978-1-7345786-2-1 |isbn=978-1-7345786-2-1 |language=English}}</ref>
== Beliefs == A common element of technopaganism is the adaptation of neopagan beliefs, such as animism, to technology and cyberspace. Dos Santos writes that a fundamental aspect of technopagan animism is "a dialogic relationship with the digital environment itself."<ref name=":0" /> In a 1995 ''Wired'' article, technopagan Mark Pesce describes how, upon first using NCSA Mosaic, he realized that the World Wide Web was the first emergent property of the Internet: "It's displaying all the requisite qualities{{Spaced en dash}}it came on very suddenly, it happened everywhere simultaneously, and it's self-organizing. I call that the Web eating the Net." He went on to create VRML, with one of his motivations having been to bring about a spatial dimension of the Web.<ref name=":1" />
==See also== {{Portal|Religion|Technology}} * AI mysticism ** AI as a deity * Ceremonial magic * Discordianism * Hyper-real religion * PODSnet * Relationship between science and religion * ''The Wiccan Web'' * Virtual religion
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == *Erik Davis. ''TechGnosis : Myth, Magic & Mysticism in the Age of Information''. Harmony, 1998. {{ISBN|0-517-70415-3}} *Mark Dery. "Deus Ex Machina: Technopaganism," in ''Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century''. Grove/Atlantic, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-8021-3520-9}}. *Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein. ''The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle''. Llewellyn, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7387-0259-5}} *Lisa Mc Sherry. ''The Virtual Pagan''. Red Wheel Weiser, 2002. {{ISBN|978-1578632534}} *Christopher Penczak. ''City Magick: Urban rituals, spells and shamanism''. Weiser, 2001. {{ISBN|1-57863-206-4}} *Steven Vedro. "Digital Dharma: Expanding Consciousness in the Infosphere". Quest, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-8356-0859-6}}.
== External links == * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422101343/https://sites.google.com/site/adftechnopagan/|date=April 22, 2023|title=A Druid Fellowship - Technopagan SIG (Special Interest Group)}}
{{Neopaganism}}
Category:Modern pagan beliefs and practices Category:Cyberpunk culture Category:Modern paganism and technology