Crystals as Other-than-Human Persons for New Spirituality in Estonia: Phenomenological Relationality in Animist Materialism

Teidearu, Tenno

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10294-3_10

Cited by 1 publication

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…However, instead of assigning financial value to them, my interlocutors value the material of inexpensive crystals, i.e. semi-precious stones, because of their esoteric meaning and because they perceive minerals as 'powerful' material (see Teidearu 2022).…”

Section: Materials and Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Graham Harvey (2012, 198-201) explains in animist terms that people attribute human qualities, such as intentionality, to non-human entities or objects only if they can relate to and communicate with them in a particular and meaningful way; only under such conditions can a thing or entity be perceived as a 'person' or 'other-than-human person'. In another paper (Teidearu 2022), I have analysed human relationship with crystals as 'other-than-human persons', as a kind of animist materialism, which is in my empirical material based on a specifically bodily, i.e. a phenomenological, relationality and intimacy with the stones (cf.…”

Section: Losing Stones As 'Materials Failure'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides perceiving stones as objects, my interlocutors also value crystals as unique and 'powerful' materials (i.e. minerals) in their own right (Teidearu 2022), and they take the material and its properties seriously (see Ingold 2007). However, some crystals become lost, break or develop fissures, or their gloss or colour becomes altered over time and through much use, which are the cases that this paper concentrates on.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By using crystals, people develop, enhance and (re)construct themselves (Teidearu 2019, 137-145). My informants wear stones every day, often the same stone every day, which they perceive as a mutual relationship having a supportive effect on humans that affects the crystals as well (Teidearu 2019), a relationship that shows bodily intimacy with stones (Teidearu 2022). Therefore, it is a particularly material and interactive practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Material Agency of Crystals in New Spirituality

Teidearu

2023

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This paper studies crystals in New Spirituality in Estonia not only as things, or objects, used in certain practices, but also as agentive materials. My research participants, who wear crystals, take their material properties seriously, finding the properties to have supportive qualities, according to esoteric interpretation. Nevertheless, things and materials, objects and minerals, are never permanent; they have material lives of their own. Sometimes minerals lose their gloss, crack, break or just become lost. Physical decay and displacement, which are the focus of this paper, have meaning-making potential, which my interlocutors interpret within the framework of the esoteric. Their perception of these minerals can be understood in posthumanist and new materialist terms. The paper uses the concept of material agency to demonstrate how natural processes of decay acquire cultural meaning by connecting material properties and human interpretation. This work was supported by an Estonian Research Council grant (PUT number PRG670), ‘Vernacular Interpretations of the Incomprehensible: Folkloristic Perspectives Towards Uncertainty’.

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Section: Materials and Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Losing Stones As 'Materials Failure'mentioning

confidence: 99%