The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation

Houlbrook, Ceri

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-75517-5

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…In fact, the objects themselves may be what tell them this. As described above, how people interact in terms of deposition is also affected by what is already at the sites, making the accumulation self-reinforcing (Wallis 2003;Blain and Wallis 2007;Houlbrook 2018). Deposits attract more deposits, and especially similar deposits to those that have been made before.…”

Section: Effects Of the Different Usesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sacred Nature. Diverging Use and Understanding of Old Sámi Offering Sites in Alta, Northern Norway

Spangen

Äikäs

2020

Religions

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This study focuses on the contemporary use of two well-known Sámi offering sites in Alta, Finnmark, Norway. Today, these are hiking destinations and sightseeing points for both the Sámi and the non-Sámi local population, as well as a few non-local visitors. Many of these visitors leave objects at the sites, such as parts of recently slaughtered reindeer, clothing, coins, toys, sweet wrappers and toilet paper. This indicates that visitors have different levels of knowledge about and reverence for the traditional significance of these places. Through repeated surveys over several years, we also observed a certain development and change in the number and character of these depositions, as well as a variation in depositions between different sites. A series of interviews with various users and key stakeholders were performed to clarify the reasons for these changing practices, as well as what individuals and groups visit these sites, their motivation for doing so and for leaving specific objects, and what potential conflict of interest there is between different users. Furthermore, we surveyed what information has been available to the public about these sites and their significance in Sámi religion and cultural history over time. The results show that a diverse group of individuals visit the sites for a variety of reasons, and that there are contrasting views on their use, even among different Sámi stakeholders. While it is difficult to limit the knowledge and use of these places because they are already well known, more information about old Sámi ritual practices and appropriate behaviour at such sites may mediate latent conflicts and promote a better understanding of the importance of offering sites in both past and present Sámi societies.

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Section: Effects Of the Different Usesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sacred Nature. Diverging Use and Understanding of Old Sámi Offering Sites in Alta, Northern Norway

Spangen

Äikäs

2020

Religions

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“…The biography of the Isle Maree site is given in more depth by Houlbrook (2015Houlbrook ( , 2018a, while this paper explores the other coin tree sites which boast similarly lengthy biographies. Of these, three are in the Republic of Ireland (Fore, Co. Westmeath; Clonenagh, Co. Laois; Gougane Barra, Co. Cork), one in Northern Ireland (Ardboe, Co. Tyrone), and one in Wales (Patrishow, Powys).…”

Section: Ceri Houlbrookmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, many of them were new, one at least dating as recently as 2017. The likeliest explanation therefore is that the spread of attention from the well to the tree is recent, probably contemporary with the late twentieth / early twenty-first-century rise of the coin tree custom (Houlbrook 2018a).…”

Section: Patrishow Powysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As this paper is not intended as a study of the coin tree itself, but rather employs it as a micro-historic exemplar in an exploration of how natural 'sacred' sites change over time, only a necessarily brief summary of the practice is supplied (see Houlbrook 2014Houlbrook , 2015Houlbrook , 2018aHoulbrook , 2018b for more detailed considerations).…”

Section: Coin Trees: An Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During fieldwork conducted in 2011-2013, all coins deposited into/on coin trees at 31 of the sites were catalogued, reaching a total of 165,360. Fieldwork and archival research discovered that the majority of coin trees are contemporary, dating to the late twentieth or twenty-first century; the possible reasons behind this modern-day surge have been explored by Houlbrook (2018a). Some coin-trees, however, did prove to be historic.…”

Section: Coin Trees: An Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Untitled

2021

FEJF

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It is customary that references to history are used to legitimise one's ideological and religious statements. This method is particularly visible in contemporary pagan and spiritual movements, in which history has a crucial position not only in justifications of religious claims but also in searching inspiration for contemporary beliefs and for providing a structural framework for (re)constructing past religions. The commonest explanation for using history in arguments and rhetoric in religion is to add credibility to one's claims. Examples can be found in traditional institutional religious organisations, in contemporary spiritual movements, but also in the rhetoric of individual charismatic leaders. Such rhetorical manner is not common to contemporary religions only but can also be followed in historical folk religion (see, e.g., Johanson 2018). For instance, in a record of a heavily worn eighteenth-century copper coin, used for healing magic in the early twentieth century, the old age of the coin is specifically valued (Fig. 1).According to a legend, copper was filed from a coin to help people and animals to recover from bone fractures. The same can also be observed in magical customs, including, for instance, preference for older prints of the Bible for magical rituals (see, e.g., Kõiva 2017: 144). These examples demonstrate how references to history add somewhat stronger and more serious attributes to an object or a claim.The role of history is also apparent in the rhetoric -either in that of a religious group or in the wording of academic studies. It is probably often unconscious, but the mapping of the usage of adverbs of time, such as 'yet' or 'still', provides a good example. These words create a suitable context for leaving an http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol81/introduction.pdf Instead of Introduction: How Old Is Sacredness?The session brought together fourteen scholars from various countries to discuss the usage of history in religions. Geographically discussions focused on Central and Eastern Europe and Russia and formed a well-communicating group of presentations. The discussed topics varied, ranging from the general frameworks of modern religious and spiritual movements to specific discussions of some phenomena. Several years later part of the presentations from the session "History matters" have found their way to this journal. Unfortunately, not all the presentations in the session resulted in an article in this issue for various reasons -some of the articles had already been published elsewhere, others remained as preliminary presentations. In addition to Ceri Houlbrook, Kurmo Konsa, Atko Remmel and Tõnno Jonuks, and Siarhei Anoshka from the session, this issue also includes Eda Kalmre's article about apparent death and Alise Donnere's study on interpreting Bodhisattva Jizō in Japanese temples, both following the same approach as the conference session. All the authors have kept the role of the concept of history in different religious or spiritual contexts under careful observation, demonstra...

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Shamanic Materialities in Nordic Climates

Fonneland,

Äikäs

2023

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The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Sacred Nature. Diverging Use and Understanding of Old Sámi Offering Sites in Alta, Northern Norway

Sacred Nature. Diverging Use and Understanding of Old Sámi Offering Sites in Alta, Northern Norway

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Shamanic Materialities in Nordic Climates

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