Overview

Approaching Druidry as an emerging religious movement that offers an alternative to the mainstream materialist, consumerist culture of the United States, Kimberly Kirner analyses her own life as a Druid through the lens of her profession as a cultural anthropologist. Interweaving lively stories of her life as a Druid with accessible analytical essays drawing from an unusual array of literature from the anthropology of religion, the anthropology of consciousness, organizational anthropology, cognitive anthropology, and ethnoecology, she leads the reader into an experiential and conceptual understanding of Druidry as a way of life and as a contemporary Western new religious movement that challenges Christo-centric definitions of religion. Reflecting on three domains of the Druidic life, the author describes the Druidic worldview (place, time, and the body), community (relational spirituality), and vocation (ethics and action). These descriptions are punctuated with reflective essays that question the boundaries and nature of religion as it is generally understood in the Western world by examining how Druidry might be understood using concepts more appropriate to Druids’ conceptualizations of themselves.

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9781350264113

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Reviews

An exceptional auto-ethnography: part spiritual memoir, part cognitive ethnology, this lyrically written account gets at the soul of modern Druidry, unlocking the mysteries of this Neopagan form of spirituality. Sabina Magliocco, Professor and Associate Head of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Canada Kimberly Kirner brings Druidry to life In this autoethnography. Through the lens of her own initiation and practice Kirner provides us with both an intimate and intellectual presentation of how Druids experience and engage with the mundane and spiritual worlds and attempt to live their core values. This book is a must for all those interested in earth-based religions. Helen A. Berger, Affiliated Scholar, Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, USA

Kimberly Kirner brings Druidry to life In this autoethnography. Through the lens of her own initiation and practice Kirner provides us with both an intimate and intellectual presentation of how Druids experience and engage with the mundane and spiritual worlds and attempt to live their core values. This book is a must for all those interested in earth-based religions. * Helen A. Berger, Affiliated Scholar, Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, USA * An exceptional auto-ethnography: part spiritual memoir, part cognitive ethnology, this lyrically written account gets at the soul of modern Druidry, unlocking the mysteries of this Neopagan form of spirituality. * Sabina Magliocco, Professor and Associate Head of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Canada *

Author Information

Kimberly Kirner is Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Northridge, USA.

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