Technopaganism is an umbrella term

Umbrella term

An umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of concepts that all fall under a single common category. Umbrella term is also called a hypernym. For example, cryptology is an umbrella term that encompasses cryptography and cryptanalysis, among other fields...

 that characterizes several different beliefs and practices in Neopaganism

Neopaganism

Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...

 (which includes faiths such as Wicca

Wicca

Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...

 and Neo-druidry) in reference to the place of technology in Neopagan practice.

Definitions

Technopaganism has a number of distinct definitions found in various discourse:

• The use of modern-day devices in magical ritual. This can include the substitution of technology for traditional magical tools, such as using their oven for a hearth, keeping a "Disk of Shadows" instead of a "Book of Shadows
  Book of Shadows
  A Book of Shadows is a book containing religious texts and instructions for magical rituals found within the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Originating within the Gardnerian tradition of the Craft, the first Book of Shadows was created by the pioneering Wiccan Gerald Gardner sometime in the late 1940s...
  
  ", and using a laser pointer as a wand. In other practice, technology is the target of the magical work, such as the use of stones and other charms to help improve the performance of mundane items or online role-playing avatars.
• Modern tribal/urban primitive movements such as urban shamanism
  Urban Shamanism
  Urban shamanism, also known as "digital shamanism" or "digital psychedelia", is a school of thought born out of the convergence of technological changes, art movements, and Eastern philosophies during the late 20th century. It parallels and is often associated with technopaganism...
  
   and rave culture
  Rave
  Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
  
  . This is often used in association with electronic dance music
  Electronic dance music
  Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
  
  .
• An emergent trend in neopagan thought that deals with spiritual and magical facets of technology and technological society. Associated with this is the use of technological metaphors (most often computer and/or telecommunications metaphors) to describe spiritual phenomena, as well as the use of symbolism from popular culture in spiritual contexts.

Beliefs

When used to describe belief systems, technopaganism focuses on the spiritual side of technology. This can include the belief that technological items and artifacts of modern living - such as buildings, roads, parks, cars, and other such items - have pseudo-spirits, or totem spirits, of their own. This also extends to cities.

One belief that faces substantial objections is that the Internet itself is attaining a unique spirit. Indeed, it is the stated objective of the creator of VRML

VRML

VRML is a standard file format for representing 3-dimensional interactive vector graphics, designed particularly with the World Wide Web in mind...

to bring about the merging of the spiritual world with the physical world.

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 978-0802135209.
• Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein. The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle. Llewellyn, 2002. ISBN 0-7387-0259-5
• 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

• ADF Technopagan SIG (Special Interest Group)