To Be #Celts Today: Features of a Neopagan Cult in the Social Media

To Be #Celts Today: Features of a Neopagan Cult in the Social Media

Francesco Amatruda
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 12
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8473-6.ch035
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Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to define the characters of the online neo-Celtic Italian society, especially their religious beliefs, through the observation of their activities on blogs and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Social media became, in fact, the main diffusion channel for these religions, replacing forums and other kinds of online communities as virtual places where people are allowed to interact with others who share their own spirituality. Within neo-paganism, some groups belonging to this religion started, during the last decade, identifying themselves with a more specific name, that is neo-Celtic instead of neo-pagan, that clearly defines the group as a part of pre-Christian cultural heritage. In this chapter, the author will attempt to define the characteristics of these neo-pagan groups focussing on their self-constructed identity and their relationship with the larger society.
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Background

In recent years, with the spread of social media, the distances between individuals have narrowed and new methods have emerged to aggregate and to live group experiences. Social media has been one of the most important resources for the entire world community during this period of pandemic which has caused the inability of individuals to physically come together regardless of the reason that motivated these meetings. An interesting detail, in this regard, was the attitude of the various religious groups on the occasions of particular festivals or sacred periods that without the restrictions in force would have represented opportunities for meeting. The rituals that before the pandemic usually took place in the presence of the religious community have moved online, an example is the live videos broadcast on the various social networks by the priests who officiated these rites and which were followed by the practitioners of the cult. Although the current period has corroborated the tendency to live part of one's spiritual life on social networks, the phenomenon is not new.

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