Making the ordinary exceptional: the success of a Polish YouTube monk

In this brief essay, we look at a contemporary example of “practical theology:” a fragment of the internet production of Adam Szustak, a Polish Dominican monk, combined with interviews with a small sample of subscribers. Searching for clues to his success, we are attentive to the life conduct and aesthetics he conveys in his videos. In presenting himself as “ordinary,” “normal,” and “authentic,” we argue that he succeeds in speaking to the aspirations and interests of young Catholics in Poland in the context of the increasing politicization of the Church and the strengthening alliance of its more conservative faction with the right-wing government.

On being a transgender man in the Czech pagan community

This paper presents a specific situation concerning the Czech Pagan community, mainly through the narrative of the actors. Using the emic approach, the aim of the paper is to show an insider’s perspective of the ways in which Czech Pagans relate to the problematics of transgender, and its connection with the vaguely understood concept of shamanism. Due to the problematic nature of the informants’ experience, the paper uses the narrative and episodic interview approach. Free narration enabled the interviewee to use their own spontaneous language to tell the stories of their life with minimal influence from the interviewer.

Struggle for recognition: theosophy in early 20th century Warsaw

The present study focuses on the activities of the first Polish Theosophical group, which for many reasons was never fully institutionally recognized. It was active from around 1905 and concentrated around Kazimierz Stabrowski (1869–1929), a Polish painter and the head of the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. The aim of this paper is to sociologically analyze this esoteric environment in Warsaw, which is treated here as an example of a cultic milieu from the perspective of visibility and recognition. Referring to the category of rejected knowledge (anomalies or the “cultural rubbish bin”) and using the case of Stabrowski and other members of the group, the authors highlight their efforts in the struggle for the recognition of their ideas in various environments and trace the process of their exclusion. Further, they examine the status of the Theosophical current in the public discourse of the time, which was undoubtedly related to the scope of Theosophy itself, which largely focused on the liminal aspects of humanity and cognition.

Constant ”self-denial” and resilience: life history recollections of sisters remaining after dissolution (1950-1989)

With the exception of four teaching orders, religious institutes were disbanded in Hungary in 1950. The number of members in the remaining three male and one female teaching orders was strictly limited by the state. This study analyses the narrative recollections of some members of the sole female religious order permitted to remain (albeit partially!) during the period of Communist dictatorship (1950-1989). Through the analysis of life histories, the study is intended to show the coping strategies enabling these sisters to “officially” survive in a hostile ideological environment. The study shows that the sisters’ limited leeway led to changes in the composition of their religious community, in their relationships to one another, in their leaders’ tasks as well as resulting in a new interpretation of asceticism. It can be seen that they were able to cope with the new circumstances by adopting a resilient approach.

Victor Turner’s theory of symbols: the symbolism of a religious site and object in a rural environment in eastern Slovakia

This article is dedicated to the symbolism of a religious site (the church) and a religious object (the cross) in Christianity in a concrete locality and community. The study was based on Victor Turner’s theory of ritual and symbols. I used Turner’s definitions and classification of symbols as well as his theses related to rituals. My aim was to demonstrate that the church and the cross can be categorized as dominant symbols in Christianity, even though they besr distinct characteristics of dominant symbols. The data analyzed in the present text were collected by the ethnographic interview and participant observation methods during ethnographic field research. The research was conducted in eastern Slovakia, in a village in which the majority of resident are affiliated with the Greek-Catholic faith. Building on the analysis of ethnographic data, I will demonstrate the strenghts and weaknesses of Turner's theory of symbols. During the analysis, I will suggest possible answers, stemming mainly from cognitive anthropology, for certain questions left unanswered by Turner.

Making the connections: interpretation of life events among women practitioners of alternative spirituality in Slovakia

The article focuses on some issues of alternative spirituality (AS) in Slovakia. The authors analysed the data obtained from an anthropological research focusing on the reasons behind the relative popularity of alternative spirituality in the said country. Using the qualitative methodology (in-depth interviews and participant observations) and working with mostly women, the authors studied how the study participants got involved in alternative spirituality, how they see their participation, what they were use it for, and what they experience when they attend the sessions (e.g. how they feel, why and when they experience positive/ negative feelings, how the perceive “alternative community”). The results of the analysis suggests that involvement in alternative spirituality “encourages” an interpretation drift (Luhrman, 1989) with regard to one's experiences and their sacralization, giving these a deeper meaning.