Coining a Name, Casting the Self: Identity Construction through Name Adoption by Dutch and Flemish Wiccans
In this article, I explore how a contemporary religion affects the self-understanding of its adherents and may contribute to the construction of their personal identity, by examining the Wiccan practice of adopting a “Craft name.” All people tell stories to maintain a coherent personal history, and...
| Published in: | Nova religio |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Californiarnia Press
2016
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| In: |
Nova religio
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| Further subjects: | B
Authenticity
B Names B self-narratives B Wicca B Identity B Conversion |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | In this article, I explore how a contemporary religion affects the self-understanding of its adherents and may contribute to the construction of their personal identity, by examining the Wiccan practice of adopting a “Craft name.” All people tell stories to maintain a coherent personal history, and stories about their names help create a sense of identity. I offer psychological interpretations of such narratives within the context of Flemish and Dutch Wicca, illustrated with quotes from lightly structured in-depth interviews. I found that names and their referents may be either passively accepted or intuitively recognized as one’s own, and that such impressions contrast with expressive and active understandings in which a name implies one’s potency and helps to frame one’s aspirations. |
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| ISSN: | 1541-8480 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nova religio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1525/nr.2016.20.2.97 |