Creating handmade wands as serious leisure among witches in deviantART By Hili Ratzon
Presented at V Congresso da AssociaçãoPortuguesa de Antropologia, University of Tras-os-Montes and AltoDouro
(UTAD), Portugal on September 2013.
(UTAD), Portugal on September 2013.
Many contemporary Pagan and Wiccan artists choose to use wands as a tool in their religious rituals. Creating religious tools for personal use allows artists to express both their religious identity and their creativity. This study examines the attributes of the wands, the characteristics of their creators and their reception among the viewers who comment on the creation.
Social networks allow users to create profiles, upload content and share with other users (Miah, 2011). Creating wands can be considered as a leisure activity which fits the definition of Serious Leisure: The person who participates in the leisure activity as a hobbyist experiences it as interesting, as fulfilling and as one that can be turned into a career in the future (Stebbins, 2009).
The research method used in this study was content analysis of the 17 hobbyist artists: To examine the attributes of the wands by using the artists’ explanations of the artwork, the pictures of the wands and the viewers’ comments. Most of the artists are female and live in the United States.
According to the findings of this study, almost all artists are either Pagan or Wiccan and are dealing with witchcraft. The artists put a lot of effort in the creation of the wands and constantly try to improve their skills. The creation of the wands is related to their unique ethos and to the social world of the Pagan and Wiccan community in deviantART. Reception of the wands in deviantART is mostly positive and the viewers tend to support the artists.
Conclusions of this study are that the creation process of the wands is meaningful to the artist and that creativity fills an important role in the construction of their religious identity. The artists gain recognition and also an opportunity to turn their hobby into a career by following requests from their viewers. This makes the wand creation fit into the frame of Serious Leisure.
Social networks allow users to create profiles, upload content and share with other users (Miah, 2011). Creating wands can be considered as a leisure activity which fits the definition of Serious Leisure: The person who participates in the leisure activity as a hobbyist experiences it as interesting, as fulfilling and as one that can be turned into a career in the future (Stebbins, 2009).
The research method used in this study was content analysis of the 17 hobbyist artists: To examine the attributes of the wands by using the artists’ explanations of the artwork, the pictures of the wands and the viewers’ comments. Most of the artists are female and live in the United States.
According to the findings of this study, almost all artists are either Pagan or Wiccan and are dealing with witchcraft. The artists put a lot of effort in the creation of the wands and constantly try to improve their skills. The creation of the wands is related to their unique ethos and to the social world of the Pagan and Wiccan community in deviantART. Reception of the wands in deviantART is mostly positive and the viewers tend to support the artists.
Conclusions of this study are that the creation process of the wands is meaningful to the artist and that creativity fills an important role in the construction of their religious identity. The artists gain recognition and also an opportunity to turn their hobby into a career by following requests from their viewers. This makes the wand creation fit into the frame of Serious Leisure.
