Panel 7. History matters: the role of the past in contemporary spiritual movements Convenors Tõnno Jonuks, Estonian Literary Museum, tonno@folklore.ee, Mare Kõiva, Estonian Literary Museum, mare@folklore.ee. History matters: the role of the past in contemporary spiritual movements It is common that history is used to legitimize ideologies and religions. While in most cases such argument is used in introductory statements, it is different in contemporary pagan and spiritual religious movements. In these cases, history seems to have a crucial position not only for legitimizing but also for searching inspiration for contemporary beliefs. This session wishes to analyse strategies how history is used in contemporary religious ideologies. What is the role of academic history, archaeology and folklore in contemporary spiritual movements? And vice versa - what kind of influence have contemporary spiritual movements to academic history? What sort of arguments are used and what arguments are ignored in spiritual ideologies? Has historical facts been changed or modified for the sake of contemporary needs? How is the concept of “continuity” understood in these movements? Would it be possible to phrase some pattern of the usage of history in contemporary spiritual movements by the end of this session?
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