Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WiseWomen (Wise Women: Beliefs and Networks of Female Spiritual Figures in Central European Vernacular Religion)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-05-04 bis 2022-05-03
The Fellow conducting this research is particularly interested in 1) the roles that women take as religious actors, 2) the processes how women’s individual beliefs are created, 3) the way how women’s religious experience is born, expressed, and negotiated. To gain a deeper insight on these topics, the Fellow studies various types of present-day wise women in both urban and rural communities of Southwestern Hungary and Slovenia. She also seeks to find out, how wise women’s new-type, internet-based, globalized knowledge is produced, disseminated, and received.
This research is socially relevant because female spirituality is rapidly evolving in contemporary Central European societies. Women’s spiritual communities contribute their social and psychological well-being and shape their attitudes towards physical and mental health issues. Women's expertise in present-day alternative and complementary medicine proves to be a rich repository that can be exploited by public health policy making.
Objectives of this MSCA were 1) to chart historical source material and compile an inventory of wise women from the late medieval / early modern period up to the modern era; 2) to explore the social and virtual arenas where local and global ideas meet and are negotiated by internet ethnography; (3) to investigate present-day wise women’s religious ideas and activities, such as spiritual healing, afterlife belief, and ritual performances at sacred places by ethnographic research.
The Action provided a deeper insight on the various roles that women may take in the field of religion. It explored how new religious movements encourage women’s religious creativity, provide them with religious agency and social power in contemporary Central Europe. Healing as one of the central fields of investigation proved to be a highly relevant choice during and after the pandemic. The ethnographic study of individual experts of healing and communities facilitating women’s social and physical well-being during the pandemic revealed women’s reactions, attitudes and strategies while coping the situation.
Results of this MSCA are reported in 1) forthcoming papers on the history vernacular female experts of magic and medicine in early modern Central Europe, 2) forthcoming synthetic study on the results of 20th century sociology and ethnography on wise women, 3) forthcoming papers (case studies) drawn on the Fellows fieldwork, 4) a forthcoming paper on a women’s circle which confronts the results of the online survey and fieldwork findings, 5) a research monograph on wise women in Central Europe.
This MSCA allowed the fellow to develop new research skills that enabled her to successfully adapt to the unexpected pandemic situation. Furthermore, it paved the road to a proper reintegration in academic life after a longer career break. During the grant she applied for the title of research associate in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. Her application is supported by the Fellow’s mentor. The application is in progress.
The grant also enabled successful networking and communication on her research, which resulted in the Fellow’s being elected the chair of the ISFNR Belief Narrative Network committee in 2021.
The inspiring working and expert environment not only supported the Fellow with immediate feedback on her research findings but also anticipated further collaboration in her future research. After her successful habilitation at the University of Ljubljana, that Fellow intends to apply for an ERC Starting Grant in 2023.