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Virtual Spirituality: the Negotiation and (Re)-Presentation of Psychic-Spiritual Identity on the Internet

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Virtual Spirituality: the Negotiation and (Re)-Presentation of Psychic-Spiritual Identity on the Internet Virtual Spirituality: The Negotiation and (Re)-Presentation of Psychic-Spiritual Identity on the Internet Tamlyn Ryan Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2012 Department of Sociology University of York Abstract This research is an examination of how people engaged in psychic and spiritual interests use the internet to participate as a group through social media. Exploring how individuals take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the internet to pursue their interest in psychic spirituality reveals different ways of participating and interacting online. The ways in which individuals present their psychic-spiritual selves online, how they negotiate their online identities and make sense of their culture, is also examined. Using an eclectic methodological approach, this research used a combination of ethnographic methods and autoethnography to explore online psychic-spiritual culture. Documentary analysis of website text and images, together with participant observation, both covert and overt, were used to examine websites. Facebook interaction and psychic readings in online discussion board forums based on psychic-spiritual interests were analysed using discourse analysis. Autoethnographic self-reflections were also collected and analysed in order to capture an intrapsychic perspective of psychic reading culture. It was found that psychic practitioners use their websites to communicate the message that they are credible psychic readers whilst Facebook was found to be a site in which, through a delicate interplay of activity and performance, identity is constructed through interaction between the psychic reader and their Facebook friends. Psychic-spiritual discussion board forums meanwhile are sites of situated learning in which learner psychic readers learn to become appropriate members of the psychic- spiritual milieu. Also, although the sociological analytic mind does not easily accommodate the nature of psychic reading, the study did manage to obtain an intrapsychic perspective on psychic readings. Thus, members of the psychic-spiritual milieu have taken full advantage of the internet to pursue their interest in psychic reading culture. 2 Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………....... 2 Contents……………………………………………………………………………….. 3 List of Figures……………………………………………………………………….. 7 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………….. 10 Declaration of Originality…………………………………………………….. 11 Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………. 12 The Sociology of Religion and Spirituality .................................................... 18 The Cultic Milieu ............................................................................... 20 Psychic Practices .......................................................................................... 21 Mediumship and Spiritualism ............................................................... 25 Psychics and Mass Communication ...................................................... 27 The Psychic Spiritual Milieu Online .............................................................. 32 Psychics Readings Online ..................................................................... 34 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 41 Chapter Two: Literature Review .....................................................43 Sociology and Religion ................................................................................. 44 A Case for Secularisation? ................................................................ 46 The Cultic Milieu........................................................................................... 52 A Revival of Spirituality?................................................................... 57 Identifying a Psychic-Spiritual Milieu ............................................... 63 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 66 Chapter Three: Methodology ..........................................................68 Methodological Approach............................................................................ 68 Qualitative Methodology: the reflexive turn .................................... 69 Ethnography ................................................................................................. 71 Virtual Ethnography ......................................................................... 72 Data Collection Methods ............................................................................. 76 Websites as Textual and Visual Data ............................................... 77 Participant Observation ................................................................... 78 Facebook .......................................................................................... 80 Discussion Board Forums ................................................................. 81 Autoethnography ............................................................................. 82 3 Readings in Forums .......................................................................... 87 Summary .......................................................................................... 88 Analytic Approach ........................................................................................ 89 The Ethics of Online Research ...................................................................... 91 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 97 Chapter Four: Web as Window: (Re)Presentation of Self, Work and Community in Psychic Practitioner Websites .......................98 Managing Initial Impressions ....................................................................... 98 Qualitative Assessment of Psychic Practitioner Websites……………………… 101 The Presentation of Self and Expertise ...................................................... 102 Psychic Abilities as ‘Gifts’ ............................................................... 103 Early Spiritual Encounters and Trauma .......................................... 106 Legacy ............................................................................................. 110 Summary ........................................................................................ 112 The Presentation of Psychic Practices as Work ......................................... 114 Psychic Practices as ‘Work’ ............................................................ 115 ‘Professional’ Psychic Services........................................................ 116 Celebrity Status .............................................................................. 120 Summary ........................................................................................ 123 The Representation of the Psychic-Spiritual Community .......................... 124 Representing Spirit ......................................................................... 124 Visual Representation of the Psychic-Spiritual Self ........................ 130 Summary ........................................................................................ 133 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 134 Chapter Five: Psychics On Facebook: The Practical Management of Psychic-Spiritual Identity in Computer- Mediated Interaction ..................................................................... 136 Analysing Psychic Discourse Online ........................................................... 139 The Negotiation and Maintenance of Psychic-Spiritual Identity Online ... 142 Summary ........................................................................................ 151 Maintaining Epistemic Prowess ................................................................. 152 Summary ........................................................................................ 164 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 165 4 Chapter Six: Virtual Psychic Forums: Pedagogic Practice and the Negotiation of Psychic Practitioner Identity in Asynchronous Psychic Readings ............................................................................. 167 Psychic Readings as Social Interactions ..................................................... 168 Psychic Readings in Asynchronous Discussion Board Forums ....... 170 Psychic Reading Forums as ‘Communities of Practice’ .............................. 173 Who’s Reading Whom? How Roles and Relationships are Established in Online Psychic Readings ............................................................................. 175 Summary ........................................................................................ 187 Exhibiting Learner Status ........................................................................... 189 Strategies for Soliciting Feedback .................................................. 192 Summary ........................................................................................ 195 Soliciting Alternative Instructions .............................................................. 196 Summary ........................................................................................ 203 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 205 Chapter Seven: Becoming the Virtual Psychic: The Subjective Experience of Psychic
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