Shifting Realities? Changing Concepts of Religion and the Body in Popular Culture and Neopaganism

Abstract

This article focuses on the analysis of the way in which ideas about religion and the body—in its relationship with technological innovation—are portrayed in some significant science-fiction books and films since the 1980s and on similar ideas in Neopaganism. I aim to show that, while in some cases we can trace a direct influence of popular culture on Neopaganism, it is possible to observe a relation between changes in science-fiction works and changes in Neopaganism: both reflect and express changes in society at large. By examining ideas of the body, technology and religion in Gibson's Neuromancer, David Cronenberg's eXistenZ, and Steven Spielberg's Minority Report, the article shows how new ideas can be used in a counter-cultural way or to strengthen existing power structures. The second part of the article considers whether there is a direct relationship between changes in popular culture and changes in Neopaganism or whether we can talk of a convergence of themes; it does this by examining how Neopagans have used and re-shaped ideas found in science fiction and fantasy. Finally, three key changes in Neopaganism are highlighted, changes that correspond to those found in significant popular culture works.