New Age, New Media: Kabbalah on the Web

Authors

  • Marla Segol University at Buffalo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/rsrr3-2-580

Keywords:

Kabbalah, Religion, Images, New Age

Abstract

This essay explores the resituation of medieval and early modern kabbalistic diagrams in a New Age, new media context. Because they are taken out of their previous discursive context, there are real differences in their meaning and in their ritual enaction. Thus, the contemporary use of medieval sources is a "medievalism" dependent on new media. Contemporary scholars often define New Age religion according to its construction and application of syncretistic discourse without concern for historical continuity, and they link this to universalistic ideals and a monistic theology. Thus, syncretism and anachronism have ideological and theological significance. By examining the use of these diagrams, we can better understand how New Age, new media religions create, interpret, and enact sacred discourse.

Author Biography

  • Marla Segol, University at Buffalo

    Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Transnational Studies

    Professorship in Jewish Studies

    Institute for Jewish Thought and Heritage

    University at Buffalo

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Published

2013-08-27

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2013): Special Issue: New Age and Neopagan Medievalisms

Section

Articles

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How to Cite

New Age, New Media: Kabbalah on the Web. (2013). Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception, 3(2), 353–79. https://doi.org/10.11157/rsrr3-2-580