Contemporary Ecocultural Bonds with the Non-human: From Spirit-animals to the Fly Mushroom

Abstract This article will analyze some Estonian examples of increasingly popular contemporary rituals for creating spiritually meaningful ecocultural bonds. As one example, it offers a case analysis on contemporary beliefs and spiritual approaches related to the fly mushroom, providing an overview of shifts in its meaning compared to older folklore. The author will exemplify how the interest in using the fly mushroom for spiritual purposes has triggered a contested public image: practices related to the fly mushroom tend to be called “dangerous” in public discourse but are viewed by the practitioners themselves as a means to achieve a more holistic, spiritual, and healthy self. Thus, negotiated vernacular representations and media rhetoric that involve elements and keywords like ancient wisdom, divinity, intimate embodied connections with nature and self-development on the one hand, and stupidity, alienation from nature, addiction and danger on the other hand will be discussed. As another case analysis, the article scrutinizes the practice of attributing supernatural characteristics to real-life animals or pets and ways of communicating with them for spiritual guidance and wellbeing. The author concludes that rituals for creating or keeping such ecocultural bonds are in line with contemporary trends for experimenting with ritualized life and supernatural meaning-making but also with pursuits for coping better with insecurities and traumas and escaping boredom in the complicated liquid and technologized modern world.