Channeling Tamesis and the Reclaiming of Brythonic Animist Intimacy
Publication information:
Abstract
This paper charts an attempt to reconnect and thus reclaim an animist intimacy with an ancient Brythonic spirit of the Thames, Tamesis, using druidic shamanic practices that focus on the religiosity of creativity, the sacrality of imagination, and the channelling of awen. What is presented is both an ethnographic account of the artistry involved in shamanic practice and an analysis of the authority of personal, if not inevitably solipsistic, unverifiable gnosis in reproducing reimagined animist relationships and how this impacts a broader public adoption and appreciation of what constitutes reclaiming an authentic spiritual indigeneity.
Presenter Biography
Dr. TH Berendt is the faculty fellow for AI and a professor of religious studies at Arcadia University in Philadelphia. His research focuses upon the ubiquity of religious experiences as organic cultural flows. He is currently working on projects centered upon cartoon religiosity, transspecies animism, and Brythonic druidic shamanism.