Relating with More-than-Humans: Interbeing Rituality in a Living World (Palgrave Studies in Anthropology of Sustainability)

Within the social sciences, other-than-human being’s agency has often been denied and interbeings relationships have not been fully addressed. However, many indigenous worldviews and Western contemporary spiritual practices are shaping a very different reality, with various attempts to share the world with non-human beings, animate or inanimate, creating forms of relationships to “the living”. This edited volume documents how humans deal with non-human entities in a large variety of cultural contexts. It focuses on ritual processes and how ritual creativity is mobilised to invent new ways of relating with more-than-humans. Comprising nine case studies, the volume is divided into three main sections that address successively daily interactions, political implications, and spiritual engagements. Cooperative interactions, kinship relations, senses of belonging, traditional healing techniques, non-human beings’ legal personality attribution, transformative experiences, and phenomenological relationalities are examined in various locations: West Africa, Buryatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Mexico, Nepalese Himalayas, Sweden and Wales. Chapters "Relating with More-than-Humans: Interbeing Rituality and Spiritual Practices in a Living World―An Introduction" and "Ritual Animism: Indigenous Performances, Interbeings Ceremonies and Alternative Spiritualities in the Global Rights of Nature Networks" are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com. Acknowledgements Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Chapter 1: Relating with More-than-Humans: Interbeing Rituality and Spiritual Practices in a Living World—An Introduction Relating Through Rituality Ritual Creativity and Contemporary Spiritual Practices Circulations and Refracting Rituals References Part I: Living with More-than-Humans: The Role of Daily Rites Chapter 2: Inter-species Interaction Rituals in Yak Herding Practices in Nepal Introduction Interaction Rituals A Yak Older than the Shepherd, When a Yak Shapes the Shepherd From Aggression to Cooperation Cycles Avoidance Rituals: The Snow Leopard A Short Typology Rituals of Identification Confirmatory Rituals Maintenance Rituals Are There Funeral Circles? Conclusion References Chapter 3: Urban Wixárika and More-than-Human Beings: The Case of Tatéi Niwetsika (“Our Mother Corn”) in Western Mexico Kinship Relations Methodology/Methods Literature Review Tatéi Niwetsika (“Our Mother Corn”) Kinship Relations Plants Personhood Conclusion References Chapter 4: The Peasant and the Soil in Southwestern French Biodynamic Agriculture: A Ritualistic Creative Relationship Entangled in a Holistic Commitment Ritualization and Spiritualization Within a Global Commitment: The Biodynamic Silica Preparation Relational Approach to Ritual in Anthropology and the Analogical Way of Thinking Applied to Agriculture Daily Ritualization: Gesture(s) as Technique(s) References Part II: More-than-Human Politics: Belonging, Identity, Indigeneity and the Rights of Nature Chapter 5: Human-Resource Connections as Articulations of Belonging in Buriatia Introduction Articulations of Indigenous Belonging The Sacred Landscape of Oka Graphite as a Symbol of Natural Richness Gold as the Outside Threat Jade as a Part of Sacred Landscape Conclusion References Chapter 6: “Behind-the-curtain Work”: Animal Ingredients, Divine Collaboration, and Ritual Substitution in West African Healthcare Introduction The Awinon Community, Their Markets, and Their Clients Housodji Markets Animal Ingredients and Their Uses in Awinon Medicine Globalization, Spiritual Illness, and Mimetic Hybrids Mimetic Hybrids Conclusion References Chapter 7: Ritual Animism: Indigenous Performances, Interbeings Ceremonies and Alternative Spiritualities in the Global Rights of Nature Networks Introduction Indigenous Performances and Imitations at the GARN Conference in Quito Ritual Innovation at the European Headquarters of the UN in Geneva Recurrences and Circularities at the Earth Rights Conference in Sigtuna Beyond Rights of Nature Hybridization, Institutionalization and Embodiment of the Ritual Relationality, Personification and the Limits of Ritual Animism Conclusion References Part III: More-than-Human Spiritualities: Liminality, Embodiment and Intimate Experiences of Personal Transformation Chapter 8: Escaping the Modern Predicament: Nature as Refuge and Community in Contemporary Health Practices in Wales, Sweden, and Finland Introduction Nature Connection as a Health Practice: The Western Zeitgeist Two Contemporary Ethnographic Studies of the Nature/Health Intersection Wales Sweden and Finland Notions of Escape Escaping from But Also to A Community Full of Life Liminality and Communitas Wellbeing Through Contact with Earth Beings Conclusions References Chapter 9: Crossing Thresholds with Nature Spirits: Ritual Design, Liminality, and Transformation in Northwestern France Introduction The Megaliths of Carnac as an “alternative healing mecca” Actor’s Notions on a “living” World A Ritual Design for Interacting with More-than-Humans Crossing Thresholds with Nature Spirits Experiencing Transformation Conclusions References Chapter 10: Crystals as Other-than-Human Persons for New Spirituality in Estonia: Phenomenological Relationality in Animist Materialism Introduction Crystals as Powerful Matter Involvement in Everyday Life Modes of Communication with Other-than-Human Persons Processual Relationality Bodily Intimacy as Phenomenological Relationality Conclusion References Chapter 11: Afterword: In Among the More-than-Humans References Correction to: Relating with More-than-Humans Correction to: Index