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rites invoking the spirits of the Earth, nature and natural beings (eco-magic) during
their campaigns and actions of resistance, in addition to their customary ecotage
techniques!! (Letcher 2003).
In 2005, Christopher Partridge pointed out that “geographically filtered eco¬
enchantment”, as he defined it, has been gaining strength. This means that a given
movement appears to find ties to the ancient tradition in the given area: such is
the strengthening aboriginal tradition in Australia, the re-interpretation of Celtic
mythology in England and neo-paganist ties to the native people in the United
States (see Partridge 2005: 73). In Hungarian areas, several ecological, self-sustaining
groups look for such ties in the traditional peasant way of life. The ecological
knowledge of the traditional peasantry receives special emphasis and serves as a
point of reference in these communities, interpreted as the safeguarding of the
ancient Hungarian culture and the local natural environment. It is a well-known
phenomenon in the Central and Eastern European region: “The peasant is the
incarnation of the noble savage, being ‘simple’ in the best sense of the word: self¬
subsistent, modest, reliable, open, and above all, perfectly authentic.” (Simpson
— Filip 2013: 29). It can be concluded that indigenous traditions and other time¬
tested worldviews provide important inspiration for contemporary eco-spiritual
movements and trends as well.’
SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY
The study of the relations between religions, rites, and ecosystems has formed part of
cultural anthropological research since the emergence of the scholarship of the field in
the second half of the 19th century.
Since the 1980s (that is, since its appearance), spiritual ecology has also been a topic
of scholarly interest. According to Sponsel, one of the researchers of this area, spiritual
ecology investigates the spiritual, emotional, intellectual and practical activities on the
border between religions and the natural environment (Sponsel 2012). The aim of the
researchers is to get to know the religious aspects of the environmental network of
relations, to recognize the common denominator of an ethical interaction with the
environment in the fundamental theses of diverse religions (Borsos 2004: 82), and to
explore how the ecological movements use the traditional, tribal, vernacular religions
for the solution of contemporary environmental problems. Some anthropological
knowledge, as the result of research on anthropology and religion, has become
incorporated into the arsenal of climate activists, and the re-reading of texts has begun.
Research interests relevant for spiritual ecology include Marvin Harris’s and Roy
Rappaport’s studies of systems ecology. Harris looked closely at the principle of ahimsa
(non-harming) as exemplified by India’s sacred cows. The prohibition of slaying cattle,
he argued, was not only the result of a religious taboo — which outsiders often found
Ecotage: a combination of the words ecology and sabotage, meaning: the sabotage of activities
detrimental to nature, for instance, blocking roads, protesters chaining themselves to endangered
objects, damaging the machines used in destructive activities (chain saws and lorries carrying
timber), etc.
Kate Rigby is expressly critical about the result: she claims that it is in part superficial and
sentimental, while being a lucrative and easily appropriated manifestation of this knowledge and
identity. This is why she stresses the native authors and actors who have found their own voice
concerning their own culture and have contributed in no small measure to the creation of EH.
See Americans Joni Adamson and Linda Hogan, or Australian Mary Graham (Rigby 2017).