Oldal 68 [68]
OCR
66 — JUDIT FARKAS 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 ecoenchantment”, 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: selfsubsistent, modest, reliable, open, and above all, perfectly authentic.” (Simpson — Filip 2013: 29). It can be concluded that indigenous traditions and other timetested 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).
