In this presentation, I will address a glitch that has been largely overlooked in the study of religious cognition; namely cross-generational differences in the attribution of non-ordinary powers. Contemporary popular culture is permeated by magical and occult narratives, and Christopher Partridge argues that such ”occulture” has become ordinary among younger generations. While occult narratives may not be labelled as spiritual or religious, they yet appear to function as existential anchors in secularized contexts. Empirical examples are provided from a study on supernatural and parasocial relations among young adults on the autism spectrum, who are using the term ”supernatural” to make sense of anomalous experiences. Such experiences moreover seem to provide a path towards non-empirical beliefs in a sample that grew up highly secularized Sweden.
Keynote speech at Religion and the Mind-conference at Jagellonian University (Krakow/Poland).