Abstract

GRACIA, Agustina. Online energies: an exploration of virtual sociability modes in“Llave Mariana”. PAAKAT: rev. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2019, vol.9, n.17.  Epub Dec 10, 2019. ISSN 2007-3607.  https://doi.org/10.32870/pk.a9n17.445.

In this paper we propose to address the way in which the use of virtual platforms shapes a spiritual movement known as "Llave Mariana" and its social life. We take into account its forms of dissemination, interaction and practices in the online world and the way in which these features dialogue with its cosmological and ritual elements. This spiritual movement can be considered as a part of Argentina’s New Age and has the peculiarity of mixing typically New Age elements -taken from Orientalist traditions, such as the language linked to chakras and energy- with Catholic figures, especially Virgin Mary. However, the group develops explicitly outside any institutional or territorial Catholic structure.

As for the methodology, a combined approach complementing virtual ethnography techniques with traditional fieldwork resources were aplied, mainly participant observation in the field and semi-structured interviews. The conclusions in this article aim to understand the virtual dimension within the spiritual realms as more than a mere "reflection" of reality but as a habitable space that modifies subject’s experiences and emotions as well as promotes new ways of community representation.

Keywords : Spirituality; new age; virtual ethnography.