Abstract

ACOSTA RICO, Fabián. Religious stamps and icons and how they are re-invented in the global market of religion and mass esotericism. Intersticios sociales [online]. 2018, n.16, pp.131-157. ISSN 2007-4964.

This article examines popular religious images associated with the recent past of the Christian faith. These religious icons refer to a form of devotion whose relevance is vanishing, but still displays significant nuances of both fetishism and fanaticism. These stamps and icons are believed to possess the ability to work miracles; that is, the believer knows, beforehand, that the image will propitiate certain favors; thus she/he puts it to the test by imploring it for protection, support or help. The text seeks to explain how it is that these religious stamps continue to occupy a place in the global market of religions while simultaneously being incorporated into what we call mass esotericism, precisely due to the miraculous nature that popular religiosity attributes to them.

Keywords : religious stamps; icons; mass esotericism; popular religiosity; global religion market.

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