The purpose of this study is to examine how people express their beliefs in crystals through the comments section of one of Sweden's largest crystal retailers. The aim of the thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary religious expressions of crystal users. In total the study material consists of 172 comments collected from the website Ohlamoon.se written between January 2019 and September 2023. The study is conducted using a thematic content analysis and follows an abductive approach. Stark & Finke's Rational Choice Theory (2000) has been employed as the primary theory against which analysis questions are posed, the thesis also utilizes Heelas & Woodhead's (2005) description of The Subjective Turn as a secondary theory against which the results are discussed. The conclusions from the study revealed that crystals are described as possessing positive qualities that in various ways, reinforce, support, or comfort users. In this way crystals can be likened to personal pillars of support that actively contribute to users' lives with their properties and agency. Users form personal relationships and feelings of affection towards the crystals, utilizing their energy and presence in daily life as well as during meditation and rituals to achieve a sense of deeper spiritual states.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-521336 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Larsen, Alice |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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