Religión vivida y consumo religioso/espiritual: creyentes, usuarios y vida cotidiana en Santiago de Chile

Abstract

This article is part of a study carried out between 2018 and 2021, designed to analyze the dynamics of the commercialization of religious and spiritual products in the city of Santiago de Chile. The study focuses on the daily experiences and needs of the believers and users who frequent this space. In contrast to those interpretations that emphasize the calculated search for spiritual benefit as the main driver of decisionmaking in open religious economies, this study analyzes the day-to-day dynamics and motivations that lead individuals to engage in transactions of goods and services in accordance with their practical needs. It also sheds light on their fears, disappointments and hopes, as well as their ability to reconnect with the sacred. To this end, a qualitative design was used, based on ethnographies, in-depth interviews and observations in stores selling religious, spiritual, magical, and esoteric items, as well as on the streets and passages in the city’s historic center where a variety of services (divination, healing, protection) are offered. The results support the existence of flexible individuals who construct their belief systems in relation to the challenges and needs they face in their daily lives, beyond the theological and dogmatic restrictions defined by institutions. They also account for the constitution of associative networks built by suppliers and consumers, which amplifies the impact of new or novel religious/spiritual experiences through multiple interactions with hybrid belief systems.

Keywords

• daily life
• flexible believers
• lived religion
• religious market