The Avatar Faculty creatively examines the parallels between spiritual and digital activities to explore the roles that symbolic second selves-avatars-can play in our lives. The use of avatars can allow for what anthropologists call ecstasy, from the Greek ekstasis, meaning "standing outside oneself." The archaic techniques of promoting spiritual ecstasy, which remain central to religious healing traditions around the world, now also have contemporary analogues in virtual worlds found on the internet. In this innovative book, Jeffrey G. Snodgrass argues that avatars allow for the ecstatic projection of consciousness into alternate realities, potentially providing both the spiritually possessed and gamers access to superior secondary identities with elevated social standing. Even if only temporary, self-transformations of these kinds can help reduce psychosocial stress and positively improve health and well-being.

About the Author
Jeffrey G. Snodgrass is Professor of Anthropology at Colorado State University.

Reviews
"Scholars and social scientists of religion will find much of interest in this book, because it explores the increasingly uncertain borders of 'religion,' when secularization may be obscuring the meaning of the concept without actually satisfying the human need for sacred norms and profound meanings." * Nova Religio *



Book Information
ISBN 9780520384361
Author Jeffrey G. Snodgrass
Format Paperback
Page Count 280
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 363g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 18mm