No abstract

Working within alternative belief communities, I frequently encounter a tension between what is felt to be authentic and the facts provided by external sources. Even a cursory glance at the news headlines and social media postings that saturate daily life with terms such as “fake news” and “alternative facts” reveals that this is not an isolated struggle. Focusing on the ways in which contemporary Canadian divination practitioners establish their own truth, this paper examines how these processes reflect and support folklore’s engagement with and ongoing relationship to the emergence of multiple authenticities defined by the experiential.

This paper explores the relationship between divination and charming in twentyfirst century Canada. Drawing upon my ongoing research with Canadian divination practitioners, primarily in the province of Alberta, I focus on the ways in which these connections are created and utilised within contemporary divinatory acts. Doing so provides insights into how and why these practices are being adapted to new contexts, the individuals who undertake them, and the communities that they serve. By recognising this ongoing process of integration, it is possible to gain insights into the needs that these combined acts meet within modern communities and identify the gaps in current social structures, particularly in relation to health and healing, that lead individuals to seek out and adapt these traditional practices for a modern audience.