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Journal of the American Academy of Religion Advance Access originally published online on October 19, 2007
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 2007 75(4):923-951; doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfm067
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the American Academy of Religion. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Surfing into Spirituality and a New, Aquatic Nature Religion

Bron Taylor

Bron Taylor, Department of Religion, 121 Anderson Hall, POB 117410, Gainesville, FL 32611-7410, USA

E-mail: bron{at}religion.ufl.edu


  Abstract

"Soul surfers" consider surfing to be a profoundly meaningful practice that brings physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits. They generally agree on where surfing initially developed, that it assumed a religious character, was suppressed for religious reasons, has been undergoing a revival, and enjoins reverence for and protection of nature. This subset of the global surfing community should be understood as a new religious movement—a globalizing, hybridized, and increasingly influential example of what I call aquatic nature religion. For these individuals, surfing is a religious form in which a specific sensual practice constitutes its sacred center, and the corresponding experiences are constructed in a way that leads to a belief in nature as powerful, transformative, healing, and sacred. I advance this argument by analyzing these experiences, as well as the myths, rites, symbols, terminology, technology, material culture, and ethical mores that are found within surfing subcultures.


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