Symbolic Interactions in Popular Religion According to Dimensions of Religiosity: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this paper was to interpret the usage of symbols in popular religion based on contemporary symbolic interactionism using the reference framework of the symbolic community. The strength of the chosen symbolic interactionist approach is primarily in the research of the role of different dimensions of the religious in understanding the meaning of popular religion in the symbolic community. The qualitative approach and the method of in-depth semi-structured interviews were employed in the research, which responded to the main goal of the research on the meanings the participants of the popular religion attach to the symbolic interactions. A deliberate sample was used for the selection of participants in the popular forms of celebrating the days of Our Lady of Vrpolje, Our Lady of Sinj, and Our Lady of Karavaj as well as the Guardians of Christ’s grave in Vodice, Croatia. According to the results, popular religion, transmitted through visible signs, places believers in a position of physical contact with the supernatural world within a symbolic environment. To achieve this, popular religion displays a need for sacred images, words, sounds, signs, movements, smells. Believers in popular religion seek to establish as simple, intimate, and direct relationship with a deity as possible. The respondents’ answers confirm that the experiential dimension of religiosity is lived primarily on a personal level that precedes the social dimension. For the participants, the religious community has a symbolic character in terms of creating strong bonds between members of society or a social group, especially within the symbolic meaning of a feast day.