‘Reconnecting’ with Nature: Lived Eco-Rituality in the Netherlands and New Ways of (Religious) Belonging

This paper focusses on lived eco-rituals as a particular set of meaning making practices of people to respond to the climate crisis. Based on fieldwork conducted in the Netherlands I present several examples of eco-rituals (forest bathing and sit spot) that particularly aim at ‘reconnecting with nature’. Since the Netherlands is considered a highly individualistic and secular country I focus on lived eco-rituality: meaning-making practices of ordinary people in the contexts of their everyday life to respond and adapt to the climate crisis. The examples of lived eco-rituals to ‘reconnect’ with nature, disclose the relevance of (multiple) religious belonging and/or interspecies belonging/interbeing as central to everyday eco-rituality. I argue that (new) ways of belonging that emerge in reaction to the climate crisis are both in line with and provide a critical response to secularization and individualization in the Netherlands.