Connecting Earth and Heaven: Tsar Cross Processions, Spiritual Infrastructure, and Orthodox Christian Citizenship
Journal: Archives de sciences sociales des religions
Year: 2024

This article develops Michel de Certeau’s concept of utopian space and applies it to the Russian Orthodox realities, considering space as created by practices and legitimized by certain texts. It argues that Russian Orthodox utopian space evokes social emotions of collectivity and belonging. The article analyses how utopian space is created and maintained in popular religious performances through walking, prayer chanting, the language of spiritual warfare, and the notion of spiritual gaze. It fo