ABSTRACT

In this chapter we apply the concept of ‘wrapping’, as developed by Joy Hendry (1993) in relation to Japanese society, to Nonconformist religious groups. She found in her research that the physical wrapping of gifts, typically perceived to be of greater cultural importance than the gift itself, is part of a whole range of wrapping practices within Japanese life. We draw on Hendry’s fertile study, which deals primarily with the secular and everyday life of Japanese society, in order to interrogate the ways in which the sacred is wrapped in Britain. In particular, sects, such as the Quakers, which offer characteristically immediate and unmediated spiritual experiences, paradoxically wrap the means and expression of those experiences in a way which directs and ultimately limits participation. Through a comparison of Quaker with Pentecostalist and other Nonconformist ritual we explore the often subtle ‘hide and seek’ characteristics of religious faith and practice.