ABSTRACT
This chapter charts the religious use of contemporary fantasy fiction, i.e., the serious adoption by real-life religious groups of beliefs, practices, and identities taken from fiction. It examines the “modes” (from metaphorical to literal) in which fantasy fiction can be approached religiously, discusses the strategies used to legitimize religious uses of fantasy, and raises the question of why only some fantasy fiction, but not all, lends itself to religious use (i.e., has “religious affordance”). The fiction-based religions discussed include Jediism based on Star Wars, Tolkien spirituality based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth saga, and Lovecraftian magic inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.
