Between science, religion, and tradition: multiple forms of legitimation of occult practices in contemporary Kazakhstan

Abstract

This article examines the increasing visibility of occult knowledge and practices among the contemporary urban population of Kazakhstan and considers how these practices are interpreted in the context of accelerated catch-up modernization, institutional uncertainty, cultural continuity, and changing sources of authority. The study employed an exploratory mixed-methods design comprising a self-selected online survey of urban residents ( n  = 764), semi-structured in-depth interviews ( n  = 10), and qualitative-quantitative content analysis of 375 media items from Kazakhstan’s digital space. Occult and esoteric practices carried multiple and often contradictory meanings within the sample, ranging from cultural tradition, psychological support, and personal orientation to commercial products, status resources, and alternative forms of action under uncertainty. A particularly important finding is that the same practices may be legitimated through overlapping scientific or quasi-scientific, religious, cultural-traditional, therapeutic, and commercial vocabularies rather than through a simple rational–irrational binary. Attitudes toward state regulation were similarly ambivalent, combining expectations of oversight and consumer protection with recognition of individual choice. The study does not establish a direct causal relationship between modernization and the prevalence of occult practices. Compensation theory is therefore treated as one interpretive framework among several, while the findings point more broadly to the coexistence and negotiation of multiple epistemic and institutional sources of authority in contemporary Kazakhstan.