Hotspots: On the Usefulness of a New Category

Abstract Does it make sense to introduce the notion of hotspot as a heuristically valuable category in the study of religion? In the first part of the article, I argue for the value of the notion by teasing the term apart into semiotic categories. Over and against the customary sacred–profane binary, which in my view does not represent a dichotomy but two opposite poles on a continuum, the hotspot model has the advantage of presenting itself in both temporal and spatial terms. Moreover, it includes the intermediary stages, signified by the distinction between lukewarm and lukecold locations and periods. Furthermore, I supplement this model with the Weberian typology of the different forms of authority needed in order to be able to differentiate between different types of hotspots. In the second part of the article, I try to demonstrate the value of the model by applying it to a variety of cases in the history of religions. Finally, I present reflections on the evolutionary origin of hotspots as a bridge between the two main parts holding that, to explain any phenomenon in the phenomenology of religion, it is urgent to find the evolutionary building blocks for it.