I began studying magic about two months ago. I was expecting to learn about ghouls, ghosts, and Harry Potter. I quickly discovered that magic in anthropology encompasses a lot more than the stuff of fantasy stories and popular culture. Magic is a deeply complex and integral part of many peoples’ lives. That statement is hard for me (and some of my peers) to fully comprehend. In fact in my western culture magic is often immediately dismissed as not true, or something only children believe in. During these past two months magic, for me, has undergone a transformation from total fiction to a truly impactful phenomenon. I now understand that magic is incredibly hard to define and make sense of, but in this essay I will attempt to do exactly …show more content…
I put on my anthropologist hat and tried to think of a way to show my friend that he might believe in magic more than he thinks. I was reminded of a house that some of my family friends recently bought. They are newlyweds and were looking for a nice house in their hometown where they could eventually start a family. There turned out to be a wonderful home in a great location for an unusually low price on the market. So what was the catch? This house was the location of a quadruple homicide that took place in 2009. A young man beat his girlfriend, her mother, her father, and her best friend to death and hid the bodies in the house. My family friends were well aware of this fact, but decided to buy the house anyway. They even posted on social media saying that they knew some people had problems with their new home, but they weren’t going to let any superstition stop them from capitalizing on this …show more content…
As the influential philosopher Georg Hegel argued, it is all too easy to view others in a way that implies that “we” are the ideal. My friend at lunch struggled with this. He had an extremely ethnocentric view when he was deciding whether magic is “real” or not. One way to look at the verisimilitude of magic is by looking at its consequences. There is no denying that magic has impactful, serious consequences in communities across the globe. If a phenomenon has real, quantifiable effects, then that phenomenon is also real. Such is the way with magic. Regardless of one’s belief in magic, it is real and it affects real people. Examples of magic having serious consequences can be seen in E. E. Evans-Pritchard’s classic work Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. If a member of the Zande community is accused of being a witch, then those around that person will treat them with heightened respect. People will tiptoe around the accused witch in hopes that they will not offend them and be cursed themselves (Evans-Pritchard, 54). This is an example of social order being heavily influenced by magic. Similarly, if a person suspects a neighbor to be a witch, they can consult the poison oracle to know for certain. If the oracle says no, the suspect is not a witch, then the suspicious person now has no reason to fear their neighbor. This shows that magic
Renee Stout’s “Tales of the Conjure Woman,” currently on exhibition at Spelman College’s Cosby Hall, puts on display the culturally mysterious nature of African folklore. In the exhibition, Stout presents with utter brilliance the depth of the culture through her artistic manifestation of ceremonial traditions, magical hoodoo, and spell-related practices. In her works, Stout uses a unique personification, an alter ego of sorts, named Fatima Mayfield, to explore the African folkloric world of which her exhibition represents. Ranging from simple recipes to intricate descriptions of the aforementioned magical practices, Stout takes on her work with her alter ego in an attempt to demonstrate both the past and contemporaneous dimensions of her work. Additionally, it would seem as if Fatima exists as a sort of special source of understanding and clarity for Stout given her vast knowledge and countless abilities. The exhibition is home to various pieces that allow one to “jump inside the pages” and interact with Stout’s rendition of the African folkloric community.
Edward, Bever, 'Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic', Journal of Interdisciplinary History vol.11 no.2 (Autumn 2009)
The Cross-Cultural Articulations of War Magic and Warrior Religion by D. S. Farrer, main purpose of this article is to provide a re-evaluated perspective of religion and magic, through the perspective of the practitioners and victims. Farrer uses examples that range from the following: “Chinese exorcists, Javanese spirit siblings, Sumatran black magic, Tamil Tiger suicide bombers, Chamorro spiritual re-enchantment, tantric Buddhist war magic, and Yanomami dark shamans” (1). Throughout the article, he uses these examples to address a few central themes. The central themes for war magic, range from “violence and healing, accomplished through ritual and performance, to unleash and/or control the power of gods, demons, ghosts and the dead” (Farrer 1).
In Western culture magic has been traditionally viewed negatively. The word often conjures up images of witches, spells, cults, and dark rituals. As Malidoma displays, in Dagara culture, along with most traditional African culture, magic is viewed positively and is at the core of religion.
The growing practice of Neo-Paganism in America has caused many to turn their heads. The misunderstanding of the religion has caused many to equate the practitioners with the popular conception of typical "witches," that perform black magic rituals, satanic sacrifices, and engage in devil-inspired orgies. After many years, the Neo-Pagan community has cleared up many misconceptions through the showing that many of them do not engage in activities, and are rather participating in a religion, just as those would that participate in a Christian community. It's unacceptance continues, perhaps due to its non-conformity to the ideal of worshipping a Christian God. Through the use of ethnography, anthropologists and sociologists are able to present the public with a much different view than what we are bombarded with in popular media.
Their dependence on magic is similar to very religion-like. It is akin to how a pious group of people consider their faith as sort of a protection. But the Trobriander magic extends to more realms than most religions. Malinowski mentions the varied aspects of their lives that magic plays a part in. It is used to explain death. Physical ailments and illness can be attributed to magic. There is a team of human sorcerers, the bwaga’u, who induce the “deepest dread and most constant concern of the natives” because of how magic can extinguish human life (393). Health is closely tied to magic as it can ruin or improve one’s health. Magic also plays a part in social events such as “ambition in gardening, ambition in successful Kula, vanity and display of personal charms in dancing” (394). Individuals can perform magic to improve the chances of success for their gardens while also casting black magic on the gardens of their rivals. Magic governs the weather. One of the more interesting aspects of
Experiencing new worlds and encountering new dilemmas, magic, wisdom, truth: all of these elements characterizes the context of the book Of Water and Spirit by Malidona Patrice Some. Here, magic and everyday life come to an affinity, and respect and rituals are necessary tools to survive. The author portrays the Dagara culture in a very specific way. This culture makes no differentiation between what is natural, or "normal", and what is supernatural, or magical. Ancestors compound the core of communities and individuals. These higher beings are present in ordinary life activities and actions. They constitute the connection between this world and another.
Voodooism is a fascinating way of life. Ever since living in Haiti in the early 1980's, the constant thumping of drums in the twilight has intrigued me. Their melody and rhythm seemed to consume the moist evening air like a pungent odor that will not dissipate. Life is very different in Haiti than it is in the United States, and however odd it seems to Western mentality, I could feel the presence of spirits in and around almost every aspect of life in Haiti.
First of all, the growth of curiosity in the paranormal may have undesirable effects on the community’s economy. The popularity of television shows and web sites dedicated to searching out haunted locations is on the rise. This is especially common in rural areas where there is a need for jobs to boost the failing economy. The owners of small inns and century old buildings found in rural areas are now seeking out the stamp of approval of such paranormal investigations found on these television shows and web sites. These rural societies thought they had the right idea to bring in business for their small towns but did they ever stop to think of the damage their actions would have on their communities?
Witchcraft is said to be the most widespread cultural phenomenon in existence today and throughout history. Even those who shun the ideas of witchcraft cannot discount the similarities in stories from all corners of the globe. Witchcraft and its ideas have spread across racial, religious, and language barriers from Asia to Africa to America. Primitive people from different areas in the world have shockingly similar accounts of witchcraft occurrences. In most cases the strange parallels cannot be explained and one is only left to assume that the tales hold some truth. Anthropologists say that many common elements about witchcraft are shared by different cultures in the world. Among these common elements are the physical characteristics and the activities of supposed witches. I will go on to highlight some of the witch characteristic parallels found in printed accounts from different parts of the world and their comparisons to some famous fairytales.
A common aspect of African culture is our mediating of deities, ancestors, and spirits, by performing rituals and contacting ancestors or historical ideals. This spiritual combination creates a non-Western idea of movement in art. I enjoy this part of our culture, where we create a less static environment. We become other beings, through our usage of art, dance, and costume with mask and headwear. Our artistic creators are forgotten. Our original artwork are eventually forgotten. The work goes back to the Earth, for the only true matter is how the spirits are manifested in the objects at the current time; eventually even this wears out. At the time of the spiritual manifestation in the objects, they are some of the most powerful aspects in our society.
Over the centuries, the concept of Witchcraft, as it presented within religion and society, evoked a variety of responses and attitudes that permeated throughout the cultures of the world. Christianity incited wars and hysteria and chaos in the name of extinguishing the practice of Witchcraft. Today there are prominent religions within many cultures that uphold the practice of witchcraft as a feasible manifestation of spirituality. The term conjures a variety of images for a diverse range of people. To the Azande, witchcraft and oracles and magic existed in everyday life as permeation of the Zande culture. In Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande, E.E. Evans-Pritchard focuses on the beliefs associated with witchcraft and how they manifest in the social structure of the Community.
Home-understanding is not challenged by natives but rather by others. Magic and religion are said to be modes to control the entire world. Each has its distinctive ways. Magic has not yet gotten a proper standing - which is a prerequisite for a proper understanding. One can understand another culture through its surrounding reality. In order to explain something, judgment and truths are necessary ingredients. Someone who is in a disagreement with our point of view is an illusion. We assume certain realities in a particular case and that perceived reality shapes our understanding. We do define myths but we fail to define giants. There was presupposition that there were no giants. Magic is said to be misunderstood. Those who misunderstood it are not useless, they may benefit us in other concepts we may not be correct on. Nostra was failing. Making judgement of the truths has not ceased to exist, it still occurs. There is now, essential human purposes, unlike previously. As humans, we need to have a meaning to our lives. If life becomes meaningful, then everything will be possible to be
While is a common conception that pre-modern societies are primitive compared to their modern counterpart, this is not often the case, theses societies have complex systems within their society especially within their spirituality and religion. It is this complexity that has allowed aspects of pre-modern societies to evolve and adapt into modern societies. Myths, rituals and sorcery have been terms to describe the activities of pre-modern societies, but these activities have also been found to exist within modern society as well. This essay will further discuss the connections between pre-modern and modern societies that has allowed for myths, rituals and sorcery to exist in the modern societies.
In most African societies, a witch is seen as the enemy of life and society. Laurenti Magesa affirmed “African Religion has a pragmatic approach to life: Everything that promotes the well-being of the community is good, and everything that destroys the community is evil.”