Magic, Witchcraft, and the Supernatural Body Exam 2

ritual

point of intersection of our biological/animal being and our cultural being

significance of animals playing

human culture is possible because of the way all social animals can pretend

ocher rock

one of the earliest forms of graphic representation (not writing)

trance

experience that puts us back in touch with our animal being; temporary loss of one's soul

spirit possession

one of the main mystical interpretations of trance

shamanic power

ability to induce possession in oneself or others and to recover souls that have been lost; often involves animal transformation

Pashupati/Lord Shiva

lord of the animals; hair symbolic of life/rebirth

bear skull, Chauvet cave

hint of something spiritual (mysticism and magic) in early human culture

Blum on caves

symbolic of the womb

the power of personal symbols

expression of conscious personal choice

Freud on the power of personal symbols

psychological, sexual symbolism (Medusa)

Leach on the power of personal symbols

comes from social and cultural meaning

magic hair

embodied symbols, takes on meaning

Rastafari

counter cultural appropriation; afrocentric interpretation of the bible

"100% American" and the problem of authenticity

illusion that culture is pure and unchanging

plastic shamanism

appropriation of shamanism for commercialization

appropriation

people with power coopting symbols from people who have been oppressed and perverting the context within which symbols have meaning

borrowing

a slow process which changes the meaning of borrowed symbols over time; integrating symbols into new contexts of meaning

revolution

oppressed people consciously taking control of symbols that represent power and revolutionizing the context within which symbols have meaning

lion person statue

earliest evidence of figurative art; chimera

priest

-tries to influence the gods

-power inherited and learned

-reinforces social order

prophet

-embodies impersonal power but sometimes uses that power to speak on behalf of the gods

-power based on persuasion

-bring about social change

The Ghost Dance/Wovoka (prophet)

power of transformation made people believe that if they put on a special garment they would be protected from the guns of the cavalry

Father Divine (prophet)

"second coming of Christ" narrative empowered his voice

medium

-foretells events, predicts the future, and functions to communicate with supernatural beings about what will happen, or makes sense of what has happened

-predicts stability or change, and the outcome of social upheaval

Mother Leafy Anderson (medium)

claimed to contact the spirit of the Native American war chief Black Hawk, took control of her dissatisfaction of marginalized existence by speaking out against marginalization with the power of magic

shaman

-leaves body to communicate directly with divine beings

-power based on a "divine stroke" of embodied ecstasy or possession

-promotes social and cultural stability

shaman as a "handyman of the supernatural"

tinkers with the inner workings of an imperfect world (not permanent solutions)

how shamans heal people

go into trance, their soul contacting other people's souls, ideas, and the spirits of animals

Hmong people's souls

7 of them, when they drift away a person can get sick

Paja Thao was worried that he lost his power to heal because...

he thought his spirit ancestors did not follow him to America

Hmong belief how humans and animals are connected

by being sacrificed, animals give their strength and soul to the sick person

Paja Thao is anxious that his children...

don't participate in his ceremonies or want to practice the old ways and traditions

How do Hmong shaman rituals work

by scaring away the evil spirits that cause sickness and returning the souls to the bodies of those who lost them

God of Justice (Sax)

-victims of social injustice invoke Bhairav for justice, beseeching him to afflict their oppressors with disease and misfortune

-to make the suffering end, oppressors must make amends with their victims and worship Bhairav together

The Falling Sky

extending the knowledge of Yanomamo shamanism to non-indigenous people to reduce prejudice

Strauss's 3 features of shamanic healing

1.)the sorcerer's belief in the effectiveness of his techniques

2.)the patient's or victim's belief in the sorcerer's power

3.)the faith and expectations of the group

Hekura spirits

beautiful, fiery halos, vagina wands

hallucinogenic drugs and Yanomamo shamanism

permit the shaman to see and manipulate the Hekura

significance of Dedehewa's performance

helps verify that his powers are working as intended to the onlookers

Story of Quesalid

convinced shamans were frauds and set out to learn how to perform their tricks to "unmask" their deception, learned the tricks so well that people thought he had magical power,

learned that magical performances help people recover

the power of secrecy

secrets take on a life of their own and animate performances, magnifying their power through mystery

magic of the state

manipulation of symbols to control people's consciousness

stealing the emperor's sword

metaphor for how revolutionary action takes control of the secret power of emotionally charged symbols to alter states of consciousness (e.g. distortion of he national anthem)

_______ guides us to reality

perception

Brazilian trance healing

aspects of culture and social structure cue patients to an altered state of consciousness; they completely trust the healer

altered states of conscious (ASCs)

state in which background mechanisms of consciousness have an increased tendency to produce misrepresentations such as hallucinations, delusions, and memory distortions

problem with studying ASCs

deeply personal and unique to a person's sense of reality

Balaji trance and healing

trance is interpreted as a safe environment for emotionally charged, uninhibited articulation of social, cultural, and psychological anger, frustration, and resentment

witch

a person who is accused of causing harm through sorcery

sorcery

the power of oppression turned back against the oppressors

Accusations of sorcery

fear, guilt, and displacement of blame onto those who can be easily oppressed

The Witch I Didn't See

What Dr. Alter thought was spooky, was just self-protection on part of the women. These vulnerable women are accused of witchcraft. Women forced to bend rules and break the law in order to survive in the economy.

high magic

alchemy, godmen, oracles

low magic

sorcerers, witches, shamans, curses, and hexing

function of torture

to bring about the truth without leaning on superstition

sorcery's functions in society

-Relieves social tensions

-Defines and sustains social values

-Explains and controls terrifying phenomena

-Gives a sense of power over death

-Produces social solidarity against external threats

-Constructs scapegoats and justifies their condemnation

-Provides rough justice in a social contexts where law and order is weak or contested

witchcraft is often associated with _______

social tension and cultural change

Margaret Murry

argued that the Christian church oppressed pagans and advocated for different understanding of these practices

Gerald B. Gardner

established Wicca covens in England, orientalist understanding of magic

sorcery is not dependent on belief in ________

evil spirits

Christian beliefs in good and evil

good is categorically different from evil

Pre Christian beliefs in good and evil

spectrum of positive to negative

heresy

faith in the Devil

catharism

belief that matter is the creation of the Devil; made the Devil a tangible force in people's lives

Orthodox Christianity

defending the sacred body of Christ and the sanctity of the Eucharist, all non-Christians have succumbed to the forces of evil

Malleus Maleficarum

most important treatise on witchcraft, endorses extermination of witches

what 2 things popularized the dangers of witchcraft in every day life?

printing press and institutionalized Sunday sermons

Eschatological anxiety of the 15th and 16th centuries

belief in the Antichrist and end of the world; Catholics vs. Protestants

venus sorcerer

prehistoric art that blurs gender and animal categories

prehistoric evidence of binary reasoning

positive and negative hand prints

Michael Harner

anthropologist who "became" a shaman

mangu

witchcraft, embodiment of jealousy/envy/anger; thought to be a physical, same sex heritable substance