Magic, Witchcraft, and the Supernatural Body Exam 2 - set 2

ritual (ritualization)

a window through which one can peer in two directions- biological or animal being and our cultural

being; it is also the point at

which these dimensions

intersect, mingle and

influence one another

animal play

a highly ritualized activity that involves complex levels of communication and contextual framing; example: two dogs playing know that they aren't actually being aggressive towards each other

symbolic meaning

___________ __________ is built on the logic of ritualized play; culture is possible because all social animals have the ability to pretend

40,000-10,000 YBP (years before present)

when we became more human than animal; a revolution in cultural innovation

spirit possession

one of the main, widely distributed mystical interpretations of trance and other associated conditions

soul-loss

dispossessed of one's own soul or sense of self; an experience very much like possession

shamanic power

based on the ability to induce possession in oneself or others to recover souls that have been lost; this often involves a process of becoming an animal

lion person statue

oldest known animal sculpture in the world and the oldest known uncontested example of figurative art; blurs distinction between human/non-human and male/female

the grebes

example of animal ritualization; birds that walk on water when they reunite

personal symbolism

an expression of conscious personal choice

sigmund freud's definition of symbols

symbols express repressed desire, ambivalence and/or fear; the power of private symbolism is psychological

edmund leach's definition of symbols

draw on emotion to express cultural meaning in social context; the power of public symbolism in its social and cultural meaning and significance

person embodying a symbol

the relationship between its private, psychological significance and its public, cultural meaning; example of shamanic costumes being animals (bird, deer or bear)

sexual

an overwhelming majority of symbols in dreams are ______ symbols

Medusa

freud suggested she is a symbol of castration anxiety; greek gorgon who turned you to stone if you looked at her face

examples of embodied symbols

wrinkles (wisdom or old age), blood (figurative or literal- sacrifice), hair (head, mustache, beard etc)

tirumala temple

temple dedicated to lord venkateshwara; ritual happens here that focuses on hair and the symbolic transformation of hair described by tahir shah in the sorcerer's apprentice

cultural appropriation

highlighted in the article "100% American"; most of America's ""culture"" is borrowed which can lead to a misuse and general disrespect of the culture that it's being borrowed from

sweating, indian style

demonstrates cultural appropriation; power, privelege, colonialism and race; sacred rituals and embodied experience

rastafari

A religious movement based on an Afrocentric interpretation of the Christian

Bible; Oppressed people of African ancestry in Jamaica in the 1930s regard Haile Selassie

to be the Messiah; Hair becomes a powerful

symbol

priest

(victor turner) A professional religious specialist who tries to influence the gods; Power is inherited and learned; Reinforces social order

prophet

(victor turner) A charismatic leader who embodies impersonal power but who sometimes uses that power to speak on behalf of the gods; Her power is based on persuasion; Brings about social change

shaman

(victor turner) A specialist who can leave her or his body to communicate directly with divine beings; Power is based on a "divine stroke" of embodied ecstasy and/or by spirit possession; Promotes social and cultural stability even if there is social change

medium

(victor turner) A specialist who foretells events, predicts the future or otherwise functions to

communicate with supernatural beings about what will happen, or makes sense of

what has happened in the past in relation to the present; Predicts stability or change, and the outcome of social upheaval

the ghost dance

a messianic

Native American religious

movement, originated in Nevada

around 1870, faded, reemerged in

its best known form in the winter

of 1888

-89, then spread rapidly

through much of the Great Plains,

where hundreds of adherents died

in the 1890 Wounded Knee

Massacre

ghost shirts

Lakota participants in the ghost dance wore these during ceremonies and songs brought by the emissaries; believed they protected them from danger and even bullets

mother leafy anderson

spiritualist whose mediumship included contact with the spirit of the native american war chief Black Hawk; founder of the spiritual church movement in New Orleans

father divine

aka George Baker of Rockville Maryland; the embodiment of the second coming of christ; lead the international peace missions movement promoted desegregation and coordinated anti-lynching protests

"the force" (shamanism)

an example of how shamanic religions tend to emphasize a divine presence which is continuously in the world, where humans are part of it and partake in it

"handyman" (shamanism)

example of what a shaman does; providing provisional fixes in a world where time is cyclical, not linear

what shamans do

heal people (or cause people to become sick) by going into trance,

transporting their souls into another dimension of experience; their "soul" becomes

a point of contact with other people's souls, the spirits of animals, and the ideas that

take shape in people's imaginations

quesalid (the kwakiutl shaman

was deeply skeptical about shamanism); did not become a great shaman

because he healed people; he healed

people because he learned how to be a

great shaman

the paradox of secrecy

The secret takes on a life of its own; The secret itself becomes a thing, apart from whatever is being

kept secret; The secret produces a powerful bond between two or more

people, but also puts up barriers between those who are "in on"

the secret and those who are not; The secret magnifies and exaggerates mystery

spiritualist trance surgery

surgery in brazil performed by spiritist healers who do not use sterilized medical tools or anesthesia; claim to perform surgery on their patients to remove diseased tissue; their patients believe this to be true & many are convinced it's real

the power of trance healing

the spiritual environment induces trance by way of deep cultural contextualization; concentrating on a person's sense of presence in a community rather than through visual concentration; subservience of a client to a patron who is implicitly trusted

ASC (altered state of consciousness)

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

examples of ASC

dreams, psychotic episodes, psychedelic drug experiences, some epileptic seizures, and hypnosis

the problem with with ASC and anthropology

intensely personal and unique to that person's sense of reality; a "real" experience, if we suspend doubt & believe our informants; can be dangerous

the ethnographic challenge with ASC

how to experience another person's ASC; identifying the appropriate cultural context; trying to translate someone else's ASC that is useful for cross-cultural analysis and understanding

cannabis

an example of deep contextualization; also known as bhang, charas, hashish, shiv buti, prasad

return to wirikuta

the place of origin for huichol

balaji (trance & healing)

possession by bhuta/preta (malignant spirits and ghosts)

darkhwast (exorcism by the power of balaji)

transference of divine power into the patients

pesi (exorcism by the power of balaji)

trance confrontation between balaji and malignant spirit

interpretation of the trance (balaji)

it is an emotionally charged, uninhibited articulation of social, cultural, and psychological frustration, anger, resentment and fear; this occurs in the "safe" environment of a shrine where the trance state depersonalizes the patients experiences

urmila's rage

18 yr old newlywed from a village in rajasthan; violent and abusive rage against her young husband; physiological symptoms: extreme physical power, breathlessness and intense hunger; possessed by bhuta (ghost, malignant) spirit of dead father (benign), spirit of dead mother in law (benign), mother goddess (benevolent); allows her to express her rage against a patriarchal society in a way that's socially acceptable

psychological healing with pesi

inward looking; focused on the individual; goal is to come to terms with your personal demons; overcome delusions and seek to understand your deepest, darkest motivations; intellectualize and translate rational understanding into emotional well being

social healing with pesi

the underlying values of balaji temple healing stress that faith and surrender to a power beyond the individual are better than the individual effort and struggle; source of human strength lies in a harmonious integration with one's group

the crucible

1692; women are accused of witchcraft because two young girls seemed to be "possessed" by the devil

Context:

• Political upheaval.

• Religious orthodoxy in an isolated environment.

• Economic hardship

• Fear of violence.

• Children as an economic resource: disciplined and mistrusted.

witches in real life

scapegoats who embody anger, fear, and resentment; blamed for infant mortality, scarcity, and social suffering; show gender, sexuality, and the division of labor

scold's bridle

punishment for gossiping, grumbling, and otherwise "nasty" women

witch's cake

had the power to reveal

whether witchcraft was afflicting a person with symptoms of

illness; made with rye flour and the

urine of the afflicted person; was then fed to a dog and if the

dog exhibited the same symptoms, the presence of witchcraft was

"proven" because dogs were believed to be a common

familiar associated with the devil

the modernity of "medieval" torture

In some ways, torture belongs to the modern rather than the medieval

era in that it reflected optimism that truth, untainted by malice,

might be discovered without recourse to superstation.

high magic

alchemy, the oracle at delphi, godmen of india

low magic

curses, hexes, charms, amulets, sorcery

examples:

• Curanderos, healers, shamans.

• Sorcerers, witches.

• Curses and hexing.

magical worldview

belief in a coherent universe; relationships between humans, stars, plants, animals, etc.

magic & science

Both magic and science make the assumption of a coherent universe, but where

science looks for empirically demonstrable connections, magic

assumes a nexus of occult, hidden connections

function of sorcery

• Relieves social tensions.

• Defines and sustains social values.

• Explains and controls terrifying phenomena.

• Gives a sense of having power over death.

• Produces social solidarity against external threats.

• Constructs scapegoats and justifies their condemnation.

• Provides "rough" justice in a social context where law and order

is weak or contested.

sorcery vs. witchcraft

Witchcraft is a particular type of sorcery in which the person

associated with sorcery comes to embody character traits that

are dangerous, anti-social, threatening; witchcraft is often associated with contexts of social tension and rapid cultural change

17th century Europe

when sorceres and healers become witches

points of social tension:

• Political instability

• Epidemic diseases

• Radical religious reform

• Legal reform and modernization

mangu witchcraft

east africa, 19th century

Colonial rule and political transformation

• Impersonal judicial system.

• Witchcraft in everyday life

witch hunting

contemporary india

• Economic liberalization and increasing social inequality.

• Domestic conflict

• Rapid change in gender "norms."

• Women accused of witchcraft.

wicca

20th century england

• Individual freedom but deep gender inequality.

• Secularization and weakening authority of the church.

• Witchery as a "new religious movement."

• Pagan revivalism.

azande witchcraft

live in DRC; witchcraft is a common occurrence; it's called "mangu" and can be passed down to a child of the same sex; someone can have mangu and not act on it or not know they are performing witchcraft

mangu

a physical substance in a

person's body; anyone can have this substance in their

body as a result of simple rules of inheritance; common and generic rather than rare and

exceptional.; Witchcraft accusations can be directed at almost anyone and anyone can be involved in

witchcraft, even if they are not consciously trying to

cause misfortune

also is the embodiment of jealousy, envy, anger,

resentment. It is also a substance that materializes and personalizes misfortune, one person's bad luck

evil spirits

sorcery is not dependent on belief in ____ _______ and these are not necessarily the same as the devil.

pre-christian

Luck, fortune, fate on a spectrum from positive to negative

christian theology

Good as categorically

different from Evil. Each is embodied in a

completely different form:

• Ontological Binary: God and the Angles vs Satan and the Demons.

• Practicing Sorcery in the context of this world

view is DANGEROUS.

• Sorcery is incarnated in the person of the

witch, a diabolical servant of Satan himself

heresay

faith in the devil; the trials of heretics in the 11th century; animated ideas about the practice of witchcraft

what defines a witch

• Pact with the Devil.

• Formal repudiation of Christ.

• Secret nocturnal meetings

• The "night ride" to get to these

meetings.

• ORGY!

• Desecration of the Eucharist

and the Crucifix.

• Sacrificial infanticide.

• Cannibalism

how goats became a symbol of the devil

Then shall the

King say unto the goats on the left; 'Depart

from me, you who are cursed, into

everlasting fire prepared for the devil and

his angels

catharism

a "duallist" heresay of the 12th and 13th century; europe 1100-1400; believed all material things were creations of satan; made the devil a tangible force in people's lives; heresy of Catharism produced a conservative, orthodox

backlash

orthodox christianity (15th century)

• Defending the sacred body of Christ and the sanctity of the

Eucharist.

• Christians must struggle against sin and temptation

• Anyone who is not baptized is damned and manifests evil.

All non-Christians have succumbed to the forces of evil:

• Jews, Muslims, Pagans, heretics, non-believers,

• Empiricists, rationalists....

• sorcerers

Christian Scholasticism:

• Pacts with the Devil

• There is no such thing as "natural magic."

• All things supernatural reflect the power of evil over good

the inquisition

• Before 1200 Christian beliefs accommodated sorcery and

magical healing.

• From 1200 - 1500 heretics were excommunicated and then

executed if they continued to practice heresy.

• Legal trials coordinated under the authority of the Pope

against accused heretics to discover "proof" of their evil

power and sorcery

malleus maleficarum

usually translated as "hammer of witches"; written by catholic clergyman heinrich kramer; 1487; It endorses

extermination of witches and for

this purpose develops a detailed

legal and theological theory

strixology

to find proof during witch hunts

• The swimming test.

• The prayer test.

• Touch test.

• Witches marks

• Pricking and

Scratching

• Incantations.

witch craze period

1450-1700; perfect storm of theology, demonology and social upheaval

eschatological fears

fear about the end of the world; belief in the antichrist; split between catholics and protestants yet they both condemned witches