Week 4 lec 1 Witchcraft
Topic
•Historical approach. How have anthropologists thought about magic?
•Contemporary resurgence of witchcraft and magic.
•How can anthropology help us understand?
Objectives
•Understand why anthropologists warn against the unreflective use of concepts like magic and witchcraft
•Understand cultural evolutionist approaches to magic and witchcraft.
•Understand how scholars like Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard impacted anthropological thinking about the occult.
•Understand anthropological approaches to the rationality of magical thinking
•Understand the contemporary resurgence of witchcraft
NOTE
What is Magic
General: Ways of manipulating or bringing under submission supernatural powers to ones advantage.
Concept 1: A Western concept with a negative connotation and meaning.
Concept 2: Not the same meaning cross-culturally
Concepts 3:
Colonial encounter: Reason to justify colonialism (civilizing mission)
Enlightenment: Magic is seen as strange and irrational,
How Spiritual Beliefs and Religion came about (EVOLUTIONIST POV)
Taylor: Animism, polytheism, monotheism
James Frazer: Magic, Religion, Science (ways in which people came to understand their world.
Malinowski: Phycological need to reduce anxiety.
Witchcraft rational or not
Evans Pritchard claims witchcraft and magic is operated in a coherent field of thought and action, therefore it is not
Primitive (Fraser) or superstitious (Taylor)
He also states the importance of field work
Modernity of witchcraft
Witchcraft can shift based on the situation.
Kai
Witchcraft and Sorcery: Questions of Magic and Misfortune
Reminders
Midterm test on Wednesday.
Lecture after the midterm from 10:10-11 AM.
Tutorial on Wednesday.
Study guide posted on Quercus under Modules.
Absence and illness declaration: Follow guidelines on the syllabus.
Thinking Exercise and Opinion Poll
Rituals, objects, or practices believed to contribute to success (tests, sports, interviews).
Practices providing comfort, such as carrying lucky objects, listening to specific songs, walking certain routes, or eating certain things.
Labels for these practices:
Magic: 2% (1 respondent)
Superstition: 27% (17 respondents)
Religion: 32% (20 respondents)
Just a little thing I do: 37% (23 respondents)
Feelings on Calling a Practice "Magic"
Surprised: 27% (17 respondents)
Offended: 13% (8 respondents)
Nothing, they are correct!: 8% (5 respondents)
Meh, who cares what people think: 50% (31 respondents)
Image Preferences
Image 1: 76% (47 respondents)
Image 2: 11% (7 respondents)
Image 3: 11% (7 respondents)
Image 4: 0%
Today's Topics
First hour: Historical approach to how anthropologists have thought about magic.
Second hour: Contemporary resurgence of witchcraft and magic; how anthropology helps understanding.
Objectives
Understand why anthropologists warn against unreflective use of concepts like magic and witchcraft.
Understand cultural evolutionist approaches to magic and witchcraft.
Understand how scholars like Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard impacted anthropological thinking about the occult.
Understand anthropological approaches to the rationality of magical thinking.
Understand the contemporary resurgence of witchcraft.
Examples of Witchcraft in Pop Culture
Harry Potter
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Magic as Protection Against Coronavirus
Online 'healers' charging up to £80 to protect people from coronavirus using bogus 'healing energy' and 'bio MAGIC.'
Coronavirus Pendant amulet made by Panda3D for $345.48 CAD advertised as protection against coronavirus.
Bizarre Pre-Game Rituals
Toronto Raptors' pre-game ritual inspired by a former teammate’s catchphrase and 'Angels in the Outfield.'
Channeling avian instincts by moving arms up and down as if flapping.
Defining Magic
Practices intended to bring supernatural forces under one’s personal control.
Activities intended to manipulate invisible energies, not recognized by science, to an advantageous end.
Magic As…
A Western concept with negative connotations and shifting meanings.
A concept that doesn’t easily translate cross-culturally.
Popular meaning shaped by anthropological approaches, particularly at the end of the 19th Century.
European context of enlightenment – magic as strange and irrational.
Imperialism and the colonial encounter – magic and witchcraft justified civilizing mission.
Evolutionist Approaches to Spiritual Beliefs and Religion
E.B. Tylor: Three stages to supernatural and religious beliefs:
Animism
Polytheism
Monotheism
James Frazer: Three stages of belief as people worked to understand their world:
Magic
Religion
Science
Malinowski and Magic Among the Trobriand Islanders
Magic fulfills an important psychological function, not misguided speculation.
Religious rituals reduce anxiety when anticipating uncertain conditions.
Magic becomes psychologically salient when people face the problem of the unknown.
What is Logical? What is Rational? To Whom?
How does our cultural situatedness shape our evaluation of others?
Is spirit possession rational or a misguided understanding of mental illness?
Are notions of rationality value-free and a-cultural?
E.E. Evans-Pritchard (1902-1973)
British Anthropologist.
Conducted long-term fieldwork among the Azande in the 1920s.
Authored Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande (1937).
Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic (Azande)
Witchcraft was ubiquitous among the Azande.
Mangu could possess a person, enabling witchcraft.
Provided explanations for unfortunate events and prescriptions for action, not a source of terror.
Evans-Pritchard stated that witchcraft, rather than irrational, was perfectly logical given its assumptions.
Azande understand cause and effect but lack natural explanations for why things happen at a particular time and place.
Example of the granary.
Evans-Pritchard's Contribution to Anthropological Thought
Challenged assumptions about witchcraft and magic as "primitive" and "superstitious" (Tylor, Frazer).
Insisted that witchcraft and magic were rational and operated in a coherent field of thought and action, given their premises.
Emphasized understanding a people’s thought through long-term fieldwork.
Witchcraft in Africanist Anthropology
Western onlookers viewed witchcraft as traditional and primitive.
Modernity and modernization were expected to eliminate belief in occult forces.
Anthropologists initially downplayed the occult, focusing on political organization, economy, and relations with the state.
1990s: “modernity of witchcraft” - Modernity did not remove the occult but made it more prominent.
Witchcraft beliefs are flexible and adapt to new situations.
Adam Ashforth and Madumo
Witchcraft in post-apartheid South Africa.
Madumo seeks a healer for misfortunes caused by witchcraft.
Illustrates the contemporary reality of witchcraft and the positioning of the author.
Demonstrates what a cultural relativistic approach looks like.
Cultural Relativism and Humanitarian Efforts
Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW), founded by Leo Igwe with support from Humanists International; aims to save lives affected by superstition using compassion, reason, and science.
Addresses witchcraft accusations related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands of alleged witches face persecution, including beatings, banishment, torture, and murder, particularly in African countries like Ghana and Nigeria.
Midterm Test
Wednesday, May 26, 9:10-10 AM.
Wait outside until called in.
Bring a pencil and T-Card.
30 questions.
Covers weeks 1-6; study guide on Quercus.
All material (articles, videos, lectures, powerpoints, tutorial discussions) is part of the test.
Study to understand, not just memorize; apply concepts to examples.
Do not just memorize slides and definitions.
Key Terms
Magic
Uncertainty
Magic, witchcraft, and the colonial encounter
Evolutionist approaches to magic
E.B. Tylor
James Frazer
Malinowski and magic
Evans-Pritchard
Azande
Example of the granary
Logic as culturally situated
Modernity of witchcraft
Madumo
Witchcraft in post-apartheid South Africa
Cultural relativistic approach to witchcraft
Humanitarianism and anti-witchcraft violence