Emma Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195323351
- eISBN:
- 9780199785575
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323351.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Chapter 8 considers the relevance of spirits to everyday life (e.g. healing, counseling, etc.). It offers a generalizable explanation for the widespread attribution of personal misfortune to ...
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Chapter 8 considers the relevance of spirits to everyday life (e.g. healing, counseling, etc.). It offers a generalizable explanation for the widespread attribution of personal misfortune to supernatural causes (e.g. divine retribution, sorcery, etc.). It is suggested that the widespread association between spirits (and other supernatural agents) and practices concerning healing and the betterment of life circumstances is supported by mechanisms of normal, human cognition that deal with social causation.Less
Chapter 8 considers the relevance of spirits to everyday life (e.g. healing, counseling, etc.). It offers a generalizable explanation for the widespread attribution of personal misfortune to supernatural causes (e.g. divine retribution, sorcery, etc.). It is suggested that the widespread association between spirits (and other supernatural agents) and practices concerning healing and the betterment of life circumstances is supported by mechanisms of normal, human cognition that deal with social causation.
Frank Griffel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331622
- eISBN:
- 9780199867998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331622.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Islam
The seventeenth discussion of al-Ghazali’s Incoherence (Tahafut) shows that he remains uncommitted as to whether God creates events in the world in an occasionalist way or by means of secondary ...
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The seventeenth discussion of al-Ghazali’s Incoherence (Tahafut) shows that he remains uncommitted as to whether God creates events in the world in an occasionalist way or by means of secondary causality. Al-Ghazali assumes that neither revelation nor a study of the world allows us to settle the dispute between the occasionalists and those who propose secondary causality. If that is the case, what about the prophetical miracle? For occasionalists it is a break in God’s habit and thus would prove that there is no secondary causality. A close study of al-Ghazali’s teachings on prophecy reveals that he no longer shares the Ash’arite teaching that prophecy is confirmed and proven by the prophets’ performance of miracles. He thinks these miracles are indistinguishable from sorcery and magic and can be explained as the effects of natural causes that are yet unknown to us. According to al-Ghazali, God does not break his habit. In the Qur’an (Q 33:62, 48:23 ) God declares: “You will not find any change in God’s habit.” This implies that God’s habits – meaning the laws of nature – are unchanging and stable and that they will not be suspended. The lawful character of God’s arrangement of the world, however, is not something that we find in the world itself. Al-Ghazali still thinks that occasionalism is a viable explanation of God’s creative activity. The cause may not have any true efficacy on its effect. In the human understanding, however, the cause has such efficacy. God created our minds in a way that they always search for causes and look out for the rules that determine how things react to one another. While al-Ghazali remains uncommitted if what we consider a cause is truly connected with what we consider its effect, he acknowledges that the human mind considers there is a connection which will never change.Less
The seventeenth discussion of al-Ghazali’s Incoherence (Tahafut) shows that he remains uncommitted as to whether God creates events in the world in an occasionalist way or by means of secondary causality. Al-Ghazali assumes that neither revelation nor a study of the world allows us to settle the dispute between the occasionalists and those who propose secondary causality. If that is the case, what about the prophetical miracle? For occasionalists it is a break in God’s habit and thus would prove that there is no secondary causality. A close study of al-Ghazali’s teachings on prophecy reveals that he no longer shares the Ash’arite teaching that prophecy is confirmed and proven by the prophets’ performance of miracles. He thinks these miracles are indistinguishable from sorcery and magic and can be explained as the effects of natural causes that are yet unknown to us. According to al-Ghazali, God does not break his habit. In the Qur’an (Q 33:62, 48:23 ) God declares: “You will not find any change in God’s habit.” This implies that God’s habits – meaning the laws of nature – are unchanging and stable and that they will not be suspended. The lawful character of God’s arrangement of the world, however, is not something that we find in the world itself. Al-Ghazali still thinks that occasionalism is a viable explanation of God’s creative activity. The cause may not have any true efficacy on its effect. In the human understanding, however, the cause has such efficacy. God created our minds in a way that they always search for causes and look out for the rules that determine how things react to one another. While al-Ghazali remains uncommitted if what we consider a cause is truly connected with what we consider its effect, he acknowledges that the human mind considers there is a connection which will never change.
David P. Wright
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195304756
- eISBN:
- 9780199866830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304756.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter, with Chapter 6, show that besides using the Laws of Hammurabi as a source, the Covenant Code also apparently used a brief native (Israelite/Judean) source (oral or written) with law ...
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This chapter, with Chapter 6, show that besides using the Laws of Hammurabi as a source, the Covenant Code also apparently used a brief native (Israelite/Judean) source (oral or written) with law formulated in participial form, often with the penalty "one shall be put to death." This source was probably brought into the Covenant Code because it contained a law against cursing parents which the Covenant Code used to "translate" laws on denouncing parents from Hammurabi's text. This opened the door to using the participial form for other capital laws in 21:12, 15–17 as well as in 22:17–19, which is an appendix of miscellaneous behavioral taboos (sorcery, bestiality, idolatrous sacrifice) derived from or inspired by the participial source.Less
This chapter, with Chapter 6, show that besides using the Laws of Hammurabi as a source, the Covenant Code also apparently used a brief native (Israelite/Judean) source (oral or written) with law formulated in participial form, often with the penalty "one shall be put to death." This source was probably brought into the Covenant Code because it contained a law against cursing parents which the Covenant Code used to "translate" laws on denouncing parents from Hammurabi's text. This opened the door to using the participial form for other capital laws in 21:12, 15–17 as well as in 22:17–19, which is an appendix of miscellaneous behavioral taboos (sorcery, bestiality, idolatrous sacrifice) derived from or inspired by the participial source.
Colin Morris
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269250
- eISBN:
- 9780191600708
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269250.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Signs of heretical protest are evident in the period from 1050–1140, although it is hard to be sure whether they are the result of outside influences or are protests against the new clericalization ...
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Signs of heretical protest are evident in the period from 1050–1140, although it is hard to be sure whether they are the result of outside influences or are protests against the new clericalization of society. From 1140, the Balkan influence is clear in the Cathar movement, while the Waldensians were a clear example of a reform movement of an ‘evangelical’ kind. Magic was thought of as relying on the power of the devil, and Jews, heresy and magic were often linked in a pattern of dissent.Less
Signs of heretical protest are evident in the period from 1050–1140, although it is hard to be sure whether they are the result of outside influences or are protests against the new clericalization of society. From 1140, the Balkan influence is clear in the Cathar movement, while the Waldensians were a clear example of a reform movement of an ‘evangelical’ kind. Magic was thought of as relying on the power of the devil, and Jews, heresy and magic were often linked in a pattern of dissent.
Clive Emsley
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199202850
- eISBN:
- 9780191707995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202850.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter begins by outlining a typology of the police institutions that developed across 19th-century Europe: state civilian (e.g., the Metropolitan Police); state military (e.g., gendarmeries); ...
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This chapter begins by outlining a typology of the police institutions that developed across 19th-century Europe: state civilian (e.g., the Metropolitan Police); state military (e.g., gendarmeries); and municipal. It stresses, however, that for many, especially in rural areas, turning to the police was still not the automatic response for the victims of many offences: infrajudicial practices and appeals to sorcery continued. At the same time, there were activities, such as poaching, defined by the state as crimes, but not seen as such by local communities. From developments in policing, the chapter switches to an investigation of the changing ideas of punishment and the international exchange of ideas about prison regimes. The discussion picks up on the debates over the separate and silent systems of prison discipline, and on the creation of institutions for juveniles.Less
This chapter begins by outlining a typology of the police institutions that developed across 19th-century Europe: state civilian (e.g., the Metropolitan Police); state military (e.g., gendarmeries); and municipal. It stresses, however, that for many, especially in rural areas, turning to the police was still not the automatic response for the victims of many offences: infrajudicial practices and appeals to sorcery continued. At the same time, there were activities, such as poaching, defined by the state as crimes, but not seen as such by local communities. From developments in policing, the chapter switches to an investigation of the changing ideas of punishment and the international exchange of ideas about prison regimes. The discussion picks up on the debates over the separate and silent systems of prison discipline, and on the creation of institutions for juveniles.
Michael W. Dols and Diana E. Immisch
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202219
- eISBN:
- 9780191675218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202219.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter reflects on the use of Islamic magic in therapeutic healing. Historical instances of Muslim exorcism substantiate the theoretical discussions of magic. There are, however, no exorcisms ...
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This chapter reflects on the use of Islamic magic in therapeutic healing. Historical instances of Muslim exorcism substantiate the theoretical discussions of magic. There are, however, no exorcisms in the Qur'an that are comparable to the acts of Jesus in the New Testament. Evidence of the currency of magical practices during the early medieval period may be found in the description of the Muslim world by al-Mas'iidl (d. ad 956), a near contemporary of Ibn an-Nadlm, who also produced a bibliographic account of magic.Less
This chapter reflects on the use of Islamic magic in therapeutic healing. Historical instances of Muslim exorcism substantiate the theoretical discussions of magic. There are, however, no exorcisms in the Qur'an that are comparable to the acts of Jesus in the New Testament. Evidence of the currency of magical practices during the early medieval period may be found in the description of the Muslim world by al-Mas'iidl (d. ad 956), a near contemporary of Ibn an-Nadlm, who also produced a bibliographic account of magic.
Ian Bostridge
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206538
- eISBN:
- 9780191677205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206538.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
This chapter examines the last major debate on the issue of witchcraft in England during the early 18th century. This debate was between Richard Boulton and Francis Hutchinson. In 1715, Boulton ...
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This chapter examines the last major debate on the issue of witchcraft in England during the early 18th century. This debate was between Richard Boulton and Francis Hutchinson. In 1715, Boulton published his first book on witchcraft titled A Compleat History of Magick, Sorcery, and Witchcraft. After reading the book, Hutchinson criticized Boulton through the publication of his Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft. To this Boulton retaliated and issued a more analytical work titled Vindication, which was published in 1722.Less
This chapter examines the last major debate on the issue of witchcraft in England during the early 18th century. This debate was between Richard Boulton and Francis Hutchinson. In 1715, Boulton published his first book on witchcraft titled A Compleat History of Magick, Sorcery, and Witchcraft. After reading the book, Hutchinson criticized Boulton through the publication of his Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft. To this Boulton retaliated and issued a more analytical work titled Vindication, which was published in 1722.
Todd Ochoa
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520256835
- eISBN:
- 9780520947924
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520256835.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
This book explores Palo, a Kongo-inspired “society of affliction” that is poorly understood at the margins of Cuban popular religion. Narrated as an encounter with two teachers of Palo, the book ...
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This book explores Palo, a Kongo-inspired “society of affliction” that is poorly understood at the margins of Cuban popular religion. Narrated as an encounter with two teachers of Palo, the book unfolds on the outskirts of Havana as it recounts his attempts to assimilate Palo praise of the dead. Coming to terms with a world in which everyday events and materials are composed of the dead, the author of this book discovers in Palo unexpected resources for understanding the relationship between matter and spirit, for rethinking anthropology's rendering of sorcery, and for representing the play of power in Cuban society. The book draws upon recent critiques of Western metaphysics as it reveals what this little-known practice can tell us about sensation, transformation, and redemption in the Black Atlantic.Less
This book explores Palo, a Kongo-inspired “society of affliction” that is poorly understood at the margins of Cuban popular religion. Narrated as an encounter with two teachers of Palo, the book unfolds on the outskirts of Havana as it recounts his attempts to assimilate Palo praise of the dead. Coming to terms with a world in which everyday events and materials are composed of the dead, the author of this book discovers in Palo unexpected resources for understanding the relationship between matter and spirit, for rethinking anthropology's rendering of sorcery, and for representing the play of power in Cuban society. The book draws upon recent critiques of Western metaphysics as it reveals what this little-known practice can tell us about sensation, transformation, and redemption in the Black Atlantic.
Christine Mollier
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824831691
- eISBN:
- 9780824868765
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824831691.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This book reveals previously unexplored dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. While scholars of Chinese religions have long recognized the mutual influences ...
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This book reveals previously unexplored dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. While scholars of Chinese religions have long recognized the mutual influences linking the two traditions, the book brings to light their intense contest for hegemony in the domains of scripture and ritual. It demonstrates the competition and complementarity of the two great Chinese religions in their quest to address personal and collective fears of diverse ills, including sorcery, famine, and untimely death. In this context, Buddhist apocrypha and Taoist scriptures were composed through a process of mutual borrowing, yielding parallel texts, the book argues, that closely mirrored one another. Life-extending techniques, astrological observances, talismans, spells, and the use of effigies and icons to resolve the fundamental preoccupations of medieval society were similarly incorporated in both religions. In many cases, as a result, one and the same body of material can be found in both Buddhist and Taoist guises. Through case-studies, the patterns whereby medieval Buddhists and Taoists each appropriated and transformed for their own use the rites and scriptures oftheir rivals are revealed with precision.Less
This book reveals previously unexplored dimensions of the interaction between Buddhism and Taoism in medieval China. While scholars of Chinese religions have long recognized the mutual influences linking the two traditions, the book brings to light their intense contest for hegemony in the domains of scripture and ritual. It demonstrates the competition and complementarity of the two great Chinese religions in their quest to address personal and collective fears of diverse ills, including sorcery, famine, and untimely death. In this context, Buddhist apocrypha and Taoist scriptures were composed through a process of mutual borrowing, yielding parallel texts, the book argues, that closely mirrored one another. Life-extending techniques, astrological observances, talismans, spells, and the use of effigies and icons to resolve the fundamental preoccupations of medieval society were similarly incorporated in both religions. In many cases, as a result, one and the same body of material can be found in both Buddhist and Taoist guises. Through case-studies, the patterns whereby medieval Buddhists and Taoists each appropriated and transformed for their own use the rites and scriptures oftheir rivals are revealed with precision.
Michael French Smith
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836863
- eISBN:
- 9780824871253
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836863.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Although the author first went to Papua New Guinea in 1973, in 2008 it had been ten years since he had been back to Kragur Village, Kairiru Island, where he was an honorary “citizen.” He finds in ...
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Although the author first went to Papua New Guinea in 1973, in 2008 it had been ten years since he had been back to Kragur Village, Kairiru Island, where he was an honorary “citizen.” He finds in Kragur many things he remembered fondly, including a life immersed in nature and freedom from 9–5 tyranny. And he again encounters the stifling midday heat, the wet tropical sores, and the sometimes excruciating intensity of village social life that he had somehow managed to forget. Through practicing Taoist “not doing” the author continues to learn about villagers' difficult transition from an older world based on giving to one in which money rules and the potent mix of devotion and innovation that animates Kragur's pervasive religious life. Becoming entangled in local political events, he gets a closer look at how ancestral loyalties and fear of sorcery influence hotly disputed contemporary elections. In turn, Kragur people practice their own form of anthropology on the author, questioning him about American work, family, religion, and politics. The author returns to Kragur again, in 2011, to complete projects begun in 2008, see Kragur's chief for the last time (he died later that year), and bring Kragur's story up to date.Less
Although the author first went to Papua New Guinea in 1973, in 2008 it had been ten years since he had been back to Kragur Village, Kairiru Island, where he was an honorary “citizen.” He finds in Kragur many things he remembered fondly, including a life immersed in nature and freedom from 9–5 tyranny. And he again encounters the stifling midday heat, the wet tropical sores, and the sometimes excruciating intensity of village social life that he had somehow managed to forget. Through practicing Taoist “not doing” the author continues to learn about villagers' difficult transition from an older world based on giving to one in which money rules and the potent mix of devotion and innovation that animates Kragur's pervasive religious life. Becoming entangled in local political events, he gets a closer look at how ancestral loyalties and fear of sorcery influence hotly disputed contemporary elections. In turn, Kragur people practice their own form of anthropology on the author, questioning him about American work, family, religion, and politics. The author returns to Kragur again, in 2011, to complete projects begun in 2008, see Kragur's chief for the last time (he died later that year), and bring Kragur's story up to date.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226680583
- eISBN:
- 9780226680576
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226680576.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Religion
This chapter discusses Tooy's enstoolment as the first Saramaka captain of Cayenne, French Guiana on June 30, 2001. It describes the enstoolment celebration and Tooy's admission that he was worried ...
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This chapter discusses Tooy's enstoolment as the first Saramaka captain of Cayenne, French Guiana on June 30, 2001. It describes the enstoolment celebration and Tooy's admission that he was worried about the envy and the sorcery his new position will inevitably bring. He also admitted that he was not at all sure about being a captain.Less
This chapter discusses Tooy's enstoolment as the first Saramaka captain of Cayenne, French Guiana on June 30, 2001. It describes the enstoolment celebration and Tooy's admission that he was worried about the envy and the sorcery his new position will inevitably bring. He also admitted that he was not at all sure about being a captain.
Karen Brison
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520077003
- eISBN:
- 9780520912182
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520077003.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book examines the often overlooked role of gossip and rumor in creating power in small Melanesian communities. The Kwanga of the East Sepik Province of Papua, New Guinea think that malicious ...
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This book examines the often overlooked role of gossip and rumor in creating power in small Melanesian communities. The Kwanga of the East Sepik Province of Papua, New Guinea think that malicious gossip is almost as dangerous as sorcery, and spend hours in community meetings, looking into rumors about sorcery, adultery, and other sources of trouble. To understand how “talk” can create and ultimately destroy the position of Melanesian leaders, the book follows discussions of particular situations over time, and suggests that gossip and rumor are just as central to shaping and shifting power relations as are the public meetings which are more often studied. Kwanga community leaders build reputations by spreading rumors and dropping hints that they are confidants of sorcerers, but ultimately, the same men who build reputations through gossip and innuendo find themselves victimized in turn by malicious gossip. The book suggests that our understanding of both Melanesian leadership and the power of words to construct social reality is greatly enhanced by attention to gossip and rumor: words are dangerous weapons, which can have consequences the original speaker neither anticipated nor desired.Less
This book examines the often overlooked role of gossip and rumor in creating power in small Melanesian communities. The Kwanga of the East Sepik Province of Papua, New Guinea think that malicious gossip is almost as dangerous as sorcery, and spend hours in community meetings, looking into rumors about sorcery, adultery, and other sources of trouble. To understand how “talk” can create and ultimately destroy the position of Melanesian leaders, the book follows discussions of particular situations over time, and suggests that gossip and rumor are just as central to shaping and shifting power relations as are the public meetings which are more often studied. Kwanga community leaders build reputations by spreading rumors and dropping hints that they are confidants of sorcerers, but ultimately, the same men who build reputations through gossip and innuendo find themselves victimized in turn by malicious gossip. The book suggests that our understanding of both Melanesian leadership and the power of words to construct social reality is greatly enhanced by attention to gossip and rumor: words are dangerous weapons, which can have consequences the original speaker neither anticipated nor desired.
Barbara Glowczewski
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474450300
- eISBN:
- 9781474476911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450300.003.0015
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter is based on the transcript of a one hour filmed conversation with an Indigenous healer, a Yalarrnga ritual leader who grew up in the desert community of Boulia and studied archaeology ...
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This chapter is based on the transcript of a one hour filmed conversation with an Indigenous healer, a Yalarrnga ritual leader who grew up in the desert community of Boulia and studied archaeology and anthropology at James Cook University: Lance Sullivan was invited to France in 2017 by the festival of Shamanism and Ancient Traditions that gathered 200 healers from around the world. He then agreed to share publicly his knowledge and experience to explain how he was initiated as a child to heal according to the ngangkari ‘cleverman’ tradition practiced by different desert tribes. His examples of the way he operates to pull out the source of pain from men and women, who suffer physically or spiritually, demonstrate that people’s health is connected with the care of the land. He also comments on different forms of magic love and sorcery.Less
This chapter is based on the transcript of a one hour filmed conversation with an Indigenous healer, a Yalarrnga ritual leader who grew up in the desert community of Boulia and studied archaeology and anthropology at James Cook University: Lance Sullivan was invited to France in 2017 by the festival of Shamanism and Ancient Traditions that gathered 200 healers from around the world. He then agreed to share publicly his knowledge and experience to explain how he was initiated as a child to heal according to the ngangkari ‘cleverman’ tradition practiced by different desert tribes. His examples of the way he operates to pull out the source of pain from men and women, who suffer physically or spiritually, demonstrate that people’s health is connected with the care of the land. He also comments on different forms of magic love and sorcery.
Thomas Waters
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780300221404
- eISBN:
- 9780300249453
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300221404.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter shows that in early 1800s Britain, witchcraft was widely believed in. Magical traditions, traceable to the period of the witch trials and before, were strong. Villagers and townsfolk ...
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This chapter shows that in early 1800s Britain, witchcraft was widely believed in. Magical traditions, traceable to the period of the witch trials and before, were strong. Villagers and townsfolk ducked, mobbed, attacked, and bullied witches. Privately, many sophisticated and wealthy people sympathised. Not with victims of superstitious violence, but with the perpetrators. Indeed, witchcraft troubled many well-to-do folk during the early 1800s. This chapter explores a remarkable area of common ground between the masses, the upper classes, and those in the middle. More often than one might expect, they agreed with each other: sorcery was real, and witches deserved to be punished.Less
This chapter shows that in early 1800s Britain, witchcraft was widely believed in. Magical traditions, traceable to the period of the witch trials and before, were strong. Villagers and townsfolk ducked, mobbed, attacked, and bullied witches. Privately, many sophisticated and wealthy people sympathised. Not with victims of superstitious violence, but with the perpetrators. Indeed, witchcraft troubled many well-to-do folk during the early 1800s. This chapter explores a remarkable area of common ground between the masses, the upper classes, and those in the middle. More often than one might expect, they agreed with each other: sorcery was real, and witches deserved to be punished.
Karen J. Brison
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520077003
- eISBN:
- 9780520912182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520077003.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Examining Kwanga politics has revealed something else about the political implications of gossip. In Inakor and Asanakor, initiated men bolster their position in society by spreading rumors of ...
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Examining Kwanga politics has revealed something else about the political implications of gossip. In Inakor and Asanakor, initiated men bolster their position in society by spreading rumors of sorcery, but gossip can also defeat leaders. Perhaps gossip, instead of being associated with any particular group in society, is primarily a leveling force: in small communities, where gossip matters, backbiting and rumor prevent anyone from consolidating power and foster a consensual system in which it is difficult for any individual to lead effectively. Gossip, then, is a weapon used by all, which has the effect of distributing power throughout the community. In Inakor and Asanakor, the concern with gossip and rumor is part of a more pervasive fear of the power of words, and there are indications that this is true in many Pacific Islands societies.Less
Examining Kwanga politics has revealed something else about the political implications of gossip. In Inakor and Asanakor, initiated men bolster their position in society by spreading rumors of sorcery, but gossip can also defeat leaders. Perhaps gossip, instead of being associated with any particular group in society, is primarily a leveling force: in small communities, where gossip matters, backbiting and rumor prevent anyone from consolidating power and foster a consensual system in which it is difficult for any individual to lead effectively. Gossip, then, is a weapon used by all, which has the effect of distributing power throughout the community. In Inakor and Asanakor, the concern with gossip and rumor is part of a more pervasive fear of the power of words, and there are indications that this is true in many Pacific Islands societies.
Karen J. Brison
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520077003
- eISBN:
- 9780520912182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520077003.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter argues that rumors reflect a situation in which unsubstantiated stories can have far-reaching consequences socially and in politics. In Kwanga villages, and in small, relatively ...
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This chapter argues that rumors reflect a situation in which unsubstantiated stories can have far-reaching consequences socially and in politics. In Kwanga villages, and in small, relatively egalitarian communities everywhere, no one can automatically command respect or obedience, and autocratic attitudes tend to arouse resentment. Consequently, people try to prompt others toward certain conclusions and courses of action without seeming to do so, by casting interpretations of recent events in public meetings or in private conversations. They suggest that their rivals are lazy and ignorant, or that they are involved in nefarious secret plots. In this way, individuals try to influence others but avoid the appearance of ordering them around. It has been clear since Bronisław Malinowski's work on the Trobriand Islands that there is a close link between sorcery, magic, and leadership in many areas of lowland and insular Melanesia.Less
This chapter argues that rumors reflect a situation in which unsubstantiated stories can have far-reaching consequences socially and in politics. In Kwanga villages, and in small, relatively egalitarian communities everywhere, no one can automatically command respect or obedience, and autocratic attitudes tend to arouse resentment. Consequently, people try to prompt others toward certain conclusions and courses of action without seeming to do so, by casting interpretations of recent events in public meetings or in private conversations. They suggest that their rivals are lazy and ignorant, or that they are involved in nefarious secret plots. In this way, individuals try to influence others but avoid the appearance of ordering them around. It has been clear since Bronisław Malinowski's work on the Trobriand Islands that there is a close link between sorcery, magic, and leadership in many areas of lowland and insular Melanesia.
Karen J. Brison
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520077003
- eISBN:
- 9780520912182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520077003.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter argues that it is by spreading rumors and dropping hints about sorcery that initiated men maintain their authority over their fellow villagers. Furthermore, talking about sorcery allows ...
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This chapter argues that it is by spreading rumors and dropping hints about sorcery that initiated men maintain their authority over their fellow villagers. Furthermore, talking about sorcery allows people to influence events in ways for which they cannot be held accountable. The chapter argues that Inakor and Asanakor deaths are almost invariably attributed to assault sorcery, and that it is theoretically possible to die a natural death. However, it is felt that only very old people or very young babies could die from illness, and accidents are almost always considered to be disguised sorcery.Less
This chapter argues that it is by spreading rumors and dropping hints about sorcery that initiated men maintain their authority over their fellow villagers. Furthermore, talking about sorcery allows people to influence events in ways for which they cannot be held accountable. The chapter argues that Inakor and Asanakor deaths are almost invariably attributed to assault sorcery, and that it is theoretically possible to die a natural death. However, it is felt that only very old people or very young babies could die from illness, and accidents are almost always considered to be disguised sorcery.
Karen J. Brison
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520077003
- eISBN:
- 9780520912182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520077003.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the ways in which unsubstantiated stories become “truth” in Kwanga villages. It moves beyond examining rumor to investigate ways in which stories about recent events influence ...
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This chapter examines the ways in which unsubstantiated stories become “truth” in Kwanga villages. It moves beyond examining rumor to investigate ways in which stories about recent events influence people's interpretation of future events and their memories of the past, and can ultimately constitute much of their knowledge about their social world. Rumors are one such type of story; stories told in public meetings can have similar careers. The chapter argues that sorcery talk among the Kwanga is an instance of a much more pervasive kind of behavior which occurs everywhere. Sorcery deaths in Kwanga villages represent situations which are both anxiety provoking and ambiguous par excellence: deaths are anxiety provoking because they usually indicate to people that a murderer is at large in the community, and also have the potential to lead to violence as the aggrieved family searches for a culprit.Less
This chapter examines the ways in which unsubstantiated stories become “truth” in Kwanga villages. It moves beyond examining rumor to investigate ways in which stories about recent events influence people's interpretation of future events and their memories of the past, and can ultimately constitute much of their knowledge about their social world. Rumors are one such type of story; stories told in public meetings can have similar careers. The chapter argues that sorcery talk among the Kwanga is an instance of a much more pervasive kind of behavior which occurs everywhere. Sorcery deaths in Kwanga villages represent situations which are both anxiety provoking and ambiguous par excellence: deaths are anxiety provoking because they usually indicate to people that a murderer is at large in the community, and also have the potential to lead to violence as the aggrieved family searches for a culprit.
Mark C. Jerng
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823277759
- eISBN:
- 9780823280544
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823277759.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter discusses the origins and development of sword and sorcery in the pulps and fanzines of the 1930s. It starts with Robert Howard’s Conan the Barbarian stories and reads these stories in ...
More
This chapter discusses the origins and development of sword and sorcery in the pulps and fanzines of the 1930s. It starts with Robert Howard’s Conan the Barbarian stories and reads these stories in relation to contemporaneous fanzine commentary. show an intricate process of worldbuilding whereby race is located at higher and higher levels of meaning even though its correspondence with actual “races” is deeply questioned. This interpretive strategy mirrors the work of cultural anthropologists who were critiquing biological racism, thus demonstrating that race was not so much being critiqued as it was being elevated to a different order of meaning. It details these interpretive strategies in order to show the simultaneous reproduction of race in the building of sword and sorcery as a genre with the embedding of race in anthropological thought.Less
This chapter discusses the origins and development of sword and sorcery in the pulps and fanzines of the 1930s. It starts with Robert Howard’s Conan the Barbarian stories and reads these stories in relation to contemporaneous fanzine commentary. show an intricate process of worldbuilding whereby race is located at higher and higher levels of meaning even though its correspondence with actual “races” is deeply questioned. This interpretive strategy mirrors the work of cultural anthropologists who were critiquing biological racism, thus demonstrating that race was not so much being critiqued as it was being elevated to a different order of meaning. It details these interpretive strategies in order to show the simultaneous reproduction of race in the building of sword and sorcery as a genre with the embedding of race in anthropological thought.
Mark C. Jerng
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823277759
- eISBN:
- 9780823280544
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823277759.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter traces sword and sorcery’s re-emergence as a popular genre in the 1960s and 1970s during the era of U.S. Civil Rights movements. It shows how strategies for reproducing racism despite ...
More
This chapter traces sword and sorcery’s re-emergence as a popular genre in the 1960s and 1970s during the era of U.S. Civil Rights movements. It shows how strategies for reproducing racism despite changing political sensibilities are constructed through the genre of sword and sorcery. These strategies go hand in hand with soon-to-be dominant re-imaginations of free market economics by economists such as Milton Friedman and Gary Becker. The chapter analyzes the work on the economics of discrimination in relation to Samuel Delany’s use of sword and sorcery to reflect on how race gets used to imagine market processes. Delany’s Nevèrÿon series adds another dimension to understandings of racial capitalism by focusing on race as economic utility.Less
This chapter traces sword and sorcery’s re-emergence as a popular genre in the 1960s and 1970s during the era of U.S. Civil Rights movements. It shows how strategies for reproducing racism despite changing political sensibilities are constructed through the genre of sword and sorcery. These strategies go hand in hand with soon-to-be dominant re-imaginations of free market economics by economists such as Milton Friedman and Gary Becker. The chapter analyzes the work on the economics of discrimination in relation to Samuel Delany’s use of sword and sorcery to reflect on how race gets used to imagine market processes. Delany’s Nevèrÿon series adds another dimension to understandings of racial capitalism by focusing on race as economic utility.
