Magical Practices Research Articles

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ МАГИИ В СОВРЕМЕННОМ ОБЩЕСТВЕ СКВОЗЬ ПРИЗМУ БИОГРАФИИ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ НАРРАТИВНОГО АНАЛИЗА ЖИЗНЕННОЙ ИСТОРИИ)

The article presents the results of a theoretical and empirical study of the phenomenon of “Renaissance” of magical practices in today’s changing society. An analysis of different interpretations of magic and magical thinking (from classical psychoanalysis to semiotics and cultural anthropology) proves that elements of archaic (mythological) and scientific knowledge always coexist in individual and social consciousness: magical discourse is supplemented and complicated by borrowing psychological categories and pseudo-concepts. It is known that interest in magic, esotericism and the occult is characteristic of a situation of crisis and transformation of social institutions, which turns into increased uncertainty and unpredictability, as a result of which individuals turn to different, including marginal, strategies for constructing identity and life path. One of these strategies is positioning yourself as a professional “magician” or “esotericist”. This type of positioning should be considered a special form of socialization and individualization, maintaining selfrespect and a positive social identity in a transitive society and culture. The hypothesis put forward is confirmed by the data of the case study, namely, the narrative analysis of an interview with an astrologer, whose life choice and professional development took place in the post-Soviet period

The Re-globalization Process in the Indian Ocean: the Ibadi Press in Zanzibar (al-Sultaniyya)

During the XIX century, on the Zanzibar Island, a gradual process of osmosis occurred through the first publications that often linked magical practices with the precepts of the Quran, resulting in a social and political interpretation of the Omani power on the Eastern African island that reflected a multiplicity of cultural roots. The vast network of international trade links, and the presence of numerous mercantile communities were progressively consolidated, stretching from Africa, Arabia, the Gulf, and India as far as Southeast Asia, Indonesia and even China with Zanzibar as a polarizing new capital and centre. Modernity brought by the international presences in Zanzibar involved numerous complex reflections in order not to losing the traditional society values and the main Ibadi precepts inside the new-coming progresses. Ibadi press on Zanzibar Island was in fact representing one of these social and political objects: re-globalizing the ancient communication flows between Oman and East Africa.

Urban Sorcery, Segregation, and Ethnographic Spectacle in Twentieth-Century Rio de Janeiro

Abstract In twentieth-century Rio de Janeiro, police and local authorities addressed “black magic practices” through surveillance and regulation that were related to new cartographic and discursive imaginaries of urban reform and segregation. Police raids were a common occurrence, and journalists who wrote about sorcerers and sorcery participated in a discursive mapping of Rio de Janeiro’s new urban imaginaries. This article examines a set of public health laws and policing tactics that monitored the activities of poor women and Afro-Brazilian spirituality under the assumption that their practices constituted black magic. Accusations of witchcraft represented a spectacle in which ideas adapted from eugenics and racial science to urban planning and capitalist modernity were enacted. Equally important, sorcery scenes present an important set of counter-narratives that demonstrate the ways in which urban residents deployed strategic performances as sorcerers and fortunetellers to counter police narratives that considered their bodies and activities to be heterodox and inadequate for secular urban modernity.

«Змея-целительница» в мифоритуальной традиции башкир

In the oral tradition and everyday rituals of the Bashkirs, the snake, as the first ancestor and patroness, acts as a healer of people. In Bashkir folklore, beneficent snakes resurrect heroes cut into pieces, restore their sight and give advice on how to revive a person. The Bashkirs believed that at home, yards where snakes live, diseases are bypassed. In the mystical views and magical practice of the Bashkirs, healing properties were attributed to individual parts of the snake body. So, the Bashkirs, when abscesses appeared under the nails, applied a snake crawl to the sore spot. Snake skin was also used for eye diseases, and also as a wet poultice for joint pain and swelling. Stewed meat of a black snake was used for damage to vision. In Bashkir folklore, plots of the use of the ashes of a burnt snake for medicinal purposes are recorded. Snakes resorted to help not only in case of illness of people, but also in case of illness of livestock. The snake, having the gift of healing ailments, can at the same time endow people with these abilities. According to the prejudices of the Bashkirs, the hands of a person who found a snake crawled out were recognized as healing. Similar ideas about the «healer snake» are in the religious and mythological beliefs of the most diverse peoples of the world

Leksyka z zakresu wróżbiarstwa i czarów w Nowym wielkim dykcjonarzu Pierre’a Daneta i Dymitra Franciszka Koli

The paper aims to investigate Polish lexis belonging to the semantic fields of DIVINATION and WITCHCRAFT. The material was excerpted from the 18th-century trilingual Nowy wielki dykcjonarz (New grand dictionary). The semantic fields under analysis were divided into subfields. In the case of DIVINATION, the subfields of DIVINATION PRACTISES and PEOPLE FORETELLING THE FUTURE were identified. In turn, WITCHCRAFT was subdivided into MAGICAL PRACTICES, PEOPLE PRACTISING MAGIC and EFFECTS OF MAGIC. The analysis of the retrieved material suggests that the number of individual lexemes is relatively small and usually polysemic, which appears to contradict the popularity and prevalence of divination and witchcraft in the 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as established by cultural historians. The supposed misrepresentation of the semantic fields under scrutiny may reflect the didactic nature of the Polish part of the dictionary.

«NORTHERN LIGHTS»: VISUALIZATION OF THE NEW RUSSIAN HISTORICAL NARRATIVE

The article is devoted to the analysis of one of modern Russia’s local or group historical narratives, which articulates the mystical connection of the north-Russian population with Finno-Ugric shamanic practices based on runes «Kalevala». The TV series «Northern Lights» (the original script of Victoria Platova) in the genre of a mystical detective discusses one of the ways to deploy a «folk» or popular historical narrative, which is some controversial attitude of the state policy of memory and a conservative turn in historical policy. The relationship of the representations about Finnish roots of Russian ethnos with such unrelated concepts as «escapism» and «Aryan myth» was analyzed. The gradual drift of popular history in mass media is considered from the purely Slavic narrative of origin and ancient mystical practices of the people of north-western Russia to the recognition of Finno-Ugric roots or even the unity of Russian and Finnish peoples of the Russian north. The deconstruction of the series by visual anthropology techniques revealed a constant appeal to the everyday magical practices of the Karelian heroes of the series, who identify themselves as Russians. The inhabitants of the Island, where the action takes place, all the structure of their daily lives and holidays are built around the gods and heroes of Kalevala. The narratives «Finnish roots» in media are considered in connection with the interpretation of dubious results «Russian Nobility DNA Project», the origin of Princess Olha and Old Ladoga, as the source of Russia. The conclusion is reached on the participation of many actors and polyphonicity of modern Russian historical narrative, search for new lines of interface of Russian history and Europe.

Șezatoarea în Maramureș

Our paper, based largely on our field research, presents a monographic approach of a habit of great complexity that is spinning gathering. From the beginning, we set out to expand the investigation space in order to see the differences from one place to another. In the first part we treated the perception that people have about this habit in the investigated area, the days when it is practiced, the types of spinning gatherings, the criteria that must be met for organizing it. We then reproduced information about the criteria for selecting the hosts, about the age required for taking part in the habit, and the practical activities performed by the participants. We reserved the investigative part of our research for the habit sequences. We paid due attention to the repertoire of ceremonial songs, as they are pieces of great beauty and artistic value. In this part of the investigation we talked about magic and we treated in detail the spells used by the girls to bring the boys to the gathering, as well as the magical practices of finding the predestined husband. Treating the magic of this habit, we noticed the use of instruments in performing the spells and we reproduced the oral formulas that accompany the spells. An extensive chapter of our study is reserved for the collection of social games that we classified into thematic categories. Our research concludes with the analysis of spinning gathering functions, as they emphasize the complexity and importance of habit. In our research we tried to show the age and the syncretic character of this habit. Keywords: spinning gathering, magic, young girl, young man, game, spinning

THE OTHER SIDES OF PESANTREN: MAGICAL PRACTICES AROUND PESANTREN IN BANTEN

This research discusses practices of the magical culture in pesantren in Banten. The research model used in this study is qualitative-descriptive. Historical studies are used to present a narrative and chronological presentation of the storyline of a discussion. Pesantren in Banten has distinct characteristics compared to other pesantren in Indonesia. Most people believe that Banten is a Province in Indonesia that is famous for its ulama, kyai, santri, and pesantren. Those stereotypes and beliefs arise because Islamic values have been rooted strongly in most Banten citizens traditionally, culturally, and ritually. One of the characteristics of pesantren in Banten is that every santri is taught magic, silat (martial art), and tasawuf knowledge. Those characteristics have always been a matter of discussion because people believe that there are practices of magic in every pesantren in Banten. Some sources mention Banten as a center for the occult sciences, as well as known as a religious region. Magical practice is still considered important for the people of Banten, especially those living in rural areas to solve practical problems in their social life. In addition, the existence of jawara (warrior) and pesantren has created its own culture that is different from the dominant culture of Banten society.

«To rediscover the world's enchantment»: Anthropology on the way to new animism

Annotation. The article is devoted to the evolution of scientific ideas about spirits, deities and other sacred beings, from the Enlightenment to the present day. The author touches upon some influential schools and bright scientific ideas in anthropology, ethnology and integrative scientific projects, and also outlines the main directions of the humanitarian discussion about the ontology of spirits and related religious and magical practices. The objective of the article is the historical and epistemological conceptualization of the turn from the positivist idea of ​​“disenchanting of the world” (M. Weber) to the poststructuralist and perspectivist project “to rediscover the world's enchantment” (E. Kohn). This turn, according to the author, became possible thanks to postcolonial reflection, the movement for the decolonization of knowledge, deconstruction of classical philosophical problems and deep postmodern criticism of the Enlightenment program, which largely contained pre-secular intentions. In the XXI century, many anthropologists began to consider local ontologies as metaphysics or foreign cultural sciences, and spirits and deities as selves or non-human actors. The development of such horizontal methodologies, made possible by the increasing penetration of philosophy and semiotics into the social sciences, led to the emergence of the so-called new (or experimental) animism (D. Haraway). It can be described as an experimental platform associated with research in the field of "anthropology on the other side of man". Such studies, in addition to their ethnographic content and philosophical justification, usually have a pronounced ideological charge. This charge lies in the ecological and heuristic significance of overcoming anthropocentrism as a whole or a number of its negative consequences. Key words: anthropology of religion, epistemology, magic, sacred, spirits, deities, ontological turn, animism, new animism, poststructuralism

Cunning and Disorderly: Early Nineteenth-Century Witch Trials of Joseph Smith

Cunning and Disorderly: Early Nineteenth-Century Witch Trials of Joseph Smith

I Dream of Siri: Magic and Female Voice Assistants

Recent advances in science and engineering have facilitated the development of artificial intelligence voice assistants. While this is true from a technical aspect, smart speakers and voice assistants did not develop in isolation from the rest of human society. The devices may be new, but the practices and patterns in their development and use are not. Using Lévi-Strauss’s structural anthropology, I map homologous practices of smart speaker interaction onto historical conceptions of supernatural magic use. This structural comparison suggests that practices and patterns that were essential to magic use have re-emerged in smart speaker utilization in similar forms. Some of these practices are noteworthy for their homology alone. However, other homologous behaviors revive patterns of inequity that, in Western magical traditions, had privileged the traditionally educated man. The goal of this paper is to elucidate the ghost in the machine: the prejudiced social practices of supernatural magic that were asserted to be eradicated yet which are now, nevertheless, newly instantiated within our most cutting-edge devices.

'Deliver This Horse from Evil': The Ritual Aspects of Responses to Veterinary Disease in the Late Middle Ages.

While the importance of religious and magical healing practices in the Late Middle Ages is well established, the ritual aspects of veterinary medicine have so far not been thoroughly explored. This article addresses this lacuna through analysis of a corpus of charms, prayers, and other rituals that were used to cure a group of devastating contagious diseases that afflicted horses: animals that were often afforded complex, professional medical care in this period. It considers the semantic aspects and common features of this group of disease rituals alongside discussions of contagious illness in veterinary treatises, identifying a distinctive set of healing rituals and explaining why they were such a common response to enzootic disease. It argues that magical and religious healing were significant elements of medieval horse-care and that veterinary medicine has been overlooked as one of the key manifestations of ritual healing.

Gardens Without Magic: Tending the Church as the Locus of Growth in a Presbyterian Village, Vanuatu

ABSTRACT In Melanesia, horticultural gardens have often been described as ‘works of art’. At the source of the gardens’ design and perceived beauty, one can often find ritual and magical practices tied to mythical foundations, to the ontological status of tubers as well as to a specific conception of growth and sociality. These require a specific design of the garden so as to achieve the desired form which will ensure good growth. But what about gardens without magic? In the Presbyterian village of Tasiriki on the island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, garden magic is avowedly not practiced anymore nor is gardens ritually embellished or designed. I hypothesise that in Tasiriki these absences are related to the displacement of the ritual arena which is now located in the church where most of the spiritual and material growth of the place is cultivated and objectified. However, as gardens remain vital, both for subsistence and in the generation of sociality, they still are a source of aesthetic appreciation revealing specific social forms, mirroring social processes and changes, while making manifest the Christian foundation of the place.

Priscillianism and Women

Several names of women who were supporters of Priscillian are known, such as Euchrotia, Procula, Urbica, Hedibia, and Agape, but they are to us no more than shadowy figures. To proceed further than what prosopography has to offer, we must depend on ambiguous evidence: the accusation of magical practices and sexual promiscuity in the Council of Saragossa, the debated female authorship of two anonymous letters preserved in a single, possibly Gallic manuscript, and lastly the Life of Saint Helia, where the issue of virginity is prominent but whose links with Priscillianism are at best tenuous.

Magic: A Theoretical Reassessment†

AbstractAnthropological theories about the techniques broadly labeled magic and related practices as sorcery, witchcraft, divination, and ritual curing are in need of reformulation. Theoretical considerations of these phenomena within anthropology have neglected to consider the basic assumptions of magical belief, instead departing from Western cultural assumptions that beliefs about magic are empirically untenable and that there can be no such cause‐and‐effect relations as they imply. An impetus to the reformulation of theories of magic comes from experimental parapsychology where laboratory research has produced empirical support for some of the phenomena claimed by magical traditions. Parapsychologists interpret their findings as evidence for extrasensory perception, or clairvoyance and telepathy, and for foreknowledge or precognition, as well as evidence for the ability of human consciousness to effect physical systems. They postulate a force called psi responsible for such phenomena, and reports from anthropologists suggest that some aspects of magical practice involve psi. Consequently, anthropologists should examine more systematically the idea that magic has a psi‐related aspect—that some magical practices facilitate or produce empirically verifiable effects outside of the currently understood cause‐and‐effect processes of nature. This article reviews the findings of laboratory studies of parapsychology and their correspondences with principles of magical practices and beliefs reported by anthropologists. Magical theories, principles and practices share certain of the conditions found through parapsychological research to be conducive to psi manifestations: altered states of consciousness, visualization, positive expectation, and belief. This suggest that the indigenous rationale for magical practices are related to psi rather than delusional thought processes.

Building Rapport

How does sharing hidden but valuable magical information help Northern Ireland (NI) Catholic and Protestant farmers build rapport? I suggest that it serves as a form of cultural intimacy by emphasising common beliefs, while downplaying possibly conflicting ethnoreligious identities. Magical practices such as ‘curing/charming’ remain common among NI farmers. It refers to asking a person with ‘the cure’ for a specific condition (such as bleeding or heart disease) to heal a sufferer. During nine months of fieldwork, conducted between 2012 and 2014, I learned that farmers, inspectors, and NGO staff often discuss ‘curing’ during their bureaucratic encounters. One person mentions a relative who is sick. The other then provides contact information for a healer with ‘the cure’ for such an ailment. Both Catholics and Protestants practice ‘curing’ in very similar forms.

Bats and diseases in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and magic medicine practices: perceptions, prejudices and realities (historical, zoological, epidemiological and ethnocultural interferences)

The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has multiple unknown sides, various hypotheses regarding the causes of this plague being launched. One of the hypotheses, circulating both in science and in the media, concerns a series of animals, carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, subsequently transmitted through other animals to humans. Bats are among the possible mammals that are targeted in such contamination, but there is no clear evidence in this regard. Chiroptera play an important role in ecology, economy and human life, contributing to the protection and pollination of plants, the eradication of harmful insects in agriculture, the development of new remedies and pharmacological preparations, including anticoagulants. In Romanian folklore, bats have an evil image, a fact explained by their nocturnal way of life. Some practices of magical medicine were based on the use of certain parts of the bat’s body (blood, wings, paws, down) to treat certain diseases and mental ailments. The bat appears in children’s folklore, in stories and riddles, being a creature through which the little ones got to know the fauna and learned to hate the petty qualities of the human being. In the cultures of the world, the bat is ubiquitous in folklore, magic medicine and art

Ancient South arabian inscription BynM 5: A new interpretation and semitic parallels

AbstractThe subject of this article is the Sabaic inscription BynM 5 and a new interpretation is proposed considering Ancient South Arabian and other Semitic sources. The document is a funerary stela concluding with a curse. It is suggested that this curse reflects a magical belief which can be closely compared to Qur 113, 4. This contributes to shed light on the ancient Arabian magical practices.

Inside the Theatre of Business: Performance and Corporate Presentation Training

How are theatre-techniques used in business training? Do theatre-making skills represent a unique field of knowledge? In this case study, I consider the National Institute of Dramatic Art’s (NIDA) ‘Executive Presenter’ two- day course in Sydney, Australia, and attempt to counter a simplistic notion of theatre as magical practice. Performance techniques are complex, historically and culturally-contingent processes for making and sharing meaning (McAuley 2008). I describe exercises from the course in some detail ‒ including elements of space, voice, body, structure, awareness, spontaneity, and rehearsal ‒ and suggest that we can understand these presentation skills in a relationship of continuity with everyday meaning-making, rather than as a magical art form. On the one hand, NIDA trades off and reinforces the popular mystique surrounding acting. On the other hand, the course introduces simple and effective techniques of verbal and non-verbal communication. Ultimately, my investigation considers the claim made in marketing the course that ‘public speaking can come naturally to you.’

Syriac Love Charms. Part I. The Recipe-Type

Abstract In this paper we consider 6 Syriac love charms and edit their original text and translation. All but two texts are published here for the first time. This is the first part of our inquiry, in which we consider one of the two types of Syriac love charms, the recipe-type. Among its primary characteristics is its extreme rarity in Syriac magic codices. Another prominent trait of this type, which makes these texts especially valuable, is that some of them contain ritual instructions which are exceedingly rare for Syriac charms as a whole, while others may contain what we call an allusion to it. Our assumption is that texts of this type reflect ancient magic practices originating in pre-Christian time, which are credibly attested in the texts belonging to other magic traditions of the Near East and Egypt.