Supernatural Research Articles

Charles Godfrey Leland and His Magical Tales

Charles Godfrey Leland and His Magical Tales

Jewish Mysticism in the Writings of Isaac Beshevis Singer

Isaac Bashev is Singer cherished the short story because, in his opinion, it provided a considerably greater opportunity for perfection than the novel did. His stories, however, rarely exhibit the meticu-lous craftsmanship of a conscious craftsman; instead, they flow effortlessly, often mindlessly, without any sense of manipulation. Indeed, Singer’s work derives from a rich oral storytelling tradition that has been thriving for generations throughout Eastern Europe. As the de facto historian of the Jewish experience in the twentieth century, Singer opts to ignore the Holocaust and the six million European Jews who were killed by Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Since he doesn’t think a simple storyteller could ever convey a tale this awful and unintelligible, he instead evokes it by describing the civilization it wiped out in detail and the scattered melancholy it left behind. Singer’s protagonists, like the Jewish people as a whole, face unfathomable atrocities and fight with their identity in a changing world. They must decide whether to give up or endure. The person in their family, neighborhood, and world is eventually the person in their universe, frequently by themselves with the supernatural forces that rule it. Singer uses a variety of Jewish mysticism and demonology to embellish and draw from to personify these forces and their impact on the human condition. In this research paper, I tried to anlyze the element of this Jewish mysticism in some of his popular works. Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Polish-born American Jewish author who first authored and published in Yiddish before translating himself into English with the assistance of editors and collaborators.

Drum Rhythms and Golden Scriptures: Reasons for Mormon Conversion Within Haiti's Culture of Vodou

Drum Rhythms and Golden Scriptures: Reasons for Mormon Conversion Within Haiti's Culture of Vodou

Social representations of malaria in a southern Malian community: an ethnographic qualitative study

BackgroundMalaria is one of the prime reasons for medical consultation and the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Mali. To assess and understand the dynamics of social representations of malaria, the anthropological research was conducted in the Wayerema II neighbourhood of the health district of Sikasso, southern Mali.MethodsThis was an ethnographic study conducted qualitatively in 2011 and 2016 through informal conversations, 70 semi-structured interviews, and participant observations with key actors. The observations, conversations, and interviews investigated local people’s perceptions and knowledge about malaria, and how and to what extent the cultural and popular representations of the disease can have an impact on therapeutic routes.ResultsMosquitoes are the principal agent of the transmission of malaria. However, the ubiquitous yet casually-claimed aetiological agents, causative, nosographic entities differ from—although sometimes integrated into—the biomedical dimension. For example, some communities perceive Kono, a complicated and pernicious form of malaria that often occurs among children, to originate from a supernatural force. “Bird disease” is another term used for Kono in Mali and other West African countries. Thus, overall, Kono is defined through the entanglements with cultural factors, namely the idiosyncratic habits, customs, and beliefs of the population of Wayerema II neighbourhood in the health district of Sikasso, Southern Mali. Wayerema II residents particularly tend to link therapeutic recourse amongst the afflicted not only to biomedical models but to sociocultural and popular perceptions and representations of malaria.ConclusionIn the findings, self-medication through both traditional and modern medical techniques was the most frequent therapeutic modality. Hence, the integration of local popular knowledge with the biomedical register can contribute to a comprehensive understanding of social representations and perceptions of malaria, and qualitative improvements in the malaria control programme.

Traditional, religious, and cultural perspectives on mental illness: a qualitative study on causal beliefs and treatment use

ABSTRACT Purpose Limited information is known from studies regarding traditional, religious, and cultural perspectives on mental illness and the use of traditional and alternative therapies by mentally ill people in Indonesia. This study explored traditional, religious, and cultural beliefs about causes of mental illness and the use of traditional/alternative treatments for mentally ill patients. Method We adopted a qualitative content analysis method as proposed by Schreier. This study was conducted at a mental Hospital in Indonesia. We interviewed 15 nurses and 15 patients. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis method. Results Five discrete but interrelated themes emerged: 1) Possessed illness and belief in supernatural forces; 2) Sinful or cursed illness; 3) Witchcraft or human-made illness; 4) traditional/alternative treatments; and 5) Barriers to treatment of mental illness. Conclusion Traditional/alternative treatments play an important role in meeting the need for mental health treatment. The findings are relevant for mental health nurses who provide direct to their patients, and for other areas of mental health practice. We also found a lack of knowledge about the causes of mental illness among patients and families. Education should be at the heart of mental health promotion to raise the level of mental health literacy in Indonesia.

The Presence of the Devil in Alexander Tvardovsky’s Artistic World

The present article examines a side of the traditional literary opposition «God vs devil», namely the devil. Tvardovsky’s artistic world is anthropocentric. It denies the presence and influence of supernatural principles on a person. In Tvardovsky’s
 poetic language the lexemes God and the devil in most cases constitute a part of
 phraseological units. The gradual development of the image of a trait occurs accord-
 ing to the principle of semantic gradation – from an expressive exclamation to the creation of an original ambivalent image. However, the devil of Tvardovsky does notoppose God. It is a supernatural force existing in every person. It wakes up in difficult, «hellish» circumstances and becomes the key to victory.

Концепт отсеченной головы (экзистенция, вещь, троп)

The content and plot potential of the concept of a severed or severed head is ambiguous. It determines the ontological and existential meanings of works. Its mortal semantics is expressed in marking social cataclysm (N. Gumilyov, G. Ivanov, N. Klyuev), philosopheme (M. Bulgakov), tragic foreboding (M. Tsvetaeva), optical deformation (V. Khodasevich), hallucinations (Yu. Odarchenko ) and its implementation by the stigmatist (A. Green), the absurdity of life (A. Vvedensky), violent manipulation (A. Belyaev), self-consciousness (I. Bunin, V. Pelevin). The specificity of canonical and apocryphal interpretations of the beheading of John the Baptist is noted. It is pointed out that decapitation is conditional on both supernatural forces and the will of a mortal. The question is raised about the boundary in the image of the dissociation of the character and his bipolar state. Artistic tools are revealed in the description of emotions, actions of the character, his self-identification before and after decapitation. Emphasis is placed on the variability of the artistic specificity of the concept of a severed head from farcical poetics to naturalistic imagery and symbolization. The plot, narrative, psychological, compositional role of the image of a severed head in a number of works is determined. The phenomenological meaning of the image of the bowl-skull as an expression of historical memory (A. Pushkin, N. Gumilyov, S. Yesenin) and the existence of an individual (M. Zenkevich) is considered.

Delimiting Religion

Delimiting Religion

The Early Icelandic Moral Economy According to the Major Poems of Egill Skallagrímsson

The Early Icelandic Moral Economy According to the Major Poems of Egill Skallagrímsson

구약성경의 기적 이야기에 대한 고찰

This article poses a perennial question of what miracles are and of whether miracles can really happen from the perspectives of the Old Testament and its authors. It aims to clarify the definition of miracles that the books of the Old Testament (to be abbreviated as OT hereafter) describe, to examine its differences from the modern definition of miracles by comparison, and to suggest how to read and understand the miracle stories of the OT.
 Our inquiry about miracles proceeded in three steps. First, I examined the meanings and lexical usages of various terms for miracles in the OT to figure out the definition of miracles that the authors of the OT might have kept in their mind. The terms for miracles are ’ôt, môpët, Gübûrâ, pele, niplä’ôt, Güdôlöt, and the like. Interestingly none of these correspond with the modern terms of miracle.
 Secondly, I analyzed the text of Exodus 14 which narrates the Sea Event, one of the representative miracle stories in the Hebrew Bible. Referring to the achievements of historical critical studies on this text, I distinguished various motives and traditions inherent in the text, and attempted to grasp its core messages, revealed through their polyphonic voices. By and large two themes are found in Exodus 14. One is about God’s sovereignty. God is described as the one who freely exploits either the power of nature or supernatural force and smashes Pharaoh’s chariots and his whole army. The other is about God’s protection for his people and about proper response to it. Since the same God is the one who protects and supports the Israelites, they should fear and trust in him. These themes are repeated in the phrases which recount the Sea Event. By the way, scholars, who tend to acknowledge the historicity of the core substance of the story, accept the naturalistic explanation of the event from the text, while disregarding the supernatural descriptions of it as either a secondary source or a later embellishment. As a result, such attempts lead to neglecting some integral elements in the text. Their efforts to make believe the story, by eliminating supernatural and mythic components of the text, lead to miss the important themes that Exodus 14 conveys.
 Third, it would be necessary to examine the ways in which the ancient Israelites perceived the world, history and nature in order to understand the miracle stories in the OT. They had not questioned the possibility of miracles. Instead, they took it for granted that God can intervene in nature and history at any time he needs since he is the Lord who governs his created world and the world keeps its integrity only with God’s support.
 Ancient Israelites’ understanding of miracles is closely connected with their belief that God is always working in the history of salvation. Biblical miracle stories were written down and transmitted for the purpose of strengthening and edifying their faith in God. In this sense, the story of the Sea Event in Exodus 14 had a great influence on the growth of their faith. Therefore, I suggest that a proper way to read the miracle stories in the OT is not to pose a question of whether the miracles that the text presents would be possible or not, but to ask what theological, heuristic, and ethical messages are conveyed through them.

MAGIC AND MEANS OF ITS EXPRESSION IN LITERATURE OF FANTASY GENRE

Background. The relevance of the research topic is due to the growing popularity of the fantasy genre and the insufficient study of the issue of systematizing the means of expressing the magical in fiction.
 Purpose. The purpose of the article is to define the essence of the magical, to reveal its cognitive features and means of expression.
 Materials and methods. The practical material for the study was the texts of works of the fantasy genre fiction: Wolfhound by M. Semenova, The Mage of Midnight by D. Yemets, Temple of the Winds by T. Goodkind, The Chronicles of Amber by R. Zelazny, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. The following methods of scientific research were used in the work: analysis of scientific literature, the method of continuous sampling, the descriptive method, comparative and statistical methods.
 Results. It is determined that the essence of the magical lies in the totality of the concepts of mysticism, fiction, magic, in the impact of supernatural forces on people, animals, nature, as well as on imaginary spirits and gods. Such cognitive features as invisibility for a person, mystery, close connection with faith and science were identified. The study revealed the means of expressing the magical, mainly lexical and stylistic level: linguistic markers, artistic detail. The identified means of expressing the magical are illustrated by examples from fantasy novels in Russian and English. Linguistic markers are represented by magical semiotics (magic agents, creatures and animals that have magic), and magical verbalics (processives). Artistic detail plays an indispensable role in various “magic” descriptions of magical artifacts, unusual animals, magical buildings and objects with unusual properties.
 Practical implications. The results of the study can be used in the further study of the magical, the means of its expression in other literary works of the fantasy genre, as well as in stylistics classes for students of the Foreign Philology training profile.

Mite Sanghyang Kenit: Daya Tarik Wisata Alam di Desa Rajamandala Kulon Kabupaten Bandung Barat

The stories that traditional societies believe in that have developed and spread over the generations have given birth to the concept of collective memory and belief. These memories and beliefs manifest into myths. In many traditions of indonesian society, myth is born from mite, a story that involves the supernatural power, namely the power of the Gods. In Sundanese culture, mites often tell the story of the Gods who descended to earth with a certain mission. This study discusses the Sanghyang Kenit mite which used to be considered a sacred story. Mite Sanghyang Kenit is discussed in a dual perspective, namely as a story of the past and as a cultural artifact that manifests as a tourist destination. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative with the object of the story as data. In addition, SWOT matrices (strenghts); (weaknesses); (opportunities); and (threats) are used to analyze Sanghyang Kenit as a tourist destination in terms of uniqueness, authenticity, and scarcity. The results showed that Sanghyang Kenit mite can be a natural tourist attraction in Rajamandala Kulon village, West Bandung regency, namely by proving the existence of continuity between mites and potential tourist attractions.

Review: Automatic Religion: Nearhuman Agents of Brazil and France, by Paul Christopher Johnson

Review: <i>Automatic Religion: Nearhuman Agents of Brazil and France</i>, by Paul Christopher Johnson

Balinese Calonarang in Performance

Balinese <i>Calonarang</i> in Performance

THE RELATIONSHIP OF GOD, HUMAN BEİNG AND NATURE IN TOPONIMIC LEGENDS: IN EXAMPLE OF ISSYK-KUL

People from the very beginning of their existence set the goal to understanding and interpretation the nature and environment. Within this goal, humanity instinctively created toponymic legends to explain the complex and unknown and to connect the cause. Legends are oral literary treasures that have emerged in the direction of interpreting human social events, natural events and forms. It`s important that in myths the heroes of events are ordinary people or animals, with a supernatural power that carry out extraordinary events. In the nomadic Kyrgyz culture the legends describe the relationship of human - God, human - nature and nature - God relations by kneading with many philosophical thoughts. It should be noted that describing this, both the old Turkic mythology and elements of Islamic beliefs and motives are used. In the life of ancient Turks the cult of places and water plays an important role, it is manifested in the names of places in the Turkic world. In the context of this belief, when the Turks called the places where they lived, and the water bodies they used, they usually associated them with an unusual event, giving it a special spirit and meaning. As in many parts of the Turkic world, in Kyrgyzstan almost every mountain, stone, water body and settlement in the surrounding region is explained by one or more myths. Researching the toponymic legends of Kyrgyzstan, in our work we touched upon the relationship between god, nature and man.

Hakikat Kekuasaan Dalam Lakon Wahyu Purba Sejati Karya Ki Seno Nugroho

This paper discusses the essential of power in the wayang play entitled Wahyu Purba Sejati by Ki Seno Nugroho. There are quite a number of wayang kulit purwa plays with the theme of revelation, such as: Wahyu Makutharama, Wahyu Purba Kayun, Wahyu Darma, Wahyu Pancadarma, and others. One of wayang kulit purwa play that is unique in the last decade is Wahyu Purba Sejati play, presented by Ki Seno Nugroho. The power in this play is divided into four, namely Cahyaningrat, Reksakaningrat, Yuwananingrat, and Wimbaningrat. How the essential of power is constructed in the play Wahyu Purba Sejati by Ki Seno Nugroho is the main problem in this research. Creswell's qualitative method and Benedict Anderson's theory of power are used to analyze this issue of power. The study resulted in the finding that the concept of power in the play Wahyu Purba Sejati essentially refers to the gift of God's supernatural power given to humans who like to do inner work in a quiet place in their orientation to create world peace. Power is knowledge that contains subtleties, achieved through athe process of implementing self-control which functions to maintain world harmony by eradicating chaos, injustice and unrighteousness, in order to create a safe, peaceful, prosperous life. This study concludes that power is cosmic and magical (supernatural) which is represented by the acquisition of revelation as a manifestation of the achievement of certain social strata (wahyu kraton, wahyu patih, wahyu wahdat, and wahyu induk). Power is not only a tool that has the potential to be destructive, but it can also potentially be a means to meddle hayuningbawana (seek world peace).

Moralistic and local god beliefs and the extent of prosocial preferences on Tanna Island, Vanuatu

ABSTRACT The co-existence of Christian and indigenous “Kastom” belief systems on Tanna Island, Vanuatu provides a rare opportunity to explore the relationship between cooperation and religion. Here, we use data on religious beliefs and practices, religious priming, and four versions of a dictator game at two sites—one predominantly Christian and one predominantly Kastom—to test a suite of hypotheses linking prosocial behavior to beliefs about and commitment to both a powerful moralistic god and a less morally concerned local supernatural force. We found belief that the moralistic god was more punitive did not predict increased giving towards co-religionists but did predict giving more to a religious outgroup member over a co-religionist. Belief that the moralistic god was more rewarding predicted less giving towards a distant coreligionist or outgroup member. Religious commitment predicted giving to a distant coreligionist over someone from one's own village. We did not find any effect of beliefs about and commitment to less morally-concerned local supernatural forces on giving. We also did not find the predicted effects of religious priming on giving. These findings suggest a more complex relationship between religious beliefs and prosocial behavior than current theory can accommodate.

TRADITIONAL USES OF PLANTS IN VARIOUS RITUALS AND CEREMONIES AMONG THARU TRIBE OF UDHAM SINGH NAGAR, KUMAUN HIMALAYA UTTARAKHAND, INDIA

Uttarakhand also referred as “Dev Bhoomi” or “Land of Gods” is well known for rich plant wealth, tribal diversity and cultural heritage. Tharu is the largest tribe in Udham Singh Nagar and more concentrated in eastern part of the district. They have deep faith in their deities, rituals and ceremonies and involve several plants in their socio-cultural life. The present investigation highlights traditional uses of plant wealth in various rituals and ceremonies among the Tharu tribe of Udham Singh Nagar. The extensive and intensive field visits were organized in various Tharu villages to observe their rituals and ceremonies. Tharu people were discussed and interviewed about the traditional uses of plants at different occasions. The recorded plant species were collected, identified and preserved for future record. During field study, a total of 43 plant species under 39 genera of 23 families were recorded, among which 13 plant species were found to be growing in wild condition and remaining 30 species were observed in cultivated areas. Most of the plant species belonged to the Poaceae family (7 Spp.) followed by Apocynaceae (5 Spp.), Lamiaceae, Malvaceae, Oleaceae and Solanaceae (with 3 Spp. each). Tharus use almost all plant parts as well as whole plants in worship of their deities and at various rituals in festivals, ceremonies and cremation. They believe in the supernatural power of plants and use many species to keep away evil spirits. It was noted that Tagetes erecta L. is the most useful species and cultivated in gardens of almost all tharu families.

Stranger Things, Nostalgia, and Aesthetics

<i>Stranger Things</i>, Nostalgia, and Aesthetics

Violence against Women and Girls: Female Filmmakers Critique the Menace

Violence against Women and Girls: Female Filmmakers Critique the Menace