+ Magic and Divination Chapter 7

+ Baseball Magic Remember the article “Baseball Magic”? Why is magic used in baseball? What are taboos and fetishes?

+ Baseball Magic Remember the article “Baseball Magic”? Why is magic used in baseball? Because it relies mostly on chance People want to feel in control What are taboos and fetishes? Taboos are strictly forbidden actions or items Fetishes are obsessions with ‘lucky’ objects

+ Introduction What do you think of when you hear the term magic? Our idea of magic is illusion, because it alters perceptions Magic consists of activities and rituals that alter or control the supernatural

+ Introduction Early anthropologists thought that magic was separate from religion because it did not involve spirits Many thought it was a pseudoscience, used to make sense of their world Many thought that magic would ‘evolve’ into religion

+ Introduction Science is empirical: It is observable, repeatable, testable Involves hypotheses and theories Does magic? No But magic helps people make sense of their world; it involves trying to directly control aspects of their environment for a specific outcome It is part of religion

+ The World of Magic Magic: methods that allow a person to interact with supernatural and bring out specific outcomes Sorcery: usually seen as evil

+ Sorcery and Witchcraft Sorcery is performance of rites and spells intended to cause harm to others Uses objects Frazer’s 2 principles: Imitative: Represent a person Voodoo doll, effigy Contagious: Use items that were in contact with person

+ Witchcraft Witchcraft: use of psychic power to cause harm to others Uses mind Accusations are patterned because idea that sorcerers and witches only harm those they don’t like Salem Witch Trials

+ Rules of Magic James Frazer Law of Sympathy Magic depends on association between 2 things It has 2 parts: Law of Similarity and Law of Contagion

+ Rules of Magic Law of Similarity Things that are alike are the same Homeopathic or Imitative magic Law of Contagion Things that were once in contact continue to be connected Contagious magic

+ Homeopathic Magic This assumes that there is a causal relationship between similar things Image Magic: making an image that represents someone and then injuring or killing the image to really harm the person Voodoo dolls

+ Homeopathic Magic Example is doctrine of signatures In homeopathic or traditional medicine, people believe that there are natural signals in the plants showing people how to use them Some think these were left by God

+ Homeopathic Magic Example: plants used to treat problems with blood are red; those for stomach are yellow (bile).

+ Contagious Magic Based on idea that things that were once in contact stay connected (hair, nails, clothing…) Example: rabbit’s foot for luck People also believe that an illness can be transferred onto an object in order to heal people Tying a caterpillar on a child’s neck to cure whooping cough New Guinea: put salve on arrow wound and on arrow so the injury transfers onto the arrow However, enemy can counter this by repeatedly plucking bow to make injury worse

+ Function of Magic Magic can be used in times of danger or in times of uncertainty Connected to rituals, including those for good luck Example: professional baseball players

+ Why Magic Works Most things are not cause-and-effect, but actually coincidence However, humans like to feel that they can control outcomes Ideas of good and bad luck

+ Why Magic Works Tyler looked at why it seems magic never fails Magic attempts to bring about things that would have happened naturally Rain rituals (eventually it will rain!) People are very stubborn in changing their beliefs, even with evidence that they do not work People do not ask for impossible things from magic

+ Why Magic Works If the magic doesn’t work, people say that the ritual was not performed correctly Or someone was doing counter-magic People also have selective memory We forget a lot that happens to us Successes are remembered and failures forgotten more often

+ Why Magic Works Self-fulfilling People make things happen because they believe they will happen Example: death magic Person is so convinced of and worried about dying that it can lead to death

+ Magic in Society (Examples) Azande Magic involves using objects, mostly plant materials called medicines The object houses power and the ritual will release the power Use doctrine of signatures Example: plants with milky sap used to help a mother nurse her baby Other uses: hunting, against sorcery, find love, cure diseases, avenge a murder Rituals can often be personal and done in private

+ Magic in Society (Examples) Fore Believe the disease kuru is caused by sorcery (we now know it is caused by eating brains at funerals) Sorcerer would take remnants of someone (hair, nails, excrement) and bury it in cold ground. They he would beat it and recite a spell that would cause kuru Example of contagious magic To prevent this, people hide all their possible remnants

+ Magic in Society (Examples) Wicca Neo-Pagan: revival of a pre-Christian practice See their magical knowledge as a continuation of practices that were pushed underground by Christianity for many centuries. Core of the ritual is movement of energy Practitioner builds up energy in body and releases it at just the right time Based on the worldview that there is power in all things Rituals awaken power and direct it toward a goal Use crystals, herbs, oils, images, etc. Closely connected to nature Supplements practical actions

+ Divination Attempts to find out the unknown and to manipulate supernatural to get future information Sees the world as things that interconnect Magic is manipulating these connections

+ Forms of Divination Inspirational: involves spiritual experience (ex. Possession) Also known as natural or emotive Noninspirational/Artificial: magic, reading natural events, using oracles (a device for seeing future)

+ Divination Forms Inspirational divination involves an individual having direct contact with a supernatural being Usually through ASC Possession Prophesy Mediums Ordeals involve a painful and dangerous test, usually to prove innocence Putting hand into burning oil Salem witch trials: trial by water (innocent drown, witches do not and are then burned)

+ Divination Forms Example of ordeal: (minutes 1-16 only)

+ Forms of Divination Fortuitous: happens without conscious effort Deliberate: happens because someone sets out to do them There are different combinations of these types

+ Forms of Divination Fortuitous Noninspirational: omens, ornithomancy (birds) Fortuitous Inspirational: necromancy, possession, prophesy, mediums, oneiromancy Deliberate Noninspirational: astrology, flipping a coin, magic 8 ball, Ouija board, palm reading, tarot cards

+ Divination Example

+ Techniques of Divination Oneriomancy: interpreting dreams Differ by culture Can be seen as spirit guiding you in dreams

+ Techniques of Divination Examples: To see apes in your dream represents dishonesty, maliciousness, and lies. To dream of a seal represents your good humor and ability to entertain others. A dream in which you are toothless indicates your failure to succeed. To dream that you fall and are frightened represents that you do not have balance or power in your life. To dream that you are flying with ease and enjoying the view indicates that you are dealing with circumstances well.

+ Techniques of Divination Necromancy: divination through contact with the dead (commonly ancestors) Omens are frequent Ornithomancy: reading the flight of birds Palmistry: reading lines of palm of hand Phrenology: reading shape of head Mechanical divination: manipulate objects Ouija board, tarot cards

+ Divination Example Azande oracles Most common is iwa, or rubbing-board oracle Small wooden board with a ‘female’ and ‘male’ pieces Only an oracle after rubbed with medicines and buried in ground As lid is moved across surface, a smooth motion is ‘no’ and sticking is ‘yes’ Used to get fast answers to common questions

+ Divination Example

+ Azande oracles Dakpa is termite oracle Used for more important questions and takes longer to answer Two sticks are places in termite mound overnight More reliable (no human error) Benge, the poison oracle, is most important oracle Used in legal matters and in times of crisis Feed poison to chickens and watch reaction to get answers Poison is hard to find and chickens cannot be eaten

+ Divination Example Astrology Foundation is that movement of planets and stars influences humans’ lives Began in Babylonia for the good of the community Spread to Greece, Rome, and Egypt Led to the zodiac

+ What’s Your Sign? Read your sign description. Is it accurate? Do you think your sign governs your actions or events in your life?

+ Assignment 1. Define and give examples of homeopathic magic and contagious magic. 2. Do we consider items like Ouija boards and Magic 8 balls as religious devices in the US? Why or why not? Do they work? Explain. 3. What is your opinion of your horoscope? Would you consider this a religious practice? Explain. 4. Is divination a harmless hobby (like astrology or fortune telling)? Or can it have negative consequences? Explain your answers.