Oracles and magic

Why do bad things happen to good people? What about why bad things happen to bad people? – Or indeed, good things happen to good people – …or good things happen to bad people??

Zande witchcraft Classic exploration of: – Supernatural beliefs – Ways of diagnosing and treating malevolent supernatural forces Witchcraft versus sorcery – Technical terminology in anthropology

“Witchcraft explains unfortunate events”

Metaphysical questions Why? vs. How? Not an issue of physical causality – The “second spear” in Zande belief – Why do events converge in the specific way that they do?

Practical solutions System of oracles Magical remedies – Spitting water – Against sorcery, use more complex magic Not necessarily scared to death – But may be angry – The system explains and gives options for response

Parallels? Oracles – Polygraph – The brilliant detective Forensics

Litigation Someone must be at fault Loss and pain must be compensated

Lies and truth Oracles and insight – Other kinds of oracles? Explaining and contextualizing events Memory, private and collective Upholding moral order – Deviant behaviors and causality

Naturalistic vs personalized More focused and specific with respect to disease – Theories of the body and its well-being – Therapy > diagnosis – Personalistic systems may have more rites of intensification?? Key still is a theory of how the world works