CSULB

George M. Scott Instructor: George M. Scott ANTHROPOLOGY 414-514 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION LECTURE OUTLINE TOPIC VII MAGIC

I.

MAGIC VS. RELIGION A. MAGIC RELIGIOUS SYSTEM 1. 2. Two Poles on Continuum, With Intergradation Between Them. "Ideal Types" (Weber) For Analyzing. In Reality, They Are Combined. a. Eating Wafers at Communion; BaptismMagical Actions in Religion. b. Bomber Pilot Clutches a CrucifixReligious Symbols in Magical Behavior.

II.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF MAGIC A. MACRO-DISTINCTION BETWEEN CAUSATIVE AND DIVINATORY 1. 2. B. CausativeInfluencing Nature; Causing Events to Happen. DivinatoryTo Gain Information About Events Removed in Time and Space, Which Can Be Acted On Later.

SIR JAMES FRAZER 1. 2. Law of SympathyMystical Connection. a. HomeopathicBased on Law of Similarity (Analogical Magic; Image Magic). b. ContagiousBased on Law of Contact (Exuvial Magic). Again, Ideal Types; Often Combined in Reality (The Most Effective Vodun Dolls Contain Hair of the Target Victim; Eastern Woodland Indians Tortured Prisoners Because Both They Are Representatives of Their Society [Homeopathic] Actually Parts of Their Society [Contagious]).

and They Are C.

NEGATIVE MAGIC 1. 2. Not Doing Things For Fear of Magical Outcomes. Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc ("After This, Therefore Because of This"). a. "Superstitions"Sidewalk Cracks, Ladders, Salt. b. Used to be Based on Homeopathic or Contagious Magic, But Original Connections Are Lost. Freud's Concept of Neurotic "Taboos."

3.

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BLACK VS. WHITE MAGIC 1. 2. 3. Night vs. Day Causes Misfortune vs. Improves Fortune and Beneficent. But, Again, This Distinction Breaks Down in Reality. a. "Love Magic"White, From the Point of View of the Client, But Black, of the "Target." b. That Is, The Client Benefits, But the Target is the Object of Malevolent Forces.

III.

THE FUNCTIONS OF MAGIC A. MALINOWSKIINDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE 1. 2. Emotional FunctionsReduces Anxiety of Individuals; Helps to Face Danger, Uncertainty with More Confidence. Cognitive FunctionsSupplements Empirical, Practical Procedures, e.g., When and Floods Occur.

Droughts B.

RADCLIFFE-BROWNSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 1. Social Functions"Strong" Magical Activities Causes Anxiety (Correlations with Rates of Homicide and Suicide); Instead, Fear of Magical Techniques Results in Social ("Invisible Police Force"). Or the Ritual Activity That Occurs with the Magical Techniques Increases Social Solidarity.

Control 2. C. RATHER D. TERMS. IV.

BOTTOM LINEWHEN RATIONAL, TIME-PROVEN PROCEDURES FAIL AND STRESS and ANXIETY EMERGE, THEN WE WILL DO SOMETHING THAN NOTHING. MUST BE VIEWED IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TOTAL CULTURE; MAGIC BASED ON CULTURAL PREMISES; THUS MUST BE DEFINED IN CULTURAL

WHY DOES MAGIC PERSIST? A. B. WHEN IT DOESN'T WORK (WHICH IS MOST OF THE TIME), WHY DO PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE IN AND USE IT? ESPECIALLY IN OUR SUPER-RATIONAL-SCIENTIFIC WORLD? 1. 2. 3. Still Helps to Reduce Anxiety, Increase Confidence (e.g., Baseball Magic, Obama and Election Magic). Modern Medicine Doesn't Always WorkRealm of Psychosomatic Health and Healing (The Desperation of the Healthy, Ageless, and Painless Body and Mind). Law of ProbabilityIf Done Enough Times, Then Eventually Will Work; Also "Constant Reinforcement;" Once Works, Then Reinforced (One Success Equals Failures). OK, So People Still Believe in Magic Because of the Above Reasons. But How Can They?

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Leon FestingerTheory of Cognitive Dissonance. i. Early Theory Doesn't Support Belief in Magic. ii. Later Theory Does Support (Because it Adds the Phenomenon of Rationalization); When Prophesy Fails.