Magic and the Supernatural in the Ancient World

Discussion Questions

Jan. 20: The Study of Magic

• Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 16:45:29 -0600 (CST) From: Zachary Harrelson: zharrel@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  
  1. Support either Frazer's evolutionistic or Malinowski's functionalistic definition of magic or neither. Explain how Malinowski's definition incorporates Frazer's triad of science, religion and magic.
  2. Dorothy Lee's article described the presence of religion and divine connection in all aspects, including agriculture, economics, art and health, in many non-Western societies. Why is such a sense of communion and unity with the divine and natural less prevalent or even absent from the modernized Western society familiar to us?
  3. Can anthropology ever truly complete a cultural study without the subjective experience of the paranormal described by Raymond L. M. Lee? How can anthropologists fully understand a society without truly understanding its magic? But how can an anthropologist experience the paranormal and still fulfill the rigid objective expectations of this social science>?

• Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 20:09:13 -0600 (CST) From: Tobin Cataldo: tcatald@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. In the law of cosmic sympathy what exactly is the bond that a creatures and created things are united by?
  2. What is the most widely accepted theory for the connection between magic and religion?
  3. Should we look to Frazer and the Golden Bough as the most enlightened source?

• Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 22:55:18 -0600 (CST) From: Kate Bolin: kbolin@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. Are magic and religion really two separate concepts?
  2. Could religion simply be a more complex version of magic (and thereby magic be seen as "cutting out the middle man")?
  3. Could all magic simply be another version of religion, and vice versa?

• Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 23:36:25 -0600 From: Alexandra Kogler: akogler@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. What is your personal definition of magic?
  2. Is magic religious?
  3. To what extent are rituals religious?

• Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 23:49:01 -0600 From: Derek Pepiak : dpepiak@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. What are the differences between magic and religion?
  2. What form does magic take among different cultures (for example, the rituals in "Baseball Magic" vs. the practices of the Nacrima)?
  3. Why is pain involved in the ritual and magic of the Nacrima?

• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 00:06:47 -0600 (CST) From: Michelle D Arens: marens@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. Are magic and ritual one in the same or two separate ideas?
  2. Do you think we see our own religious activities in the same light as the Greeks and Romans saw their religious activities?
  3. Have advances in science and medicine prevented the citizens of industrialized nations from partaking in magical or mystical practices?

• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 00:00:21 -0600 From: "Christina Wilson": cwilson2@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. In the article by Lee, I am confused on the roll of the akomba. They are positive, yet they use negative energy? I was hoping we could go over that in class.
  2. In the article by Miner, there is much discussion on sadism and masochism. Given the ramifications of the procedures done by the medicine men, how can the people still have faith in them?
  3. In that same article, they speak of the latipso. In these situations, the medicine men manipulate, prodd, and scrutinize the naked female bodies. Do the people not see this as a form of molestation?

• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 01:10:05 -0800 From: Caroline Maya Schiffman: cschiff@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. Please explain paganism. Is it a sort of polytheism? Or is it not even considered a religion in that way? I don't think I understand how it relates to, or is, a relgion...
  2. About the baseball piece we read...Is that really magic or is it more superstition? Or could one equate the two? magic=superstition? Aren't there differences and'or similarities?
  3. What part did drugs play in invoking the paranormal visions proclaimed in the Malay agic reading?

• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 02:32:12 EST From: Jason Lapkin: LovestarSI@aol.com
  1. What differences (if any) are there between magic and religion?
  2. Using several examples of rituals, discuss the difference(s) between the majority (i.e. tribesmen, citizens) and the magi (i.e. herbalist, medicine man).
  3. Discuss the social, cultural, and psychological impact of a specific ritual.

• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 07:10:22 -0600 (CST) From: Julie Anne Donovan: jdonova1@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. according to gmlech, why are hitters and pitchers are more likely to use magic than fielders?
  2. what are some everyday rituals miner describes as sadistic?
  3. based on malinkowski's theory that fishermen use magic in the outer seas where skill is not enough, what reason does gmlech give that explains why baseball players also rely on magic?

• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 08:45:15 -0600 From: Bradley Laye: blaye@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. In my Philosophy class from a few semester ago, it was implied that the Greeks didn't really believe in the gods, but rather they were simply "the gods of the poets" used for folklore and stories. In our readings, however, they are discussed as a religion of sorts and associated with the believable supernatural... Which is it? (I think time (early Greek empire vs. late Greek empire) may have something to do with it, but I lack the knowledge on the actual history.)
  2. Baseball ritual as supernatural?! Could we discuss the meaning (for our purposes) of ritual. Is it something that's repeated on a regular basis or does it really have some supernatural association. The comparison of baseball rituals compared to that of the Trobriand island people seems a bit out there.
  3. Not really a discussion question, but a personal one... In Graf, pg 6, Moses is discussed as a magician as cited in "Eighth Book of Moses" from the Anastasi papyri. Do you know where I can get a printed translation or, better yet, do you have printed translation?

• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 09:38:29 -0600 (CST) From: jay munsch: wmunsch@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. In discerning the nature of magic and its relationship to science and religion, questions of rationality are brought up in the reading. I think that in the discusion we should first define from which point of view will we begin to examine the nature of magic, science, and religion, ie do we look at magic in and of itself or do we attempt to grasp the beliefs and thoughts of the people performing magic in the ancient world?
  2. What makes magic different from religion?
  3. And finally, what separates if anything magic from science from the perspective of the magician and his contemporaries?

• Jan. 20, 1998 From: Thomas Brabham: tbrabha@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
  1. Graf mentioned how the magical books were passed down in families and from master to disciple. My question is can any person come across one of these books and try and perform some of the magic and spells to a certain degree?
  2. Lee mentioned how the Navaho had no word from religion. The Indians did have many rituals and beliefs. This article talks in detail how they prayed for corn to grow. This article leads me to velieve that the Indians do have religion, but they never say anything about a supreme deity which I have always thought most religions have. The Navaho pray for their corn to grow and the sick to get better, but can this be called religion?
  3. Minor brieflytalks about the "listener." Out of curiosity, did this person perform as a psychiatrist? Also, how were the exorcisms performed by these witch-doctors because it is just mentioned in one sentence?