The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft

Chapter 7: Magic and Divination 

Chapter Summary

Multiple Choice Questions 

If a practitioner used a client's favorite piece of jewelry in a magical blessing ritual how would anthropologists classify this type of magic?

An anthropological example of magic is:

The Incas preserved their imperial rulers (ancestors) as mummies and sought guidance from these individuals after their deaths. This is an example of:

Why do Azandes ascribe such reliability to the termite oracle (dakpa)?

An oral magical text passed down across generations in order to create a desired effect is most often referred to as a:

Case Studies 

View the clip at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbwo0YCpV3E  (7 minutes) 

  • What is the purpose of dowsing? 
  • How do you form an “association” with the rods? 
  • According to the speaker, what kinds of questions can a dowsing rod answer? 
  • Briefly describe how one goes about dowsing. 
  • Why do you think dowsing works for the speaker? 
  • What are your thoughts about this form of divination? 

Study Questions

  1. Towards the end of the movie, Little Big Man (1968), Old Lodgeskins (played by Chief Dan George) treks up a hill to die. Revived by rain falling on his face, he gets up, shrugs, then comments, “Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn’t,” as he descends. What does he mean? What characteristics of magic are illustrated by his comment? 
  1. Magic is found across all cultures. Why do you think humans are practitioners of magic? What evolutionary advantages might there be in magical thinking? 
  1. Review Table 7.1 A Classification of Divination Methods. With which ones are you familiar either in having been exposed to them, practicing them, or reading about them? 
  1. Sir James Frazer identified two major types of magic: homeopathic magic and contagious magic. How are they similar and how are they different? Provide some examples of each type as used in the area of healing.  
  1. The textbook notes a truism that “magic always works.” Is this statement true? Explain. 
  1. One could argue that the use of divination—astrology, for example—is harmless entertainment. Are there negative consequences of living one’s life by utilizing astrology and fortune telling?     

Suggested Readings 

Broad, William J. The Oracle: The Lost Secrets and Hidden Messages of Ancient Delphi (New York: Penguin Press, 2006). A discussion of the oracle in ancient Greek society and the story of the search for a scientific explanation. 

Malinowski, Bronislaw. Coral Gardens and Their Magic: A Study of the Methods of Tilling the Soil and of Agricultural Rites in the Trobriand Islands (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1978). Based on his 1915-18 fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands, Malinowski discusses social organization and economics in vol.1, and magical rites pertaining to gardening in vol. 2. 

Powers, William K. Yuwipi. Vision and Experience in Oglala Ritual (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982). Powers describes and analyzes the divinatory Lakota Yuwipi ritual based on participant observation and interviews with participants. 

Shah, Tahir. Sorcerer’s Apprentice (New York: Time Warner, 2002). Shah’s travels across southern India to find and learn the art of magic from one of India’s greatest practitioners. 

Stoller, Paul  and  Cheryl Olkes. In Sorcery’s Shadow (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987).The story of Stoller’s work with sorcerers in the Republic of Niger. 

Fiction 

Emerson, Ramona. Shutter (New York: Soho Press, 2022). A Navajo author writes about a Navajo forensic photographer in Albuquerque who solves crimes by communicating with deceased victims. 

Suggested Websites  

https://anthropologyreview.org/influential-anthropologists/bronislaw-malinowski-the-father-of-field-research/?expand_article=1 (Bronislaw Malinowski – The Father of Field Research) 

https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/all-hallows/ (All Hallows: Witches, Magic, and Things That Go Bump) 

https://www.studocu.com/en-ca/document/university-of-ottawa/witchcraft-magic-and-occult-traditions/magic-and-divination-detailed-notes/5104365 (Magic and Divination – Detailed Notes) 

www.bartleby.com/196 (James Frazer’s The Golden Bough) 

https://backyardbanshee.com/divination/the-complete-list-of-divination-methods/ (extensive list of divination methods) 

Suggested Video 

Necromancy: The Dark Art of Summoning the Dead (Exploring Magic, episode 1). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAWpOO5BExI – An overview of the origins of necromancy, and forms it takes today. 

Divination: The Art of Predicting the Future (Exploring Magic, episode 2). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Q1RCYe0XI – An excellent overview of the various types of divination rites used today and in ancient cultures. 

Ifa Divination among the Yoruba (2012, Elizabeth McClelland, RAI). Divination as practiced in an Indigenous society in Africa. 

Taki Kudo, Shamanic Medium of Tsugaru (2001, Yasuhiro Omori, DER). A medium, healer, and fortune teller in Japan. 

Encountering Eloyi (2008, Richard Werbner, International Center for Contemporary Cultural Research). A documentary of the religious beliefs of the Eloyi in Botswana. 

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