"Earthenware is
glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery[2] that has normally been fired
below 1,200 °C (2,190 °F).[3] Basic earthenware, often called
terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be
made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ceramic glaze, and is
used for the great majority of modern domestic earthenware. The main
other important types of pottery are porcelain, bone china, and
stoneware, all fired at high enough temperatures to vitrify. End
applications include tableware and decorative ware such as figurines.
Earthenware
comprises "most building bricks, nearly all European pottery up to the
seventeenth century, most of the wares of Egypt, Persia and the near
East; Greek, Roman and Mediterranean, and some of the Chinese; and the
fine earthenware which forms the greater part of our tableware today"
("today" being 1962).[4] Pit fired earthenware dates back to as early as
29,000–25,000 BC,[5][6] and for millennia, only earthenware pottery was
made, with stoneware gradually developing some 5,000 years ago, but
then apparently disappearing for a few thousand years. Outside East
Asia, porcelain was manufactured only from the 18th century AD, and then
initially as an expensive luxury.
Tea served in a kulhar, which are disposable earthenware teacups in South Asia
After
it is fired, earthenware is opaque and non-vitreous,[7] soft and
capable of being scratched with a knife.[4] The Combined Nomenclature of
the European Union describes it as being made of selected clays
sometimes mixed with feldspars and varying amounts of other minerals,
and white or light-coloured (i.e., slightly greyish, cream, or
ivory).[7]
Characteristics
Generally, unfired earthenware
bodies exhibit higher plasticity than most whiteware[8] bodies and hence
are easier to shape by RAM press, roller-head or potter's wheel than
bone china or porcelain.[9][10]
Terracotta flower pots with terracotta tiles in the background
Due
to its porosity, fired earthenware, with a water absorption of 5-8%,
must be glazed to be watertight.[11] Earthenware has lower mechanical
strength than bone china, porcelain or stoneware, and consequently
articles are commonly made in thicker cross-section, although they are
still more easily chipped.[9]
Darker-coloured terracotta
earthenware, typically orange or red due to a comparatively high content
of iron oxides, are widely used for flower pots, tiles and some
decorative and oven ware." (wikiepdia.org)
"Omniscience
(/ɒmˈnɪʃəns/)[1] is the capacity to know everything. In Buddhism,
Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an attribute of
God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can
eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are differing beliefs about
omniscience among different schools.
Etymology
The word
omniscience derives from the Latin word sciens ("to know" or
"conscious") and the prefix omni ("all" or "every"), but also means
"all-seeing".
In religion
Buddhism
The topic of omniscience
has been much debated in various Indian traditions, but no more so than
by the Buddhists. After Dharmakirti's excursions into the subject of
what constitutes a valid cognition, Śāntarakṣita and his student
Kamalaśīla thoroughly investigated the subject in the Tattvasamgraha and
its commentary the Panjika. The arguments in the text can be broadly
grouped into four sections:
The refutation that cognitions, either perceived, inferred, or otherwise, can be used to refute omniscience.
A demonstration of the possibility of omniscience through apprehending
the selfless universal nature of all knowables, by examining what it
means to be ignorant and the nature of mind and awareness.
A
demonstration of the total omniscience where all individual
characteristics (svalaksana) are available to the omniscient being.
The specific demonstration of Shakyamuni Buddha's non-exclusive
omniscience, but knowledge of Shakyamuni Buddha's is really infinite and
no other gods or being can match his true omniscient.[2]
Christianity
See also: Attributes of God in Christianity
Some
modern Christian theologians argue that God's omniscience is inherent
rather than total, and that God chooses to limit his omniscience in
order to preserve the free will and dignity of his creatures.[3] John
Calvin, among other theologians of the 16th century, comfortable with
the definition of God as being omniscient in the total sense, in order
for worthy beings' abilities to choose freely, embraced the doctrine of
predestination.[4]
Hinduism
In the Bhakti tradition of
Vaishnavism, where Vishnu is worshipped as the supreme God, Vishnu is
attributed with numerous qualities such as omniscience, energy,
strength, lordship, vigour, and splendour.[5]
Islam
God in
Islam is attributed with absolute omniscience. God knows the past, the
present, and the future. It is compulsory for a Muslim to believe that
God is indeed omniscient as stated in one of the six articles of faith
which is:
To believe that God’s divine decree and predestination
Say: Do you instruct God about your religion? But God knows all that is
in the heavens and on the earth; God is Knowing of all things
— Quran 49:16
It
is believed that humans can only change their predestination (wealth,
health, deed etc.) and not divine decree (date of birth, date of death,
family etc.), thus allowing free will.
Baha'i Faith
Omniscience is an attribute of God, yet it is also an attribute that reveals sciences to humanity:
In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute “The
Omniscient” issueth forth from My mouth, every created thing will,
according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with the power to
unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be
empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding of Him
Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
— Baha'i Reference Library
Jainism
Main article: Kevala jnana
In
Jainism, omniscience is considered the highest type of perception. In
the words of a Jain scholar, "The perfect manifestation of the innate
nature of the self, arising on the complete annihilation of the
obstructive veils, is called omniscience."[6]
Jainism views
infinite knowledge as an inherent capability of every soul. Arihanta is
the word used by Jains to refer to those human beings who have conquered
all inner passions (like attachment, greed, pride, anger) and possess
Kevala Jnana (infinite knowledge). They are said to be of two kinds:[7]
Sāmānya kevali – omniscient beings (Kevalins) who are concerned with their own liberation.
Tirthankara kevali – human beings who attain omniscience and then help others to achieve the same.[7]
Omniscience and free will
Omniciencia, mural by José Clemente Orozco
See also: Determinism, Free will, and Argument from free will
Whether
omniscience, particularly regarding the choices that a human will make,
is compatible with free will has been debated by theologians and
philosophers. The argument that divine foreknowledge is not compatible
with free will is known as theological fatalism. It is argued that if
humans are free to choose between alternatives, God could not know what
this choice will be.[8]
A question arises: if an omniscient
entity knows everything, even about its own decisions in the future,
does it therefore forbid any free will to that entity? William Lane
Craig states that the question subdivides into two:
If God foreknows the occurrence of some event E, does E happen necessarily?[9]
If some event E is contingent, how can God foreknow E’s occurrence?[10]
However,
this kind of argument fails to recognize its use of the modal fallacy.
It is possible to show that the first premise of arguments like these is
fallacious.[11][12]
Omniscience and the privacy of conscious experience
Some
philosophers, such as Patrick Grim, Linda Zagzebski, Stephan Torre, and
William Mander have discussed the issue of whether the apparent
exclusively first-person nature of conscious experience is compatible
with God's omniscience. There is a strong sense in which conscious
experience is private, meaning that no outside observer can gain
knowledge of what it is like to be me as me. If a subject cannot know
what it is like to be another subject in an objective manner, the
question is whether that limitation applies to God as well. If it does,
then God cannot be said to be omniscient since there is then a form of
knowledge that God lacks access to.
The philosopher Patrick
Grim[13] most notably raised this issue. Linda Zagzebski[14] argued
against this by introducing the notion of perfect empathy, a proposed
relation that God can have to subjects that would allow God to have
perfect knowledge of their conscious experience. William Mander[15]
argued that God can only have such knowledge if our experiences are part
of God's broader experience. Stephan Torre[16] claimed that God can
have such knowledge if self-knowledge involves the ascription of
properties, either to oneself or to others." (wikipedia.org)
"Magic,
sometimes spelled magick,[1] is an ancient practice rooted in rituals,
spiritual divinations, and/or cultural lineage—with an intention to
invoke, manipulate, or otherwise manifest supernatural forces, beings,
or entities in the natural world.[2] It is a categorical yet often
ambiguous term which has been used to refer to a wide variety of beliefs
and practices, frequently considered separate from both religion and
science.[3]
Connotations have varied from positive to negative at
times throughout history,[4] Within Western culture, magic has been
linked to ideas of the Other,[5] foreignness,[6] and primitivism;[7]
indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference"[8] and
likewise, a non-modern phenomenon.[9] During the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of
magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly
attributed it to marginalised groups of people.[8]
In modern
occultism and neopagan religions, many self-described magicians and
witches regularly practice ritual magic;[10] defining magic as a
technique for bringing about change in the physical world through the
force of one's will. This definition was popularised by Aleister Crowley
(1875–1947), an influential British occultist. This view has been
incorporated into chaos magic and the new religious movements of Thelema
and Wicca.
Etymology
One of the earliest surviving accounts of the Persian mágoi was provided by the Greek historian Herodotus.
The
English words magic, mage and magician come from the Latin term magus,
through the Greek μάγος, which is from the Old Persian maguš.
(𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁|𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁, magician).[11] The Old Persian magu- is derived from
the Proto-Indo-European megʰ-*magh (be able). The Persian term may have
led to the Old Sinitic *Mγag (mage or shaman).[12] The Old Persian form
seems to have permeated ancient Semitic languages as the Talmudic
Hebrew magosh, the Aramaic amgusha (magician), and the Chaldean maghdim
(wisdom and philosophy); from the first century BCE onwards, Syrian
magusai gained notoriety as magicians and soothsayers.[13]
During
the late-sixth and early-fifth centuries BCE, the term goetia found its
way into ancient Greek, where it was used with negative connotations to
apply to rites that were regarded as fraudulent, unconventional, and
dangerous.[14] The Latin language adopted this meaning of the term in
the first century BCE. Via Latin, the concept became incorporated into
Christian theology during the first century CE. Early Christians
associated magic with demons, and thus regarded it as against Christian
religion. This concept remained pervasive throughout the Middle Ages,
when Christian authors categorised a diverse range of practices—such as
enchantment, witchcraft, incantations, divination, necromancy, and
astrology—under the label "magic". In early modern Europe, Protestants
often claimed that Roman Catholicism was magic rather than religion, and
as Christian Europeans began colonizing other parts of the world in the
sixteenth century, they labelled the non-Christian beliefs they
encountered as magical. In that same period, Italian humanists
reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to express the idea of
natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term
recurred in Western culture over the following centuries.
Since
the nineteenth century, academics in various disciplines have employed
the term magic but have defined it in different ways and used it in
reference to different things. One approach, associated with the
anthropologists Edward Tylor (1832–1917) and James G. Frazer
(1854–1941), uses the term to describe beliefs in hidden sympathies
between objects that allow one to influence the other. Defined in this
way, magic is portrayed as the opposite to science. An alternative
approach, associated with the sociologist Marcel Mauss (1872–1950) and
his uncle Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), employs the term to describe
private rites and ceremonies and contrasts it with religion, which it
defines as a communal and organised activity. By the 1990s many scholars
were rejecting the term's utility for scholarship. They argued that the
label drew arbitrary lines between similar beliefs and practices that
were alternatively considered religious, and that it constituted
ethnocentric to apply the connotations of magic—rooted in Western and
Christian history—to other cultures.
Branches or types
White, gray and black
Main articles: White magic, Gray magic, and Black magic
Historian
Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th
century.[15] White magic is understood as the use of magic for selfless
or helpful purposes, while black magic was used for selfish, harmful or
evil purposes.[16] Black magic is the malicious counterpart of the
benevolent white magic. There is no consensus as to what constitutes
white, gray or black magic, as Phil Hine says, "like many other aspects
of occultism, what is termed to be 'black magic' depends very much on
who is doing the defining."[17] Gray magic, also called "neutral magic",
is magic that is not performed for specifically benevolent reasons, but
is also not focused towards completely hostile practices.[18][19]
High and low
Historians
and anthropologists have distinguished between practitioners who engage
in high magic, and those who engage in low magic.[20] High magic, also
known as theurgy and ceremonial or ritual magic,[21] is more complex,
involving lengthy and detailed rituals as well as sophisticated,
sometimes expensive, paraphernalia.[20] Low magic and natural magic[21]
are associated with peasants and folklore[22] with simpler rituals such
as brief, spoken spells.[20] Low magic is also closely associated with
sorcery and witchcraft.[23] Anthropologist Susan Greenwood writes that
"Since the Renaissance, high magic has been concerned with drawing down
forces and energies from heaven" and achieving unity with divinity.[24]
High magic is usually performed indoors while witchcraft is often
performed outdoors.[25]
History
Main article: History of magic
Mesopotamia
See also: Mesopotamian divination, Enmerkar and En-suhgir-ana, Maqlû, and Zisurrû
Bronze protection plaque from the Neo-Assyrian era showing the demon Lamashtu
Magic
was invoked in many kinds of rituals and medical formulae, and to
counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in Mesopotamia
(asiputu or masmassutu in the Akkadian language) were incantations and
ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient
Mesopotamians believed that magic was the only viable defense against
demons, ghosts, and evil sorcerers.[26] To defend themselves against the
spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as
kispu in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them.[27] If that
failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried
it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or
force it to leave the person alone.[28]
The ancient Mesopotamians
also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who
might place curses on them.[29] Black magic as a category did not exist
in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend
themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same
techniques.[29] The only major difference was that curses were enacted
in secret;[29] whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the
open, in front of an audience if possible.[29] One ritual to punish a
sorcerer was known as Maqlû, or "The Burning".[29] The person viewed as
being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of the sorcerer and
put it on trial at night.[29] Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's
crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby
break the sorcerer's power over them.[29]
The ancient
Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of
sins committed unknowingly.[29] One such ritual was known as the Šurpu,
or "Burning",[30] in which the caster of the spell would transfer the
guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of
dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool.[30] The person would then burn the
objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have
unknowingly committed.[30] A whole genre of love spells existed.[31]
Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another
person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to
be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable.[31]
Other spells were used to reconcile a man with his patron deity or to
reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her.[32]
The
ancient Mesopotamians made no distinction between rational science and
magic.[33][34][35] When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe
both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal
treatments.[34][35][36] Most magical rituals were intended to be
performed by an āšipu, an expert in the magical arts.[34][35][36][37]
The profession was generally passed down from generation to
generation[36] and was held in extremely high regard and often served as
advisors to kings and great leaders.[38] An āšipu probably served not
only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a
scholar.[38]
The Sumerian god Enki, who was later syncretized
with the East Semitic god Ea, was closely associated with magic and
incantations;[39] he was the patron god of the bārȗ and the ašipū and
was widely regarded as the ultimate source of all arcane
knowledge.[40][41][42] The ancient Mesopotamians also believed in omens,
which could come when solicited or unsolicited.[43] Regardless of how
they came, omens were always taken with the utmost seriousness.[43]
Incantation bowls
Main article: Incantation bowl
See also: Jewish magical papyri
Mandaic-language incantation bowl
A
common set of shared assumptions about the causes of evil and how to
avert it are found in a form of early protective magic called
incantation bowl or magic bowls. The bowls were produced in the Middle
East, particularly in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria, what is now Iraq and
Iran, and fairly popular during the sixth to eighth centuries.[44][45]
The bowls were buried face down and were meant to capture demons. They
were commonly placed under the threshold, courtyards, in the corner of
the homes of the recently deceased and in cemeteries.[46] A subcategory
of incantation bowls are those used in Jewish magical practice. Aramaic
incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish
magical practices.[47][48][49][50][51]
Egypt
Ancient Egyptian Eye of Horus amulet
In
ancient Egypt (Kemet in the Egyptian language), Magic (personified as
the god heka) was an integral part of religion and culture which is
known to us through a substantial corpus of texts which are products of
the Egyptian tradition.[52]
While the category magic has been
contentious for modern Egyptology, there is clear support for its
applicability from ancient terminology.[53] The Coptic term hik is the
descendant of the pharaonic term heka, which, unlike its Coptic
counterpart, had no connotation of impiety or illegality, and is
attested from the Old Kingdom through to the Roman era.[53] heka was
considered morally neutral and was applied to the practices and beliefs
of both foreigners and Egyptians alike.[54] The Instructions for
Merikare informs us that heka was a beneficence gifted by the creator to
humanity "... in order to be weapons to ward off the blow of
events".[55]
Magic was practiced by both the literate priestly
hierarchy and by illiterate farmers and herdsmen, and the principle of
heka underlay all ritual activity, both in the temples and in private
settings.[56]
The main principle of heka is centered on the power
of words to bring things into being.[57]: 54 Karenga[58] explains the
pivotal power of words and their vital ontological role as the primary
tool used by the creator to bring the manifest world into being. Because
humans were understood to share a divine nature with the gods, snnw ntr
(images of the god), the same power to use words creatively that the
gods have is shared by humans.[59]
Illustration from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer showing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony being performed before the tomb
Book of the Dead
Main article: Book of the Dead
The
interior walls of the pyramid of Unas, the final pharaoh of the
Egyptian Fifth Dynasty, are covered in hundreds of magical spells and
inscriptions, running from floor to ceiling in vertical
columns.[57]: 54 These inscriptions are known as the Pyramid
Texts[57]: 54 and they contain spells needed by the pharaoh in order to
survive in the Afterlife.[57]: 54 The Pyramid Texts were strictly for
royalty only;[57]: 56 the spells were kept secret from commoners and
were written only inside royal tombs.[57]: 56 During the chaos and
unrest of the First Intermediate Period, however, tomb robbers broke
into the pyramids and saw the magical inscriptions.[57]: 56 Commoners
began learning the spells and, by the beginning of the Middle Kingdom,
commoners began inscribing similar writings on the sides of their own
coffins, hoping that doing so would ensure their own survival in the
afterlife.[57]: 56 These writings are known as the Coffin
Texts.[57]: 56
After a person died, his or her corpse would be
mummified and wrapped in linen bandages to ensure that the deceased's
body would survive for as long as possible[60] because the Egyptians
believed that a person's soul could only survive in the afterlife for as
long as his or her physical body survived here on earth.[60] The last
ceremony before a person's body was sealed away inside the tomb was
known as the Opening of the Mouth.[60] In this ritual, the priests would
touch various magical instruments to various parts of the deceased's
body, thereby giving the deceased the ability to see, hear, taste, and
smell in the afterlife.[60]
Amulets
Main article: Amulet
The
use of amulets, (meket) was widespread among both living and dead
ancient Egyptians.[61][57]: 66 They were used for protection and as a
means of "...reaffirming the fundamental fairness of the universe".[62]
The oldest amulets found are from the predynastic Badarian Period, and
they persisted through to Roman times.[63]
Judea
Main article: Witchcraft in the Middle East
In
the Mosaic Law, practices such as witchcraft (Heb. קְסָמִ֔ים), being a
soothsayer (מְעוֹנֵ֥ן) or a sorcerer (וּמְכַשֵּֽׁף) or one who conjures
spells (וְחֹבֵ֖ר חָ֑בֶר) or one who calls up the dead (וְדֹרֵ֖שׁ
אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים) are specifically forbidden as abominations to the
Lord.[64]
Halakha (Jewish religious law) forbids divination and
other forms of soothsaying, and the Talmud lists many persistent yet
condemned divining practices.[65] Practical Kabbalah in historical
Judaism, is a branch of the Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the
use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its
practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual
source from Qliphoth realms of evil if performed under circumstances
that were holy (Q-D-Š) and pure (טומאה וטהרה, tvmh vthrh[66]). The
concern of overstepping Judaism's strong prohibitions of impure magic
ensured it remained a minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings
include the use of Divine and angelic names for amulets and
incantations.[67] These magical practices of Judaic folk religion which
became part of practical Kabbalah date from Talmudic times.[67] The
Talmud mentions the use of charms for healing, and a wide range of
magical cures were sanctioned by rabbis. It was ruled that any practice
actually producing a cure was not to be regarded superstitiously and
there has been the widespread practice of medicinal amulets, and folk
remedies (segullot) in Jewish societies across time and geography.[68]
Although
magic was forbidden by Levitical law in the Hebrew Bible, it was widely
practised in the late Second Temple period, and particularly well
documented in the period following the destruction of the temple into
the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries CE.[69][70][71]
Asia
Further information: Asian witchcraft
[icon]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023)
China
Main article: Chinese shamanism
Further information: Taoism
Chinese
shamanism, alternatively called Wuism (Chinese: 巫教; pinyin: wū jiào;
lit. 'wu religion, shamanism, witchcraft'; alternatively 巫觋宗教 wū xí
zōngjiào), refers to the shamanic religious tradition of China.[72][73]
Its features are especially connected to the ancient Neolithic cultures
such as the Hongshan culture.[74] Chinese shamanic traditions are
intrinsic to Chinese folk religion.[75] Various ritual traditions are
rooted in original Chinese shamanism: contemporary Chinese ritual
masters are sometimes identified as wu by outsiders,[76] though most
orders do not self-identify as such.
Also Taoism has some of its
origins from Chinese shamanism:[72][77] it developed around the pursuit
of long life (shou 壽/寿), or the status of a xian (仙, "mountain man",
"holy man").[72] Taoism in ancient times until the modern day has used
rituals, mantras, and amulets with godly or supernatural powers. Taoist
worldviews were thought of as magical or alchemical.[78]
Greco-Roman world
Hecate, the ancient Greek goddess of magic
Main articles: Magic in the Greco-Roman world and Sorcery (goetia)
The
English word magic has its origins in ancient Greece.[79] During the
late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE, the Persian maguš was
Graecicized and introduced into the ancient Greek language as μάγος and
μαγεία.[14] In doing so it transformed meaning, gaining negative
connotations, with the magos being regarded as a charlatan whose ritual
practices were fraudulent, strange, unconventional, and dangerous.[14]
As noted by Davies, for the ancient Greeks—and subsequently for the
ancient Romans—"magic was not distinct from religion but rather an
unwelcome, improper expression of it—the religion of the other".[80] The
historian Richard Gordon suggested that for the ancient Greeks, being
accused of practicing magic was "a form of insult".[81]
This
change in meaning was influenced by the military conflicts that the
Greek city-states were then engaged in against the Persian Empire.[14]
In this context, the term makes appearances in such surviving text as
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Hippocrates' De morbo sacro, and Gorgias'
Encomium of Helen.[14] In Sophocles' play, for example, the character
Oedipus derogatorily refers to the seer Tiresius as a magos—in this
context meaning something akin to quack or charlatan—reflecting how this
epithet was no longer reserved only for Persians.[82]
In the
first century BCE, the Greek concept of the magos was adopted into Latin
and used by a number of ancient Roman writers as magus and magia.[14]
The earliest known Latin use of the term was in Virgil's Eclogue,
written around 40 BCE, which makes reference to magicis... sacris (magic
rites).[83] The Romans already had other terms for the negative use of
supernatural powers, such as veneficus and saga.[83] The Roman use of
the term was similar to that of the Greeks, but placed greater emphasis
on the judicial application of it.[14] Within the Roman Empire, laws
would be introduced criminalising things regarded as magic.[84]
In
ancient Roman society, magic was associated with societies to the east
of the empire; the first century CE writer Pliny the Elder for instance
claimed that magic had been created by the Iranian philosopher
Zoroaster, and that it had then been brought west into Greece by the
magician Osthanes, who accompanied the military campaigns of the Persian
King Xerxes.[85]
Ancient Greek scholarship of the 20th century,
almost certainly influenced by Christianising preconceptions of the
meanings of magic and religion, and the wish to establish Greek culture
as the foundation of Western rationality, developed a theory of ancient
Greek magic as primitive and insignificant, and thereby essentially
separate from Homeric, communal (polis) religion. Since the last decade
of the century, however, recognising the ubiquity and respectability of
acts such as katadesmoi (binding spells), described as magic by modern
and ancient observers alike, scholars have been compelled to abandon
this viewpoint.[86]: 90–95 The Greek word mageuo (practice magic)
itself derives from the word Magos, originally simply the Greek name for
a Persian tribe known for practicing religion.[87] Non-civic mystery
cults have been similarly re-evaluated:[86]: 97–98
the
choices which lay outside the range of cults did not just add additional
options to the civic menu, but ... sometimes incorporated critiques of
the civic cults and Panhellenic myths or were genuine alternatives to
them.
— Simon Price, Religions of the Ancient Greeks (1999)[88]
Katadesmoi
(Latin: defixiones), curses inscribed on wax or lead tablets and buried
underground, were frequently executed by all strata of Greek society,
sometimes to protect the entire polis.[86]: 95–96 Communal curses
carried out in public declined after the Greek classical period, but
private curses remained common throughout antiquity.[89] They were
distinguished as magical by their individualistic, instrumental and
sinister qualities.[86]: 96 These qualities, and their perceived
deviation from inherently mutable cultural constructs of normality, most
clearly delineate ancient magic from the religious rituals of which
they form a part.[86]: 102–103
A large number of magical papyri,
in Greek, Coptic, and Demotic, have been recovered and translated.[90]
They contain early instances of:
the use of magic words said to have the power to command spirits;[91]
the use of mysterious symbols or sigils which are thought to be useful when invoking or evoking spirits.[92]
The practice of magic was banned in the late Roman world, and the Codex Theodosianus (438 AD) states:[93]
If any wizard therefore or person imbued with magical contamination who
is called by custom of the people a magician...should be apprehended in
my retinue, or in that of the Caesar, he shall not escape punishment
and torture by the protection of his rank.
Middle Ages
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Hermeticism
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vte
Further information: Medieval European magic and Sorcery (goetia)
Magic
practices such as divination, interpretation of omens, sorcery, and use
of charms had been specifically forbidden in Mosaic Law [94] and
condemned in Biblical histories of the kings.[95] Many of these
practices were spoken against in the New Testament as well.[96][97]
Some
commentators say that in the first century CE, early Christian authors
absorbed the Greco-Roman concept of magic and incorporated it into their
developing Christian theology,[84]and that these Christians retained
the already implied Greco-Roman negative stereotypes of the term and
extented them by incorporating conceptual patterns borrowed from Jewish
thought, in particular the opposition of magic and miracle.[84] Some
early Christian authors followed the Greek-Roman thinking by ascribing
the origin of magic to the human realm, mainly to Zoroaster and
Osthanes. The Christian view was that magic was a product of the
Babylonians, Persians, or Egyptians.[98] The Christians shared with
earlier classical culture the idea that magic was something distinct
from proper religion, although drew their distinction between the two in
different ways.[99]
A 17th-century depiction of the medieval writer Isidore of Seville, who provided a list of activities he regarded as magical
For
early Christian writers like Augustine of Hippo, magic did not merely
constitute fraudulent and unsanctioned ritual practices, but was the
very opposite of religion because it relied upon cooperation from
demons, the henchmen of Satan.[84] In this, Christian ideas of magic
were closely linked to the Christian category of paganism,[100] and both
magic and paganism were regarded as belonging under the broader
category of superstitio (superstition), another term borrowed from
pre-Christian Roman culture.[99] This Christian emphasis on the inherent
immorality and wrongness of magic as something conflicting with good
religion was far starker than the approach in the other large
monotheistic religions of the period, Judaism and Islam.[101] For
instance, while Christians regarded demons as inherently evil, the
jinn—comparable entities in Islamic mythology—were perceived as more
ambivalent figures by Muslims.[101]
The model of the magician in
Christian thought was provided by Simon Magus, (Simon the Magician), a
figure who opposed Saint Peter in both the Acts of the Apostles and the
apocryphal yet influential Acts of Peter.[102] The historian Michael D.
Bailey stated that in medieval Europe, magic was a "relatively broad and
encompassing category".[103] Christian theologians believed that there
were multiple different forms of magic, the majority of which were types
of divination, for instance, Isidore of Seville produced a catalogue of
things he regarded as magic in which he listed divination by the four
elements i.e. geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, and pyromancy, as well as
by observation of natural phenomena e.g. the flight of birds and
astrology. He also mentioned enchantment and ligatures (the medical use
of magical objects bound to the patient) as being magical.[104] Medieval
Europe also saw magic come to be associated with the Old Testament
figure of Solomon; various grimoires, or books outlining magical
practices, were written that claimed to have been written by Solomon,
most notably the Key of Solomon.[105]
In early medieval Europe,
magia was a term of condemnation.[106] In medieval Europe, Christians
often suspected Muslims and Jews of engaging in magical practices;[107]
in certain cases, these perceived magical rites—including the alleged
Jewish sacrifice of Christian children—resulted in Christians massacring
these religious minorities.[108] Christian groups often also accused
other, rival Christian groups such as the Hussites—which they regarded
as heretical—of engaging in magical activities.[102][109] Medieval
Europe also saw the term maleficium applied to forms of magic that were
conducted with the intention of causing harm.[103] The later Middle Ages
saw words for these practitioners of harmful magical acts appear in
various European languages: sorcière in French, Hexe in German, strega
in Italian, and bruja in Spanish.[110] The English term for malevolent
practitioners of magic, witch, derived from the earlier Old English term
wicce.[110]
Ars Magica or magic is a major component and
supporting contribution to the belief and practice of spiritual, and in
many cases, physical healing throughout the Middle Ages. Emanating from
many modern interpretations lies a trail of misconceptions about magic,
one of the largest revolving around wickedness or the existence of
nefarious beings who practice it. These misinterpretations stem from
numerous acts or rituals that have been performed throughout antiquity,
and due to their exoticism from the commoner's perspective, the rituals
invoked uneasiness and an even stronger sense of dismissal.[111][112]
An excerpt from Sefer Raziel HaMalakh, featuring various magical sigils (סגולות segulot in Hebrew)
In
the Medieval Jewish view, the separation of the mystical and magical
elements of Kabbalah, dividing it into speculative theological Kabbalah
(Kabbalah Iyyunit) with its meditative traditions, and theurgic
practical Kabbalah (Kabbalah Ma'asit), had occurred by the beginning of
the 14th century.[113]
One societal force in the Middle Ages more
powerful than the singular commoner, the Christian Church, rejected
magic as a whole because it was viewed as a means of tampering with the
natural world in a supernatural manner associated with the biblical
verses of Deuteronomy 18:9–12.[further explanation needed] Despite the
many negative connotations which surround the term magic, there exist
many elements that are seen in a divine or holy light.[114]
The
divine right of kings in England was thought to be able to give them
"sacred magic" power to heal thousands of their subjects from
sicknesses.[115]
Diversified instruments or rituals used in
medieval magic include, but are not limited to: various amulets,
talismans, potions, as well as specific chants, dances, and prayers.
Along with these rituals are the adversely imbued notions of demonic
participation which influence of them. The idea that magic was devised,
taught, and worked by demons would have seemed reasonable to anyone who
read the Greek magical papyri or the Sefer-ha-Razim and found that
healing magic appeared alongside rituals for killing people, gaining
wealth, or personal advantage, and coercing women into sexual
submission.[116] Archaeology is contributing to a fuller understanding
of ritual practices performed in the home, on the body and in monastic
and church settings.[117][118]
The Islamic reaction towards magic
did not condemn magic in general and distinguished between magic which
can heal sickness and possession, and sorcery. The former is therefore a
special gift from God, while the latter is achieved through help of
Jinn and devils. Ibn al-Nadim held that exorcists gain their power by
their obedience to God, while sorcerers please the devils by acts of
disobedience and sacrifices and they in return do him a favor.[119]
According to Ibn Arabi, Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yusuf al-Shubarbuli was able to
walk on water due to his piety.[120] According to the Quran 2:102, magic
was also taught to humans by devils and the fallen angels Harut and
Marut.[121]
Frontispiece of an English translation of Natural Magick published in London in 1658
During
the early modern period, the concept of magic underwent a more positive
reassessment through the development of the concept of magia naturalis
(natural magic).[84] This was a term introduced and developed by two
Italian humanists, Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola.[84] For them, magia was viewed as an elemental force
pervading many natural processes,[84] and thus was fundamentally
distinct from the mainstream Christian idea of demonic magic.[122] Their
ideas influenced an array of later philosophers and writers, among them
Paracelsus, Giordano Bruno, Johannes Reuchlin, and Johannes
Trithemius.[84] According to the historian Richard Kieckhefer, the
concept of magia naturalis took "firm hold in European culture" during
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,[123] attracting the interest of
natural philosophers of various theoretical orientations, including
Aristotelians, Neoplatonists, and Hermeticists.[124]
Adherents of
this position argued that magia could appear in both good and bad
forms; in 1625, the French librarian Gabriel Naudé wrote his Apology for
all the Wise Men Falsely Suspected of Magic, in which he distinguished
"Mosoaicall Magick"—which he claimed came from God and included
prophecies, miracles, and speaking in tongues—from "geotick" magic
caused by demons.[125] While the proponents of magia naturalis insisted
that this did not rely on the actions of demons, critics disagreed,
arguing that the demons had simply deceived these magicians.[126] By the
seventeenth century the concept of magia naturalis had moved in
increasingly 'naturalistic' directions, with the distinctions between it
and science becoming blurred.[127] The validity of magia naturalis as a
concept for understanding the universe then came under increasing
criticism during the Age of Enlightenment in the eighteenth
century.[128]
Despite the attempt to reclaim the term magia for
use in a positive sense, it did not supplant traditional attitudes
toward magic in the West, which remained largely negative.[128] At the
same time as magia naturalis was attracting interest and was largely
tolerated, Europe saw an active persecution of accused witches believed
to be guilty of maleficia.[124] Reflecting the term's continued negative
associations, Protestants often sought to denigrate Roman Catholic
sacramental and devotional practices as being magical rather than
religious.[129] Many Roman Catholics were concerned by this allegation
and for several centuries various Roman Catholic writers devoted
attention to arguing that their practices were religious rather than
magical.[130] At the same time, Protestants often used the accusation of
magic against other Protestant groups which they were in contest
with.[131] In this way, the concept of magic was used to prescribe what
was appropriate as religious belief and practice.[130] Similar claims
were also being made in the Islamic world during this period. The
Arabian cleric Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab—founder of Wahhabism—for
instance condemned a range of customs and practices such as divination
and the veneration of spirits as sihr, which he in turn claimed was a
form of shirk, the sin of idolatry.[132]
The Renaissance
Main article: Renaissance magic
Renaissance
humanism saw a resurgence in hermeticism and Neo-Platonic varieties of
ceremonial magic. The Renaissance, on the other hand, saw the rise of
science, in such forms as the dethronement of the Ptolemaic theory of
the universe, the distinction of astronomy from astrology, and of
chemistry from alchemy.[133][page needed]
There was great
uncertainty in distinguishing practices of superstition, occultism, and
perfectly sound scholarly knowledge or pious ritual. The intellectual
and spiritual tensions erupted in the Early Modern witch craze, further
reinforced by the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation, especially in
Germany, England, and Scotland.[133][page needed]
In Hasidism,
the displacement of practical Kabbalah using directly magical means, by
conceptual and meditative trends gained much further emphasis, while
simultaneously instituting meditative theurgy for material blessings at
the heart of its social mysticism.[134] Hasidism internalised Kabbalah
through the psychology of deveikut (cleaving to God), and cleaving to
the Tzadik (Hasidic Rebbe). In Hasidic doctrine, the tzaddik channels
Divine spiritual and physical bounty to his followers by altering the
Will of God (uncovering a deeper concealed Will) through his own
deveikut and self-nullification. Dov Ber of Mezeritch is concerned to
distinguish this theory of the Tzadik's will altering and deciding the
Divine Will, from directly magical process.[135]
In the nineteenth
century, the Haitian government began to legislate against Vodou,
describing it as a form of witchcraft; this conflicted with Vodou
practitioners' own understanding of their religion.[136]
In the
sixteenth century, European societies began to conquer and colonise
other continents around the world, and as they did so they applied
European concepts of magic and witchcraft to practices found among the
peoples whom they encountered.[137] Usually, these European colonialists
regarded the natives as primitives and savages whose belief systems
were diabolical and needed to be eradicated and replaced by
Christianity.[138] Because Europeans typically viewed these non-European
peoples as being morally and intellectually inferior to themselves, it
was expected that such societies would be more prone to practicing
magic.[139] Women who practiced traditional rites were labelled as
witches by the Europeans.[139]
In various cases, these imported
European concepts and terms underwent new transformations as they merged
with indigenous concepts.[140] In West Africa, for instance, Portuguese
travellers introduced their term and concept of the feitiçaria (often
translated as sorcery) and the feitiço (spell) to the native population,
where it was transformed into the concept of the fetish. When later
Europeans encountered these West African societies, they wrongly
believed that the fetiche was an indigenous African term rather than the
result of earlier inter-continental encounters.[140] Sometimes,
colonised populations themselves adopted these European concepts for
their own purposes. In the early nineteenth century, the newly
independent Haitian government of Jean-Jacques Dessalines began to
suppress the practice of Vodou, and in 1835 Haitian law-codes
categorised all Vodou practices as sortilège (sorcery/witchcraft),
suggesting that it was all conducted with harmful intent, whereas among
Vodou practitioners the performance of harmful rites was already given a
separate and distinct category, known as maji.[136]
Baroque period
Further information: Isaac Newton's occult studies
During
the Baroque era, several intriguing figures engaged with occult and
magical themes that went beyond conventional thinking. Michael
Sendivogius (1566–1636), a Polish alchemist, emphasized empirical
experimentation in alchemy and made notable contributions to early
chemistry. Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639), an Italian philosopher,
blended Christianity with mysticism in works like The City of the Sun,
envisioning an ideal society governed by divine principles. Jakob Böhme
(1575–1624), a German mystic, explored the relationship between the
divine and human experience, influencing later mystical movements.
Jan
Baptist van Helmont, a Flemish chemist, coined the term "gas" and
conducted experiments on plant growth, expanding the understanding of
chemistry. Sir Kenelm Digby, known for his diverse interests, created
the "Sympathetic Powder", believed to have mystical healing properties.
Isaac Newton, famous for his scientific achievements, also delved into
alchemy and collected esoteric manuscripts, revealing his fascination
with hidden knowledge. These individuals collectively embody the
curiosity and exploration characteristic of the Baroque period.
Modernity
Main article: Ceremonial magic
By
the nineteenth century, European intellectuals no longer saw the
practice of magic through the framework of sin and instead regarded
magical practices and beliefs as "an aberrational mode of thought
antithetical to the dominant cultural logic – a sign of psychological
impairment and marker of racial or cultural inferiority".[141]
As
educated elites in Western societies increasingly rejected the efficacy
of magical practices, legal systems ceased to threaten practitioners of
magical activities with punishment for the crimes of diabolism and
witchcraft, and instead threatened them with the accusation that they
were defrauding people through promising to provide things which they
could not.[142]
This spread of European colonial power across the
world influenced how academics would come to frame the concept of
magic.[143] In the nineteenth century, several scholars adopted the
traditional, negative concept of magic.[128] That they chose to do so
was not inevitable, for they could have followed the example adopted by
prominent esotericists active at the time like Helena Blavatsky who had
chosen to use the term and concept of magic in a positive sense.[128]
Various writers also used the concept of magic to criticise religion by
arguing that the latter still displayed many of the negative traits of
the former. An example of this was the American journalist H. L. Mencken
in his polemical 1930 work Treatise on the Gods; he sought to critique
religion by comparing it to magic, arguing that the division between the
two was misplaced.[144] The concept of magic was also adopted by
theorists in the new field of psychology, where it was often used
synonymously with superstition, although the latter term proved more
common in early psychological texts.[145]
In the late nineteenth
and twentieth centuries, folklorists examined rural communities across
Europe in search of magical practices, which at the time they typically
understood as survivals of ancient belief systems.[146] It was only in
the 1960s that anthropologists like Jeanne Favret-Saada also began
looking in depth at magic in European contexts, having previously
focused on examining magic in non-Western contexts.[147] In the
twentieth century, magic also proved a topic of interest to the
Surrealists, an artistic movement based largely in Europe; the
Surrealism André Breton for instance published L'Art magique in 1957,
discussing what he regarded as the links between magic and art.[148]
The
scholarly application of magic as a sui generis category that can be
applied to any socio-cultural context was linked with the promotion of
modernity to both Western and non-Western audiences.[149]
The
term magic has become pervasive in the popular imagination and idiom.[7]
In contemporary contexts, the word magic is sometimes used to "describe
a type of excitement, of wonder, or sudden delight", and in such a
context can be "a term of high praise".[150] Despite its historical
contrast against science, scientists have also adopted the term in
application to various concepts, such as magic acid, magic bullets, and
magic angles.[7]
Many concepts of modern ceremonial magic are heavily influenced by the ideas of Aleister Crowley.
Modern
Western magic has challenged widely-held preconceptions about
contemporary religion and spirituality.[151] The polemical discourses
about magic influenced the self-understanding of modern magicians,
several whom—such as Aleister Crowley —were well versed in academic
literature on the subject.[152] According to scholar of religion Henrik
Bogdan, "arguably the best known emic definition" of the term magic was
provided by Crowley.[152] Crowley—who favoured the spelling 'magick'
over magic to distinguish it from stage illusionism[1]—was of the view
that "Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in
conformity with Will".[152] Crowley's definition influenced that of
subsequent magicians.[152] Dion Fortune of the Fraternity of the Inner
Light for instance stated that "Magic is the art of changing
consciousness according to Will".[152] Gerald Gardner, the founder of
Gardnerian Wicca, stated that magic was "attempting to cause the
physically unusual",[152] while Anton LaVey, the founder of LaVeyan
Satanism, described magic as "the change in situations or events in
accordance with one's will, which would, using normally acceptable
methods, be unchangeable."[152]
The chaos magic movement emerged
during the late 20th century, as an attempt to strip away the symbolic,
ritualistic, theological or otherwise ornamental aspects of other occult
traditions and distill magic down to a set of basic techniques.[153]
These
modern Western concepts of magic rely on a belief in correspondences
connected to an unknown occult force that permeates the universe.[154]
As noted by Hanegraaff, this operated according to "a new meaning of
magic, which could not possibly have existed in earlier periods,
precisely because it is elaborated in reaction to the "disenchantment of
the world"."[154] For many, and perhaps most, modern Western magicians,
the goal of magic is deemed to be personal spiritual development.[155]
The perception of magic as a form of self-development is central to the
way that magical practices have been adopted into forms of modern
Paganism and the New Age phenomenon.[155] One significant development
within modern Western magical practices has been sex magic.[155] This
was a practice promoted in the writings of Paschal Beverly Randolph and
subsequently exerted a strong interest on occultist magicians like
Crowley and Theodor Reuss.[155]
The adoption of the term magic by
modern occultists can in some instances be a deliberate attempt to
champion those areas of Western society which have traditionally been
marginalised as a means of subverting dominant systems of power.[156]
The influential American Wiccan and author Starhawk for instance stated
that "Magic is another word that makes people uneasy, so I use it
deliberately, because the words we are comfortable with, the words that
sound acceptable, rational, scientific, and intellectually correct, are
comfortable precisely because they are the language of
estrangement."[157] In the present day, "among some countercultural
subgroups the label is considered 'cool'"[158]
Sorcery is a legal
concept in Papua New Guinea law, which differentiates between legal
good magic, such as healing and fertility, and illegal black magic, held
responsible for unexplained deaths.[159]
Conceptual development
According
to anthropologist Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard, magic formed a rational
framework of beliefs and knowledge in some cultures, like the Azande
people of Africa.[160] The historian Owen Davies stated that the word
magic was "beyond simple definition",[161] and had "a range of
meanings".[162] Similarly, the historian Michael D. Bailey characterised
magic as "a deeply contested category and a very fraught label";[163]
as a category, he noted, it was "profoundly unstable" given that
definitions of the term have "varied dramatically across time and
between cultures".[164] Scholars have engaged in extensive debates as to
how to define magic,[165] with such debates resulting in intense
dispute.[166] Throughout such debates, the scholarly community has
failed to agree on a definition of magic, in a similar manner to how
they have failed to agree on a definition of religion.[166] According
with scholar of religion Michael Stausberg the phenomenon of people
applying the concept of magic to refer to themselves and their own
practices and beliefs goes as far back as late antiquity. However, even
among those throughout history who have described themselves as
magicians, there has been no common ground of what magic is.[167]
In
Africa, the word magic might simply be understood as denoting
management of forces, which, as an activity, is not weighted morally and
is accordingly a neutral activity from the start of a magical practice,
but by the will of the magician, is thought to become and to have an
outcome which represents either good or bad (evil).[168][169] Ancient
African culture was in the habit customarily of always discerning
difference between magic, and a group of other things, which are not
magic, these things were medicine, divination, witchcraft and
sorcery.[170] Opinion differs on how religion and magic are related to
each other with respect development or to which developed from which,
some think they developed together from a shared origin, some think
religion developed from magic, and some, magic from religion.[171]
Anthropological
and sociological theories of magic generally serve to sharply demarcate
certain practices from other, otherwise similar practices in a given
society.[99] According to Bailey: "In many cultures and across various
historical periods, categories of magic often define and maintain the
limits of socially and culturally acceptable actions in respect to
numinous or occult entities or forces. Even more, basically, they serve
to delineate arenas of appropriate belief."[172] In this, he noted that
"drawing these distinctions is an exercise in power".[172] This tendency
has had repercussions for the study of magic, with academics
self-censoring their research because of the effects on their
careers.[173]
Randall Styers noted that attempting to define
magic represents "an act of demarcation" by which it is juxtaposed
against "other social practices and modes of knowledge" such as religion
and science.[174] The historian Karen Louise Jolly described magic as
"a category of exclusion, used to define an unacceptable way of thinking
as either the opposite of religion or of science".[175]
Modern
scholarship has produced various definitions and theories of magic.[176]
According to Bailey, "these have typically framed magic in relation to,
or more frequently in distinction from, religion and science."[176]
Since the emergence of the study of religion and the social sciences,
magic has been a "central theme in the theoretical literature" produced
by scholars operating in these academic disciplines.[165] Magic is one
of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion,[177]
and also played a key role in early theorising within anthropology.[178]
Styers believed that it held such a strong appeal for social theorists
because it provides "such a rich site for articulating and contesting
the nature and boundaries of modernity".[179] Scholars have commonly
used it as a foil for the concept of religion, regarding magic as the
"illegitimate (and effeminized) sibling" of religion.[180] Alternately,
others have used it as a middle-ground category located between religion
and science.[180]
The context in which scholars framed their
discussions of magic was informed by the spread of European colonial
power across the world in the modern period.[143] These repeated
attempts to define magic resonated with broader social concerns,[9] and
the pliability of the concept has allowed it to be "readily adaptable as
a polemical and ideological tool".[130] The links that intellectuals
made between magic and those they characterized as primitives helped to
legitimise European and Euro-American imperialism and colonialism, as
these Western colonialists expressed the view that those who believed in
and practiced magic were unfit to govern themselves and should be
governed by those who, rather than believing in magic, believed in
science and/or (Christian) religion.[8] In Bailey's words, "the
association of certain peoples [whether non-Europeans or poor, rural
Europeans] with magic served to distance and differentiate them from
those who ruled over them, and in large part to justify that rule."[6]
Many
different definitions of magic have been offered by scholars,
although—according to Hanegraaff—these can be understood as variations
of a small number of heavily influential theories.[177]
Intellectualist approach
Edward
Tylor, an anthropologist who used the term magic in reference to
sympathetic magic, an idea that he associated with his concept of
animism
The intellectualist approach to defining magic is
associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and
James G. Frazer.[181] This approach viewed magic as the theoretical
opposite of science,[182] and came to preoccupy much anthropological
thought on the subject.[183] This approach was situated within the
evolutionary models which underpinned thinking in the social sciences
during the early 19th century.[184] The first social scientist to
present magic as something that predated religion in an evolutionary
development was Herbert Spencer;[185] in his A System of Synthetic
Philosophy, he used the term magic in reference to sympathetic
magic.[186] Spencer regarded both magic and religion as being rooted in
false speculation about the nature of objects and their relationship to
other things.[187]
Tylor's understanding of magic was linked to
his concept of animism.[188] In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor
characterized magic as beliefs based on "the error of mistaking ideal
analogy for real analogy". [189] In Tylor's view, "primitive man, having
come to associate in thought those things which he found by experience
to be connected in fact, proceeded erroneously to invert this action,
and to conclude that association in thought must involve similar
connection in reality. He thus attempted to discover, to foretell, and
to cause events by means of processes which we can now see to have only
an ideal significance".[190] Tylor was dismissive of magic, describing
it as "one of the most pernicious delusions that ever vexed
mankind".[191] Tylor's views proved highly influential,[192] and helped
to establish magic as a major topic of anthropological research.[185]
James Frazer regarded magic as the first stage in human development, to be followed by religion and then science.
Tylor's
ideas were adopted and simplified by James Frazer.[193] He used the
term magic to mean sympathetic magic,[194] describing it as a practice
relying on the magician's belief "that things act on each other at a
distance through a secret sympathy", something which he described as "an
invisible ether".[190] He further divided this magic into two forms,
the "homeopathic (imitative, mimetic)" and the "contagious".[190] The
former was the idea that "like produces like", or that the similarity
between two objects could result in one influencing the other. The
latter was based on the idea that contact between two objects allowed
the two to continue to influence one another at a distance.[195] Like
Taylor, Frazer viewed magic negatively, describing it as "the bastard
sister of science", arising from "one great disastrous fallacy".[196]
Where
Frazer differed from Tylor was in characterizing a belief in magic as a
major stage in humanity's cultural development, describing it as part
of a tripartite division in which magic came first, religion came
second, and eventually science came third.[197] For Frazer, all early
societies started as believers in magic, with some of them moving away
from this and into religion.[198] He believed that both magic and
religion involved a belief in spirits but that they differed in the way
that they responded to these spirits. For Frazer, magic "constrains or
coerces" these spirits while religion focuses on "conciliating or
propitiating them".[198] He acknowledged that their common ground
resulted in a cross-over of magical and religious elements in various
instances; for instance he claimed that the sacred marriage was a
fertility ritual which combined elements from both world-views.[199]
Some
scholars retained the evolutionary framework used by Frazer but changed
the order of its stages; the German ethnologist Wilhelm Schmidt argued
that religion—by which he meant monotheism—was the first stage of human
belief, which later degenerated into both magic and polytheism.[200]
Others rejected the evolutionary framework entirely. Frazer's notion
that magic had given way to religion as part of an evolutionary
framework was later deconstructed by the folklorist and anthropologist
Andrew Lang in his essay "Magic and Religion"; Lang did so by
highlighting how Frazer's framework relied upon misrepresenting
ethnographic accounts of beliefs and practiced among indigenous
Australians to fit his concept of magic.[201]
Functionalist approach
The
functionalist approach to defining magic is associated with the French
sociologists Marcel Mauss and Emile Durkheim.[202] In this approach,
magic is understood as being the theoretical opposite of religion.[203]
Mauss
set forth his conception of magic in a 1902 essay, "A General Theory of
Magic".[204] Mauss used the term magic in reference to "any rite that
is not part of an organized cult: a rite that is private, secret,
mysterious, and ultimately tending towards one that is forbidden".[202]
Conversely, he associated religion with organised cult.[205] By saying
that magic was inherently non-social, Mauss had been influenced by the
traditional Christian understandings of the concept.[206] Mauss
deliberately rejected the intellectualist approach promoted by Frazer,
believing that it was inappropriate to restrict the term magic to
sympathetic magic, as Frazer had done.[207] He expressed the view that
"there are not only magical rites which are not sympathetic, but neither
is sympathy a prerogative of magic, since there are sympathetic
practices in religion".[205]
Mauss' ideas were adopted by
Durkheim in his 1912 book The Elementary Forms of the Religious
Life.[208] Durkheim was of the view that both magic and religion
pertained to "sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and
forbidden".[209] Where he saw them as being different was in their
social organisation. Durkheim used the term magic to describe things
that were inherently anti-social, existing in contrast to what he
referred to as a Church, the religious beliefs shared by a social group;
in his words, "There is no Church of magic."[210] Durkheim expressed
the view that "there is something inherently anti-religious about the
maneuvers of the magician",[203] and that a belief in magic "does not
result in binding together those who adhere to it, nor in uniting them
into a group leading a common life."[209] Durkheim's definition
encounters problems in situations—such as the rites performed by
Wiccans—in which acts carried out communally have been regarded, either
by practitioners or observers, as being magical.[211]
Scholars
have criticized the idea that magic and religion can be differentiated
into two distinct, separate categories.[212] The social anthropologist
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown suggested that "a simple dichotomy between magic
and religion" was unhelpful and thus both should be subsumed under the
broader category of ritual.[213] Many later anthropologists followed his
example.[213] Nevertheless, this distinction is still often made by
scholars discussing this topic.[212]
Emotionalist approach
Further information: Magical thinking and Psychological theories of magic
The
emotionalist approach to magic is associated with the English
anthropologist Robert Ranulph Marett, the Austrian Sigmund Freud, and
the Polish anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski.[214]
Marett
viewed magic as a response to stress.[215] In a 1904 article, he argued
that magic was a cathartic or stimulating practice designed to relieve
feelings of tension.[215] As his thought developed, he increasingly
rejected the idea of a division between magic and religion and began to
use the term "magico-religious" to describe the early development of
both.[215] Malinowski similarly understood magic to Marett, tackling the
issue in a 1925 article.[216] He rejected Frazer's evolutionary
hypothesis that magic was followed by religion and then science as a
series of distinct stages in societal development, arguing that all
three were present in each society.[217] In his view, both magic and
religion "arise and function in situations of emotional stress" although
whereas religion is primarily expressive, magic is primarily
practical.[217] He therefore defined magic as "a practical art
consisting of acts which are only means to a definite end expected to
follow later on".[217] For Malinowski, magical acts were to be carried
out for a specific end, whereas religious ones were ends in
themselves.[211] He for instance believed that fertility rituals were
magical because they were carried out with the intention of meeting a
specific need.[217] As part of his functionalist approach, Malinowski
saw magic not as irrational but as something that served a useful
function, being sensible within the given social and environmental
context.[218]
Ideas about magic were also promoted by Sigmund Freud.
The
term magic was used liberally by Freud.[219] He also saw magic as
emerging from human emotion but interpreted it very differently to
Marett.[220] Freud explains that "the associated theory of magic merely
explains the paths along which magic proceeds; it does not explain its
true essence, namely the misunderstanding which leads it to replace the
laws of nature by psychological ones".[221] Freud emphasizes that what
led primitive men to come up with magic is the power of wishes: "His
wishes are accompanied by a motor impulse, the will, which is later
destined to alter the whole face of the earth to satisfy his wishes.
This motor impulse is at first employed to give a representation of the
satisfying situation in such a way that it becomes possible to
experience the satisfaction by means of what might be described as motor
hallucinations. This kind of representation of a satisfied wish is
quite comparable to children's play, which succeeds their earlier purely
sensory technique of satisfaction. [...] As time goes on, the
psychological accent shifts from the motives for the magical act on to
the measures by which it is carried out—that is, on to the act itself.
[...] It thus comes to appear as though it is the magical act itself
which, owing to its similarity with the desired result, alone determines
the occurrence of that result."[222]
In the early 1960s, the
anthropologists Murray and Rosalie Wax put forward the argument that
scholars should look at the magical worldview of a given society on its
own terms rather than trying to rationalize it in terms of Western ideas
about scientific knowledge.[223] Their ideas were heavily criticised by
other anthropologists, who argued that they had set up a false
dichotomy between non-magical Western worldview and magical non-Western
worldviews.[224] The concept of the magical worldview nevertheless
gained widespread use in history, folkloristics, philosophy, cultural
theory, and psychology.[225] The notion of magical thinking has also
been utilised by various psychologists.[226] In the 1920s, the
psychologist Jean Piaget used the concept as part of his argument that
children were unable to clearly differentiate between the mental and the
physical.[226] According to this perspective, children begin to abandon
their magical thinking between the ages of six and nine.[226]
According
to Stanley Tambiah, magic, science, and religion all have their own
"quality of rationality", and have been influenced by politics and
ideology.[227] As opposed to religion, Tambiah suggests that mankind has
a much more personal control over events. Science, according to
Tambiah, is "a system of behavior by which man acquires mastery of the
environment."[228]
Ethnocentrism
The magic-religion-science
triangle developed in European society based on evolutionary ideas i.e.
that magic evolved into religion, which in turn evolved into
science.[203] However using a Western analytical tool when discussing
non-Western cultures, or pre-modern forms of Western society, raises
problems as it may impose alien Western categories on them.[229] While
magic remains an emic (insider) term in the history of Western
societies, it remains an etic (outsider) term when applied to
non-Western societies and even within specific Western societies. For
this reason, academics like Michael D. Bailey suggest abandon the term
altogether as an academic category.[230] During the twentieth century,
many scholars focusing on Asian and African societies rejected the term
magic, as well as related concepts like witchcraft, in favour of the
more precise terms and concepts that existed within these specific
societies like Juju.[231] A similar approach has been taken by many
scholars studying pre-modern societies in Europe, such as Classical
antiquity, who find the modern concept of magic inappropriate and favour
more specific terms originating within the framework of the ancient
cultures which they are studying.[232] Alternately, this term implies
that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western
preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research.[229]
This century has seen a trend towards emic ethnographic studies by
scholar practitioners that explicitly explore the emic/etic divide.[233]
Many
scholars have argued that the use of the term as an analytical tool
within academic scholarship should be rejected altogether.[234] The
scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no
utility as an etic term that scholars should use.[235] The historian of
religion Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, on the grounds that its use is
founded in conceptions of Western superiority and has "...served as a
'scientific' justification for converting non-European peoples from
benighted superstitions..." stating that "the term magic is an important
object of historical research, but not intended for doing
research."[236]
Bailey noted that, as of the early 21st century,
few scholars sought grand definitions of magic but instead focused with
"careful attention to particular contexts", examining what a term like
magic meant to a given society; this approach, he noted, "call[ed] into
question the legitimacy of magic as a universal category".[237] The
scholars of religion Berndt-Christian Otto and Michael Stausberg
suggested that it would be perfectly possible for scholars to talk about
amulets, curses, healing procedures, and other cultural practices often
regarded as magical in Western culture without any recourse to the
concept of magic itself.[238] The idea that magic should be rejected as
an analytic term developed in anthropology, before moving into Classical
studies and Biblical studies in the 1980s.[239] Since the 1990s, the
term's usage among scholars of religion has declined.[235]
Witchcraft
Main articles: Witchcraft and Sorcery (goetia)
The
historian Ronald Hutton notes the presence of four distinct meanings of
the term witchcraft in the English language. Historically, the term
primarily referred to the practice of causing harm to others through
supernatural or magical means. This remains, according to Hutton, "the
most widespread and frequent" understanding of the term.[240] Moreover,
Hutton also notes three other definitions in current usage; to refer to
anyone who conducts magical acts, for benevolent or malevolent intent;
for practitioners of the modern Pagan religion of Wicca; or as a symbol
of women resisting male authority and asserting an independent female
authority.[241] Belief in witchcraft is often present within societies
and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view.[242]
Those
regarded as being magicians have often faced suspicion from other
members of their society.[243] This is particularly the case if these
perceived magicians have been associated with social groups already
considered morally suspect in a particular society, such as foreigners,
women, or the lower classes.[244] In contrast to these negative
associations, many practitioners of activities that have been labelled
magical have emphasised that their actions are benevolent and
beneficial.[245] This conflicted with the common Christian view that all
activities categorised as being forms of magic were intrinsically bad
regardless of the intent of the magician, because all magical actions
relied on the aid of demons.[101] There could be conflicting attitudes
regarding the practices of a magician; in European history, authorities
often believed that cunning folk and traditional healers were harmful
because their practices were regarded as magical and thus stemming from
contact with demons, whereas a local community might value and respect
these individuals because their skills and services were deemed
beneficial.[246]
In Western societies, the practice of magic,
especially when harmful, was usually associated with women.[247] For
instance, during the witch trials of the early modern period, around
three quarters of those executed as witches were female, to only a
quarter who were men.[248] That women were more likely to be accused and
convicted of witchcraft in this period might have been because their
position was more legally vulnerable, with women having little or no
legal standing that was independent of their male relatives.[248] The
conceptual link between women and magic in Western culture may be
because many of the activities regarded as magical—from rites to
encourage fertility to potions to induce abortions—were associated with
the female sphere.[249] It might also be connected to the fact that many
cultures portrayed women as being inferior to men on an intellectual,
moral, spiritual, and physical level.[250]
Magicians
The Magician card from a 15th-century tarot deck
Many
of the practices which have been labelled magic can be performed by
anyone.[251] For instance, some charms can be recited by individuals
with no specialist knowledge nor any claim to having a specific
power.[252] Others require specialised training in order to perform
them.[251] Some of the individuals who performed magical acts on a more
than occasional basis came to be identified as magicians, or with
related concepts like sorcerers/sorceresses, witches, or cunning
folk.[252] Identities as a magician can stem from an individual's own
claims about themselves, or it can be a label placed upon them by
others.[252] In the latter case, an individual could embrace such a
label, or they could reject it, sometimes vehemently.[252]
Economic
incentives can encourage individuals to identify as magicians.[142] In
the cases of various forms of traditional healer, as well as the later
stage magicians or illusionists, the label of magician could become a
job description.[252] Others claim such an identity out of a genuinely
held belief that they have specific unusual powers or talents.[253]
Different societies have different social regulations regarding who can
take on such a role; for instance, it may be a question of familial
heredity, or there may be gender restrictions on who is allowed to
engage in such practices.[254] A variety of personal traits may be
credited with giving magical power, and frequently they are associated
with an unusual birth into the world.[255] For instance, in Hungary it
was believed that a táltos would be born with teeth or an additional
finger.[256] In various parts of Europe, it was believed that being born
with a caul would associate the child with supernatural abilities.[256]
In some cases, a ritual initiation is required before taking on a role
as a specialist in such practices, and in others it is expected that an
individual will receive a mentorship from another specialist.[257]
Davies
noted that it was possible to "crudely divide magic specialists into
religious and lay categories".[258] He noted for instance that Roman
Catholic priests, with their rites of exorcism, and access to holy water
and blessed , could be conceived as being magical practitioners.[259]
Traditionally, the most common method of identifying, differentiating,
and establishing magical practitioners from common people is by
initiation. By means of rites the magician's relationship to the
supernatural and his entry into a closed professional class is
established (often through rituals that simulate death and rebirth into a
new life).[260] However, Berger and Ezzy explain that since the rise of
Neopaganism, "As there is no central bureaucracy or dogma to determine
authenticity, an individual's self-determination as a Witch, Wiccan,
Pagan or Neopagan is usually taken at face value".[261] Ezzy argues that
practitioners' worldviews have been neglected in many sociological and
anthropological studies and that this is because of "a culturally narrow
understanding of science that devalues magical beliefs".[262]
Mauss
argues that the powers of both specialist and common magicians are
determined by culturally accepted standards of the sources and the
breadth of magic: a magician cannot simply invent or claim new magic. In
practice, the magician is only as powerful as his peers believe him to
be.[263]
Throughout recorded history, magicians have often faced
skepticism regarding their purported powers and abilities.[264] For
instance, in sixteenth-century England, the writer Reginald Scot wrote
The Discoverie of Witchcraft, in which he argued that many of those
accused of witchcraft or otherwise claiming magical capabilities were
fooling people using illusionism." (wikipedia.org)
"A
book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or
images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment,
vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover.[1] It can
also be a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually
on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers. The
technical term for this physical arrangement is codex (plural, codices).
In the history of hand-held physical supports for extended written
compositions or records, the codex replaces its predecessor, the scroll.
A single sheet in a codex is a leaf and each side of a leaf is a page.
As
an intellectual object, a book is prototypically a composition of such
great length that it takes a considerable investment of time to compose
and still considered as an investment of time to read. In a restricted
sense, a book is a self-sufficient section or part of a longer
composition, a usage reflecting that, in antiquity, long works had to be
written on several scrolls and each scroll had to be identified by the
book it contained. Each part of Aristotle's Physics is called a book. In
an unrestricted sense, a book is the compositional whole of which such
sections, whether called books or chapters or parts, are parts.
The
intellectual content in a physical book need not be a composition, nor
even be called a book. Books can consist only of drawings, engravings or
photographs, crossword puzzles or cut-out dolls. In a physical book,
the pages can be left blank or can feature an abstract set of lines to
support entries, such as in an account book, appointment book, autograph
book, notebook, diary or sketchbook. Some physical books are made with
pages thick and sturdy enough to support other physical objects, like a
scrapbook or photograph album. Books may be distributed in electronic
form as ebooks and other formats.
Although in ordinary academic
parlance a monograph is understood to be a specialist academic work,
rather than a reference work on a scholarly subject, in library and
information science monograph denotes more broadly any non-serial
publication complete in one volume (book) or a finite number of volumes
(even a novel like Proust's seven-volume In Search of Lost Time), in
contrast to serial publications like a magazine, journal or newspaper.
An avid reader or collector of books is a bibliophile or, colloquially,
"bookworm". Books are traded at both regular stores and specialized
bookstores, and people can read borrowed books, often for free, at
libraries. Google has estimated that by 2010, approximately 130,000,000
titles had been published.[2]
In some wealthier nations, the sale
of printed books has decreased because of the increased usage of
e-books.[3] Although in most countries printed books continue to outsell
their digital counterparts due to many people still preferring to read
in a traditional way.[4][5][6][7] The 21st century has also seen a rapid
rise in the popularity of audiobooks, which are recordings of books
being read aloud.[8]
Etymology
The word book comes from Old
English bōc, which in turn comes from the Germanic root *bōk-, cognate
to 'beech'.[9] In Slavic languages like Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian
буква bukva—'letter' is cognate with 'beech'. In Russian, Serbian and
Macedonian, the word букварь (bukvar') or буквар (bukvar) refers to a
primary school textbook that helps young children master the techniques
of reading and writing. It is thus conjectured that the earliest
Indo-European writings may have been carved on beech wood.[10] The Latin
word codex, meaning a book in the modern sense (bound and with separate
leaves), originally meant 'block of wood'." (wikipedia.org)
"An
incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a
magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or
objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can
also be performed during ceremonial rituals or prayers. In the world of
magic, wizards, witches, and fairies allegedly perform incantations.[1]
In
medieval literature, folklore, fairy tales, and modern fantasy fiction,
enchantments are charms or spells. This has led to the terms
"enchanter" and "enchantress" for those who use enchantments.[2] The
English language borrowed the term "incantation" from Old French in the
late 14th century; the corresponding Old English term was gealdor or
galdor, "song, spell", cognate to ON galdr. The weakened sense "delight"
(compare the same development of "charm") is modern, first attested in
1593 (OED).
Words of incantation are often spoken with inflection
and emphasis on the words being said. The tone and rhyme of how the
words are spoken and the placement of words used in the formula may
differ depending on the desired outcome of the magical effect.[3]
Surviving
written records of historical magic spells were largely obliterated in
many cultures by the success of the major monotheistic religions (Islam,
Judaism, and Christianity), which label some magical activity as
immoral or associated with evil.[4][unreliable source?]
Etymology
The Enchanted Garden of Messer Ansaldo by Marie Spartali Stillman
The
Latin incantare, which means "to consecrate with spells, to charm, to
bewitch, to ensorcel", forms the basis of the word "enchant", with deep
linguistic roots going back to the Proto-Indo-European kan- prefix. So
it can be said that an enchanter or enchantress casts magic spells, or
utters incantations.
The words that are similar to incantations
such as enchantment, charms and spells are the effects of reciting an
incantation. To be enchanted is to be under the influence of an
enchantment, usually thought to be caused by charms or spells.
Magic words
Classic magic words
Main article: Magic word
Magic
words or words of power are words which have a specific, and sometimes
unintended, effect. They are often nonsense phrases used in fantasy
fiction or by stage prestidigitators. Frequently such words are
presented as being part of a divine, adamic, or other secret or
empowered language. Certain comic book heroes use magic words to
activate their powers.
Examples of traditional magic words include Abracadabra, Alakazam, Hocus Pocus, Open Sesame and Sim Sala Bim.
In
Babylonian, incantations can be used in rituals to burn images of one's
own enemies. An example would be found in the series of Mesopotamian
incantations of Šurpu and Maqlû. In the Orient, the charming of snakes
have been used in incantations of the past and still used today. A
person using an incantation would entice the snake out of its hiding
place in order to get rid of them.[1]
Udug-hul
Main article: Udug
In
Mesopotamian mythology, Udug Hul incantations are used to exorcise
demons (evil Udug) who bring misfortune or illnesses, such as mental
illness or anxiety. These demons can create horrible events such as
divorce, loss of property, or other catastrophes.[5]
In folklore and fiction
The enchantress Alcina makes herself appear beautiful, in Orlando Furioso
In
traditional fairy tales magical formulas are sometimes attached to an
object.[citation needed] When the incantation is uttered, it helps
transform the object. In such stories, incantations are attached to a
magic wand used by wizards, witches and fairy godmothers. One example is
the spell that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother used to turn a pumpkin into
a coach, "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", a nonsense rhyme which echoes more
serious historical incantations.[6]
Modern uses and interpretations
The
performance of magic almost always involves the use of language.
Whether spoken out loud or unspoken, words are frequently used to access
or guide magical power. In The Magical Power of Words (1968), S. J.
Tambiah argues that the connection between language and magic is due to a
belief in the inherent ability of words to influence the universe.
Bronisław Malinowski, in Coral Gardens and their Magic (1935), suggests
that this belief is an extension of man's basic use of language to
describe his surroundings, in which "the knowledge of the right words,
appropriate phrases and the more highly developed forms of speech, gives
man a power over and above his own limited field of personal
action."[7]: 235 Magical speech is therefore a ritual act and is of
equal or even greater importance to the performance of magic than
non-verbal acts.[8]: 175–176
Not all speech is considered
magical. Only certain words and phrases or words spoken in a specific
context are considered to have magical power.[8]: 176 Magical language,
according to C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards's (1923) categories of
speech, is distinct from scientific language because it is emotive and
it converts words into symbols for emotions; whereas in scientific
language words are tied to specific meanings and refer to an objective
external reality.[8]: 188 Magical language is therefore particularly
adept at constructing metaphors that establish symbols and link magical
rituals to the world.[8]: 189
Malinowski argues that "the
language of magic is sacred, set and used for an entirely different
purpose to that of ordinary life."[7]: 213 The two forms of language
are differentiated through word choice, grammar, style, or by the use of
specific phrases or forms: prayers, spells, songs, blessings, or
chants, for example. Sacred modes of language often employ archaic words
and forms in an attempt to invoke the purity or "truth" of a religious
or a cultural "golden age". The use of Hebrew in Judaism is an
example.[8]: 182
Another potential source of the power of words
is their secrecy and exclusivity. Much sacred language is differentiated
enough from common language that it is incomprehensible to the majority
of the population and it can only be used and interpreted by
specialized practitioners (magicians, priests, shamans, even
mullahs).[7]: 228 [8]: 178 In this respect, Tambiah argues that magical
languages violate the primary function of language:
communication.[8]: 179 Yet adherents of magic are still able to use and
to value the magical function of words by believing in the inherent
power of the words themselves and in the meaning that they must provide
for those who do understand them. This leads Tambiah to conclude that
"the remarkable disjunction between sacred and profane language which
exists as a general fact is not necessarily linked to the need to embody
sacred words in an exclusive language."[8]: 182
Examples of charms
A complete history of magik, sorcery, and wi Wellcome L0026620
The Anglo-Saxon metrical charms
The Carmina Gadelica, a collection of Gaelic oral poetry, much of it charms
The Atharvaveda, a collection of charms, and the Rigveda, a collection of hymns or incantations
Hittite ritual texts
The Greek Magical Papyri
Maqlû, Akkadian incantation text
The Merseburg charms, two medieval magic spells, charms written in Old High German
Cyprianus, a generic term for a book of Scandinavian folk spells
Pow-Wows; or, Long Lost Friend
Babylonian incantations[9]
Mesopotamian incantations were composed to counter anything from
witchcraft (Maqlû) to field pests (Zu-buru-dabbeda)." (wikipedia.org)
"Witchcraft
has a wide range of meanings in anthropological, folkloric,
mythological, and religious contexts. Historically and traditionally,
the term "witchcraft" has meant the use of magic or supernatural powers
to cause harm and misfortune to others.[1] A witch (from Old English
wicce f. / wicca m.) is a practitioner of witchcraft. According to
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the
imagination of contemporaries than in any objective reality. Yet this
stereotype has a long history and has constituted for many cultures a
viable explanation of evil in the world."[2] The belief in witchcraft
has been found in a great number of societies worldwide. Anthropologists
have applied the English term "witchcraft" to similar beliefs in occult
practices in many different cultures, and societies that have adopted
the English language have often internalised the term.[3][4][5]
In
medieval and early modern Europe, where belief in witchcraft traces
back to classical antiquity, accused witches were usually women who were
believed to have used black magic (maleficium) against their own
community, and often to have communed with evil beings, though British
anthropologist Jean La Fontaine notes that the "stereotype of evil
appears not to have been closely connected to the actions of real people
except when it was mobilised against the current enemies of the
Church."[6] Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by their
neighbors and followed from social tensions. It was thought witchcraft
could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be
provided by the 'cunning folk' or 'wise people'. Suspected witches were
also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. Often they would be
formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to
be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern
period led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers and
midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves,[7][8][9][10]
they made up a minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft
gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment.
Indigenous
communities that believe in the existence of witchcraft likewise define
witches as malevolent, and seek healers and people for protection
against witchcraft.[11][12] Some African and Melanesian peoples believe
witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance inside them. Modern
witch-hunting takes place in parts of Africa and Asia.
Today,
some followers of Wiccan-related neo-paganism self-identify as "witches"
and use the term "witchcraft" for their magico-religious beliefs and
practices (see Neopagan Witchcraft), primarily in Western anglophone
countries.[13][14][15] Other neo-pagans avoid the term due to its
negative connotations.[16]
Concept
The concept of witchcraft
and the belief in its existence have persisted throughout recorded
history. The concept of malevolent magic has been found among cultures
worldwide,[3][17] and it is prominent in some cultures today.[18] Most
societies have believed in, and feared, an ability by some individuals
to cause supernatural harm and misfortune to others. This may come from
mankind's tendency "to want to assign occurrences of remarkable good or
bad luck to agency, either human or superhuman".[19]
Historians
and anthropologists see the concept of "witchcraft" as one of the ways
humans have tried to explain strange misfortune.[19][20] Some cultures
have feared witchcraft much less than others, because they tend to have
other explanations for strange misfortune; for example that it was
caused by gods, spirits, demons or fairies, or by other humans who have
unwittingly cast the evil eye.[19] For example, the Gaels of Ireland and
the Scottish Highlands historically held a strong belief in fairy folk,
who could cause supernatural harm, and witch-hunting was very rare in
these regions compared to other regions of the British Isles.[21]
Ronald
Hutton outlined five key characteristics ascribed to witches and
witchcraft by most cultures that believe in the concept. Traditionally,
witchcraft was believed to be the use of magic to cause harm or
misfortune to others; it was used by the witch against their own
community; it was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion
with evil beings; powers of witchcraft were believed to have been
acquired through inheritance or initiation; and witchcraft could be
thwarted by defensive magic, persuasion, intimidation or physical
punishment of the alleged witch.[22]
Historically, the Christian
concept of witchcraft derives from Old Testament laws against it. In
medieval and early modern Europe, many common folk who were Christians
believed in magic. As opposed to the helpful magic of the cunning folk,
witchcraft was seen as evil and associated with the Devil and Devil
worship. This often resulted in deaths, torture and scapegoating
(casting blame for misfortune),[23][24] and many years of large scale
witch-trials and witch hunts, especially in Protestant Europe, before
largely ending during the European Age of Enlightenment. Christian views
in the modern day are diverse and cover the gamut of views from intense
belief and opposition (especially by Christian fundamentalists) to
non-belief.
Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in
the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic. During the Age of
Colonialism, many cultures were exposed to the modern Western world via
colonialism, usually accompanied and often preceded by intensive
Christian missionary activity (see "Christianization"). In these
cultures, beliefs about witchcraft were partly influenced by the
prevailing Western concepts of the time. Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and
the killing or shunning of suspected witches still occur in the modern
era.[25]
From the mid-20th century, "Witchcraft" was adopted as
the name of some neo-pagan movements, including religions such as
Wicca.[30] Its creators believed in the witch-cult theory, that accused
witches had actually been followers of a surviving pagan religion, but
this witch-cult theory is now discredited.[31]
Etymology
Further information: Witch (word)
The
word is over a thousand years old: Old English formed the compound
wiccecræft from wicce ('witch') and cræft ('craft').[32] The masculine
form was wicca ('male sorcerer').[33]
According to the Oxford
English Dictionary, wicce and wicca were probably derived from the Old
English verb wiccian, meaning 'to practice witchcraft'.[34] Wiccian has a
cognate in Middle Low German wicken (attested from the 13th century).
The further etymology of this word is problematic. It has no clear
cognates in other Germanic languages outside of English and Low German,
and there are numerous possibilities for the Indo-European root from
which it may have derived.
Another Old English word for 'witch'
was hægtes or hægtesse, which became the modern English word "hag" and
is linked to the word "hex". In most other Germanic languages, their
word for 'witch' comes from the same root as these; for example German
Hexe and Dutch heks.[35]
In colloquial modern English, the word
witch is generally used for women. A male practitioner of magic or
witchcraft is more commonly called a 'wizard', or sometimes, 'warlock'.
When the word witch is used to refer to a member of a neo-pagan
tradition or religion (such as Wicca), it can refer to a person of any
gender.[36]
Practices
Preparation for the Witches' Sabbath by
David Teniers the Younger. It shows a witch brewing a potion overlooked
by her familiar spirit or a demon; items on the floor for casting a
spell; and another witch reading from a grimoire while anointing the
buttocks of a young witch about to fly upon an inverted besom.
The
historical and traditional definition of "witchcraft" is the use of
black magic (maleficium) or supernatural powers to cause harm and
misfortune to others. Where belief in harmful magic exists, it is
typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general
populace, while helpful magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by
the people, even if the orthodox establishment opposes it.[37]
It
is commonly believed that witches use objects, words and gestures to
cause supernatural harm, or that they simply have an innate power to do
so. Hutton notes that both kinds of witches are often believed to exist
in the same culture. He says that the two often overlap, in that someone
with an inborn power could wield that power through material
objects.[38] In his 1937 study of Azande witchcraft beliefs, E. E.
Evans-Pritchard reserved the term "witchcraft" for the actions of those
who inflict harm by their inborn power, and used "sorcery" for those who
needed tools to do so.[39]
Historians found it difficult to
apply to European witchcraft, where witches were believed to use
physical techniques, as well as some who were believed to cause harm by
thought alone.[4] This distinction "has now largely been abandoned,
although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to the
particular societies with which they are concerned".[38] While most
cultures believe witchcraft to be something willful, some Indigenous
peoples in Africa and Melanesia believe witches have a substance or an
evil spirit in their bodies that drives them to do harm.[38]
Witches
are commonly believed to cast curses; a spell or set of magical words
and gestures intended to inflict supernatural harm.[40] As well as
repeating words and gestures, cursing could involve inscribing runes or
sigils on an object to give that object magical powers; burning or
binding a wax or clay image (a poppet) of .[41][42][43][38]
A
common belief in cultures worldwide is that witches tend to use
something from their victim's body to work black magic against them; for
example hair, nail clippings, clothing, or bodily waste. Such beliefs
are found in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and North
America.[38] Another widespread belief among Indigenous peoples in
Africa and North America is that witches cause harm by introducing
cursed magical objects into their victim's body; such as small bones or
ashes.[38]
In some cultures, malevolent witches are believed to
use human body parts in magic,[38] and they are commonly believed to
murder children for this purpose. In Europe, "cases in which women did
undoubtedly kill their children, because of what today would be called
postpartum psychosis, were often interpreted as yielding to diabolical
temptation".[44]
Witches are believed to work in secret,
sometimes alone and sometimes with other witches. Hutton writes: "Across
most of the world, witches have been thought to gather at night, when
normal humans are inactive, and also at their most vulnerable in
sleep".[38] In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to
transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open
nudity.[38]
Another widespread belief is that witches have a
demonic helper or "familiar", often in animal form. Witches are also
often thought to be able to shapeshift into animals themselves.[45]
Witchcraft
has been blamed for many kinds of misfortune. In Europe, by far the
most common kind of harm attributed to witchcraft was illness or death
suffered by adults, their children, or their animals. "Certain ailments,
like impotence in men, infertility in women, and lack of milk in cows,
were particularly associated with witchcraft". Illnesses that were
poorly understood were more likely to be blamed on witchcraft. Edward
Bever writes: "Witchcraft was particularly likely to be suspected when a
disease came on unusually swiftly, lingered unusually long, could not
be diagnosed clearly, or presented some other unusual symptoms".[46]
Necromancy
is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or
prophecy, although the term has also been applied to raising the dead
for other purposes. The biblical Witch of Endor performed it (1 Samuel
28th chapter), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by
Ælfric of Eynsham:[47][48][49] "Witches still go to cross-roads and to
heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to the devil; and he
comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he
arises from death."[50]
Historical and religious perspectives
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Near East beliefs
Main article: Witchcraft in the Middle East
The
belief in sorcery and its practice seem to have been widespread in the
ancient Near East and Nile Valley. It played a conspicuous role in the
cultures of ancient Egypt and in Babylonia. The latter tradition
included an Akkadian anti-witchcraft ritual, the Maqlû. A section from
the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 BC) prescribes:
If a man
has put a spell upon another man and it is not justified, he upon whom
the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall
he plunge. If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who
put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If the holy
river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the
spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into the river shall take
possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him.[51]
Abrahamic religions
Main articles: Witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible, Christian views on magic, and Islam and magic
Witchcraft's
historical evolution in the Middle East reveals a multi-phase journey
influenced by culture, spirituality, and societal norms. Ancient
witchcraft in the Near East intertwined mysticism with nature through
rituals and incantations aligned with local beliefs. In ancient Judaism,
magic had a complex relationship, with some forms accepted due to
mysticism[52] while others were considered heretical.[53] The medieval
Middle East experienced shifting perceptions of witchcraft under Islamic
and Christian influences, sometimes revered for healing and other times
condemned as heresy.
Jewish attitudes toward witchcraft were
rooted in its association with idolatry and necromancy, and some rabbis
even practiced certain forms of magic themselves.[54][55] References to
witchcraft in the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, highlighted strong
condemnations rooted in the "abomination" of magical belief.
Christianity similarly condemned witchcraft, considering it an
abomination and even citing specific verses to justify witch-hunting
during the early modern period.
Islamic perspectives on magic
encompass a wide range of practices,[56] with belief in black magic and
the evil eye coexisting alongside strict prohibitions against its
practice.[57] The Quran acknowledges the existence of magic and seeks
protection from its harm. Islam's stance is against the practice of
magic, considering it forbidden, and emphasizes divine miracles rather
than magic or witchcraft.[58] The historical continuity of witchcraft in
the Middle East underlines the complex interaction between spiritual
beliefs and societal norms across different cultures and epochs.
Ancient Roman world
Caius Furius Cressinus Accused of Sorcery, Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours, 1792
During
the pagan era of ancient Rome, there were laws against harmful
magic.[59] According to Pliny, the 5th century BC laws of the Twelve
Tables laid down penalties for uttering harmful incantations and for
stealing the fruitfulness of someone else's crops by magic.[59] The only
recorded trial involving this law was that of Gaius Furius
Cresimus.[59]
The Classical Latin word veneficium meant both
poisoning and causing harm by magic (such as magic potions), although
ancient people would not have distinguished between the two.[60] In 331
BC, a deadly epidemic hit Rome and at least 170 women were executed for
causing it by veneficium. In 184–180 BC, another epidemic hit Italy, and
about 5,000 were executed for veneficium.[60] If the reports are
accurate, writes Hutton, "then the Republican Romans hunted witches on a
scale unknown anywhere else in the ancient world".[60]
Under the
Lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficis of 81 BC, killing by veneficium
carried the death penalty. During the early Imperial era, the Lex
Cornelia began to be used more broadly against other kinds of magic,[60]
including sacrifices made for evil purposes. The magicians were to be
burnt at the stake.[59]
Witch characters—women who work powerful
evil magic—appear in ancient Roman literature from the first century BC
onward. They are typically hags who chant harmful incantations;
makeanimals and humans; sacrifice children; raise the dead; can control
the natural world; can shapeshift themselves and others into animals;
and invoke underworld deities and spirits. They include Lucan's
Erichtho, Horace's Canidia, Ovid's Dipsas, and Apuleius's Meroe.[60]
Witchcraft and folk healers
Main article: Cunning folk
Diorama of a cunning woman or wise woman in the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
Traditionally,
the terms "witch" and "witchcraft" mean those attempt to do harmful
magic, specifically harm done to the person's own community. Most
societies that have believed in witchcraft and black magic have also
believed in helpful types of magic. Some have termed positive magic,
'white magic', at least in more recent eras, in English.[61] Historian
Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th
century.[62]
In these societies, practitioners of helpful magic,
usually known as cunning folk, have traditionally provided services such
as breaking the effects of witchcraft, healing, divination, finding
lost or stolen goods, and love magic.[63] In Britain, and some other
places in Europe, they have commonly been known as cunning folk or wise
people.[63] Alan McFarlane wrote in 1999 that while cunning folk is the
usual name, some are also known as 'blessers' or 'wizards', but might in
some circumstances be known as 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding
witches'.[64] Ronald Hutton uses the general term "service
magicians".[63] Often these people were involved in identifying alleged
witches.[61]
Such beneficial magic-workers "were normally
contrasted with the witch who practised maleficium—that is, magic used
for harmful ends".[65] In the early years of the witch hunts "the
cunning folk were widely tolerated by church, state and general
populace".[65] Some of the more hostile churchmen and secular
authorities tried to smear folk-healers and magic-workers by falsely
branding them 'witches' and associating them with harmful
'witchcraft',[63] but generally the masses did not accept this and
continued to make use of their services.[66] The English MP and skeptic
Reginald Scot sought to disprove magic and witchcraft, writing in The
Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), "At this day, it is indifferent to say
in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'".[67]
Historian Keith Thomas adds "Nevertheless, it is possible to isolate
that kind of 'witchcraft' which involved the employment (or presumed
employment) of some occult means of doing harm to other people in a way
which was generally disapproved of. In this sense the belief in
witchcraft can be defined as the attribution of misfortune to occult
human agency".[8] Emma Wilby says folk magicians in Europe were viewed
ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming
as of healing,[68] which could lead to their being accused as using
witchcraft to harm the innocent. She suggests some English "witches"
convicted of consorting with demons may have been cunning folk whose
supposed fairy familiars had been demonised.[69]
Hutton says that
healers and cunning folk "were sometimes denounced as witches, but seem
to have made up a minority of the accused in any area studied".[61]
Likewise, Davies says "relatively few cunning-folk were prosecuted under
secular statutes for witchcraft" and were dealt with more leniently
than alleged witches. The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) of the
Holy Roman Empire, and the Danish Witchcraft Act of 1617, stated that
workers of folk magic should be dealt with differently from witches.[70]
It was suggested by Richard Horsley that cunning folk
(devins-guerisseurs, 'diviner-healers') made up a significant proportion
of those tried for witchcraft in France and Switzerland, but more
recent surveys conclude that they made up less than 2% of the
accused.[71] However, Éva Pócs says that half the accused witches in
Hungary seem to have been healers,[72] and Kathleen Stokker says the
"vast majority" of Norway's accused witches were folk healers.[73]
Thwarting witchcraft
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A witch bottle, used as counter-magic against witchcraft
Societies
that believed in witchcraft also believed that it could be thwarted in
various ways. One common way was to use protective magic or
counter-magic, of which the cunning folk were experts.[61] This included
charms, talismans and amulets, anti-witch marks, witch bottles, witch
balls, and burying objects such as horse skulls inside the walls of
buildings.[74] Another believed cure for bewitchment was to persuade or
force the alleged witch to lift their spell.[61] Often, people would
attempt to thwart the witchcraft by physically punishing the alleged
witch, such as by banishing, wounding, torturing or killing them. "In
most societies, however, a formal and legal remedy was preferred to this
sort of private action", whereby the alleged witch would be prosecuted
and then formally punished if found guilty.[61] This often resulted in
execution.
Accusations of witchcraft
Alleged witches being accused in the Salem witch trials
Throughout
the world, accusations of witchcraft are often linked to social and
economic tensions. Females are most often accused, but in some cultures
it is mostly males. In many societies, accusations are directed mainly
against the elderly, but in others age is not a factor, and in some
cultures it is mainly adolescents who are accused.[75]
In
pre-modern Europe, most of those accused were women, and accusations of
witchcraft usually came from their neighbors who accused them of
inflicting harm or misfortune by magical means.[76] Macfarlane found
that women made accusations of witchcraft as much as men did. Deborah
Willis adds, "The number of witchcraft quarrels that began between women
may actually have been higher; in some cases, it appears that the
husband as 'head of household' came forward to make statements on behalf
of his wife".[77] Hutton and Davies note that folk healers were
sometimes accused of witchcraft, but made up a minority of the
accused.[61][78] It is also possible that a small proportion of accused
witches may have genuinely sought to harm by magical means.[79]
Éva Pócs writes that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories:[20]
A person was caught in the act of positive or negative sorcery
A well-meaning sorcerer or healer lost their clients' or the authorities' trust
A person did nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbors
A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs or occultism
Witch-hunts and witch-trials
In China
Main article: Chinese shamanism
During
the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141 BCE to 87 BCE) in the Western Han
Dynasty of China, there were instances where the imperial court took
measures to suppress certain religious or spiritual practices, including
those associated with shamanism. Emperor Wu was known for his strong
support of Confucianism, which was the dominant ideology of the Han
Dynasty, and he promoted policies that aimed to consolidate central
authority and unify the cultural and social landscape of the empire.[80]
One
notable event related to the suppression of shamanism occurred in 91
BCE, when Emperor Wu issued an edict that banned a range of "heterodox"
practices, including shamanistic rituals and divination, in favor of
Confucianism. The primary target of these measures was the Wuism or Wu
(巫) tradition, which involved the worship of spirits and the use of
shamanic practices to communicate with them. Wuism was considered by the
Confucian elite to be superstitious witchcraft and at odds with
Confucian principles.[81]
Emperor Wu's suppression of shamanism
was part of a larger effort to centralize power, promote Confucian
ethics, and standardize cultural practices. While the ban on shamanistic
practices did impact certain communities and religious groups, these
measures were not universally applied across the vast territory of the
empire. Local variations and practices persisted in some regions despite
imperial edicts.[80]
The historical record from that time is
limited, and our understanding of these events can be influenced by the
perspectives of the Confucian scholars and officials who documented
them. As a result, there might be some variations in the interpretation
of the exact nature and extent of the expulsion of shamans and other
religious practitioners during Emperor Wu's reign.[80]
In Europe
Main articles: Witch-hunt and Witch trials in the early modern period
A 1613 English pamphlet showing "Witches apprehended, examined and executed"
In
Christianity, sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy
and to be viewed as evil. Among Catholics, Protestants, and the secular
leadership of late medieval/early modern Europe, fears about witchcraft
rose to fever pitch and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts. The
fifteenth century saw a dramatic rise in awareness and terror of
witchcraft. Tens of thousands of people were executed, and others were
imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions
confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some
regions the majority were men.[82][83] In Scots, the word warlock came
to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which can be male or female,
but is used predominantly for females).[84][85][86]
The Malleus
Maleficarum (Latin for 'Hammer of The Witches') was a witch-hunting
manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob
Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants[87] for several
hundred years, outlining how to identify a witch, what makes a woman
more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and
how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically
female. It became the handbook for secular courts throughout Europe, but
was not used by the Inquisition, which even cautioned against relying
on it.[88] It was the most sold book in Europe for over 100 years, after
the Bible.[89]
From the sixteenth century on, there were some
writers who protested against witch trials, witch hunting and the belief
that witchcraft existed. Among them were Johann Weyer, Reginald
Scot,[90] and Friedrich Spee.[91]
European witch-trials reached
their peak in the early 17th century, after which popular sentiment
began to turn against the practice. In 1682, King Louis XIV prohibited
further witch-trials in France. In 1736, Great Britain formally ended
witch-trials with passage of the Witchcraft Act.[92]
Modern witch-hunts
Main article: Modern witch-hunts
Belief
in witchcraft continues to be present today in some societies and
accusations of witchcraft are the trigger for serious forms of violence,
including murder. Such incidents are common in countries such as
Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal and Tanzania.
Accusations of witchcraft are sometimes linked to personal disputes,
jealousy, and conflicts between neighbors or family members over land or
inheritance. Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a
serious issue in the broader context of violence against
women.[93][94][95][96][97] In Tanzania, about 500 old women are murdered
each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a
witch.[98] Apart from extrajudicial violence, state-sanctioned violence
also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, in Saudi Arabia
practicing witchcraft and sorcery is a crime punishable by death and the
country has executed people for this crime in 2011, 2012 and
2014.[99][100][101]
Children who live in some regions of the
world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence that is
related to witchcraft accusations.[102][103][104][105] Such incidents
have also occurred in immigrant communities in the UK, including the
much publicized case of the murder of Victoria Climbié.[106][107]
By region
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Africa
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Witchcraft in Africa. (Discuss) (August 2023)
Further information: Witchcraft accusations against children in Africa and Traditional healers of Southern Africa
An Azande witch doctor, who is believed to cure bewitchment
Much
of what witchcraft represents in Africa has been susceptible to
misunderstandings and confusion, thanks in no small part to a tendency
among western scholars since the time of the now largely discredited
Margaret Murray to approach the subject through a comparative lens
vis-a-vis European witchcraft.[108]
While some colonialists tried
to eradicate witch hunting by introducing legislation to prohibit
accusations of witchcraft, some of the countries where this was the case
have formally recognized the existence of witchcraft via the law. This
has produced an environment that encourages persecution of suspected
witches.[109]
Azande
Main article: Azande witchcraft
Cameroon
In
eastern Cameroon, the term used for witchcraft among the Maka is
djambe[110] and refers to a force inside a person; its powers may make
the proprietor more vulnerable. It encompasses the occult, the
transformative, killing and healing.[111]
Central African Republic
Every
year, hundreds of people in the Central African Republic are convicted
of witchcraft.[112] Christian militias in the Central African Republic
have also kidnapped, burnt and buried alive women accused of being
'witches' in public ceremonies.[113]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
As
of 2006, between 25,000 and 50,000 children in Kinshasa, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, had been accused of witchcraft and thrown out of
their homes.[114] These children have been subjected to often-violent
abuse during exorcisms, sometimes supervised by self-styled religious
pastors. Other pastors and Christian activists strongly oppose such
accusations and try to rescue children from their unscrupulous
colleagues.[115] The usual term for these children is enfants sorciers
('child witches') or enfants dits sorciers ('children accused of
witchcraft'). In 2002, USAID funded the production of two short films on
the subject, made in Kinshasa by journalists Angela Nicoara and Mike
Ormsby.
In April 2008, in Kinshasa, the police arrested 14
suspected victims (of penis snatching) and sorcerers accused of using
black magic or witchcraft to steal (make disappear) or shrink men's
penises to extort cash for cure, amid a wave of panic.[116]
According
to one study, the belief in magical warfare technologies (such as
"bulletproofing") in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo serves
a group-level function, as it increases group efficiency in warfare,
even if it is suboptimal at the individual level.[117] The authors of
the study argue that this is one reason why the belief in witchcraft
persists.[117]
Complimentary remarks about witchcraft by a native Congolese initiate:
From witchcraft [...] may be developed the remedy (kimbuki) that will
do most to raise up our country.[118] Witchcraft [...] deserves respect
[...] it can embellish or redeem (ketula evo vuukisa)."[119] The
ancestors were equipped with the protective witchcraft of the clan
(kindoki kiandundila kanda). [...] They could also gather the power of
animals into their hands [...] whenever they needed. [...] If we could
make use of these kinds of witchcraft, our country would rapidly
progress in knowledge of every kind.[120] You witches (zindoki) too,
bring your science into the light to be written down so that [...] the
benefits in it [...] endow our race.[121]
Ghana
Main article: Witchcraft in Ghana
In
Ghana, women are often accused of witchcraft and attacked by
neighbours.[122] Because of this, there exist six witch camps in the
country where women suspected of being witches can flee for safety.[123]
The witch camps, which exist solely in Ghana, are thought to house a
total of around 1000 women.[123] Some of the camps are thought to have
been set up over 100 years ago.[123] The Ghanaian government has
announced that it intends to close the camps.[123]
Arrests were
made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana in 1997, when twelve
alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs.[124] While it is
easy for modern people to dismiss such reports, Uchenna Okeja argues
that a belief system in which such magical practices are deemed possible
offer many benefits to Africans who hold them. For example, the belief
that a sorcerer has "stolen" a man's penis functions as an
anxiety-reduction mechanism for men suffering from impotence, while
simultaneously providing an explanation that is consistent with African
cultural beliefs rather than appealing to Western scientific notions
that are, in the eyes of many Africans, tainted by the history of
colonialism.[125]
Kenya
It was reported that a mob in Kenya had burnt to death at least eleven people accused of witchcraft in 2008.[126]
Malawi
In
Malawi it is common practice to accuse children of witchcraft and many
children have been abandoned, abused, and even killed as a result. As in
other African countries, both a number of African traditional healers
and some of their Christian counterparts are trying to make a living out
of exorcising children and are actively involved in pointing out
children as witches.[127] Various secular and Christian organizations
are combining their efforts to address this problem.[128]
According
to William Kamkwamba, witches and wizards are afraid of money, which
they consider a rival evil. Any contact with cash will snap their spell
and leave the wizard naked and confused, so placing cash, such as
kwacha, around a room or bed mat will protect the resident from their
malevolent spells.[129]
Nigeria
In Nigeria, several
Pentecostal pastors have mixed their evangelical brand of Christianity
with African beliefs in witchcraft to benefit from the lucrative
witch-finding and exorcism business—which in the past was the exclusive
domain of the so-called witch doctor or traditional healers. These
pastors have been involved in the torturing and even killing of children
accused of witchcraft.[130] Over the past decade,[when?] around 15,000
children have been accused, and around 1,000 murdered. Churches are very
numerous in Nigeria, and competition for congregations is hard. Some
pastors attempt to establish a reputation for spiritual power by
"detecting" child witches, usually following a death or loss of a job
within a family, or an accusation of financial fraud against the pastor.
In the course of "exorcisms", accused children may be starved, beaten,
mutilated, set on fire, forced to consume acid or cement, or buried
alive. While some church leaders and Christian activists have spoken out
strongly against these abuses, many Nigerian churches are involved in
the abuse, although church administrations deny knowledge of it.[131]
In
May 2020, fifteen adults, mostly women, were set ablaze after being
accused of witchcraft, including the mother of the instigator of the
attack, Thomas Obi Tawo, a local politician.[109]
Sierra Leone
Among
the Mende (of Sierra Leone), trial and conviction for witchcraft has a
beneficial effect for those convicted. "The witchfinder had warned the
whole village to ensure the relative prosperity of the accused and
sentenced ... old people. ... Six months later all of the people ...
accused, were secure, well-fed and arguably happier than at any
[previous] time; they had hardly to beckon and people would come with
food or whatever was needful. ... Instead of such old and widowed people
being left helpless or (as in Western society) institutionalized in old
people's homes, these were reintegrated into society and left secure in
their old age ... Old people are 'suitable' candidates for this kind of
accusation in the sense that they are isolated and vulnerable, and they
are 'suitable' candidates for 'social security' for precisely the same
reasons."[132] In Kuranko language, the term for witchcraft is
suwa'ye[133] referring to 'extraordinary powers'.
Zulu
In Zulu
culture, herbal and spiritual healers called sangomas protect people
from evil spirits and witchcraft. They perform divination and healing
with ancestral spirits and usually train with elders for about five to
seven years.[134][135] In the cities, however, some offer trainings that
take only several months, but there is concern about
inadequately-trained and fraudulent "sangomas" exploiting and harming
people who may come to them for help.[136][137][138][139] Another type
of healer is the inyanga, who heals people with plant and animal parts.
This is a profession that is hereditary, and passed down through family
lines. While there used to be more of a distinction between the two
types of healers, in contemporary practice, the terms are often used
interchangeably.[140][141][142]
Americas
North America
It
has been suggested that this section be split out into another article
titled Witchcraft in North America. (Discuss) (August 2023)
British America and the United States
See also: Witchcraft in Colonial America
Massachusetts
Examination of a Witch by T. H. Matteson, inspired by the Salem witch trials
In
1645, Springfield, Massachusetts, experienced America's first
accusations of witchcraft when husband and wife Hugh and Mary Parsons
accused each other of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial, Hugh
was found innocent, while Mary was acquitted of witchcraft but sentenced
to be hanged for the death of her child. She died in prison.[143]
In
1648 Margaret Jones (Puritan midwife) was the first person to be
executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony. From 1645 to 1663,
about eighty people throughout England's Massachusetts Bay Colony were
accused of practicing witchcraft. Thirteen women and two men were
executed in a witch-hunt that lasted throughout New England from 1645 to
1663.[144] The Salem witch trials followed in 1692–93. These witch
trials were the most famous in British North America and took place in
the coastal settlements near Salem, Massachusetts. Prior to the witch
trials, nearly three hundred men and women had been suspected of
partaking in witchcraft, and nineteen of these people were hanged, and
one was "pressed to death".[145]
Despite being generally known as
the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted
in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village (now Danvers),
Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover. The best-known trials were conducted
by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town.[146][citation
needed][147] The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatized and partially
fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93.
Maryland
Main article: Maryland Witch Trials
In
Maryland, there is a legend of Moll Dyer, who escaped a fire set by
fellow colonists only to die of exposure in December 1697. The
historical record of Dyer is scant as all official records were burned
in a courthouse fire, though the county courthouse has on display the
rock where her frozen body was found. A letter from a colonist of the
period describes her in most unfavourable terms. A local road is named
after Dyer, where her homestead was said to have been. Many local
families have their own version of the Moll Dyer affair, and her name is
spoken with care in the rural southern counties.[148]
Pennsylvania
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Margaret
Mattson and another woman were tried in 1683 on accusations of
witchcraft in the Province of Pennsylvania. They were acquitted by
William Penn after a trial in Philadelphia. These are the only known
trials for witchcraft in Pennsylvania history.
Some of Margaret's
neighbors claimed that she had bewitched cattle.[149] Charges of
practicing witchcraft were brought before the Pennsylvania Provincial
Council in February 1683 (under Julian calendar).[150] This occurred
nineteen years after the Swedish territory became a British common law
colony and subject to English Witchcraft Act 1604.[151] Accused by
several neighbors, as well as her own daughter in law, Mattson's alleged
crimes included making threats against neighbors, causing cows to give
little milk,[152] bewitching and killing livestock and appearing to
witnesses in spectral form. On February 27, 1683, charges against
Mattson and a neighbor Gertro (a.k.a. Yeshro) Jacobsson, wife of
Hendrick Jacobsson, were brought by the Attorney General before a grand
jury of 21 men overseen by the colony's proprietor, William Penn. The
grand jury returned a true bill indictment that afternoon, and the cases
proceeded to trial.[150] A petit jury of twelve men was selected by
Penn and an interpreter was appointed for the Finnish women, who did not
speak English.[153] Penn barred the use of prosecution and defense
lawyers, conducted the questioning himself, and permitted the
introduction of unsubstantiated hearsay.[152] Penn himself gave the
closing charge and directions to the jury, but what he told them was not
transcribed. According to the minutes of the Provincial Council, dated
February 27, 1683, the jury returned with a verdict of "Guilty of having
the Comon Fame of a Witch, but not Guilty in manner and Forme as Shee
stands Endicted."[152][154]
Thus Mattson was found guilty of
having the reputation of a witch, but not guilty of bewitching animals.
Neither woman was convicted of witchcraft. "Hence the superstitious got
enough to have their thinking affirmed. Those less superstitious, and
justice minded, got what they wanted."[155] The accused were released on
their husbands' posting recognizance bonds of 50 pounds and promising
six months' good behavior.[156][150]
A popular legend tells of
William Penn dismissing the charges against Mattson by affirming her
legal right to fly on a broomstick over Philadelphia, saying "Well, I
know of no law against it."[152] The record fails to show any such
commentary, but the story probably reflects popular views of Penn's
socially progressive Quaker values.[157]
Tennessee
Accusations of witchcraft and wizardry led to the prosecution of a man in Tennessee as recently as 1833.[158][159][160]
Native Americans in the United States
Native
American communities such as the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Delaware,
Hopi, Miami, Natchez, Navajo and Seneca have historically defined
witches as evil-doers who harm their own communities. Witches are
traditionally seen as criminals, and witchcraft as a crime punishable by
death, if nothing else as a last resort.[161][162][163] While some
communities have passed laws specifically outlawing vigilante killings,
traditional views of witches and witchcraft have largely remained the
same into 20th century,[161] and through to the present among
traditionals.[163]
Witches in these communities are defined in
contrast to medicine people, who are the healers and ceremonial leaders,
and who provide protection against witches and witchcraft.[161][162]
Cherokee
The
Cherokee have traditional monster stories of witches, such as Raven
Mocker (Kâ'lanû Ahkyeli'skï) and Spearfinger (U'tlun'ta), both known as
dangerous killers.[164][165]
Among the Cherokee, the medicine
people are seen as a "priesthood caste",[166] known to work together in
groups to help the community. As in other Native communities, they are
defined as the opposite of witches, who are seen as criminals,[161]
In contrast, the traditional Cherokee witch lives alone, eats alone
(fearful of being poisoned), and commits heinous acts alone,
surreptitiously under the cover of darkness. Jealous and hypersensitive
by nature, the Cherokee witch lives in the ever-fearful grip of being
publicly exposed.[161]
Cherokee healers have "doctored" dogs so the dogs can help them detect witches.[161]
As
in the other tribes that have agreed to talk to anthropologists,
witchcraft has been traditionally punished by death in Cherokee
communities. In 1824 the western Cherokee passed new laws "forbidding
the wanton killing of suspected witches",[167] however, this attitude
and retribution appears to have continued at the same rate in both the
Cherokee and Creek communities throughout the 19th Century.[167] In the
twentieth century, many communities responded to allegations of
witchcraft with mental health treatment, including medication. But
despite changes in laws and perspectives, Kilpatrick (quoting Shimony
(1989)) wrote in 1998 that one does still occasionally read about "the
demise of a suspected witch in Native American communities" but that
most of these deaths take place "only while the witch is in animal guise
(by shooting) or by means of counter-witchcraft".[161]
Hopi
The Hopi have many beliefs and concerns about witches and witchcraft.
To the Hopis, witches or evil-hearted persons deliberately try to
destroy social harmony by sowing discontent, doubt, and criticism
through evil gossip as well as by actively combating medicine men.[163]
Suspicious
deaths are often blamed on witchcraft, with members of the community
trying to figure out who might be a witch, and who might have caused the
death or other misfortune.[163]
They are called popwaqt, the
plural of powaqa, "witch" or "sorcerer." They are unequivocally evil,
casting spells, causing illness, killing babies, and destroying the life
cycle. They practice powaqqatsi, the "life of evil sorcery." The Hopis
call them kwitavi, "shit people."
....
a witch is a
person who kills close family relatives in order to prolong his or her
own life by four years. By killing, I mean causing through occult means
an unnatural death, such as stillbirth, infants dying of ordinary
illnesses, or healthy adults suffering from strange illnesses. Witches
are also the occult cause of unusual circumstances, such as hailstorms
on a sunny day, extreme drought, or people suffering bad fortune.[163]
Navajo
There
are several varieties of those considered to be witches by the Navajo.
The most common variety seen in horror fiction by non-Navajo people is
the yee naaldlooshii (a type of 'ánti'įhnii),[168] known in English as
the skin-walker. They are believed to take the forms of animals in order
to travel in secret and do harm to the innocent.[168] In the Navajo
language, yee naaldlooshii translates to 'with it, he goes on all
fours'.[168] C (Navajo: áńt'į́, literally 'witchery' or 'harming') is a
from powdered corpses. The powder is used by witches to curse their
victims.[5] Traditional Navajos usually hesitate to discuss things like
witches and witchcraft with non-Navajos.[169] As with other traditional
cultures, the term "witch" is never used for healers or others who help
the community with their ceremonies and spiritual work.[162]
Latin America
Main article: Witchcraft in Latin America
When
Franciscan friars from New Spain arrived in the Americas in 1524, they
introduced Diabolism—belief in the Christian Devil—to the Indigenous
peoples of the Americas.[170] Bartolomé de las Casas believed that human
sacrifice was not diabolic, in fact far off from it, and was a natural
result of religious expression.[170] Mexican Indians gladly took in the
belief of Diabolism and still managed to keep their belief in
creator-destroyer deities.[171]
Witchcraft was an important part
of the social and cultural history of late-Colonial Mexico, during the
Mexican Inquisition. Spanish Inquisitors viewed witchcraft as a problem
that could be cured simply through confession. Yet, as anthropologist
Ruth Behar writes, witchcraft, not only in Mexico but in Latin America
in general, was a "conjecture of sexuality, witchcraft, and religion, in
which Spanish, indigenous, and African cultures converged."[172]
Furthermore, witchcraft in Mexico generally required an interethnic and
interclass network of witches.[173] Yet, according to anthropology
professor Laura Lewis, witchcraft in colonial Mexico ultimately
represented an "affirmation of hegemony" for women, Indians, and
especially Indian women over their white male counterparts as a result
of the casta system.[174]
The presence of the witch is a constant
in the ethnographic history of colonial Brazil, especially during the
several denunciations and confessions given to the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith of Bahia (1591–1593), Pernambuco and Paraíba
(1593–1595).[175]
Brujería, often called a Latin American form of
witchcraft, is a syncretic Afro-Caribbean tradition that combines
Indigenous religious and magical practices from Aruba, Bonaire, and
Curaçao in the Dutch Caribbean, Catholicism, and European
witchcraft.[176] The tradition and terminology is considered to
encompass both helpful and harmful practices.[177] A male practitioner
is called a brujo, a female practitioner, a bruja.[177] Healers may be
further distinguished by the terms kurioso or kuradó, a man or woman who
performs trabou chikí ("little works") and trabou grandi ("large
treatments") to promote or restore health, bring fortune or misfortune,
deal with unrequited love, and more serious concerns. Sorcery usually
involves reference to an entity referred to as the almasola or homber
chiki.[178]
Asia
Main article: Asian witchcraft
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Okabe – The cat witch, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Asian
witchcraft encompasses various types of witchcraft practices across
Asia. In ancient times, magic played a significant role in societies
such as ancient Egypt and Babylonia, as evidenced by historical records.
In the Middle East, references to magic can be found in the Torah,
where witchcraft is condemned due to its association with belief in
magic.
In the New Testament, both Galatians and Revelation
condemn sorcery, though there is debate over the exact meaning of the
Greek term "pharmakeía". Islamic beliefs incorporate divination and
magic, including black magic, with the Quran offering protection against
malevolent forces. Miracles in Islam are attributed to angels and pious
individuals, distinct from witchcraft.
Judaism views witchcraft
as tied to idolatry and necromancy, and although some rabbis practiced
magic, it was often seen as divine intervention rather than witchcraft.
In Nepal, accusations of witchcraft result in severe mistreatment of
women, leading to societal marginalization and even death. India has
seen incidents of witchcraft-related violence and murder, often
targeting women accused of being witches.
In Chinese culture, the
practice of "Gong Tau" involves black magic for purposes such as
revenge and financial assistance. Japanese folklore features witch
figures who employ foxes as familiars. Korean history includes instances
of individuals being condemned for using spells. The Philippines has
its own tradition of witches, distinct from Western portrayals, with
their practices often countered by indigenous shamans.
Overall,
witchcraft beliefs and practices in Asia vary widely across cultures,
reflecting historical, religious, and social contexts.
Europe
Main article: European witchcraft
Witchcraft
in Europe between 500 and 1750 was believed to be a combination of
sorcery and heresy. While sorcery attempts to produce negative
supernatural effects through formulas and rituals, heresy is the
Christian contribution to witchcraft in which an individual makes a pact
with the Devil. In addition, heresy denies witches the recognition of
important Christian values such as baptism, salvation, Christ, and
sacraments.[179] The beginning of the witch accusations in Europe took
place in the 14th and 15th centuries, but as the social disruptions of
the 16th century took place, witchcraft trials intensified.[180]
A
1555 German print showing the burning of witches. Current scholarly
estimates of the number of people executed for witchcraft in Europe vary
between 40,000 and 100,000.[181] The number of witch trials in Europe
known to have ended in executions is around 12,000.[182]
In Early
Modern European tradition, witches were stereotypically, though not
exclusively, women.[82][183] European pagan belief in witchcraft was
associated with the goddess Diana and dismissed as "diabolical
fantasies" by medieval Christian authors.[184] Throughout Europe, there
were an estimated 110,000 witchcraft trials between 1450 and 1750 (with
1560 to 1660 being the peak of persecutions), with half of the cases
seeing the accused being executed.[185] Witch-hunts first appeared in
large numbers in southern France and Switzerland during the 14th and
15th centuries. The peak years of witch-hunts in southwest Germany were
from 1561 to 1670.[186]
It was commonly believed that individuals
with power and prestige were involved in acts of witchcraft and even
cannibalism.[187] Because Europe had a lot of power over individuals
living in West Africa, Europeans in positions of power were often
accused of taking part in these practices. Though it is not likely that
these individuals were actually involved in these practices, they were
most likely associated due to Europe's involvement in things like the
slave trade, which negatively affected the lives of many individuals in
the Atlantic World throughout the fifteenth through seventeenth
centuries.[187]
Early converts to Christianity looked to
Christian clergy to work magic more effectively than the old methods
under Roman paganism, and Christianity provided a methodology involving
saints and relics, similar to the gods and amulets of the Pagan world.
As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, its concern with
magic lessened.[188]
The Protestant Christian explanation for
witchcraft, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle
witches, commonly involves a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to
the intervention of the spirits of evil. The witches or wizards engaged
in such practices were alleged to reject Jesus and the sacraments;
observe "the witches' sabbath" (performing infernal rites that often
parodied the Mass or other sacraments of the Church); pay Divine honour
to the Prince of Darkness; and, in return, receive from him
preternatural powers. It was a folkloric belief that a Devil's Mark,
like the brand on cattle, was placed upon a witch's skin by the devil to
signify that this pact had been made.[189]
Oceania
Cook Islands
In
pre-Christian times, witchcraft was a common practice in the Cook
Islands. The native name for a sorcerer was tangata purepure (a man who
prays).[190] The prayers offered by the ta'unga (priests)[191] to the
gods worshiped on national or tribal marae (temples) were termed
karakia;[192] those on minor occasions to the lesser gods were named
pure. All these prayers were metrical, and were handed down from
generation to generation with the utmost care. There were prayers for
every such phase in life; for success in battle; for a change in wind
(to overwhelm an adversary at sea, or that an intended voyage be
propitious); that his crops may grow; to curse a thief; or wish ill-luck
and death to his foes. Few men of middle age were without a number of
these prayers or charms. The succession of a sorcerer was from father to
son, or from uncle to nephew. So too of sorceresses: it would be from
mother to daughter, or from aunt to niece. Sorcerers and sorceresses
were often slain by relatives of their supposed victims.[193]
A
singular enchantment was employed to kill off a husband of a pretty
woman desired by someone else. The expanded flower of a Gardenia was
stuck upright—a very difficult performance—in a cup (i.e., half a large
coconut shell) of water. A prayer was then offered for the husband's
speedy death, the sorcerer earnestly watching the flower. Should it fall
the incantation was successful. But if the flower still remained
upright, he will live. The sorcerer would in that case try his skill
another day, with perhaps better success.[194]
According to
Beatrice Grimshaw, a journalist who visited the Cook Islands in 1907,
the uncrowned Queen Makea was believed to have possessed the mystic
power called mana, giving the possessor the power to slay at will. It
also included other gifts, such as second sight to a certain extent, as
well as the power to bring good or evil luck.[195]
Papua New Guinea
A
local newspaper informed that more than fifty people were killed in two
Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly
practicing witchcraft.[196] An estimated 50–150 alleged witches are
killed each year in Papua New Guinea.[197]
Demographics and surveys
Further information: § By region
A
2022 study found that belief in witchcraft, as in the use of malevolent
magic or powers, is still widespread in some parts of the world. It
found that belief in witchcraft varied from 9% of people in some
countries to 90% in others, and was linked to cultural and socioeconomic
factors. Stronger belief in witchcraft correlated with poorer economic
development, weak institutions, lower levels of education, lower life
expectancy, lower life satisfaction, and high religiosity.[198][199]
It contrasted two hypotheses about future changes in witchcraft belief:[199]
witchcraft beliefs should decline "in the process of development due to
improved security and health, lower exposure to shocks, spread of
education and scientific approach to explaining life events" according
to standard modernization theory
"some aspects of development,
namely rising inequality, globalization, technological change, and
migration, may instead revive witchcraft beliefs by disrupting
established social order" according to literature largely inspired by
observations from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Prevalence of belief in witchcraft by country[199]
Prevalence of belief in witchcraft by country[199]
Socio-demographic correlates of witchcraft beliefs[199]
Socio-demographic correlates of witchcraft beliefs[199]
In
the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian state media claimed that
Ukraine was using black magic against the Russian military, specifically
accusing Oleksiy Arestovych of enlisting sorcerers and witches as well
as Ukrainian soldiers of consecrating weapons "with blood
magick".[200][201]
Neopagan Witchcraft
Main articles: Neopagan witchcraft and Wicca
During
the 20th century, interest in witchcraft rose in English-speaking and
European countries. From the 1920s, Margaret Murray popularized the
'witch-cult hypothesis': the idea that those persecuted as 'witches' in
early modern Europe were followers of a benevolent pagan religion that
had survived the Christianization of Europe. This has been discredited
by further historical research.[202][203]
From the 1930s, occult
neopagan groups began to emerge who called their religion a kind of
'witchcraft'. They were initiatory secret societies inspired by Murray's
'witch cult' theory, ceremonial magic, Aleister Crowley's Thelema, and
historical paganism.[204][205][206] The biggest religious movement to
emerge from this is Wicca. They do not use the term 'witchcraft' in the
traditional way, but instead define their practices as a kind of
"positive magic".
Today, some Wiccans and members of related
traditions self-identify as "witches" and use the term "witchcraft" for
their magico-religious beliefs and practices, primarily in Western
anglophone countries.[13] Various forms of Wicca are now practised as a
religion with positive ethical principles, organized into autonomous
covens and led by a High Priesthood. A survey published in 2000 cited
just over 200,000 people who reported practicing Wicca in the United
States.[207] There is also an "Eclectic Wiccan" movement of individuals
and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no formal link with
traditional Wiccan covens. Some Wiccan-inspired neopagans call their
beliefs and practices "traditional witchcraft" or the "traditional
craft" rather than Wicca.[208]
Witches in art and literature
Further information: European witchcraft § Witchcraft in art and literature, and List of fictional witches
Albrecht Dürer c. 1500: Witch riding backwards on a goat
Witches
have a long history of being depicted in art, although most of their
earliest artistic depictions seem to originate in Early Modern Europe,
particularly the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Many scholars
attribute their manifestation in art as inspired by texts such as Canon
Episcopi, a demonology-centered work of literature, and Malleus
Maleficarum, a "witch-craze" manual published in 1487, by Heinrich
Kramer and Jacob Sprenger.[209] Witches in fiction span a wide array of
characterizations. They are typically, but not always, female, and
generally depicted as either villains or heroines." (wikipedia.org)
"A
curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison,
anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of
adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a
place, or an object.[1] In particular, "curse" may refer to such a wish
or pronouncement made effective by a supernatural or spiritual power,
such as a god or gods, a spirit, or a natural force, or else as a kind
of spell by magic (usually black magic) or witchcraft; in the latter
sense, a curse can also be called a hex or a jinx. In many belief
systems, the curse itself (or accompanying ritual) is considered to have
some causative force in the result. To reverse or eliminate a curse is
sometimes called "removal" or "breaking", as the spell has to be
dispelled, and often requires elaborate rituals or prayers....Types
Ancient Greek curse tablet, text written onto a lead sheet, 4th century BC, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens.
The
study of the forms of curses comprises a significant proportion of the
study of both folk religion and folklore. The deliberate attempt to levy
curses is often part of the practice of magic. In Hindu culture, the
Sage or Rishi is believed to have the power to bless (Āshirvada or Vara)
and curse (Shaapa). Examples include the curse placed by Rishi Bhrigu
on king Nahusha[3] and the one placed by Rishi Devala.[4] Special names
for specific types of curses can be found in various cultures:
African American hoodoo presents us with the jinx and crossed
conditions, as well as a form of foot track magic which was used by
Ramandeep, whereby cursed objects are laid in the paths of victims and
activated when walked over.
Middle Eastern and Mediterranean
culture is the source of the belief in the evil eye, which may be the
result of envy or, more rarely, is said to be the result of a deliberate
curse. In order to be protected from the evil eye, a protection item is
made from dark blue circular glass, with a circle of white around the
black dot in the middle, which is reminiscent of a human eye. The size
of the protective eye item may vary.
German people, including the
Pennsylvania Dutch, speak in terms of hexing (from hexen, the German
word for doing witchcraft), and a common hex in days past was that laid
by a stable-witch who caused milk cows to go dry and horses to go lame.
Egyptians and mummies
Limestone
donation-stele from Mendes, 3rd Intermediate Period, Dynasty XXII. The
inscription celebrates a donation of land to an Egyptian temple, and
places a curse on anyone who would misuse or appropriate the land.
There
is a broad popular belief in curses being associated with the violation
of the tombs of mummified corpses, or of the mummies themselves. The
idea became so widespread as to become a pop-culture mainstay,
especially in horror films (though originally the curse was invisible, a
series of mysterious deaths, rather than the walking-dead mummies of
later fiction). The "Curse of the Pharaohs" is supposed to have haunted
the archeologists who excavated the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, whereby
an imprecation was supposedly pronounced from the grave by the ancient
Egyptian priests, on anyone who violated its precincts. Similar dubious
suspicions have surrounded the excavation and examination of the
(natural, not embalmed) Alpine mummy, "Ötzi the Iceman". While such
curses are generally considered to have been popularized and
sensationalized by British journalists of the 19th century, ancient
Egyptians were, in fact, known to place curse inscriptions on markers
protecting temple or tomb goods or property.
In the Bible
Shimei curses David, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld
Further information: Curse and mark of Cain and Curse of Ham
According
to the Catholic Encyclopedia article Cursing, the Bible depicts God
cursing the serpent, the earth, and Cain (Genesis 3:14, 3:17,[5] 4:11).
Similarly, Noah curses Canaan (Genesis 9:25), and Joshua curses the man
who should build the city of Jericho (Joshua 6:26–27). In various books
of the Hebrew Bible, there are long lists of curses against
transgressors of the Law (Leviticus 26:14–25, Deuteronomy 27:15, etc.).
The 10 Plagues of Egypt, preceding the 10 Commandments, can be seen as
curses cast from the rods of Aaron and Moses acting on instruction from
the God of Israel, in order to enable the enthralled to come free from
the yoke of enforced serfdom, slavery and the like.
In the New
Testament, Christ curses the barren fig tree (Mark 11:14), pronounces
his denunciation of woe against the incredulous cities (Matthew 11:21),
against the rich, the worldly, the scribes, and the Pharisees, and
foretells the awful malediction that is to come upon the damned (Matthew
25:41). The word curse is also applied to the victim of expiation for
sin (Galatians 3:13), to sins temporal and eternal (Genesis 2:17;
Matthew 25:41).[6]
In Japanese culture
In Japanese culture
curses are called Tatari. They are believed to occur due to people
disrespecting kami including dead people such as Onryō.
A sign in Japan indicating that people who commit Public urination will be cursed
Objects
See also: List of allegedly cursed objects
Ancient
Greek cursed object against enemies in a trial, written on a lead
figurine put in a lead box, 420-410 BC, Kerameikos Archaeological
Museum, Athens.
Cursed objects are generally supposed to have
been stolen from their rightful owners or looted from a sanctuary. The
Hope Diamond is supposed to bear such a curse, and bring misfortune to
its owner. The stories behind why these items are cursed vary, but they
usually are said to bring bad luck or to manifest unusual phenomena
related to their presence. Busby's stoop chair was reportedly cursed by
the murderer Thomas Busby shortly before his execution so that everyone
who would sit in it would die.
According to the Bible, cursed
objects are those which are used in idolatry whether that idolatry is
indirectly or directly connected to the devil. A list of those Bible
references along with a comprehensive list of occult and cursed objects
can be found online.[7]
Bishop Dunbar's curse
The Cursing Stone art work in Carlisle, England, by Gordon Young with an extract from the bishop's curse
In
1525 Gavin Dunbar, archbishop of Glasgow, Scotland, pronounced a curse
on the Anglo-Scottish Border reivers and caused it to be read out in all
churches in the border area. It comprehensively cursed the reivers and
their families from head to toe and in every way.[8][9] In 2003 a
371-word extract from the curse was carved into a 14 ton granite boulder
as part of an art work by Gordon Young which was installed in Carlisle;
some local people believed that a series of misfortunes (floods,
factory closure, footballing defeats etc) were caused by the curse, and
campaigned unsuccessfully for the destruction of the stone.[10][11]
As a plot device
Curses
have also been used as plot devices in literature and theater. When
used as a plot device, they involve one character placing a curse or hex
over another character. This is distinguished from adverse spells and
premonitions and other such plot devices. Examples of the curse as a
plot device:
Rigoletto – Count Monterone places a curse on Rigoletto. Rigoletto blames the climactic death of his daughter on the curse.
Romeo and Juliet – A dying Mercutio curses the Montagues and Capulets
with "A plague o' both your houses." (Often quoted as "a pox on both
your houses.")
Sleeping Beauty – Evil fairy Carabosse (Maleficent
in the Disney film) casts a curse on Princess Aurora to die on her 16th
birthday.
Beauty and the Beast – A fairy punishes a conceited prince by transforming him into a hideous beast.
The Six Swans (and variants) – a mother curses her six (seven, twelve)
sons into bird form, and their sister must sew magic shirts to reverse
the transformation
Shrek – Princess Fiona was cursed to be human by day, but ogre by night.
There Will Be Blood – Daniel Plainview was cursed by Eli Sunday through
"blessing" of Daniel's oil rig and through "baptism".[citation needed]
Resident Evil Village – Ethan Winters after a bloody duel with Lady
Dimitrescu tormenting and taunting him that he will never see his
daughter Rose again and utters a curse on him before disintegrates and
calcifies to her death.
Drag Me To Hell – Christine Brown was
cursed by Sylvia Ganush to experience three days of torture, then the
lamia will drag her to hell.
Someone Behind You – Ga-in finds
herself being the target of an ancient family curse fearing that her
family and friends are out to kill her.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
JoJolion – The Higashikata Family is cursed to have the firstborn son
turn into stone at the age of 10.
Sports
Main article: Sports-related curses
A
number of curses are used to explain the failures or misfortunes of
specific sports teams, players, or even cities. For example:
No first-time winner of the World Snooker Championship has successfully
defended his title since the event was first held at the Crucible
Theatre in Sheffield in 1977. This has been widely attributed to a
Crucible Curse.
The Curse of the Billy Goat was used to explain
the failures of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, who did not win a World
Series championship between 1908 and 2016, and a National League pennant
between 1945 and 2016.
The Curse of the Bambino is a cliche
popularized by a Boston Globe sportswriter to describe a decades-long
championship drought for the Boston Red Sox team in Major League
Baseball. "Bambino" was a nickname for Babe Ruth, the team's star when
Boston won the last three of its first five World Series titles. In
1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to his team's archrival New
York Yankees, which won four World Series with him. It took Boston 86
years to win another World Series. The Red Sox reversed history in the
2004 American League Championship Series (ALCS), losing the first three
games of a best-of-seven series against the Yankees before winning four
in a row to take the league pennant in unprecedented and dramatic style.
This comeback is considered one of the greatest in sports history. The
Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series in
four games, a triumph which many fans considered the end of the "curse."
The Red Sox have won three more World Series since then.
The
Krukow Kurse was used to explain the San Francisco Giants' failure to
ever win the World Series until 2010. It is attributed to Mike Krukow (a
former pitcher for the Giants and a current broadcaster for the team)
based upon his yearly pre-season predictions that the Giants "have a
chance" to win the World Series. Once Krukow stops making such
predictions—says the legend—the Giants will, in fact, win the World
Series. However, the Giants went on to win the World Series in 2010. It
was during the same year that Krukow's partner, Giants broadcaster,
Duane Kuiper, stated, "Giants baseball, it's torture!", due to the large
amount of close games that they played. This phrase was adopted by fans
and became a rallying cry throughout the second half of the season and
the playoff run.
Marketing experts have highlighted the curse of
Gillette, given the mishaps that happen to sports stars associated with
the brand." (wikipedia.org)
"A
ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and
corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an
inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high
temperature.[1][2] Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and
brick.
The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects
(pots, vessels, or vases) or figurines made from clay, either by itself
or mixed with other materials like silica, hardened and sintered in
fire. Later, ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored
surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of glassy, amorphous
ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates.[3]
Ceramics now include domestic, industrial, and building products, as
well as a wide range of materials developed for use in advanced ceramic
engineering, such as semiconductors.
The word ceramic comes from
the Ancient Greek word κεραμικός (keramikós), meaning "of or for
pottery"[4] (from κέραμος (kéramos) 'potter's clay, tile, pottery').[5]
The earliest known mention of the root ceram- is the Mycenaean Greek
ke-ra-me-we, workers of ceramic, written in Linear B syllabic script.[6]
The word ceramic can be used as an adjective to describe a material,
product, or process, or it may be used as a noun, either singular or,
more commonly, as the plural noun ceramics....A ceramic is any of the
various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials
made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material,
such as clay, at a high temperature.[1][2] Common examples are
earthenware, porcelain, and brick.
The earliest ceramics made by
humans were pottery objects (pots, vessels, or vases) or figurines made
from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silica,
hardened and sintered in fire. Later, ceramics were glazed and fired to
create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of
glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic
substrates.[3] Ceramics now include domestic, industrial, and building
products, as well as a wide range of materials developed for use in
advanced ceramic engineering, such as semiconductors.
The word
ceramic comes from the Ancient Greek word κεραμικός (keramikós), meaning
"of or for pottery"[4] (from κέραμος (kéramos) 'potter's clay, tile,
pottery').[5] The earliest known mention of the root ceram- is the
Mycenaean Greek ke-ra-me-we, workers of ceramic, written in Linear B
syllabic script.[6] The word ceramic can be used as an adjective to
describe a material, product, or process, or it may be used as a noun,
either singular or, more commonly, as the plural noun ceramics."
(wikipedia.org)
"Mysticism
is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute,[1][2] but
may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which
is given a religious or spiritual meaning.[web 1] It may also refer to
the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human
transformation supported by various practices and experiences.[web 2]
The
term "mysticism" has Ancient Greek origins with various historically
determined meanings.[web 1][web 2] Derived from the Greek word μύω múō,
meaning "to close" or "to conceal",[web 2] mysticism referred to the
biblical, liturgical, spiritual, and contemplative dimensions of early
and medieval Christianity.[3] During the early modern period, the
definition of mysticism grew to include a broad range of beliefs and
ideologies related to "extraordinary experiences and states of mind."[4]
In
modern times, "mysticism" has acquired a limited definition, with broad
applications, as meaning the aim at the "union with the Absolute, the
Infinite, or God".[web 1] This limited definition has been applied to a
wide range of religious traditions and practices,[web 1] valuing
"mystical experience" as a key element of mysticism.
Since the
1960s scholars have debated the merits of perennial and constructionist
approaches in the scientific research of "mystical
experiences".[5][6][7] The perennial position is now "largely dismissed
by scholars",[8] most scholars using a contextualist approach, which
considers the cultural and historical context.[9]
Etymology
See also: Christian contemplation and Henosis
"Mysticism"
is derived from the Greek μύω, meaning "I conceal",[web 2] and its
derivative μυστικός, mystikos, meaning 'an initiate'. The verb μύω has
received a quite different meaning in the Greek language, where it is
still in use. The primary meanings it has are "induct" and "initiate".
Secondary meanings include "introduce", "make someone aware of
something", "train", "familiarize", "give first experience of
something".[web 3]
The related form of the verb μυέω (mueó or
myéō) appears in the New Testament. As explained in Strong's
Concordance, it properly means shutting the eyes and mouth to experience
mystery. Its figurative meaning is to be initiated into the "mystery
revelation". The meaning derives from the initiatory rites of the pagan
mysteries.[web 4] Also appearing in the New Testament is the related
noun μυστήριον (mustérion or mystḗrion), the root word of the English
term "mystery". The term means "anything hidden", a mystery or secret,
of which initiation is necessary. In the New Testament it reportedly
takes the meaning of the counsels of God, once hidden but now revealed
in the Gospel or some fact thereof, the Christian revelation generally,
and/or particular truths or details of the Christian revelation.[web 5]
According
to Thayer's Greek Lexicon, the term μυστήριον in classical Greek meant
"a hidden thing", "secret". A particular meaning it took in Classical
antiquity was a religious secret or religious secrets, confided only to
the initiated and not to be communicated by them to ordinary mortals. In
the Septuagint and the New Testament the meaning it took was that of a
hidden purpose or counsel, a secret will. It is sometimes used for the
hidden wills of humans, but is more often used for the hidden will of
God. Elsewhere in the Bible it takes the meaning of the mystic or hidden
sense of things. It is used for the secrets behind sayings, names, or
behind images seen in visions and dreams. The Vulgate often translates
the Greek term to the Latin sacramentum (sacrament).[web 5]
The
related noun μύστης (mustis or mystis, singular) means the initiate, the
person initiated to the mysteries.[web 5] According to Ana Jiménez San
Cristobal in her study of Greco-Roman mysteries and Orphism, the
singular form μύστης and the plural form μύσται are used in ancient
Greek texts to mean the person or persons initiated to religious
mysteries. These followers of mystery religions belonged to a select
group, where access was only gained through an initiation. She finds
that the terms were associated with the term βάκχος (Bacchus), which was
used for a special class of initiates of the Orphic mysteries. The
terms are first found connected in the writings of Heraclitus. Such
initiates are identified in texts with the persons who have been
purified and have performed certain rites. A passage of Cretans by
Euripides seems to explain that the μύστης (initiate) who devotes
himself to an ascetic life, renounces sexual activities, and avoids
contact with the dead becomes known as βάκχος. Such initiates were
believers in the god Dionysus Bacchus who took on the name of their god
and sought an identification with their deity.[10]
Until the
sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred
to by the term contemplatio, c.q. theoria.[11] According to Johnston,
"[b]oth contemplation and mysticism speak of the eye of love which is
looking at, gazing at, aware of divine realities."[11]
Definitions
According
to Peter Moore, the term "mysticism" is "problematic but
indispensable."[12] It is a generic term which joins together into one
concept separate practices and ideas which developed separately.[12]
According to Dupré, "mysticism" has been defined in many ways,[13] and
Merkur notes that the definition, or meaning, of the term "mysticism"
has changed through the ages.[web 1] Moore further notes that the term
"mysticism" has become a popular label for "anything nebulous, esoteric,
occult, or supernatural."[12]
Parsons warns that "what might at
times seem to be a straightforward phenomenon exhibiting an unambiguous
commonality has become, at least within the academic study of religion,
opaque and controversial on multiple levels".[14] Because of its
Christian overtones, and the lack of similar terms in other cultures,
some scholars regard the term "mysticism" to be inadequate as a useful
descriptive term.[12] Other scholars regard the term to be an
inauthentic fabrication,[12][web 1] the "product of post-Enlightenment
universalism."[12]
Union with the Divine or Absolute and mystical experience
See also: Hesychasm, Contemplative prayer, and Apophatic theology
Deriving
from Neo-Platonism and Henosis, mysticism is popularly known as union
with God or the Absolute.[1][2] In the 13th century the term unio
mystica came to be used to refer to the "spiritual marriage," the
ecstasy, or rapture, that was experienced when prayer was used "to
contemplate both God’s omnipresence in the world and God in his
essence."[web 1] In the 19th century, under the influence of
Romanticism, this "union" was interpreted as a "religious experience,"
which provides certainty about God or a transcendental reality.[web
1][note 1]
An influential proponent of this understanding was
William James (1842–1910), who stated that "in mystic states we both
become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness."[16]
William James popularized this use of the term "religious
experience"[note 2] in his The Varieties of Religious
Experience,[18][19][web 2] contributing to the interpretation of
mysticism as a distinctive experience, comparable to sensory
experiences.[20][web 2] Religious experiences belonged to the "personal
religion,"[21] which he considered to be "more fundamental than either
theology or ecclesiasticism".[21] He gave a Perennialist interpretation
to religious experience, stating that this kind of experience is
ultimately uniform in various traditions.[note 3]
McGinn notes
that the term unio mystica, although it has Christian origins, is
primarily a modern expression.[22] McGinn argues that "presence" is more
accurate than "union", since not all mystics spoke of union with God,
and since many visions and miracles were not necessarily related to
union. He also argues that we should speak of "consciousness" of God's
presence, rather than of "experience", since mystical activity is not
simply about the sensation of God as an external object, but more
broadly about "new ways of knowing and loving based on states of
awareness in which God becomes present in our inner acts."[23]
However,
the idea of "union" does not work in all contexts. For example, in
Advaita Vedanta, there is only one reality (Brahman) and therefore
nothing other than reality to unite with it—Brahman in each person
(atman) has always in fact been identical to Brahman all along. Dan
Merkur also notes that union with God or the Absolute is a too limited
definition, since there are also traditions which aim not at a sense of
unity, but of nothingness, such as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and
Meister Eckhart.[web 1] According to Merkur, Kabbala and Buddhism also
emphasize nothingness.[web 1] Blakemore and Jennett note that
"definitions of mysticism [...] are often imprecise." They further note
that this kind of interpretation and definition is a recent development
which has become the standard definition and understanding.[web 6][note
4]
According to Gelman, "A unitive experience involves a
phenomenological de-emphasis, blurring, or eradication of multiplicity,
where the cognitive significance of the experience is deemed to lie
precisely in that phenomenological feature".[web 2][note 5]
Religious ecstasies and interpretative context
Main
articles: Religious ecstasy, Altered state of consciousness, Cognitive
science of religion, Neurotheology, and Attribution (psychology)
Mysticism
involves an explanatory context, which provides meaning for mystical
and visionary experiences, and related experiences like trances.
According to Dan Merkur, mysticism may relate to any kind of ecstasy or
altered state of consciousness, and the ideas and explanations related
to them.[web 1][note 6] Parsons stresses the importance of
distinguishing between temporary experiences and mysticism as a process,
which is embodied within a "religious matrix" of texts and
practices.[26][note 7] Richard Jones does the same.[27] Peter Moore
notes that mystical experience may also happen in a spontaneous and
natural way, to people who are not committed to any religious tradition.
These experiences are not necessarily interpreted in a religious
framework.[28] Ann Taves asks by which processes experiences are set
apart and deemed religious or mystical.[29]
Intuitive insight and enlightenment
Main articles: Enlightenment (spiritual), Divine illumination, and Subitism
Some
authors emphasize that mystical experience involves intuitive
understanding of the meaning of existence and of hidden truths, and the
resolution of life problems. According to Larson, "mystical experience
is an intuitive understanding and realization of the meaning of
existence."[30][note 8] According to McClenon, mysticism is "the
doctrine that special mental states or events allow an understanding of
ultimate truths."[web 7][note 9] According to James R. Horne, mystical
illumination is "a central visionary experience [...] that results in
the resolution of a personal or religious problem.[5][note 10]
According
to Evelyn Underhill, illumination is a generic English term for the
phenomenon of mysticism. The term illumination is derived from the Latin
illuminatio, applied to Christian prayer in the 15th century.[31]
Comparable Asian terms are bodhi, kensho and satori in Buddhism,
commonly translated as "enlightenment", and vipassana, which all point
to cognitive processes of intuition and comprehension. According to
Wright, the use of the western word enlightenment is based on the
supposed resemblance of bodhi with Aufklärung, the independent use of
reason to gain insight into the true nature of our world, and there are
more resemblances with Romanticism than with the Enlightenment: the
emphasis on feeling, on intuitive insight, on a true essence beyond the
world of appearances.[32]
Spiritual life and re-formation
Main articles: Spirituality, Spiritual development, Self-realization, and Ego death
Other
authors point out that mysticism involves more than "mystical
experience." According to Gellmann, the ultimate goal of mysticism is
human transformation, not just experiencing mystical or visionary
states.[web 2][note 13][note 14] According to McGinn, personal
transformation is the essential criterion to determine the authenticity
of Christian mysticism.[23][note 15]
History of the term
Hellenistic world
In
the Hellenistic world, 'mystical' referred to "secret" religious
rituals like the Eleusinian Mysteries.[web 2] The use of the word lacked
any direct references to the transcendental.[14] A "mystikos" was an
initiate of a mystery religion.
Early Christianity - theoria (contemplation)
Main articles: Greco-Roman mysteries, Early Christianity, and Esoteric Christianity
In
early Christianity the term "mystikos" referred to three dimensions,
which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and
the spiritual or contemplative.[3] The biblical dimension refers to
"hidden" or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures.[web 2][3] The
liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist,
the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.[web 2][3] The third dimension
is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.[3]
Until
the sixth century, the Greek term theoria, meaning "contemplation" in
Latin, was used for the mystical interpretation of the Bible.[11] and
the vision of God. The link between mysticism and the vision of the
Divine was introduced by the early Church Fathers, who used the term as
an adjective, as in mystical theology and mystical contemplation.[14]
Theoria
enabled the Fathers to perceive depths of meaning in the biblical
writings that escape a purely scientific or empirical approach to
interpretation.[36] The Antiochene Fathers, in particular, saw in every
passage of Scripture a double meaning, both literal and spiritual.[37]
Later,
theoria or contemplation came to be distinguished from intellectual
life, leading to the identification of θεωρία or contemplatio with a
form of prayer[38] distinguished from discursive meditation in both
East[39] and West.[40]
Medieval meaning
See also: Middle Ages
This
threefold meaning of "mystical" continued in the Middle Ages.[3]
According to Dan Merkur, the term unio mystica came into use in the 13th
century as a synonym for the "spiritual marriage," the ecstasy, or
rapture, that was experienced when prayer was used "to contemplate both
God’s omnipresence in the world and God in his essence."[web 1] Under
the influence of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite the mystical theology
came to denote the investigation of the allegorical truth of the
Bible,[3] and "the spiritual awareness of the ineffable Absolute beyond
the theology of divine names."[41] Pseudo-Dionysius' Apophatic theology,
or "negative theology", exerted a great influence on medieval monastic
religiosity, although it was mostly a male religiosity, since women were
not allowed to study.[42] It was influenced by Neo-Platonism, and very
influential in Eastern Orthodox Christian theology. In western
Christianity it was a counter-current to the prevailing Cataphatic
theology or "positive theology". Mysticism was also manifested in
various sects of the time such as the Waldensians.[43]
Early modern meaning
See also: Early modern period
The Appearance of the Holy Spirit before Saint Teresa of Ávila, Peter Paul Rubens
In
the sixteenth and seventeenth century mysticism came to be used as a
substantive.[14] This shift was linked to a new discourse,[14] in which
science and religion were separated.[44]
Luther dismissed the
allegorical interpretation of the bible, and condemned Mystical
theology, which he saw as more Platonic than Christian.[45] "The
mystical", as the search for the hidden meaning of texts, became
secularised, and also associated with literature, as opposed to science
and prose.[46]
Science was also distinguished from religion. By
the middle of the 17th century, "the mystical" is increasingly applied
exclusively to the religious realm, separating religion and "natural
philosophy" as two distinct approaches to the discovery of the hidden
meaning of the universe.[47] The traditional hagiographies and writings
of the saints became designated as "mystical", shifting from the virtues
and miracles to extraordinary experiences and states of mind, thereby
creating a newly coined "mystical tradition".[4] A new understanding
developed of the Divine as residing within human, an essence beyond the
varieties of religious expressions.[14]
Contemporary meaning
See also: Western esotericism, Theosophy (Blavatskian), Syncretism, Spirituality, and New Age
The
19th century saw a growing emphasis on individual experience, as a
defense against the growing rationalism of western society.[19][web 1]
The meaning of mysticism was considerably narrowed:[web 1]
The competition between the perspectives of theology and science
resulted in a compromise in which most varieties of what had
traditionally been called mysticism were dismissed as merely
psychological phenomena and only one variety, which aimed at union with
the Absolute, the Infinite, or God—and thereby the perception of its
essential unity or oneness—was claimed to be genuinely mystical. The
historical evidence, however, does not support such a narrow conception
of mysticism.[web 1]
Under the influence of Perennialism, which
was popularised in both the west and the east by Unitarianism,
Transcendentalists and Theosophy, mysticism has been applied to a broad
spectrum of religious traditions, in which all sorts of esotericism and
religious traditions and practices are joined together.[48][49][19] The
term mysticism was extended to comparable phenomena in non-Christian
religions,[web 1] where it influenced Hindu and Buddhist responses to
colonialism, resulting in Neo-Vedanta and Buddhist modernism.[49][50]
In
the contemporary usage "mysticism" has become an umbrella term for all
sorts of non-rational world views,[51] parapsychology and
pseudoscience.[52][53][54][55] William Harmless even states that
mysticism has become "a catch-all for religious weirdness".[56] Within
the academic study of religion the apparent "unambiguous commonality"
has become "opaque and controversial".[14] The term "mysticism" is being
used in different ways in different traditions.[14] Some call to
attention the conflation of mysticism and linked terms, such as
spirituality and esotericism, and point at the differences between
various traditions.[57]
Variations of mysticism
Based on
various definitions of mysticism, namely mysticism as an experience of
union or nothingness, mysticism as any kind of an altered state of
consciousness which is attributed in a religious way, mysticism as
"enlightenment" or insight, and mysticism as a way of transformation,
"mysticism" can be found in many cultures and religious traditions, both
in folk religion and organized religion. These traditions include
practices to induce religious or mystical experiences, but also ethical
standards and practices to enhance self-control and integrate the
mystical experience into daily life.
Dan Merkur notes, though,
that mystical practices are often separated from daily religious
practices, and restricted to "religious specialists like monastics,
priests, and other renunciates.[web 1]
Shamanism
Main article: Shamanism
Shaman
According
to Dan Merkur, shamanism may be regarded as a form of mysticism, in
which the world of spirits is accessed through religious ecstasy.[web 1]
According to Mircea Eliade shamanism is a "technique of religious
ecstasy."[58]
Shamanism involves a practitioner reaching an
altered state of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with
spirits, and channel transcendental energies into this world.[59] A
shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the
world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into
trance during a ritual, and practices divination and healing.[60]
Neoshamanism
refers to "new"' forms of shamanism, or methods of seeking visions or
healing, typically practiced in Western countries. Neoshamanism
comprises an eclectic range of beliefs and practices that involve
attempts to attain altered states and communicate with a spirit world,
and is associated with New Age practices.[61][62]
Western mysticism
Mystery religions
Main article: Greco-Roman mysteries
The
Eleusinian Mysteries, (Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια) were annual
initiation ceremonies in the cults of the goddesses Demeter and
Persephone, held in secret at Eleusis (near Athens) in ancient
Greece.[63] The mysteries began in about 1600 B.C. in the Mycenean
period and continued for two thousand years, becoming a major festival
during the Hellenic era, and later spreading to Rome.[64] Numerous
scholars have proposed that the power of the Eleusinian Mysteries came
from the kykeon's functioning as an entheogen.[65]
Christian mysticism
Part of a series on
Christian mysticism
Transfiguration of Jesus
Theology · Philosophy
Practices
People (by era or century)
Literature · Media
vte
Main articles: Christian contemplation, Christian mysticism, Mystical theology, Apophatic theology, and German mysticism
Early Christianity
The
apophatic theology, or "negative theology", of Pseudo-Dionysius the
Areopagite (6th c.) exerted a great influence on medieval monastic
religiosity, both in the East and (by Latin translation) in the
West.[42] Pseudo-Dionysius applied Neoplatonic thought, particularly
that of Proclus, to Christian theology.
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
The
Eastern Orthodox Church has a long tradition of theoria (intimate
experience) and hesychia (inner stillness), in which contemplative
prayer silences the mind to progress along the path of theosis
(deification).
Theosis, practical unity with and conformity to
God, is obtained by engaging in contemplative prayer, the first stage of
theoria,[66][note 16] which results from the cultivation of
watchfulness (nepsis). In theoria, one comes to behold the "divisibly
indivisible" divine operations (energeia) of God as the "uncreated
light" of transfiguration, a grace which is eternal and proceeds
naturally from the blinding darkness of the incomprehensible divine
essence.[note 17][66] It is the main aim of hesychasm, which was
developed in the thought St. Symeon the New Theologian, embraced by the
monastic communities on Mount Athos, and most notably defended by St.
Gregory Palamas against the Greek humanist philosopher Barlaam of
Calabria. According to Roman Catholic critics, hesychastic practice has
its roots to the introduction of a systematic practical approach to
quietism by Symeon the New Theologian.[note 18]
Symeon believed
that direct experience gave monks the authority to preach and give
absolution of sins, without the need for formal ordination. While Church
authorities also taught from a speculative and philosophical
perspective, Symeon taught from his own direct mystical experience,[69]
and met with strong resistance for his charismatic approach, and his
support of individual direct experience of God's grace.[69]
Western Europe
Life of Francis of Assisi by José Benlliure y Gil
The
High Middle Ages saw a flourishing of mystical practice and
theorization in western Roman Catholicism, corresponding to the
flourishing of new monastic orders, with such figures as Guigo II,
Hildegard of Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, the Victorines, all coming
from different orders, as well as the first real flowering of popular
piety among the laypeople.
The Late Middle Ages saw the clash
between the Dominican and Franciscan schools of thought, which was also a
conflict between two different mystical theologies: on the one hand
that of Dominic de Guzmán and on the other that of Francis of Assisi,
Anthony of Padua, Bonaventure, and Angela of Foligno. This period also
saw such individuals as John of Ruysbroeck, Catherine of Siena and
Catherine of Genoa, the Devotio Moderna, and such books as the Theologia
Germanica, The Cloud of Unknowing and The Imitation of Christ.
Moreover,
there was the growth of groups of mystics centered around geographic
regions: the Beguines, such as Mechthild of Magdeburg and Hadewijch
(among others); the Rhineland mystics Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler
and Henry Suso; and the English mystics Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and
Julian of Norwich. The Spanish mystics included Teresa of Avila, John
of the Cross and Ignatius Loyola.
The later post-reformation
period also saw the writings of lay visionaries such as Emanuel
Swedenborg and William Blake, and the foundation of mystical movements
such as the Quakers. Catholic mysticism continued into the modern period
with such figures as Padre Pio and Thomas Merton.
The philokalia, an ancient method of Eastern Orthodox mysticism, was promoted by the twentieth century Traditionalist School.
Western esotericism and modern spirituality
Main articles: Western esotericism, Spirituality, and New Age
Many
western esoteric traditions and elements of modern spirituality have
been regarded as "mysticism," such as Gnosticism, Transcendentalism,
Theosophy, the Fourth Way,[70] Martinus, spiritual science, and
Neo-Paganism. Modern western spiritually and transpersonal psychology
combine western psycho-therapeutic practices with religious practices
like meditation to attain a lasting transformation. Nature mysticism is
an intense experience of unification with nature or the cosmic totality,
which was popular with Romantic writers.[71]
Jewish mysticism
Jewish mysticism
Dead Sea Enoch Scroll c.200-150 BCE
Forms
vte
Main articles: Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah
Portrait of Abraham Abulafia, Medieval Jewish mystic and founder of Prophetic Kabbalah
In
the common era, Judaism has had two main kinds of mysticism: Merkabah
mysticism and Kabbalah. The former predated the latter, and was focused
on visions, particularly those mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel. It gets
its name from the Hebrew word meaning "chariot", a reference to
Ezekiel's vision of a fiery chariot composed of heavenly beings.
Kabbalah
is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship
between an unchanging, eternal and mysterious Ein Sof (no end) and the
mortal and finite universe (his creation). Inside Judaism, it forms the
foundations of mystical religious interpretation.
Kabbalah
originally developed entirely within the realm of Jewish thought.
Kabbalists often use classical Jewish sources to explain and demonstrate
its esoteric teachings. These teachings are thus held by followers in
Judaism to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and
traditional Rabbinic literature, their formerly concealed transmitted
dimension, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious
observances.[72]
Kabbalah emerged, after earlier forms of Jewish
mysticism, in 12th to 13th century Southern France and Spain, becoming
reinterpreted in the Jewish mystical renaissance of 16th-century Ottoman
Palestine. It was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the
18th century forward. 20th-century interest in Kabbalah has inspired
cross-denominational Jewish renewal and contributed to wider non-Jewish
contemporary spirituality, as well as engaging its flourishing emergence
and historical re-emphasis through newly established academic
investigation.
Islamic mysticism
Part of a series on Islam
Sufism
Tomb of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
Ideas
Practices
Sufi orders
List of sufis
Topics in Sufism
Islam portal
vte
Main articles: Sufism and Persian mysticism
The consensus is that Islam's inner and mystical dimension is encapsulated in Sufism.[73][74][75]
Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as
[A] science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God.[76]
A
practitioner of this tradition is nowadays known as a ṣūfī (صُوفِيّ),
or, in earlier usage, a dervish. The origin of the word "Sufi" is
ambiguous. One understanding is that Sufi means wool-wearer; wool
wearers during early Islam were pious ascetics who withdrew from urban
life. Another explanation of the word "Sufi" is that it means
'purity'.[77]
Sufis generally belong to a halaqa, a circle or
group, led by a Sheikh or Murshid. Sufi circles usually belong to a
Tariqa which is the Sufi order and each has a Silsila, which is the
spiritual lineage, which traces its succession back to notable Sufis of
the past, and often ultimately to Muhammed or one of his close
associates. The turuq (plural of tariqa) are not enclosed like Christian
monastic orders; rather the members retain an outside life. Membership
of a Sufi group often passes down family lines. Meetings may or may not
be segregated according to the prevailing custom of the wider society.
An existing Muslim faith is not always a requirement for entry,
particularly in Western countries.
Mawlānā Rumi's tomb, Konya, Turkey
Sufi practice includes
Dhikr, or remembrance (of God), which often takes the form of rhythmic chanting and breathing exercises.
Sama, which takes the form of music and dance — the whirling dance of
the Mevlevi dervishes is a form well known in the West.
Muraqaba or meditation.
Visiting holy places, particularly the tombs of Sufi saints, in order
to remember death and the greatness of those who have passed.
The
aims of Sufism include: the experience of ecstatic states (hal),
purification of the heart (qalb), overcoming the lower self (nafs),
extinction of the individual personality (fana), communion with God
(haqiqa), and higher knowledge (marifat). Some sufic beliefs and
practices have been found unorthodox by other Muslims; for instance
Mansur al-Hallaj was put to death for blasphemy after uttering the
phrase Ana'l Haqq, "I am the Truth" (i.e. God) in a trance.
Notable
classical Sufis include Jalaluddin Rumi, Fariduddin Attar, Sultan
Bahoo, Sayyed Sadique Ali Husaini, Saadi Shirazi and Hafez, all major
poets in the Persian language. Omar Khayyam, Al-Ghazzali and Ibn Arabi
were renowned scholars. Abdul Qadir Jilani, Moinuddin Chishti, and
Bahauddin Naqshband founded major orders, as did Rumi. Rabia Basri was
the most prominent female Sufi.
Sufism first came into contact
with the Judeo-Christian world during the Moorish occupation of Spain.
An interest in Sufism revived in non-Muslim countries during the modern
era, led by such figures as Inayat Khan and Idries Shah (both in the
UK), Rene Guenon (France) and Ivan Aguéli (Sweden). Sufism has also long
been present in Asian countries that do not have a Muslim majority,
such as India and China.[78]
Indic religions
Hinduism
Main article: Hinduism
In
Hinduism, various sadhanas (spiritual disciplines) aim at overcoming
ignorance (avidya) and transcending one's identification with body, mind
and ego to attain moksha, liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
Hinduism has a number of interlinked ascetic traditions and
philosophical schools which aim at moksha [79] and the acquisition of
higher powers.[80] With the onset of the British colonisation of India,
those traditions came to be interpreted in Western terms such as
"mysticism", resulting in comparisons with Western terms and
practices.[81]
Yoga is a term for physical, mental, and spiritual
practices or disciplines which aim to attain a state of permanent
peace.[82] Various traditions of yoga are found in Hinduism, Buddhism
and Jainism.[83][84][85] The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali define yoga as
"the stilling of the changing states of the mind,"[86] culminating in
the state of samadhi.
Classical Vedanta gives philosophical
interpretations and commentaries of the Upanishads, a vast collection of
ancient hymns. At least ten schools of Vedanta are known,[87] of which
Advaita Vedanta, Vishishtadvaita, and Dvaita are the best known.[88]
Advaita Vedanta, as expounded by Adi Shankara, states that there is no
difference between Atman (the world-soul) and Brahman (the divine). The
best-known subschool is Kevala Vedanta or mayavada as expounded by Adi
Shankara. Advaita Vedanta has acquired a broad acceptance in Indian
culture and beyond as the paradigmatic example of Hindu
spirituality.[89] In contrast Bhedabheda-Vedanta emphasizes that Atman
and Brahman are both the same and not the same,[90] while Dvaita Vedanta
states that Atman and God are fundamentally different.[90] In modern
times, the Upanishads have been interpreted by Neo-Vedanta as being
"mystical".[81]
Various Shaivist, Shakta and Tantric traditions are strongly nondualistic, among them Kashmir Shaivism and Sri Vidya.
Tantra
Main article: Tantra
Tantra
is the name given by scholars to a style of meditation and ritual which
arose in India no later than the fifth century AD.[91] Tantra has
influenced the Hindu, Bön, Buddhist, and Jain traditions and spread with
Buddhism to East and Southeast Asia.[92] Tantric ritual seeks to access
the supra-mundane through the mundane, identifying the microcosm with
the macrocosm.[93] The Tantric aim is to sublimate (rather than negate)
reality.[94] The Tantric practitioner seeks to use prana (energy flowing
through the universe, including one's body) to attain goals which may
be spiritual, material or both.[95] Tantric practice includes
visualisation of deities, mantras and mandalas. It can also include
sexual and other (antinomian) practices.[citation needed]
Sant-tradition and Sikhism
Main articles: Sant (religion), Nirguna Brahman, and Sikhism
Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana
Mysticism
in the Sikh faith began with its founder, Guru Nanak, who, from his
childhood, had profound mystical experiences.[96] Guru Nanak stressed
that God must be seen with 'the inward eye', or the 'heart', of a human
being.[97] Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru, added works from various
religions' mystics (bhagat) into the holy scriptures that would
eventually become the Guru Granth Sahib.
The goal of Sikhism is
to be one with God.[98] Sikhs meditate as a means to progress towards
enlightenment; devoted meditation, simran, is seen to enable
communication between the Infinite and the finite human
consciousness.[99] There is no concentration on the breath (as in other
Dharmic religions), but chiefly, the practice of simran consists of the
remembrance of God through the recitation of the Divine Name.[100] A
frequent metaphor is that of mystics "surrendering themselves to the
Lord's feet."[101]
Buddhism
See also: Presectarian Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, and Subitism
According
to Paul Oliver, a lecturer at Huddersfield University, Buddhism is
mystical in the sense that it aims at the identification of the true
nature of our self, and live according to it.[102] Buddhism originated
in India, sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, but is now
mostly practiced in other countries, where it developed into a number of
traditions, the main ones being Therevada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.
Buddhism
aims at liberation from the cycle of rebirth by self-control through
meditation and morally just behaviour. Some Buddhist paths aim at a
gradual development and transformation of the personality toward
Nirvana, like the Theravada stages of enlightenment. Others, like the
Japanese Rinzai Zen tradition, emphasize sudden insight, but
nevertheless also prescribe intensive training, including meditation and
self-restraint.
Although Theravada does not acknowledge the
existence of a theistic Absolute, it does postulate Nirvana as a
transcendent reality which may be attained.[103][104] It further
stresses transformation of the personality through meditative practice,
self-restraint, and morally just behaviour.[103] According to Richard H.
Jones, Theravada is a form of mindful extrovertive and introvertive
mysticism, in which the conceptual structuring of experiences is
weakened, and the ordinary sense of self is weakened.[105] It is best
known in the west from the Vipassana movement, a number of branches of
modern Theravāda Buddhism from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Sri
Lanka, and includes contemporary American Buddhist teachers such as
Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield.
The Yogacara school of
Mahayana investigates the workings of the mind, stating that only the
mind[106] (citta-mātra) or the representations we cognize
(vijñapti-mātra),[107][note 19] really exist.[106][108][107] In later
Buddhist Mahayana thought, which took an idealistic turn,[note 20] the
unmodified mind came to be seen as a pure consciousness, from which
everything arises.[note 21] Vijñapti-mātra, coupled with Buddha-nature
or tathagatagarba, has been an influential concept in the subsequent
development of Mahayana Buddhism, not only in India, but also in China
and Tibet, most notable in the Chán (Zen) and Dzogchen traditions.
Chinese
and Japanese Zen is grounded on the Chinese understanding of the
Buddha-nature as one true's essence, and the Two truths doctrine as a
polarity between relative and Absolute reality.[111][112] Zen aims at
insight one's true nature, or Buddha-nature, thereby manifesting
Absolute reality in the relative reality.[113] In Soto, this
Buddha-nature is regarded to be ever-present, and shikan-taza, sitting
meditation, is the expression of the already existing Buddhahood.[112]
Rinzai-zen emphasises the need for a break-through insight in this
Buddha-nature,[112] but also stresses that further practice is needed to
deepen the insight and to express it in daily life,[114][115][116][117]
as expressed in the Three mysterious Gates, the Four Ways of Knowing of
Hakuin,[118] and the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures.[119] The Japanese
Zen-scholar D.T. Suzuki noted similarities between Zen-Buddhism and
Christian mysticism, especially meister Eckhart.[120]
The Tibetan
Vajrayana tradition is based on Madhyamaka philosophy and Tantra.[121]
In deity yoga, visualizations of deities are eventually dissolved, to
realize the inherent emptiness of every-'thing' that exists.[122]
Dzogchen, which is being taught in both the Tibetan buddhist Nyingma
school and the Bön tradition,[123][124] focuses on direct insight into
our real nature. It holds that "mind-nature" is manifested when one is
enlightened,[125] being nonconceptually aware (rigpa, "open presence")
of one's nature,[123] "a recognition of one's beginningless
nature."[126] Mahamudra has similarities with Dzogchen, emphasizing the
meditational approach to insight and liberation.
Taoism
Main article: Taoism
Taoist
philosophy is centered on the Tao, usually translated "Way", an
ineffable cosmic principle. The contrasting yet interdependent concepts
of yin and yang also symbolise harmony, with Taoist scriptures often
emphasising the Yin virtues of femininity, passivity and
yieldingness.[127] Taoist practice includes exercises and rituals aimed
at manipulating the life force Qi, and obtaining health and
longevity.[note 22] These have been elaborated into practices such as
Tai chi, which are well known in the west.
Secularization of mysticism
See also: New Age
Today
there is also occurring in the West what Richard Jones calls "the
secularization of mysticism".[128] That is the separation of meditation
and other mystical practices from their traditional use in religious
ways of life to only secular ends of purported psychological and
physiological benefits.
Scholarly approaches of mysticism and mystical experience
Main article: Scholarly approaches of mysticism
Types of mysticism
R.
C. Zaehner distinguishes three fundamental types of mysticism, namely
theistic, monistic and panenhenic ("all-in-one") or natural
mysticism.[6] The theistic category includes most forms of Jewish,
Christian and Islamic mysticism and occasional Hindu examples such as
Ramanuja and the Bhagavad Gita.[6] The monistic type, which according to
Zaehner is based upon an experience of the unity of one's soul,[6][note
23] includes Buddhism and Hindu schools such as Samkhya and Advaita
vedanta.[6] Nature mysticism seems to refer to examples that do not fit
into one of these two categories.[6]
Walter Terence Stace, in his
book Mysticism and Philosophy (1960), distinguished two types of
mystical experience, namely extrovertive and introvertive
mysticism.[129][6][130] Extrovertive mysticism is an experience of the
unity of the external world, whereas introvertive mysticism is "an
experience of unity devoid of perceptual objects; it is literally an
experience of 'no-thing-ness'."[130] The unity in extrovertive mysticism
is with the totality of objects of perception. While perception stays
continuous, "unity shines through the same world"; the unity in
introvertive mysticism is with a pure consciousness, devoid of objects
of perception,[131] "pure unitary consciousness, wherein awareness of
the world and of multiplicity is completely obliterated."[132] According
to Stace such experiences are nonsensous and nonintellectual, under a
total "suppression of the whole empirical content."[133]
Stace
argues that doctrinal differences between religious traditions are
inappropriate criteria when making cross-cultural comparisons of
mystical experiences.[6] Stace argues that mysticism is part of the
process of perception, not interpretation, that is to say that the unity
of mystical experiences is perceived, and only afterwards interpreted
according to the perceiver's background. This may result in different
accounts of the same phenomenon. While an atheist describes the unity as
"freed from empirical filling", a religious person might describe it as
"God" or "the Divine".[134]
Mystical experiences
Since the
19th century, "mystical experience" has evolved as a distinctive
concept. It is closely related to "mysticism" but lays sole emphasis on
the experiential aspect, be it spontaneous or induced by human behavior,
whereas mysticism encompasses a broad range of practices aiming at a
transformation of the person, not just inducing mystical experiences.
William
James' The Varieties of Religious Experience is the classic study on
religious or mystical experience, which influenced deeply both the
academic and popular understanding of "religious
experience".[18][19][20][web 2] He popularized the use of the term
"religious experience"[note 24] in his "Varieties",[18][19][web 2] and
influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience
which supplies knowledge of the transcendental:[20][web 2]
Under the influence of William James' The Varieties of Religious
Experience, heavily centered on people's conversion experiences, most
philosophers' interest in mysticism has been in distinctive, allegedly
knowledge-granting "mystical experiences.""[web 2]
Yet, Gelman
notes that so-called mystical experience is not a transitional event, as
William James claimed, but an "abiding consciousness, accompanying a
person throughout the day, or parts of it. For that reason, it might be
better to speak of mystical consciousness, which can be either fleeting
or abiding."[web 2]
Most mystical traditions warn against an
attachment to mystical experiences, and offer a "protective and
hermeneutic framework" to accommodate these experiences.[135] These same
traditions offer the means to induce mystical experiences,[135] which
may have several origins:
Spontaneous; either apparently without any cause, or by persistent existential concerns, or by neurophysiological origins;
Religious practices, such as contemplation, meditation, and mantra-repetition;
Entheogens (psychedelic drugs)
Neurophysiological origins, such as temporal lobe epilepsy.
The
theoretical study of mystical experience has shifted from an
experiential, privatized and perennialist approach to a contextual and
empirical approach.[135] The experientalist approach sees mystical
experience as a private expression of perennial truths, separate from
its historical and cultural context. The contextual approach, which also
includes constructionism and attribution theory, takes into account the
historical and cultural context.[135][29][web 2] Neurological research
takes an empirical approach, relating mystical experiences to
neurological processes.
Perennialism versus constructionism
The
term "mystical experience" evolved as a distinctive concept since the
19th century, laying sole emphasis on the experiential aspect, be it
spontaneous or induced by human behavior. Perennialists regard those
various experience traditions as pointing to one universal
transcendental reality, for which those experiences offer the proof. In
this approach, mystical experiences are privatised, separated from the
context in which they emerge.[135] Well-known representatives are
William James, R.C. Zaehner, William Stace and Robert Forman.[9] The
perennial position is "largely dismissed by scholars",[8] but "has lost
none of its popularity."[8]
In contrast, for the past decades
most scholars have favored a constructionist approach, which states that
mystical experiences are fully constructed by the ideas, symbols and
practices that mystics are familiar with.[9] Critics of the term
"religious experience" note that the notion of "religious experience" or
"mystical experience" as marking insight into religious truth is a
modern development,[136] and contemporary researchers of mysticism note
that mystical experiences are shaped by the concepts "which the mystic
brings to, and which shape, his experience".[137] What is being
experienced is being determined by the expectations and the conceptual
background of the mystic.[138]
Richard Jones draws a distinction
between "anticonstructivism" and "perennialism": constructivism can be
rejected with respect to a certain class of mystical experiences without
ascribing to a perennialist philosophy on the relation of mystical
doctrines.[139] One can reject constructivism without claiming that
mystical experiences reveal a cross-cultural "perennial truth". For
example, a Christian can reject both constructivism and perennialism in
arguing that there is a union with God free of cultural construction.
Constructivism versus anticonstructivism is a matter of the nature of
mystical experiences while perennialism is a matter of mystical
traditions and the doctrines they espouse.
Contextualism and attribution theory
Main articles: Attribution (psychology) and Neurotheology
The
perennial position is now "largely dismissed by scholars",[8] and the
contextual approach has become the common approach.[135] Contextualism
takes into account the historical and cultural context of mystical
experiences.[135] The attribution approach views "mystical experience"
as non-ordinary states of consciousness which are explained in a
religious framework.[29] According to Proudfoot, mystics unconsciously
merely attribute a doctrinal content to ordinary experiences. That is,
mystics project cognitive content onto otherwise ordinary experiences
having a strong emotional impact.[140][29] This approach has been
further elaborated by Ann Taves, in her Religious Experience
Reconsidered. She incorporates both neurological and cultural approaches
in the study of mystical experience.
Neurological research
See also: Neurotheology
Neurological
research takes an empirical approach, relating mystical experiences to
neurological processes.[141][142] This leads to a central philosophical
issue: does the identification of neural triggers or neural correlates
of mystical experiences prove that mystical experiences are no more than
brain events or does it merely identify the brain activity occurring
during a genuine cognitive event? The most common positions are that
neurology reduces mystical experiences or that neurology is neutral to
the issue of mystical cognitivity.[143]
Interest in mystical experiences and psychedelic drugs has also recently seen a resurgence.[144]
The
temporal lobe seems to be involved in mystical experiences,[web 9][145]
and in the change in personality that may result from such
experiences.[web 9] It generates the feeling of "I," and gives a feeling
of familiarity or strangeness to the perceptions of the senses.[web 9]
There is a long-standing notion that epilepsy and religion are
linked,[146] and some religious figures may have had temporal lobe
epilepsy (TLE).[web 9][147][148][146]
The anterior insula may be
involved in ineffability, a strong feeling of certainty which cannot be
expressed in words, which is a common quality in mystical experiences.
According to Picard, this feeling of certainty may be caused by a
dysfunction of the anterior insula, a part of the brain which is
involved in interoception, self-reflection, and in avoiding uncertainty
about the internal representations of the world by "anticipation of
resolution of uncertainty or risk".[149][note 25]
Mysticism and morality
A
philosophical issue in the study of mysticism is the relation of
mysticism to morality. Albert Schweitzer presented the classic account
of mysticism and morality being incompatible.[150] Arthur Danto also
argued that morality is at least incompatible with Indian mystical
beliefs.[151] Walter Stace, on the other hand, argued not only are
mysticism and morality compatible, but that mysticism is the source and
justification of morality.[152] Others studying multiple mystical
traditions have concluded that the relation of mysticism and morality is
not as simple as that.[153][154]
Richard King also points to disjunction between "mystical experience" and social justice:[155]
The privatisation of mysticism – that is, the increasing tendency to
locate the mystical in the psychological realm of personal experiences –
serves to exclude it from political issues as social justice. Mysticism
thus becomes seen as a personal matter of cultivating inner states of
tranquility and equanimity, which, rather than seeking to transform the
world, serve to accommodate the individual to the status quo through the
alleviation of anxiety and stress." (wikipedia.org)
"Western
esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the
Western mystery tradition,[1] is a term scholars use to categorise a
wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within
Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are
largely distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian religion and
Enlightenment rationalism. It has influenced various forms of Western
philosophy, mysticism, religion, pseudoscience, art, literature, and
music.
The idea of grouping a wide range of Western traditions
and philosophies together under the term esotericism developed in Europe
during the late 17th century. Various academics have debated various
definitions of Western esotericism. One view adopts a definition from
certain esotericist schools of thought themselves, treating
"esotericism" as a perennial hidden inner tradition. A second
perspective sees esotericism as a category of movements that embrace an
"enchanted" worldview in the face of increasing disenchantment. A third
views Western esotericism as encompassing all of Western culture's
"rejected knowledge" that is accepted neither by the scientific
establishment nor orthodox religious authorities.
The earliest
traditions that later analysis labelled as forms of Western esotericism
emerged in the Eastern Mediterranean during Late Antiquity, where
Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Neopythagoreanism and Neoplatonism developed as
schools of thought distinct from what became mainstream
Christianity.[2] Renaissance Europe saw increasing interest in many of
these older ideas, with various intellectuals combining pagan
philosophies with the Kabbalah and Christian philosophy, resulting in
the emergence of esoteric movements like Christian Kabbalah and
Christian theosophy. The 17th century saw the development of initiatory
societies professing esoteric knowledge such as Rosicrucianism and
Freemasonry, while the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century led to
the development of new forms of esoteric thought. The 19th century saw
the emergence of new trends of esoteric thought now known as occultism.
Prominent groups in this century included the Theosophical Society and
the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Also important in this connection
is Martinus Thomsen's "spiritual science". Modern Paganism developed
within occultism and includes religious movements such as Wicca.
Esoteric ideas permeated the counterculture of the 1960s and later
cultural tendencies, which led to the New Age phenomenon in the 1970s.
The
idea that these varying movements could be categorised together under
the rubric of "Western esotericism" developed in the late 18th century,
but these esoteric currents were largely ignored as a subject of
academic enquiry. The academic study of Western esotericism only emerged
in the late 20th century, pioneered by scholars like Frances Yates and
Antoine Faivre.
Etymology
The concept of the "esoteric"
originated in the 2nd century[3] with the coining of the Ancient Greek
adjective esôterikós ("belonging to an inner circle"); the earliest
known example of the word appeared in a satire authored by Lucian of
Samosata[4] (c. 125 – after 180).
The noun "esotericism", in its
French form "ésotérisme", first appeared in 1828[5] in the work by
Protestant historian of gnosticism[6] Jacques Matter [fr] (1791–1864),
Histoire critique du gnosticisme (3 vols.).[7][8] The term "esotericism"
thus came into use in the wake of the Age of Enlightenment and of its
critique of institutionalised religion, during which alternative
religious groups such as the Rosicrucians began to disassociate
themselves from the dominant Christianity in Western Europe.[9] During
the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars increasingly saw the term
"esotericism" as meaning something distinct from Christianity—as a
subculture at odds with the Christian mainstream from at least the time
of the Renaissance.[9] After being introduced by Jacques Matter [fr]
(1791–1864) in French, the occultist and ceremonial magician Eliphas
Lévi (1810–1875) popularized the term in the 1850s while Theosophist
Alfred Percy Sinnett (1840–1921) introduced it into the English language
in his book Esoteric Buddhism (1883).[7] Lévi also introduced the term
l'occultisme, a notion that he developed against the background of
contemporary socialist and Catholic discourses.[10] "Esotericism" and
"occultism" were often employed as synonyms until later scholars
distinguished the concepts.[11]
Conceptual development
'Western esotericism' is not a natural term but an artificial category,
applied retrospectively to a range of currents and ideas that were known
by other names at least prior to the end of the eighteenth century.
[This] means that, originally, not all those currents and ideas were
necessarily seen as belonging together:... it is only as recently as the
later seventeenth century that we find the first attempts at presenting
them as one single, coherent field or domain, and at explaining what
they have in common. In short, 'Western esotericism' is a modern
scholarly construct, not an autonomous tradition that already existed
out there and merely needed to be discovered by historians.
— The scholar of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff, 2013.[12]
The
concept of "Western esotericism" represents a modern scholarly
construct rather than a pre-existing, self-defined tradition of
thought.[13] In the late 17th century, several European Christian
thinkers presented the argument that one could categorise certain
traditions of Western philosophy and thought together, thus establishing
the category now labelled "Western esotericism".[14] The first to do
so, Ehregott Daniel Colberg [de] (1659–1698), a German Lutheran
theologian, wrote Platonisch-Hermetisches Christianity (1690–91). A
hostile critic of various currents of Western thought that had emerged
since the Renaissance—among them Paracelsianism, Weigelianism, and
Christian theosophy—in his book he labelled all of these traditions
under the category of "Platonic–Hermetic Christianity", portraying them
as heretical to what he saw as "true" Christianity.[15] Despite his
hostile attitude toward these traditions of thought, Colberg became the
first to connect these disparate philosophies and to study them under
one rubric, also recognising that these ideas linked back to earlier
philosophies from late antiquity.[16]
In 18th-century Europe,
during the Age of Enlightenment, these esoteric traditions came to be
regularly categorised under the labels of "superstition", "magic", and
"the occult" – terms often used interchangeably.[17] The modern academy,
then in the process of developing, consistently rejected and ignored
topics coming under "the occult", thus leaving research into them
largely to enthusiasts outside of academia.[18] Indeed, according to
historian of esotericism Wouter J. Hanegraaff (born 1961), rejection of
"occult" topics was seen as a "crucial identity marker" for any
intellectuals seeking to affiliate themselves with the academy.[18]
Scholars
established this category in the late 18th century after identifying
"structural similarities" between "the ideas and world views of a wide
variety of thinkers and movements" that, previously, had not been in the
same analytical grouping.[12] According to the scholar of esotericism
Wouter J. Hanegraaff, the term provided a "useful generic label" for "a
large and complicated group of historical phenomena that had long been
perceived as sharing an air de famille."[19]
Various academics
have emphasised that esotericism is a phenomenon unique to the Western
world. As Faivre stated, an "empirical perspective" would hold that
"esotericism is a Western notion."[20] As scholars such as Faivre and
Hanegraaff have pointed out, there is no comparable category of
"Eastern" or "Oriental" esotericism.[21] The emphasis on Western
esotericism was nevertheless primarily devised to distinguish the field
from a universal esotericism.[22] Hanegraaff has characterised these as
"recognisable world views and approaches to knowledge that have played
an important though always controversial role in the history of Western
culture".[23] Historian of religion Henrik Bogdan asserted that Western
esotericism constituted "a third pillar of Western culture" alongside
"doctrinal faith and rationality", being deemed heretical by the former
and irrational by the latter.[24] Scholars nevertheless recognise that
various non-Western traditions have exerted "a profound influence" over
Western esotericism, citing the prominent example of the Theosophical
Society's incorporation of Hindu and Buddhist concepts like
reincarnation into its doctrines.[25] Given these influences and the
imprecise nature of the term "Western", the scholar of esotericism
Kennet Granholm has argued that academics should cease referring to
"Western esotericism" altogether, instead simply favouring "esotericism"
as a descriptor of this phenomenon.[26] Egil Asprem has endorsed this
approach.[27]
Definition
The historian of esotericism Antoine
Faivre noted that "never a precise term, [esotericism] has begun to
overflow its boundaries on all sides",[28] with both Faivre and
Karen-Claire Voss stating that Western esotericism consists of "a vast
spectrum of authors, trends, works of philosophy, religion, art,
literature, and music".[29] Scholars broadly agree on which currents of
thought fall within a category of esotericism—ranging from ancient
Gnosticism and Hermeticism through to Rosicrucianism and the Kabbalah
and on to more recent phenomenon such as the New Age movement.[30]
Nevertheless, esotericism itself remains a controversial term, with
scholars specialising in the subject disagreeing as to how best to
define it.[30]
As a universal secret inner tradition
A colored version of the 1888 Flammarion engraving
Some
scholars have used Western esotericism to refer to "inner traditions"
concerned with a "universal spiritual dimension of reality, as opposed
to the merely external ('exoteric') religious institutions and dogmatic
systems of established religions."[31] This approach views Western
esotericism as just one variant of a worldwide esotericism at the heart
of all world religions and cultures, reflecting a hidden esoteric
reality.[32] This use is closest to the original meaning of the word in
late antiquity, where it applied to secret spiritual teachings that were
reserved for a specific elite and hidden from the masses.[33] This
definition was popularised in the published work of 19th-century
esotericists like A.E. Waite, who sought to combine their own mystical
beliefs with a historical interpretation of esotericism.[34] It
subsequently became a popular approach within several esoteric
movements, most notably Martinism and Traditionalism.[35]
This
definition, originally developed by esotericists themselves, became
popular among French academics during the 1980s, exerting a strong
influence over the scholars Mircea Eliade, Henry Corbin, and the early
work of Faivre.[35] Within the academic field of religious studies,
those who study different religions in search of an inner universal
dimension to them all are termed "religionists".[32] Such religionist
ideas also exerted an influence on more recent scholars like Nicholas
Goodrick-Clarke and Arthur Versluis.[32] Versluis for instance defined
"Western esotericism" as "inner or hidden spiritual knowledge
transmitted through Western European historical currents that in turn
feed into North American and other non-European settings".[36] He added
that these Western esoteric currents all shared a core characteristic,
"a claim to gnosis, or direct spiritual insight into cosmology or
spiritual insight",[36] and accordingly he suggested that these currents
could be referred to as "Western gnostic" just as much as "Western
esoteric".[37]
There are various problems with this model for
understanding Western esotericism.[32] The most significant is that it
rests upon the conviction that there really is a "universal, hidden,
esoteric dimension of reality" that objectively exists.[32] The
existence of this universal inner tradition has not been discovered
through scientific or scholarly enquiry; this had led some[who?] to
claim that it does not exist, though Hanegraaff thought it better to
adopt a view based in methodological agnosticism by stating that "we
simply do not know – and cannot know" if it exists or not. He noted
that, even if such a true and absolute nature of reality really existed,
it would only be accessible through "esoteric" spiritual practices, and
could not be discovered or measured by the "exoteric" tools of
scientific and scholarly enquiry.[38] Hanegraaff pointed out that an
approach that seeks a common inner hidden core of all esoteric currents
masks that such groups often differ greatly, being rooted in their own
historical and social contexts and expressing mutually exclusive ideas
and agendas.[39] A third issue was that many of those currents widely
recognised as esoteric never concealed their teachings, and in the 20th
century came to permeate popular culture, thus problematizing the claim
that esotericism could be defined by its hidden and secretive
nature.[40] He noted that when scholars adopt this definition, it shows
that they subscribe to the religious doctrines espoused by the very
groups they are studying.[11]
As an enchanted world view
The
Magician, a tarot card displaying the Hermetic concept of "as above, so
below". Faivre connected this concept to 'correspondences', his first
defining characteristic of esotericism.
Another approach to
Western esotericism treats it as a world view that embraces
"enchantment" in contrast to world views influenced by post-Cartesian,
post-Newtonian, and positivist science that sought to "dis-enchant" the
world.[41] That approach understands esotericism as comprising those
world views that eschew a belief in instrumental causality and instead
adopt a belief that all parts of the universe are interrelated without a
need for causal chains.[41] It stands as a radical alternative to the
disenchanted world views that have dominated Western culture since the
scientific revolution,[41] and must therefore always be at odds with
secular culture.[42]
An early exponent of this definition was the
historian of Renaissance thought Frances Yates in her discussions of a
Hermetic Tradition, which she saw as an "enchanted" alternative to
established religion and rationalistic science.[43] The primary exponent
of this view was Faivre, who published a series of criteria for how to
define "Western esotericism" in 1992.[44] Faivre claimed that
esotericism was "identifiable by the presence of six fundamental
characteristics or components", four of which were "intrinsic" and thus
vital to defining something as being esoteric, while the other two were
"secondary" and thus not necessarily present in every form of
esotericism.[45] He listed these characteristics as follows:
"Correspondences": This is the idea that there are both real and
symbolic correspondences existing between all things within the
universe.[46] As examples for this, Faivre pointed to the esoteric
concept of the macrocosm and microcosm, often presented as the dictum of
"as above, so below", as well as the astrological idea that the actions
of the planets have a direct corresponding influence on the behaviour
of human beings.[47]
"Living Nature": Faivre argued that all
esotericists envision the natural universe as being imbued with its own
life force, and that as such they understand it as being "complex,
plural, hierarchical".[48]
"Imagination and Mediations": Faivre
believed that all esotericists place great emphasis on both the human
imagination, and mediations—"such as rituals, symbolic images, mandalas,
intermediary spirits"—and mantras as tools that provide access to
worlds and levels of reality existing between the material world and the
divine.[49]
"Experience of Transmutation": Faivre's fourth
intrinsic characteristic of esotericism was the emphasis that
esotericists place on fundamentally transforming themselves through
their practice, for instance through the spiritual transformation that
is alleged to accompany the attainment of gnosis.[50]
"Practice
of Concordance": The first of Faivre's secondary characteristics of
esotericism was the belief—held by many esotericists, such as those in
the Traditionalist School—that there is a fundamental unifying principle
or root from which all world religions and spiritual practices emerge.
The common esoteric principle is that attaining this unifying principle
can bring the world's different belief systems together in unity.[51]
"Transmission": Faivre's second secondary characteristic was the
emphasis on the transmission of esoteric teachings and secrets from a
master to their disciple, through a process of initiation.[52]
Faivre's
form of categorisation has been endorsed by scholars like
Goodrick-Clarke,[53] and by 2007 Bogdan could note that Faivre's had
become "the standard definition" of Western esotericism in use among
scholars.[54] In 2013 the scholar Kennet Granholm stated only that
Faivre's definition had been "the dominating paradigm for a long while"
and that it "still exerts influence among scholars outside the study of
Western esotericism".[55] The advantage of Faivre's system is that it
facilitates comparing varying esoteric traditions "with one another in a
systematic fashion."[56] Other scholars criticised his theory, pointing
out various weaknesses.[57] Hanegraaff claimed that Faivre's approach
entailed "reasoning by prototype" in that it relied upon already having a
"best example" of what Western esotericism should look like, against
which other phenomena then had to be compared.[58] The scholar of
esotericism Kocku von Stuckrad (born 1966) noted that Faivre's taxonomy
was based on his own areas of specialism—Renaissance Hermeticism,
Christian Kabbalah, and Protestant Theosophy—and that it was thus not
based on a wider understanding of esotericism as it has existed
throughout history, from the ancient world to the contemporary
period.[59] Accordingly, Von Stuckrad suggested that it was a good
typology for understanding "Christian esotericism in the early modern
period" but lacked utility beyond that.[60]
As higher knowledge
Somewhat crudely, esotericism can be described as a Western form of
spirituality that stresses the importance of the individual effort to
gain spiritual knowledge, or gnosis, whereby man is confronted with the
divine aspect of existence.
— Historian of religion Henrik Bogdan, 2007.[61]
As
an alternative to Faivre's framework, Kocku von Stuckrad developed his
own variant, though he argued that this did not represent a "definition"
but rather "a framework of analysis" for scholarly usage.[62] He stated
that "on the most general level of analysis", esotericism represented
"the claim of higher knowledge", a claim to possessing "wisdom that is
superior to other interpretations of cosmos and history" that serves as a
"master key for answering all questions of humankind."[63] Accordingly,
he believed that esoteric groups placed a great emphasis on secrecy,
not because they were inherently rooted in elite groups but because the
idea of concealed secrets that can be revealed was central to their
discourse.[64] Examining the means of accessing higher knowledge, he
highlighted two themes that he believed could be found within
esotericism, that of mediation through contact with non-human entities,
and individual experience.[65] Accordingly, for Von Stuckrad,
esotericism could be best understood as "a structural element of Western
culture" rather than as a selection of different schools of thought.[9]
As rejected knowledge
Hanegraaff
proposed an additional definition that "Western esotericism" is a
category that represents "the academy's dustbin of rejected
knowledge."[23] In this respect, it contains all of the theories and
world views rejected by the mainstream intellectual community because
they do not accord with "normative conceptions of religion, rationality
and science."[23] His approach is rooted within the field of the history
of ideas, and stresses the role of change and transformation over
time.[66]
Goodrick-Clarke was critical of this approach,
believing that it relegated Western esotericism to the position of "a
casualty of positivist and materialist perspectives in the
nineteenth-century" and thus reinforces the idea that Western esoteric
traditions were of little historical importance.[67] Bogdan similarly
expressed concern regarding Hanegraaff's definition, believing that it
made the category of Western esotericism "all inclusive" and thus
analytically useless.[68]
History
Late Antiquity
A later illustration of Hermes Trismegistus
The
origins of Western esotericism are in the Hellenistic Eastern
Mediterranean, then part of the Roman Empire, during Late Antiquity.[69]
This was a milieu that mixed religious and intellectual traditions from
Greece, Egypt, the Levant, Babylon, and Persia—in which globalisation,
urbanisation, and multiculturalism were bringing about socio-cultural
change.[70]
One component of this was Hermeticism, an Egyptian
Hellenistic school of thought that takes its name from the legendary
Egyptian wise man, Hermes Trismegistus.[71] In the 2nd and 3rd
centuries, a number of texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus appeared,
including the Corpus Hermeticum, Asclepius, and The Discourse on the
Eighth and Ninth.[72] Some still debate whether Hermeticism was a purely
literary phenomenon or had communities of practitioners who acted on
these ideas, but it has been established that these texts discuss the
true nature of God, emphasising that humans must transcend rational
thought and worldly desires to find salvation and be reborn into a
spiritual body of immaterial light, thereby achieving spiritual unity
with divinity.[72]
Another tradition of esoteric thought in Late
Antiquity was Gnosticism. Various Gnostic sects existed, and they
broadly believed that the divine light had been imprisoned within the
material world by a malevolent entity known as the Demiurge, who was
served by demonic helpers, the Archons. It was the Gnostic belief that
people, who were imbued with the divine light, should seek to attain
gnosis and thus escape from the world of matter and rejoin the divine
source.[73]
A third form of esotericism in Late Antiquity was
Neoplatonism, a school of thought influenced by the ideas of the
philosopher Plato. Advocated by such figures as Plotinus, Porphyry,
Iamblichus, and Proclus, Neoplatonism held that the human soul had
fallen from its divine origins into the material world, but that it
could progress, through a number of hierarchical spheres of being, to
return to its divine origins once more.[74] The later Neoplatonists
performed theurgy, a ritual practice attested in such sources as the
Chaldean Oracles. Scholars are still unsure of precisely what theurgy
involved, but know it involved a practice designed to make gods appear,
who could then raise the theurgist's mind to the reality of the
divine.[75]
Middle Ages
After the fall of Rome, alchemy[76]
and philosophy and other aspects of the tradition were largely preserved
in the Arab and Near Eastern world and reintroduced into Western Europe
by Jews[77] and by the cultural contact between Christians and Muslims
in Sicily and southern Italy. The 12th century saw the development of
the Kabbalah in southern Italy and medieval Spain.[78]
The
medieval period also saw the publication of grimoires, which offered
often elaborate formulas for theurgy and thaumaturgy. Many of the
grimoires seem to have kabbalistic influence. Figures in alchemy from
this period seem to also have authored or used grimoires. Medieval sects
deemed heretical such as the Waldensians were thought to have utilized
esoteric concepts.[79][80]
Renaissance and Early Modern period
During
the Renaissance, a number of European thinkers began to synthesize
"pagan" (that is, not Christian) philosophies, which were then being
made available through Arabic translations, with Christian thought and
the Jewish kabbalah.[81] The earliest of these individuals was the
Byzantine philosopher Plethon (1355/60–1452?), who argued that the
Chaldean Oracles represented an example of a superior religion of
ancient humanity that had been passed down by the Platonists.[82]
Plethon's
ideas interested the ruler of Florence, Cosimo de Medici, who employed
Florentine thinker Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) to translate Plato's
works into Latin. Ficino went on to translate and publish the works of
various Platonic figures, arguing that their philosophies were
compatible with Christianity, and allowing for the emergence of a wider
movement in Renaissance Platonism, or Platonic Orientalism.[83] Ficino
also translated part of the Corpus Hermeticum, though the rest was
translated by his contemporary, Lodovico Lazzarelli (1447–1500).[84]
Another
core figure in this intellectual milieu was Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola (1463–1494), who achieved notability in 1486 by inviting
scholars from across Europe to come and debate with him 900 theses that
he had written. Pico della Mirandola argued that all of these
philosophies reflected a grand universal wisdom. Pope Innocent VIII
condemned these ideas, criticising him for attempting to mix pagan and
Jewish ideas with Christianity.[85]
Pico della Mirandola's
increased interest in Jewish kabbalah led to his development of a
distinct form of Christian Kabbalah. His work was built on by the German
Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) who authored an influential text on the
subject, De Arte Cabbalistica.[86] Christian Kabbalah was expanded in
the work of the German Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535/36), who
used it as a framework to explore the philosophical and scientific
traditions of Antiquity in his work De occulta philosophia libri
tres.[87] The work of Agrippa and other esoteric philosophers had been
based in a pre-Copernican worldview, but following the arguments of
Copernicus, a more accurate understanding of the cosmos was established.
Copernicus' theories were adopted into esoteric strains of thought by
Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), whose ideas were deemed heresy by the Roman
Catholic Church, which eventually publicly executed him.[88]
The Masonic Square and Compasses
A
distinct strain of esoteric thought developed in Germany, where it
became known as Naturphilosophie. Though influenced by traditions from
Late Antiquity and medieval Kabbalah, it only acknowledged two main
sources of authority: Biblical scripture and the natural world.[89] The
primary exponent of this approach was Paracelsus (1493/94–1541), who
took inspiration from alchemy and folk magic to argue against the
mainstream medical establishment of his time—which, as in Antiquity,
still based its approach on the ideas of the second-century physician
and philosopher, Galen, a Greek in the Roman Empire. Instead, Paracelsus
urged doctors to learn medicine through an observation of the natural
world, though in later work he also began to focus on overtly religious
questions. His work gained significant support in both areas over the
following centuries.[90]
One of those influenced by Paracelsus
was the German cobbler Jacob Böhme (1575–1624), who sparked the
Christian theosophy movement through his attempts to solve the problem
of evil. Böhme argued that God had been created out of an unfathomable
mystery, the Ungrund, and that God himself was composed of a wrathful
core, surrounded by the forces of light and love.[91] Though condemned
by Germany's Lutheran authorities, Böhme's ideas spread and formed the
basis for a number of small religious communities, such as Johann Georg
Gichtel's Angelic Brethren in Amsterdam, and John Pordage and Jane
Leade's Philadelphian Society in England.[92]
From 1614 to 1616,
the three Rosicrucian Manifestos were published in Germany. These texts
purported to represent a secret, initiatory brotherhood founded
centuries before by a German adept named Christian Rosenkreutz. There is
no evidence that Rosenkreutz was a genuine historical figure, nor that a
Rosicrucian Order had ever existed before then. Instead, the manifestos
are likely literary creations of Lutheran theologian Johann Valentin
Andreae (1586–1654). They interested the public, so several people
described themselves as "Rosicrucian", claiming access to secret
esoteric knowledge.[93]
A real initiatory brotherhood was
established in late 16th-century Scotland through the transformation of
Medieval stonemason guilds to include non-craftsmen: Freemasonry. Soon
spreading into other parts of Europe, in England it largely rejected its
esoteric character and embraced humanism and rationalism, while in
France it embraced new esoteric concepts, particularly those from
Christian theosophy.[94]
18th, 19th and early 20th centuries
Further information: Esotericism in Germany and Austria
Hypnotic séance. Painting by Swedish artist Richard Bergh, 1887
The
Age of Enlightenment witnessed a process of increasing secularisation
of European governments and an embrace of modern science and rationality
within intellectual circles. In turn, a "modernist occult" emerged that
reflected varied ways esoteric thinkers came to terms with these
developments.[95] One of the esotericists of this period was the Swedish
naturalist Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), who attempted to reconcile
science and religion after experiencing a vision of Jesus Christ. His
writings focused on his visionary travels to heaven and hell and his
communications with angels, claiming that the visible, materialist world
parallels an invisible spiritual world, with correspondences between
the two that do not reflect causal relations. Following his death,
followers founded the Swedenborgian New Church—though his writings
influenced a wider array of esoteric philosophies.[96] Another major
figure within the esoteric movement of this period was the German
physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1814), who developed the theory of
Animal Magnetism, which later became known more commonly as Mesmerism.
Mesmer claimed that a universal life force permeated everything,
including the human body, and that illnesses were caused by a
disturbance or block in this force's flow; he developed techniques he
claimed cleansed such blockages and restored the patient to full
health.[97] One of Mesmer's followers, the Marquis de Puységur,
discovered that mesmeric treatment could induce a state of somnumbulic
trance in which they claimed to enter visionary states and communicate
with spirit beings.[98]
These somnambulic trance-states heavily
influenced the esoteric religion of Spiritualism, which emerged in the
United States in the 1840s and spread throughout North America and
Europe. Spiritualism was based on the concept that individuals could
communicate with spirits of the deceased during séances.[99] Most forms
of Spiritualism had little theoretical depth, being largely practical
affairs—but full theological worldviews based on the movement were
articulated by Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1910) and Allan Kardec
(1804–1869).[98] Scientific interest in the claims of Spiritualism
resulted in the development of the field of psychical research.[98]
Somnambulism also exerted a strong influence on the early disciplines of
psychology and psychiatry; esoteric ideas pervade the work of many
early figures in this field, most notably Carl Gustav Jung—though with
the rise of psychoanalysis and behaviourism in the 20th century, these
disciplines distanced themselves from esotericism.[100] Also influenced
by artificial somnambulism was the religion of New Thought, founded by
the American mesmerist Phineas P. Quimby (1802–1866). It revolved around
the concept of "mind over matter"—believing that illness and other
negative conditions could be cured through the power of belief.[101]
Pentagram of Éliphas Lévi
In
Europe, a movement usually termed occultism emerged as various figures
attempted to find a "third way" between Christianity and positivist
science while building on the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance
traditions of esoteric thought.[101] In France, following the social
upheaval of the 1789 Revolution, various figures emerged in this
occultist milieu who were heavily influenced by traditional Catholicism,
the most notable of whom were Éliphas Lévi (1810–1875) and Papus
(1865–1916).[102] Also significant was René Guénon (1886–1951), whose
concern with tradition led him to develop an occult viewpoint termed
Traditionalism; it espoused the idea of an original, universal
tradition, and thus a rejection of modernity.[103] His Traditionalist
ideas strongly influenced later esotericists like Julius Evola
(1898–1974) and Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998).[103]
In the
Anglophone world, the burgeoning occult movement owed more to
Enlightenment libertines, and thus was more often of an anti-Christian
bent that saw wisdom as emanating from the pre-Christian pagan religions
of Europe.[103] Various Spiritualist mediums came to be disillusioned
with the esoteric thought available, and sought inspiration in
pre-Swedenborgian currents, including Emma Hardinge Britten (1823–1899)
and Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), the latter of whom called for the
revival of the "occult science" of the ancients, which could be found in
both the East and West. Authoring the influential Isis Unveiled (1877)
and The Secret Doctrine (1888), she co-founded the Theosophical Society
in 1875.[104] Subsequent leaders of the Society, namely Annie Besant
(1847–1933) and Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) interpreted
modern theosophy as a form of ecumenical esoteric Christianity,
resulting in their proclamation of Indian Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986)
as world messiah.[105] In rejection of this was the breakaway
Anthroposophical Society founded by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).[105]
Another form of esoteric Christianity is the spiritual science of the
Danish mystic Martinus who is popular in Scandinavia.[106]
New
esoteric understandings of magic also developed in the latter part of
the 19th century. One of the pioneers of this was American Paschal
Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), who argued that sexual energy and
psychoactive drugs could be used for magical purposes.[105] In
England,[107] the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—an initiatory order
devoted to magic based on kabbalah—was founded in the latter years of
the century.[108] One of the members of that order was Aleister Crowley
(1875–1947), who went on to proclaim the religion of Thelema and become a
member of the Ordo Templi Orientis.[109] Some of their contemporaries
developed esoteric schools of thought that did not entail magic, namely
the Greco-Armenian teacher George Gurdjieff (1866–1949) and his Russian
pupil P.D. Ouspensky (1878–1947).[110]
Emergent occult and
esoteric systems found increasing popularity in the early 20th century,
especially in Western Europe. Occult lodges and secret societies
flowered among European intellectuals of this era who had largely
abandoned traditional forms of Christianity. The spreading of secret
teachings and magical practices found enthusiastic adherents in the
chaos of Germany during the interwar years. Notable writers such as
Guido von List spread neo-pagan, nationalist ideas, based on Wotanism
and the Kabbalah. Many influential and wealthy Germans were drawn to
secret societies such as the Thule Society. Thule Society activist Karl
Harrer was one of the founders of the German Workers' Party,[111] which
later became the Nazi Party; some Nazi Party members like Alfred
Rosenberg and Rudolf Hess were listed as "guests" of the Thule Society,
as was Adolf Hitler's mentor Dietrich Eckart.[112] After their rise to
power, the Nazis persecuted occultists.[113] While many Nazi Party
leaders like Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were hostile to occultism,
Heinrich Himmler used Karl Maria Wiligut as a clairvoyant "and was
regularly consulting for help in setting up the symbolic and ceremonial
aspects of the SS" but not for important political decisions. By 1939,
Wiligut was "forcibly retired from the SS" due to being
institutionalised for insanity.[114] On the other hand, the German
hermetic magic order Fraternitas Saturni was founded on Easter 1928 and
it is one of the oldest continuously running magical groups in
Germany.[115] In 1936, the Fraternitas Saturni was prohibited by the
Nazi regime. The leaders of the lodge emigrated to avoid imprisonment,
but in the course of the war Eugen Grosche, one of their main leaders,
was arrested for a year by the Nazi government. After World War II they
reformed the Fraternitas Saturni.[116]
Several religious scholars
such as Hugh Urban and Donald Westbrook have classified Scientology as
being a modern form of Western Esotericism.[117][118][119][120]
Later 20th century
Sculpture of the Horned God of Wicca found in the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall
In
the 1960s and 1970s, esotericism came to be increasingly associated
with the growing counter-culture in the West, whose adherents understood
themselves in participating in a spiritual revolution that marked the
Age of Aquarius.[121] By the 1980s, these currents of millenarian
currents had come to be widely known as the New Age movement, and it
became increasingly commercialised as business entrepreneurs exploited a
growth in the spiritual market.[121] Conversely, other forms of
esoteric thought retained the anti-commercial and counter-cultural
sentiment of the 1960s and 1970s, namely the techno-shamanic movement
promoted by figures such as Terence McKenna and Daniel Pinchbeck, which
built on the work of anthropologist Carlos Castaneda.[121]
This
trend was accompanied by the increased growth of modern Paganism, a
movement initially dominated by Wicca, the religion propagated by Gerald
Gardner.[122] Wicca was adopted by members of the second-wave feminist
movement, most notably Starhawk, and developing into the Goddess
movement.[122] Wicca also greatly influenced the development of Pagan
neo-druidry and other forms of Celtic revivalism.[122] In response to
Wicca there has also appeared literature and groups who label themselves
followers of traditional witchcraft in opposition to the growing
visibility of Wicca and these claim older roots than the system proposed
by Gerald Gardner.[123] Other trends that emerged in western occultism
in the later 20th century included satanism, as exposed by groups such
as the Church of Satan and Temple of Set,[124] as well as chaos magick
through the Illuminates of Thanateros group.[125][126]
Additionally,
since the start of the 1990s, countries inside of the former Iron
Curtain have undergone a radiative and varied religious revival, with a
large number of occult and new religious movements gaining
popularity.[127] Gnostic revivalists, New Age organizations, and
Scientology splinter groups[128] have found their way into much of the
former Soviet bloc since the cultural and political shift resulting from
the dissolution of the USSR.[129] In Hungary, a significant number of
citizens (relative to the size of the country's population and compared
to its neighbors) practice and/or adhere to new currents of Western
Esotericism.[130] In April 1997, the Fifth Esoteric Spiritual Forum was
held for two days in the country and was attended at-capacity; In August
of the same year, the International Shaman Expo began, being broadcast
on live TV and ultimately taking place for 2 months wherein various
neo-Shamanist, Millenarian, mystic, neo-Pagan, and even UFO religionist
congregations and figures were among the attendees.[131]
Academic study
Main article: Academic study of Western esotericism
London's Warburg Institute was one of the first centres to encourage the academic study of Western esotericism.
The
academic study of Western esotericism was pioneered in the early 20th
century by historians of the ancient world and the European Renaissance,
who came to recognise that—even though previous scholarship had ignored
it—the effect of pre-Christian and non-rational schools of thought on
European society and culture was worthy of academic attention.[67] One
of the key centres for this was the Warburg Institute in London, where
scholars like Frances Yates, Edgar Wind, Ernst Cassirer, and D. P.
Walker began arguing that esoteric thought had had a greater effect on
Renaissance culture than had been previously accepted.[132] The work of
Yates in particular, most notably her 1964 book Giordano Bruno and the
Hermetic Tradition, has been cited as "an important starting-point for
modern scholarship on esotericism", succeeding "at one fell swoop in
bringing scholarship onto a new track" by bringing wider awareness of
the effect that esoteric ideas had on modern science.[133]
In
1965, at the instigation of the scholar Henry Corbin, École pratique des
hautes études in the Sorbonne established the world's first academic
post in the study of esotericism, with a chair in the History of
Christian Esotericism. Its first holder was François Secret, a
specialist in the Christian Kabbalah, though he had little interest in
developing the wider study of esotericism as a field of research.[134]
In 1979 Faivre assumed Secret's chair at the Sorbonne, which was renamed
the "History of Esoteric and Mystical Currents in Modern and
Contemporary Europe".[135] Faivre has since been cited as being
responsible for developing the study of Western esotericism into a
formalised field,[136] with his 1992 work L'ésotérisme having been cited
as marking "the beginning of the study of Western esotericism as an
academic field of research".[137] He remained in the chair until 2002,
when he was succeeded by Jean-Pierre Brach.[133]
Prominent scholar of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff
Faivre
noted two significant obstacles to establishing the field. One was an
ingrained prejudice toward esotericism within academia, resulting in the
widespread perception that the history of esotericism was not worthy of
academic research.[138] The other was esotericism's status as a
trans-disciplinary field, the study of which did not fit clearly within
any particular discipline.[139] As Hanegraaff noted, Western esotericism
had to be studied as a separate field to religion, philosophy, science,
and the arts, because while it "participates in all these fields" it
does not squarely fit into any of them.[140] Elsewhere, he noted that
there was "probably no other domain in the humanities that has been so
seriously neglected" as Western esotericism.[141]
In 1980, the
U.S.-based Hermetic Academy was founded by Robert A. McDermott as an
outlet for American scholars interested in Western esotericism.[142]
From 1986 to 1990 members of the Hermetic Academy participated in panels
at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion under the
rubric of the "Esotericism and Perennialism Group".[142] By 1994, Faivre
could comment that the academic study of Western esotericism had taken
off in France, Italy, England, and the United States, but he lamented
that it had not done so in Germany.[138]
In 1999, the University
of Amsterdam established a chair in the History of Hermetic Philosophy
and Related Currents, which was occupied by Hanegraaff,[143] while in
2005 the University of Exeter created a chair in Western Esotericism,
which was taken by Goodrick-Clarke, who headed the Exeter Center for the
Study of Esotericism.[144] Thus, by 2008 there were three dedicated
university chairs in the subject, with Amsterdam and Exeter also
offering master's degree programs in it.[145] Several conferences on the
subject were held at the quintennial meetings of the International
Association for the History of Religions,[146] while a peer-reviewed
journal, Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism began
publication in 2001.[146] 2001 also saw the foundation of the North
American Association for the Study of Esotericism (ASE), with the
European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) being
established shortly after.[147] Within a few years, Michael Bergunder
expressed the view that it had become an established field within
religious studies,[148] with Asprem and Granholm observing that scholars
within other sub-disciplines of religious studies had begun to take an
interest in the work of scholars of esotericism.[149]
Asprem and
Granholm noted that the study of esotericism had been dominated by
historians and thus lacked the perspective of social scientists
examining contemporary forms of esotericism, a situation that they were
attempting to correct through building links with scholars operating in
Pagan studies and the study of new religious movements.[150] On the
basis that "English culture and literature have been traditional
strongholds of Western esotericism", in 2011 Pia Brînzeu and György
Szönyi urged that English studies also have a role in this
interdisciplinary field.[151]
Emic and etic divisions
Emic and
etic refer to two kinds of field research done and viewpoints obtained,
emic, from within the social group (from the perspective of the
subject) and etic, from outside (from the perspective of the observer).
Wouter Hanegraaff follows a distinction between an emic and an etic
approach to religious studies.
The emic approach is that of the
alchemist or theosopher. The etic approach is that of the scholar as an
historian, a researcher, with a critical view. An empirical study of
esotericism needs "emic material and etic interpretation":
Emic denotes the believer’s point of view. On the part of the
researcher, the reconstruction of this emic perspective requires an
attitude of empathy which excludes personal biases as far as possible.
Scholarly discourse about religion, on the other hand, is not emic but
etic. Scholars may introduce their own terminology and make theoretical
distinctions which are different from those of the believers
themselves.[152]
Arthur Versluis proposes approaching esotericism through an "imaginative participation":
Esotericism, given all its varied forms and its inherently
multidimensional nature, cannot be conveyed without going beyond purely
historical information: at minimum, the study of esotericism, and in
particular mysticism, requires some degree of imaginative participation
in what one is studying.[153]
Many scholars of esotericism have
come to be regarded as respected intellectual authorities by
practitioners of various esoteric traditions.[154] Many esotericism
scholars have sought to emphasise that esotericism is not a single
object, but practitioners who read this scholarship have begun to regard
it and think of it as a singular object, with which they affiliate
themselves.[155] Thus, Asprem and Granholm noted that the use of the
term "esotericism" among scholars "significantly contributes to the
reification of the category for the general audience—despite the
explicated contrary intentions of most scholars in the field."[156]
In popular culture
In
2013, Asprem and Granholm highlighted that "contemporary esotericism is
intimately, and increasingly, connected with popular culture and new
media."[157]
Granholm noted that esoteric ideas and images appear
in many aspects of Western popular media, citing such examples as Buffy
the Vampire Slayer, Avatar, Hellblazer, and His Dark Materials.[158]
Granholm has argued that there are problems with the field in that it
draws a distinction between esotericism and non-esoteric elements of
culture that draw upon esotericism. He cites extreme metal as an
example, noting that it is extremely difficult to differentiate between
artists who were "properly occult" and those who superficially
referenced occult themes and aesthetics.[159]
Writers interested
in occult themes have adopted three different strategies for dealing
with the subject: those who are knowledgeable on the subject including
attractive images of the occult and occultists in their work, those who
disguise occultism within "a web of intertextuality", and those who
oppose it and seek to deconstruct it." (wikipedia.org)
"Supernatural
refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature.[1]
The term is derived from Medieval Latin supernaturalis, from Latin
super- (above, beyond, or outside of) + natura (nature).[1] Though the
corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings since the ancient
world, the term "supernatural" emerged in the Middle Ages[2] and did not
exist in the ancient world.[3]
The supernatural is featured in
folklore and religious contexts,[4] but can also feature as an
explanation in more secular contexts, as in the cases of superstitions
or belief in the paranormal.[5] The term is attributed to non-physical
entities, such as angels, demons, gods, and spirits. It also includes
claimed abilities embodied in or provided by such beings, including
magic, telekinesis, levitation, precognition, and extrasensory
perception.
Etymology and history of the concept
Occurring as
both an adjective and a noun, antecedents of the modern English compound
supernatural enter the language from two sources: via Middle French
(supernaturel) and directly from the Middle French's term's ancestor,
post-Classical Latin (supernaturalis). Post-classical Latin
supernaturalis first occurs in the 6th century, composed of the Latin
prefix super- and nātūrālis (see nature). The earliest known appearance
of the word in the English language occurs in a Middle English
translation of Catherine of Siena's Dialogue (orcherd of Syon, around
1425; Þei haue not þanne þe supernaturel lyȝt ne þe liȝt of kunnynge,
bycause þei vndirstoden it not).[6]
The semantic value of the
term has shifted over the history of its use. Originally the term
referred exclusively to Christian understandings of the world. For
example, as an adjective, the term can mean "belonging to a realm or
system that transcends nature, as that of divine, magical, or ghostly
beings; attributed to or thought to reveal some force beyond scientific
understanding or the laws of nature; occult, paranormal" or "more than
what is natural or ordinary; unnaturally or extraordinarily great;
abnormal, extraordinary". Obsolete uses include "of, relating to, or
dealing with metaphysics". As a noun, the term can mean "a supernatural
being", with a particularly strong history of employment in relation to
entities from the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the
Americas.[6]
History of the concept
The ancient world had no
word that resembled "supernatural".[3] Dialogues from Neoplatonic
philosophy in the third century AD contributed to the development of the
concept the supernatural via Christian theology in later centuries.[7]
The term nature had existed since antiquity, with Latin authors like
Augustine using the word and its cognates at least 600 times in City of
God. In the medieval period, "nature" had ten different meanings and
"natural" had eleven different meanings.[2] Peter Lombard, a medieval
scholastic in the 12th century, asked about causes that are beyond
nature, in that how there could be causes that were God's alone. He used
the term praeter naturam in his writings.[2] In the scholastic period,
Thomas Aquinas classified miracles into three categories: "above
nature", "beyond nature", and "against nature". In doing so, he
sharpened the distinction between nature and miracles more than the
early Church Fathers had done.[2] As a result, he had created a
dichotomy of sorts of the natural and supernatural.[7] Though the phrase
"supra naturam" was used since the 4th century AD, it was in the 1200s
that Thomas Aquinas used the term "supernaturalis" and despite this, the
term had to wait until the end of the medieval period before it became
more popularly used.[2] The discussions on "nature" from the scholastic
period were diverse and unsettled with some postulating that even
miracles are natural and that natural magic was a natural part of the
world.[2]
Epistemology and metaphysics
See also: Anthropology of religion
The
metaphysical considerations of the existence of the supernatural can be
difficult to approach as an exercise in philosophy or theology because
any dependencies on its antithesis, the natural, will ultimately have to
be inverted or rejected. One complicating factor is that there is
disagreement about the definition of "natural" and the limits of
naturalism. Concepts in the supernatural domain are closely related to
concepts in religious spirituality and occultism or spiritualism.
For sometimes we use the word nature for that Author of nature whom the
schoolmen, harshly enough, call natura naturans, as when it is said
that nature hath made man partly corporeal and partly immaterial.
Sometimes we mean by the nature of a thing the essence, or that which
the schoolmen scruple not to call the quiddity of a thing, namely, the
attribute or attributes on whose score it is what it is, whether the
thing be corporeal or not, as when we attempt to define the nature of an
angle, or of a triangle, or of a fluid body, as such. Sometimes we take
nature for an internal principle of motion, as when we say that a stone
let fall in the air is by nature carried towards the centre of the
earth, and, on the contrary, that fire or flame does naturally move
upwards toward firmament. Sometimes we understand by nature the
established course of things, as when we say that nature makes the night
succeed the day, nature hath made respiration necessary to the life of
men. Sometimes we take nature for an aggregate of powers belonging to a
body, especially a living one, as when physicians say that nature is
strong or weak or spent, or that in such or such diseases nature left to
herself will do the cure. Sometimes we take nature for the universe, or
system of the corporeal works of God, as when it is said of a phoenix,
or a chimera, that there is no such thing in nature, i.e. in the world.
And sometimes too, and that most commonly, we would express by nature a
semi-deity or other strange kind of being, such as this discourse
examines the notion of.
And besides these more absolute
acceptions, if I may so call them, of the word nature, it has divers
others (more relative), as nature is wont to be set or in opposition or
contradistinction to other things, as when we say of a stone when it
falls downwards that it does it by a natural motion, but that if it be
thrown upwards its motion that way is violent. So chemists distinguish
vitriol into natural and fictitious, or made by art, i.e. by the
intervention of human power or skill; so it is said that water, kept
suspended in a sucking pump, is not in its natural place, as that is
which is stagnant in the well. We say also that wicked men are still in
the state of nature, but the regenerate in a state of grace; that cures
wrought by medicines are natural operations; but the miraculous ones
wrought by Christ and his apostles were supernatural.[8]
— Robert Boyle, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature
Nomological
possibility is possibility under the actual laws of nature. Most
philosophers since David Hume have held that the laws of nature are
metaphysically contingent—that there could have been different natural
laws than the ones that actually obtain. If so, then it would not be
logically or metaphysically impossible, for example, for you to travel
to Alpha Centauri in one day; it would just have to be the case that you
could travel faster than the speed of light. But of course there is an
important sense in which this is not nomologically possible; given that
the laws of nature are what they are. In the philosophy of natural
science, impossibility assertions come to be widely accepted as
overwhelmingly probable rather than considered proved to the point of
being unchallengeable. The basis for this strong acceptance is a
combination of extensive evidence of something not occurring, combined
with an underlying scientific theory, very successful in making
predictions, whose assumptions lead logically to the conclusion that
something is impossible. While an impossibility assertion in natural
science can never be absolutely proved, it could be refuted by the
observation of a single counterexample. Such a counterexample would
require that the assumptions underlying the theory that implied the
impossibility be re-examined. Some philosophers, such as Sydney
Shoemaker, have argued that the laws of nature are in fact necessary,
not contingent; if so, then nomological possibility is equivalent to
metaphysical possibility.[9][10][11]
The term supernatural is
often used interchangeably with paranormal or preternatural—the latter
typically limited to an adjective for describing abilities which appear
to exceed what is possible within the boundaries of the laws of
physics.[12] Epistemologically, the relationship between the
supernatural and the natural is indistinct in terms of natural phenomena
that, ex hypothesi, violate the laws of nature, in so far as such laws
are realistically accountable.
Parapsychologists use the term
psi to refer to an assumed unitary force underlying the phenomena they
study. Psi is defined in the Journal of Parapsychology as "personal
factors or processes in nature which transcend accepted laws" (1948:
311) and "which are non-physical in nature" (1962:310), and it is used
to cover both extrasensory perception (ESP), an "awareness of or
response to an external event or influence not apprehended by sensory
means" (1962:309) or inferred from sensory knowledge, and psychokinesis
(PK), "the direct influence exerted on a physical system by a subject
without any known intermediate energy or instrumentation"
(1945:305).[13]
— Michael Winkelman, Current Anthropology
Views on the "supernatural" vary, for example it may be seen as:
indistinct from nature. From this perspective, some events occur
according to the laws of nature, and others occur according to a
separate set of principles external to known nature. For example, in
Scholasticism, it was believed that God was capable of performing any
miracle so long as it didn't lead to a logical contradiction. Some
religions posit immanent deities, however, and do not have a tradition
analogous to the supernatural; some believe that everything anyone
experiences occurs by the will (occasionalism), in the mind
(neoplatonism), or as a part (nondualism) of a more fundamental divine
reality (platonism).
incorrect human attribution. In this view
all events have natural and only natural causes. They believe that human
beings ascribe supernatural attributes to purely natural events, such
as lightning, rainbows, floods, and the origin of life.[14][15]
Anthropological studies
Anthropological
studies across cultures indicate that people do not hold or use natural
and supernatural explanations in a mutually exclusive or dichotomous
fashion. Instead, the reconciliation of natural and supernatural
explanations is normal and pervasive across cultures.[16] Cross cultural
studies indicate that there is coexistence of natural and supernatural
explanations in both adults and children for explaining numerous things
about the world such as illness, death, and origins.[17][18] Context and
cultural input play a large role in determining when and how
individuals incorporate natural and supernatural explanations.[19] The
coexistence of natural and supernatural explanations in individuals may
be the outcomes two distinct cognitive domains: one concerned with the
physical-mechanical relations and another with social relations.[20]
Studies on indigenous groups have allowed for insights on how such
coexistence of explanations may function.[21]
Supernatural concepts
See also: Religion and Magic and religion
Deity
Main article: Deity
A
deity (/ˈdiːəti/ i or /ˈdeɪ.əti/ i)[22] is a supernatural being
considered divine or sacred.[23] The Oxford Dictionary of English
defines deity as "a god or goddess (in a polytheistic religion)", or
anything revered as divine.[24] C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a
being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who
interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry
humans to new levels of consciousness, beyond the grounded
preoccupations of ordinary life."[25] A male deity is a god, while a
female deity is a goddess.
Religions can be categorized by how
many deities they worship. Monotheistic religions accept only one deity
(predominantly referred to as God),[26][27] polytheistic religions
accept multiple deities.[28] Henotheistic religions accept one supreme
deity without denying other deities, considering them as equivalent
aspects of the same divine principle;[29][30] and nontheistic religions
deny any supreme eternal creator deity but accept a pantheon of deities
which live, die, and are reborn just like any other
being.[31]: 35–37 [32]: 357–358
Various cultures have
conceptualized a deity differently than a monotheistic God.[33][34] A
deity need not be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent or
eternal,[33][34][35] The monotheistic God, however, does have these
attributes.[36][37][38] Monotheistic religions typically refer to God in
masculine terms,[39][40]: 96 while other religions refer to their
deities in a variety of ways – masculine, feminine, androgynous and
gender neutral.[41][42][43]
Historically, many ancient cultures –
such as Ancient India, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman,
Nordic and Asian culture – personified natural phenomena, variously as
either their conscious causes or simply their effects,
respectively.[44][45][46] Some Avestan and Vedic deities were viewed as
ethical concepts.[44][45] In Indian religions, deities have been
envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living being's
body, as sensory organs and mind.[47][48][49] Deities have also been
envisioned as a form of existence (Saṃsāra) after rebirth, for human
beings who gain merit through an ethical life, where they become
guardian deities and live blissfully in heaven, but are also subject to
death when their merit runs out.[31]: 35–38 [32]: 356–359
Angel
Main article: Angel
The Archangel Michael wears a late Roman military cloak and cuirass in this 17th-century depiction by Guido Reni.
Schutzengel (English: "Guardian Angel") by Bernhard Plockhorst depicts a guardian angel watching over two children.
An
angel is generally a supernatural being found in various religions and
mythologies. In Abrahamic religions and Zoroastrianism, angels are often
depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries
between God or Heaven and Earth.[50][51] Other roles of angels include
protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks.[52]
Within Abrahamic religions, angels are often organized into hierarchies,
although such rankings may vary between sects in each religion, and are
given specific names or titles, such as Gabriel or "Destroying angel".
The term "angel" has also been expanded to various notions of spirits or
figures found in other religious traditions. The theological study of
angels is known as "angelology".
In fine art, angels are usually
depicted as having the shape of human beings of extraordinary
beauty;[53][54] they are often identified using the symbols of bird
wings,[55] halos,[56] and light.
Prophecy
Main article: Prophecy
Prophecy
involves a process in which messages are communicated by a god to a
prophet. Such messages typically involve inspiration, interpretation, or
revelation of divine will concerning the prophet's social world and
events to come (compare divine knowledge). Prophecy is not limited to
any one culture. It is a common property to all known ancient societies
around the world, some more than others. Many systems and rules about
prophecy have been proposed over several millennia.
Revelation
Main article: Revelation
In
religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of
some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or
other supernatural entity or entities.
Some religions have
religious texts which they view as divinely or supernaturally revealed
or inspired. For instance, Orthodox Jews, Christians and Muslims believe
that the Torah was received from Yahweh on biblical Mount
Sinai.[57][58] Most Christians believe that both the Old Testament and
the New Testament were inspired by God. Muslims believe the Quran was
revealed by God to Muhammad word by word through the angel Gabriel
(Jibril).[59][60] In Hinduism, some Vedas are considered apauruṣeya,
"not human compositions", and are supposed to have been directly
revealed, and thus are called śruti, "what is heard". Aleister Crowley
stated that The Book of the Law had been revealed to him through a
higher being that called itself Aiwass.
A revelation communicated
by a supernatural entity reported as being present during the event is
called a vision. Direct conversations between the recipient and the
supernatural entity,[61] or physical marks such as stigmata, have been
reported. In rare cases, such as that of Saint Juan Diego, physical
artifacts accompany the revelation.[62] The Roman Catholic concept of
interior locution includes just an inner voice heard by the recipient.
In
the Abrahamic religions, the term is used to refer to the process by
which God reveals knowledge of himself, his will, and his divine
providence to the world of human beings.[63] In secondary usage,
revelation refers to the resulting human knowledge about God, prophecy,
and other divine things. Revelation from a supernatural source plays a
less important role in some other religious traditions such as Buddhism,
Confucianism and Taoism.
Reincarnation
Main article: Reincarnation
In Jainism, a soul travels to any one of the four states of existence after death depending on its karmas.
Reincarnation
is the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living
being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each
biological death. It is also called rebirth or transmigration, and is a
part of the Saṃsāra doctrine of cyclic existence.[64][65] It is a
central tenet of all major Indian religions, namely Jainism, Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Sikhism.[65][66][67] The idea of reincarnation is found in
many ancient cultures,[68] and a belief in rebirth/metempsychosis was
held by Greek historic figures, such as Pythagoras, Socrates, and
Plato.[69] It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern
religions such as Spiritism, Theosophy, and Eckankar, and as an esoteric
belief in many streams of Orthodox Judaism. It is found as well in many
tribal societies around the world, in places such as Australia, East
Asia, Siberia, and South America.[70]
Although the majority of
denominations within Christianity and Islam do not believe that
individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do
refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical
and contemporary followers of Cathars, Alawites, the Druze,[71] and the
Rosicrucians.[72] The historical relations between these sects and the
beliefs about reincarnation that were characteristic of Neoplatonism,
Orphism, Hermeticism, Manicheanism, and Gnosticism of the Roman era as
well as the Indian religions have been the subject of recent scholarly
research.[73] Unity Church and its founder Charles Fillmore teaches
reincarnation.
In recent decades, many Europeans and North
Americans have developed an interest in reincarnation,[74] and many
contemporary works mention it.
Karma
Main article: Karma
Karma
(/ˈkɑːrmə/; Sanskrit: कर्म, romanized: karma, IPA: [ˈkɐɽmɐ]i; Pali:
kamma) means action, work or deed;[75] it also refers to the spiritual
principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual
(cause) influence the future of that individual (effect).[76] Good
intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and future happiness,
while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and future
suffering.[77][78]
With origins in ancient India's Vedic
civilization, the philosophy of karma is closely associated with the
idea of rebirth in many schools of Indian religions (particularly
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism[79]) as well as Taoism.[80] In
these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current
life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives – one's
saṃsāra.[81][82]
Christian theology
The patron saint of air
travelers, aviators, astronauts, people with a mental handicap, test
takers, and poor students is Saint Joseph of Cupertino, who is said to
have been gifted with supernatural flight.[83]
Main article: Supernatural order
In
Catholic theology, the supernatural order is, according to New Advent,
defined as "the ensemble of effects exceeding the powers of the created
universe and gratuitously produced by God for the purpose of raising the
rational creature above its native sphere to a God-like life and
destiny."[84] The Modern Catholic Dictionary defines it as "the sum
total of heavenly destiny and all the divinely established means of
reaching that destiny, which surpass the mere powers and capacities of
human nature."[85]
Process theology
Main article: Process theology
Process
theology is a school of thought influenced by the metaphysical process
philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) and further developed
by Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000).
It is not possible, in
process metaphysics, to conceive divine activity as a "supernatural"
intervention into the "natural" order of events. Process theists usually
regard the distinction between the supernatural and the natural as a
by-product of the doctrine of creation ex nihilo. In process thought,
there is no such thing as a realm of the natural in contrast to that
which is supernatural. On the other hand, if "the natural" is defined
more neutrally as "what is in the nature of things," then process
metaphysics characterizes the natural as the creative activity of actual
entities. In Whitehead's words, "It lies in the nature of things that
the many enter into complex unity" (Whitehead 1978, 21). It is tempting
to emphasize process theism's denial of the supernatural and thereby
highlight that the processed God cannot do in comparison what the
traditional God could do (that is, to bring something from nothing). In
fairness, however, equal stress should be placed on process theism's
denial of the natural (as traditionally conceived) so that one may
highlight what the creatures cannot do, in traditional theism, in
comparison to what they can do in process metaphysics (that is, to be
part creators of the world with God).[86]
— Donald Viney, "Process Theism" in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Heaven
Main article: Heaven
Heaven,
or the heavens, is a common religious, cosmological, or transcendent
place where beings such as gods, angels, spirits, saints, or venerated
ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or live. According to the
beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to Earth or
incarnate, and earthly beings can ascend to heaven in the afterlife, or
in exceptional cases enter heaven alive.
Heaven is often
described as a "higher place", the holiest place, a Paradise, in
contrast to hell or the Underworld or the "low places", and universally
or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various
standards of divinity, goodness, piety, faith, or other virtues or right
beliefs or simply the will of God. Some believe in the possibility of a
heaven on Earth in a world to come.
Another belief is in an axis
mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world,
and the underworld. In Indian religions, heaven is considered as Svarga
loka,[87] and the soul is again subjected to rebirth in different living
forms according to its karma. This cycle can be broken after a soul
achieves Moksha or Nirvana. Any place of existence, either of humans,
souls or deities, outside the tangible world (Heaven, Hell, or other) is
referred to as otherworld.
Underworld
Main article: Underworld
The
underworld is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious
traditions, located below the world of the living.[88] Chthonic is the
technical adjective for things of the underworld.
The concept of
an underworld is found in almost every civilization and "may be as old
as humanity itself".[89] Common features of underworld myths are
accounts of living people making journeys to the underworld, often for
some heroic purpose. Other myths reinforce traditions that entrance of
souls to the underworld requires a proper observation of ceremony, such
as the ancient Greek story of the recently dead Patroclus haunting
Achilles until his body could be properly buried for this purpose.[90]
Persons having social status were dressed and equipped in order to
better navigate the underworld.[91]
A number of mythologies
incorporate the concept of the soul of the deceased making its own
journey to the underworld, with the dead needing to be taken across a
defining obstacle such as a lake or a river to reach this
destination.[92] Imagery of such journeys can be found in both ancient
and modern art. The descent to the underworld has been described as "the
single most important myth for Modernist authors".[93]
Spirit
Main article: Spirit (vital essence)
Theodor von Holst, Bertalda, Assailed by Spirits, c. 1830
A
spirit is a supernatural being, often but not exclusively a
non-physical entity; such as a ghost, fairy, jinn, or angel.[94] The
concepts of a person's spirit and soul, often also overlap, as both are
either contrasted with or given ontological priority over the body and
both are believed to survive bodily death in some religions,[95] and
"spirit" can also have the sense of "ghost", i.e. a manifestation of the
spirit of a deceased person. In English Bibles, "the Spirit" (with a
capital "S"), specifically denotes the Holy Spirit.
Spirit is often used metaphysically to refer to the consciousness or personality.
Historically,
it was also used to refer to a "subtle" as opposed to "gross" material
substance, as in the famous last paragraph of Sir Isaac Newton's
Principia Mathematica.[96]
Demon
Main article: Demon
Bronze statuette of the Assyro-Babylonian demon king Pazuzu, circa 800 BC –- circa 700 BC, Louvre
A
demon (from Koine Greek δαιμόνιον daimónion) is a supernatural and
often malevolent being prevalent in religion, occultism, literature,
fiction, mythology and folklore.
In Ancient Near Eastern
religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and
medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered a harmful spiritual
entity, below the heavenly planes[97] which may cause demonic
possession, calling for an exorcism. In Western occultism and
Renaissance magic, which grew out of an amalgamation of Greco-Roman
magic, Jewish Aggadah and Christian demonology,[98] a demon is believed
to be a spiritual entity that may be conjured and controlled.
Magic
Main article: Magic (supernatural)
Magic
or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, or
language with the aim of utilizing supernatural
forces.[99][100]: 6–7 [101][102]: 24 Belief in and practice of magic
has been present since the earliest human cultures and continues to have
an important spiritual, religious, and medicinal role in many cultures
today. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no widely
agreed upon definition of what it is.
Scholars of religion have
defined magic in different ways. One approach, associated with the
anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, suggests that magic
and science are opposites. An alternative approach, associated with the
sociologists Marcel Mauss and Emile Durkheim, argues that magic takes
place in private, while religion is a communal and organised activity.
Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic
and it has become increasingly unpopular within scholarship since the
1990s.
The term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word
that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is
known. During the late sixth and early fifth centuries BC, this term was
adopted into Ancient Greek, where it was used with negative
connotations, to apply to religious rites that were regarded as
fraudulent, unconventional, and dangerous. This meaning of the term was
then adopted by Latin in the first century BC. The concept was then
incorporated into Christian theology during the first century AD, where
magic was associated with demons and thus defined against religion. This
concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the early
modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive
sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive
understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the
following centuries, with the former largely influencing early academic
usages of the word.
Throughout history, there have been examples
of individuals who practiced magic and referred to themselves as
magicians. This trend has proliferated in the modern period, with a
growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu.[not
verified in body] British esotericist Aleister Crowley described magic
as the art of effecting change in accordance with will.
Divination
Main article: Divination
Divination
(from Latin divinare "to foresee, to be inspired by a god",[103]
related to divinus, divine) is the attempt to gain insight into a
question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or
ritual.[104] Used in various forms throughout history, diviners
ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by
reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact with a
supernatural agency.[105]
Divination can be seen as a systematic
method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed, random
facets of existence such that they provide insight into a problem at
hand. If a distinction is to be made between divination and
fortune-telling, divination has a more formal or ritualistic element and
often contains a more social character, usually in a religious context,
as seen in traditional African medicine. Fortune-telling, on the other
hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular
divination methods vary by culture and religion.
Divination is
dismissed by the scientific community and skeptics as being
superstition.[106][107] In the 2nd century, Lucian devoted a witty essay
to the career of a charlatan, "Alexander the false prophet", trained by
"one of those who advertise enchantments, miraculous incantations,
charms for your love-affairs, visitations for your enemies, disclosures
of buried treasure, and successions to estates".[108]
Witchcraft
Witches by Hans Baldung. Woodcut, 1508
Main article: Witchcraft
Witchcraft
or witchery broadly means the practice of and belief in magical skills
and abilities exercised by solitary practitioners and groups. Witchcraft
is a broad term that varies culturally and societally, and thus can be
difficult to define with precision,[109] and cross-cultural assumptions
about the meaning or significance of the term should be applied with
caution. Witchcraft often occupies a religious divinatory or medicinal
role,[110] and is often present within societies and groups whose
cultural framework includes a magical world view.[109]
Miracle
Main article: Miracle
A
miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws.[111]
Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (a deity), a
miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader.
Informally, the
word "miracle" is often used to characterise any beneficial event that
is statistically unlikely but not contrary to the laws of nature, such
as surviving a natural disaster, or simply a "wonderful" occurrence,
regardless of likelihood, such as a birth. Other such miracles might be:
survival of an illness diagnosed as terminal, escaping a
life-threatening situation or 'beating the odds'. Some coincidences may
be seen as miracles.[112]
A true miracle would, by definition, be
a non-natural phenomenon, leading many rational and scientific thinkers
to dismiss them as physically impossible (that is, requiring violation
of established laws of physics within their domain of validity) or
impossible to confirm by their nature (because all possible physical
mechanisms can never be ruled out). The former position is expressed for
instance by Thomas Jefferson and the latter by David Hume. Theologians
typically say that, with divine providence, God regularly works through
nature yet, as a creator, is free to work without, above, or against it
as well. The possibility and probability of miracles are then equal to
the possibility and probability of the existence of God.[113]
Skepticism
Main article: Skepticism
Skepticism
(American English) or scepticism (British English; see spelling
differences) is generally any questioning attitude or doubt towards one
or more items of putative knowledge or belief.[114][115] It is often
directed at domains such as the supernatural, morality (moral
skepticism), religion (skepticism about the existence of God), or
knowledge (skepticism about the possibility of knowledge, or of
certainty).[116]
In fiction and popular culture
Main article: Supernatural fiction
Supernatural
entities and powers are common in various works of fantasy. Examples
include the television shows Supernatural and The X-Files, the magic of
the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings series, The Wheel of Time
series and A Song of Ice and Fire series." (wikipedia.org)
"The
occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural
beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of
organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving
otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism and their varied
spells. It can also refer to supernatural ideas like extra-sensory
perception and parapsychology.
The term occult sciences was used
in 16th-century Europe to refer to astrology, alchemy, and natural
magic. The term occultism emerged in 19th-century France,[1] amongst
figures such as Antoine Court de Gébelin.[2] It came to be associated
with various French esoteric groups connected to Éliphas Lévi and Papus,
and in 1875 was introduced into the English language by the esotericist
Helena Blavatsky.
Throughout the 20th century, the term was used
idiosyncratically by a range of different authors, but by the 21st
century was commonly employed – including by academic scholars of
esotericism – to refer to a range of esoteric currents that developed in
the mid-19th century and their descendants. Occultism is thus often
used to categorise such esoteric traditions as Spiritualism, Theosophy,
Anthroposophy, Wicca, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and New
Age.[3]
Use of the term as a nominalized adjective has developed
especially since the late twentieth century. In that same period, occult
and culture were combined to form the neologism occulture.
Etymology
The
occult (from the Latin word occultus; lit. 'clandestine', 'hidden',
'secret') is "knowledge of the hidden".[4] In common usage, occult
refers to "knowledge of the paranormal", as opposed to "knowledge of the
measurable",[5] usually referred to as science. The terms esoteric and
arcane can also be used to describe the occult,[6] in addition to their
meanings unrelated to the supernatural. The term occult sciences was
used in the 16th century to refer to astrology, alchemy, and natural
magic.
The earliest known usage of the term occultism is in the
French language, as l'occultisme. In this form it appears in A. de
Lestrange's article that was published in Jean-Baptiste Richard de
Randonvilliers' Dictionnaire des mots nouveaux ("Dictionary of new
words") in 1842. However, it was not related, at this point, to the
notion of Ésotérisme chrétien, as has been claimed by Hanegraaff,[7] but
to describe a political "system of occulticity" that was directed
against priests and aristocrats.[8]
In 1853, the Freemasonic
author Jean-Marie Ragon had already used occultisme in his popular work
Maçonnerie occulte, relating it to earlier practices that, since the
Renaissance, had been termed "occult sciences" or "occult philosophy",
but also to the recent socialist teachings of Charles Fourier.[9] The
French esotericist Éliphas Lévi then used the term in his influential
book on ritual magic, Dogme et rituel de la haute magie, first published
in 1856.[10] Lévi was familiar with that work and might have borrowed
the term from there. In any case, Lévi also claimed to be a
representative of an older tradition of occult science or occult
philosophy.[11] It was from his usage of the term occultisme that it
gained wider usage;[12] according to Faivre, Lévi was "the principal
exponent of esotericism in Europe and the United States" at that
time.[13] The term occultism emerged in 19th-century France, where it
came to be associated with various French esoteric groups connected to
Éliphas Lévi and Papus,
The earliest use of the term occultism in
the English language appears to be in "A Few Questions to 'Hiraf'", an
1875 article by Helena Blavatsky, a Russian émigré living in the United
States who founded the religion of Theosophy. The article was published
in the American Spiritualist magazine, Spiritual Scientist.[14]
Various
twentieth-century writers on the subject used the term occultism in
different ways. Some writers, such as the German philosopher Theodor W.
Adorno in his "Theses Against Occultism", employed the term as a broad
synonym for irrationality.[15] In his 1950 book L'occultisme, Robert
Amadou used the term as a synonym for esotericism,[16] an approach that
the later scholar of esotericism Marco Pasi suggested left the term
superfluous.[15] Unlike Amadou, other writers saw occultism and
esotericism as different, albeit related, phenomena. In the 1970s, the
sociologist Edward Tiryakian distinguished between occultism, which he
used in reference to practices, techniques, and procedures, and
esotericism, which he defined as the religious or philosophical belief
systems on which such practices are based.[16] This division was
initially adopted by the early academic scholar of esotericism, Antoine
Faivre, although he later abandoned it;[10] it has been rejected by most
scholars who study esotericism.[15]
By the 21st century the term
was commonly employed – including by academic scholars of esotericism –
to refer to a range of esoteric currents that developed in the mid-19th
century and their descendants. Occultism is thus often used to
categorise such esoteric traditions as Spiritualism, Theosophy,
Anthroposophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and New Age.
A
different division was used by the Traditionalist author René Guénon,
who used esotericism to describe what he believed was the
Traditionalist, inner teaching at the heart of most religions, while
occultism was used pejoratively to describe new religions and movements
that he disapproved of, such as Spiritualism, Theosophy, and various
secret societies.[17] Guénon's use of this terminology was adopted by
later writers like Serge Hutin and Luc Benoist.[18] As noted by
Hanegraaff, Guénon's use of these terms are rooted in his Traditionalist
beliefs and "cannot be accepted as scholarly valid".[18]
The
term occultism derives from the older term occult, much as the term
esotericism derives from the older term esoteric.[11] However, the
historian of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff stated that it was important
to distinguish between the meanings of the term occult and
occultism.[19] Occultism is not a homogenous movement and is widely
diverse.[13]
Over the course of its history, the term occultism
has been used in various different ways.[20] However, in contemporary
uses, occultism commonly refers to forms of esotericism that developed
in the nineteenth century and their twentieth-century derivations.[18]
In a descriptive sense, it has been used to describe forms of
esotericism which developed in nineteenth-century France, especially in
the Neo-Martinist environment.[18] According to the historian of
esotericism Antoine Faivre, it is with the esotericist Éliphas Lévi that
"the occultist current properly so-called" first appears.[13] Other
prominent French esotericists involved in developing occultism included
Papus, Stanislas de Guaita, Joséphin Péladan, Georges-Albert Puyou de
Pouvourville, and Jean Bricaud.[11]
Occult sciences
The idea
of occult sciences developed in the sixteenth century.[10] The term
usually encompassed three practices – astrology, alchemy, and natural
magic – although sometimes various forms of divination were also
included rather than being subsumed under natural magic.[10] These were
grouped together because, according to the Dutch scholar of hermeticism
Wouter Hanegraaff, "each one of them engaged in a systematic
investigation of nature and natural processes, in the context of
theoretical frameworks that relied heavily on a belief in occult
qualities, virtues or forces."[10] Although there are areas of overlap
between these different occult sciences, they are separate and in some
cases practitioners of one would reject the others as being
illegitimate.[10]
During the Age of Enlightenment, occultism
increasingly came to be seen as intrinsically incompatible with the
concept of science.[10] From that point on, use of "occult science(s)"
implied a conscious polemic against mainstream science.[10]
Nevertheless, the philosopher and card game historian Michael Dummett,
whose analysis of the historical evidence suggested that fortune-telling
and occult interpretations using cards were unknown before the 18th
century, said that the term occult science was not misplaced because
"people who believe in the possibility of unveiling the future or of
exercising supernormal powers do so because the efficacy of the methods
they employ coheres with some systematic conception which they hold of
the way the universe functions...however flimsy its empirical
basis."[21]
In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, the anthropologist Edward Tylor used the term "occult science" as a synonym for magic.[22]
Occult qualities
Occult
qualities are properties that have no known rational explanation; in
the Middle Ages, for example, magnetism was considered an occult
quality.[23][24] Aether is another such element.[25] Newton's
contemporaries severely criticized his theory that gravity was effected
through "action at a distance", as occult.[26]
Occultism
The
French esotericist Éliphas Lévi popularised the term "occultism" in the
1850s. His reinterpretation of traditional esoteric ideas has led to him
being called the origin of "the occultist current properly
so-called".[13]
In the English-speaking world, notable figures in
the development of occultism included Helena Blavatsky and other
figures associated with her Theosophical Society, senior figures in the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn like William Wynn Westcott and Samuel
Liddell MacGregor Mathers, as well as other individuals such as Paschal
Beverly Randolph, Emma Hardinge Britten, Arthur Edward Waite, and – in
the early twentieth century – Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, and Israel
Regardie.[11] By the end of the nineteenth century, occultist ideas had
also spread into other parts of Europe, such as the German Empire,
Austria-Hungary, and the Kingdom of Italy.[27]
Unlike older forms
of esotericism, occultism does not necessarily reject "scientific
progress or modernity".[28] Lévi had stressed the need to solve the
conflict between science and religion, something that he believed could
be achieved by turning to what he thought was the ancient wisdom found
in magic.[29] The French scholar of Western esotericism Antoine Faivre
noted that rather than outright accepting "the triumph of scientism",
occultists sought "an alternative solution", trying to integrate
"scientific progress or modernity" with "a global vision that will serve
to make the vacuousness of materialism more apparent".[13] The Dutch
scholar of hermeticism Wouter Hanegraaff remarked that occultism was
"essentially an attempt to adapt esotericism" to the "disenchanted
world", a post-Enlightenment society in which growing scientific
discovery had eradicated the "dimension of irreducible mystery"
previously present. In doing so, he noted, occultism distanced itself
from the "traditional esotericism" which accepted the premise of an
"enchanted" world.[30] According to the British historian of Western
esotericism Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, occultist groups typically seek
"proofs and demonstrations by recourse to scientific tests or
terminology".[31]
In his work about Lévi, the German historian of
religion Julian Strube has argued that the occultist wish for a
"synthesis" of religion, science, and philosophy directly resulted from
the context of contemporary socialism and progressive Catholicism.[32]
Similar to spiritualism, but in declared opposition to it, the emergence
of occultism should thus be seen within the context of radical social
reform, which was often concerned with establishing new forms of
"scientific religion" while at the same time propagating the revival of
an ancient tradition of "true religion".[33] Indeed, the emergence of
both modern esotericism and socialism in July Monarchy France have been
inherently intertwined.[34]
Another feature of occultists is that
– unlike earlier esotericists – they often openly distanced themselves
from Christianity, in some cases (like that of Crowley) even adopting
explicitly anti-Christian stances.[29] This reflected how pervasive the
influence of secularisation had been on all areas of European
society.[29] In rejecting Christianity, these occultists sometimes
turned towards pre-Christian belief systems and embraced forms of Modern
Paganism, while others instead took influence from the religions of
Asia, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. In various cases, certain
occultists did both.[29] Another characteristic of these occultists was
the emphasis that they placed on "the spiritual realization of the
individual", an idea that would strongly influence the twentieth-century
New Age and Human Potential Movement.[29] This spiritual realization
was encouraged both through traditional Western 'occult sciences' like
alchemy and ceremonial magic, but by the start of the twentieth century
had also begun to include practices drawn from non-Western contexts,
such as yoga.[29]
Although occultism is distinguished from
earlier forms of esotericism, many occultists have also been involved in
older esoteric currents. For instance, occultists like François-Charles
Barlet and Rudolf Steiner were also theosophers,[a] adhering to the
ideas of the early modern Lutheran thinker Jakob Bohme, and seeking to
integrate ideas from Bohmian theosophy and occultism.[35] It has been
noted, however, that this distancing from the Theosophical Society
should be understood in the light of polemical identity formations
amongst esotericists towards the end of the nineteenth century.[36]
Etic uses of the term
In the 1990s, the Dutch scholar Wouter Hanegraaff put forward a new definition of occultism for scholarly uses.
See also: Emic and etic
In
the mid-1990s, a new definition of "occultism" was put forth by Wouter
Hanegraaff.[37] According to Hanegraaff, the term occultism can be used
not only for the nineteenth-century groups which openly self-described
using that term but can also be used in reference to "the type of
esotericism that they represent".[18]
Seeking to define occultism
so that the term would be suitable "as an etic category" for scholars,
Hanegraaff devised the following definition: "a category in the study of
religions, which comprises "all attempts by esotericists to come to
terms with a disenchanted world or, alternatively, by people in general
to make sense of esotericism from the perspective of a disenchanted
secular world".[38] Hanegraaff noted that this etic usage of the term
would be independent of emic usages of the term employed by occultists
and other esotericists themselves.[38]
In this definition,
occultism covers many esoteric currents that have developed from the
mid-nineteenth century onward, including Spiritualism, Theosophy, the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the New Age.[18] Employing this
etic understanding of "occultism", Hanegraaff argued that its
development could begin to be seen in the work of the Swedish
esotericist Emanuel Swedenborg and in the Mesmerist movement of the
eighteenth century, although added that occultism only emerged in
"fully-developed form" as Spiritualism, a movement that developed in the
United States during the mid-nineteenth century.[30]
Marco Pasi
suggested that the use of Hanegraaff's definition might cause confusion
by presenting a group of nineteenth-century esotericists who called
themselves "occultists" as just one part of a broader category of
esotericists whom scholars would call "occultists".[39]
Following
these discussions, Julian Strube argued that Lévi and other
contemporary authors who would now be regarded as esotericists developed
their ideas not against the background of an esoteric tradition in the
first place. Rather, Lévi's notion of occultism emerged in the context
of highly influential radical socialist movements and widespread
progressive, so-called neo-Catholic ideas.[40] This further complicates
Hanegraaff's characteristics of occultism, since, throughout the
nineteenth century, they apply to these reformist movements rather than
to a supposed group of esotericists.[41]
Modern usage
The term
occult has also been used as a substantivized adjective as "the
occult", a term that has been particularly widely used among journalists
and sociologists.[18] This term was popularised by the publication of
Colin Wilson's 1971 book The Occult.[18] This term has been used as an
"intellectual waste-basket" into which a wide array of beliefs and
practices have been placed because they do not fit readily into the
categories of religion or science.[18] According to Hanegraaff, "the
occult" is a category into which gets placed a range of beliefs from
"spirits or fairies to parapsychological experiments, from
UFO-abductions to Oriental mysticism, from vampire legends to
channelling, and so on".[18]
Occulture
The neologism occulture
used within the industrial music scene of the late twentieth century
was probably coined by one of its central figures, the musician and
occultist Genesis P-Orridge.[42] The scholar of religion Christopher
Partridge used the term in an academic sense, stating that occulture was
"the new spiritual environment in the West; the reservoir feeding new
spiritual springs; the soil in which new spiritualities are
growing".[43]
Occultism and technology
Recently scholars have
offered perspectives on the occult as intertwined with media and
technology. Examples include the work of film and media theorist Jeffrey
Sconce and religious studies scholar John Durham Peters, both of whom
suggest that occult movements historically utilize media and apparati as
tools to reveal hidden aspects of reality or laws of nature.[44][45]
Erik Davis in his book Techgnosis gives an overview of occultism both
ancient and modern from the perspective of cybernetics and information
technologies.[46] Philosopher Eugene Thacker discusses Heinrich
Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy in his book In The
Dust Of This Planet, where he shows how the horror genre utilizes occult
themes to reveal hidden realities." (wikipedia.org)
"Halloween
is a celebration observed on October 31, the day before the feast of
All Hallows, also known as Hallowmas or All Saint's Day. The
celebrations and observances of this day occur primarily in regions of
the Western world, albeit with some traditions varying significantly
between geographical areas.
Origins
Halloween is the eve of
vigil before the Western Christian feast of All Hallows (or All Saints)
which is observed on November 1. This day begins the triduum of
Hallowtide, which culminates with All Souls' Day. In the Middle Ages,
many Christians held a folk belief that All Hallows' Eve was the "night
where the veil between the material world and the afterlife was at its
most transparent".[2]
Americas
Canada
Scottish emigration,
primarily to Canada before 1870 and to the United States thereafter,
brought the Scottish version of the holiday to each country. The
earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English
speaking North America occurs in 1911 when a newspaper in Kingston,
Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go
street "guising" on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops, and
neighbours to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and
songs.[3] Canadians spend more on candy at Halloween than at any time
apart from Christmas. Halloween is also a time for charitable
contributions. Until 2006 when UNICEF moved to an online donation
system, collecting small change was very much a part of Canadian
trick-or-treating.[4] Quebec offers themed tours of parts of the old
city and historic cemeteries in the area.[5] In 2014 the hamlet of
Arviat, Nunavut moved their Halloween festivities to the community hall,
cancelling the practice of door-to-door "trick or treating", due to the
risk of roaming polar bears.[6][7] In British Columbia it is a
tradition to set off fireworks at Halloween.[8]
United States
Children in Halloween costumes at High Point, Seattle, 1943
In
the United States, Halloween did not become a holiday until the 19th
century. The transatlantic migration of nearly two million Irish
following the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849) brought the holiday to the
United States.
American librarian and author Ruth Edna Kelley
wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the U.S., The Book
of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en
in America": "All Hallowe'en customs in the United States are borrowed
directly or adapted from those of other countries. The taste in
Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch
party, using Robert Burns's poem Halloween as a guide; or to go
a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored
at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now."[9] The main event for children of
modern Halloween in the United States and Canada is trick-or-treating,
in which children, teenagers, (sometimes) young adults, and parents
(accompanying their children) disguise themselves in costumes and go
door-to-door in their neighborhoods, ringing each doorbell and yelling
"Trick or treat!" to solicit a gift of candy or similar items.[10]
Teenagers and adults will more frequently attend Halloween-themed
costume parties typically hosted by friends or themed events at
nightclubs either on Halloween itself or a weekend close to the holiday.
At
the turn of the 20th century, Halloween had turned into a night of
vandalism, with destruction of property and cruelty to animals and
people.[11] Around 1912, the Boy Scouts, Boys Clubs, and other
neighborhood organizations came together to encourage a safe celebration
that would end the destruction that had become so common on this night.
The
commercialization of Halloween in the United States did not start until
the 20th century, beginning perhaps with Halloween postcards (featuring
hundreds of designs), which were most popular between 1905 and
1915.[12] Dennison Manufacturing Company (which published its first
Halloween catalog in 1909) and the Beistle Company were pioneers in
commercially made Halloween decorations, particularly die-cut paper
items.[13][14] German manufacturers specialised in Halloween figurines
that were exported to the United States in the period between the two
World Wars.
Halloween is now the United States' second most
popular holiday (after Christmas) for decorating; the sale of candy and
costumes is also extremely common during the holiday, which is marketed
to children and adults alike. The National Confectioners Association
(NCA) reported in 2005 that 80% of American adults planned to give out
candy to trick-or-treaters.[15] The NCA reported in 2005 that 93% of
children planned to go trick-or-treating.[16] According to the National
Retail Federation, the most popular Halloween costume themes for adults
are, in order: witch, pirate, vampire, cat, and clown.[17][when?] Each
year, popular costumes are dictated by various current events and pop
culture icons. On many college campuses, Halloween is a major
celebration, with the Friday and Saturday nearest 31 October hosting
many costume parties. Other popular activities are watching horror
movies and visiting haunted houses. Total spending on Halloween is
estimated to be $8.4 billion.[18]
Events
Four contestants in the Halloween Slick Chick beauty contest in Anaheim, California, 1947
Many
theme parks stage Halloween events annually, such as Halloween Horror
Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando, Mickey's
Halloween Party and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disneyland
Resort and Magic Kingdom respectively, and Knott's Scary Farm at Knott's
Berry Farm. One of the more notable parades is New York's Village
Halloween Parade. Each year approximately 50,000 costumed marchers
parade up Sixth Avenue.[19] Salem, Massachusetts, site of the Salem
witch trials, celebrates Halloween throughout the month of October with
tours, plays, concerts, and other activities.[20] A number of venues in
New York's lower Hudson Valley host various events to showcase a
connection with Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Van
Cortlandt Manor stages the "Great Jack o' Lantern Blaze" featuring
thousands of lighted carved pumpkins.[21]
Some locales have had
to modify their celebrations due to disruptive behavior on the part of
young adults. Madison, Wisconsin hosts an annual Halloween celebration.
In 2002, due to the large crowds in the State Street area, a riot broke
out, necessitating the use of mounted police and tear gas to disperse
the crowds.[22] Likewise, Chapel Hill, site of the University of North
Carolina, has a downtown street party which in 2007 drew a crowd
estimated at 80,000 on downtown Franklin Street, in a town with a
population of just 54,000. In 2008, in an effort to curb the influx of
out-of-towners, mayor Kevin Foy put measures in place to make commuting
downtown more difficult on Halloween.[23] In 2014, large crowds of
college students rioted at the Keene, New Hampshire Pumpkin Fest,
whereupon the City Council voted not to grant a permit for the following
year's festival,[24] and organizers moved the event to Laconia for
2015.[25]
Brazil
Main article: Saci Day
The Brazilian
non-governmental organization named Amigos do Saci created Saci Day as a
Brazilian parallel in opposition to the "American-influenced" holiday
of Halloween that saw minor celebration in Brazil. The Saci is a
mischievous evil character in Brazilian folkore. Saci Day is
commemorated on October 31st, the same day as Halloween, and is an
official holiday in the state of São Paulo. Despite official recognition
in Sao Paulo and several other municipalities throughout the country,
few Brazilians celebrate it.[26][27]
Dominican Republic
In the
Dominican Republic it has been gaining popularity, largely due to many
Dominicans living in the United States and then bringing the custom to
the island. In the larger cities of Santiago or Santo Domingo it has
become more common to see children trick-or-treating, but in smaller
towns and villages it is almost entirely absent, partly due to religious
opposition. Tourist areas such as Sosua and Punta Cana feature many
venues with Halloween celebrations, predominantly geared towards
adults.[28]
Mexico (Día de Muertos)
Mexican tomb on the Day of the
Dead, adorned with the cempasúchil, the holiday's traditional flower,
and a Halloween ghost balloon, at the historic cemetery of San Luis
Potosí City
Observed in Mexico and Mexican communities abroad,
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) celebrations arose from the
syncretism of indigenous Aztec traditions with the Christian Hallowtide
of the Spanish colonizers. Flower decorations, altars and candies are
part of this holiday season. The holiday is distinct from Halloween in
its origins and observances, but the two have become associated because
of cross-border connections between Mexico and the United States through
popular culture and migration, as the two celebrations occur at the
same time of year and may involve similar imagery, such as skeletons.
Halloween and Día de Muertos have influenced each other in some areas of
the United States and Mexico, with Halloween traditions such as
costumes and face-painting becoming increasingly common features of the
Mexican festival.[29][30]
Asia
China
The Chinese celebrate
the "Hungry Ghost Festival" in mid-July, when it is customary to float
river lanterns to remember those who have died. By contrast, Halloween
is often called "All Saints' Festival" (Wànshèngjié, 萬聖節), or (less
commonly) "All Saints' Eve" (Wànshèngyè, 萬聖夜) or "Eve of All Saints'
Day" (Wànshèngjié Qiányè, 萬聖節前夕), stemming from the term "All Hallows
Eve" (hallow referring to the souls of holy saints). Chinese Christian
churches hold religious celebrations. Non-religious celebrations are
dominated by expatriate Americans or Canadians, but costume parties are
also popular for Chinese young adults, especially in large cities. Hong
Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park (Halloween Bash) host annual Halloween
shows.
Mainland China has been less influenced by Anglo
traditions than Hong Kong and Halloween is generally considered
"foreign". As Halloween has become more popular globally it has also
become more popular in China, however, particularly amongst children
attending private or international schools with many foreign teachers
from North America.[31]
Hong Kong
Traditional "door-to-door"
trick or treating is not commonly practiced in Hong Kong due to the vast
majority of Hong Kong residents living in high-rise apartment blocks.
However, in many buildings catering to expatriates, Halloween parties
and limited trick or treating is arranged by the management. Instances
of street-level trick or treating in Hong Kong occur in ultra-exclusive
gated housing communities such as The Beverly Hills populated by Hong
Kong's super-rich and in expatriate areas like Discovery Bay and the Red
Hill Peninsula. For the general public, there are events at Tsim Sha
Tsui's Avenue of the Stars that try to mimic the celebration.[32] In the
Lan Kwai Fong area of Hong Kong, known as a major entertainment
district for the international community, a Halloween celebration and
parade has taken place for over 20 years, with many people dressing in
costume and making their way around the streets to various drinking
establishments.[33] Many international schools also celebrate Halloween
with costumes, and some put an academic twist on the celebrations such
as the "Book-o-ween" celebrations at Hong Kong International School
where students dress as favorite literary characters.
Japan
A Halloween display in a local bank window, in Saitama, Japan
Halloween
arrived in Japan mainly as a result of American pop culture. In 2009 it
was celebrated only by expats.[34] The wearing of elaborate costumes by
young adults at night has since become popular in areas such as
Amerikamura in Osaka and Shibuya in Tokyo, where, in October 2012, about
1700 people dressed in costumes to take part in the Halloween
Festival.[35] Celebrations have become popular with young adults as a
costume party and club event.[36] Trick-or-treating for Japanese
children has taken hold in some areas. By the mid-2010s, Yakuza were
giving snacks and sweets to children.[37]
Philippines
The
period from 31 October through 2 November is a time for remembering dead
family members and friends. Many Filipinos travel back to their
hometowns for family gatherings of festive remembrance.[38]
Trick-or-treating
is gradually replacing the dying tradition of Pangangaluluwâ, a local
analogue of the old English custom of souling. People in the provinces
still observe Pangangaluluwâ by going in groups to every house and
offering a song in exchange for money or food. The participants, usually
children, would sing carols about the souls in Purgatory, with the
abúloy (alms for the dead) used to pay for Masses for these souls. Along
with the requested alms, householders sometimes gave the children suman
(rice cakes). During the night, various small items, such as clothing,
plants, etc., would "mysteriously" disappear, only to be discovered the
next morning in the yard or in the middle of the street. In older times,
it was believed that the spirits of ancestors and loved ones visited
the living on this night, manifesting their presence by taking an
item.[39]
As the observation of Christmas traditions in the
Philippines begins as early as September, it is a common sight to see
Halloween decorations next to Christmas decorations in urban
settings.[citation needed]
Saudi Arabia
Starting 2022, Saudi Arabia began to celebrate Halloween in the public in Riyadh under its Saudi Vision 2030.[40]
Singapore
Around
mid-July Singapore Chinese celebrate "Zhong Yuan Jie / Yu Lan Jie"
(Hungry Ghosts Festival), a time when it is believed that the spirits of
the dead come back to visit their families.[41] In recent years,
Halloween celebrations are becoming more popular, with influence from
the west.[42] In 2012, there were over 19 major Halloween celebration
events around Singapore.[43] SCAPE's Museum of Horrors held its fourth
scare fest in 2014.[44] Universal Studios Singapore hosts "Halloween
Horror Nights".[45]
South Korea
The popularity of the holiday
among young people in South Korea comes from English academies and
corporate marketing strategies, and was influenced by Halloween
celebrations in Japan and America.[46] Despite not being a public
holiday, it is celebrated in different areas around Seoul, especially
Itaewon and Hondae.[47]
Taiwan
Children dressed up in Halloween costume in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan
Traditionally,
Taiwanese people celebrate "Zhong Yuan Pudu Festival", where spirits
that do not have any surviving family members to pay respects to them,
are able to roam the Earth during the seventh lunar month. It is known
as Ghost Month.[48] While some have compared it to Halloween, it has no
relations and the overall meaning is different. In recent years, mainly
as a result of American pop culture, Halloween is becoming more
widespread amongst young Taiwanese people. Halloween events are held in
many areas across Taipei, such as Xinyi Special District and Shilin
District where there are many international schools and expats.[49]
Halloween parties are celebrated differently based on different age
groups. One of the most popular Halloween event is the Tianmu Halloween
Festival, which started in 2009 and is organised by the Taipei City
Office of Commerce.[50] The 2-day annual festivity has attracted more
than 240,000 visitors in 2019. During this festival, stores and
businesses in Tianmu place pumpkin lanterns outside their stores to
identify themselves as trick-or-treat destinations for children.[51]
Australia and New Zealand
Halloween display in Sydney, Australia
Non-religious
celebrations of Halloween modelled on North American festivities are
growing increasingly popular in Australia despite not being
traditionally part of the culture.[52] Some Australians criticise this
intrusion into their culture.[53][54] Many dislike the commercialisation
and American pop-culture influence.[54][55] Some supporters of the
event place it alongside other cultural traditions such as Saint
Patrick's Day.[56]
Halloween historian and author of Halloween:
Pagan Festival to Trick or Treat, Mark Oxbrow says while Halloween may
have been popularised by depictions of it in US movies and TV shows, it
is not a new entry into Australian culture.[57] His research shows
Halloween was first celebrated in Australia in Castlemaine, Victoria, in
1858, which was 43 years before Federation. His research shows
Halloween traditions were brought to the country by Scottish and Irish
miners who settled in Victoria during the Gold Rush.
Because of
the polarised opinions about Halloween, growing numbers of people are
decorating their letter boxes to indicate that children are welcome to
come knocking. In the past decade, the popularity of Halloween in
Australia has grown.[58] In 2020, the first magazine dedicated solely to
celebrating Halloween in Australia was launched, called Hallozween,[59]
and in 2021, sales of costumes, decorations and carving pumpkins soared
to an all-time high[60] despite the effect of the global COVID-19
pandemic limiting celebrations.
In New Zealand, Halloween is not
celebrated to the same extent as in North America, although in recent
years non-religious celebrations have become more common.[61][62]
Trick-or-treat has become increasingly popular with minors in New
Zealand, despite being not a "British or Kiwi event" and the influence
of American globalisation.[63] One criticism of Halloween in New Zealand
is that it is overly commercialised - by The Warehouse, for
example.[63]
Europe
A jack-o'-lantern in Finland
Over the
years, Halloween has become more popular in Europe and has been
partially ousting some older customs like the Rübengeistern [de]
(English: turnip ghosts, beet spirit), Martinisingen, and others.[64]
France
Halloween
was introduced to most of France in the 1990s.[65] In Brittany,
Halloween had been celebrated for centuries and is known as Kalan Goañv
(Night of Spirits). During this time, it is believed that the spirits of
the dead return to the world of the living lead by the Ankou, the
collector of souls.[66] Also during this time, Bretons bake Kornigou, a
pastry shaped like the antlers of a stag.[citation needed]
Germany
"Don't drink and fly" Halloween decoration in Germany
Halloween
was not generally observed in Germany prior to the 1990s, but has been
increasing in popularity. It has been associated with the influence of
United States culture, and "Trick or Treating" (German: Süßes sonst
gibt's Saures) has been occurring in various German cities, especially
in areas such as the Dahlem neighborhood in Berlin, which was part of
the American zone during the Cold War. Today, Halloween in Germany
brings in 200 million euros a year, through multiple industries.[67]
Halloween is celebrated by both children and adults. Adults celebrate at
themed costume parties and clubs, while children go trick or treating.
Complaints of vandalism associated with Halloween "Tricks" are
increasing, particularly from many elderly Germans unfamiliar with
"Trick or Treating".[68]
Greece
In Greece, Halloween is not
celebrated widely and it is a working day, with little public interest,
since the early 2000s. Recently, it has somewhat increased in popularity
as both a secular celebration; although Carnival is vastly more popular
among Greeks. For very few, Halloween is[when?] considered the fourth
most popular festival in the country after Christmas, Easter, and
Carnival. Retail businesses, bars, nightclubs, and certain theme parks
might organize Halloween parties. This boost in popularity has been
attributed to the influence of western consumerism.
Since it is a
working day, Halloween is not celebrated on 31 October unless the date
falls on a weekend, in which case it is celebrated by some during the
last weekend before All Hallow's Eve, usually in the form of themed
house parties and retail business decorations. Trick-or-treating is not
widely popular because similar activities are already undertaken during
Carnival. The slight rise in popularity of Halloween in Greece has led
to some increase in its popularity throughout nearby countries in the
Balkans and Cyprus. In the latter, there has been an increase in
Greek-Cypriot retailers selling Halloween merchandise every year.[69]
Ireland
A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip (rutabaga) lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland[70]
On
Halloween night, adults and children dress up as various monsters and
creatures, light bonfires, and enjoy fireworks displays; Derry in
Northern Ireland is home to the largest organized Halloween celebration
on the island, in the form of a street carnival and fireworks
display.[71]
Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833, depicts apple bobbing and divination games at a Halloween party in Ireland
Games
are often played, such as bobbing for apples, in which apples, peanuts,
other nuts and fruits, and some small coins are placed in a basin of
water.[72] Everyone takes turns catching as many items possible using
only their mouths. Another common game involves the hands-free eating of
an apple hung on a string attached to the ceiling. Games of divination
are also played at Halloween.[73] Colcannon is traditionally served on
Halloween.[72]
31 October is the busiest day of the year for the
Emergency Services.[74] Bangers and fireworks are illegal in the
Republic of Ireland; however, they are commonly smuggled in from
Northern Ireland where they are legal.[75] Bonfires are frequently built
around Halloween.[76] Trick-or-treating is popular amongst children on
31 October and Halloween parties and events are commonplace.
Italy
A carved pumpkin in Sardinia
In
Italy, All Saints' Day is a public holiday. On 2 November, Tutti i
Morti or All Souls' Day, families remember loved ones who have died.
These are still the main holidays.[77] In some Italian tradition,
children would awake on the morning of All Saints or All Souls to find
small gifts from their deceased ancestors. In Sardinia, Concas de Mortu
(Head of the deads), carved pumpkins that look like skulls, with candles
inside are displayed.[78][79][80] Halloween is, however, gaining in
popularity, and involves costume parties for young adults.[81] The
traditions to carve pumpkins in a skull figure, lighting candles inside,
or to beg for small gifts for the deads e.g. sweets or nuts, also
belong to North Italy.[82] In Veneto these carved pumpkins were called
lumère (lanterns) or suche dei morti (deads' pumpkins).[83]
Poland
Since
the fall of Communism in 1989, Halloween has become increasingly
popular in Poland. Particularly, it is celebrated among younger people.
The influx of Western tourists and expats throughout the 1990s
introduced the costume party aspect of Hallowe'en celebrations,
particularly in clubs and at private house parties. Door-to-door trick
or treating is not common. Pumpkin carving is becoming more evident,
following a strong North American version of the tradition.
Romania
Romanians
observe the Feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of Romania, on 30
November. On St. Andrew's Eve ghosts are said to be about. A number of
customs related to divination, in other places connected to Halloween,
are associated with this night.[84] However, with the popularity of
Dracula in western Europe, around Halloween the Romanian tourist
industry promotes trips to locations connected to the historical Vlad
Tepeș and the more fanciful Dracula of Bram Stoker. One of the most
successful Halloween Parties in Transylvania takes place in Sighișoara,
the citadel where Vlad the Impaler was born. This party include magician
shows, ballet show and The Ritual Killing of a Living Dead[85] The
biggest Halloween party in Transylvania take place at Bran Castle, aka
Dracula's Castle from Transylvania.[86]
Both the Catholic and
Orthodox Churches in Romania discourage Halloween celebrations, advising
their parishioners to focus rather on the "Day of the Dead" on 1
November, when special religious observances are held for the souls of
the deceased.[87] Opposition by religious and nationalist groups,
including calls to ban costumes and decorations in schools in 2015, have
been met with criticism.[88][89][90] Halloween parties are popular in
bars and nightclubs.[91]
Russia
In Russia, most Christians are
Orthodox, and in the Orthodox Church, Halloween is on the Saturday
after Pentecost, and therefore 4 to 5 months before western Halloween.
Celebration of western Halloween began in the 1990s around the downfall
of the Soviet regime, when costume and ghoulish parties spread in night
clubs throughout Russia. Halloween is generally celebrated by younger
generations and is not widely celebrated in civic society (e.g. theaters
or libraries). In fact, Halloween is among the Western celebrations
that the Russian government and politicians—which have grown
increasingly anti-Western in the early 2010s—are trying to eliminate
from public celebration.[92][93][94]
Spain
In Spain,
celebrations involve eating castanyes (roasted chestnuts), panellets
(special almond balls covered in pine nuts), moniatos (roast or baked
sweet potato), Ossos de Sant cake and preserved fruit (candied or glazed
fruit). Moscatell (Muscat) is drunk from porrons.[95] Around the time
of this celebration, it is common for street vendors to sell hot toasted
chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. In many places, confectioners often
organise raffles of chestnuts and preserved fruit.
The tradition
of eating these foods comes from the fact that during All Saints' night,
on the eve of All Souls' Day in the Christian tradition, bell ringers
would ring bells in commemoration of the dead into the early morning.
Friends and relatives would help with this task, and everyone would eat
these foods for sustenance.[96]
Other versions of the story state
that the Castanyada originates at the end of the 18th century and comes
from the old funeral meals, where other foods, such as vegetables and
dried fruit were not served. The meal had the symbolic significance of a
communion with the souls of the departed: while the chestnuts were
roasting, prayers would be said for the person who had just died.[97]
The
festival is usually depicted with the figure of a castanyera: an old
lady, dressed in peasant's clothing and wearing a headscarf, sitting
behind a table, roasting chestnuts for street sale.
In recent
years, the Castanyada has become a revetlla of All Saints and is
celebrated in the home and community. It is the first of the four main
school festivals, alongside Christmas, Carnestoltes and St George's Day,
without reference to ritual or commemoration of the dead.[98]
Galicia
is known two have the second largest Halloween or Samain festivals in
Europe and during this time, a drink called Queimada is often served.
Sweden
On
All Hallow's Eve, a Requiem Mass is widely attended every year at
Uppsala Cathedral, part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.[99]
Throughout
the period of Allhallowtide, starting with All Hallow's Eve, Swedish
families visit churchyards and adorn the graves of their family members
with lit candles and wreaths fashioned from pine branches.[99]
Among
children, the practice of dressing in costume and collecting candy
gained popularity beginning around 2005.[100] The American traditions of
Halloween have however been met with skepticism among the older
generations, in part due to conflicting with the Swedish traditions on
All Hallow's Eve and in part due to their commercialism.[101]
Switzerland
In
Switzerland, Halloween, after first becoming popular in 1999, is on the
wane, and is most popular with young adults who attend parties.
Switzerland already has a "festival overload" and even though Swiss
people like to dress up for any occasion, they do prefer a traditional
element, such as in the Fasnacht tradition of chasing away winter using
noise and masks.[102][103]
United Kingdom and Crown dependencies
England
See also: Mischief Night
See also: Allantide
In
the past, on All Souls' Eve families would stay up late, and little
"soul cakes" were eaten. At the stroke of midnight, there was solemn
silence among households, which had candles burning in every room to
guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes and a glass of wine on
the table to refresh them. The tradition of giving soul cakes that
originated in Great Britain and Ireland was known as souling, often seen
as the origin of modern trick or treating in North America, and souling
continued in parts of England as late as the 1930s, with children going
from door to door singing songs and saying prayers for the dead in
return for cakes or money.[104]
Trick or treating and other
Halloween celebrations are extremely popular, with shops decorated with
witches and pumpkins, and young people attending costume parties.[105]
Scotland
The
name Halloween is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish
shortening of the fuller All-Hallow-Even, that is, the night before All
Hallows' Day.[106] Dumfries poet John Mayne's 1780 poem made note of
pranks at Halloween "What fearfu' pranks ensue!". Scottish poet Robert
Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition, and portrayed some of the
customs in his poem Halloween (1785).[107] According to Burns, Halloween
is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other
mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight
errands".[108]
Among the earliest record of Guising at Halloween
in Scotland is in 1895, where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns
made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes,
fruit and money.[109] If children approached the door of a house, they
were given offerings of food. The children's practice of "guising",
going from door to door in costumes for food or coins, is a traditional
Halloween custom in Scotland.[3] These days children who knock on their
neighbours doors have to sing a song or tell stories for a gift of
sweets or money.[110]
A traditional Halloween game includes apple
"dooking",[111] or "dunking" or (i.e., retrieving one from a bucket of
water using only one's mouth), and attempting to eat, while blindfolded,
a treacle/jam-coated scone hanging on a piece of string.
Traditional
customs and lore include divination practices, ways of trying to
predict the future. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future
spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over
one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first
letter of the future spouse's name.[112]
In Kilmarnock, Halloween is also celebrated on the last Friday of the month, and is known colloquially as "Killieween".[113]
Isle of Man
See also: Hop-tu-Naa
Halloween is a popular traditional occasion on the Isle of Man, where it is known as Hop-tu-Naa.
Elsewhere
The children of the largest town in Bonaire gather together on Halloween day.
Saint Helena
In
Saint Helena, Halloween is actively celebrated, largely along the
American model, with ghosts, skeletons, devils, vampires, witches and
the like. Imitation pumpkins are used instead of real pumpkins because
the pumpkin harvesting season in Saint Helena's hemisphere is not near
Halloween. Trick-or-treating is widespread. Party venues provide
entertainment for adults." (wikipedia.org)
"Halloween
or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween,[5] All Hallows'
Eve,[6] or All Saints' Eve)[7] is a celebration observed in many
countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All
Saints' Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide,[8] the time in
the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints
(hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[9][10][11][12]
One
theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic
harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are
believed to have pagan roots.[13][14][15][16] Some go further and
suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow's Day,
along with its eve, by the early Church.[17] Other academics believe
Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All
Hallow's Day.[18][19][20][21] Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for
centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to
North America in the 19th century,[22][23] and then through American
influence Halloween had spread to other countries by the late 20th and
early 21st century.[24][25]
Popular Halloween activities include
trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending
Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins or turnips into
jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games,
playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and
watching horror or Halloween-themed films.[26] Some people practice the
Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including
attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the
dead,[27][28][29] although it is a secular celebration for
others.[30][31][32] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on
All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain
vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes,
and soul cakes.[33][34][35][36]
Etymology
"Halloween" (1785) by Scottish poet Robert Burns, recounts various legends of the holiday.
The
word Halloween or Hallowe'en ("Saints' evening"[37]) is of Christian
origin;[38][39] a term equivalent to "All Hallows Eve" is attested in
Old English.[40] The word hallowe[']en comes from the Scottish form of
All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day):[41] even is the
Scots term for "eve" or "evening",[42] and is contracted to e'en or
een;[43] (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en became Hallowe'en.
History
Christian origins and historic customs
Halloween
is thought to have influences from Christian beliefs and
practices.[44][45] The English word 'Halloween' comes from "All Hallows'
Eve", being the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows'
Day (All Saints' Day) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2
November.[46] Since the time of the early Church,[47] major feasts in
Christianity (such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) had vigils that
began the night before, as did the feast of All Hallows'.[48][44] These
three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when
Western Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed
souls who have yet to reach Heaven. Commemorations of all saints and
martyrs were held by several churches on various dates, mostly in
springtime.[49] In 4th-century Roman Edessa it was held on 13 May, and
on 13 May 609, Pope Boniface IV re-dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to "St
Mary and all martyrs".[50] This was the date of Lemuria, an ancient
Roman festival of the dead.[51]
In the 8th century, Pope Gregory
III (731–741) founded an oratory in St Peter's for the relics "of the
holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors".[44][52] Some
sources say it was dedicated on 1 November,[53] while others say it was
on Palm Sunday in April 732.[54][55] By 800, there is evidence that
churches in Ireland[56] and Northumbria were holding a feast
commemorating all saints on 1 November.[57] Alcuin of Northumbria, a
member of Charlemagne's court, may then have introduced this 1 November
date in the Frankish Empire.[58] In 835, it became the official date in
the Frankish Empire.[57] Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence,
while others suggest it was a Germanic idea,[57] although it is claimed
that both Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples commemorated the dead at
the beginning of winter.[59] They may have seen it as the most fitting
time to do so, as it is a time of 'dying' in nature.[57][59] It is also
suggested the change was made on the "practical grounds that Rome in
summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to
it", and perhaps because of public health concerns over Roman Fever,
which claimed a number of lives during Rome's sultry summers.[60][44]
On
All Hallows' Eve, Christians in some parts of the world visit
cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of their
loved ones.[61] Top: Christians in Bangladesh lighting candles on the
headstone of a relative. Bottom: Lutheran Christians praying and
lighting candles in front of the central crucifix of a graveyard.
By
the end of the 12th century, the celebration had become known as the
holy days of obligation in Western Christianity and involved such
traditions as ringing church bells for souls in purgatory. It was also
"customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a
bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember
the poor souls".[62] The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul
cakes for all christened souls,[63] has been suggested as the origin of
trick-or-treating.[64] The custom dates back at least as far as the
15th century[65] and was found in parts of England, Wales, Flanders,
Bavaria and Austria.[66] Groups of poor people, often children, would go
door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange
for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers' friends
and relatives. This was called "souling".[65][67][68] Soul cakes were
also offered for the souls themselves to eat,[66] or the 'soulers' would
act as their representatives.[69] As with the Lenten tradition of hot
cross buns, soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating they
were baked as alms.[70] Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The
Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593).[71] While souling, Christians would
carry "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips", which could have
originally represented souls of the dead;[72][73] jack-o'-lanterns were
used to ward off evil spirits.[74][75] On All Saints' and All Souls' Day
during the 19th century, candles were lit in homes in Ireland,[76]
Flanders, Bavaria, and in Tyrol, where they were called "soul
lights",[77] that served "to guide the souls back to visit their earthly
homes".[78] In many of these places, candles were also lit at graves on
All Souls' Day.[77] In Brittany, libations of milk were poured on the
graves of kinfolk,[66] or food would be left overnight on the dinner
table for the returning souls;[77] a custom also found in Tyrol and
parts of Italy.[79][77]
Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh
linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts: "It was
traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the
earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last
chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to
the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that
might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or
costumes".[80] In the Middle Ages, churches in Europe that were too poor
to display relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners
dress up as saints instead.[81][82] Some Christians observe this custom
at Halloween today.[83] Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a
Christianization of an earlier pagan custom.[84] Many Christians in
mainland Europe, especially in France, believed "that once a year, on
Hallowe'en, the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild, hideous
carnival" known as the danse macabre, which was often depicted in church
decoration.[85] Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in
The New Cambridge Medieval History that the danse macabre urged
Christians "not to forget the end of all earthly things".[86] The danse
macabre was sometimes enacted in European village pageants and court
masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of
society", and this may be the origin of Halloween costume
parties.[87][88][89][72]
In Britain, these customs came under
attack during the Reformation, as Protestants berated purgatory as a
"popish" doctrine incompatible with the Calvinist doctrine of
predestination. State-sanctioned ceremonies associated with the
intercession of saints and prayer for souls in purgatory were abolished
during the Elizabethan reform, though All Hallow's Day remained in the
English liturgical calendar to "commemorate saints as godly human
beings".[90] For some Nonconformist Protestants, the theology of All
Hallows' Eve was redefined; "souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory
on their way to Heaven, as Catholics frequently believe and assert.
Instead, the so-called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil
spirits".[91] Other Protestants believed in an intermediate state known
as Hades (Bosom of Abraham).[92] In some localities, Catholics and
Protestants continued souling, candlelit processions, or ringing church
bells for the dead;[46][93] the Anglican church eventually suppressed
this bell-ringing.[94] Mark Donnelly, a professor of medieval
archaeology, and historian Daniel Diehl write that "barns and homes were
blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches, who
were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the
earth".[95] After 1605, Hallowtide was eclipsed in England by Guy Fawkes
Night (5 November), which appropriated some of its customs.[96] In
England, the ending of official ceremonies related to the intercession
of saints led to the development of new, unofficial Hallowtide customs.
In 18th–19th century rural Lancashire, Catholic families gathered on
hills on the night of All Hallows' Eve. One held a bunch of burning
straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him, praying for the
souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known
as teen'lay.[97] There was a similar custom in Hertfordshire, and the
lighting of 'tindle' fires in Derbyshire.[98] Some suggested these
'tindles' were originally lit to "guide the poor souls back to
earth".[99] In Scotland and Ireland, old Allhallowtide customs that were
at odds with Reformed teaching were not suppressed as they "were
important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities"
and curbing them would have been difficult.[22]
In parts of Italy
until the 15th century, families left a meal out for the ghosts of
relatives, before leaving for church services.[79] In 19th-century
Italy, churches staged "theatrical re-enactments of scenes from the
lives of the saints" on All Hallow's Day, with "participants represented
by realistic wax figures".[79] In 1823, the graveyard of Holy Spirit
Hospital in Rome presented a scene in which bodies of those who recently
died were arrayed around a wax statue of an angel who pointed upward
towards heaven.[79] In the same country, "parish priests went
house-to-house, asking for small gifts of food which they shared among
themselves throughout that night".[79] In Spain, they continue to bake
special pastries called "bones of the holy" (Spanish: Huesos de Santo)
and set them on graves.[100] At cemeteries in Spain and France, as well
as in Latin America, priests lead Christian processions and services
during Allhallowtide, after which people keep an all night vigil.[101]
In 19th-century San Sebastián, there was a procession to the city
cemetery at Allhallowtide, an event that drew beggars who "appeal[ed] to
the tender recollectons of one's deceased relations and friends" for
sympathy.[102]
Gaelic folk influence
An early 20th-century Irish Halloween mask displayed at the Museum of Country Life
Today's
Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs
and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are
believed to have pagan roots.[103] Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes
that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between
customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated
with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".[104] The
origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival
Samhain.[105]
Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval
Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October – 1 November[106]
in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.[107][108] A kindred festival
has been held by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan
Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day
of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the
festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.[109]
Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names
have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up
until the 19th century,[110] and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names
for Halloween.
Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833,
shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in
Ireland.[111]
Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and
beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year.[112][113] It was
seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the
Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí, the 'spirits' or 'fairies',
could more easily come into this world and were particularly
active.[114][115] Most scholars see them as "degraded versions of
ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds
even after they had been officially replaced by later religious
beliefs".[116] They were both respected and feared, with individuals
often invoking the protection of God when approaching their
dwellings.[117][118] At Samhain, the Aos Sí were appeased to ensure the
people and livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink,
or portions of the crops, were left outside for them.[119][120][121] The
souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking
hospitality.[122] Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to
welcome them.[123] The belief that the souls of the dead return home on
one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient
origins and is found in many cultures.[66] In 19th century Ireland,
"candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the
dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin".[124]
Throughout
Ireland and Britain, especially in the Celtic-speaking regions, the
household festivities included divination rituals and games intended to
foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage.[125]
Apples and nuts were often used, and customs included apple bobbing, nut
roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites
into water, dream interpretation, and others.[126] Special bonfires were
lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and
ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.[112] In some
places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes
and fields to protect them.[110] It is suggested the fires were a kind
of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun and held back
the decay and darkness of winter.[123][127][128] They were also used for
divination and to ward off evil spirits.[74] In Scotland, these
bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some
parishes.[129] In Wales, bonfires were also lit to "prevent the souls of
the dead from falling to earth".[130] Later, these bonfires "kept away
the devil".[131]
photograph
A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip (rutabaga) lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland[132]
From
at least the 16th century,[133] the festival included mumming and
guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.[134] This
involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise),
usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have
originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or
the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar
to 'souling'. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was
also believed to protect oneself from them.[135] In parts of southern
Ireland, the guisers included a hobby horse. A man dressed as a Láir
Bhán (white mare) led youths house-to-house reciting verses – some of
which had pagan overtones – in exchange for food. If the household
donated food it could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not
doing so would bring misfortune.[136] In Scotland, youths went
house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often
threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.[134] F. Marian
McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume
representing the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with
ashes from the sacred bonfire.[133] In parts of Wales, men went about
dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod.[134] In the late 19th and
early 20th century, young people in Glamorgan and Orkney
cross-dressed.[134]
Elsewhere in Europe, mumming was part of
other festivals, but in the Celtic-speaking regions, it was
"particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were
said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human
wanderers".[134] From at least the 18th century, "imitating malignant
spirits" led to playing pranks in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.
Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween did not spread to
England until the 20th century.[134] Pranksters used hollowed-out
turnips or mangel wurzels as lanterns, often carved with grotesque
faces.[134] By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to
represent the spirits,[134] or used to ward off evil spirits.[137][138]
They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the
19th century,[134] as well as in Somerset (see Punkie Night). In the
20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally
known as jack-o'-lanterns.[134]
Spread to North America
The annual
New York Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, is the
world's largest Halloween parade, with millions of spectators annually,
and has its roots in New York’s queer community.[139]
Lesley
Bannatyne and Cindy Ott write that Anglican colonists in the southern
United States and Catholic colonists in Maryland "recognized All
Hallow's Eve in their church calendars",[140][141] although the Puritans
of New England strongly opposed the holiday, along with other
traditional celebrations of the established Church, including
Christmas.[142] Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no
indication that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America.[22]
It
was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th
century that Halloween became a major holiday in America.[22] Most
American Halloween traditions were inherited from the Irish and
Scots,[23][143] though "In Cajun areas, a nocturnal Mass was said in
cemeteries on Halloween night. Candles that had been blessed were placed
on graves, and families sometimes spent the entire night at the
graveside".[144] Originally confined to these immigrant communities, it
was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and was celebrated
coast to coast by people of all social, racial, and religious
backgrounds by the early 20th century.[145] Then, through American
influence, these Halloween traditions spread to many other countries by
the late 20th and early 21st century, including to mainland Europe and
some parts of the Far East.[24][25][146]
Symbols
At Halloween,
yards, public spaces, and some houses may be decorated with
traditionally macabre symbols including skeletons, ghosts, cobwebs,
headstones, and scary looking witches.
Development of artifacts
and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns
are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to
frighten evil spirits.[73][147] There is a popular Irish Christian
folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern,[148] which in folklore is
said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and
hell":[149]
On route home after a night's drinking, Jack
encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A
quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus
trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim
his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused
entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to
let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of
hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed
out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his
lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.[150]
In
Ireland and Scotland, the turnip has traditionally been carved during
Halloween,[151][152] but immigrants to North America used the native
pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger, making it easier to
carve than a turnip.[151] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is
recorded in 1837[153] and was originally associated with harvest time in
general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the
mid-to-late 19th century.[154]
Decorated house in Weatherly, Pennsylvania
The
modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources, including
Christian eschatology, national customs, works of Gothic and horror
literature (such as the novels Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
and Dracula) and classic horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and
The Mummy (1932).[155][156] Imagery of the skull, a reference to
Golgotha in the Christian tradition, serves as "a reminder of death and
the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in
memento mori and vanitas compositions;[157] skulls have therefore been
commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme.[158]
Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a
depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the
dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with
devils", a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum.[159]
One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish
poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What
fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the
night, "bogles" (ghosts),[160] influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween"
(1785).[161] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn
husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated
with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes
themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters.[162] Black cats, which
have been long associated with witches, are also a common symbol of
Halloween. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's
traditional colors.[163]
Trick-or-treating and guising
Main article: Trick-or-treating
Trick-or-treaters in Sweden
Trick-or-treating
is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in
costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or
sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick"
implies a "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their
property if no treat is given.[64] The practice is said to have roots in
the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to
souling.[164] John Pymm wrote that "many of the feast days associated
with the presentation of mumming plays were celebrated by the Christian
Church."[165] These feast days included All Hallows' Eve, Christmas,
Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday.[166][167] Mumming practiced in
Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe,[168] involved masked
persons in fancy dress who "paraded the streets and entered houses to
dance or play dice in silence".[169]
Girl in a Halloween costume in
1928, Ontario, Canada, the same province where the Scottish Halloween
custom of guising was first recorded in North America
In England,
from the medieval period,[170] up until the 1930s,[171] people
practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween, which involved
groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic,[93] going from parish
to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for
the souls of the givers and their friends.[67] In the Philippines, the
practice of souling is called Pangangaluluwa and is practiced on All
Hallow's Eve among children in rural areas.[26] People drape themselves
in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses, where they
sing in return for prayers and sweets.[26]
In Scotland and
Ireland, guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door
for food or coins – is a traditional Halloween custom.[172] It is
recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise
carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be
rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money.[152][173] In Ireland, the most
popular phrase for kids to shout (until the 2000s) was "Help the
Halloween Party".[172] The practice of guising at Halloween in North
America was first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston,
Ontario, Canada, reported children going "guising" around the
neighborhood.[174]
American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley
of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in
the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the
chapter "Hallowe'en in America".[175] In her book, Kelley touches on
customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered
them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have
been in its best days overseas. All Halloween customs in the United
States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other
countries".[176]
While the first reference to "guising" in North
America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween
appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in
1920.[177] The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat"
appears in 1927, in the Blackie Herald, of Alberta, Canada.[178]
An automobile trunk at a trunk-or-treat event at St. John Lutheran Church and Early Learning Center in Darien, Illinois
The
thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th
century and the 1920s commonly show children but not
trick-or-treating.[179] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a
widespread practice in North America until the 1930s, with the first US
appearances of the term in 1934,[180] and the first use in a national
publication occurring in 1939.[181]
A popular variant of
trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating),
occurs when "children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked
in a church parking lot", or sometimes, a school parking lot.[100][182]
In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is
decorated with a certain theme,[183] such as those of children's
literature, movies, scripture, and job roles.[184] Trunk-or-treating has
grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going
door to door, a point that resonates well with parents, as well as the
fact that it "solves the rural conundrum in which homes [are] built a
half-mile apart".[185][186]
Costumes
Main article: Halloween costume
Halloween
costumes were traditionally modeled after figures such as vampires,
ghosts, skeletons, scary looking witches, and devils.[64] Over time, the
costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction,
celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.
Halloween shop in Derry, Northern Ireland, selling masks
Dressing
up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland and
Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century.[152] A Scottish term, the
tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn
by the children.[173] In Ireland and Scotland, the masks are known as
'false faces',[38][187] a term recorded in Ayr, Scotland in 1890 by a
Scot describing guisers: "I had mind it was Halloween . . . the wee
callans were at it already, rinning aboot wi’ their fause-faces (false
faces) on and their bits o’ turnip lanthrons (lanterns) in their haun
(hand)".[38] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in
the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children, and when
trick-or-treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s
and 1930s.[178][188]
Eddie J. Smith, in his book Halloween,
Hallowed is Thy Name, offers a religious perspective to the wearing of
costumes on All Hallows' Eve, suggesting that by dressing up as
creatures "who at one time caused us to fear and tremble", people are
able to poke fun at Satan "whose kingdom has been plundered by our
Saviour". Images of skeletons and the dead are traditional decorations
used as memento mori.[189][190]
"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" is a
fundraising program to support UNICEF,[64] a United Nations Programme
that provides humanitarian aid to children in developing countries.
Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in
1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the
distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate
sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters,
in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they
visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118
million for UNICEF since its inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF
decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety
and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they
instead redesigned the program.[191][192]
The yearly New York's
Village Halloween Parade was begun in 1974; it is the world's largest
Halloween parade and America's only major nighttime parade, attracting
more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million spectators, and a
worldwide television audience.[193]
Since the late 2010s, ethnic
stereotypes as costumes have increasingly come under scrutiny in the
United States.[194] Such and other potentially offensive costumes have
been met with increasing public disapproval.[195][196]
Pet costumes
According
to a 2018 report from the National Retail Federation, 30 million
Americans will spend an estimated $480 million on Halloween costumes for
their pets in 2018. This is up from an estimated $200 million in 2010.
The most popular costumes for pets are the pumpkin, followed by the hot
dog, and the bumblebee in third place.[197]
Games and other activities
In
this 1904 Halloween greeting card, divination is depicted: the young
woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse
of her future husband.
There are several games traditionally
associated with Halloween. Some of these games originated as divination
rituals or ways of foretelling one's future, especially regarding death,
marriage and children. During the Middle Ages, these rituals were done
by a "rare few" in rural communities as they were considered to be
"deadly serious" practices.[198] In recent centuries, these divination
games have been "a common feature of the household festivities" in
Ireland and Britain.[125] They often involve apples and hazelnuts. In
Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld
and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine
wisdom.[199] Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in
celebration of Pomona.[64]
Children bobbing for apples at Hallowe'en
The
following activities were a common feature of Halloween in Ireland and
Britain during the 17th–20th centuries. Some have become more widespread
and continue to be popular today. One common game is apple bobbing or
dunking (which may be called "dooking" in Scotland)[200] in which apples
float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use
only their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking
involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and
trying to drive the fork into an apple. Another common game involves
hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be
eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an
activity that inevitably leads to a sticky face. Another once-popular
game involves hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head
height, with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the
other. The rod is spun round and everyone takes turns to try to catch
the apple with their teeth.[201]
Image from the Book of Hallowe'en (1919) showing several Halloween activities, such as nut roasting
Several
of the traditional activities from Ireland and Britain involve
foretelling one's future partner or spouse. An apple would be peeled in
one long strip, then the peel tossed over the shoulder. The peel is
believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's
name.[202][203] Two hazelnuts would be roasted near a fire; one named
for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desire.
If the nuts jump away from the heat, it is a bad sign, but if the nuts
roast quietly it foretells a good match.[204][205] A salty oatmeal
bannock would be baked; the person would eat it in three bites and then
go to bed in silence without anything to drink. This is said to result
in a dream in which their future spouse offers them a drink to quench
their thirst.[206] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a
darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of
their future husband would appear in the mirror.[207] The custom was
widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[208] from the
late 19th century and early 20th century.
Another popular Irish
game was known as púicíní ("blindfolds"); a person would be blindfolded
and then would choose between several saucers. The item in the saucer
would provide a hint as to their future: a ring would mean that they
would marry soon; clay, that they would die soon, perhaps within the
year; water, that they would emigrate; rosary beads, that they would
take Holy Orders (become a nun, priest, monk, etc.); a coin, that they
would become rich; a bean, that they would be poor.[209][210][211][212]
The game features prominently in the James Joyce short story "Clay"
(1914).[213][214][215]
In Ireland and Scotland, items would be
hidden in food – usually a cake, barmbrack, cranachan, champ or
colcannon – and portions of it served out at random. A person's future
would be foretold by the item they happened to find; for example, a ring
meant marriage and a coin meant wealth.[216]
Up until the 19th
century, the Halloween bonfires were also used for divination in parts
of Scotland, Wales and Brittany. When the fire died down, a ring of
stones would be laid in the ashes, one for each person. In the morning,
if any stone was mislaid it was said that the person it represented
would not live out the year.[110]
Telling ghost stories,
listening to Halloween-themed songs and watching horror films are common
fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and
Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children)
are commonly aired on or before Halloween, while new horror films are
often released before Halloween to take advantage of the holiday.
Haunted attractions
Main article: Haunted attraction (simulated)
Humorous tombstones in front of a house in California
Humorous display window in Historic 25th Street, Ogden, Utah
Haunted
attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare
patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses that may
include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[217] and the level of
sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown.
The
first recorded purpose-built haunted attraction was the Orton and
Spooner Ghost House, which opened in 1915 in Liphook, England. This
attraction actually most closely resembles a carnival fun house, powered
by steam.[218][219] The House still exists, in the Hollycombe Steam
Collection.
It was during the 1930s, about the same time as
trick-or-treating, that Halloween-themed haunted houses first began to
appear in America. It was in the late 1950s that haunted houses as a
major attraction began to appear, focusing first on California.
Sponsored by the Children's Health Home Junior Auxiliary, the San Mateo
Haunted House opened in 1957. The San Bernardino Assistance League
Haunted House opened in 1958. Home haunts began appearing across the
country during 1962 and 1963. In 1964, the San Manteo Haunted House
opened, as well as the Children's Museum Haunted House in
Indianapolis.[220]
The haunted house as an American cultural icon
can be attributed to the opening of The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland
on 12 August 1969.[221] Knott's Berry Farm began hosting its own
Halloween night attraction, Knott's Scary Farm, which opened in
1973.[222] Evangelical Christians adopted a form of these attractions by
opening one of the first "hell houses" in 1972.[223]
The first
Halloween haunted house run by a nonprofit organization was produced in
1970 by the Sycamore-Deer Park Jaycees in Clifton, Ohio. It was
cosponsored by WSAI, an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati,
Ohio. It was last produced in 1982.[224] Other Jaycees followed suit
with their own versions after the success of the Ohio house. The March
of Dimes copyrighted a "Mini haunted house for the March of Dimes" in
1976 and began fundraising through their local chapters by conducting
haunted houses soon after. Although they apparently quit supporting this
type of event nationally sometime in the 1980s, some March of Dimes
haunted houses have persisted until today.[225]
On the evening of
11 May 1984, in Jackson Township, New Jersey, the Haunted Castle (Six
Flags Great Adventure) caught fire. As a result of the fire, eight
teenagers perished.[226] The backlash to the tragedy was a tightening of
regulations relating to safety, building codes and the frequency of
inspections of attractions nationwide. The smaller venues, especially
the nonprofit attractions, were unable to compete financially, and the
better funded commercial enterprises filled the vacuum.[227][228]
Facilities that were once able to avoid regulation because they were
considered to be temporary installations now had to adhere to the
stricter codes required of permanent attractions.[229][230][231]
In
the late 1980s and early 1990s, theme parks entered the business
seriously. Six Flags Fright Fest began in 1986 and Universal Studios
Florida began Halloween Horror Nights in 1991. Knott's Scary Farm
experienced a surge in attendance in the 1990s as a result of America's
obsession with Halloween as a cultural event. Theme parks have played a
major role in globalizing the holiday. Universal Studios Singapore and
Universal Studios Japan both participate, while Disney now mounts
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party events at its parks in Paris, Hong
Kong and Tokyo, as well as in the United States.[232] The theme park
haunts are by far the largest, both in scale and attendance.[233]
Food
Pumpkins for sale during Halloween
On
All Hallows' Eve, many Western Christian denominations encourage
abstinence from meat, giving rise to a variety of vegetarian foods
associated with this day.[234]
A candy apple
Because in the
Northern Hemisphere Halloween comes in the wake of the yearly apple
harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America),
caramel apples or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by
rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by
rolling them in nuts.
At one time, candy apples were commonly
given to trick-or-treating children, but the practice rapidly waned in
the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items
like pins and razor blades in the apples in the United States.[235]
While there is evidence of such incidents,[236] relative to the degree
of reporting of such cases, actual cases involving malicious acts are
extremely rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless,
many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of
the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered
free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of
tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents
involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.[237]
One
custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often
nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish: báirín breac), which is a
light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin, and other charms are
placed before baking.[238] It is considered fortunate to be the lucky
one who finds it.[238] It has also been said that those who get a ring
will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the
tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany. Halloween-themed
foods are also produced by companies in the lead up to the night, for
example Cadbury releasing Goo Heads (similar to Creme Eggs) in spooky
wrapping.[239]
A jack-o'-lantern Halloween cake with a witches hat
List of foods associated with Halloween:
Barmbrack (Ireland)
Bonfire toffee (Great Britain)
Candy apples/toffee apples (Great Britain and Ireland)
Candy apples, candy corn, candy pumpkins (North America)
Chocolate
Monkey nuts (peanuts in their shells) (Ireland and Scotland)
Caramel apples
Caramel corn
Colcannon (Ireland; see below)
Halloween cake
Sweets/candy
Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc.
Roasted pumpkin seeds
Roasted sweet corn
Soul cakes
Pumpkin Pie
Christian religious observances
The Vigil of All Hallows' is being celebrated at an Episcopal Christian church on Hallowe'en
On
Hallowe'en (All Hallows' Eve), in Poland, believers were once taught to
pray out loud as they walk through the forests in order that the souls
of the dead might find comfort; in Spain, Christian priests in tiny
villages toll their church bells in order to remind their congregants to
remember the dead on All Hallows' Eve.[240] In Ireland, and among
immigrants in Canada, a custom includes the Christian practice of
abstinence, keeping All Hallows' Eve as a meat-free day and serving
pancakes or colcannon instead.[241] In Mexico children make an altar to
invite the return of the spirits of dead children (angelitos).[242]
The
Christian Church traditionally observed Hallowe'en through a vigil.
Worshippers prepared themselves for feasting on the following All
Saints' Day with prayers and fasting.[243] This church service is known
as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints;[244][245] an
initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of
All Hallows throughout Christendom.[246][247] After the service,
"suitable festivities and entertainments" often follow, as well as a
visit to the graveyard or cemetery, where flowers and candles are often
placed in preparation for All Hallows' Day.[248][249] In Finland,
because so many people visit the cemeteries on All Hallows' Eve to light
votive candles there, they "are known as valomeri, or seas of
light".[250]
Halloween Scripture Candy with gospel tract
Today,
Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican
Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions
associated with All Hallow's Eve.[251][252] Some of these practices
include praying, fasting and attending worship services.[1][2][3]
O LORD our God, increase, we pray thee, and multiply upon us the gifts
of thy grace: that we, who do prevent the glorious festival of all thy
Saints, may of thee be enabled joyfully to follow them in all virtuous
and godly living. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who liveth and
reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world
without end. Amen. —Collect of the Vigil of All Saints, The Anglican
Breviary[253]
Votive candles in the Halloween section of Walmart
Other
Protestant Christians also celebrate All Hallows' Eve as Reformation
Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation, alongside All
Hallow's Eve or independently from it.[254] This is because Martin
Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety-five Theses to All Saints'
Church in Wittenberg on All Hallows' Eve.[255] Often, "Harvest
Festivals" or "Reformation Festivals" are held on All Hallows' Eve, in
which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers.[256] In
addition to distributing candy to children who are trick-or-treating on
Hallowe'en, many Christians also provide gospel tracts to them. One
organization, the American Tract Society, stated that around 3 million
gospel tracts are ordered from them alone for Hallowe'en
celebrations.[257] Others order Halloween-themed Scripture Candy to pass
out to children on this day.[258][259]
Belizean children dressed up as Biblical figures and Christian saints
Some
Christians feel concerned about the modern celebration of Halloween
because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult,
or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with
their beliefs.[260] Father Gabriele Amorth, an exorcist in Rome, has
said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and
devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a
game, there is no harm in that."[261] In more recent years, the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on
Halloween.[262] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view
Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches
where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy
for free. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the
spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and
the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson
and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.[263] Christian
minister Sam Portaro wrote that Halloween is about using "humor and
ridicule to confront the power of death".[264]
In the Roman
Catholic Church, Halloween's Christian connection is acknowledged, and
Halloween celebrations are common in many Catholic parochial schools in
the United States.[265][266] Many fundamentalist and evangelical
churches use "Hell houses" and comic-style tracts in order to make use
of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.[267] Others
consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian
faith due to its putative origins in the Festival of the Dead
celebration.[268] Indeed, even though Eastern Orthodox Christians
observe All Hallows' Day on the First Sunday after Pentecost, The
Eastern Orthodox Church recommends the observance of Vespers or a
Paraklesis on the Western observance of All Hallows' Eve, out of the
pastoral need to provide an alternative to popular celebrations.[269]
Analogous celebrations and perspectives
Judaism
According
to Alfred J. Kolatch in the Second Jewish Book of Why, in Judaism,
Halloween is not permitted by Jewish Halakha because it violates
Leviticus 18:3, which forbids Jews from partaking in gentile customs.
Many Jews observe Yizkor communally four times a year, which is vaguely
similar to the observance of Allhallowtide in Christianity, in the sense
that prayers are said for both "martyrs and for one's own family".[270]
Nevertheless, many American Jews celebrate Halloween, disconnected from
its Christian origins.[271] Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser has said
that "There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not
celebrate Halloween" while Orthodox Rabbi Michael Broyde has argued
against Jews' observing the holiday.[272] Purim has sometimes been
compared to Halloween, in part due to some observants wearing costumes,
especially of Biblical figures described in the Purim narrative.[273]
Islam
Sheikh
Idris Palmer, author of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding
Islam, has ruled that Muslims should not participate in Halloween,
stating that "participation in Halloween is worse than participation in
Christmas, Easter, ... it is more sinful than congratulating the
Christians for their prostration to the crucifix".[274] It has also been
ruled to be haram by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia because of
its alleged pagan roots stating "Halloween is celebrated using a
humorous theme mixed with horror to entertain and resist the spirit of
death that influence humans".[275][276] Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah
disagrees provided the celebration is not referred to as an 'eid' and
that behaviour remains in line with Islamic principles.[277]
Hinduism
Hindus
remember the dead during the festival of Pitru Paksha, during which
Hindus pay homage to and perform a ceremony "to keep the souls of their
ancestors at rest". It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada,
usually in mid-September.[278] The celebration of the Hindu festival
Diwali sometimes conflicts with the date of Halloween; but some Hindus
choose to participate in the popular customs of Halloween.[279] Other
Hindus, such as Soumya Dasgupta, have opposed the celebration on the
grounds that Western holidays like Halloween have "begun to adversely
affect our indigenous festivals".[280]
Neopaganism
There is no
consistent rule or view on Halloween amongst those who describe
themselves as Neopagans or Wiccans. Some Neopagans do not observe
Halloween, but instead observe Samhain on 1 November,[281] some
neopagans do enjoy Halloween festivities, stating that one can observe
both "the solemnity of Samhain in addition to the fun of Halloween".
Some neopagans are opposed to the celebration of Hallowe'en, stating
that it "trivializes Samhain",[282] and "avoid Halloween, because of the
interruptions from trick or treaters".[283] The Manitoban writes that
"Wiccans don't officially celebrate Halloween, despite the fact that 31
Oct. will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan's day planner.
Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain.
Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive
to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday
originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don't try to
historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain
rituals are still practised, but at its core, the period is treated as a
time to celebrate darkness and the dead – a possible reason why Samhain
can be confused with Halloween celebrations."[281]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Halloween
Halloween display in Kobe, Japan
The
traditions and importance of Halloween vary greatly among countries
that observe it. In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs
include children dressing up in costume going "guising", holding
parties, while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and
having firework displays.[172][284][285] In Brittany children would
play practical jokes by setting candles inside skulls in graveyards to
frighten visitors.[286] Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th
century popularized Halloween in North America, and celebration in the
United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event
is observed in other nations.[172] This larger North American influence,
particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places
such as Brazil, Ecuador, Chile,[287] Australia,[288] New Zealand,[289]
(most) continental Europe, Finland,[290] Japan, and other parts of East
Asia." (wikipedia.org)