MAGIC: A TIMELINE (PART 3): 1980S-2020S

 In the 1980s, David Hune (1939-, American), a scholar of the New Testament, added his voice to the debate about magic. Hune complained that the old dichotomy between religion and magic was unworkable. How does one understand the miracles of the Apostles? He felt that more guidance was needed.

 

Meanwhile, Tanya Luhrmann (1959-), an American anthropologist, offered new insights in studying magic. After her field work with contemporary Wiccans in England in 1989, she published “Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft.” Luhrmann said that in magical belief, an “interpretative drift” occurs. First, a person finds the ideas of magic persuasive. Then, they notice how magic affects their material world. As they gather data, the person begins to firmly believe in the reality of magic.

 

Susan Greenwood (English) also studied with Wiccans in London. To rebut Luhrmann, Greenwood wrote “Magic, Witchcraft and the Other World: An Anthropology (1991).” She stressed that a person has to experience magic. It cannot be studied since magic was a form of consciousness.

 

By 2000, many anthropologists and other academics agreed that separating magic from religion was futile. Moreover, nobody had any idea of what was which. Those who studied ancient and medieval texts complained that they need better rubics.

 

In 2006, Fiona Bowie (British) published “The Anthropology of Religion.” She studied how a culture mystifies a magical experience. For magic to exist, there has to be a prevalent belief of a life force within people and nature. Moreover, the belief that good fortune is limited prompts that culture to regard magic as essential. (Note 1)

 

Her contemporary, Peter Geschiere (Dutch) published in 2013, “Witchcraft, Intimacy, and Trust: Africa in Comparison.” He counseled that magic should be viewed in relationship to modernity, political power and the State. According to Geschiere, magic addresses issues that are crucial to social relationships. Therefore, magic should be defined as how a given society say that it is.

 

Notes:

Note 1. Fiona Bowie founded the Afterlife Research Centre to work on ethnographic approaches to mediumship and the afterlife. Their website is http://afterliferesearch.weebly.com/.

 

Works Used:

Bowie, Fiona, “The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction.” 2008. PDF. https://www.academia.edu/331603/Anthropology_of_Religion.

Davis, Owen, ed. “The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft & Magic.” Oxford University Press: Oxford. 2017.

Dobler, Gregor, “Fatal Words: Restudying Jeanne-Favret-Saada.” Anthropology of This Century, Issue 13, May 2015. http://aotcpress.com/articles/fatal-words-restudying-jeanne-favretsaada/.

Greer, John Michael, “The Occult Book.” Sterling: NY. 2017.

Hutton, Ronald, “The Witch.” Yale University Press: New Haven. 2017.

—, “A Framework for the Study of European Magic.” Grey School of Wizardry Class Materials. Dell.Urgano, Ombra, “The Development of European Magic.”

Moro, Pamela, “Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Magic.” International Library of Anthropology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea1915.

Seligmann, Kurt, “The Mirror of Magic.” 1948. Inner Tradition: Rochester (VT)