The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft: Chapter Review

In their study of the anthropological basis of religion, magic, and witchcraft, Philip and Rebecca Stein (2010) explore the role of symbolism within the context of spiritual practice. Virtually all spiritual traditions and communities adopt varying sets of symbols, emblems, or objects that ostensibly represent sacred truths. Such symbols help to convey the sense of meaning that one who practices a particular spiritual tradition may achieve. The myths, symbols, and rituals associated with spirituality have the effect of filling a particular niche in the human psyche. They provide the individual human being with a sense of purpose, and they provide human groups with a sense of identity.

The symbols which are adopted by particular religious or spiritual communities also vary widely in terms of their appearance and their meaning. The symbol of the Christian cross is one of the most enduring and easily recognizable aspects of that religion. Its meaning is also well-known. The cross supposedly symbolizes the divine sacrifice of Christ as atonement for the sins of mankind. The icons that are a hallmark of the Orthodox faith likewise fill this symbolic role as do the statues of saints in Catholic traditions. Even the churches of the Reformation that consider such practices to be idolatrous engage in somber rituals, such as the commemoration of Christ’s death through the ceremony of the Eucharist.

The Steins also point out that different spiritual traditions also sometimes maintain their own forms of self-amusement, even through such methods as games and religious toys for children. The spiritual symbols of a particular faith can often be expressed even in the form of entertainment. An illustration would be the way in which the Christmas holiday has been thoroughly intertwined with both secular concerns and commercial values. Varying religious traditions also create their own art forms which they hold to represent the sacred. For instance, there is the beautification of the Mother of God within the Maronite traditions in Christianity.

While the practice of magic and witchcraft often overlaps with the beliefs and practices of various religious traditions, there is also conflict between these within many such traditions (Bengt & Clark, 2001). In each of the Abrahamic religions, the practice of witchcraft is forbidden. Sorcerers, conjurers and other such figures are regarded as evil and undesirable. The belief in the reality of witches within these traditions often led to outbreaks of hysteria in past times. Both Protestants and Catholics engaged in the now archaic practice of witch-hunting towards the end of the medieval period as Western civilization was making its transition into the era of modernity. The religious sensibilities of the era were such that it was widely believed that Satan maintained an army of servants on the Earth and that these witches who existed served the devil.

Because of the belief in witchcraft, it is estimated that persons numbering in the tens of thousands, or possibly even in the hundreds of thousands, were killed after having been suspected of witchcraft. Accused witches could also be subject to arrest and imprisonment, banishment from their local community, torture, and seizure of their property and possessions by the authorities of the era (Barstow, 1994). Those suspected of witchcraft were usually women, and most frequently an unmarried or eccentric older woman (Apps & Gow, 2003). Indeed, the persecution of accused witches in past times fits well with the analysis of the scapegoat provided by Rene Girard (1977). In the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance culture, the “witch” became the primary object of public scorn and shame. It was through the persecution of witches that the larger community achieved a sense of purpose for itself.

References

Apps, L. & Gow, A. (2003). Male witches in early modern Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Barstow, A. (1994). Witchcraze: A new history of the European witch hunts. San Francisco: Pandora.

Bengt, A. & Clark, S. (2001). Witchcraft and magic in Europe: Biblical and pagan societies. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.

Girard, R. (1977). Violence and the sacred. (P. Gregory, trans.) . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Stein, P. & Stein, R. (2010). The anthropology of religion, magic and witchcraft. New York: Pearson.