Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft

Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft PDF Author: B. Hallen
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804728232
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
This is the only analysis of indigenous discourse about an African belief system undertaken within the framework of Anglo-American analytical philosophy.

Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft

Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft PDF Author: B. Hallen
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804728232
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
This is the only analysis of indigenous discourse about an African belief system undertaken within the framework of Anglo-American analytical philosophy.

Knowledge, Belief & Witchcraft

Knowledge, Belief & Witchcraft PDF Author: B. Hallen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
This is the only analysis of indigenous discourse about an African belief system undertaken within the framework of Anglo-American analytical philosophy.

African Science

African Science PDF Author: Douglas J. Falen
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299318907
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
In this sensitive and personal investigation into Benin's occult world, Douglas J. Falen wrestles with the challenges of encountering a reality in which magic, science, and the Vodun religion converge into a single universal force. He takes seriously his Beninese interlocutors' insistence that the indigenous phenomenon known as àze ("witchcraft") is an African science, credited with fantastic and productive deeds, such as teleportation and supernatural healing. Although the Beninese understanding of àze reflects positive scientific properties in its use of specialized knowledge to harness nature's energy and realize economic success, its boundless power is inherently ambivalent because it can corrupt its users, who dispense death and destruction. Witches and healers are equivalent to supervillains and superheroes, locked in epic battles over malevolent and benevolent human desires. Beninese people's discourse about such mystical confrontations expresses a philosophy of moral duality and cosmic balance. Falen demonstrates how a deep engagement with another lived reality opens our minds and contributes to understanding across cultural difference.

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful PDF Author: B. Hallen
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253338068
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Hallen asks the Yoruba onisegun - the wisest and most accomplished herbalists or traditional healers - what it means to be good and beautiful. The onisegun explain the subtleties and intricacies of Yoruba language use and philosophy behind particular word choices. Their instructions reveal the depth of Yoruba aesthetics and ethics.

Deepening Witchcraft

Deepening Witchcraft PDF Author: Grey Cat
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781550224955
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In 'Deepening Witchcraft', the founder of the North Wind Tradition of American Witchcraft offers knowledge a well-informed Pagan needs, going beyond the basics contained in most Wiccan titles and explaining many of the skill which must be developed and honed by the more advanced student of Wicca. Offering up-to-date information on Pagan history, this book also closely examines the religious beliefs of Paganism and its deities, and outlines a solid personal basis for good behaviour in a religion that does not incorporate karma, a vengeful god, or punitive law.

Demon Lovers

Demon Lovers PDF Author: Walter Stephens
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226772622
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
On September 20, 1587, Walpurga Hausmännin of Dillingen in southern Germany was burned at the stake as a witch. Although she had confessed to committing a long list of maleficia (deeds of harmful magic), including killing forty—one infants and two mothers in labor, her evil career allegedly began with just one heinous act—sex with a demon. Fornication with demons was a major theme of her trial record, which detailed an almost continuous orgy of sexual excess with her diabolical paramour Federlin "in many divers places, . . . even in the street by night." As Walter Stephens demonstrates in Demon Lovers, it was not Hausmännin or other so-called witches who were obsessive about sex with demons—instead, a number of devout Christians, including trained theologians, displayed an uncanny preoccupation with the topic during the centuries of the "witch craze." Why? To find out, Stephens conducts a detailed investigation of the first and most influential treatises on witchcraft (written between 1430 and 1530), including the infamous Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches). Far from being credulous fools or mindless misogynists, early writers on witchcraft emerge in Stephens's account as rational but reluctant skeptics, trying desperately to resolve contradictions in Christian thought on God, spirits, and sacraments that had bedeviled theologians for centuries. Proof of the physical existence of demons—for instance, through evidence of their intercourse with mortal witches—would provide strong evidence for the reality of the supernatural, the truth of the Bible, and the existence of God. Early modern witchcraft theory reflected a crisis of belief—a crisis that continues to be expressed today in popular debates over angels, Satanic ritual child abuse, and alien abduction.

Western Apache Witchcraft

Western Apache Witchcraft PDF Author: Keith H. Basso
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816501427
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 86

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Book Description
An ethnographic contribution describing the beliefs and ideas associated with witchcraft as shared "knowledge" that the Apaches have about their universe. Uncovers the types of interpersonal relationships with which witchcraft accusations are regularly associated and posits explanations for these associations.

Religious Beliefs and Knowledge Systems in Africa

Religious Beliefs and Knowledge Systems in Africa PDF Author: Toyin Falola
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538150255
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 355

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Book Description
Key to African studies is understanding the knowledge systems of the continent and her diaspora. The representation and understanding of Africa are dependent on the observer’s definition of knowledge. Afrocentric knowledge is comprised of a collection of political, religious, and indigenous belief systems. Religious Beliefs and Knowledge Systems in Africa begins with deconstructing the Western philosophy of knowledge before defining and exploring the epistemic disciplines of Africa. It transcends postcolonial critique, through an Afrocentric approach to knowledge divided into three key themes. The first of these is the African worldview, exploring knowledge through eldership, witchcraft, and divination. This is followed up by kingship ideology and epistemologies, exploring discussing how politics, religion, and belief shape African society. Finally, the world religion chapter examines Christianity, Islam, and Pentecostalism in their impact on African ways of knowing. This book calls to action new fields of study in universities, encouraging a greater understanding of African ways of knowing through more nuanced disciplines.

The Book of Practical Witchcraft

The Book of Practical Witchcraft PDF Author: Pamela Ball
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
ISBN: 1398817511
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
Become a competent, confident spell-worker with this practical guide to witchcraft, presented in a beautiful hardback with gilded page edges. Containing an extensive collection of traditional spells and techniques, this guide will help readers attract positive friendships, love and luck as well as promote healing, careers and protection. The Practical Book of Witchcraft is an essential reference for anyone wishing to master the incredible art of wicca and spell-making. Includes: • A section on tools used as well as information on how to consecrate them • Correspondences for different spells • Rituals for manifesting your wishes This spell-binding book provides a wonderful introduction into witchcraft and makes a perfect gift. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Mystic Archives are beautiful hardcover guides which reveal the hidden mysteries of esoteric arts, presented with foil-embossing, Wibalin binding and gilded page edges.

Witchcraft and Magic

Witchcraft and Magic PDF Author: Helen A. Berger
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812219715
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
Witchcraft and Magic Contemporary North America Edited by Helen A. Berger Magic, always part of the occult underground in North America, has experienced a resurgence since the 1960s. Although most contemporary magical religions have come from abroad, they have found fertile ground in which to develop in North America. Who are today's believers in Witchcraft and how do they worship? Alternative spiritual paths have increased the ranks of followers dramatically, particularly among well-educated middle-class individuals. Witchcraft and Magic conveys the richness of magical religious experiences found in today's culture, covering the continent of North America and the Caribbean. These original essays survey current and historical issues pertinent to religions that incorporate magical or occult beliefs and practices, and they examine contemporary responses to these religions. The relationship between Witchcraft and Neopaganism is explored, as is their intersection with established groups practicing goddess worship. Recent years have seen the growth in New Age magic and Afro-Caribbean religions, and these developments are also addressed in this volume. All the religions covered offer adherents an alternative worldview and rituals that are aimed at helping individuals redefine themselves and make their interactions with the environment more empowered. Many modern occult religions share an absence of dogma or central authority to determine orthodoxy, and have become a contemporary experience embracing modern concerns like feminism, environmentalism, civil rights, and gay rights. Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santería, Palo, and Curanderismo, which do have a more developed dogma and authority structure, offer their followers a religion steeped in African and Hispanic traditions. Responses to the growth of magical religions have varied, from acceptance to an unfounded concern about the growth of a satanic underground. And, as magical religions have flourished, increased interest has resulted in a growing commercialization, with its threat of trivialization. Helen A. Berger is Professor of Sociology at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. 2005 216 pages 6 x 9 ISBN 978-0-8122-3877-8 Cloth $49.95s £32.50 ISBN 978-0-8122-1971-5 Paper $24.95s £16.50 ISBN 978-0-8122-0125-3 Ebook $24.95s £16.50 World Rights Anthropology, Religion Short copy: In original essays the book explores both religions that incorporate magical or occult beliefs and practices and contemporary responses to these religions in North America and the Caribbean.