Module 7: Divination
Magic involves the use of plant material, called medicines, in which supernatural power resides among the:
Azande
Leo Durocher
Brooklyn Dodgers- wore the same clothing for three weeks straight
Deliberate diviniation
someone sets out to do, such as reading tarot cards or examining the liver of a sacrificed animal.
Law of Sympathy
states that things that are alike are the same. Homeopathic or imitative magic. Alternative medicine and homeopathic medicine is based on this law.
pneuma
sweet smelling gas
(Article: "Baseball Magic" by Gmelch) Mentioning a "no-hitter" while one is in progress is an example of a?
taboo grounded in baseball culture
Divination (defined by textbook):
techniques for obtaining information about things unknown, including future events. Comes from same root as divinity. Implies that it deals with the supernatural. Based on observing connections between things.
Doctrine of Signatures
the belief that signs telling of a plants medical use are somehow embedded within the structure and nature of the plant itself. EX: Red Cloverhead treats blood because it is red like blood.
Haruspication
the examination of the entrails of a sacrificed animal
Explain the first principles of magic:
they were described by James Frazer in the "Golden Bough" in 1890. Explain the "Law of Sympathy"- magic depends on the apparent association or agreement between things. There are two parts: the Law of Similarity and the Law of Contagion.
Law of Contagion
things that were once in contact continue to be connected after the connection is severed. Contagious magic. Anything connected to the person can be used in this magic. EX: A rabbits foot is lucky because the rabbit was lucky. EX: (from US): Rubbing a penny on a wart and then throwing the penny away so the wart will go away. Tying a caterpillar around the neck of a child with whooping cough.
"Mansions"
three principle gods: Anu, Enlil, and Ea
Contagious magic is based on the premise that things that were once in contact always maintain a connection. True or False?
true
Pyromancy
type of divination involved in fire. Practiced by ancient Chinese. Diviners submitted questions on carved bone or shell. Diviners would then interpret the thermal expansion.
Dowsing
used in the US. a forked stick is used to locate water underground
graphology
used in the US. handwriting analysis
phrenology
used in the US. study of shape and structure of the head
tasseography
used in the us. the reading of tea leaves
Oracle Bone script
usually pictographer or prognostication ( earliest known significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing).
Seers (from Harry Potter article):
witches and wizards who predict the future with their "inner eye"
Nankili
"A pleurisy"- a lung condition. The sorcerer makes bone needles out of the bones of pigs, cassowary, or possums. He blows smoke on the bone needles to make the needles fly into the victims body.
Folklorist Wayland D. Hand
"walnuts are good for the brain because they look like the brain." Law of Sympathy
Necromany
divination through contact with the dead or ancestors
sorcerers
evil figures who deal with matters that are down right antisocial
Omens
fortuitous happenings or conditions that provide information
Fortuitous divination
happens without an conscious effort on the part of the individual
Oneiromancy
interpretation of dreams
Ornithomancy
involves reading that path and form of a flight of birds
Inspirational divination
involves some type of spiritual experience such as direct contact with a supernatural being through an altered state, usually possession. Sometimes natural or emotive divination.
prophecy
is fortuitous in that the prophet receives into through a vision. No action on the individual.
Oracle bones
pieces of bone or turtle shell; commonly used- ox scapulae or turtle plastron. They were used to predict future events.
Which activities are rituals, taboos, and fetishes mostly used for?
pitching and hitting. Not fielding because they are able to control the outcome.
What are the three essential activities of baseball?
pitching, hitting, and fielding
According to the cultural snapchat, ______ is the type of divination which exclusively utilizes turtle shells for divining.
plastromancy
"Rally cap"?
players in the dugout fold their caps and wear them bill up in hopes of sparking a rally
Ritual (defined by Gmelch):
prescribed behaviors in which there is no empirical connection between the means and the desired end. Rituals are not rational.
Magic
refers to methods that somehow interface with the supernatural and by which people can bring about particular outcomes. Based on the manipulation of perceived connections between things.
two categories of dreams
1. Individual dream: the kind that comes from inside of the dreamer. 2. Culturally pattered dreams: deliberately sought. Encouraged by a shaman, parents, fasting, isolation, etc. EX: coming of age ritual
Best known Zande oracle
1. Iwa- the rubbing board oracle. Most used 2. Dakpa- the termite oracle. Greater reliability 3. Benge- the poison oracle. Most important. Identifies a witch
Three types of knowledge from the Trobriand Islanders of the western coast of New Guinea
1. Knowledge of the everyday world (shared by all of the society). 2. Specialized and shared by limited people. EX: sailing and woodcarving. 3. Knowledge of the most complex and valued technological skills. EX: canoe building, songs, and dances. They are known as "tokabitam"- man with knowledge.
two major functions of religion
1. Magic: control 2. Divination: knowledge
Forms of divination
1. inspirational 2. non inspirational or artificial 3. fortuitous 4. deliberate
What was the 1st and second highest deaths amongst the Fore?
1st= Kuru 2nd= revenge killings
Wicca
A Neo-Pagan religion- perceived rival of pre-christian religious practices. They borrow magic from traditions of other cultures. "Core of the Ritual" or "Real Magic"- is the movement of energy. They believe power exists in all things. Only use magic for good.
What did James Frazer think about magic?
He believed magic was a pseudoscience based on direct action. He believe in the evolutionary school of thought.
What did Emile Durkheirm believe about magic?
He did not believe magic was a religion because there was no church involved.
What did Edward Taylor say about "primitive cultures"?
He said that magic is a logical way of thinking. He did not believe magic was a religion because it did not involve spirits. "Why do people believe magic works?" Because magic appears to never fail. If the results are not right, the failure, it with the magician.
Earliest fortune telling tribe?
In the West, Chinese Fortune Sticks
Where do the Trobrianders Islanders fish?
Inner lagoon and open sea
Where does the word taboo come from?
Its a Polynesian term meaning prohibition. It is the opposite of a ritual, because it brings bad luck when it is broken.
Explain the correlation between cannibalism and the laws of the new Fore leaders:
Kuru was not seen in any children after 1960. This was because in 1959, new leaders took over the Fore tribe and stopped the practice of cannibalism. However, there was an extremely high incubation period, so older generations were still developing Kuru.
Earliest evidence of pyromancy in which two nations?
Longshan archaeological culture (3,000-1,900 BC) and Shang dynasty (proved the existence of this culture)
Which two diseases have a close link between Kuru?
Mad cow disease and variant CJD
Who was described as the "the human rain delay"?
Mike Hargrove, Cleveland Indian, 1st baseman
Best hitter, hits per try at plate?
Only gets one hit every three tries at the plate
Explain the Azande of the Sudan
Rituals are variable and the spell is unformulated, usually public, and preformed by a single person. They are killed if they are seen doing bad magic. However, magic to kill a witch or sorcerer is fine. Live in Southern Sudan, Congo culture area. Their magic usually involved objects, mostly plants. "Material"= medicines (an object which supernatural power resides). EX: fruit of milky sap- given to mother to produce more milk.
Which wand works the best for seers? (based on Harry Potter)
Silver lime wands
Firenze (from Harry Potter article):
Teachers who teach divination at Hogwarts
Homeopathic Magic or Imitative Magic
assumes that there is a casual relationship between things that appear to be similar. This can be physical or behavioral. The most familiar is "Image Magic"- the practice of making an image to represent a living person or animal, which can then be killed or injured. Another is "Increase Rite"- fertility rituals that function to facilitate the successful reproduction of the totem animal. Seen in Australian Aborigines.
most popular divination in US is?
astrology. Origin from Babylon.
inspirational divination
USED IN THE US. A FORM IN which an individual has direct contact with a supernatural being.
Explain how the Shang dynasty used pyromancy:
Used anyang oracle bones. They were interpreted by the king or another elite (priest). The results were carefully recorded. Phrase: "King read cracks and said if it be a ding day (child bearing) it will be good, if it be a gang day (auspicious).
Aleuromancy
Used in the US. the use of flour. EX: fortune cookies
Divination (from Harry Potter article):
a branch of magic that involves attempting to foresee the future, to gather insights into future events, through various rituals and tools. Ex: taught at Hogwarts to 3rd year students as an elective
Apantomancy
a chance meeting with an animal. EX: black cat crossing your path
Spell
a key component of a magical act is the words that are spoke. Often oral text.
Science (defined in the text):
a methodology for coming to an understanding of our world through objective observations, experimentation, and the development of hypothesis and theories.
What is Kuru?
a neurological disease effecting the brain and spinal cord of people in Papua New Guinea. Caused by infectious prion (protein) in brain and spinal cord. Affected only the Fore people. This was the first brain disease to be transmissible. No antibodies were found. Transmissible through brain or spinal cord cells, blood, or organ transmission.
Explain the prion
a protein. Smaller than a virus. It is not a living organism because it does not contain DNA or RNA. They recruit other proteins to become infectious, rather than reproducing infections proteins from themselves.
What did early anthropologists believe Kuru was?
a psychosomatic disease
Oracle
a specific device that is used for divination and can refer to inspirational or non-inspirational forms
What did early scientist think Kuru was?
an "unconventional virus"
Presentiments
are feelings that a person experiences. EX: dread, impending disaster, death
Empirical observations:
are made through our senses.
Fetishes (defined by Gmelch):
charms, material objects believed to embody supernatural power that can aid or protect the owner
Examples of fetishes (charms) used by ball players for good luck:
coins, chains, crucifixes, uniform numbers, shoes, numbers, clothing, order in which you dress, food
mediums
communication from the deities through possession, usually a priest, is a very common feature. Called "dream men." EX: oracle of delphi
Hipparchus
laid foundation of astrology
A nickname for Kuru?
laughing disease
Hitting compared to Islanders?
like the inner lagoon
Pitching compared to the Islanders?
like the open sea
Antitherapy rituals
magic that is worked against someone who then dies. Harry D. Eastwell says they work because of the immense fear. Or because they are seen was "socially dead" by the family who then stops providing them food and water.
Non-inspirational or artificial
magical ways of doing divination and include the reading of natural events as well as the manipulation of oracular devices.
The Zande poison oracle is an example of:
noninspirational deliberate divination
types of divination inf Greece
oneiromancy, ornithomancy, haruspication, cleromancy, and the consultation of mediums (Siwah, Didyma, Dodona, Delphi)
Average hitter, hits per try at plate?
only gets one hit every 4 tries at the plate
Scapulimancy
only ox scapulae are used
Plastromancy
only turtle shells are used
