Author: Stroeken, Koen

Source: Social Analysis, Volume 52, Number 1, Spring 2008 , pp. 144-165(22)

Abstract:

Typically, magic takes no stance against the socialized beliefs that determine it, in contrast with both science and modern religion, which, in the face of doubt, assert the truth-value of their propositions against such determination. In other words, science and religion engage in 'believed belief'. Their aversion to magical belief is the one thing they can agree on. Believed beliefs produce convictions of truth sufficiently intense to base actions on, such as the killing of someone identified as a witch. Ethnography on Sukuma healing allows us to distinguish this experience of the witch from that of oracles and magical remedies. While research in terms of belief(s) tends to oppose cultures, an approach based on experiential structures links up seemingly distinct practices from different cultures, while differentiating seemingly similar practices within a culture.

Keywords: BELIEF; DIVINATION; INTRUSION; MAGIC; RELIGION; SCIENCE; SUKUMA

DOI: 10.3167/sa.2008.520109

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