SRS 1110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Witchcraft Accusations Against Children In Africa, Goddess Movement, Occultation

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: SRS 1110
• Professor: Shelley Rabinovich

Document Summary

Magic(k) - a force that exists in the natural world. This is akin to electricity in that you cannot se it but it is always there. Occult - something hidden with the exception of the people who have been taught about or know how to get to the occulted thing. Anthropological witch - a colonizing force version of anthropology, not the anthropology we have today. When colonizers saw religious practices that were drastically different from their own they called it "witchcraft" and the priests "witch doctors. " At this time, witch doctor was a very negative term. Today they are called shamans from the tungus language. Historical witch - the period of witchcraft accusation during 15th century. The pope at the time declared witches as real and said that they must be gotten rid of. The witch craze; however, ended due to the scientific revolution. Religionist witch - when someone says they are a witch/pagan/wiccan as their religion.