Witchcraft and shamanism - Essay Example

?WITCHCRAFT AND SHAMANISM It is one of the most distinguished innate characteristics of human nature that they do not confine themselves to the perceptible natural and social phenomena existing all around them. On the contrary, they appear to be determined for exploring the realities concealed under the pile of mystery and suspense, but certainly contain imperative significance in their nature and scope. Because of the motivation made by the same innate nature, dwelling in human breast since ever, man seeks help and support from metaphysical and supernatural beings at the critical moment when he finds himself hapless and surrounded by misfortunes and miseries. Thus, he has established his faith in the powers apparently invisible, but can be traced and seen by gaining some knowledge or metaphysical powers. “Man in a state of society, more especially where there is an inequality of condition and rank, is very often the creature of leisure. He finds himself at one time engaged in the accomplishment of his obvious and immediate desires, and at another in a state in which these desires have for the present been fulfilled, and he has no present occasion to repeat those exertions which led to their fulfilment.” (Godwin, 2002, p. 9) History reveals the very fact that the witchcraft and other evil magical practices had been in vogue in ancient times even. “Witchcraft has”, Ruickbie submits, “no origin, it has always been with us. Yet like the roots of our very civilisation itself we can trace where it has come from and how it has developed over the millennia; and as with our civilisation, so too do many of our ideas about witchcraft find their most identifiable beginnings in Ancient Greece.” (2006, p.15) The existence of the same evil practices can also be found in Roman civilisation, where the sorcerers had earned sound reputation all over the empire. The Old Testament also narrates the tale of the sorcerers, who had challenged Moses in the Pharaoh’s court, as Exodus (9:8-10) narrates: “But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. It would become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils would break out on men and animals throughout the land. So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals.” The Qur’an also narrates that the magic was practiced in the Solomon’s kingdom for condemnable purposes of creating differences between husband and wife in order to create disorder in the society. (Al Qur’an, 2: 102) Witchcraft has not been confined to western societies and the Middle East; rather, it had got popularity in Chinese, Egyptian and Indian cultures, where it had been widely practiced as an essential element of the conventions and traditions of these societies. It is therefore the literature of these societies is replete with the tales related to black magic, sorcery, necromancy and witchcraft. Foxes, lizards and cats were the symbol of witchcraft and magic in Chinese culture, and people had developed superstitions in the light of the stories related to witchcraft and black magic found in abundance in the Chinese literature and religious mythology as well. Like Medieval era, Renaissance Age also identifies witches and sorcerers in their society. The literature of that era explicitly defines the evil curse being observed in society. Christopher Marlow’s Dr. Faustus manifestly ratifies the exercising of magic by the satanic forces by revolting against the Divine Law just for obtaining the worldly gains. Similarly, ghosts and demons also frequently made their appearance in Shakespearean plays, which endorse the existence of the same in Elizabethan era. Practicing of black magic and sorcery is actually the outcome of attaining worldly pursuits without making efforts. Additionally, the humans desire to supersede their fellow beings in the race of earning pelf, power, popularity and possession, which cannot be achieved by everyone or without hard work. Since man looks to achieve everything within a jiffy, though it demands serious concentration and sincere labour, plenty of time and long awaiting; the impatient individuals search for short-cuts to achieve every comfort. Consequently, they seek the support of spirits and magic for the fulfilment of the same without much toil as well as within shortest time span. Consequently, man’ quest for supernatural has not only given birth to various faiths and religious beliefs, but has also pushed a specific proportion of human population into the vale, where fairies, demons, ghosts, djinns, fiends, witches and spirits dwell and exercise their expertise and skills on humans and non-humans through metaphysical powers, magic, evil practices, spell and crafts. Hence, the interaction between humans, spirits and metaphysical objects has invented the practices that come under the definition of witchcraft, magical captivation, ecstasy and enchantment etc. Witchcraft is unanimously viewed as one of the most ancient as well as most popular practices of seeking the support of spirits, mostly for evil, harmful and unconstructive purposes, through applying magic and provoking witches and supernatural beings. “Witchcraft is the art of bringing magical power to manifest that which you desire, it can be used to benefit or to harm, certain individuals are thought to have supernatural powers and everyone has a thought or image of what they deem a witch to be. In the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries witchcraft was thought of as a heretical sect and in direct opposition to Christianity.” (witcheslore.com) The practitioners of witchcraft apply white or black magic, which captures the target under its spell, and hurts him according to the magical power on the one hand, and on the basis of the resistance power of the victim on the other. The stories and fables described in the famous Arabian Nights as well as another Arabian collection under the title of Amr Ayyar narrate how humans turn into animals, birds, beasts, edibles and even non living objects as soon as the witch spells magic on them by necromancers. Hence, witchcraft is generally practiced for destructive purposes, where the individuals hire the services of necromancers, witches and magicians in order to harm, humiliate and ruin the health, fortune and happiness of their enemies. It is therefore witchcraft is vehemently condemned particularly by the Abrahamic religious beliefs, including, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as these faiths declare it as one of the greatest sins in the eyes of God. Somehow, it experienced constant flourishing even condemnation haunted it with its full swing. “Despite persecution”, Eason, argues, “and despite the fact that there is a tradition of 'handing down' the Old Religion by word-of-mouth rather than risk committing it to writing, the Old Religion, now over 4000 years old, is enjoying a certain amount of renaissance, or at least publicity today.” (2002, p.7) Witchcraft is aptly compared to Shamanism, and is taken as the other aspect of the same coin. However, it is not actually the case, and both witchcraft and shamanism are two entirely different subjects, which share some similarities and commonalities in them. Shamanism is a spiritual system of healing the sick and rebalancing the relationship between humans and the spirit world. Shamans communicate with spirits in order to appease and harmonise the relationship between this world and the spirit world. While witchcraft is always practiced with ill intentions and harmful purposes, shamanism carries spiritualism too in its fold, where it is exercised for the benefit and goodness of humanity at large. In simple words, shamanism is the act of controlling the actions of others with the help of the spiritual powers applied by the practitioner in order to cure the sick from the attack of the evil on the one hand, and to cure them from physical disease, mental retardation and psychological collapse on the other. Hence, Shamanism is a righteous school of thought, which strictly adheres to the noble principles of benevolence, virtue, compassion, and clemency, and is determined to protect the suffering humanity from becoming the prey to satanic forces on the one hand, and to strive for the complete convalescence of humanity from spiritual and physical ailments. It is an essential part of the Shaman faith that every human body serves as the dwelling of the noble soul. Since soul is noble and sacred in its real sense, it cannot choose a profane place for dwelling. Consequently, human body is also sacred, though the devilish seductions and evil temptations spoil it for the time being. Since body is also sacred, it does not accept the sinful life for long and thus falls ill subsequently. “They believe”, Wynne argues, “that the soul is made of a beautiful energy composed of golden light with pulses of green, magenta, orange, blue… making up a translucent, multicoloured orb which surrounds the body and is linked to the light of creation.” (2010, p. 4) A Shaman enjoys unabated respected and regard among the followers of the faith due to the very reality that he is believed to be the representative of virtue, blessing and spiritual bliss. Consequently, he is considered to be the bridge between this materialistic world and the spiritual world, which can mitigate the sufferings of the people by infusing health, tranquillity, peace, mirth and ray of hope in their bodies and souls. “Shamans talk”, Eliade observes, “to our ancestors, to animal spirits, to Mother Earth, Father Sky and Grandmother Moon. Shamans are intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds. Shamans can treat illness and are capable of entering supernatural realms to obtain answers to the problems of their community” (1964, p. 3-7). In other words, the shamans proves highly beneficial and supportive in curing the sick souls in such an astounding manner that even the extremely sick and retarded persons start leading a normal life by surrendering the emotional and sentimental collapse they had been undergoing for long. One of the most noteworthy similarities between witchcraft and Shamanism is this that both the two require and seek the help of the supernatural beings either for helping others, or for employing harmful acts on others. Thus, they do not apply human powers, and thus absolutely rely upon spirits, sorcerers and magic. Another important feature of both these methods is this that both of them belong to ancient times, and had been observed by the people during Palaeolithic and Neolithic eras. “In a mysterious world”, Barre observes, “full of unknown dangers like death, disease and other disasters, the shaman is the man who claims knowledge and power over these frightening mysteries that the ordinary man manifestly does not have.” (1979, p.1) Hence, shamanism has been safeguarding humans from the attacks of evil and ailment since the very known history of the world. Another similarity between the two metaphysical methods under-investigation includes the swiftness of the outcomes, as both these methods provide immediate results, even few moments after the applying of the practice. Somehow, witchcraft is comparatively faster and more result-oriented than shamanism, which is partly based on the belief that evil affects quickly on the people, while the impact of virtue are slow, but long lasting ones. While elaborating the differences between witchcraft and shamanism, it appears crystal clear that the former seeks its origin in pagan societies including the ancient China, Egypt, Greece, Rome and India, while Shamanism remained popular in the western world. The Wicca is mostly followed by the polytheists, where they claim the resemblance of their spiritual guide with the Virgin, Mother and Crone; consequently, the followers of Wicca portray the witch as Triple Goddess containing the attributes of Virgin, Mother and Crone simultaneously. It is therefore on the one side she pretends to be complying, compassionate, caring and congenial towards those which seek her help at the hour of need; however, she is equally cruel, atrocious, malignant and devilish for the enemies of her followers. On the contrary, a shaman is always benefactor, sacrificing, constructive and dedicated to goodness, where he never compromises to support the virtuous and righteous. Being the curer of spiritual and corporal ailment, a shaman does not appear to be hurtful or detrimental towards others. On the other hand, he seeks the help of Divine powers for soothing the anxious souls and appeasing the restless minds by praying to the constructive powers and acting upon his knowledge and spiritual powers to help the sick get rid of their sufferings. To conclude, it becomes evident that the link of a religion with supernatural powers and seeking help of the extraterrestrial and metaphysical organisms do not make them one and the same; rather, it is the similarities between their teachings and belief that determine the status and position of a faith, practice or school of thought; the same can be viewed while making comparison between Wicca and Shamanism. BIBLIOGRAPHY Barre, Weston La (1979) Shamanic Origins of Religion and Medicine Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol. 11 (1-2) Jan-Jun http://www.cnsproductions.com/pdf/LaBarre.pdf Eason, Cassandra (2002) A Practical Guide to Witchcraft and Magic Spells A Selection of Sacred Magic Alt. Binaries e-book Retrieved from http://api.ning.com/files/ZxH1IvxbTiWftAX7J9L32mWBP*IWnvcD6EjNg7CIDrAHK6TI4YehHBWe3ujs28Wl4ZylTIzJ5xZGC8k*zhWow2QBiWoyI0*n/witchcraft.pdf Eliade, M. (1964) Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy Reprint, Princeton University Press, New Jersey pp.3-7 Godwin, William (2002) Lives of Necromancers Frederick J Mason, 444, West Strand Ruickbie, Dr. Leo (2006) Witchcraft out of the Shadows Robert Hale Publisher p. 15 Wynne, Abby (2010) What is Shamanism? Retrieved from http://www.abby-wynne.com/documents/what_is_shamanism.pdf Read More