Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: In present-day India magic is not a theoretical construct.Practiced as witchcraft, it has its self-appointed officials and procedures.It is also manifest, most tellingly, in the easy availability of the cheap editions of what may, with some reservations, be termed as manuals of magic.The activation of religiosity characteristic of Indian tribal communities, to which most of the currently favorite magical rituals can be traced, is a not-so unique answer to the violence inherent in the social, economic, and political life of the nation.The methods of con-trolling complex reality presented in those manuals revive traditional cultural patterns, and may thus restore feelings of participation and justified agency to their users.
Author: Artur Karp
Institution: University of Warsaw
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2991277970