THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick From: "John B"Subject: Re: Defense of syncretism Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 08:26:41 -0800 >****This is a great thread and the sort of thing we've really needed >on alt.magick. In line with this theme I'd like to point out that >magicians all over the world are the most "syncretic" of all >practitioners (priests seem to be the least). I wonder if you could expand a little bit on the distinction you're making here. I'm not sure exactly what meaning you're attaching to the titles 'priest' and 'magician'. Generally these two roles are played by the same people in most cultures. Magical acts blend with religious ones in the repetoires of most spiritual authority figures; Shamans, Christian priests & monks, Jewish rabbis, Brahmin priests, Buddhist monks, the occasional Sufi, mystics of many creeds, etc... All these religious titles have both 'religious' and 'magical' powers attached to them ( although internally the tradition may not identify any of its mainstream supernatural powers with the concept of 'magic') Essentially, I'm asking you what you think the difference is between Moses' act of turning rod to snake, and the Egyptian priests' similar feat. From a Jewish perspective, the difference was that Moses' act was accomplished through an act of God (a miracle) and the priests' act was accomplished by their own supradivine abilities (sorcery). From an Egyptian perspective, I don't know that they wouldn't have sourced their own abilities in the divine... A more modern example, Here in Canada we have several neo-pagan churchs, they are legitimate religious bodies, accepted to one degree or another by the communities they live in ( they perform a wide variety of social services, ministries, and are extremely productive in society) They have not, to my knowledge, abandoned any of the magical work which pagans find useful and meaningful. Another example, Oral Roberts Ministries , a Christian organization, performs various forms of spiritual healing (distinguished from magical healing by ...?) they channel the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues (barbarous words) to achieve the greatest results from their operations/prayers. The Bible itself acts as a talisman in many of their healing narratives, warding off demonic influence. Anyway, my point here is that I find the distinction between a magical act and a religious one, at times, to be quite arbitrary. JB
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|