Moral power : the magic of witchcraft / Koen Stroeken.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stroeken, Koen.

Series:

Epistemologies of healing ; v. 9.

Epistemologies of healing ; v. 9

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Witchcraft.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Berghahn Books, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Neither power nor morality but both. Moral power is what the Sukuma from Tanzania in times of crisis attribute to an unknown figure they call their witch. A universal process is involved, as much bodily as social, which obstructs the patient's recovery. Healers turn the table on the witch through rituals showing that the community and the ancestral spirits side with the victim. In contrast to biomedicine, their magic and divination introduce moral values that assess the state of the system and that remove the obstacles to what is taken as key: self-healing. The implied 'sensory shifts' and the

Contents:

1. Introduction : the meaning of witchcraft

2. Why magic works : systemic healing

3. The dancer : gift and sacrifice

4. Four forms of social exchange

5. The witch : moral power and intrusion

6. Divination : a healing journey

7. The 'pure' reason of witch killing

8. Spirit possession : incarnating moral power

9. Magic, ritual and the senses.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-80758-646-4

0-85745-660-1

1-84545-849-4

OCLC:

727649503