hi Jake,
your recent discussions about GoS and Western Magic are ones
which i have been following closely and recently caught up on.
here's a zone i think i can comment on, touching briefly on
what could be construed as 'mainstream magic', though i don't
know if that phrase has coherent or continuous meaning.
Jake Stratton-Kent <[log in to unmask]>:
> ...As a Brit I can't judge how strong or - conversely -
> how over emphasised such European and Jewish elements
> really are in Hoodoo.
from what i can see, *very* strong influences. this is
being mapped out by catherine yronwode, somewhat extended
beyond Caroline Long and Owen Davies.
> The fact that they are linked at all is what interests
> me, as it provides avenues for present and future cross
> fertilisation.
in part what drew my interest, yes, as well as the fact
that it is eclectic at points and multi-cultural in content.
> Some folks just don't want to consider such exchanges
> valid,
the zone of intersection will likely help serve to determine
the significance of this 'validity'. in religious quadrants
there is a some emphasis on de-validating it, for example,
and i am intentionally neglecting to mention the diverse
religious interests involved because they're multiple.
> and imagine an agenda behind any mention of them.
it's sad when that happens and there is no agenda. :)
> perhaps on occasion there is, but cultural exchanges
> do occur, and are often the most potent drivers of
> magical traditions.
yes, i have at points identified the surges and permutations
of religious/magical origination as fracture-faultlines
of religious/magical systems or cultures intersecting and
cross-fertilizing, interactively appropriating, inverting,
and struggling. what gets seleted and used can be amusing!
> As someone nearby said, Owen Davies 'Grimoires' is
> an eye opener for those who imagine the conjure books
> to be the exclusive preserve of straight white male
> bibliophiles.
absolutely! some portion of this was based on catherine's
investigations and she has extended far enough beyond it
that talking to her directly or getting her to publish
on the subject will probably be necessary before the
full extent and the tangled details might become known.
I suspect this single instance is not unusual, and that our
interests in bringing such diverse historical influence to
light is of great interest to us all as may apply to many
communities and cultures beyond the African-American
conjure subculture. it strikes to the heart of issues that
have been mentioned here previously such as the limitations
of "folk" art, music, and magic, and how sustainable
these kinds of categories are in the face of globalized,
interconnected communication systems. fascinating study.
thanks,
nagasiva yronwode ([log in to unmask]), Director
YIPPIE*! -- http://www.yronwode.org/
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*Yronwode Institution for the Preservation
and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
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