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Hi David, Thanks for your reply. That does resonate with what I have heard from, and of, other African magicians regarding witches. Does he say from where witches derive their skills and/or their power? Indeed, do they have power, or is it a skill set? Is it familial? Is it the same place he gets his from? Fascinating stuff. Morgan Leigh PhD Candidate School of Sociology & Social Work University of Tasmania On 23/02/2013 4:47 PM, David Mattichak wrote: > Hi Morgan; > > I have asked him about this. I know many witches here in Melbourne but > these are definitely not the kind of witch he means. I asked him why he > feared these witches and it is because he is worried that they will use > black magic against him. It seems to be in the form of charms which he > worries that they will bury near his home to bewitch him. > > He is interested in things like the Goetia which he sees as a more > powerful magick than that which is used by witches. He found me via my > website http://ankhafnakhonsu.net/ and it took a couple of months to > convince him that I was a very normal person like himself. He is > very naive and quite polite and sees the study of magick as a defensive > tool. This makes it hard for him to see that I view magick very > differently as a means of self development. > > He is also very interested in magick to bring money and women- very > traditional objectives. > > My correspondences with him have been very interesting. > > I hope that helps to shed some light on it for you Morgan. :) > > David > >> Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:39:40 +1100 >> From: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Sorcery definitely not happening. >> To: [log in to unmask] >> >> Hi David, >> I would be interested to know what your Lagonian (?) friend defines as a >> witch, and how he sees it as different from the magic he does. >> >> Morgan Leigh >> PhD Candidate >> School of Sociology & Social Work >> University of Tasmania >> >> On 23/02/2013 2:05 PM, David Mattichak wrote: >> > Hi Morgan; >> > >> > I am not really surprised that this is happening in Papua New Guinea- it >> > is probably the wildest place on earth and the modern world has really >> > only touched the edge of its ancient ways. I have been told that Port >> > Moresby, where almost all Westerners are in the country, is one of the >> > most violent and dangerous cities anywhere. >> > >> > At the same time I see some parallels with West Africa too where >> > attacking witches is still very common. Over the past few months I have >> > been corresponding with a fellow magician who lives in Lagos and his >> > main concerns are finding magick that he can use to protect himself from >> > 'witches'. >> > >> > We have to stop seeing these things as primitive superstitions and >> > address them as real aspects of the cultures in which they are seen as >> > being important before we can begin to understand what is going on let >> > alone do anything about it. Unfortunately Papua New Guinea seems to be >> > another example of the destructive and degenerative influence that >> > western culture has upon native peoples in 'underdeveloped' countries. >> > >> > Thanks for the link, always an interesting topic. >> > >> > David >> > >> >> Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 12:10:26 +1100 >> >> From: [log in to unmask] >> >> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Sorcery definitely not happening. >> >> To: [log in to unmask] >> >> >> >> Oops, obviously it is The Global Mail not The Conversation... >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On 23/02/2013 11:13 AM, Morgan Leigh wrote: >> >> > http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/what-to-do-about-witchcraft/563/ >> >> > >> >> > Here's an interesting story from The Conversation about killings of >> >> > alleged witches and sorcerers in Papua New Guinea. The story naively >> >> > assumes that sorcery doesn't exist and that people are just to > dumb to >> >> > know that people die from disease. Thus the prescribed cure is to >> >> > educate people in western understandings of things and the > problem will >> >> > surely go away. I do not discount the possibility of blaming > others as a >> >> > coping mechanism for the death of loved ones, but it is sad to see >> >> > western cultural imperialism being imposed on another people > because the >> >> > westerners can't conceive of the possibility of sorcery actually >> > existing. >> >> > >> >> > Morgan Leigh >> >> > PhD Candidate >> >> > School of Sociology & Social Work >> >> > University of Tasmania >> >> >