Paper 2: Nine pages on how Magic can kill you

Paper 2: Nine pages on how Magic can kill you Nov 26, 2010 6:25:19 GMT -5

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Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Nov 26, 2010 6:25:19 GMT -5

Bewitchment, Efficacy, and it's Potential in Egypt

Magic is a term that has been divested of most of its

potential in today's modern societies. Confined to its role as a

misnomer representing the activities of the stage illusionist or to

it's cartoon manifestation in this or that Walt Disney film, the

word magic now summons up mostly amusement. A pioneering

Anthropologist, J.G. Frazer, had the novel idea of exploring and

cataloging early magical beliefs, an effort which he, to most

accounts, succeeded in admirably; and yet, his (foregone)

conclusion was that these beliefs amounted to little more than

'absurd notions of superstition'. Henceforth, in attempting to

understand those times when people really believed in magic the

modern inquirer is considerably disadvantaged. This paper will

aim to demonstrate that in situations where magical belief was

intrinsic to a society, magic was neither amusing nor absurd

superstition but something that could have actual efficacy: the

power to fatally affect someone. To start with, an

Anthropological model of hostile magic based on late 19th and

early 20th century observations of aboriginal cultures will be

examined; it's relevance in the ancient world will be confirmed by

Mesopotamian exemplars which contain explicit parallels; finally,

loose correspondences in the Egyptian world will be considered

with the aim of suggesting avenues for further research.

A) Efficacy of Hostile Magic in Modern Aboriginal Societies: Voodoo Death

In the 1940s, Anthropologist Walter B. Cannon set about

analyzing the reports of many of his fellows who had been afield

in South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Haiti. These

reports indicated that “when subjected to spells or sorcery or the

use of “black magic” men [of aboriginal societies from these

countries] may be brought to death.” What at first seems to be a

fantastical phenomenon gains credibility by Cannon's consistent

reliance on medically trained observers. One case story involves

the observation of a Dr. S. M. Lambert who worked in a

missionary in Australia; one of his chief helpers, a native convert

who took the name Rob, was in distress one day and Dr. Lambert

examined him. Cannon states that “He found no fever, complaint

of pain, no symptoms or sign of disease” but the man was,

nevertheless, extremely ill and weak and heading towards

death.1 Lambert learned from another missionary that Rob had

had a “bone pointed at him” and he was convinced that he was

going to die. In essence, Rob was bewitched by a local sorcerer

who signaled his doom to him by, primarily, pointing the bone;

subsequently, Rob was seized by such a terror that he literally lay

down and began to die. While on this particular occasion the man

was saved, Cannon relates, as the sorcerer was tracked down

and compelled to reverse the hex, other reports of bone pointing

have ended with the actual death of the subject. For this

phenomenon the author has coined the term “Voodoo

Death”; but how is this possible?

The Explanation for Voodoo Death:

Cannon explains that it is not just the bone pointing that is

necessary, but definite changes must occur in the victim and in his

society. The susceptible individual is one convinced of evil spirits

in his world and one who, at the same time, relies on the order

and rites of the community for deliverance from such evils.2 He

also possess an intrinsic belief in the power of the magic now

directed against him, queing a state of extreme emotional stress.

The first change is that brought about by the individual's

realization of his own bewitchment, which results in an extreme

and debilitating fear. By the power of suggestion, an assumption

of imminent death is adopted by the victim, and a state of acute

psychosomatic suffering is the result. Barbara Lex, affirming

Cannon in 1974, agreed:

“Suggestion in this context is accomplished by the [sorcerer's]

manipulation of the autonomic nervous system through the

victim's cognitive apprehension of the meaning of witchcraft. The

extreme fright experienced by the individual who has been thus

singled out can be as fatal as a dose of poison. “3

Secondly, changes occur in the society around him: his once

protective community, as convinced as he is of impending doom,

simultaneously withdraw their support which further condemns

the victim to a world of taboo quite outside control.4 This second

change involving the behavior of his kin is perhaps even more

damning for the victim than his own fatalistic tendency, and

may be considered a form of “Social Death”. Subsequently, and

importantly Cannon says, the man as social isolate is brought into

such a weakened state of despair that he loses any apatite for

food and water and his condition (of course) deteriorates from

there.

Cannon's original and insightful discussion on the efficacy of

hostile magic in aboriginal societies, concludes with the reflection

of this foreign situation into our own experience; and here he

refers to cases of of despondent WWI soldiers who after

experiencing unnatural terrors pined away and even died despite

the absence of any fatal wound. By analogy, it is suggested that

even if magical contexts are now far removed, one may

understand that a person may die when exposed to “shocking

emotional stress.”5

B) Efficacy of Hostile Magic in the ANE: Mesopotamia

In the ancient Near East, a person was only happy if he

was a respected member of his society, says Martin Stol, “what is

outside must be integrated – the motive for hospitality – and if

this does not happen, it is the enemy. Biblical psalms and

Babylonian prayers speak of the reviving of persons 'from

death.' This is no belief in any resurrection but it refers to saving

a person from the region of virtual death, physical and social.” He

reminds the reader that in this place, illness is a stigma

transposing a person into the realm of social death6, and if this is

reminiscent of the reports sent to Cannon, it's just the start when

it comes to the Mesopotamian evidence.

In his treatment of “Psychosomatic suffering in Ancient

Mesopotamia,” Stol deals with numerous Mesopotamian texts

with are aimed at counteracting the effect of hostile sorcery, in

the language of the land, the“hand of man”. In these texts it is

evident that such sorcery was quite capable of cutting a man off

from his personal gods, a situation which had great social

repercussions as well7. The description of the situation of the

man afflicted by hostile sorcery is given in explicit terms, his

hostile sorcerer being his “enemy” or “adversary”, he is cut off

from society and 'dismissed before god, king, patrician, and

prince.'8 While the texts Stol treats are part of the exorcistic

corpus and thus are intended to reverse ailments, the 'hand of

man' included, in the process they provide descriptions of the

suffering of the bewitched victim which couldn't be more revealing.

The following description is an example:

“He always gets melancholy, speaking but not acceptance,

shouting but no answer, the cursing in the mouths of the people

is much, he is apprehensive when lying (in his bed), he contracts

lameness, … his body, towards god and king he is full of anger, his

limbs are 'poured out', he is panicking from time to time, he does

not sleep day and night, he always sees confused dreams, he

contracts lameness all the time, he has little interest in food or

beer, he forgets the word that he has spoken.” 9

An Additional text repeats a list of many of these symptoms

adding he gets “fever, sickness, .., fear” his dreams are confused

or he dreams of dead people, and “he says 'Woe', he cries 'Ah',

his appetite for bread and beer has diminished: that man is

bewitched, water of murder for him has been broken.”10 Stol

remarks that fear is the overriding element in these descriptions,

and notes that a number of these descriptions begin with “If a

man is constantly brought in to fear” ; certainly a man's dreams

being in confusion (a result of divine indifference) 11 or the

perceived presence of the evil eye (as is noted in some of the

descriptions12) would further that fear; but what might start it?

The 'bone pointing' event in Mesopotamia:

Tzvi Abusch has undertaken a dedicated and career spanning

study of witchcraft in Mesopotamia and the results are often

unique insights into the textual evidence for this phenomenon. In

his 2005 article, Abusch informs the reader that the

Mesopotamian often interrupted evil omens or signs as having

come directly from the witch – that an evil omen could be the

consequence of the actions of a witch specifically13. One text

reads “Because of the evil caused by untoward signs (and)

portents that had [taken] place in my house, that have

[co]nfronted me, daily I am afraid, frightened, and terrified. 'Now',

th[is] witchcraft has been inflicted upon me..”14 Particularly

striking in the context of Voodoo Death (as Abusch himself is well

aware) is the author's explanation of a Mesopotamian form of

witchcraft called Zikurruda (“throat slitting”). This involved the

performance of a destructive ritual in the presence of the stars

which made use of various objects, subsequently, “the

aforementioned objects were meant to be seen by the victim”

(however the exact nature of these objects are not specified by

the author). Illness caused by Zikurruda was treated as a deadly

affliction in Mesopotamian texts.

C) Efficacy and Hostile Magic in the ANE: Egypt

Egyptian sources represent a challenge when examined

for their attestations of hostile magic, at least on the plane of

magic leveled against man by man. Of the many Egyptian terms

which suggest magical action there are no words equating to our

term “witchcraft”, and this may stem from the fact that Egyptians

saw magic as socially neutral force which gained good or evil

connotations only in the individual actions of it's practitioners.15

Thus a practitioner of Egyptian magic may commit a hostile act

with magic, yet by these definitions this does not make him a

witch (and whether the action was deemed lawful may depend

largely on the target). Within the context of Cannon's

anthropological model, two avenues of investigation may bear

fruit:

I) Sethian people and the Evil Eye:

Referring to J.F. Borghout's CANE article “Witchcraft, Magic

and Divination in Ancient Egypt” 16 one discovers what is

perhaps a necessarily brief, paragraph sized treatment under the

heading witchcraft – the essential mention made is to a damaged

papyrus which contains “a tantalizing classification of a dangerous

people associated with the god Seth, the causer of unrest and

confusion, in terms of their physiognomy. “Red of Eye” is one of

their features, which may be a reference to people with an evil

eye.”17

Seth was the god of disorder, confusion, “the

personification of violence” and yet a god who Egyptians still

considered a necessary and important part of their theological

system18. He was the Lord of foreign countries, the red land and

the desert and he underwent a process of demonization in the

first millennium19; he was associated with the color red and it has

been noted by Plutarch that Egyptians “eschewed” people with

Sethian features (those having red hair or red eyes 20). Ritner

notes that Seth himself was a regular target of hostile magic ritual

that was an indoctrinated part of temple cult: a wax figurine of

the demon was “bound, trampled, spit upon, stabbed, burned and

boiled with urine” in a procedure which the author has compared

to the Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals 21. As Seth was a

deity known for his deadly spitting (spittle having (among other

things) the potential quality of a curse) it is interesting that spittle

also forms a part of the ritual enacted against him; this ceremonial

spitting, Ritner explains, constitutes a “social death” following the

following lines of Papyrus Bremner-Rhind:

“His name will not be in the mouth of the people. It will not

be remembered in the heart of the gods. He will be spat upon

each time that he is remembered.” 22

Seth then was a god of disorder capable of magical

cursing and the regularized rituals against him (a case of “venom

against venom”) attest to the danger that this figure represented.

The nature of this god and the extent of the rituals deemed

necessary to counteract this threat give some insight into what

must have been the nature of any group associated with him:

Burghout's observation of a text mentioning a dangerous people

living within Egyptian society is interesting therefore, the

people designated “red of eye”. Persons possessing Sethian

features comprise the Egyptian section of the execration lists,

implying that these people were also magically acted against.23 It

seems safe to assume that these people were threatening in the

way of Seth, but what was their specific threat? Allusions to mere

humans wielding the evil eye are rare, and unfortunately

ambiguous, henceforth Burghout's association of the term “Red of

Eye” (the Sethian people) with the evil eye24 is poignant, if

speculative in nature.

Plutarchs observance of the Egyptian Sethian prejudice and

execration rite seal:

“The Egyptians, because of their belief that Typhon was of a red

complexion, also dedicate to sacrifice such of their neat cattle as

are of a red colour... Upon the neat animal intended for sacrifice

those of the priests who were called "Sealers" used to put a

mark; and their seal, as Castor records, bore an engraving of a

man with his knee on the ground and his hands tied behind his

back, and with a sword at his throat.”

ii) Execration rites

A Staple of hostile Egyptian magic are images carved in what is

called the “bound prisoner” motif: figures, typically of foreign

appearance, with arms tightly tied behind them. Made of stone,

wood, clay, wax or dough these figures depicted the enemies of

Egyptian Royalty. In symbolic ritual the figures were ritual pierced,

split, burnt and subjected to premature burial25. The execration

figurines were often accompanied by an “execration text”; dating

from the Old Kingdom on, these cursing formula may contrast to

the generic image of the foreigner found on the figurines in that

they may direct the hostile action against the names of specific

individuals or groups of individuals, including locals.26

An interesting case of hostile magic occurs in the story of the

Harem Conspiracy, an event which occurred during the reign of

Ramses III. A series of legal documents record the attempted

overthrow of Pharaoh by Queen Tiye, and a collection of co-

conspirators (stewarts, insprectors, women of the harim, a priest,

a magician etc.)27 Significantly, they planned to murder him with

magic. Ritner says that the legal records of all of this attest to a

trial against treason, not against sorcery as is sometimes

portrayed; and whats more, the magical method chosen

(inscribing wax figurines and making use of written spells) were

tactics derived from the king's own library: the rites performed

against the king were a form of the royal execration ritual itself,

performed in reverse against the king.28

State vs Private Execration Ritual:

A distinction exists between state and private uses of the

execration ritual: while the former are rites enacted by the temple

against figurines representing possible enemies of the Pharaoh,

be they foreigners (frequent) or gods (i.e. the rites against the

figure of Seth can be counted in this category) or individuals, the

private uses of the rite represent “personnel vendettas” against

another member of Egyptian society.29 Despite that private

rituals were carried out against a smaller number of figures

than state religion, they are “nonetheless equivalent in meaning

and method”. A further intermixing of state and private ritual

interests is attested in the ritual against Apopis, where the magic

user is encouraged and instructed to not only abuse figures of the

enemies of Re and pharaoh but also “all foes male and female

whom your hear fears.”30 It is interesting that in these rituals,

the enemy is not only to be destroyed, but his name and his

second life is to be acted against as well (something the

Egyptians feared worse than death). One set of instructions for

the rite reads:

“Now as for wax, it is made into enemies specifically to

slaughter his name and to prevent his ba from leaving the place of

execution. As for wax, one makes execration figures with it to

destroy his name.”31

While some scholars have been quick to identify the

execration rite with a focus of damnatio memoriae (specifically

against the second life), particularly as the targets are frequently

referred to as “dead man” or “dead woman”, Ritner sees this

terminology as magical “wish fulfillment” and some texts specify

that the actions be carried out against enemies “dead or alive”32.

And while state rituals may constitute an unlikely candidate for

bewitchment (as foreign targets are unlikely to experience any

affliction or influence from the magical authority or societal

reaction of an enemy nation), the effects of local acts of

execration may have been more significant in terms of real world

efficacy; a man's discovery that he or his family had been acted

against in such a ritual would certainly be terrifying, and while

direct evidence that the victim was informed is lacking, it is

interesting to note in this regard that in the rituals against Seth,

the target is informed of his dilemma – Ritner states: “In

comparable rituals against Seth..[figurines] are said to be pierced

and bound as [enemies] and Seth is inform that “every form of

yours and every name of yours is made into execration figurines

daily before Re and before the Ennead.”33

Conclusion:

The inherent efficacy of hostile magic and its attestations in

ancient literature and in archaeology should not be weighed by

the weight of modern assumption alone; anthropological studies

in living societies which maintain a magical worldview have

demonstrated that under certain conditions of acute

psychosomatic suffering, and reinforced by the phenomenon of

“social death”, the bewitchment of an individual may lead to

actual death (this is suggestible particularly in the cases where an

individual is made aware of his own bewitchment by means of a

sign). The legitimacy of this model has been established in the

ancient world by Mesopotamian sources which clearly attest to

both psychosomatic suffering among victims of sorcery (“hand of

man”) and to the use of a signs against the victim (the “bone

pointing” event). While the case for a voodoo death scenario in

Egypt is much less explicit, should further evidence substantiate

what is known about the Sethian class, their propensity to

bewitch by means of the evil eye and Burghout's suggestions may

prove vital here. An additional consideration for the potential real

world efficacy of hostile magic in Egypt, may be the private rites of

execration; that Egyptology is becoming receptive to these ideas

is indicated by the fact that Ritner chooses to conclude his

discussion on private execration by referring directly to the ideas

of Cannon, and by reminding the reader that “magical

effectiveness is a genuine issue within societies which accept (and

fear) the possibility of its success. Within such societies, hostile

sorcery..is often highly successful.” 34

Notes
:

1. Cannon, 1942 pg. 170
2. Cannon, 1942 pg. 175
3. Lex, 1974 pg. 822
4. Cannon, 1942 pg.173
5. Cannon, 1942 pg. 180
6. Stol, 1999 68
7. Stol, 1999 59
8. Stol, 1999 63
9. Stol, 1999, 65
10. Stol, 1999 67
11. Stol, 1999, 63
12. Stol, 1999, 63
13. Abusch, 2005 54
14. Abusch, 2005 62
15. Ritner, "Magic" on oxford-ancientegypt.com (see Bibliography)
16. Burghouts, CANE III (1995)
17. Burghouts, CANE III (1995) pg. 1782
18. Herman Te Velde "Seth" on oxford-ancientegypt.com (see Bibliography)
19. ibid
20. Burghouts, CANE III (1995), pg. 1782
21. Ritner, 1993 pg. 150, n.679
22. Ritner, 1993 pg. 87
23. Ritner, 1993 pg. 148
24. Burghouts, 1973 pg. 147
25. Ritner, 2001 pg. 331
26. Ritner, 1993 pg. 137
27. Ritner, 1993 pg. 192
28. Ritner, 1993 pg. 198
29. Ritner, 1993 pg. 184
30. Ritner, 2001 pg. 331
31. Ritner, 1993 pg. 185
32. Ritner, 1993 pg. 142
33. Ritner, 1993 pg. 185
34. Ritner, 1993 pg. 189

Bibliography
:

1. Abusch, Tzvi. “The Witch's Messages: Witchcraft, Omens, and Voodoo-death in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Studies in Ancient Near Eastern World View and Society, ed R.J. Van der Spek (Maryland: CDL press 2005), 53

2. Cannon, Walter, “Voodoo Death” American Anthropologist New Series 44 #2 (1942): 169

3. Lex, Barbara, “Voodoo Death: New Thoughts on an Old Explanation” American Anthropologist, New Series 76 (1974) : 818

4. Burghouts, J. F. “Witchcraft, Magic, and Divination in Ancient Egypt” in Civilizations of The Ancient Near East vol. III ed. Jack Sasson (Charles Scribner's Sons; 1 edition 1995), 1775

5. Burghouts, J.F. “The Evil Eye of Apopis” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 59 (1973), 114-150

6. Stol, Martin. “Psychosomatic Suffering in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Ancient Magic and Divination I: Mesopotamian Magic, ed. Tsvi Abusch and Karl van der Toorn (Leiden: Brill publishing,1999), 57

7. Ritner, R. The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice: Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 54 (Chicago, 1993)

8. Ritner, R. Entry Magic, “Magic in Daily Life” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt ed. Donald B. Redford (Oxford University Press, 2001), 329

Websites:

1. Robert K. Ritner "Magic" The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald B. Redford 2001, 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc. www.oxford-ancientegypt.com

2. Herman Te Velde "Seth" The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald B. Redford 2001, 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc. www.oxford-ancientegypt.com

Paper 2: Nine pages on how Magic can kill you

Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Nov 26, 2010 0:42:49 GMT -5

Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Nov 26, 2010 6:25:19 GMT -5