The Gospel Sounds Like the Witch's Spell is a highly detailed ethnography about how the Jopadhola in eastern Uganda talk about, interpret and cope with death, illness and other misfortunes. The book presents a provocative discussion that critiques the idea of the revival of witchcraft in the neo-liberalised contemporary world, as represented by the 'modernity model of witchcraft', and attempts to formulate a 'spiderweb model' that connects witchcraft to contemporary society in a more complex manner. The book is a unique ethnography of the collective memory of indigenous knowledge and local historicity. The author moves the reader from curse to misfortune to fortune as he plots the notion of 'curse' as deeply embedded in the Adhola way of life. He weaves between culture, religion, state and modernity with lived experience. Did the concept of witchcraft unwittingly endear the Adhola to the Christian way of life because of the presence of the notion of 'curse' in the Bible or make them less susceptible to the vagaries of modernity compared to their neighbours? These are some of the questions that the author puts on the table in a deeply reflective manner. The phenomenon of witchcraft is given an intriguing angle that invites the reader to reexamine earlier anthropological writings on the subject among African peoples.
Feasting seems to be an inseparable element of peoples’—especially their collective—lives. ___|___ The proposed volume consists of original unpublished texts in which their Authors search for the answers to the following questions: How far have we gone astray from the primeval idea of celebrating the feast, from understanding tradition in terms of the Romanian historian of religion, Mircea Eliade, or the French sociologist, Émile Durkheim? Are there still any traditional, in its very meaning, feasts? If not—if they are invented (Hobsbawm and Ranger [1983] 1992)—why are they called “traditional”? What elements have changed and why? What has had the greatest impact on celebrating feasts? What are the new factors influencing the course of a feast’s celebration? ___|___ It was difficult to categorize the texts contained in this book because the subjects discussed in them very often overlap. Still, it was possible to recognize several accentuated aspects that served as the basis for the division of the book into three sections: 1) Culture and Identity; 2) Ritual and Cultural Values; 3) Culture and Policy. The contributors are scholars who represent various international institutions and fields of research, and use different approaches and methodologies to study the subject of the feast. This publication is an opportunity to bring the results of their research together in one book. The volume contains chapters in which various aspects of feasts, festivals, and festivities perceived as a mirror of social and cultural changes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are presented. It provides a unique and rich resource in the fields of culture, folklore, religion, anthropology, sociology, as well as politics and other cultural and social sciences. In the future, we hope to broaden the scope of our research and to include more ethnic groups and their cultures in order to see the changes they have undergone and factors that caused them. _____ TABLE OF CONTENTS _____ Frédéric Armao (University of Toulon, France), Uisneach: from the Ancient Assembly to the Fire Festival 2017 | Key words: Bealtaine, folklore, Irish festivals, mythology, Uisneach _____ Bożena Gierek (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland), Lajkonik (Hobby Horse) as Theatrum of the Period of Corpus Christi in Kraków (Poland) | Key words: Corpus Christi, feast, Lajkonik, raftsmen, theatrum _____ Tatiana Minniyakhmetova (University of Tartu, Estonia), Manifestation of Various Values in Traditional Udmurt Feasts | Key words: “beestings,” feast, porridge-meat, symbols, Udmurts _____ László Mód (University of Szeged, Hungary), Grape Harvest Feast as an Attempt to Develop Local Identity and Cultural Heritage. The Hungarian Case | Key words: cultural heritage, grape harvest feast, invented tradition, local identity _____ Marek Moroń (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland), The Use of Sacrifice Feast of Eid ul-Adha in Bengal as an Instrument of Promoting Communal Violence for Political Purposes. The Situation in the 1920s, 1930s and 2017 | Key words: Bengal, cow sacrifice, Eid ul Adha, Hindu, Muslim, politics _____ Ewa Nowicka (University of Warsaw, Poland), Performing Ethnicity: Buryat Ethnofestivals and a Rediscovered Tradition | Key words: Buryatia, cultural canon, ethnofestival, identity, rediscovered tradition _____ Alīna Romanovska (Daugavpils University, Latvia), Diaspora Festivals as a Way for Development of Cultural Identity in the Regional City: the Case of Daugavpils (Latvia) | Key words: creolization, diaspora, festival, identity, regional city _____ Monika Salzbrunn (University of Lausanne, Switzerland), The Swiss Carnivals of Payerne and Lausanne: Place-making between the mise en scène of Self and the Other(s) | Key words: Brandons, carnival, Othering, performance, place-making, wordplay _____ Tigran Simyan (Yerevan State University, Armenia) and Ilze Kačāne (Daugavpils University, Latvia), Transformations of New Year Celebration in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Era: the Cases of Armenia and Latvia | Key words: Christmas (New Year) tree, Ded Moroz, New Year, post-Soviet, Santa Claus, Soviet, transformation _____ Kiyoshi Umeya (Kobe University, Japan / University of Cape Town, South Africa), Feasts to Send-off the Dead: with Special Reference to the Jopadhola of Eastern Uganda | Key words: agency of the dead, feast, funeral rites, Jopadhola, modernity, Uganda
In 2018 South Africa's so-called "mother city", Cape Town came into the global spotlight as being the first city in the world to (almost) "run out of water," a crisis that only exacerbated the pressures placed upon a population staggering under socio-economic and politically-tinged environmental predicaments. Japan on the other hand has long sustained an international reputation for the massive scale of natural and anthropocentric crises its people have faced, overcome, and succumbed to. The most recent (pre-Pandemic) occurrence of which being the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima Daiima nuclear plant accident. What comes to mind when Japan, South Africa, and the notion of resilience are mentioned in the same utterance? Well, considering how societies respond to disaster, (man-made and natural), Japan and South Africa feature high on many lists both for our triumphs and our failures to account for the most vulnerable among us in moments of catastrophe. This edited volume draws on transdisciplinary perspectives and multi-sited research to reflect on the high stakes involved when people are expected to repeatedly survive crisis. The authors take "resilience" as a contested yet generative lens through which to examine some of the most salient questions of our time. Culled from two seemingly disparate geopolitical locales, the insights offered here are hauntingly connected, shedding light on questions of collective and individual responses to calamity - questions that, in the wake of the Covid-19 global pandemic, are now urgently being grappled with by everyone, everywhere.
Anthropological reflections on citizenship focus on themes such as politics, ethnicity and state management. Present day scholarship on citizenship tends to problematise, unsettle and contest often taken-for- granted conventional connotations and associations of citizenship with imagined culturally bounded political communities of rigidly controlled borders. This book, the result of two years of research conducted by South African and Japanese scholars within the framework of a bilateral project on citizenship in the 21st century, contributes to such ongoing efforts at rethinking citizenship globally, and as informed by experiences in Africa and Japan in particular. Central to the essays in this book is the concept of flexible citizenship, predicated on a recognition of the histories of mobility of people and cultures, and of the shaping and reshaping of places and spaces, and ideas of being and belonging in the process. The book elucidates the contingency of political membership, relationship between everyday practices and political membership, and how citizenship is the mechanism for claiming and denying rights to various political communities. ‘Self’ requires ‘others’ to construct itself, a reality that is subject to renegotiation as one continues to encounter others in a world characterised by myriad forms of interconnecting mobilities, both global and local. Citizenship is thus to be understood within a complex of power relationships that include ones formed by laws and economic regimes on a local scale and beyond. Citizenship in Africa, Japan and, indeed, everywhere is best explored productively as lying between the open-ended possibilities and tensions interconnecting the global and local.
This book is for the beginning witch, it has spells, herbs, incense, candles, oils, just about everything a witch would need for their supplies. This details on practice.
The book opens up a new pathway for a contemporary ethnographic exploration of the politics of water in an unequal society, specifically focusing on the challenges faced in Khayelitsha, South Africa. South Africa is confronted with a quadruple threat of water scarcity, energy depletion, inflation, and unemployment, leaving politicians unsure of where to begin in minimizing the damage. Using incompleteness and conviviality as a framework, the book delves into the subjectivities created by the lack of water and its impact on various aspects of life, including medical, ecological, spiritual, and political dimensions. It also examines the inequalities in water access in Cape Town, highlighting the inequitable development patterns and the strategies deployed by residents to cope with inadequate water access. The book demonstrates the complex relationships and intricacies of water and how humans think about, relate to, and respond to water, particularly when it is lacking. Overall, it provides a comprehensive analysis of the complexities of water and its profound significance in different spheres of human life. “The book we have in our hands is a fine work on the intricacies of contemporary life in South Africa (and beyond). Instead of the patronising and condescending viewpoint that usually enables social scientists (especially anthropologists) to address ‘the poor’, Kongo demonstrates the complexities of people’s reasoning and feeling.” Antonádia Borges, Professor of Anthropology, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Brazil “Minga’s excellent ethnography offers a rare account of the convivial relationships that structure everyday living and mobility in a place of ‘liquid shit’ in the midst of a precarity provoked by the sociopolitical absence of water in a city filled with water for everything, yet insensible to incompleteness as life-craft.” Divine Fuh, Associate Professor, Director of the Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA), University of Cape Town “Asinamanzi is a raw book about the impact that a lack of piped water has on people living in informal settlements in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. It describes a world of ‘liquid shit’ that assaults the senses and erodes the dignity and relationships of people living in it. Amidst this ‘incomplete’ existence, residents bravely struggle to establish a ‘convivial’ social life.” Ilana van Wyk, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Stellenbosch University “Asinamanzi is about the daily realities of living with water scarcity and raw sewage running through streets and houses. The book examines the social, cultural, religious and health dimensions of water, and provides rich ethnographic insights into what it means to strive to live with dignity in settings characterized by the broken infrastructures of everyday life.” Steven Robins, Professor of Anthropology, Stellenbosch University
If you’re just starting out in witchcraft or if you’re sick of complicated, hard-to-source spells, The Thrifty Witch’s Book of Simple Spells is for you!
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Spellcraft Whether you desire love, money, luck, or protection, this book includes the techniques you need to manifest your will in the world. This fascinating collection of magick covers everything from moon energy and herbs to creative visualization and poppets. Learn how to write your own spells or practice some that are tried-and-true. This book includes nearly a hundred spells from the four authors, as well as contributing Witches such as Madame Pamita, Astrea Taylor, Thorn Mooney, and others. The Witch's Book of Spellcraft shares enchantments for spiritual cleansing, driving away enemies, bonding with your animal companion, and other specific needs. You will discover magickal uses for candles, crystals, knots, oils, incense, and much more. With expert advice on so many types of magick, this comprehensive guide is sure to become a well-loved part of your collection.
NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, ELLE CASEY, brings readers Book 4 in the YA Urban Fantasy WAR OF THE FAE Series. Will the fae be able to make the sacrifices they must to survive? Jayne Sparks and her Light Fae changeling friends face off in the final battle against their enemies. But the identify of their true enemies isn't as clear as it once was. Are they the ones breaking down their doors ... or perhaps another entity, hiding in the shadows? Friends come and go, bridges burned are rebuilt, love is lost and found. The survival of the fae depends on the answer to one question: Which burns hotter ... hatred or hope? Content Warning: Mild violence and significant foul language within. Meant for older Young Adult readers (age 15+). WAR OF THE FAE SERIES READING ORDER War of the Fae: Book 1 (The Changelings) **Free at most retailers** War of the Fae: Book 2 (Call to Arms) War of the Fae: Book 3 (Darkness and Light) War of the Fae: Book 4 (New World Order) War of the Fae: Book 5 (After the Fall) [Formerly titled Clash of the Otherworlds, Book 1] War of the Fae: Book 6 (Between the Realms) [Formerly titled Clash of the Otherworlds, Book 2] War of the Fae: Book 7 (Portal Guardians) [Formerly titled Clash of the Otherworlds, Book 3] War of the Fae: Book 8 (Time Slipping) War of the Fae: Book 9 (Dragon Riders) **Coming soon** War of the Fae: Book 10 (Winged Warriors) **Coming soon** HERE'S WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT WAR OF THE FAE, BOOK 4: “This series was very hard to put down. I must confess that I laughed and cried throughout this wonderful journey… I would love to see a movie or mini series form from this. Elle Casey has jumped by leaps and bounds to my personal top authors, sharing the space with David Dalglish, R.A. Salvador, Ed Greenwood and Anne McCaffrey....she kicks ass.” ~ Dave Snow, Amazon reviewer “I cannot begin to explain how much I loved this series. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! I am recommending it to everyone I know!! Such a fun read. Great characters and action. Will not disappoint. Jayne is one of those lead characters that you will just fall in love with. Funny, strong, and extremely likeable. I lost track of time while reading these books. Didn't know what day it was, what time it was...or what my family was doing!!! :) Elle Casey reminds me why I love to try new authors.” ~ Cristina, Goodreads Reviewer “This book is designed for teenagers and young adults, but it's such a humorous story that any reader will enjoy it. The characters are still just as funny as they were in the other books…This is a must read for anyone who loves fantasy, magic, and a funny story that is extremely complicated but so well-written that you don't even notice all the complexities.” ~ J.C. Cauthon, Goodreads Reviewer “I love this author… I love that she doesn't spend page after page of boring recap from the previous book. She writes in a manner that will have you laughing out loud (which means people look at me funny because they have no idea what i am doing), crying when she sets it up, and as you read you feel the emotions the main character does. I have read some other series she has done. She always pulls you in and doesn't let you go until she is ready.” ~ adelie21, Amazon reviewer A message from the author: A reader fan recently set up a blog dedicated to casting the actors for the War of the Fae movie. No, it is not in production to be made into a movie, nor have I sold the rights to anyone for the movie. But just in case I ever do, my fans will be sure the casting director has a complete line-up ready! Check it out: ellecasey.com/WOTF_Movie
The witches of Salem, Massachusetts, share their favorite spells, incantations, aphrodisiacs, and love potion recipes, some dating back to the 15th century.
