Magic

The Audible Anthropologist

Belief and practices associated with “magic” conjure up, for some people, images of backward tribal peoples or kooky contemporary eccentrics. For anthropologists, magic is neither. It is a feature of almost all societies, it flourishes among the educated and wealthy, and rather than dying out, it seems to be on the rise. In this episode, I distinguish white from black magic; critique an analysis of magic as a placebo effect; magic and confidence; and look at the modern witchcraft movement (Wicca). My beliefs and practices which I comfortably dismiss as “superstition” are, in fact, magic. Magic, as I will be argue, is a large part of life in many parts of the world.

Copyright 2012 Nicholas Herriman / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Please contact for permissions.