Assault Sorcery
Robin Michel Wright
Oxford University Press eBooks June 9, 2015 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.013.28 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that assault sorcery is an integral part of a nexus of religious knowledge and power among indigenous Amazonian societies and elsewhere, in which primordial spirits of sickness and sorcery are embodied in sorcery practices. Contends that the human world is imbued with violent death through sorcery as a legacy of the primordial world, and that prophet movements have often sought to control assault sorcerers, sometimes succumbing to or deploying sorcery themselves. |
Abstract
Abstract This article is an in-depth study of the cosmology and practices of assault sorcerers. While it concentrates mostly on indigenous Amazonian societies, comparisons are drawn from other ethnographic areas of the world. It shows that assault sorcery is an integral part of a nexus of religious knowledge and power, in which primordial spirits of sickness and sorcery are embodied in all manner of assault sorcery. The world of humanity today, according to indigenous cosmogonies examined here, is imbued with violent death through sorcery, the legacy of the primordial world. Prophet movements have often been associated with sorcery among indigenous societies throughout the world. Their principal objectives include the control of assault sorcerers, although the prophets themselves have often succumbed to their violent attacks or even deployed sorcery as a mode of defense against enemies. This world has been corrupted by the incessant violence of sorcerers, which the community elders, shamanic healers, and prophets have all sought to manage and control. What the future holds with the drastic decline of shamanic healers is cause for grave concern among traditional communities.