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I consider myself a rational person. I’m not superstitious, I don’t believe in spirits and devils and ghosts and other vague entities. I know the difference between fact and fiction; I read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies. I believe in judging people according to their individual experiences and character, not their past. However, I am half Tanzanian, and witchcraft is practiced in Tanzania as well as many other parts of the world. Without revealing personal information, I’m going to discuss my view on witchcraft (also known as juju and voodoo).
Witchcraft has been an old practice that has happened historically for centuries. It happens across all cultures and countries. Certain people hold beliefs that there is more to our world than the physical world; there is also the metaphysical world. Metaphysical means ‘beyond physical.’ Ghosts, spirits, Gods, energy channels, divination, psychics, intuition, and the like. Anything that is not tangible can be classed as metaphysical. Plenty of people reject anything to do with metaphysics, claiming that all that exists is the natural world and the natural laws of the universe. Other people may adhere to some parts of metaphysics, such as healing, crystals, clairvoyance and psychics. Many religions demean such concepts, calling them ‘devilish’ and ‘satanic.’ (Satanism is an actual ideology/religion, where people worship Satan and have a Satanic Bible).
To me, Satanism is no different from any other religion. Most of these groups; religious groups, cults, and the like, are simply people coming together to belief in non-tangible things. They do this because they believe it brings them peace. Unfortunately most of these ideas are very strong and dogmatic and result in clashing with each other. Spiritual practices such as healing and clairvoyance are said to be used for good; they can help to cure others from diseases by channelling into ‘inner energy’ rather than using artificial medicines. Witchcraft is practiced today in lots of countries; in some countries children’s body parts are sold as they are believed to hold special powers and cure diseases or bring luck and wealth. Some believe that there are illnesses that are human-made and caused by evil spirits, which people conjure up to steal from others. Bad things that happen to people such as sudden death, sickness or mental illness are ’caused’ by people casting evil on them. In The Sopranos, there is a scene where an Italian mafiosa woman collects her toenails and burns them because she believes that if her enemies find them they can make ‘the evil’ on her.
Much of these practices are not explained or written down because they have been passed on through ancient oral tradition. They are seen as ‘unexplainable’ and cannot be proven or rationalised. Naturally this clashes with the Western way of thinking as in the West the scientific method of proof and reasoning is seen as the best way to live. This has been the way since the 17th century Enlightenment where reason triumphed superstition.
Eastern Medicine such as acupuncture is another method of healing; it uses energy known as ‘chi’ and chakras and looks at the body as channelling energy everywhere. Mindfulness meditation has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety by allowing humans to connect with their inner peace and highest potential, and being in the moment. Meditation comes from Eastern Buddhism which is all about focusing on being as peaceful and present as possible.
The world is huge and has been around for trillions of years. Humans have only been a small fraction of this. There is so much we don’t know about the universe, about the universal natural energy that binds us all together. I believe that we are all part of each other, spinning round in this huge circle of life. Spirituality is just a word, and a rather vague one. As long as you have some sort of inner peace and connection with yourself, through whatever you choose to use, I think that is good. I don’t know enough about witchcraft to pass much judgement on it, but it is not something I wish to concern myself with too much.
my personal view is magic only really exists in video games books movies tv shows and music (probaly) but i will admit i find supernatural stuff interesting
It it interesting, same with Astrology. However agreed it most likely just exists in fictional settings.