Magic

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.