"Kdo jsi a ke komu mluvíš?" Deixe a subjekt v magických formulích reiki

• Authors: Tomáš Samek

Title variants

EN

“Who are you, and to whom do you speak?” Deixis and subjectivity in reiki magical formulas

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

This article provides a deictic analysis of two magical formulas used in the spiritual-healing practice of the Traditional School of Reiki in Czechia. Drawing on autoethnographic material and using approaches from linguistic anthropology, semiotics, and speech act theory, it examines how linguistic means construct the subject of the utterance, its addressees, and the spiritual entity to which the formulas refer. The core of the analysis lies in their deictic structure, with attention paid to the tension between their grammatical and pragmatic levels. This phenomenon is captured through the concept of oscillating tension, which arises when the speaker, through different grammatical persons, refers to the same or ontologically consubstantial referent. The analysis shows that language here functions not only referentially but also performatively: as a tool of ritual transformation, it enables the speaker to act as a mediator between the profane and a spiritually constructed reality.

Keywords

EN

Deixis; speech acts; linguistic anthropology; ritual language; reiki; alternative spirituality

Discipline

• ETHNOLOGY: ETHNOLOGY

• Publisher: Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Český lid: etnologický časopis (Český lid: Ethnological journal)
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 112
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 351-374
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Tomáš Samek

• Český lid, redakce, Etnologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Na Florenci 3, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic