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1

Tracing the African Origins of Obeah (Obia): Some Conjectures and Inferences from the History of Benin Kingdom

100%
Usuanlele U.
West Bohemian Historical Review
|
2016
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vol. 6
|
issue 2
165-184
EN
The practice of Obeah divination among people of African descent in the Americas has long been established to originate from West Africa. But the place of origin has remained a subject of speculation. The earliest speculated places of origin were the Akan and the neighbouring Popo. Most recent studies using demographic size and linguistic evidence have concluded that Obeah originated from among the Igbo of the Bight of Biafra in Nigeria. This paper disputes this conclusion and shows that demographic size is least relevant and the linguistic evidence is faulty. It then argues that in spite of the marginal role of Benin Kingdom, Obeah and its early practice are most likely derived from the Edo-speaking people of Benin Kingdom, Nigeria. It substantiates this with historical evidence and etymological inferences from the practice of slavery in the kingdom and its involvement in the Trans-Atlantic trade.
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Силата на женското слово в баладите на К.Я. Ербен

87%
Маджарова Т.
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne
|
2013
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issue 4
EN
The power of women’s words in K.J. Erben’s balladsdiscusses the author’s literary texts (the collections  Písně and  Kytice),  in  which  the  woman  is  presented  as  a  permanent  character who is in the focus of significant conflict situations and moral problems. Women’s words have  a  broad spectrum  of  expression:  from  the  intimate  address  to  oneself,  through  the prayer, the blessing, the divination, and the imprecation, to the prophecy. Women’s words refer to a peculiar reflection of the collective memory and norm, but at the same time they bring the woman out of her anonymity, individualizing her in her own desires and intentions. 
3
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Leksyka z zakresu wróżbiarstwa i czarów w Nowym wielkim dykcjonarzu Pierre’a Daneta i Dymitra Franciszka Koli

86%
Marczak M.
Poznańskie Studia Polonistyczne. Seria Językoznawcza
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2021
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vol. 28
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issue 2
107-124
EN
The paper aims to investigate Polish lexis belonging to the semantic fields of DIVINATION and WITCHCRAFT. The material was excerpted from the 18th-century trilingual Nowy wielki dykcjonarz (New grand dictionary). The semantic fields under analysis were divided into subfields. In the case of DIVINATION, the subfields of DIVINATION PRACTISES and PEOPLE FORETELLING THE FUTURE were identified. In turn, WITCHCRAFT was subdivided into MAGICAL PRACTICES, PEOPLE PRACTISING MAGIC and EFFECTS OF MAGIC. The analysis of the retrieved material suggests that the number of individual lexemes is relatively small and usually polysemic, which appears to contradict the popularity and prevalence of divination and witchcraft in the 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as established by cultural historians. The supposed misrepresentation of the semantic fields under scrutiny may reflect the didactic nature of the Polish part of the dictionary.
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IDEA CZŁOWIEKA I BÓSTWA W STAROŻYTNOŚCI CZĘŚĆ II: Mesopotamian Divination. Some Historical, Religious and Anthropological Remarks

86%
Ulanowski K.
Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica
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2014
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vol. 15(4)
PL
Divination was a salient characteristic of Mesopotamian civilization. Divination was basedon the idea that to some extent the future is pre-determined; but that the gods, especiallyShamash and Adad (“Shamash, lord of the judgment, Adad, lord of the inspection”), havemade available to man certain indications of the future (omens and portents) in the worldaround him, which can be interpreted (divined) by experts with specialist knowledge. Ea,along with these two gods, was credited as one of the founders of divination. The future ascrystallized in the present was not considered by the Babylonians as solely a creation of thegods but as the result of a dialogue between man and god. The Mesopotamians believedthat the gods wrote the future into the universe, and that this is why the world could beread by those who were wise enough (certain priests and scholars). The organic body wasseen as a text. Specially prepared priests could explain the signs sent down by the gods(in Akkadian, the word pašāru means a multi-layered reading or decipherment of texts).Therefore, even if the gods founded divination, man played a vital role in the process andwas a vital link, a near equal and irreplaceable part of the process as a whole.
5
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Przepowiednia w historii języka polskiego

86%
Krótki Z.
Etnolingwistyka. Problemy Języka i Kultury
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2015
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vol. 27
EN
The article analyzes 15th- and early 20th-century terms for divination and for people able to augur future. The material has been excerpted from all available lexicographic sources. It has been arranged with regard to images, relative to which lexical units are formed. The units oscillate around six thematic fields: (i) throwing the dice; (ii) divination dictated by the awareness of the sorcerer (the witch or the magus); (iii) divination based on visual sensations; (iv) divination based on speech acts; (v) divination based on dreams; (vi) the names of charlatans. The assignment of particular units to these categories is never arbitrary. The analysis reveals an increasing number of expressive names at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. This probably results from the rising distrust of the magical portends and superstitions prevailing in 18th-century Europe.The predominating method in this study is an examination of contexts in which divination words appeared in the history of the Polish language. The semantic values of the lexemes has been determined on the basis of their use registered in historical dictionaries of Polish.
PL
W artykule poddano analizie nazwy przepowiedni oraz osób umiejących przewidzieć przeszłość, funkcjonujące w polszczyźnie w okresie od XV do początków XX wieku. Zgromadzony ze wszystkich dostępnych źródeł leksykograficznychmateriał uporządkowany został w nawiązaniu do obrazów, które były podstawa dla generowania jednostek leksykalnych. Okazało się, że nazwy te oscylowały wokół sześciu pól: 1. Rzucanie losów; 2. Przepowiednie dyktowane przez podświadomość wróżącego; 3. Przepowiednie oparte na doznaniach wzrokowych; 4. Przepowiednie oparte na nazwie aktu mowy; 5. Przepowiednie oparte na odczytywaniu przyszłości ze snów; 6. Nazwy szarlatanów. Przynależność poszczególnych jednostek do wydzielonych grup nigdy jednak nie była arbitralna.Badania pokazały również, że pod koniec XVIII i na początku XX wieku notowanych jest coraz więcej nazw ekspresywnych. Przyczyna tego zjawiska jest zapewne rosnąca nieufność względem przepowiedni i zabobonów, obserwowana w całej osiemnastowiecznej Europie.Metodą dominującą w niniejszym szkicu jest analiza kontekstów, w których występowały wyrazy należące do pola semantycznego PRZEPOWIEDNIA w historii języka polskiego. Na podstawie poświadczeń użycia danego wyrazu w słownikach rejestrujących polszczyznę dawną wnioskowano o jego wartości znaczeniowej w danym okresie.
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THE IDEA OF MAN AND DIVINITY IN ANTIQUITY PART II: Mesopotamian Divination. Some Historical, Religious and Anthropological Remarks

86%
Ulanowski K.
Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica
|
2014
|
vol. 15(4)
EN
Divination was a salient characteristic of Mesopotamian civilization. Divination was basedon the idea that to some extent the future is pre-determined; but that the gods, especiallyShamash and Adad (“Shamash, lord of the judgment, Adad, lord of the inspection”), havemade available to man certain indications of the future (omens and portents) in the worldaround him, which can be interpreted (divined) by experts with specialist knowledge. Ea,along with these two gods, was credited as one of the founders of divination. The future ascrystallized in the present was not considered by the Babylonians as solely a creation of thegods but as the result of a dialogue between man and god. The Mesopotamians believedthat the gods wrote the future into the universe, and that this is why the world could beread by those who were wise enough (certain priests and scholars). The organic body wasseen as a text. Specially prepared priests could explain the signs sent down by the gods(in Akkadian, the word pašāru means a multi-layered reading or decipherment of texts).Therefore, even if the gods founded divination, man played a vital role in the process andwas a vital link, a near equal and irreplaceable part of the process as a whole.
7
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Old Women: Divination and Magic or anus in Roman Literature

72%
Migdał J.
Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae
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2014
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vol. 24
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issue 2
57-67
PL
Word anus was used in a primarily negative sense to describe an old woman. Anus is usually presented as a libidinous and hideous hag who indulges in strong wine or practices black magic, mainly for erotic purposes. Though Latin literature brings as well examples of a different type of anus: goddesses assuming the shape of old women to guide or deceive the mortals and old prophetic women, inspired by the gods. Anus can be gifted with divine powers and secret knowledge. The paper traces the motif of anus as a witch or a divine woman on the basis of selected examples from the works of Horace, Ovid, Petronius, Apuleius and Silius Italicus.
8

Prasenā, Prasīnā & Prasannā: The Evidence of the Niśvāsaguhya and the Tantrasadbhāva

72%
Vasudeva S.
Cracow Indological Studies
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2014
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vol. 16: Tantric Traditions in Theory and Practice
369-390
EN
The literature of the Śaiva Mantramārga evidences differing strategies of incorporating prasenā divination into its theoretical frameworks. The early Niśvāsaguhya confines prasenās a prognosticatory role in support of a more common method of dream divination used to determine reasons for failed initiation. Questions of intertextuality and doctrinal dependence are raised when the Trika’s Tantrasadbhāva envisages prasenās as fulfilling exactly the same function.
9
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The role of lethuelas/sangomas in Lesotho. “Traditional” beliefs, spiritual professions and Christianity among the Basotho

72%
Agnieszka P.
Studies in African Languages and Cultures
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2021
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issue 55
159-184
EN
This article investigates the place of lehuelas/sangomas in Basotho society, their vocation, work and relationship with Christian churches. Lethuelas, also called sangomas or shamans, are healers, diviners and/or mediums. Thanks to the country’s mountainous isolation, their vocation and work can be observed in its most primal and unspoilt version, passed down for generations without much influence of outside shamanic traditions or New Age forms of shamanism encountered in other Southern African countries. The article includes the data gathered during the field studies conducted in Lesotho in March 2013 and January 2019 in four regions: the capital city of Maseru (250 000 inhabitants), the Nazaretha/Roma region, the villages and tiny settlements in the western part of the Maloti Mountains, and the Butha-Buthe district in the north of the country.
10
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Wróżbiarskie rytuały małego pogrzebu wtórnego u Ludu Konkomba z Północnej Ghany

58%
Zimoń H.
Roczniki Teologii Fundamentalnej i Religiologii
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2012
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vol. 4
227-240
EN
This article describes and interprets two divination rituals of the so-called small secondary funeral in the village of Kutuln. These relate to a bad death, which occurs when people die prematurely or inappropriately. Africans feel fear toward the dead who in life were bad people and those who died a bad death. The concept of a bad death for Africans presents their approach to life, the time of death and the moral evaluation of dead people, as a premature or unusual death is not accidental. A bad death explains the course of human life and has an impact on the burial of the deceased and his fate in the afterlife. Africans believe that those who die a bad death, do not leave the sphere of human life and do not pass into the land of their ancestors. People who die a bad death are deprived of a normal burial and extensive secondary funeral, and the living will never respect them and called upon them through prayers and sacrifices. Small secondary funerals among the Konkomba are limited to the divining rites, which last one day. The course of divination is similar in small and large secondary funerals. The initial phase of divination using 10 cowrie shells is decisive and important. During the long speech, Bingo, the main diviner or the master reveals and explains the causes of the bad death and propose preventive measures designed to remove ritual impurity and the propitiation of supernatural beings. The cause of death of the woman Mafimbi were quarrels and disagreements with her husband in the village of Bwana, caused by her lover Nbale. She would have happily married him, but her father did not agree to it. Her lover Nbale persuaded Mafimbi not to eat or drink in the home of her husband. The second case concerns the death of a nameless girl who died on the day of her birth because of quarreling parents: her father Bindifrim and her mother Ndodebu living in the village of Jinjinabi. Noteworthy is the attitude of dependence on help, during the divining rites, of the god Uwumbor, spirits of the Earth, clan protective spirits, gnome bush spirits, twin spirits, ancestor spirits, and especially spirits of dead diviners. Help from these supernatural beings is essential during the rites of divination, in order to properly explain the circumstances and causes of death of deceased persons. Divination by using three sticks as complementary only confirms the previously given causes of death. It should be noted that during these divining rites, small and large secondary funerals also have a didactic and moralistic dimension, because they teach people respect for tradition, preservation of social norms and moral order in the life of the individual and community.
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Tradycyjne formy kultu św. Mikołaja w tomaszowskich dekanatach diecezji zamojsko-lubaczowskiej

58%
Nowak J.
Vox Patrum
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2001
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vol. 40
425-441
EN
The cult of saints is a significant aspect of the Paschal mystery. The cult practices concerning the saints mainly include the prayer and offerings. They are of religious and social dimensions. Integration of the rural parish community takes place through the common prayer at home, participation in liturgical services and performance of the deeds of love. Besides, customs, rites and folk beliefs point to the scope of the saints' cult. They are reflected in songs, prayers, proverbs, tales and legends.
12
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Shamanism and Armed Conflict – a Case Study of the Interface between Religion and War in Aboriginal South America

58%
ALVARSSON J.-Å.
Revista del CESLA. International Latin American Studies Review
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2010
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vol. 1
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issue 13
233-256
ES
El chamán amerindio siempre ha tenido como su mayor tarea de restaurar la harmonía cósmica, sea en forma individual, como en curaciones, o en forma colectiva, como en el caso de un pueblo afectado por una plaga. Esta contribu-ción trata de llevar adelante un aspecto muchas veces ignorado, la actuación del cha-mán en casos de conflictos armados. El caso etnográfico proviene de los ‗weenhayek, un pueblo recolector del Gran Chaco. Entre esta gente, el chamán jugaba un rol im-portante en la estrategia y la actuación de los guerreros. Para entender las diferentes facetas de las actividades bélicas, se sugiere una vista holística del chamanismo y de los estudios societales en general.
EN
The main task of the Amerindian shaman has always been the restoration of cosmological harmony, whether it has been on an individual level, like in healing, or on a collective level, like when a village has been affected by an epidemic or any other type of plague. This article wants to bring an aspect to the fore that often has been ignored, the performance of the shaman in cases of armed conflicts. The ethnographic case used here is from the ‗Weenhayek, a group of foragers in the Gran Chaco. Among these, a shaman played an important role in the setting up of a strategy and deciding time and space for the warriors to attack. To understand this combination of two phenomena, that have often been divided into two compartments by scholars, shamanism and war, we suggest a holistic view of Amerindian society, of shamanism, war and society in general.
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Terminy „magia” i „czarownictwo” w świetle badan etnologicznych i religioznawczych

51%
Zimon H.
Roczniki Teologii Fundamentalnej i Religiologii
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2011
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vol. 3
167-197
EN
The subject of the article is a terminological reflection on the definition and interpretation of magic and witchcraft in the light of research by anthropologists and scholars of religion from the second half of the XIX c. to contemporary times. The views of evolutionists E. B. Tylor and J. G. Frazer, sociologists E. Durkheim, H. Hubert and M. Mauss, social anthropologist B. K. Malinowski, philosopher E. Cassirer and structuralist C. Lévi-Strauss are discussed. The principle criterion differentiating religion from magic is man referring to supernatural powers and beings. Practicing magic is socially approved of and has as its goal the good of an individual or social group. In the life of nonliterate peoples, religion and magic are united and that is why we speak of the religious-magical character of their beliefs, rituals and behaviour. Contemporary anthropologists and scholars of religion treat magic and religion as a field complementary and closely related with each other in the cultures of nonliterate peoples. Magic must be differentiated from witchcraft, whose goal is to conjure evil upon a person or community. E. E. Evans-Pritchard identified among the Azande people (southern Sudan) two types of wizardry: acquired sorcery which meant that the sorcerer consciously uses mixtures, spells and rites attempting to conjure evil and inborn witchcraft in which the witch based upon inherited psychic power unconsciously injures others by sending or activating a certain substance. This division is not universally applied in Africa, since inborn witchcraft appears much more rarely among African peoples than acquired sorcery. Faith in charms fulfils a cognitive, psychological, social, political and legal role. At the dawn of modern transformations in Africa, witchcraft is linked with jealousy, hidden aggression, social and economic inequality and the desire for power. On the one hand, Africanists stress the increase in witchcraft practices and a return to anti-witchcraft movements, and on the other hand, they draw attention to the fact that modernization and secularization related with it slowly contribute to lessening searching for explanations of misfortunes, illness and death in witchcraft beliefs.
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Święto Matki Boskiej Gromnicznej w religijności ludowej

51%
Kupisiński Z.
|
2015
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vol. 62
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issue 9: Teologia fundamentalna i religiologia
191-210
EN
The Feast of Our Lady of Candles is the later name for the Feast ofPresentation of the Lord,founded in the fourth century. Initially, the celebration had a Christological accent, but with time it acquired features of Marian feast (now in the liturgy the original name is in force). In Polish folk religiosity the name Our Lady of the Thunder Candle has functioned, as people came to church to have their candles called “gromnica” (the Thunder Candle) blessed. Under the influence of the Church's teaching, ancient folk customs and rituals have changed their content and meaning.So it was with the symbolism of light and candle.After giving it a Christian interpretation burning candle symbolizes the eternal light, which is Christ for every Christian. In the life of the villagersgromnicahad great significance and was used for various practices. It was handed to a dying person to be safelyaccompaniedby Mary to the “other world” and in the light of Christ. Aftercoming backfrom church, sign of the cross was marked with a smoky flame ofgromnicaat the frames of windows and the front door of the house to ensure God's protection from evil spirits. Gromnica waslit and placed in a window or on a table during storm to protect the house and farm fromthunder-lightand “avert” storm. This was not a magical act, as some ethnologists asserted,but a form of folk piety through the intercession of Mary (People prayed Rosary and “Beneath Thy Protection”).Gromnicawas also used for medical and meteorological practices; by observing the flame during the church service or on the way home people were makingpredications.According to the folk beliefs, candle had its power, because it was blessed in the church by the priest.Nowadays verylittle is left of the ancient folk customs associated with the Thunder Candle. Only in some families the custom of handinggromnicato the dying person or marking sign of the cross on the frames of the door and windows is still practiced. However, the candle as such and its burning flame reminds the faithful about Baptism and Christ – the eternal Light.
PL
Święto Matki Boskiej Gromnicznej to późniejsza nazwa powstałego w IV wieku święta Ofiarowania Pańskiego. Początkowo obchody święta posiadały chrystologiczny akcent, ale zupływem czasu nabrały charakteru maryjnego (obecnie w liturgii powrócono do pierwotnej nazwy). W polskiej religijności ludowej funkcjonowała nazwa Matki Boskiej Gromnicznej ze względu na święcenie w Kościele świec zwanych gromnicami. Pod wpływem nauki Kościoła dawne zwyczaje i obrzędy ludowe zmieniły swą treść i znaczenie. Tak było z symboliką światła i świecy.Po nadaniu mu chrześcijańskich interpretacji płonąca świeca symbolizuje światłość wiekuistą, jaką dla każdego wierzącego człowieka stanowi Chrystus. W życiu mieszkańców wsi gromnica posiadała wielkie znaczenie i była wykorzystywana do różnych praktyk. Wręczano ją do ręki umierającemu, aby Maryja bezpiecznie i w świetle Chrystusa przeprowadziła go na „tamten świat”. Po przyjściu z kościoła znaczono kopcącym się płomieniem z gromnicy znak krzyża na futrynach okien i drzwi wejściowych do domu, aby Bóg strzegł domostwa i chronił przed złymi mocami. Zapalano ją i stawiano w oknie lub na stole podczas burzy, aby uchronić dom i gospodarstwo przed uderzeniem pioruna i „odwrócić” burzę. Nie były to czynności magiczne, jak zachowanie to kwalifikują niektórzy etnologowie,gdyż w tym czasie przez wstawiennictwo Maryi zanoszono modlitwę do Boga (odmawiano modlitwę „Pod Twoją obronę”, modlono się na różańcu). Gromnicę wykorzystywano też do przepowiadania praktyk medycznych, meteorologicznych (patrząc jak się pali podczas nabożeństwa czy w drodze do domu). Według wierzeń ludowych posiadała swą moc, gdyż została wkościele poświęcona przez kapłana. Do czasów współczesnych niewiele pozostało z dawnych ludowych zwyczajów związanych z gromnicą. W niektórych tylko rodzinach daje się ją umierającemu, czy kreśli znak krzyża na futrynach okien i drzwi. Jedynie jej wygląd i płonący płomień przypomina wierzącemu sakrament chrztu świętego oraz Chrystusa – Światłość wiekuistą.
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