Alexis Peck Blog

These past few weeks, I have learned more about Voodoo both from the book “A History of Magic Witchcraft and the Occult,” and from the movie, “The Witches of Eastwick.” I wanted to touch on what I had learned from this book and movie but also dive into what more research on this subject taught me. Before taking this class, I did not know much about Voodoo except for what Voodoo dolls were used for and that it is seen in New Orleans. My prior experiences with Voodoo comes from experiencing this magic tradition firsthand in New Orleans and seeing many television shows and movies referencing it.  The book, “A History of Magic Witchcraft and the Occult,” explained Voodoo history, stating that Voodoo (which is also referred to as Voudon), began as a religion in West Africa and was brought by African slaves to various French colonies. Due to the French banning all other religions besides Catholicism, enslaved individuals practicing Voodoo had no choice but to become Catholic, and mer...

          The years 1700-1900 witnessed a change in the general perception of witches and magic. Rather than believing they practiced witchcraft, so called witches began to be faced with an air of skepticism and were labeled as frauds. This shift is discussed in “A History of Magic Witchcraft and the Occult,” and is evident through a change in the reasoning for the persecution of witches but also an end to the persecution of witches in general. Before the 1700s, the reading explained that witches were widely persecuted for being, “agents of Satan performing mysterious magic.” However, in the years 1700-1900 if they were persecuted at all, it was instead for, “duping people with claims to false powers.” This shift was due to the Enlightenment where advances in science helped disprove magic which in itself disproved witches.  Changes in science spurred a new era of witchcraft and magic. Rather than magic being seen as associated with Satan or devils, i...

          This past week in class we focused on the history of magic, witchcraft, and the occult spanning from the years 1500-1700. Something discussed that I wanted to dive into more deeply was how European colonizers misinterpreted many indigenous traditions as magic and accused the indigenous people as practicing witchcraft. European colonization was occuring on many continents including the Americas, Africa, and Asia during the 1500s-1700s as discussed in “A History of Magic Witchcraft and the Occult.” The reading highlighted several specific indigenous groups that had their traditions misinterpreted including the Kongo, Mesoamericans, the Navajo, and the Inuit. We learned in class that when Europeans came to these civilizations, they often brought with them Christian beliefs which prevented them from interpreting indigenous beliefs with an unbiased perspective.  One specific example of this that the reading mentioned that I thought was particula...