Magic and religion have in common that they are based on beliefs or supernatural beings. But as sociologist Emile Durkheim points out, “the magician has a clientele, not a church”.
Arab alchemists received from Greek Antiquity (Coptic and Syriac) three distinct elements which contributed to favoring their mystical and physical approach to natural phenomena. Collections of operations, recipes, processes in metallurgy and pharmacopoeia as well as the concepts of Aristotelian physics according to which the world is a hierarchy of things (matter and form) which go from minerals to God.
Entire lists of formulas devoted to the definition of profane, religious and occult sciences are found in the famous “Book of Definitions”. The terms jawar (essence, substance), sura (form, image), tabîa (nature) and rûh (spirit) constitute the key elements of this language. The soul would be a “divine substance which vivifies the body”. The world is seen as a vast set of relationships in perpetual change. The philosophical, esoteric, Hellenic heritage, assimilated to Islam, has legitimized the spiritual dimension of this science. The Islamic common fund, family heritage and social conditioning favored the transmission of beliefs. Over time, the use of rites has induced a psychosocial function with regard to the phenomenon of acculturation. Hence the increased interest in the many beliefs conveyed by those around us.
Seen from a purely rationalist angle, the power of marabouts stems from charlatanism, fear and the control exercised over weak minds. Magic was the common source of astrology and all the practices that were more or less associated with them in traditional societies. The notion of “false science” now tends to be replaced by the conception of traditional knowledge, essentially esoteric and symbolic. Magic extends into a sphere recognized by Islam: the world of spirits (jinn). It is traditionally accepted that these jinns listen at the gates of heaven to discover the secrets of God. The religious soul is a prophetic soul. She rises towards God and the angels, listens to them while the magical soul lowers the sidereal spirits in order to make them obey them. Talismans, for example, are real spirit traps.
Magic that is placed outside of all moral considerations is considered by Islam to be satanic. Among Muslims, there is therefore a distinction between magicians incapable of producing good and prophets. The prophets and angels only know what Allah has taught them.” For the Muslim, a soothsayer who practices prediction is based on the stars and those who bring him news are the jinn. The same goes for those who work with sand, stones, grains. In order to protect oneself from the evil of jinns and magic, Islam recommends reading and reciting protective surahs morning and evening. Among Muslims, the people nourished a particular belief according to which each being would be accompanied by a genie, an angel sometimes beneficent, sometimes threatening. The Tales of the Thousand and One Nights represent the richest collection of stories of oriental heritage. These very old popular tales, the final version of which dates from the 15th century, combine fantastic genies emerging from an old oil lamp, flying carpets, marvelous cities, and treasure. The 764thnight, in this case, the one during which Shéherazade tells the story of Aladdin confronted with magicians and the genie, illustrates this belief in a remarkable way. Moreover, it should be noted that culture and education have perpetrated beliefs whose foundation is based more on superstitions than on rational knowledge of phenomena. Oral tradition, a privileged tool for the transmission of knowledge within Eastern civilizations, has elevated legendary stories to the rank of referential discourses, imbued with irrefutable truth. Carrying messages, they sometimes evoke the circumstances of a scene of enchantment, of bewitchment. An unconsummated marriage, the sterility of an individual, a diabolical possession, the evil eye, so many enigmas through which people recognize each other. Hence the resort to attempts to clean up a situation that we refuse to accept with the help of a marabout. From the shroud of a dead person which will be used to immobilize all those to whom it is presented, from menstrual blood, from hair, from talismans, each crafted object will be transformed into a powerful weapon capable of delivering evil and restoring happiness. This is how a young girl aged sixteen found herself, on her wedding day, forced to swallow hard-boiled eggs on which a marabout had taken care to add writing in order to make her accept her future husband whom she persisted in rejecting. The parents obtained as a result a generous payment to the marabout and a separation of the couple shortly after the marriage. Despite attempts doomed to failure, beliefs in such manipulations persist. Although some young people have a deep aversion to manifestations of the sacred and superstitions, we notice that many of them follow in the footsteps of their ancestors by adopting their beliefs. Menstrual blood added to food will allow you to forever conquer the love of your loved one, once the latter has obviously consumed it. Recipes to achieve your goals
In the world of magic, everything seems possible. The texts of the grimoires are taken literally; the recipes are assiduously applied. The fact remains that real charlatans use many tricks to exert control over their clients. Because this is truly a commercial transaction. Some North Africans living in France travel to their country of origin to make a deal with the witch capable of convincing them of a miracle. Colossal sums are demanded and taken from them. Eager for miracle recipes, many people try by all means to obtain the one that will allow them to achieve their goals. If you want it not to rain in a certain place (or more precisely, if you want to protect a location from heavy rain), simply let a cat scratch the earth with its paws, in the designated place, at sunrise. If, in a completely different register, we want a person to suffer from madness, all we have to do is make them eat the brains of*…. Yes, indeed, it’s the kind of product that’s easy to get! Still other recipes, surprising to say the least: digging up a dead person less than three days old, cutting off his hand, and using it to cook a dish of *…, the one who eats it will be incapable of loving another person than the one who made the dish! But be careful, as believers point out, anything that comes close to magic is a form of worship of the jinn.From marabout to charlatan:
From a teaching delivered to a limited number of believers, esotericism has widely spread due to its symbolic and pictorial conception. The many marabouts that one can meet are not necessarily what they claim. With a fabricated identity, under the pretext of reading and writing the Arabic language, they interpret the Koran as they wish. They practice systematic disenchantment because it brings in more money. Their actions are part of a logic completely beyond human understanding. But it is true that a fragile person, in a situation of emotional or professional failure, will constitute ideal prey for charlatans. Not necessarily established in the street, these marabouts are known to the Muslim community, who, convinced of their powers, do not hesitate to consult them. Word of mouth works well in this area. Identifying with talebs (wise, learned) the marabouts answer the questions of worried or rebellious souls. Favoring the supernatural over reason, Eastern people are attracted by mysterious forces, sometimes leading them to their own decline. In search of the absolutely inaccessible, faced with increasingly weighty questions, witchcraft followers identify the marabout with the liberator of troubled souls. The moral and religious decadence of marabouts responds to pressing needs resulting from despotic oppression exercised on individuals. The sahars (sorcerers), with the help of calculations instilled in them by wise men from the East, undertake to remedy the misfortune of their client whatever the degree of seriousness. Without scruple. they wound, heal, put to sleep, awaken but never fail to claim their due. From an ancestral science, magic has deviated towards insidious practices so unfathomable that they arouse more than curiosity, a dogmatic belief.
Looking for protection, happiness or to ward off bad luck. All reasons are good to go and consult the one who will deliver you. In the streets of Barbès, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, you will be accosted dozens of times by pseudo-mediums who will not hesitate to brandish hair, bones and other sorcerer’s utensils in front of you in order to persuade you to follow them into the backyard of an unsanitary building. There. They will show you that you are bewitched, that someone wants you harm. The only way to put an end to bad luck is to scrupulously listen to the marabout’s instructions: buy a chicken, some soap, in short, objects or foods that will be useful to him and give him a fairly substantial sum of money. Otherwise, you won’t get through it. In another register, you will have a list of clairvoyants via radios and other press media. Some may be reliable, but many know that in Muslim culture, a large place is given to magic and the evil eye. Consequently, proposals for occult, unjustified work may arise. At no time do they care about their customers, only the performance and the money extorted count. Great vigilance is required before consulting, you must inquire and ensure the seriousness and professionalism of the medium.
Yamina Gueham
- INAD: Some information has been voluntarily deleted
Report
Report