marți, 7 februarie 2012

[WitchesWorkshop] Digest Number 4937

Messages In This Digest (3 Messages)

Messages

1a.

Re: Interfaith Dialogue

Posted by: "Caroline Tully" heliade@bigpond.com   willowitch2001

Mon Feb 6, 2012 1:32 am (PST)



I agree with all that! And what Minka said as well.

~Caroline.

-----------------

2a. Re: Interfaith Dialogue

Posted by: "Media Officer" media@paganawareness.net.au pan_inc_media

Date: Sat Feb 4, 2012 11:52 pm ((PST))

The value of Interfaith is that it raises our *visibility*.

It is easy to demonize or be dismissive of pagans you've only read about in
the abstract, more difficult to do so when you've met and shaken hands with
us, listened to us speak, realized that we (in many cases) have doctorates,
authored books or have spent years teaching and practicing our path.

It creates an inhibition against employing lazy ad hominem arguments (pagans
worship dumb idols etc.) to falsely characterize who we are and what we do.

Interfaith offers a forum for us to talk to those who wish to be less
ignorant. We get our point of view across, so that even if they disagree,
they see that there *is* another point of view. And for those who do not
wish to be less ignorant, our presence at the highest levels of Interfaith
rubs their noses in it, in a very satisfying fashion - and communicates the
message that we are no longer easy meat for moral panic such as we saw in
the 80s.

Leaving all that aside, international Interfaith forums like the Parliament
of the World's Religions allow Pagans from all over the world to come
together and network. The 2009 Parliament in Melbourne fostered very useful
exchanges and dialogue (methods to deal with adverse media coverage for
example) between U.S. pagans and those of us locals with an interest in
education and advocacy, despite the rather petulant comments I recall on
this forum at the time.

Gavin Andrew.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (6)
2.

Review 'Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches'

Posted by: "Caroline Tully" heliade@bigpond.com   willowitch2001

Mon Feb 6, 2012 1:49 am (PST)





Interesting review...

Joan Cameron Bristol.  Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches:
Afro-Mexican Ritual Practice in the Seventeenth Century.  Albuquerque
 University of New Mexico Press, 2007.  xiv + 283 pp.  $24.95
(paper), ISBN 978-0-8263-3799-3.

Reviewed by Mark T. Evans (South Carolina University, History
Department)
Published on H-LatAm (February, 2012)
Commissioned by Dennis R. Hidalgo

Ritualized Resistance

Joan Cameron Bristol's _Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches _is a
fascinating exploration of ritual in the lives of colonial-era
Afro-Mexicans. She finds that seventeenth-century Mexican society
allowed for myriad forms of authority, and Afro-Mexicans,
understanding this, used ritual practices--both those of which the
Spanish approved and those of which they did not--to make claims for
power. In this way, the concocting of love potions, the employment of
magical cures, and the use of amulets represent much more than signs
of African culture in the New World. Likewise, recitations of the
Lord's Prayer by Afro-Mexicans were more than evidence of
creolization; rather, these ritualistic practices were political
actions by which Afro-Mexicans strove for reprieve, however fleeting,
from the hardships of their lives.

The story of Juan Cortés, with which Bristol opens her fourth
chapter, illustrates her argument well. Cortés appeared before the
Inquisition in 1600 for renouncing God prior to a beating. Many of
Cortés's white contemporaries thought blacks were prone to this
particular blasphemy because of their "lack of civilization and poor
understanding of colonial society" (p. 116), but Bristol argues,
"Afro-Mexicans were in fact quite aware of the implications of their
words," and "This particular action allowed slaves and servants to
insert themselves into the hierarchical relationship between owners
and the Inquisition" (pp. 116-117). By blaspheming, Cortés received
an audience with the Inquisition, where he was able to argue he had
been forced to sin due to the extreme violence of the thrashing. In
other words, the enslaved person, because he had renounced God, was
given the opportunity to formally complain about his treatment.
Because he understood Spanish society, Cortés was able to anticipate
his punishment and use it as a political weapon.

_Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches_will remind readers of Herman
Bennett's _Africans in Colonial Mexico _(2003), as both books analyze
the ability of black Mexicans to manipulate the white worlds in which
they lived. Both Bristol and Bennett find that identities in colonial
Mexico were dynamic and blacks demonstrated a remarkable
understanding of Spanish society. It is Bristol's focus on ritual
that sets _Christian's Blasphemers, and Witches_ apart.

One could only wish that some aspects of the book were developed more
fully. For example, it is never clear what Bristol means by the
eponymous "Afro-Mexican." Apart from claiming, "The category ...
encompasses a great variety of individuals and experiences" (p. 1),
she is never clear about who, exactly, comprises it. It is also
curious that, for a subject that seems to invite study through an
Atlantic world lens, _Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches_ is
focused squarely on the New World. Bristol states that Africans were
"expected to understand Christian practice and Spanish culture upon
arrival" (p. 3) and that "Members of diverse African ethnic groups
... became 'black' upon arrival in the Americas" (p. 12). As the
historiography continues to move toward an interpretation of New
World slavery that puts increasing emphasis on the transformative
nature of the process of moving through the Atlantic world, one would
think these claims would be developed in some detail.

This is not to say the book is without its merits. In fact,
_Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches _is an exemplary model of
cultural history and a fascinating look at black life in colonial
Mexico. Bristol used an impressive number of archives in researching
the book: the Archive of the Notaries Public, the National Archive of
Mexico, the Historical Archive of the National Institute of
Anthropology and History, and the Center of Historical Studies of
Mexico, to name a few. Bristol unpacks the seemingly mundane and even
silly elements of the sources she found to reveal the deep meaning
behind them. Love potions, in Bristol's hands, become subjects of
incredible importance to understanding Afro-Mexican society, and she
pulls every possible thread of meaning out of her sources. One walks
away from _Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches_ confident the author
interrogated every source to the fullest extent possible.

The reader should not downplay the difficulty of accessing colonial
power structures by analyzing the types of sources Bristol uses. This
was an ambitious undertaking, and she accomplished it with style. The
organization of the book, with chapters centered on clearly defined
themes, supports her discussion well, and the stories extricated from
the sources bring the book to life at points. This is most evident in
chapter 6, in which Bristol uses the story of a furtive home-based
church in Mexico City to facilitate a discussion that effectively
summarizes the book's arguments and most clearly demonstrates her
thesis.

_Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches _is a well-researched,
well-argued, and well-written book and would make an excellent
addition to both graduate and undergraduate syllabi. It stands to
inform readers on Afro-Mexican interactions with the Inquisition, and
at points, it is extremely entertaining. With more clearly defined
terms and categories, the work would have been even more persuasive.

Citation: Mark T. Evans. Review of Bristol, Joan Cameron,
_Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches: Afro-Mexican Ritual Practice
in the Seventeenth Century_. H-LatAm, H-Net Reviews. February, 2012.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=32984

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License.

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)
3a.

Re: Modern Paganism's Role in Interfaith

Posted by: "barbtrad" barbtrad@yahoo.com.au   barbtrad

Mon Feb 6, 2012 1:22 pm (PST)



Greetings Minka.

--- In WitchesWorkshop@yahoogroups.com, "xxxxxxminkaxxxxxx" <gilligantor@...> wrote:
>
>
> > > Unless of course we can't.
> >
> > Ah Ha! Well so far no killing, but I have seen plenty of the other three over the years between various factions who identify as Pagan.. So perhaps it is correct to say " of course we cant"!
>
>
> Bill - And so, we never will.
>
>
> Unless of course we can. And do.
>
>
We haven't yet. Of course it may be done in the future, but IMO, very unlikely.

Bill

>

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (11)
Recent Activity
Visit Your Group
Moderator Central

Yahoo! Groups

Join and receive

produce updates.

Yahoo! Groups

Small Business Group

Own a business?

Connect with others.

Check out the

Y! Groups blog

Stay up to speed

on all things Groups!

Need to Reply?

Click one of the "Reply" links to respond to a specific message in the Daily Digest.

Create New Topic | Visit Your Group on the Web
____________________ ooo)(0({O})0)(ooo____________________

Witches Workshop hold regular workshops see
http://witchesworkshop.com

Keep up to date via our WitchesWorshop Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/WitchesWorkshop
WitchesWorkshop Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/groups/4627561794/


WitchesWorkshop and Witch Camp Australia
http://www.witchcampaustralia.org.au
http://www.witchesworkshop.com
___________________________________________________________

The WitchesWorkshop egroup holds the expectation that
a tolerant and respectful dialogue be strived for in our  
communication with other pagans, witches magicians, et al.
Members are encouraged to challenge anyone not adhering
to these principles & to notify owner.

info@witchesworkshop.com
___________________________________________________________

Publicat de la

Niciun comentariu:

Trimiteți un comentariu

Abonați-vă la: Postare comentarii (Atom)