By Roger Churnside
The deputy director of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) recently called for legislation on activities involving “witchcraft,” in view of swindles or frauds that are taking place in Costa Rica under that name. For example, reported damages to people taken in by that type of activity amount to about ₡43 million ($84,000) in the course of this year. And I agree that this problem should be looked into, as long as grave errors are not committed by treating phenomena of that name superficially, along with others related to it, such as “sorcery,” “enchantment,” “necromancy,” “spells,” and others, all of which may be included within the concept of magic. I submit that such errors could include not only injustices to practitioners of those activities in good faith, but also important fallacies and mistakes from a scientific perspective. Let me explain.
As a scientist and humanist, I do not discard knowledge and practices of magic out of hand, for the following reasons: with philosophers such as Alfred Whitehead (1861-1947) and scientists like Ilya Prigogine (1917-2003), I believe a large part of the world around us “slips through the net of science.” Also, I believe that net extends infinitely over time, while its interstices decrease due to the intellectual efforts of all humanity. So, history shows that over time fewer aspects or components of “the world” escape the net – that is, more are captured or retained by it – from one period or epoch to the next. So, then, much of what is called magic at one point in time may be later qualified as scientific.
Third, these observations and considerations regarding the relationship between magic and science have been made over and over throughout the history of science; and they have also been reinforced by my personal experience during 45 years of study, research and teaching at the University of Costa Rica, as well as other places of learning in the West and the East. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I finished reading two books that make the same point, the contents of which I summarize below for readers of The Tico Times.
The title of the first is “The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind”; it was published in 2006 by Justin Pollard and Howard Reid, both historians, anthropologists and directors of a radio and TV documentary series related to Cambridge University and the BBC. They describe how that city, originally planned by Alexander the Great and actually founded by his main successor, Ptolemy I, became a center of cultural and economic development, with incredible achievements in science and technology, under the influence of Aristotle and many other philosophers such as Pythagoras, Euclid, Eratosthenes, and Hypatia. In addition to its economic and political success, the city became the main center or focus of cultural development in its time, with four famous projects: the Mouseion, where objects of nature and technological innovations from all over the world were kept; the Library, the goal of which was to obtain copies and make translations of books, documents and literary production from all cultures; the Serapeum, which was a center for religious studies; and the Pharos, which was an enormous lighthouse that guided travelers throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea. A notorious example of the achievements of those times was the Antikytera Mechanism, “a hugely sophisticated analog computer for calculating the movements of planets, the rising and setting of stars and constellations, an the phases and movements of the moon – a complete mechanical calendar and model solar system in a box,” according to the book’s authors.
Unfortunately, all of that knowledge of both magic and science was lost in the complete destruction of the city, which took place as a result of struggles between “pagans” and “Christians.”
The second book is “The Serpent and the Rainbow,” subtitled “A Harvard Scientist Uncovers the Startling Truth about the Secret World of Haitian Voodoo and Zombies.” It was written by Wade Davis, Ph.D. in ethnobotany, based on a project conceived by Richard Shultes, David Merrick, Heinz Lehman and Nathan Kline, all related to Harvard University in the U.S. Born in Canada, Davis is also a “popularizer” of anthropology and biology; has worked in environment conservation projects; and has prepared over 6,000 botanical collections, product of expeditions to the Amazon, the Andes, Borneo, Tibet, the Orinoco Valley, the Arctic and Africa.
Davis dedicated more than three years to the project, spending time in Haiti to visit many communities and individuals, including a zombie named Clairvius Narcisse and others in that state. He found that “witch-doctors” knew how to induce and eliminate “tanatonic states” (virtual death), by applying poisonous substances, along with animal and human remains, including tetrodotoxins and skull scrapings. They could also bring the “dead” back to life (virtually), many days after burial, but with partial loss of memory and self-consciousness. Those treatments were usually applied to people who had committed serious violations of communal mores, and followed rituals supervised by local authorities based on long-standing traditions. Reportedly, zombies were put to work satisfying collective needs or for specific members of the community who had suffered damages due to their behavior.
The findings of Justin Pollard and Howard Reid on Alexandria more than 2,000 years ago changed my perceptions about the relation between science, magic and religion; those of Wade Davis 35 years ago unleashed a debate about “witchcraft” and science that goes on to this day in academic circles, books, articles, radio and television programs throughout the world. So, I now believe that so-called magic and magicians deserve much more respect. What about you, dear reader?
Roger Churnside is an economist and professor emeritus at the University of Costa Rica as well as minister of the Anglican-Episcopal Church El Buen Pastor in San José. He is a regular contributor to several publications, including the opinion page of the daily La Nación.
