Religio-Magical Phenomena and Power, Prediction, and Control

Author(s): David F. Aberle

Source: Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Autumn, 1966), pp. 221-230
Published by: University of New Mexico
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 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL
OF ANTHROPOLOGY
VOLUME 22 * NUMBER 3 * AUTUMN * 1966

RELIGIO-MAGICALPHENOMENA AND POWER,

PREDICTION, AND CONTROL

DAVID F. ABERLE

MANY APPARENTLY DIVERSE TOPICS seemto be unitedby the

factthatthey
relate
tounpredictability andtoefforts
anduncontrollability,
tocopewithunpredictability anduncontrollability.'
Thesetopicsinclude magic,
religion, charisma,mana, and I
divination. suggest thatit is throughtheun-
predictable anduncontrollable thatmanmostexperiences power,whetherin the
worldofnature orofman,thatheendows withpowerthatwhich orthosewho
helphimcopewiththehelplessness thatresultsfrom theseexperiences,
andthat
dueconsideration ofamounts andkindsofunpredictability anduncontrollability
mayhelpto ordera variety of beliefs
andactsrelating to supernatural
power.2
Thispaperwillbeginwithmagicandreligion, dealwithcharisma in morede-
tail,andturnbriefly to othertopicssuchas manaanddivination.
The relationship between theuse of magicand theunpredictable and un-
controllable wassetforthbyMalinowski, in hisfamous of
example lagoonand
sea
deep fishing (Malinowski 1948: esp.13-14; cf. also Parsons1949:57).For
present purposeswe will
follow in
Levy defining magic as the useofnon-empirical
1 Thispaperis a revision
ofonereadat theAmerican Association
Anthropological Annual
Meetingsin Detroit,November, 1964.I am gratefulto KathleenGoughAberleand Ray
Hymanforhelpful discussions.
2 Although thispaperdoesnottakea position fullycongruentwithSwanson(1960), it
was stimulatedby Swanson'sconcernwiththe experiencingof purposein sociallife,by his
treatmentofmanaandspirits,andbyhisconceptionof"primordialandconstitutionalstructures"
(Swanson 1960:esp.1-31,61-64,220-221).Swansonappearstoconsiderthatall experiencing
of
supernaturederives
fromsocialexperience
(Swanson1960:esp. 17-18),whereas I allowforthe
thatexperience
possibility withthe naturalworld-specificallywithhumanly un-
significant
and unpredictability-may
controllability also generate
conceptionsof supernature.LikeSwan-
son,I acknowledgean extensive
indebtedness
to Durkheim(1947). ThispaperalsoechoesRad-
cliffe-Brown
(1952) ondependence.
221

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222 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

meanstoward empirical ends(Levy1952:243-244), andwillfollow Malinowski,

Parsons, andLevyintheassumption thatmagictendstobe usedwhere empirical
knowledge provides inadequate techniques ofprediction andcontrol, withrespect
to significant features of humanlife.Thatis,notevery unpredictable andun-
controllable eventwillbe enveloped in magicalaction,because, varying from
culture toculture, theoutcome ofsomeevents may have minimal significance for
human affairs.3
The relationship between religiousactionand theunpredictable anduncon-
trollable is notso immediately evident.We willuseLevy'sdefinition of religious
actionas actionimmediately oriented to ultimate ends,whichis to sayto ends
no
requiring justification but heldto be good in and ofthemselves, likeharmony,
the
salvation, goodlife, and Nirvana (Levy1952:244). Often in generalor
specific of
analyses religious ritualwe are told that it underscores the morality
ofthesociety oraffirms thesolidarityofthegroup.Suchstatements maywellbe
correct,buta slight rephrasingofLevy'sdefinition brings outsomecommonalities
between magic as defined and religionas defined. Religious ritualdealswiththe
discrepancy between thenormative and the actual. Not only itrequire
does effort
toliveup tothemoralcodeofanysociety, butthere isnosociety inwhich viola-
tionsofthemoralcodearenotfoundfrom timetotime(seeParsons1937:298,
396,467,719,andesp.409-450, ontheroleofeffort). Theseviolations, too,fall
intotherealm ofwhatis unpredictable anduncontrollable. Thusreligious action
to
attemptscope with thegap between the existentialand normative in the realm
ofthemoralcode,whereas magicattempts, for the most to
part, cope with this
gap in the realm of nature.This of
distinction,course, is not absolutely sharp.
Mostmagicdealswithefforts to attaingoodweather, goodcrops, health, good
catches offish, safety ontheseas,andsoon.Blackmagic, initsattempts toinjure
orkillpeople, stillfallswithintheareaofnature. Thereis,however, somemagic
thatattempts to influence thebehavior of otherhumanbeings-tomakethem
fallin loveandto makethemgenerous in trading or reckless in gambling, for
example. And some ritual
religious does not so much attempt to close thegap
between thenormative andtheactualin humanaffairs, as to explain it away-
as, forexample, byexplaining theevilof theworldbyreference to thedecrees
ofaninscrutable god.
To return to thecommon features of religion andmagic,it is notso much
thatan ancestor cult"underscores" thesanctity oftheancestors, theimportance
ofworshipping them, and the solidarityof members of the kinship unit,as it is
3 The outstanding ofMalinowski's
application ofmagicis thatofVogtandHyman
theory
(1959). It maywellbe thesoleeffort
at empirical forMalinowski's
support as well.It
theory
is an extraordinary
pieceofwork.

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 RELIGIO-MAGICAL PHENOMENA 223

thatthecultattempts tocopewiththeperpetual conflicts,smallandlarge,that

inevitablyfeaturelife within the supposedly solidary monolithic
and kinship
unit.Likemagic, then, religiondeals with what is uncertain anduncontrollable.
We nextexamine therealmof charisma fromthepointof viewof unpre-
and For
dictability uncontrollability.present purposes, we willdefine charisma,
in itsmostgeneral sense,as a of
specialgift occupants of offices or of other
personsthatis notbasedsolelyon training or experience.' (Of course, it is a
"specialgift"from the point of view of the actors in the system and not neces-
sarilyfrom thepoint of view of the observer.) Whenever are
persons regarded
as havingsupernatural power, then,theyare to be regarded as endowed with
charisma,althoughthere are other stylesof charisma as well. On the other hand,
ifthesupernaturalpowerinheres solelyintheprocedures theyuseandcouldbe
foranyonewholearned
equallyeffective thoseprocedures, thepractitioners do
In
nothavecharisma. moregeneral terms, to the degree that the power resides
inthetechniques,charisma is diminished; tothedegree thatit resides intheper-
sonortheoccupant ofan office, is
charisma magnified. But it is not onlythose
whoarebelieved to possesssupernatural powerwhohavecharisma. Thosere-
gardedas havingspecialskillsthattheycannotcommunicate to otherswho
lackthe"gift"are, tautologically, butimportantly, endowed withcharisma:
champion athletes,
champion chessplayers, thosewhoknowthemysteries ofcer-
taincrafts,thosecapableof specialmental states,leadersof massmovements,
andmany otherswithspecialendowments.
Letus beginwiththecharismatic leaderas delineated byWeberandmove
to charismaofoffice.The charismatic leaderis an anti-traditionalist, arisingun-
dercrisisconditions.His authority is,in Weber'sphrase, "foreign to all rules"
(Weber1947:361).In onesense, therefore, heisa source ofunpredictability and
to
uncontrollability his followers. In another, however, he is the reducer of
the
ambiguity, wellspring of action in situations of unpredictability, the clarifier
ofaims,andso on.He reduces ambiguity inseveral senses.Purecharismatic lead-
ersarisewhereold interpretations havelosttheirvitality and wherenewones
eitherhavenotemerged or havenotbeenenunciated to disturbed peoplein
meaningful terms.The charismatic leader, in touch with the higherrealities,
knowing thewillofthesupernatural orthedrift ofhistory, vivifies andclarifies
4 Cf. Weber1946:245,1947:358-359; 1963:2.My phrasing is, in manyrespects,similar
to all ofthese,andclosest
to Weber(1947): "The term'charisma' willbe appliedto a certain
qualityof an individual byvirtue
personality of whichhe is setapartfromordinary menand
treated as endowed withsupernatural,
superhuman,or at leastspecifically
exceptional
powers or
qualities."The otherdefinitions morethetreatment
emphasize of thecharismatically
endowed as
deriving their
giftsfrom forces.
supernatural

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224 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

existingnewinterpretations ofthesituation orputsforth hisownnovelinterpre-

tations.Moreimportant, insituations where empirical knowledge doesnotprovide
criteriatotellwhether actionneedstobetakenornot,whether itwillsucceed or
fail,whenit shouldbe undertaken, howmanypeople,andwhichones,should
act-in thesesituations thecharismatic leaderreduces uncertainty bybeingwill-
ing to declare for or
acting waiting, a and
bysettingdate, byissuing orders."
As Weberrepeatedly pointed out, the leader must succeed a part thetime
of
to retain charisma. To restate, a purecharismatic leaderoperates in a rule-less
situation.It is notso muchthatit is rule-less becausehe is charismatic, as that
heis charismatic because itis rule-less."He is thesource ofunpredictability and
uncontrollability and the reducer of both for his followers, perceive as
who him
a power on thisaccount-solongas he is at leastpartly successful.
Although Weber's name is commonly associated withthe concept ofthepure
charismatic leader, he also thought of charisma as an aspect of all authorityand
notmerely as a specialtypeof authority. ThusParsonsfindsthatforWeber,
"allauthority hasa charismatic basisinsomeform"(Parsons inWeber1947:76).
We willfollow thiselement inWeber'sthought andmaintain thatcharisma, as
defined here, is attributed to persons holding offices; and,specifically,we will
arguethatthelesstheoffice-holder is boundbyrules, thelarger thescopeofhis
arbitrary the
decisions, greater the charisma. The charisma of with
office-holders
authority approaches zero when there is a clearly specifiedrulefor every situation
thatmayconfront thedecision maker-when theonlydecisions he mustmake
arethosethatresult inclassifying individuals, actions,orsituations as fallinginto
oneof a setof categories, withrulesas wellas to whathe mustdo afterthe
hasbeenmade.Sinceinfactitis impossible
classification todevisea perfect rule
book,thereis someinherent arbitrariness, and hencecharisma, in everyoffice
where there is power overother persons, butitoften reaches thevanishing point.
Thisnotion oftherelationship ofcharisma toarbitrariness inwhatWeberwould
callrational-legal andtraditional structures leadstotheexpectation that-asex-
amples-theKabakaof Ugandain theearly19thCentury wouldhavemore
charisma thanElizabeth I of Englandin thelate 16thCentury, andthatthe
charisma ofthepresident ofa smalluniversity withnostandardized proceduresof
operation wouldbegreater thanthatofthepresident ofa largeandwell-bureau-
cratized university,allowing in bothexamples fora modicum of successin the
5 Whentheheroof F. ScottFitzgerald'sThe LastTycoonwasaskedto explain therole
of theleader,he responded, bysayingthattheleaderwas theonewhowouldmake
in effect,
whentherewereno rational
a decision groundsforchoosing
between alternatives
(Fitzgerald
1941:19,121).
6 That is notto saythatanyonecanbecome a charismatic
leaderin a rule-less
situation,
butthatcrisissituations newrulesalsorequire
requiring charismatic
leaders.

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 RELIGIO-MAGICALPHENOMENA 225

operations of thekingdoms and universities in question. The testing of this

has its
hypothesis complications. For officeswith similar amounts of authority, we
expect those leastbound by rules to have the greatest charisma attached to their
occupants.
On theotherhand,if thescopeof arbitrariness appliesto relatively petty
we
affairs, expect little
relatively charisma: charisma varies withtheamount of
authority as well as withthe amount of arbitrariness. Probably, however, pro-
videdthatsuperordinates havesomedegreeof control overthelabor,income,
andproperty ofsubordinates, thevariability is greater byreasonofarbitrariness
thanbyreasonofscopeofauthority. We might therefore expect thattheheads
of somechiefdoms andsimple statesmight havemorecharisma thantheheads
of someelaborated and thattheheadsof relatively
states, newsystems might
havemorethantheheadsofrelatively traditionalized orbureaucratized systems.
It is interesting thatWeberspeaksofmana,insofar as it inheres in persons,
as nothing morenorlessthancharisma, inhisdefinition ofbothterms. Whether
or notWeberintended charismatic office-holders to be possessors of mana,7 it
willbe arguedherethatmana--disembodied andimpersonal supernatural power
-when attached to personsoroffices, is charisma, andoffice-holders believed to
holdsupernatural powerhavemanaandarecharismatic. The greater thesuper-
natural power, bydefinition, thegreater thecharisma. (It shouldbe notedthat
in somecasesthecharismatically significant office-holder is thesymbol of the
state,whereas theexecutive powers areactually vestedin a council. This com-
plicatesbutdoesnotradically alterthepropositions advanced here.If thesym-
bolicfigure isregarded byhisordinary followers as theoriginator ofthedecisions,
wewouldexpect hischarisma tobecorrespondingly great. If he is seenas symbol,
andthecouncil as theactualoriginator, hischarisma shouldbe correspondingly
diminished.) Although Weber'sdiscussion ofpurecharisma emphasizes itssuper-
natural validation, my definition doesnot. Possessors of supernatural powerare,
by definition, charismatic,but charisma is also found in positions and in cultural
traditions wheresupernatural in
power any usual sense is weak or absent: in
modern, highly secularstructures. I would prefer to restrict the term "mana" to
instances involving supernatural power.
7 " . . . Not everystonecan serveas a . .. sourceof magicalpower.Nor does every
person havethecapacity toachieve
theecstaticstateswhichareviewed. . . as thepreconditions
forproducing certain
effects
in meteorology,
healing, and telepathy.
divination, It is primarily
-
... theseextraordinarypowersthathavebeendesignated by suchspecialtermsas 'mana,'
'orenda,'andtheIranian'maga'.... We shallhenceforth employ theterm'charisma' forsuch
extraordinary powers"(Weber1963:2).It is notclearwhether Weberalsoviewed thecharisma
of office-holders
as identical
withmana,buthis comments on Polynesian "charismatic princes"
at leastsuggestthisview(Weber1963:38).

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226 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Examplesare againappropriate. Sahlins(1958) has shownthat,with

minor themana-taboo
exceptions, complex ofchiefsvariesdirectly withthepower
of thechief.His analysis of Polynesian poweralso clearly indicates thatthe
chief'spoweris likelyto be manifested in arbitraryand oftensuddenactions,
rather thanin elaborate codesand bureaucratized procedures. The arbitrary
actionsoftheEastAfrican kingshaveoften beena matter ofcomment forearly
European observersand foranthropologists, and thesesamekingsare clearly
imbued withan elaborate mana-taboo complex."
In secular,modem systems, thecharismatic is not,in anyliteral
office-holder
sense,endowed withmanaora mana-taboo complex,although certain analogues
canbe found:in somecases,andin somecontexts, avoidance of physical con-
tactwiththeoffice-holder; in others,
effortsat physicalcontact; souvenir-hunt-
ing;andiconophilia. Moreimportant, however, thecharisma of officeappears
in attributions
of near-perfect wisdom, love,majesty, etc.,to thesefigures. It
shouldbe notedthatcharisma is onlyin parta product of theamountof
arbitrarydecision-makingprovided forinparticular structures.
political It inheres
inpartinthesituations thatthesestructures confront.Otherthings beingequal,
systems thatfacestableand familiar situations
do notrequire innovating deci-
sionstothedegree thatisrequired forsystems thatconfront situationsofchange.
Hence,evenoffice-holders inhighlybureaucratizedortraditionalized systems may
findscopeforjudgment anddecisions notboundbyrulesinsofar as theymust
copewithnewsituations. In thiswaytheymayincrease theircharisma, if they
seizetheoccasion.
Weberinsisted thatcharisma was a value-freeterm.I am usingit as a
neutral one.We mayspeakofpositive charisma whenthecharismatic person or
is valuedby thosewhoendowhimwithcharisma,
office-holder and negative
charisma whenhe is disvalued. Thus,charismatic headsof modemstatesare
positivelyvalued bymanypersons within the state,butnegatively valuedby
somealienated people within thestateand by members of another state whofeel
threatened bythefirststate.Sucha negatively valuedfigure be
may described,
metaphoricallyorliterally,bythosewhoopposehim,inquasi-religious terms: as
a livingembodiment of theanti-Christ, theDevilhimself,
devilish, or as a pre-
ternaturally or diabolically
clever, clever,enemy. Hitleris a casein point,but
8 Although "In thefieldof publicritual,
Mairsaysspecifically, theGandakingappears
almostas a secular
monarch fortheupkeepof an established
responsible church"(1962:221),
shealsocomments,proposthegrowth of seculargovernment,"it is also interesting,
though
notperhaps ,a thattheritualof kingship
surprising, is more,notless,elaborate wheretheking
is theheadofa state"(1962:232).

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 RELIGIO-MAGICALPHENOMENA 227

therearemanyother instances. Interestingly andparenthetically, it is as difficult

topersuade theopponents ofsucha manthathelacksnegative charisma, thathe
is reallystupidand blundering, notfiendishly clever, as it is to persuade his
proponents that he lacks positivecharisma, thathe is really dishonest and short-
sighted, notfaithful andwise.9
The following propositions emerge fromthisconsideration of charisma of
office.(1) Bydefinition, charisma is associated withanyoffice notwholly bound
byrules, andnooffice canbewholly boundbyrules.(2) Thevariation, however,
is fromalmost no charisma to a greatdeal. (3) Charisma variesdirectly with
unpredictability and directly withpower.Office-holders are, withincertain
limits, uncontrollable becausetheyhavepower.(4) Becausemanychiefdoms
and proto- and primitive stateshavea rather widerangeof arbitrariness for
theirheads,thereis oftenmorecharisma invested in suchoffices thanin the
similar officesofmoretraditionalized andbureaucratized orders in largerstates.
(5) This,rather thanthetendency ofsupernatural power tocompensate forrela-
tiveweakness ofnatural power, mayaccount fortheelaboration ofsupernatural
power inchiefdoms, proto-states,primitive and,forthatmatter,
states, someofthe
greatagrarian empires. (6) Variation in thesituation thatconfronts a system
alsooperates tocreate variationinthecharisma ofoffice-holders. (7) Insofar as
charisma is viewed as supernaturally based,it is identical withmanainsofar as
manainheres inpersons. (8) As in the case of and
religion magic, charisma takes
us intotherealmofuncertainty anduncertainty reduction.
We turnnowto a different topic: the use of whatis reallyunpredictable
and uncontrollable, buttrival, to copewithwhatis reallyunpredictable and
but
uncontrollable,important. This is particularly true in the realm of divina-
tion,whether it involves "finding out"whathashappened butwasunwitnessed
the
(e.g., finding of lostobjects), or the foretellingof future events. Omensare
of thischaracter: birdsflying, black
thunder, cats, many and other things are
trivialandunpredictable, buttheyprovide graveportent of events to come. It is
ofinterest, however, that not only the external and unpredictable and uncontrol-
lable,buttheinternal andunpredictable anduncontrollable eventis usedtothis
end.Sneezes,hiccups, ear noises,evenflatulence, eructation, and erection are
usedas omens invarious cultures.So aredreams, and
fits, trances, the latter un-
predictable and uncontrollable fortheordinary man,whether or nottheyare
forthevirtuoso. The variousdrugstatesthathavebeenusedfordivinatory
purposes sharethecharacteristic thatthedrugexperience is notpredictable, as
usersofdaturaandpeyote willtestify. I suggest thatthere is a "power" inthese
9 I amindebted
toAlbert
C. Spaulding
fordiscussions
onthispoint.

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228 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

things becausetheycannot be constrained-that unpredictability anduncontrol-

are
lability power. We find them, in culture after culture, certainlyin ourown
culture for
except hyper-rational beings,used to give us clues about other, more
important, butunknown events: why am I sick, who is bewitching me, what will
in
happen mymilitary campaign, will the stock market go up or down?
In thisconnection wemight notethatin manycultures theveryluckytake
ona positive charisma, and the a
veryunluckynegative charisma.
If wereturn to divination, it might be expected thatthosewhodivinewill
be charismatic becausetheyreduceuncertainty bymanipulating uncertainty. It
is notthatsimple. To the degree that the is
manipulation gift a of the person,
as in thecaseoftrance orvision, ortheinterpretation of complex patterns-of
dreams, entrails,cracksin scapulae,and so on, to thatdegreethesepersons
havecharisma, bydefinition. Wherethemanipulation of uncertaintyinheres in
theevent ortechnique, as inthrowing dice,poisoning chickens, etc.,theuserdoes
nothavecharisma. Indeed,sometimes theuserneednotbe a specialist at all if
thetechnique provides sufficient unpredictability andtheinterpretation is suffi-
ciently simple, as in theAzandepoisoned fowloracle(Evans-Pritchard 1937).
And wherelearnedtechniques are efficacious in thehandsof whoever learns
them, as insomeforms ofweather magic, agricultural magic, andcuring magic,
theusereventhough a specialist,is notcharismatic.
Butif itis thetechnique alonethatis efficacious, thenmanamaybe attached
to it.Thatis thecasefortheAzandepoisonoracleandrubbing board,andto
a veryconsiderable extent fortheapparatus andwordsofNavajochants rather
thanthechanter. Thus,theuncertain events usedfordivination, thetechniques
of divination, and thetechniques of magic-allinvolving unpredictabilityand
uncontrollability,or reduction in and
unpredictabilityuncontrollability, or both-
alsoinvolve mana.Finally, thegodsmaybe implored. If so, thepowerinheres
in thegods,although sometimes a powerful technique or a charismatic figure
mustbe usedtoreachthegods.
Thispaperwillnotattempt tostatetheconditions under which power inheres
in theperson, thetechnique, theevent, orthesupernatural being,nor,reverting
to our earlierdiscussion of charisma, the conditions underwhichwe find
charismatic with
figures supernatural or
power merely secular charismaticfigures.
This papersuggests, that is
then, power experienced through contact with
whatisunpredictable anduncontrollable, andthrough contact withthat which or
thosewhoseemto copewithwhatis unpredictable anduncontrollable. Magicis
a technique usedtotrytoachieve empirical endswhenempirical techniques pro-
videinadequate prediction and control; religion is action that deals with the

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 RELIGIO-MAGICALPHENOMENA 229

inevitable,
unpredictable,anduncontrollable gapbetweenthenormativeandthe
existential
order;charismatic figures are unpredictable,
do thingsotherpeople
cannotdo,andforcedecisions in spiteof lackof information; tech-
divinatory
niquesusetheunpredictable topredict theunpredictable.
Power, and
prediction,
controlareinvolved in all of these.Justas Vogtand Hyman(1959) showed
thatfrequency of water-witching varieswiththeuncertainty water
of striking
at a givenlevel,it shouldbe possibleto showthatvariations in amountof
charismaor in useof magicarecorrelative withamountsandkindsof unpre-
and
dictability uncontrollability. It is in suchvariation
thattheproofof the
advanced
propositions here should be sought.
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230 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGY

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