Book
Good magic in Ovambo
Suomen Antropologinen Seura • (33) • Published In 1993 • Pages: 234
By: Hiltunen, Maija.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This description of traditional Ovambo magical practices and related rituals focuses on a category of good magic spells and divinations believed to protect individuals, households and communities from human witches, malevolent ancestral spirits, and related evil forces. These supernatural powers were presumed particularly potent during seasonal communal rituals and major life cycle events such as childbirth, initiation rituals, weddings, and burials. Prior to the advent of Christianity, Ovambo household heads and clan leaders sought to minimize this vulnerability by consulting magicians and diviners for protective amulets, counter-spells, purification rituals, and medicinal potions. The spread of Christianity brought alternative ways of understanding and addressing these threats, leading to a substantial decline in the relevance of both traditional magical practices and diviners.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Pharmaceuticals
- Special deposits
- Dwellings
- Cult of the dead
- Religious practices
- Magicians and diviners
- Ethnometeorology
- Ethnopsychology
- Difficult and unusual births
- Transmission of beliefs
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Ovambo
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Missionary
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2021
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1958-1962; 1971-1975
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1870-1932
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- north-central Namibia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Maija Hiltunen
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 230-233)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 93196955
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Ovambo (African people)--Rites and ceremonies
- Ovambo (African people)--Religion
- Magic--Namibia--Owambo
- Sorcery--Namibia--Owambo
- Owambo (Namibia)--Religion