Talk:Obeah and wanga

Last quote
The last quote is too long. Given the length of the article, it exceeds fair use and may open WP to accusation of copyright violation. Please shorten it or rewrite in your own words. -999 21:42, 23 April 2006 (UTC)


 * I believe it was Frater5 who entered that quote in. Have you left a message at his talk page? Catherineyronwode 22:58, 23 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Two years later -- and that last quote is still too long, so i docked it. The portion that remains is sufficient to prove whatever point was being made (if any).  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.142.90.33 (talk) 05:09, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Merge
I'm about to suggest a merge. This page needs to go back into Obeah. There was no actual reason to seperate into another page, seeing as how the the original page was small to begin with, and could use some extra material.

If I get no objections, this page will be redirected back to the original, where it will return from which it came. There is no "real" reason outside the fact that Catherine "feel" its not related. But put simply, if the word is in use by another published writer, it wont be ignored, and goes back to the original page. Zos 08:45, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


 * The page, I think, should stay, as it is a stand-alone page using both terms as it appears in The Book of the Law. So the topic covers the phrase from the book, and not just Obeah data. It could be expanded, but it does have its own place as a separate article. Aleister Wilson (talk) 18:18, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Aleister Crowley and African Magic
Doesn't this page seem to be a little bit leaning toward the "Crowley meant nothing by that" view? Where is NPOV, please?

Aleister Crowley is known for many things. In his Liber 777 he has a comprehensive series of tables of correspondence, where he finds the same supernatural archtypes from many different religious cultures and corresponds them with each other. Crowley made a lifetime study of different forms of magick; European witchcraft, German Ceremonial Magick, Indian Tantric practices, England Freemasonry, Buddhism, Taoism, Shintuism, the list goes on and on.

The one group that is notably left out of all of his work is that of West African, and African Diasporic traditions. He spent time in Egpyt and the Sahara, but still I can find very little actual reference to the systems of the Africans. This could simply be because he was racist, as this was the early 1900's and he is known for his character flaws.

There are two references in his work that point directly to African Magic, and I am forced to wonder if he ever understood what they meant. These are both from Liber Al Vel Legis, or The Book of the Law, which is to this day the holiest book of Thelema. Crowley claims that this was a text which was spoken to him by a higher intelligence that he then transcribed letter for letter: Liber Al I,37:" Also the mantras and the spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand and the work of the sword; these he shall learn and teach."

Crowley indeed spent much of his life "learning and teaching" the "work of the wand and the work of the sword." What what is this obeah and wanga? Obeah specifically refers to an African healing charm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obeah) but that was not very widely known in Crowley's time. Wanga has a similarly obscure meaniing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojo). When reflecting on this Crowley in his Confessions says.

"The obeah is the magick of the Secret Light with special reference to acts; the wanga is the verbal or mental correspondence of the same. [...] The "obeah" being the acts, and the "wanga" the words, proper to Magick, the two cover the whole world of external expression."

This is a pretty weak explanation and typical of his ass-covering. But this is only one of a few other key correspondences between Thelema and West African religion, particularly Ifa.

In the introduction to Liber Al Vel Legis Crowley writes: "This book explains the Universe. The elements are Nuit-Space-that is, the total of possibilities of every kind-and Hadit, any point which has experience of possibilities. Every event is a uniting of some one monad with one of the experiences possible to it."

He later elaborates more to explain that Hadit is light, while Nuit is dark, Hadit is the circle without circumference and hadit is the center, etc.

Awo Fa'Lokun Fatunmbi writes in Ifa and the Theology of Ifa divination: "Most systems of metaphysics are based on the belief that the primal polarity that sustains the physical universe is the tension between expansion and contraction. In Ifa this polarity is usually described as the relationship between darkness and light."

There is a lot more to this, but I am feeling lazy so I will just give these few examples.

Now besides Liber Al vel Legis, Crowley's theory of initiation centered around the initiate gaining "Knowledge of and conversation with their Holy Guardian Angel." The Holy Guardian Angel is envisioned as some sort of higher self who, once you can talk to them, can give you magic information and powers and neat stuff like that. The method Crowley used to gain his level of initiation was taken directly from The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage and requires the participant to stay secluded for 9 month and do a series of rituals, baths, and prayers every day and such.

Today in modern day African Diasporic Religons, and for thousands of years in Africa in one form or another; the first goal of each participant is to discover which "Orisha" or archtypal diety is the particular guardian of their head. Once that is discovered they go on to be "Crowned with their Orisha," which means elaborate rituals and up to a year seclution, while the participant learns to hear and communicate with their diety. This involves prayers and baths etc. Sound like the same thing to me.

Chapter 3 of Liber Al mentions blood sacrifice. I have yet to meet a Thelamite who made a blood sacrifice except menses, personal, or semen(which is sometimes called white blood), although the Africans have been for a long time. Yes the connections between African magic and Thelema are thick and this is just the begining. But why shouldn't they be? Crowley was incredibly inspired by Egypt...68.2.222.77 (talk) 03:23, 28 January 2008 (UTC)Barrett Brown
 * Enjoyable essay here. Thanks. Aleister Wilson (talk) 18:24, 4 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Very interesting but still a lot of original research unless you have published sources to verify these linkages. --Smcg8374 (talk) 13:13, 14 February 2012 (UTC)