Do you believe in black magic?

[blacknight]

A friend of mine passed away tonight. The doctors said he death was sudden, and the culture here doesnt allow for autopsies. At the funeral, the family was rumouring it might have been a jilted lover or someone who poisoned her. Then the husband said it was probably 'black magic.' She was cursed?)
I know science has a lot of things that cant be explained...

But what kind of weird harmful 'magic' have you encountered?

[brokenikon]

I used to be based in a remote Aboriginal community, and they had a strong belief in black magic, usually around when somebody died. For instance, a fatal rollover would be the cause of problems in the community for months, because somebody cursed the driver. I couldn't point out that maybe the drunk and stoned driver in the sh*t car with it's sh*t wheels on the sh*t dirt road might just have something to do with it, not black magic, because that would be just plain silly. Clearly black magic was the culprit here.
Or the amazing time when the community got mobile phone coverage, and evil spirits started calling the girls saying they were going to do evil things to them. Very patient evil spirits mind you, must have been hanging out for ages for someone to stroll into the community with mobile reception so they could finally strike and unleash their evil upon the world. Provided they had phone credit.
Or, the incredible storm rock, which if people touched would guarantee rain and storms, and usually some fool would touch it, right about this time of year up here. Spooky, right?
These are just some of my encounters with the supernatural world, and if you can't pick up where I stand on the issue from what I've written...it's because I've put a spell on you. Obviously.

[acarmody]

I believe in Black Magic, I've heard shit disappears in Darwin all the time.

[AirStrike]

A friend of mine passed away tonight. The doctors said he death was sudden, and the culture here doesnt allow for autopsies. At the funeral, the family was rumouring it might have been a jilted lover or someone who poisoned her. Then the husband said it was probably 'black magic.' She was cursed?)
I know science has a lot of things that cant be explained...

But what kind of weird harmful 'magic' have you encountered?

So you claim that science can't explain lots of things, but you state that the culture here doesn't allow autopsies (where is here?). So it's not that science can't explain lot's of things rather that black magic fruit cakes don't give it a chance.

[CSP]

Any magic performed by a black magician is black magic? I believe in it - here's proof!

[vr94ss]

A friend of mine passed away tonight. The doctors said he death was sudden, and the culture here doesnt allow for autopsies. At the funeral, the family was rumouring it might have been a jilted lover or someone who poisoned her. Then the husband said it was probably 'black magic.' She was cursed?)
I know science has a lot of things that cant be explained...

But what kind of weird harmful 'magic' have you encountered?

Never encountered any black magic, white magic, god magic(miracles) or any other kind. I have encountered many very superstitious people who think they have. A decent education would probably cure them, unless they have a psychotic mental disorder of some sort, just as religiosity, another superstitious load of crap, falls with the more education you have. Science provides knowledge, superstition provides speculation and fear.

[DerekP]

Firstly I'm really sorry that you lost your friend, very sad.

Personally I am not a believer of black magic, or any sort of magic - all smoke and mirrors with no scientific basis IMO.

Take it easy.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

It's funny how many people dismiss this type of belief.

The human mind is a powerful thing, in many cultures where a belief system is so strong and ingrained from a very young age, black magic, voodoo, and many other types of unexplained phenomena does exist.....to a point.

If you have such beliefs, and someone put a "curse" on you, your mind would make it very real. Take so called miracle cures. The mind plays a huge part in curing the body. You hear stories of people having uncurable cancer and other illnesses that just disappear. A lot of people may be very positive and really try to get through a terminal illness, but the word "cancer" can work the opposite way. You may believe that the treatment you are getting will fix you, but subconciously, as soon as you hear the word cancer you think "shit, I'm going to die". Where as other people really believe that they will be cured and have some sort of alternative treatment. This may just be a placebo physically, but mentally, the mind believes it will work so it does.

Same thing with voodoo and black magic, if a person's belief in it is strong enough, they can make the curse a reality. And I'm not talking about what you see on TV, like the movie Thinner, I don't believe a curse can be put on a person without their knowledge. That is the whole point of a curse, you do it to their face to make them fear it.

Education can't cure generations of culture and a deep seated belief system. Many people do things out of custom, but a lot of them actually really believe what they are doing. This is what makes it very real in their minds.

[vr94ss]

It's funny how many people dismiss this type of belief.

The human mind is a powerful thing, in many cultures where a belief system is so strong and ingrained from a very young age, black magic, voodoo, and many other types of unexplained phenomena does exist.....to a point.

If you have such beliefs, and someone put a "curse" on you, your mind would make it very real. Take so called miracle cures. The mind plays a huge part in curing the body. You hear stories of people having uncurable cancer and other illnesses that just disappear. A lot of people may be very positive and really try to get through a terminal illness, but the word "cancer" can work the opposite way. You may believe that the treatment you are getting will fix you, but subconciously, as soon as you hear the word cancer you think "shit, I'm going to die". Where as other people really believe that they will be cured and have some sort of alternative treatment. This may just be a placebo physically, but mentally, the mind believes it will work so it does.

Same thing with voodoo and black magic, if a person's belief in it is strong enough, they can make the curse a reality. And I'm not talking about what you see on TV, like the movie Thinner, I don't believe a curse can be put on a person without their knowledge. That is the whole point of a curse, you do it to their face to make them fear it.

Education can't cure generations of culture and a deep seated belief system. Many people do things out of custom, but a lot of them actually really believe what they are doing. This is what makes it very real in their minds.

I understand what you are saying but even in these circumstances it isn't real no matter how much someone believes it is. You can point a bone at me all day long and it isn't going to do anything. That shows that it's just the superstitious delusions in the believers mind that does the damage, not that evil eye, bone pointing etc works. I'm not dismissing the beliefs, I know people hold them, I'm saying there is no logical reason to hold them and no logical reason for me to pretend there is.

edit: Education is the only thing that has a chance at curing these types of beliefs.

[Grennan]

Yeah Ive done a lot of reading on it and from what I gather from a lot of people its not magic as such, its more the human mind be coerced into a certain belief.

Its almost like...positive and negative thinking. If the victim is open minded and is inclined to believe in a curse then a person can put one on them. However if they are strong willed and are not open to that belief, it wont work. However there are a lot pf people out there who believe in the traditional form of magic.

If youve ever seen something like a love ritual, its not weird incantations and locks of your would be targets hair. Its almost meditation and I believe its more of a...confidence boost, rather than a spell. It gives some people that extra kick of confidence needed to go up and talk to someone you fancy etc.

Black magic is just someone making you believe that harm will come to you. Youre always looking over your shoulder almost looking for something to go wrong.

Its not something I personally believe in, however I do know a lot of people that do. Its quite interesting to look at.

[Trayner]

No such thing as magic , miracles and god and so on , all made up to make people believe in nonsense

The only black magic is when Kobe gets a 3 point in :P

[Stressball]

Miracle curse that "work" are placebo effects, or pure coincidence. Like homeopathy. How badly do you need to be clutching at straws to believe that drinking water with the right molecules in it (since water supposedly has 'memory', never mind that physics as we know them completely obliterates this concept) can cure you of anything and everything? Particularly since they're diluted hundreds upon hundreds of times. For example, say a 100c solution, is 1 part active ingredient to 99 parts water. Then they take one drop of that solution, and dilute it 1 part to 99 parts. Then they repeat 98 more times. There's not even a single molecule of the 'active ingredient' left in it by the time you drink it.

But, back on topic

Seeing 'proof' of a curse is like seeing Jesus in burnt toast. You're looking for something that isn't there, and since the brain is pretty much a resource hungry pattern-recognition centre, it will find patterns where they do not exist. It's extremely intelligent, but to maximise resources it takes shortcuts and fills in the blanks. Damn Interesting • Chuck Bonnet and the Hallucinations

It is worth noting that the human brain already has significant talent in dealing with partial blindness. Every human eye has a blind spot where the optic nerve passes through the retina, and the visual cortex automatically fills in these blind spots by extrapolating what should be there based on the surrounding detail. Since a person’s two blind spots do not overlap, the brain can also cross-reference the eye data when both eyes are active. In gradual-onset blindness, it is possible that these brain pathways attempt to fill in the new obscured areas. Since the eyes are sending reduced amounts of data with a greater frequency of errors, the visual cortex may produce more and more outlandish guesses.

You can indirectly perceive your own blind spot by using the image below. Simply sit close to your screen with your right eye covered, and focus on the word “Interesting.” Maintain that focus while slowly moving away from the screen, and at a particular distance the logo will disappear although the blue lines and the word “Damn” will still be visible. If you change your gaze, the logo will no longer be in the blind spot, and it will reappear.

This page illustrates and explains the concept very well; how the brain takes shortcuts. In the same way that the brain fills in the blind spot on your eye, it fills in gaps in the area where it detects patterns. To see 'proof' of a curse is to accredit irrelevant factors to the curse, rather than logically considering them to have been X in Y chance of happening and therefore, reasonable to assume is unrelated. Patterns are everywhere; if you want them to be.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

i don't really believe in it, having said that i have participated in some rituals. mostly just as a learning experience.

[blacknight]

I just returned from her funeral and the household is very quiet about this. She's 42 with 3 kids and a loving husband. but for the life of me, I'm not sure why they took the time to burn all her clothes and photographs. Maybe somekind of superstition. anyway, life goes on...

[sik_dose]

Petrol and weed will make you see/ think some crazy sh1t. Pull the bowzer out of your nose and all of a suden the dream time wont seem so believable.

[Smitty]

everyone can believe what they want (its a free country)
but in my case

...bollocks

[sik_dose]

Coolest black magic trick i have ever seen is the disapearing long neck. As soon as its in the brown paper bag its invisible.

[vr94ss]

I've always been partial to the "you wanna see an elephant?" trick. Or the "you wanna see my sunburn?" I admit that's a bit juvenile but I still try and pull them on the wife every now and then.

Is that magic? Nah, practical joke.. Bugger. It feels magic, does that count?

[Powerbait]

You say the culture doesnt allow an autopsy?

Is this in Australia? If so where abouts? And what race of people are we talking about?

Cheers Davo.

[Rusty]

This is the only black magic I believe in:


I see black magic as a type of placebo. It will affect those who allow themselves to be affected by it.

[RiCeY]

I believe in black magic, its in my avatar.

[turmoil117]

We use a substance called black magic at work to loosen rusted on nuts and bolts...

[Kunu]

If you've ever seen something like a love ritual, its not weird incantations and locks of your would be targets hair. Its almost meditation and I believe its more of a...confidence boost, rather than a spell. It gives some people that extra kick of confidence needed to go up and talk to someone you fancy etc..

damn i thought we just called that alcohol : )

[Jecs]

The only black magic is when Kobe gets a 3 point in :P

and best comment of thread goes to

....TRAYNER!

[Trayner]

and best comment of thread goes to

....TRAYNER!

haha you know it