Fortælling, fortolkning, fortryllelse

I konstruktionen af den kloge som institution har man fra forskerhold vægtlagt det vigtige i miljøets accept af den kloge â at hun eller han betragtes som et menneske med specielle evner. Denne accept hviler på de forestillinger, værdier og normer, som fortælletraditionen omkring den kloge giver udtryk for. Det gælder både det, den kloge selv fortæller, og det, klienterne fortæller om samme kloge. I synet på sundhedsvæsenet som et kulturelt system er det også en herskende idé, at den kloge og den kloges klienter opererer inden for et tankeunivers, der har meget til fælles. I artiklen problematiseres fortælletraditionen omkring den kloge, og der rejses spørgsmål om, i hvilken grad og på hvilken måde den kloges fortællinger genspejler sig i, hvad den samme kloges klienter fortæller. Der lægges vægt på betydningen af, i hvilken situation klienterne opsøger den kloge. Argumentationen tager udgangspunkt i en sammenligning af fortællingerne om tre af den nære samtids store kloge: Anna Elisabeth Westerlund, Marcello Haugen og Joralf Gjerstad

«Men om hun er skyldig, det ved kun Gud i himlen!»

Guilty – not guilty? Through various contemporary genres of fiction, a picture of the historical witch as an innocent victim of superior force and the use of brute force is being conveyed to the general public. In recent decades, monuments and memorials have been raised to honour and exonerate who have been executed as witches. But were they all without guilt? The article raises the question of guilt – not seeing it from the vantage point of witchcraft and sorcery legislation at the time in question, but rather, from beliefs and thought systems of the accused as well as convictions and hesitations brought forth by witnesses. In her discussion, the author stresses the complexity involved in efforts to understand and to prove that a certain event has occurred as a result of witchcraft. Here, the popular perception of what constitutes the normal or the abnormal plays an important role. The discussion draws on folk belief systems relating to magic and to essential features of formation and diffusion of rumours having a bearing on suspicion, accusation and verdict

Getting shot of elves: healing, witchcraft and fairies in the Scottish witchcraft trials

This paper re-examines the evidence of the Scottish witchcraft trials for beliefs associated by scholars with "elf-shot." Some supposed evidence for elf-shot is dismissed, but other material illuminates the interplay between illness, healing and fairy-lore in early modern Scotland, and the relationship of these beliefs to witchcraft itself

Conceptions of the Living Human Soul in the Norwegian Tradition

No abstract availabl

âIkke det bare vand!â Et kulturanalytisk perspektiv på vandets magiske dimension

Departing from a historical perspective, the author discusses a dimension of everyday life that has received little attention in folkloristic literature. She bases her study on archive materials and raises a series of questions relating to folk beliefs concerning water and the meaning of magic water. She explores the question of what, according to folk views, gave water its âstrengthâ, and she looks at how the importance of water as carrier of magical power affected peopleâs relation to nature and their use of water in their various life situations. In her discussion, she considers views about âdangerous waterâ as represented by folk narratives about the river sprite âNøkkenâ and emphasises how magical water was used in the cure of illness. She discusses the water cult tied to holy spring water and to the Western European spa tradition and draws the line up to contemporary conceptions of the magic of water

Alternative medicine in today's society

No abstract availabl