Woman and Magic

In his book " A General Theory of Magic", Marcel Mauss indicates that women "are everywhere recognized as being more prone to magic than men, not so much because of their physical characteristics, but because of the social attitude these characteristics provoke. The critical periods of their life cycle lead to bemusement and apprehension, which place them in a special position. And it is precisely at periods such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth that a woman's attributes reach their greatest intensity. It is usually at such times that women are supposed to provide subjects or act as agents for magical action... However, even outside these critical periods, which occupy a not insignificant part of their life, women are the butt of superstitions and jural and religious taboos, which clearly mark them off as a separate class in society...They are said to be the font of mysterious activities, the sources of magical power. On the other hand, since women are excluded from most religious cults - or if admitted, reduced to a passive role - the only practices left to them on their own initiative are magical ones. The magical attributes of women derive primarily from their social position and consequently are more talked about than real." (p. 35)

YouTube - Witness - The Gypsy Witch - Part 2

In the video clip, "The Gypsy Witch", two young women (Georgia and Diana) sought the assistance of a gypsy witch (Rudika) to fortell their personal relationship future. According to Mauss, women provide subjects for magical actions during the critical periods of their life cycle (puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth). To Georgia and Diana, revealing the future of their current "love" relationship, whether it is the right choice or not, is considered another important aspect in their lives impelling them to pursue Rudika's magical rituals.

In predicting the two young women's relationships future, the gypsy witch performed tarot reading revealing that Georgia had an evil spell cast upon her by another two women and this curse will ruin all her future relationships with men. Diana's current relationship is not the right one and she needs a protective amulet to change her luck.

Tarot Card reading

In order to get rid of the evil curse and to provide Diana with a protective amulet, the gypsy witch asked her to get nine candles, three coins, three flowers of different colors and a pot of honey.This"certain class of objects which appear to be used for their own sakes by virtue of their real or imagined properties, or...because they coincide with the nature of the rite:special animal, plants or stones."(Mauss, p.59) To execute her magical ritual, Rudika picked a mid summer night when she was only allowed to perform love spells at a nearby lake."The time and place of the ritual are strictly prescribed."(Mauss, p.56)

Magical ritual.

During the ritual, the witch lit candles, sacrificed a chicken for each woman and prayed that the blood cleanse the women of all evil spells and offered the chickens to the twelve fairies to get the power to cast away all the black magic (evil spells). In this video clip , the gypsy witch and her helpers( the three women) , Georgia and Diana, reflect Mauss's description of women position in society and their contribution to magical practices as agents and subjects.

Image 1 source: http://i3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/213/288/82/tarotspl.jpg

Image 2 source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_circle