April 16, 2010
A mist of vague occultism thickened by a persistent drizzle of sentimentality
Gerald’s last post for Curated Secrets alluded to Haitian Voodoo. On the one hand, the public’s Halloween-spiced interest in the syncretic religions of the Caribbean, Gulf Coast, Mexico and Brazil has been shaped by some eight decades of bad B-movies and pulp fiction. At least the 1973 James Bond film “Live and Let Die” had a memorable soundtrack to go with its contrived (and inaccurate) scenes involving snake-handling, fake Voodoo ceremonies and outlandish 70s hairstyles.
On the other hand, the sight of Ivy League scholars lecturing sympathetically on the merits of Voodoo, Santería, Candomblé (Macumba) and the like leaves me scratching my head. I suppose it’s a logical consequence of the fashionable view that all beliefs are equally valid. Perhaps some of these professors need to spend a bit more quality time with the devotees of Santa Muerte, for example, the syncretic faith favored by murderous drug traffickers and robbers in Mexico, which seems to combine imagery familiar to both Grateful Dead fans and “Day of the Dead” observances. The image of their deity (shown above), with its slight aura of the Aztec netherworld, is traditionally given offerings of tequila and beer — and regularly displayed clenching a marijuana joint in the teeth of her skull. Pilgrims are welcome to ask for success in their nefarious pursuits. Perhaps Santa Muerte also provides help with academic tenure?
As the late Walton Hannah put it some years ago:
“This century despite its alleged scientific outlook has seen a remarkable growth of strange irrational sects and religious substitutes… astrology is popular, lucky mascots are booming, episcopi vagantes and charlatan faith-healers multiply. Many weird superstitions flourish. And their very irrationality is almost a source of strength to them, for they are too absurd and often too vaguely nebulous for reasoned criticism, and therefore escape it. It is like exploring a country in an impenetrable fog, made up of a mist of vague occultism thickened by a persistent drizzle of sentimentality.”
On that note, do expect more frequent, even daily blog posts here at Curated Secrets — without specific alerts.
Good article.
Walton Hannah’s list of superstitions can of course be lengthened to include aliens from outerspace, homeopathy, New Ageism, etc.
Why this insatiable need for “woo” in our lives? Looking beyond crass financial gain to be made from convincing others one has some marketable supernatural expertise, I think it boils down to anti-intellectualism and our religious upbringing.
Trained from an early age to believe in transubstantiation, resurrection and praying to unobservable spirits, it is only a small step to graduate to believing in just about any “woo.”
Anti-intellectualism is also a symptom of religious belief. Why is anti-intellectualism so much stronger in the USA than Europe then? I think in the USA many have confused basic American values like equality of rights or opportunity with equality of all opinions!
My dear Stuart, if anti-intellectualism is marked by belief in the irrational, then the non-believer is above all the most anti-intellectual, as he believes in a universe ultimately brought about and maintained by irrational, impersonal forces.