Magic Revisited

It was mentioned that Jagua, a practicing druid, was previously seen as something of a phony; "Everyone pooh-poohed Jagua's druidic philosophy and magic spells" (253), but after casting an apparently-effective spell upon Confidence, he was taken more seriously. Oye had also been revered for her magical abilities, but I hadn't realized that there was as much belief in magic in the Nigerian culture as when the police arrested the two wizards hurling spells at the bulldozer. The fact that the police chief would even consider this to be a possibility is strange to me, because the belief in magic—at least this kind of magic—is so widely dismissed as silly. However, there seems to be a lasting belief in magic in 1980s Nigerian culture that I would not have expected. I know that shamans are widely accepted as legitimate practitioners in many cultures, but there is a difference between the shamanic worldview and pure magic. According to Professor Robert McKinley, a professor of Shamanism  and the Sacred Journey at Michigan State University, a shaman is one who practices "cosmic- or soul-journey," which is a transcendental experience. Instead, Jagua, Oye, and the other practicers of magic cast spells and conduct healing. This is not a criticism; I can certainly see parallels between this kind of magic and various popular religious rituals, but I couldn't help but be surprised.