Examining the Symbolism in Brahmin Witchcraft

The concept of Brahmin witchcraft transition refers to the evolution and transformation of witchcraft practices within the Brahmin community in India. Brahmins, who are the highest caste in Hindu society traditionally, have been associated with priestly roles and the performance of rituals. However, they have also been known to practice witchcraft. In the ancient texts of Hinduism, such as the Atharva Veda, there are references to the use of magical spells and rituals by Brahmins. These practices were seen as a means to harness supernatural powers to protect and defend against evil forces. Over time, these practices evolved and changed, incorporating new elements and techniques.

Over time, these practices evolved and changed, incorporating new elements and techniques. One aspect of the transition of Brahmin witchcraft is the integration of tantric practices. Tantra, a mystical tradition within Hinduism, involves the use of rituals, mantras, and symbolic gestures to achieve spiritual transformation.

Subaltern Vegetarianism: Witchcraft, Embodiment and Sociality in Central India

“…In addition to the strict emphasis on monotheism, Mahanubhav religion also requires followers to give up alcohol and meat. Particularly given the low-caste composition of the followers, and the sect's historical opposition to ritualistic Brahmanism, this practice of "subaltern vegetarianism" (Desai, 2008) is interesting.…”

A space to “eat, trance, and sleep”: the healing power of Mahanubhav temples in Maharashtra (India)

This paper explores the effectiveness of religious healing by focusing on one important factor that has been much neglected -the stay within the shrine. Drawing on qualitative research in Mahanubhav temples in India, this paper emphasises that the central part of religious healing is the process of being in the temple and becoming familiar with shrine culture. At the same time, I argue that the social space of the shrine is important not only for the benefits of a soothing environment or support system. It is argued that temporary residence within the shrine enables individuals to develop long-term associations with the religious community and sect. Through discussion of indicative cases, this paper elaborates on the process of "becoming a Mahanubhav pilgrim" that is at the heart of temple healing practices in India.

“…Commensality is practiced between vegetarians and nonvegetarians in the home, where some non-Brahmin vegetarian women cook non-veg foods for their husbands and relatives. Desai (2008) investigates how becoming a member of a Hindu religious sect, the Mahanubhav Panth, requires the practice of a veg diet and concludes that the practice of vegetarianism by low-caste/status groups does not necessarily reflect an elite world view. Adopting a veg diet as a consequence of membership of a Hindu religious sect, and living by its rules, protects members from witchcraft and magic.…”

Veg or Non-veg? From Bazaars to Hypermarkets in India

This paper reviews the literature on vegetarianism (veg) and meat-eating (nonveg) in India. My central aim is to explore how vegetarianism and meat-eating are addressed in existing research in order to identify gaps and pave the way for a new research agenda on the complex and changing relationship between vegetarianism and meat-eating at different levels-consumers, markets and regulators-in contemporary India. Why and how Hindus eat meat is not well understood and much of the existing literature often assumes that not only does the concept of ahimsa (noninjury to all living creatures), cow veneration and banning of cow slaughter prevent Hindus from eating meat, but also that the relationship between vegetarianism and meat-eating is relatively simple and stable among Hindu groups. What is more, India is a major exporter of meat and water buffalo beef in particular. In Hindu nationalist discourses, as well as scholarly studies, Hindu meat-eating is often seen as exceptional and/or due to spiritual, ritual or religious circumstances, rather than as an everyday practice. However, the complex and contested relationship between vegetarianism and meat-eating is as topical as ever: in 2011, the Indian state made it mandatory that all processed food products should bear marks to indicate whether products are vegetarian (green) or non-vegetarian (brown) and with the rise of consumer culture in super/hypermarkets, these logos are ubiquitous on packagings throughout India. I argue that the above aspects have been central in the making of a powerful vegetarian ideology that has seduced much of the scholarship on vegetarianism into suggesting that vegetarianism in India is dominant among Hindus. The central research question concerns why and how a vegetarian ideology

“…Some academics have reported that lower castes converted to vegetarianism (Michelutti 2008; Staples 2014) as a means to upgrade their status in society via the Sanskritization process 5 and the adoption of the Brahmanical practice of purity (Srinivas 1952). Conversely, nonvegetarianism as well has a positive symbolic and social value by contributing to the construction of the identity of other social or religious groups, such as scheduled castes, Muslims or Christians (Ilaiah 1996; Desai 2008; Staples 2008 Staples , 2014Sebastia 2017), for whom meat is a premium dish offered to visitors. An ethnographic study on the Malayali Hindu group in Kerala (Osella and Osella 2008) showcased the process of social distinction through diets: although Brahmins are vegetarian and non-Brahmin Nayars are usually non-vegetarian, during religious festivals they are vegetarian, and the caste of Viswakarma craftsmen positioned just below promotes vegetarianism, contrary to Dalits for whom this practice has no value.…”

Understanding transition in animal based food consumption: a case study in the city of Vadodara in Gujarat (India)

India is experiencing a modernisation process characterised by rapid urbanisation and the emergence of a new middle class. This process is expected to lead to a change in lifestyles and dietary patterns, and notably higher consumption of animal based foods. The present article focuses on this changing dietary trend in the city of Vadodara in Gujarat (India). A stratified sample of 432 women and men was selected, representing Brahmin, non-Brahmin and Jain communities from high, medium and low socioeconomic strata. The results revealed that, in the transition process, the supposed protein shift from plant-to animal based foods takes specific forms in this cultural context because of more complex drivers that shape food consumption than the socioeconomic position in the society. It highlights that beyond the supra-determination of castes and socioeconomic classes, major drivers of this consumption are the norms and values attached to foods and their interrelations with eating practices according to spatiotemporal and social dimensions. This Indian case reveals that dietary change is not unidirectional towards the Western model but each culture has a unique form of transition.

“…relative status not defined by caste differences but by their shared capacity to partake of modernity and to consider themselves 'educated'. For example, non-vegetarian food, in such contexts, might reference high class status, in contrast to the still persistent idea that vegetarianism might increase caste status (Srinivas 1952: 226, cited in Goody 1982 Desai 2008) . Local student parties in their shared hostels operated in a similar way: the snacks served -either fried takeaway items or, more commonly, shopbought western-style cakes (sweet), chivda/mixture (savoury) and bottled fizzy drinksallowed for a commensality that was both 'safe' 9 and cosmopolitan.…”

Civilizing Tastes: From Caste to Class in South Indian Foodways

Anthropological explorations of food in South Asia are often framed by theories of caste and ritual purity or pollution, with the highest castes characterised as protecting their purity by accepting food from no-one of lower caste status, and those at the bottom accepting food from anyone. The problem with this focus on caste is not that it is misguided per se; many Hindus do indeed regulate their consumption in relation to such concerns, and a quotidian understanding of caste remains vital in understanding how people in India relate to one another. Rather, the problem is that our focus on caste as the defining social institution of India has obscured social relationships defined by other cross-cutting hierarchies that also, and increasingly, reflect and shape Indian foodways.Drawing on prolonged ethnographic fieldwork in Andhra Pradesh, South India, this chapter is concerned with how class in particular -both in terms of economic status and as a marker of distinction -also has profound implications for what people in South India eat, with whom, and why; particularly in the wake of the economic liberalisation that began in the 1990s and the emergence of new foods and tastes ripe for symbolic appropriation.

“…18 From further west, Amit Desai's recent ethnographic analyses of responses to witchcraft beliefs in eastern Maharashtra and Ajay Skaria's historical account of anti-witch violence in the late nineteenth century in two areas of what are now Rajasthan and Gujarat, both concern adivasis. 19 Yet two accounts from opposite ends of the country have no such adivasi associations: William Sax's discussion of rituals of aggression, including sorcery, in Garhwal, and Isabelle Nabokov's paper on sorcery in Tamilnadu. 20 Two additional points from this literature are worth highlighting.…”

‘That Used to be a Famous Village’: Shedding the past in rural north India

This paper examines the changing reputation of one village in Himachal Pradesh, India, looking back over 30 years. This village has long had a singular identity and local notoriety for its association with jadu (‘witchcraft’). I argue that in this village today the idea of ‘witchcraft’ as a potent malignant force is losing its old persuasiveness, and with this change the village is also shedding its unwanted reputation. Against claims for ‘the modernity of witchcraft’ in various parts of the world, I argue that, in this case at least, witchcraft is construed as distinctly unmodern. The capacity of jadu to cause fear and, equally, its value as an explanatory idiom are, I suggest, being overwhelmed by social changes, the cumulative effect of which has been to reduce the previous insularity of this village and greatly widen the social networks of its members. I pose two main questions. Why should this village have held such a particular reputation? And why should it now be on the wane? Linked to the second question is the relationship between this decline and local understandings of ‘modernity’. In developing my argument around the specificity of an unusual village, I also consider the significance of ‘the village’ as both social entity and, formerly, one cornerstone of the anthropological project. Finally, I reflect on the methodological opportunities of long-term familiarity with a setting, exemplified in the iterative nature of learning ethnographically, as the children known initially in early fieldwork become the adult conversationalists of today, partners in interpreting their own village's past. In exploring their explanations for the decline in the salience of jadu, the pivotal impact of education and the pressures of ‘time’ created by the ‘speed’ of modernity are both salient.

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This paper reviews the literature on vegetarianism (veg) and meat-eating (nonveg) in India. My central aim is to explore how vegetarianism and meat-eating are addressed in existing research in order to identify gaps and pave the way for a new research agenda on the complex and changing relationship between vegetarianism and meat-eating at different levels-consumers, markets and regulators-in contemporary India. Why and how Hindus eat meat is not well understood and much of the existing literature often assumes that not only does the concept of ahimsa (noninjury to all living creatures), cow veneration and banning of cow slaughter prevent Hindus from eating meat, but also that the relationship between vegetarianism and meat-eating is relatively simple and stable among Hindu groups. What is more, India is a major exporter of meat and water buffalo beef in particular. In Hindu nationalist discourses, as well as scholarly studies, Hindu meat-eating is often seen as exceptional and/or due to spiritual, ritual or religious circumstances, rather than as an everyday practice. However, the complex and contested relationship between vegetarianism and meat-eating is as topical as ever: in 2011, the Indian state made it mandatory that all processed food products should bear marks to indicate whether products are vegetarian (green) or non-vegetarian (brown) and with the rise of consumer culture in super/hypermarkets, these logos are ubiquitous on packagings throughout India. I argue that the above aspects have been central in the making of a powerful vegetarian ideology that has seduced much of the scholarship on vegetarianism into suggesting that vegetarianism in India is dominant among Hindus. The central research question concerns why and how a vegetarian ideology

Brahmin practitioners of witchcraft began incorporating tantric techniques to enhance their magical abilities. Another aspect of the transition is the inclusion of elements from other local folk traditions. Brahmin witchcraft practitioners started incorporating elements from regional folk magic practices into their own rituals. This assimilation of local beliefs and practices helped to broaden the scope of Brahmin witchcraft and make it more accessible to a wider range of people. The spread of Brahmin witchcraft transition can also be attributed to the influence of colonialism. During the British Raj in India, there was a growing interest in indigenous magical practices, including those of the Brahmins. This interest led to the documentation and study of Brahmin witchcraft, which further popularized and spread these practices. Today, Brahmin witchcraft transition continues to evolve and adapt to modern times. Brahmin witches may incorporate elements from other mystical traditions, such as Wicca or Western occultism, into their practice. They may also use tools and techniques like crystals, tarot cards, and divination practices in addition to their traditional rituals. In conclusion, the transition of Brahmin witchcraft reflects the evolving nature of magical practices within the Brahmin community in India. It encompasses the integration of tantric techniques, incorporation of local folk magic traditions, and adaptation to modern influences. This transition highlights the dynamic and diverse nature of witchcraft practices within the Brahmin community..

Reviews for "Exploring the Relationship Between Brahmin Witchcraft and Astrology"

1) Sarah - 2 stars - I didn't enjoy "Brahmin witchcraft transition" at all. The concept seemed interesting, but the execution was lacking. The story felt disjointed and confusing, with little explanation given for the magical elements introduced. I also found the characters to be underdeveloped and the dialogue to be stilted. Overall, it was a disappointing read for me.

2) Michael - 2 stars - I had high hopes for "Brahmin witchcraft transition" but was ultimately let down. The plot was convoluted and hard to follow, with too many unnecessary subplots bogging it down. The writing style was also cumbersome, with excessive descriptions and a lack of concise storytelling. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters, and the world-building was weak. It's sad to say, but this book just didn't work for me.

3) Emma - 1 star - I'm truly perplexed by the positive reviews of "Brahmin witchcraft transition." I found it to be a tedious and confusing read. The pacing was slow, and it took forever for anything to happen. The author seemed more interested in describing every minute detail than in moving the story along. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, and the characters lacked depth. I struggled to finish it and wouldn't recommend it to others.

The Healing Powers of Brahmin Witchcraft