Obeah and Wanga

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Thelema
The Book of the Law
Aleister Crowley
Thelemic mysticism
Magick
Works of Crowley
A.'.A.'. ยท O.T.O.

The terms Obeah and Wanga are African diasporic words that occur in The Book of the Law (the sacred text of Thelema, written by Aleister Crowley in 1904):

Also the mantras and spells; the obeah and the wanga; the work of the wand and the work of the sword; these he shall learn and teach. (AL I:37).

Obeah is a folk religion and folk magic found among those of African descent in the West Indies. It is derived from central African Kongo or Bantu sources and has a close North American parallel in African American conjure or hoodoo.

A wanga (sometimes spelled oanga or wanger) is a magical charm packet found in the folk magic practices of Haiti, and as such it is connected to the West African religion of Voodoo, which in turn derives from the Fon people of what is now Benin.

In his Commentaries, Crowley explains:

The obeah is the magick of the Secret Light with special reference to acts; the wanga is the verbal or mental correspondence of the same. [...] The "obeah" being the acts, and the "wanga" the words, proper to Magick, the two cover the whole world of external expression.

Describing Obeah as "acts" is sound enough, but to call a wanga, a wrapped-up packet that resembles a mojo bag, "the words" is incomprehensible except as veiled allusion or metaphor. Thus it is possible that Crowley was not referring to literal Jamaican Obeah practices or to an actual Haitian wanga.

He goes on to say:

Magick is the management of all we say and do, so that the effect is to change that part of our environment which dissatisfies us, until it does so no longer. We "remould it nearer to the heart's desire."
Magick ceremonies proper are merely organized and concentrated attempts to impose our Will on certain parts of the Cosmos. They are only particular cases of the general law.
But all we say and do, however casually, adds up to more, far more, than our most strenuous Operations. "Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves." Your daily drippings fill a bigger bucket than your geysers of magical effort. [...] Remember that every word and deed is a witness to thought, that therefore your mind must be perfectly organized, its sole duty to interpret circumstances in terms of the Will so that speech and action may be rightly directed to express the Will appropriately to the occasion. Remember that every word and deed which is not a definite expression of your Will counts against it, indifference worse than hostility. Your enemy is at least interested in you: you may make him your friend as you never can do with a neutral. Remember that Magick is the Art of Life, therefore of causing change in accordance with Will; therefore its law is "love under will", and its every movement is an act of love.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Thelemapedia. (2004). Obeah and Wanga. Retrieved April 16, 2006.
    • Crowley, Aleister. (1996). The Law is for All. Tempe, AZ : New Falcon Publications.
    • ____. (1979). The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. London;Boston : Routledge & Kegan Paul.
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