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My Shamans Witches and Magic class took a field trip to
the Botanica San Lazaro in Clifton. I asked students to write their reactions.
I found their responses so interesting I'm posting some excerpts here.
"I felt happy with all the resources they had. It
was to the point where I started to cry when I went upstairs and found the yoga
/ Buddhist room. I know for sure that my friend and I with some other friends
will come back again...I did not feel inferior for believing in those beliefs
like what E. B. Tylor would say. I felt equal to every human who entered the
store."
"Who knew that being in a small room can change a
lot of things and change your perspective on life? Even though it was a small
place, it was filled with many different beliefs, filled with items that are
very powerful and have so many spiritual entities."
"I personally found the store to be a tad creepy
because I hadn't been exposed to that environment before...this experience
opened my mind in realizing that magic isn't weird. It's really no different
than praying to a god."
"Sir James Frazier [sic] believed that magic,
religion, and spirituality were the practices of barbarians, but I believe that
the very existence of the botanica proves otherwise. People from all sorts of
religions and all different walks of life go to the shop, your average Joe and
quite possibly people like doctors and businessmen. The store welcomes these
people and is a space where no one is judged for their beliefs. All that go to
the Botanica are equal within its walls. "
"The field trip was not at all what I expected it to
be. I imagined a place much darker, more like an evil place, but it was
actually opposite: welcoming. [the owner] wasn't scary and didn't try to sell
us anything but instead explained how the candles work for different people.
He explained you can't just buy a money candle and light
it and expect money... your money might come from success instead of believing
you'll just get it...although I really don't believe in magic it was an
interesting shop of sacred things, candles, oils, and I learned interesting
things. I really liked that no one that worked there tried to force their
beliefs on me or force me to buy anything. I was able to sit back and learn.
... overall this was a unique experience that I will never forget and made this
class feel more real, like more than
just a class."
"I was thoroughly impressed with the Botanica in
Clifton. Its wide selection of books, ingredients, icons, and tools were all I
could ask for. After some browsing, I began to ponder on Frazer's law of
homeopathic and contagious magic and was able to apply this knowledge to
classify objects...musical instruments such as a rattle make the same noise as
the rain, the law of similarity became applicable and thus came to the
conclusion that a rain dance with the rattle would invoke the skies to produce
rain. There were also many components that fell into the category of contagious
magic such as crystals, seed bracelets, and other objects that require touch in
order to work.
The thought processes that conduct magical rituals,
incantations and words are far more advanced than Sigmund Freud believes and
writes in his work. It requires immense logic and critical thinking as well as
pure human and natural power to even comprehend the principles of any sort of
magic. The primitive people of which Freud does not know everything about had
the strangest influence of spirits and Gods in order to create these laws and complex
rites of the magical world. How could Freud truly understand people and
principles that follow God(s) if he cannot fathom faith himself? ....the staff
of the store ... provided the wisdom and positivity I needed for my own
spiritual quests."
"The trip to the botanica has been one of the most
interesting and eye-opening experiences I have had. It is incredible to see
such a mix of cultures and beliefs together in one place. There is one thing,
however, that stands out across all the different belief systems. That is the
faith given to such things that we saw in the store...lighting the candle won't
just do it; it's all in the mind. It's omnipotence of thought. It is believed;
therefore it is real.
The same thing happens with a stone that I bought. The stone
represents strength and clarity ... Do I believe it? No. Do I think the man was
right, that the spirits were calling and guiding me to buy it? No. I believe
that the rock was beautiful and I just really l liked it because it is my
favorite color, green. Maybe because I do not believe in its power, it
will not work for me.
There are so many figures that Freud would have had in
his office, to remind himself that he was above them all. Every culture was
represented. I will go back to see what I can learn."
"I arrived at the store after everyone had left and
didn't stay long. Immediately, I had a bad vibe...Do you want to confuse your
enemies? There's an oil for that! It seems very much like sympathetic magic,
perhaps because the herbs which create the oil are like the qualities they
represent.
I have a hard time believing these oils work. If one
believes burning herbs like sage can clean spirits from a home, then so be it.
I personally think the shop could do with some spiritual cleansing, ironically.
Perhaps through working with the dark side, the owner has opened up his doors
to free-roaming spirits of all kinds...I do think anyone can be vulnerable to
certain tendencies when the door is already opened. I may go back to the store
with my friend who claims she sees spirits...Freud would call my friend
schizophrenic in an instant. I find myself in the middle, which perhaps means
my interest in the supernatural represents my lack of evolution, even as an
atheist."
"I was completely overwhelmed upon walking into the
store. I have never seen such a wide assortment of artifacts and icons. I was
so shocked that they had it all mixed together like that, but happy about it as
well. Once he started explaining to us the spiritual connection behind
everything it felt just right because personally that's how I view religion.
We all worship the same God, we just give him different
names. And that's where we got it wrong in my humble opinion. I saw a vast
amount of things, most of which I knew not their uses. : soaps, salts, baths,
rocks, all labeled for some emotion or deity. Shermer said intelligent people
are creative, well to come up with rituals that call for any number of the
items present there in order to pray to your god or procure something is pretty
creative.
I feel most of the men we've studied thus far would roll
their eyes at a shop like that and shrink back in disdain. But who are we to
judge? I don't believe in pretty much anything in that shop to assist me in
being spiritual, however I don't see myself as better than any one customer who
walked in. Most of the books weren't in English, however they seemed very
insightful and interesting if not foreign in concept to me. Frazer would say
all of it was for lesser people because educated people don't believe in such
nonsense, but truly, what's the harm? Believe what you want to believe."
"I first picked out a crystal which caught my
attention. Crystals are viewed to have metaphysical properties such as
protection. I feel as if this can be related to the notion of animism which we
have discussed in class. The stone is thought to have living qualities and its
energy, through touch, is transferred. This is also like contagious
magic...while I was skeptical, it did seem as if many synchronistic events
continued to outpour. For example he took one look at me and told me I
shouldn't eat red meat. I am a vegetarian. he calculated from our birthdays
what gods we should worship. Mine is Yemaya. "
"The first thing that I noticed when I entered the
store was the smell of incense. It brought to mind vigils and rituals, like the
one described in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. ... the sale of so
many kinds of plants, and the presence of so many customers during our visit,
really drove home just how prevalent belief in the powers really is. It struck
me as odd that there was little to no stock regarding Gaelic and Nordic faiths,
but upon reflection it makes sense, as adherents to those faiths are not as
prevalent in the U.S. as elsewhere. I hadn't expected to see it so crowded, as
this part of New Jersey is, at first glance, more "orthodox" in
faith. My favorite item was the "evil be gone" air freshener. If only
it were that simple."
"I remember seeing a lot of female figurines that
represent Goddesses. the male figurines that I saw were smaller and less
detailed than the female ones. When I was why the male ones were smaller and
appeared to be less significant, the store owner told me they were merely used
for voodoo and "spells of a carnal nature."
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