What role does the wizard play in the history of human development?

Introduction and brief history of the guide

Witchcraft, derived from the French word "Sor", originally refers to people who can change the fate of others through sacrifice or symbolic ceremonies; The prefix "Sors" means encounter or fate in Latin, and the most common form of witchcraft is casting spells. This can be extended to all behaviors that use spells to control love, growth, luck, health and wealth. In most societies, spells are considered to be born for evil purposes, and witches (usually women) will use spells to hurt others with subjective hatred. On the other hand, wizards can also use spells to fight against evil forces and protect themselves and others.

Witches have many functions in society: they can use magic to protect others from natural disasters, outsiders and enemies. They are also responsible for correcting mistakes, measuring right and wrong, manipulating nature and explaining terrorist phenomena.

Witchcraft is a low-level magic, because it is not a belief, but it is as mechanical and intuitive as high-level magic. But compared with voodoo, a pure evil spell, witchcraft is closer to a religion. Moreover, witchcraft also has a good side, such as protecting villages and tribes from evil enemies and disasters. But if used by some unscrupulous people, it can also be evil! Although wizards mainly use spells, they also use potions. But whatever it is, it can be used to take other people's lives …

Many gods in history are related to witchcraft, because wizards are responsible for spreading oracles, reading magic cards and watching similar activities. Even so, wizards or witches are usually equated with evil ... for example, at the S abbat held at night, they will summon necromancers like necromancers; Change shape like metamorphosis; Or eat human flesh, or control nightmares; Even having sex with a low-level demon vampire!

Witches are considered evil, because most witchcraft factions believe that they are born the incarnation of the devil, born with the power of the devil, and born with anger and jealousy. Witches usually have some special body marks at birth, such as birthmarks, foreign bodies or evil eyes. This is the conclusion reached by the 20th century anthropologist E.Evans-Pritchard after decades of systematic research on local witches in Zande, Africa. Although this conclusion is not universally applicable and does not apply to the western neo-pagan witchcraft culture, it also fired the first shot for this kind of research.

In its simplest form, witchcraft is a kind of magic that controls the forces of nature and the transfer of ideas. On the cave murals of the Neolithic Age, there have been pictures of half-man, half-beast wizards calling the god of the forest. In ancient Greece, people thought that wizards only summoned some demons (Greek: d 'aimones) neutral between heaven and earth, but these demons could easily become demons, until Plato's student Xenocrates completely defined d' aimones as demons.

The earliest record of witches in history can be traced back to 12 century. At that time, Wildau, a French businessman in Lyon, preached and practiced the idea that being poor means being happy. His disciples were denounced as heretics by the Pope and fled to the Alps valley to live in seclusion. It is in this historical background that the wizard's story gradually comes into contact with heresy.

In the Middle Ages, under the influence of Catholicism, a huge witch hunting movement began, and countless witches were buried in the sea of fire or died under sharp arrows and guillotines ... Witches became more evil from then on. However, during the Renaissance, things changed dramatically. Wizards have become synonymous with knowledgeable people, such as alchemists and doctors. Some people even believe that their knowledge is obtained from supernatural sources. Many nobles and bishops compete to learn witchcraft.

History of wizards in China

(Part of the history of wizards in China Source: China Historical and Cultural Network Author: unknown)

Witchcraft is an ancient profession. How old is it? In ancient times, there was a situation that "the family was a witch", that is to say, everyone could play witchcraft with both hands. But at that time, people used witchcraft as usual as we eat and shake hands now. It was not a means of making a living, and it could not be called a profession in a strict sense.

Everyone can cook home-cooked dishes, but there are good and bad ones. So is witchcraft. If you use it too much, there will be a difference between high and low. For example, Wizard A predicts that it will rain in one day, and Wizard B predicts that it will rain in three days. It rained a month later. Because B's prediction was the closest, everyone said that B's witchcraft was the best (this way of thinking was normal at that time, and some people called it primitive logic). At that time, witches were all held by senior leaders. Chiefs and high-ranking nobles formed the high command of the tribe, which can actually be called the Ministry of Religious Affairs, because the major events at that time were witchcraft and war, and the so-called "national events were sacrifices and battles". Anyone who is good at witchcraft and brave enough to fight will definitely be elected as the chief, in absolute accordance with the principle of "ruling the country by experts". It is precisely because wizards were all elites at that time that later generations, when recalling their glorious images, said that they were "too clever, too righteous, with far-reaching power, bright and thorough", which meant that wizards were extremely clever, with clairvoyance and foresight, and could accurately predict the good or bad in the future.

Therefore, the earliest professional wizards are actually our earliest ancestors with famous surnames. Both Huangdi and Chiyou are wizards who practice witchcraft to the extreme. The battle of the Yellow Emperor Chiyou, Chiyou asked God for rain, and the Yellow Emperor drove the goddess of drought to stop the rain. Chiyou lost the battle and was killed. This is a typical wizard fight! It's really earth-shattering It makes you cry. More importantly, this battle decided that we should call ourselves "descendants of the Yellow Emperor" instead of "descendants of Chiyou".

Most of other ancient sages and ministers who can leave a mark on the history books also have witchcraft skills. It is said that Dayu had a strange pace when he was managing water. This set of "Lingbo micro-steps" was regarded as "the root of all skills and the essence of mystery" by later Taoist priests, and it was not much better than the Yijinjing of Shaolin Temple. In order to beg for rain, Shang Tang set himself on fire. Some people say this is an act, but if it is not universally acknowledged that he is the best wizard in the country, even if he wants to put on a show, he has no chance.

"Legend Age" is the golden age of wizards. Wizards are not very clever when there are physical and written evidence. The Shang Dynasty was a great undertaking, the king had to be far-sighted, political activities became more and more important, religious affairs were entrusted to his subordinates, and the division of labor became more and more detailed. So there is a "history" dedicated to sorting out witchcraft files, a "wish" dedicated to praying, and a "divination" dedicated to correcting turtles; A truly primitive wizard is only responsible for dancing and begging for rain. To make matters worse, the "storm witch" prevailed at that time-exposing wizards to the scorching sun to get rain during drought. Being a wizard is really a failure in failure.

Of course, there are also good ones, such as Wu Xian and Taiwu, who were under one person and above ten thousand people when they were kings of Shang Dynasty. But on the whole, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has been downgraded to the Bureau of Religious Affairs. Moreover, in high spirits, Shang Zhouwang often overstepped his authority and personally participated in divination activities. One minute he said that the hole in the tortoise shell was badly burned, and the day before, he said that I would come tomorrow to see if it would rain and collect royalties, so the word "Yue" often appeared in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. By the way, the tortoise at that time may be really big, so that hundreds of years later, Zheng received a tortoise and dared to invite the civil and military capital of Manchu Dynasty to have a "tortoise banquet".

(2) blue-collar workers

There was a Duke of Zhou in the Zhou Dynasty who liked "ruling the country by virtue". Wizards' cultural level is not high, and life is more difficult. According to Zhou Li's records, the titles of divination, wishing and history are all doctors, while the titles of wizards, wizards and witches are only officials, which has become a trend in official pages.

State-run life is sad, but small collective and private enterprises are extremely prosperous. Folk wizards were very active in the Spring and Autumn Period. The wizards of protecting Japan, hiding in the sun and singing in the fields mentioned in Zuo Zhuan are not among the top ten outstanding figures in China. Predicting people's life and death and the victory or defeat of a country's war is a piece of cake, and sometimes the accuracy even reaches an incredible level.

In 555 BC, Xun Yan of Jin wanted to crusade against Qi, but he didn't know what to do. One night, I had a dream that Jin Ligong and I went to court and lost the lawsuit. My head was cut off by Li Jing's brother. A few days later, I met Gengyang wizard Gao on the road, and told Wu Gao about the dream and asked him to make a psychological analysis for himself. Wu Gao said:

"It seems that you are dead this year. But if you fight with Qi, you will win. "

Sure enough, the state of Jin led a group of allied forces to beat the state of Qi out of the water and really died on the way back to Li.

This is not the most amazing. As early as 58 BC1year, Duke Jing of Jin dreamed that a GREAT GHOST came to the palace to commit suicide, saying that he was ordered by Emperor Fengtian. After waking up, he asked Sangtian Wu to predict good or bad luck. Sangtian said to Wu:

"I'm afraid you won't get new wheat this year."

Jin Pinggong fell ill on the spot and sent someone to the State of Qin for expert consultation. As a result, experts said that he was terminally ill and there was no cure. Well, die peacefully! Unexpectedly, the new wheat arrived on the sixth day of June. Duke Jing of Jin was so refreshed that he had the wheat boiled, and then he arrested and killed the Sangtian witch. Before he died, he was allowed to see the new wheat with his own eyes. After Duke Jing of Jin killed someone, he was preparing to enjoy cooked wheat in the court. Suddenly, he had a stomachache, which was really strange. He fell into the palace toilet at a convenient time and drowned, but he still didn't get any new wheat. Although Sangtianwu died, he defended his prophetic witchcraft with his life.

Although wizards are capable, the times are always improving. People with a little wisdom don't think highly of wizards, and often use wizards as negative teaching materials. Confucius once said:

"Southerners have a saying:' People who are not faithful cannot become witch doctors.' "

It means that even wizards and doctors can't do well if a person has no perseverance.

Xunzi also said:

"Today's secular speaker, jie for the world, and I tang wu, too much. For example, a witch is lame and thinks she knows something. "

It means that some people talk nonsense now, saying that Shang Tang and Wen Wang used to work for Jie and Zhou respectively. These self-righteous guys are just like wizards. Of course, it can also be seen that Xunzi has a tendency to discriminate against the disabled, which is very impolite.

There will be benefits if there is demand. Although folk wizards with flexible management methods are not seen by thinkers, they are still very influential among the people, and their lives are therefore more moist. Ximen Bao ruled his power, and he ruled the folk wizards. The 70-year-old witch who advocates marrying Hebo actually controls all the witchcraft industries in Yecheng. The official wizard has long since disappeared. Without the support of the government, Li Kui Jr. would still be Mato, not Gui Li.

(3) The accumulated water is weak.

Since the late Warring States period, wizards have ushered in a golden age of short-term recovery. Gu Jiegang said:

"Stimulated by the rising immortal thoughts, especially the ruling class's good immortal fashion, these wizards and doctors who originally lived and were active in the lower classes have sprung up one after another, consciously taking the immortal theory as the purpose, re-intentionally synthesizing the strengths of wizards and doctors, and further absorbing the theoretical nourishment of Taoism and Yin-Yang theory, and finally forming a special class with high cultural literacy and technical expertise under the banner of immortals."

Wizards are superstitious among the people and subsidize their families with a little money, but they have no future in politics. A group of wizards with ideals are obsessed with ancient glory, trying to learn from the emperor again and recast his soul. This time, their goal is clear, skipping all middlemen and pointing directly to the supreme ruler.

Wizards first boasted about how they accidentally got the elixir of life and how they lived a long and healthy life. After setting off a wave of pursuing immortality in society, we went to lobby the emperor. Compared with their predecessors, these wizards have made great progress in their knowledge structure. On the one hand, it is more excellent in theory, and the theories of Yin and Yang, five lines of gossip Qigong and so on go into battle together; On the other hand, they are no longer limited to small-scale local activities. They traveled around, going to sea for a while and going up the mountain for a while, which not only broadened their horizons, but also made friends. So in the middle and late Warring States period, the alchemist group gradually formed. At that time, the whole east coast was infested with alchemists, and Qi Weiwang, Qi Xuanwang and Yan Zhaowang sent alchemists out to sea to find an island inhabited by immortals.

After Qin Shihuang unified China, he was most keen on finding immortals and elixirs. Inspired by Qin Shihuang, immortals became the most popular major in China. There has even been such a situation: as soon as the peasant brothers in the coastal areas of Shandong and Hebei put down their hoes, they spontaneously studied immortals and magic. Thousands of people flocked to Xianyang to present treasures, and there were more than a dozen alchemists in and out of Epang Palace, including Xu Fu who led thousands of boys and girls into the sea. Qin Shihuang was certainly not idle. He went to patrol again and again, asking for the elixir of life.

After the demise of the State of Qin, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made persistent efforts and held high the banner of seeking immortality. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national strength was stronger, there were more alchemists and the educational level was higher. According to incomplete statistics, tens of thousands of people sold the secret recipe of immortality to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was deceived by Angelica, but his passion for seeking immortality remained undiminished until his death.

Wizards (alchemists) have infinite scenery in the Western Han Dynasty, but they are essentially just servants of the emperor. They are useless except for technical work such as inviting immortals and finding fairy medicine. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the art of immortals was absorbed by Taoism, and many alchemists turned to Taoists.

The golden age of wizards is over.

Confucian scholars always admire saints, especially those famous saints in the pre-Qin period. Even if it's always just rhetoric like benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trust, I still enjoy it. There are many compliments, but few people mention the appearance of a saint. Presumably, those who can become saints, even if they are not handsome SHEN WOO, should be above the Chinese in appearance.

However, some people don't think so. In Xunzi's eyes, no saint looks like Zhou Zheng: Confucius' face looks like a mask to exorcise ghosts; Duke Zhou's body is like a broken dead tree; Hao Tao's face is always turquoise, like a peeled melon; Dayu is lame and jumps when he walks. Shang Tang hemiplegia; The most incredible thing is Shun, who has two pupils in his eyes. These pictures are not only unfair, they are simply crooked melons and cracked dates. Fortunately, Xunzi was not valued in ancient times. If he is respected like Confucius and Mencius, I really don't know how a Taoist gentleman can whitewash a saint.

Xunzi's statement is not nonsense. As we have already introduced, most of the saints in ancient times were wizards, and wizards really didn't have high requirements for face shapes, and sometimes they even picked extremely ugly people. The ancients had their own reasons. They believe that grotesque people are often gifted, feel the spirit of heaven more than others, and communicate with heaven more easily. Ugly, so it became capital and wealth.

However, the root cause is not here. After all, there are not many ugly people, and even fewer people love the wizard profession. In the social environment at that time, there were even fewer people who loved the wizard profession and were able to engage in it.

Wizards are ugly mainly because they wear masks.

After carving animal images such as cows, sheep, tigers, gluttons and dragons on the mask, the wizard only needs to wear the mask, which means that he is one with animals and has the ability to communicate with gods and challenge ghosts. At this time, the mask is no longer a symbol of political power, but a manifestation of divine power. To exorcise ghosts, we must frighten them first, so masks are always made especially scary. Li Zehou said:

"All kinds of decorative patterns, shapes and features of the whole bronze ware with it as the main body are highlighting this primitive power pointing to the infinite abyss, highlighting the fear, fear, cruelty and fierceness in the face of this mysterious threat."

The application of masks is to exorcise ghosts first. For example, Fang Shixiang, a royal exorcist, wears this mask at work. The mask he uses is made of gold and has four eyes. When I do it, I wear a bearskin coat, which really feels that bears and people are one.

State-controlled witchcraft can certainly afford expensive props, but folk wizards can't be so "cow". Fortunately, as long as the image of the mask is in place, the texture is not the most important. People often use leather or wooden masks, which are cheap and beautiful. Folk wizards have to make a living by catching and fooling around. They go door-to-door to exorcise ghosts every year in order to get some pocket money or a drink. In order to make the owners happy, they not only try their best to catch ghosts, but also often have some entertaining Quyi programs.

Over time, this ceremony gradually evolved into a grand event, and exorcism was the secondary purpose. The ritual color of exorcism activities is getting stronger and stronger. Although everyone knows it is exorcism, it is harmless to take advantage of this opportunity to have fun. For example, Chiyou Opera, a large-scale thrilling entertainment acrobatic program popular in the Han Dynasty, is where performers put on bull's head masks and wrestle. If you behave well, you will have a chance to report to Chang 'an, the capital. This civilized, healthy and safe way of entertainment is not elegant at all compared with the "performance" of fierce gladiators in ancient Rome!

Ghosts must be driven away, but life goes on. Perhaps this is the basic attitude of the ancients towards religious belief.

Wizards among Tibetans

Under the domination of primitive religious concepts, Tibetan ancestors thought: whether it is in heaven or not. There are gods in the ground or in the water, and everything in the world is subject to these gods. For example, natural phenomena and disasters such as earthquakes, skyfires, storms, thunder and lightning, floods, hail, etc., which are common on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, are all attributed to the magical power shown by these gods. At the same time, Tibetan ancestors discovered some objective things and natural phenomena in their life and production practice according to the laws of natural survival and competition. As long as people change their living habits and working methods slightly, they can adapt, and some can even be controlled and used for their own purposes. In other words, it is possible to influence some objective things and natural phenomena through artificial methods, or avoid their harm, or turn harm into benefit. For example, when it rains, people can cover their bodies with leaves; When the wind blows, people can hide in caves; People can use driftwood when crossing the river. Meanwhile. Hunting can get birds and beasts, gathering can get fruits, and so on. With the continuous development of human society, people gradually expand the leaves that can only shelter from the rain into animal skins that can shelter from the rain and keep out the cold, and even later fabrics; Picking wild fruits gradually developed into planting and regular harvesting; The cave shelter from the wind and rain has gradually evolved into a habitable house; Hunting gradually developed into domesticating birds and animals. ...

In the same way, the spiritual world of Tibetan ancestors also developed forward, just like living. They are not satisfied with covering themselves with leaves, hiding in caves, collecting wild fruits and hunting birds and animals for food. They are no longer satisfied with passively obeying the gifts and punishments of the gods. They want to influence and control these gods with certain methods or tools to change their "divine power". This is the background of primitive witchcraft of Tibetan ancestors. In fact, this is also the other side of human conquest of nature, but the former should belong to the practice of "creating people through labor" and the latter belongs to the spiritual side.

Although Tibetan ancestors have good wishes, they may not be able to realize them. Because of the low productivity at that time, people could not control and exert influence on objective things and some natural phenomena, and it was even more difficult to get what they wanted by simply using the "spiritual" method. Although this is well-known common sense today, it is impossible for Tibetan ancestors to understand it as we did in those ancient times. When their "spiritual" requirements are not realized and satisfied, they naturally pin this beautiful fantasy on "a person who can contact ghosts and gods". Then we can influence and control objective things and some natural phenomena through such people who can "touch public opinion and convey God's will". This is the objective background of the emergence of wizards on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Just as the fantasy of Tibetan ancestors can control and influence objective things and some natural phenomena, the appearance of wizards has gone through a long process. When people hold sacrifices and practice some kind of witchcraft, this subjective requirement is often impossible to achieve most of the time. However, some coincidences have come true and some expected results will be achieved. Therefore, this person who presides over sacrificial ceremonies and witchcraft activities is considered to have special witchcraft skills. In this way, the wizard, a special figure of primitive religion, came into being at the request of the times.

As the host of Tibetan primitive religious sacrifices, wizards were mostly held by clan elders and tribal leaders in primitive tribes and clan times. Mastering theocracy is the key condition for them to firmly grasp and control the power of clan and tribe. It is said that this ancient wizard can communicate with God, talk with ghosts and gods, reach public opinion and convey God's message. Predictable good and bad luck, eliminate disasters and eliminate diseases; You can also engage in miracles, divination, soul calling, exorcism and other witchcraft. They are the bridge and medium between man and God, and they are regarded as the spokesmen of God on some occasions. In short, wizards enjoy high prestige in the eyes of Tibetan ancestors.

Although we can't find any information about these primitive Tibetan wizards from Tibetan and Chinese classics today, we can also see the influence of our local wizards introduced into Tibetan areas by Xiang Xiong on the Tubo Dynasty.

The book "The Origin of this Religion" says: "The one who teaches the king is Racine, and the one who serves the king is Gusin". Then he said, "Your Majesty values Xin's words, but Xin hasn't said anything, so you can't make a will." The letter here is the wizard of our religion. Because Catholics said that their founder (founder) was Miwo, later Tibetan history books often used "Xin" as a synonym for this religion or "Xin" as a synonym for this wizard. As can be seen from this record, at that time, our wizard's power was quite great. Moreover, they have influenced the Tubo King Chaoda for twenty-six generations. It was not until around the 6th century AD that Indian Buddhism was introduced into Tubo and accepted by the Tubo royal family, and this religion gradually lost power and eventually withdrew from the political arena and was replaced by Buddhism.

There is no evidence in Tibetan-Chinese historical documents for these wizards in the primitive religious period in Tibet. So we know almost nothing about their names, inheritance, costumes, instruments, shrines, spells, witchcraft, divination and so on. In other words, the wizards who participated in the 26th regime of Tubo Dynasty can find very little information, not to mention those wizards in distant times. Even in the Biography of King Gesar, which is known as the encyclopedia of primitive tribal society on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, only the titles of some ancient wizards such as Ani, Yamu and Momo can be found. Fortunately, due to the vast territory and blocked traffic in Tibetan areas in China, the influence of Tibetan Buddhism in many remote areas is correspondingly weak, and some faces of wizards who are more or less close to primitive religions have been preserved for us. This is a blessing in disguise.

Shaman Wizards-Wizards in America and Africa

The first magician in history was probably a shaman wizard, or a tribal warlock or a witch doctor. He is a medium of communication with the gods and can wander in the world of the gods.

We are all familiar with the characteristics of traditional witches, so we don't need to repeat them. Pharmacists or shamans usually hold a stick or stick in their hands and wear robes made of animal fur or bird hair. Shamanism originated in North Asia, Siberia and Eskimos. As a mysterious witchcraft, pharmacists in North America and witch doctors in Africa can be classified as shamanism. Those tribal wizards who are far away in the north and have obvious nomadic colors also gather animals by praying to God in order to help them when taking measures. Their nomadic lifestyle is very similar to the scenes described in French or Spanish cave murals.

The salvation of shamanism is full of animism. They believe that animals and plants, even all the "things" around us, have the same life and soul as men and women, so we can communicate with them completely. But not everyone can do this, only people with special abilities can do it. (This special ability has different names in different places. For example, the Melanesian tribe in the South Pacific called it "magic"-supernatural ability; The Sioux tribe among American Indians called it "Wakan spiritual power"-the spiritual power of doing nature in vain; The Iroquois tribe among North American aborigines is called "Aurand". )

People with this magical power can enter the world of the gods in a way similar to "meditation" in Buddhism (through the state of separation from the surrounding material environment through meditation). There, he can not only communicate with all the gods, but also communicate with God or God. He can get some information from the gods, and he can also use the power of the gods to heal the mental or physical wounds of patients. The power possessed by a wizard is usually closely related to his clothes. His clothes are often made of natural animal fur or feathers, indicating an alliance with nature. At some point in his magical journey, this alliance can help him. In the United States, wizards' cloaks are made of wild cowhide in North America; In Polynesia, the magician's cloak is made of a kind of bark cloth with exquisite patterns embroidered on it; Witchcraft cloaks in Tahiti and Hawaii are much more gorgeous than these. They are all carefully sewn with the feathers of a rare bird as raw materials. Shamanism wizards, witch doctors and magic pharmacists all have the ability to communicate with the souls of the dead, which is often called "channeling". The skills of Brazilian wizards are usually passed down from generation to generation-with occasional exceptions. If someone in the tribe does not inherit this extraordinary ability, then he is also qualified to learn the skill of "channeling". Let a god (the most prestigious of which belongs to jaguar) attach himself to him and make him a real wizard.

The people in charge of religious affairs in Eskimo society are wizards, and there are wizards in every village. They are the most important people in the village, and both witches and wizards exist. A wizard in the eyes of Eskimos is a person with special ability to communicate with or influence God. Wizards are thought to be able to let their souls leave the body temporarily, communicate with the gods in the spiritual world and get in touch with some small gods, so these gods become the servants of wizards and give them advice and help. Wizards practice witchcraft through hypnosis, spells, ventriloquism and magic. The important role of wizards is to find out the causes of disasters, such as diseases and injuries, and find solutions. Eskimos believe that the cause of the disaster is that someone has offended the gods, so wizards usually find out which gods have been offended and why. Most of the findings are that someone broke the taboo. So people hold religious ceremonies to comfort the gods, or add rules to the original taboos to please the gods and take refuge from disasters. Wizards are believed to drive away ghosts attached to people, predict the weather, even change the weather, predict the future of divination and communicate with the souls of the dead. Wizards not only make amulets and sell them to others, but also make spells and sell them.

Because they can breathe and have their own names, theoretically every Eskimo has the ability to communicate directly with the spiritual world. But what kind of person can become a wizard? How can I become a wizard? How do wizards acquire these superhuman abilities? Eskimos vary from place to place. Some people think that this is a person's natural ability; In most areas, to become a wizard, you must practice for a period of time, or learn from other wizards, or fast at the top of the mountain or in caves for a period of time, and suddenly realize that you can finally get the ability to free your soul. Wizards should not only establish direct contact with the spiritual world, but also let some gods serve themselves.

Let's take a concrete example to see how Eskimo wizards cast spells. These are two stories that happened at the end of 19. At that time, the Varina family lived in a village in northwest Alaska. The whole family lives here most of the time, but they go whaling in the Cape of Good Hope every spring. This year, many people died of this disease because of the epidemic in the Cape of Good Hope. The whole family hesitated about whether to set out for whaling, so they hired a wizard to tell them what to do. The wizard gathered all the people in a dark room After people sat down, the wizard took out a small tent made of seal intestines, a puppet and a small lamp from his bag. He put the puppet and the lamp in a small tent. After closing the tent, the wizard began to drum and sing. After a while, the wizard lit the lamp in the tent, and the puppet inside stood up and walked around. Through the translucent tent, you can see the walking puppet. The wizard began to talk to the puppet, but of course others didn't understand. After talking for a few minutes, the puppet lay down, the lights went out, and the wizard beat the drums and sang again. After singing the song, the ceremony is over. When the wizard put his equipment in his bag, he announced that he could go to the Cape of Good Hope, so that no one would get sick and he could catch three whales. This is exciting news, so Valena's family went to the Cape of Good Hope. Fortunately, everything is safe.

Although wizards have magical powers, they are still ordinary people. They can't get rid of people's desires and resist external influences. Some wizards abuse their power and fall into power struggle, always trying to bring disaster or death to their opponents or their families, or even the whole village to defeat them. According to the survivors, the biggest disaster caused by the struggle between wizards is famine. Most wizards use their special skills to benefit from their communities, so Eskimos need a good wizard very much. They think that an incompetent and boastful wizard will become a mouse. When a qualified wizard can't determine the cause of famine, it indicates the disaster of Eskimos. But if there is no wizard's divination, Eskimos will feel that life will be more difficult, and they don't know what will happen in the world. In the history of Eskimos, wizards played a major role in various festivals. Eskimos in the eastern region can hold festivals as long as they are happy. In crowded places, wizards always lose no time to show their magic. Wizards ruled the religion of Eskimos until the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century. With the arrival of white people, various Christian sects entered Eskimo villages. Today almost all Eskimos have converted to Christianity.