The Sorcerer Face of Desire

Considerations on Animism, Magic and Witchcrat

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to emphasize the understanding of the concepts of animism, magic and witchcraft from the perspectives of Sigmund Freud and Bronislaw Malinowski. First of all, we will analyze the animism. Then, since the ethnographic observations of Malinowski diverge from those of Freud, we will examine the magic and the witchcraft with the purpose of verifying not only the divergences, but also the convergences and possible approximations between these thinkers and the three concepts as well. Finally, we will show what is in the center of these analyses and what are the reasons that support these methods and the resistances they may bring about.