So, does it? Its perfectly possible that these people are misled or suffer from severely overactive imaginations. So if there any hard proof that magic or witchcraft work or not? I am quite open-minded myself regardless of my beliefs… but these days one must not believe 99% of what they hear or see.
There is as much proof that witchcraft and magic “work” as there is that prayer “works.”
(None)
Well, if you ever do find an instance of any of this stuff working, there’s $1 million in it for you.
I’ll go out on a limb, however, and state categorically that nothing of the kind exists, at least not as its practitioners would have us believe.
Super naturally"no"…Scientifically"yes"
Many things now explained by scientist were once thought witchcraft.Many magicians practice slight of hand. many chemists,and other scientists can do mind boggling things by scientiic means.All considered magic to some, but not supernatural.
Witchcraft now is practiced as a religion:
http://www.shadowdrake.com/HSDwitchFAQ.html
So does witchcraft work for the people who practice it?
I’d say in their mind yes, in my mind I think it is ridiculous.
I would say that witchcraft “works” as well as any other religion. As for magic…
Nope.
Come on, we ain’t got no wicken’s here?
I’ve browsed through some books… all seems very subjective. Is that “cursed” person really having worse luck than anyone else? Probably not.
I am not talking about religion. In all I don’t believe in any popular religion, not to say I believe in nothing though. By witch craft I don’t mean the religion so much as the product.
Whether or not anyone at any time has been able to practice “magic” “sourcery” or “witchcraft” is my problem. Many people claim it but so far no proof to be found… granted witchcraft as been by-and-large debunked .
Welcome to the SDMB, BlackPhoenix.
Yes, the “cursed” person is just having a run of bad luck. If, however, he manages to convince himself the curse is real, there’s no telling what kind of crap he might get himself into and then later blame on the curse.
Those seemingly subjective stories you read are mostly hype and sometimes outright lies. For example, the discoverers of King Tut’s tomb lived to an average age of 70.
Haven’t there been studies that show the efficacy of prayer, or at least religious faith, as far as healing goes?
I’m unaware of any studies showing witchcraft or magic having any particular effect on anything.
I wouldn’t put much credit to those studies: whether you believe in God or not you can’t prove definitively that prayer works because thats not the nature of it. Witchcraft is supposed to have an effect, prayer is not. Not to say it doesn’t work but that proving or disproving it would be beyond out scope. But thats a whole other issue.
What about ancient magic? Druids and the like…
I’[m just trying to debunk this but can’t find anything scientific.
There was at least one well-publicized study, which puported to show a definite link between prayer and recovery from serious illness. However this study has been called into question, not least of all because the person responsible for deciding which patients got prayed for and which did not was the receptionist of of one of the doctors running the study, effectively destroying the double-blindness necessary for a truly unbiased trial.
What are you talking about? If you show a consistent correlation between patients that are prayed over and faster recovery times, and you eliminate or test for other possible causes, you’ve gone a hell of a long way towards showing prayer works. And I don’t know what motivates you to declare that witchcraft is supposed to have an effect and prayer is not; so far as I can see, both are “supposed” to have an effect.
This is an excellent example of how NOT to run a study. If someone knows which group is which, then they can consciously or unconsciously influence the results. So… so far as you’re aware, this flawed study is the only one out there regarding the efficacy of prayer? If so, then we’re back to square one as regards prayer working… that is, no evidence at all.
- Rick
This is the only serious study of which I am aware. James Randi devotes quite a bit of space to discussing it on his website, but his search engine is lacking, to put it kindly, and i can’t find the article. Here is a far less comprehensive Time article on this same study.
Magic does work. I will give you a demonstration. All of you log on at 8am CDT and watch the SDMB come to a halt.
If you don’t log on, you will never know, and I will get reasonable response times.
Either way, I win. 
Ah, I found one of Randi’s articles on the prayer study:
From here.
You spelled your own username wrong.
Does spelling work?
It mite.
Welcome to the SDMB, BlackPheonix! You are taking steps to clarify your view of the universe.
As far as Wiccans go, I am not one but know several and was roommates with one for a bit. We’d been friends for years and years, so we would end up having long discussions with much less defensiveness than otherwise you’d expect. Anyway, here’s a paraphrased conversation:
He’s a real nice guy…very grounded, if a little wacky. I don’t know if his beliefs are representative of all Wiccans any more than any single Christian is representative of Christianity.
But to answer the question, yes, both witchcraft and prayer work. They work exactly in the manner of “the power of positive thinking.” To put it more bluntly, they both offer comfort to decent people who are justifiably scared living in this big, scary world.
Prayer in the form of chanting (intended to induce the alpha state similar to meditation) and meditation in general are also supposed to have benefits, but I know nothing about meditation other than the nifty term “alpha state.”