Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger, an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.

Chapter 6: Powers and Dangers

Mary Douglas uses tribes and societies in Central Africa and elsewhere to discuss how primitive cultures understand and utilize the ideas of power and pollution. These ideas are inseparable from the structures of the societies themselves.

A few definitions might help the discussion.

• Pollution -- Pollution, as it is used in the context of culture and anthropology, is anything that “transmits danger by contact.” This, according to Douglas, is “only likely to occur where the lines of structure (of a society) are clearly defined.”
• Luck, baraka, and mana – are different terms used to describe powers associated with success. This can be contagious and, like pollution, can be transmitted by contact not only by the person who possesses it but also by objects that have come into contact with one who possesses baraka, luck or mana.
• Miracles. Controlled spiritual powers -- power that comes from within an individual and are used with intention. The evil eye, witchcraft, sorcery, prophecy, spells, blessings, charms, formulas and invocations are all examples. These powers require specific actions to be effective.
• Uncontrolled spiritual power- power that comes from outside oneself.E.g., Joan of Arc did not know where or when her voices would come to her. (99)

Azande have a fair understanding of the natural world. They understand the relationship of “drought to epidemic, rain to harvest, and cloud to rain.” They use witchcraft to explain why peculiar things happen at a particular time and place outside the understanding of seasons and so on. Witchcraft or other powers help to find answer questions like:

• Why did it have to happen to him?
• Is it anyone’s fault?
• Why did this man’s crop and not his neighbor’s fail?
• Why did this man’s children or cows die?  (91)

Societies are usually highly structured entities. Power and authority are understood within the context of the culture and even help to define it. Anything that exists outside to the structure of the society, or in the margins of the society is outside of the structure and poses a danger.

Rituals are used to bring order to belief systems and to address the dangers of loss of structure or form. Transitional states or movement from one status to another are also understood as dangerous. Rituals are used to control the danger to the individual and to society in general.

• To the Lele tribe, even the fetus in the womb is thought to pose danger. The fetus is neither male nor female, exists but is not yet born.  Not only do the Lele consider the mother and the unborn to be in danger from this transitional state, but they also can pose a danger to others, to crops, etc. Pregnant women are not permitted to speak to persons who are growing crops or brewing. The father is thought to be in danger during war or the hunt.(96)
• In the case of the Maoris, menstrual blood and miscarriage present a similar problem. The blood is seen as a potential human being, now possessed by an evil spirit. (97) Danger lies in these transitional states; danger to the individual as well as to others.

It is thought that danger can be controlled by ritual. But the danger of the margins, as well as the danger of the transition from one state to another, also can be stressed by the ritual.

• Young men have been known to die in the rituals of initiation. Rituals of the transition to adult status separate a youth from his old status, separate him from society for a time, and then “publicly declares his new status.” The theme of “death and rebirth” is apparent. During the segregation period of an initiation or rite of passage, the young men do not have a place in society. They are “outcasts.” Society tells them that they are dangerous. In some instances the young men have been released to the wild to experience a type of madness before returning to society. They are not held responsible for their actions during this period of separation. It is the transition and separation that causes the behavior.
• Douglas draws an analogy to released prison inmates or discharged mental patients. They are people who were living outside of society, in the margins where danger exists. The reentry into society is difficult at best. Society treats them differently, and is hesitant to bring them back into the structure of the culture. Even innocent behaviors that were once deemed quirky or eccentric prior to hospitalization or imprisonment are viewed as dangerous afterwards. Society sends the message of danger in the margins, danger in transitional states, and a fear of pollution.

“Ideas about power are based upon an idea of society as a series of forms contrasted with surrounding non-form. There is power in the form and other powers in the non-form.” (99)

There is one kind of power within the structures of a society and other kinds that exist in the formless margins or outside of the system. There are voluntary and involuntary powers. Pollution occurs when the basic form or structure of a society has been attacked or when the powers of the structured society somehow come in contact with the powers of the “unstructured formlessness.”

Douglas views those powers that control fortune and misfortune as a “triad of powers.”

1. Formal powers that are exercised by persons who represent the formal structure and are utilized on behalf of the community
2. Formless powers used by persons in transition or in the margins of society
3. Powers not attributed to any person, but are inherent to the structure of society which work against any violation of the form and structure.

The case of the fetus mentioned earlier is a case of involuntary power. Specific intentional acts are not responsible for the power or pollution that might occur as a result of the presence of the unborn.

Witchcraft and sorcery are intentional formal powers that should be used for the structure of the community, but in some cases are used against the innocent.

• One form of Lele spiritual power is illustrated by the perceived ability to curse or bless.  Parents, aunts, pawn owners, and village elders have the power that is exercised by saying words and then spitting. Sons are not believed to have the power against their parents; it just does not work.
• It is also thought that to hold your curse and not spit has a negative power against the person who is exercising restraint. It is better to get it out of your system than to hold your curse or spit. (106)

Persons of authority have certain powers. If the power attached to position is abused, the result can be a loss of powers or a subsequent change in power from voluntary to involuntary power that causes harm to the self or to others.

• In the Bible, this is the case with Saul. Saul’s power was given to him by God. When he abused these powers he became a danger. He led his men to disobedience, had terrible rages, succumbed to depression and madness. (107)
• The Lugbara believe that elders have the ability to invoke ancestors to retaliate against younger family members. Authority and power go hand in hand, however if the elder is not using power for the benefit of the community, the ancestors will not listen. If he is corrupt he is accused of witchcraft.
• The accusation of witchcraft is used against those who threaten the structure of society, like a weapon. Sorcery is different than those powers mentioned above in that it can be used by almost anyone. It is not tied either to authority or to that formless area outside of the society. Sorcery is a deliberate rather than involuntary power; it uses words, incantations and objects. It can be easily abused.
• In central Africa belief in sorcery is common. While sorcery is usually used by authority against outsiders, it can also be used against one’s own family. Sorcery can be used to promote or demote leaders. It can be used to balance the playing field or “shorten the ladder to success.” (109)
• In Somaliland power is defined by physical strength. Those with power are those who win the battles. The people are militant and competitive. However, religious power and political power are not the same in this Muslim country according to Douglas. The religious leaders are not the strong warriors and it is thought to be wrong to fight another Muslim. Holy men have spiritual power to mediate between men and between men and God. They do not fight the battles or wars. Men of God are thought to have the ability to impart baraka or blessing on others.
• Luck in the Teutonic or Celtic cultures, baraka in Islam, and mana in Polynesia can be a bit like sorcery. These powers are understood in terms of benefits and success. Similar to the reputation of a witch or sorcerer that spreads when harm befalls those around him, the reputation of a saint spreads with each positive act or instance of good fortune. (112) Yet these powers are both thought to be involuntary and can be transmitted by material things that have been in the possession of one who has baraka.

Douglas makes the case that power is attached to the social structures of a society.