Information AboutFetishism |
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A fetish (from French ''fétiche''; from Portuguese ''feitiço''; from Latin ''facticius'', "artificial" and ''facere'', "to make") is an object believed to have Supernatural powers, or in particular a man-made object that has power over others. HISTORY The concept was coined by Charles De Brosses in 1757 , while comparing West Africa n religion to the Magic al aspects of Ancient Egypt ian religion. He and other 18th Century scholars used the concept to apply an Evolution Theory to Religion . In de Brosses' theory of the evolution of religion, he proposed that fetishism is the earliest (most primitive) stage, followed by the stages of Polytheism and Monotheism and Totemism to account for fetishism. Essentially, fetishism is attributing some kind of inherent value or powers to an object. For example, the person who sees magical or divine significance in a material object is mistakenly ascribing inherent value to some object which does not possess that value (hence Marx's commodity fetishism: belief that objects control us) In the 19th Century , Tylor and McLennan held that the concept of fetishism allowed historians of religion to shift attention from the relationship between people and God to the relationship between people and material objects. They also held that it established models of Causal Explanations of natural events which they considered false as a central problem in history and sociology. PRACTICE Theoretically, fetishism is present in all religions, but its use in the study of religion is derived from studies of traditional West Africa n religious beliefs, as well as Voodoo , which is derived from those beliefs. Blood is often considered a particularly powerful fetish or ingredient in fetishes. In some parts of Africa , the Hair of white people was also considered powerful. In addition to Blood , other objects and substances, such as Bone s, Fur , Claws , Feather s, Water from certain places, certain types of Plants , and Wood are common fetishes in the traditions of cultures worldwide. OTHER USES OF THE TERM "FETISHISM"
Tenuous use
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