The Sacred Ability And Status Composition Of Wizards

According to the classic sociology of religion,the sacredness of the wizard comes from the construction of private relationships,but in the anthropological discourse,it is the result of social practice.Comparing the current mutual constructive relationship between Chinese folk beliefs and wizards,wizards’ space to obtain their sacredness and existence is not limited to their inherent privateness,nor is it constructed by social exchange relationships.This article discusses the status of the wizard through dialogue with émile Durkheim’s "private cults",Marcel Mauss’ s " gift model",and P.Steven Sangren’s " efficacy model",combined with the empirical research in the Hexiang area of Guangdong Province.The research conclusion of the thesis is: " The sacredness of the wizard comes from the dual construction of privateness and sociality." Because the core element of the construction of the sacred status of wizards is " the power of the deities" and " the sacred ability".The spiritual status of the wizard is expressed through the display and interpretation of the " deity power",this model can be called the " human-deity-common model",which is constructed through the dual logic of private and social.Among them,the " human-deity-common mode" in response to émile Durkheim,but the difference is that the status of the wizard is not only obtained in the ritual,but penetrates into storytelling in daily life,traditional community order,and trust in private relationships.This daily routine construction is similar to the " gift model" of reciprocity between human and deity mentioned by Marcel Mauss,but it is not limited to the cycle of short-term exchanges.The wizard’s " human-deity-common model" also needs to use " spiritual efficacy" and sacred ability as an intermediary and representation.This efficacious element is exactly what the thesis is devoted to.It relies on the display and interpretation of the "efficacious power".Therefore,the " human-deity-common mode" is different from " efficacy mode",which avoids the lack of intermediary in the efficacy expression.As the intermediaries of humans and deities,the wizards’ status can be presented as a dual feature of privateness and sociality.However,because of the lack of general rules in folk beliefs,their status construction remain at the private level and cannot rise to the public life level.They can only exert their influence in the ritual field and among believers,which constitutes an status problem that the wizard himself cannot solve.This issue also involves the construction of folk culture,which requires both individual subjectivity,sociality and publicity.Therefore,how wizards are regulated and integrated by other cultures and jointly become cultural resources in the process of rural revitalization remains to be studied.