Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

FETISH

An object representing spirits that is used to create a bond between the human and supernatural world. Fetishes are dolls, carved images, stones, or animal teeth, claws or bones. They are often worn as amulets on the body to impart their magical powers, such as for protection, luck, love, curing, warding off evil, money, good hunting, gambling, or curses on enemies. Fetishes may also be animals' teeth, snake bones, beautiful stones or even the huts where witch doctors' commune with spirit guides.

The term 'fetish' may derive from the Latin factitius, 'made by art', or the Portuguese feitico, 'Charm' or 'Sorcery'.

Other terms associated with fetishes are 'juju' and 'Gris-gris', both of which may have derived from a West African term, grou-grou, for sacred objects. Early European traders commonly called the grou-grou they encountered juju, meaning dolls or playthings.

The Gris-gris evolved out of the Mrican-American slave culture in the American South and refers to Charm bags fIlled with magical powders, herbs, spices, roots, bones, stones, feathers, and so on.

Possession of a fetish by a slave in the New World was punishable by sadistic torture and death. Not only were the fetishes graven images of a god other than the Christian one, they represented tribal ways feared by white masters.

Today the term is popularly used to refer to an object or idea that receives superstitious or unquestioning trust or reverence. It is also used in psychiatry to refer to the inordinate or pathological fascination a person may have for an inanimate object.

see also: GRIS-GRIS

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc