At the dawn of the present era, a group of deities sacrificed themselves to create the sun, moon, and time. Nahua ("Aztec") devotees wrapped stick skeletons and greenstone hearts in the deities' clothing. They venerated the tlaquimilolli (sacred bundles) as the most precious form of deity embodiment. This article explores the magic in a bundle by considering how their making exceeds ordinary collection and binds them to human caretakers as kin.
Magic primarily resides in a participatory relationship with the world. Participation does not work with the sorts of divisions employed by Western thought, for instance, between economy and society, nature and culture, cosmology and practical action. According to non-Western thought, all the world is animate and sentient, sharing these qualities with humans. Forms of modern theory, such as 4E cognition, help us understand a participatory and less alienated stance toward the world. Such forms of thought and action are holistic, rather than analytical, emphasizing notions of care and morality in human relationships with the universe. I first lay out these general points, before looking at Indigenous Australian philosophy, focusing primarily on the notion of Country, as a prime example of participatory, magical action. Magic is a positive quality of engagement and something to be aspired to, rather than something to have any negative implications.
This essay reviews biases and confusions in applying the term "magic," then turns to magic as the efficacious quality of ritual speech and as the agencies conveyed by materials in assemblage, with two historical examples of artifacts.
