Avada Kedavra - Carson Alfonzo

I find it interesting how some religions persist and have much influence of members of society to this day, while others were historically practiced and relevant but eventually faded away. The religion of the Nordic region was powerful and lasted until the area’s eventual conversion to Christianity in the 8 th century. I was also surprised that Valhalla was not mentioned once in A History of Magic, Witchcraft, & the Occult, since this is a significant part of Nordic mythology; Valhalla is the Nordic form of heaven for bravehearted soldiers who died valiantly in battle, and Odin oversees the spirits’ eternal peace. I am always fascinated by polytheism, since the most dominant religions to this day are monotheistic. I also did not know that in Nordic mythology, there were two sets of gods who opposed one another constantly. It is so weird how this religion that was once so significant is now labeled as mythology, I suppose when enough people stop believing the religion loses all val...

Oxford languages defines necromancy as “the supposed practice of communicating with the dead, especially in order to predict the future; sorcery or black magic in general.” On page 35 of A History of Magic, Witchcraft, & the Occult, necromancy (in the context of Greece) is similarly defined as “the art of speaking with, or even raising, the dead, which took place at sites such as the Necromanteion in Epirus.” There has always been a fascination with the concept of death throughout the existence of humanity, most commonly in the context of fear, and the unknown. Therefore, it is no surprise that over the course of history, humans have attempted to theorize what exactly happens post-mortem. Due to many commonly held beliefs of some form of afterlife, people have oftentimes attempted to reach people who have come and gone from this planet. Whether due to an inability to let a loved one go, or out of pure fascination and curiosity, there have been many attempts to contact or even raise...

It is fascinating just how ubiquitous the practice of sacrifice has been throughout all of human history, dating back as far as 4000 BCE and still alluded to or even practiced to this day. In fact, I do not even necessarily question the premise of sacrifice when I see it referenced or practiced in popular culture or forms of entertainment. After our readings and some research, I would say that there are various tiers of sacrifice, where sacrificing items / jewelry is of the lowest significance, topped by animal sacrifices (where larger / rarer / more expensive animals are more significant). It is believed that the first animal sacrifice took place in Upper Egypt, around 4400-4000 BCE. Following animals, the ultimate form of sacrifice to the gods or higher powers is almost certainly humans. After some research, I was not able to find a citation for the total number of humans that have been sacrificed in all of history, which is interesting because I figured there would at least be one e...