Is 'witchcraft' a suitable syllabus topic for Massey University?

Updated: 2:22PM Thursday September 4, 2008

Magic and Witchcraft, is a 100-level extramural paper offered this semester at the university's school of history, philosophy and classics.

The 120 students enrolled in the paper studied the use of sorcery in the classical world, medieval and early modern times and in colonial Maori culture.

For the first assignment students had to create a magical curse tablet or erotic charm - however, the fanciful assignments have to be backed up with research.

Debate on this issue is now closed. Here is a selection of Your Views:

Rodney (Howick)
Wednesday September 3, 2008 To - Lady Barbie Girl (Epsom). You speak for yourself. How can you call devoutly religious people, and I refer to genuinely good people, as being practitioners of witchcraft? If there is a God, I hope that he doesn't zap you to teach you a lesson.

Lady Barbie Girl (Epsom)
Wednesday September 3, 2008 Now, how about a course for 'being a great bitch' instead of 'a nasty witch'? We need a course like that enabling us women to keep men under control, if at all poss. Women are simply too nice to guys without getting much in return. I'll dare enroll straight away and I bet you there'll be long, long queues.

TomG (Canada)
Tuesday September 2, 2008 Lady Barbie - oh I save my best rocks for religion I assure you. You misunderstand though when you say that "when no one listens to your prayers - there is no god." God actually said he would not interfere and if he answered prayers then he would have proved himself to be a liar don't you think? So I just can't figure why people who theoretically know that still keep praying anyway?

And surely you must have heard how a reporter in the US who had drifted away from religion decided to go back to church and see what had changed. On the wall to his amazement, was a gold phone - a direct line to God, costing $10,000 a call. Visiting churches in several other states, he found the same thing.

Then on a trip to NZ he decided to see what the situation was there - same phone but only 10c a call. He asked the pastor what the story was - why so cheap and was told of course - "Oh in NZ it's a local call."

Rodney (Howick)
Tuesday September 2, 2008 Witchcraft would look pretty cool on your CV, but then agan, I can't recall ever seeing "Witches Wanted" in the Jobs Vacancy section in my newspaper.

Anne (Glen Eden)
Tuesday September 2, 2008 Wryburd (Newton)I don't know why you're telling other people to read up on things. A primary facet of the discussion is about students being set assignments to make curses and erotic charms. There is nothing academic in that and it is an extremely unwise, uneducated and disrespectful thing to do under any circumstances.

peter mcqueeny (United Kingdom)is the only poster I've seen on this forum with an appropriate knowledge of and/or respect for the belief system outside of the Hollywood model clearly being presented in this course and practised in NZ.

I think it extremely unwise and non-beneficial to engage in it but if someone is going to claim to 'study' it, at least have the courtesy to respect its origins and practice, outside the usual self-indulgent, simple-minded pollyanna style attitudes displayed by most female practitioners in NZ who present it as some form of warm, fuzzy feminism or as some sort of fairy tale which has never had an impact on real life.

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