Understanding the Magical and Religious Mind A Psychological Exploration

This book uncovers the psychological basis of magico religious beliefs and the kind of world they create for believers, arguing against the common view that religious beliefs and practices exist mainly to strengthen social cohesion. Instead, Frederic Peters shows that religion and magic arise naturally from the human mind, which uses two cognitive systems: an older, intuitive “primary” system and a newer, analytical one. The primary system works in a way that can be described as magico-religious as it handles everyday problems through instinct, imagination, and symbolic thinking. Peters argues that this mindset creates many core religious and magical ideas: seeing the world as full of supernatural beings and forces; believing rituals can influence these powers; accepting myths as explanations for how the world works; believing in an inner soul; assuming thoughts can directly cause events; and believing that sacrifices or offerings can obligate the gods to respond. The Magico-Religious Mind offers the first clear account of how magic and religion come from a specific information processing module in the mind. Ultimately, Peters argues that Religion is universal because it comes naturally from human psychology and that as a result, religion and magic are unlikely to disappear from society.