Introduction to the Anthropology of the Magical, Mystical, and Unseen

Egypt is a place where traditional spiritual healing methods that include ‘superstitious’ beliefs and rituals are still popular, in recent years new modalities like energy healing have also become popular and available. However, it’s very common for spiritual and other healing practitioners to be cast as ignorant and the practices as fraudulent. Despite this, today it is common that people are religiously observant, think of themselves as modern and cosmopolitan, and still practice yoga, have tarot readings and seek the help of a crystal healer. In that sense, there’s an extent of hybridization between what is believed to be the mystical and the modern when it comes to spiritual healing in contemporary Egypt. It can be said that this seeming contradiction has come about as a result of the enlightenment project, which had sought to put humans as masters of the world. It was perceived as an act of rationalist liberation that would help them reach progress and improve their conditions. The rise of the nation-state led to the colonization of not only policies and laws, but also the bodies and ideas of the colonized communities. Consequently, the enlightenment project resulted in the disenchantment of knowledge and the world became, and still is, a place where myths are viewed as the opposite of modernity.