ABSTRACT
This chapter examines magical consciousness as an affective awareness experienced through an alternative mode of mind. Levy-Bruhl emphasised the social dimensions of participation, but what has concerned me are the individual and psychological aspects of magical experience. Oliver Sacks argues that the brain has almost unlimited plasticity; when the human organism is faced with a new situation, it must adapt, for example deafness and the use of sign language lead to enhancement of perception and visual intelligence. The notion of the centrality of the heart to an analysis of consciousness challenges scientific notions of mind, which are usually understood as originating from the brain; in Western thought, the mind is associated with head. Magic occurred when there was a gap in practical activities: when a hunter was disappointed by his quarry, or when a sailor missed propitious winds, or when a canoe builder had to deal with some uncertain material or when a healthy person suddenly felt his strength failing.
