Like you Jackie I care little for superstition. A down side of this however is that I don't know a whole lot on the subject.
One I do know about but is the "pointing of the bone" in Australian Aboriginal culture. I don't know if it's still practiced, but if you had done something wrong and the bone was pointed at you by the "gadaitcha" man (sp? - witch doctor) of the tribe you were a goner.
There are validated European accounts of these events throughout the 1800's and early 1900's. I recall that sometimes the recipient didn't see the bone being pointed, but seemed to just know - and slowly started to die. Could have been they knew they'd overstepped tribal law and what the punishment would be.
I don't think a bone was the tool used by all tribes - I've heard of others being sung to death.
It makes a conundrum for English law in this country. If a gadaitcha man causes somebody to die through bone pointing or singing, are they themselves guilty of murder under white man's law?
"Payback" is still quite prevalent in Aboriginal culture. It consists of spearing the perp in the legs and is usually conducted by tribal elders and/or the victim's family - often in response to cases of rape or violence. White man's law acknowledges the validity and imprtance of payback to aboriginal people and usually takes no action against the spear throwers. It does however apply to the original perp - particularly if the crimes are of the type mentioned.
stales
