Summary

Chapter 1 “The Ecology of Magic” begins with Abrams’ inquiry into the relation between traditional medicine and the animate natural world. He sees shamans as the intermediary energy balancer between the human community and the broader ecological field. Abrams finds the ability to change one’s consciousness at will to be a definition of magic. He reminisces about a Balinese daily practice of offering rice to the household spirits. He realizes the ants would be placated by the rice and not interfere with the cooking of the compound. Here, Abrams describes ancestor worship as less the worship for spirits of those gone but as their bodies being reintegrated into the Earth or surrounding forces—such as wind during a cremation—and thus a form of animate worship.

Caught in a sudden rainstorm, Abrams is sheltered in a cave and watches several spiders spin webs...