British anthropologist J. G. Fraser's (1854-1941) is a scientific masterpiece that studies ancient customs and beliefs and concepts in the world. , known as the Encyclopedia of Anthropology.There are four editions of the book, of which the third edition is the most magnificent, with 12 volumes. There was a sense of witchcraft long before religion came into existence and produced witchcraft.In ancient times, when people believed that one phenomenon had an inevitable causal connection with another phenomenon, but could not find the proof of empirical facts, they replaced the real connection with the fantasy connection, and combined the two phenomena into one Among the results of one's own understanding.This kind of knowledge structure or consciousness form, which takes spirituality as the premise and constructs the chain of causal connection with the form of fantasy thinking, is the consciousness of witchcraft.And the behavior pattern of using witchcraft consciousness to achieve a certain value goal is witchcraft.

British anthropologist J. After G. Fraser made a comprehensive and in-depth study on witchcraft, he divided witchcraft into theoretical witchcraft and practical witchcraft.Theoretical witchcraft refers to what we call witchcraft consciousness.Fraser believes that this kind of consciousness can be divided into two types, one is to believe in "like birth" and "see things that are similar to each other as the same thing"; the other is to believe that "once objects touch each other, they are interrupted Entities that come into contact continue to interact over long distances." "The former can be called the 'Law of Similarity', and the latter can be called the 'Law of Contact' or 'Law of Contamination'." (JG Fraser: China Folk Literature and Art Publishing House, 1987 edition, pp. 19-20.) Witchcraft performed in accordance with these two laws of witchcraft is what Fraser calls "applied witchcraft."Applied witchcraft is further divided into "active witchcraft or sorcery" and "negative witchcraft or taboo", "active witchcraft or sorcery says: 'do this and something will happen'; negative witchcraft or taboo Then say: 'Don't do this, lest something happen'." (JG Fraser:, China Folk Literature and Art Publishing House, 1987 edition, p. 31.) The two types of witchcraft proposed by Fraser have already summarized The totality of human witchcraft.Additionally, Fraser was the first thinker to suggest that witchcraft preceded religion.In (1890) he divided the development of human intelligence into three stages: magic, religion, and science, and compared the three categories.Fraser believes that magic and science have similarities, saying: "Witchcraft or science take it for granted that the course of nature depends not on the passions or caprices of individual characters, but on the unchanging process of machinery going on. The difference is that this understanding is implicit in witchcraft, but not implicit in science." He described witchcraft as a "pseudoscience" that distorts the laws of nature (J.G. Frey Ze:, China Folk Literature and Art Publishing House, 1987 edition, p. 19.).Speaking of religion, Fraser states: "Religion is fundamentally opposed to magic and science insofar as it asserts that the world is directed by conscious agents whose wills can be persuaded. "(J.G. Fraser:, China Folk Literature and Art Publishing House, 1987 edition, p. 79.) Religion is "an invitation to superhuman power". "All practices of soliciting favors imply that the favored is a conscious or personal agent whose behavior is somehow indeterminate and can be persuaded to change in desired directions, provided that Persuasion judiciously caters to his interests. tastes and sensibilities." Unlike religion, witchcraft asserts that "all personal objects, whether men or gods, are ultimately always subordinate to those inhuman powers that control everything. As long as he knows how to manipulate this power skillfully with appropriate rituals and spells, he can continue to use it." (J.G. Fraser:, China Folk Literature and Art Publishing House, 1987 edition, p. 79.) Witchcraft" The gods are actually treated in exactly the same way as they are with inanimate beings, that is, they are coerced or suppressed rather than pleasing or flattering them, as religion does." (J.G. Fraser: pp. 79 pages.)

Based on this understanding, Fraser concluded: "Although witchcraft and religion have been mixed and confused for many centuries and in many lands, we still have reasons to think that this fusion did not start from the beginning. A period of time when people believed in witchcraft only in order to satisfy their desires beyond the needs of ordinary animals." And, "Given the basic views of witchcraft and religion, we are inclined to make this judgment: witchcraft in human history The emergence of religion is earlier than religion." (J.G. Fraser:, p. 79.) From Fraser's above discussion, we have seen some differences between witchcraft consciousness and religious consciousness.Although both contain belief in some kind of supernatural spirituality, the witchcraft consciousness only regards supernatural spirituality as an inevitable necessity, and believes that the spirituality of the magician is on the same level as it, and has the ability to restrain the supernatural. Spirituality; while religious consciousness puts supernatural spirituality above natural necessity, and believes that only supernatural spirituality has the ability to interfere with natural necessity. The relationship between ordinary people and supernatural spirituality is belief and being believed, worshiping and being worshipped, praying and being prayed for The relationship between them is not on the same level. Ordinary people can only "bless" themselves by worshiping this supernatural spirituality.To put it simply, the main difference between witchcraft consciousness and religious consciousness is that witchcraft consciousness does not "worship" supernatural spirituality, while religious consciousness presupposes the "worship" of it.