Religious Shamans & Magic

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that during the Mass, the bread and wine that is used to represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ, actually becomes the real flesh and real blood of Jesus Christ.

The technical or techno-theologic name for this conversion is transubstantiation.

This is nonsense, of course, even though something like a billion people believe it. It can be easily proven that there is no change in the physical elements of bread and wine during the Mass.

But, the really interesting thing is that even if you could show that the bread and wine actually, truly, really became flesh and blood, how would you know it was Jesus' flesh and blood - without a DNA sample?

The Catholic Church is not the only group that believes in and practices magic. In our little town we have an Episcopal priest who many think can heal people by putting his hands on them. Well, he prays, too.

This is what happens. Let's say you have a knee that's out of whack and hurting bad. You go to church and make your way up to the altar. The Rev. Michael Messina, Jr., is standing there in his white robe, wearing a wooden-beaded crucifix. The Rev will put some oil on your forehead, and his hands on your tophead. He will close his eyes and his head will shake and he will say something like this: "We command that you just come and touch every part of that old knee. (the Rev might touch your knee here) We pray in the name of Jesus Christ all this will be healed."

At that point the Rev. Messina will begin speaking in a language no one can understand - the Pentecostals call it "speaking in tongues."

There's a lot of hollering and jumping and falling down in this little Episcopal church. People say its the Holy Spirit.

Maybe it is. Or maybe its "that ol' black magic" that Sinatra sang about.