tures are bound to cave in at some point. What they want to find out is
why the roof collapsed at the precise time when so-and-so was sitting
underneath it rather than before or after that. This is where witchcraft
provides a good explanation. But what explains the existence of witch-
craft? No one seems to find that a pertinent or interesting question.
This is in fact a common situation in places where people have beliefs
about spirits or witches. These agents' behavior is an explanation of
particular cases, but no one bothers to explain the existence of misfor-
tune in general.
The origin of thingsin general is not always the obvious source of
puzzlement that we may imagine. As anthropologist Roger Keesing [13]
points out in describing myths of the Kwaio people in the Solomon
Islands: "Ultimate human origins are not viewed as problematic. [The
myths] assume a world where humans gave feasts, raised pigs, grew
taro, and fought blood feuds." What matters to people are particular
cases in which these activities are disrupted, often by the ancestors or
by witchcraft.^2
But how does religion account for these particular occurrences?
The explanations one finds in religion are often more puzzling than
illuminating. Consider the explanation of thunderstorms as the boom-
ing voice of ancestors venting their anger at some human misde-
meanor. To explain a limited aspect of the natural world (loud, rolling,
thumping sounds during storms), we have to assume a whole imagi-
nary world with superhuman agents (Where did they come from?
Where are they?) that cannot be seen (Why not?), in a distant place
that cannot be reached (How does the noise come through all the
way?), whose voices produce thunder (How is that possible? Do they
have a special mouth? Are they gigantic?). Obviously, if you live in a
place where this kind of belief is widespread, people may have an
answer to all these questions. But each answer requires a specific nar-
rative, which more often than not presents us with yet more superhu-
man agents or extraordinary occurrences—that is, with more ques-
tions to answer.
As another illustration, here is a short account of shamanistic ritual
among the Cuna of Panama by anthropologist Carlo Severi:
The [shaman's] song is chanted in front of two rows of statuettes facing
each other, beside the hammock where the patient is lying. These aux-
iliary spirits drink up the smoke whose intoxicating effect opens their
minds to the invisible aspect of reality and gives them the power toWHATISTHE ORIGIN?