Voodoo dolls nothing but a dark curse on society | | (Illustrations: GT/Peter C. Espina) |
A number of Chinese white-collar workers, and well-dressed but completely stressed-outyoung women in particular, have taken to a rather odd way of amusing themselves orrelieving pressure, it seems.
They are buying heaps of voodoo dolls online and are obsessing over the black magic ritualsassociated with them.
By piercing needles into the dolls and placing curses on others - their difficult superiorswho are blamed for making their life a living hell at work - these employees believe theyare tapping into otherworldly superstitious powers that will solve their problems.
A search for "voodoo dolls" on Taobao, China's largest e-commerce store, will instantlybring up a number of vendors selling the dolls. Mostly made in Thailand, the dolls beingsold online start at about 15 yuan ($2.40).
The origins of voodoo have been traced back to West Africa, but since feudal times inChina, people have been tapping into the indigenous religious spirit to curse one another.Such scenes are commonly shown in TV shows set in ancient China.
With the country's ancient voodoo history in mind, it becomes easier to understand whysuch staunch ground remains for the practices being carried out by white-collar workerstoday.
But it's still more than strange to think of these employees - living in a modern world withan abundance of scientific knowledge now available to them - as so wrapped up in old worldbeliefs.
Progress in modernity furthers the rationalization of a society, or so philosopher JamesK.A. Smith argues.
But developing Chinese cities have seen plenty of progress in recent years with a swellingmiddle class, yet the case of China's voodoo dolls appears to suggest little headway hasbeen made in terms of becoming more rational.
As educated professionals rush home to poke their dolls with pins to place curses on theevil - perhaps their unrelenting bosses - in an effort to release their stresses, the questionbegs: Why is there no other rational way to cope with the pressures of modern life?
How can black magic be the answer to people's problems in this day and age? If you thinkthe answer to such a ridiculous question could not possibly get any flakier, think again.
A white-collar worker who earned a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan-plus was caughtstealing an expensive handbag at a Beijing airport on one of her many business trips inJuly.
Afterward, she confessed to authorities that she did it, not because she could not afford theitem, but because she needed to do something crazy to release pressure.
People today have it so much better off than the generations before them - and thoseearlier on.
Yet for all of our new found riches and good fortune we seem more insecure and stressedout than ever.
When people are asked if they are happy, most of them respond with a sigh.
The resulting unfavorable social atmosphere has become toxic to the world in which we liveand work - and trust me, no magic spell or curse will reverse these effects.
Maybe it's time for people to put down their dolls and calm their nerves with real-lifesolutions - chin up, first.
As destitute as their problems seem, surely they cannot be helpless enough for them toturn to dolls.
（Editor：DuMingming、Chen Lidan）
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