vienna

The nameless fashion is naked, and without decoration.
And the shop itself seems to be dead. The way the shops
cover their show windows reminds us of the way abandoned
shops are treated. Everybody is invited to the common meal,
even the slaves. 614
The people gather in front of the sacrificial place, some of them
have been waiting there for a long time so that they are the
first to enter. Musicians are playing music. Two men guard the
door. The next act is the ceremonial opening of the doors. The
people are now pushing and shoving their way in. 615
Inside, the orgy is in full swing. Furious bargain hunters
are tearing apart the body of the victim with their bare hands. We
have reached the phase of communion. 616
Magic
“[Thus] religious or magical behaviour or thinking must not
be set apart from the range of everyday purposive conduct,
particularly since even the ends of the religious and magical
actions are predominantly economic.” 617
Here, Max Weber gives us a preliminary idea about how
“magic” action is “rationally” involved in contemporary life.
So, the conclusion we draw from this quote is that both the
production side as well as the consumption side probably use
magic action for economic reasons. It is hard to find magic
instructions in merchandising literature, but merchandising pioneer
Paco Underhill tells us where to look for magic practice:
614 During the Anthesteria, the slaves had equal social status. See (Bremmer 1999:19)
615 This description is based on photo material we found in the archive of a big department store in London.
616 Miller (1998a:107) relates the sacrificial meal to the family and not to the community of shoppers: “Feeding the family
then stands for the modern act of consumption in an analogous relationship to feeding the community in ancient sacrifice.”
617 Weber (1978:400).
Magic
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