Chicago Witches with Ethnicity-based Powers
@brambesi asked:
I’m writing a story about witches. It takes place mainly in Chicago. The concept is that each ethnicity has it’s own kind of magic based on beliefs of their culture. I chose Chicago, bc my main character is Slavic and Chicago is known to have a big population of polish and Slavic ppl in general. But I want to include other races than white. Anything I have to avoid writing about other ethnicities? I already know that for ex black ppl do not have one culture all together so the spells they use etc. will vary depending on which part of Africa they are from- same with other non-white ppl. What about Arabic ppl with Muslim background (or Muslims in general) and Jewish ppl? Is it ok to include them? And if religion matters in general, since for ex Slavic magic will be based on beliefs that existed before christianisation and white characters don’t really have to do anything with Christian religion? (I think it’s important especially with Jewish ppl)
“Elemental Powers Based on Race” might be of interest to you in this discussion.
For the Muslim aspect of this, please read the Muslims and Magic Tag. We’ve answered why it’s okay to leave Muslims out of magic. When it comes to Muslims+ magic in an area where Muslims would exist, how Lesya approaches this is to have them not practice it, but still be influenced by it and relying on prayer as their protection from evil forces.
> black ppl do not have one culture all together so the spells they use etc. will vary depending on which part of Africa they are from
How exactly are you planning on doing this when so many people are here because their ancestors were kidnapped and they don’t know where they came from exactly? Enslaved Africans/African Americans(and those enslaved elsewhere, not just AA) created new cultures based on the old plus new of their environment and circumstances, varying by time period.So maybe that’s something you can include, but you will need to do your research and be thoughtful on how you do this. A fine starting place would be looking into the history of Black Culture(s) in Chicago.
And not to bring up more complications, but what about mixed race witches? What powers might they have if they may vary well be coming from two different cultures? A dominant influence from one parent, equal parts from both, more or less?
By the way, if you’re not Jewish and not prepared to do a lot of research for this it might be safer to make the Jewish witch’s magic more secular (you know, like Sailor Moon or Harry Potter) rather than evoking our actual beliefs and prayers because as an outsider you may miss nuances. If you think of a specific thing you want vetted, like “My Jewish witch character is an artist; can she use a paintbrush as a magic wand?” (I just made that up as a random example; the answer is yes) feel free to send it in. Please check out several posts on Jewish Witches here.
–WWC