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Can anyone help? I'm looking for sources that discuss taboos, superstitions, and other paranormal beliefs or customs, because I want to do a dialectical material analysis of them.
The analysis will start with: how do we reach truth? First acknowledging that indigenous people view 'spirituality' as a premodern science that spans the entire globe, whose source is the universe and which does not require belief - only training to see. And the necessity of cultural sovereignty. Then, elaborating the underrated contributions of dialectical materialism and Juche to cutting away dogmatism and revealing the social sciences, further developing the original knowledges to present conditions. From this kernel, I will aim to rescue the truth and value in indigenous knowledges, through dialectical analysis. I will explore examples of the development of indigenous customs around the globe, both precolonial and postcolonial. The customs I will analyze include things like sacrificing children in order to magically charge watering holes, killing animals that are seen as bad omens, and regarding people with certain inborn traits as threats or bad luck (albino, twins, transgender and gender nonconforming). Also the way that mentally ill or neurodivergent people are treated, such as attempting exorcisms on them. I would also like to explore the two-body conception, the idea that there is a physical and nonphysical body, and analyze that dialectically. And also to acknowledge that possibly not everything bad arrived post-colonially, but all historical conditions should be considered, rather than dogmatically blaming it on colonizers and ignoring any internal contradictions.
A discussion of these customs would not be complete without mentioning their connections to traditional medicine, which obviously has at least a large amount of efficacy in many aspects (as I have seen in my own life) but which may be held back by certain dogmatisms. Also too, majority of people who hold the customs do so dogmatically without understanding the original reason for their existence. As elders in my circles have often emphasized, it is not the customs themselves but the underlying reasons which must be examined for wisdom. Despite my political differences with them as a Marxist/Jucheist, I agree and want to pay full respect to all they have taught me, and give my proletarian opinion. If a rational kernel can be uncovered then the truth or wisdom can be rescued for modern dialectical materialist application. And there is no better way to explore this, than to research and observe how other indigenous/milenary global south nationalities modernized their cultures while keeping all integral. Losing only the unscientific parts (according to Marxist understanding of science), and keeping the scientific parts. My research does not start with the premise "this is obviously nonsense", it acknowledges that there is a *reason* for all these things without dogmatically saying the custom is correct and cannot ever be changed. The reason must be evaluated in a proper historical material context to uncover the " why", from there people can get the value. Although these beliefs can vary from culture to culture, it is still possible to compare similarities because it is ultimately a human thing.
And then, I will analyze things from the perspective of the development of class society and capitalism and imperialism. Finally, I will conclude my essay with answering the question of why none of these things have been properly handled. Well, liberals may have tried to talk about culture for a long time, but their methods are flawed. Only through Marxism and Juche can we find truth from facts. The second possible factor is that certain societies entered feudalism while others did not. And perhaps what happened to certain customs under feudalism: transformation, and shoving it into feudal religion.