Sympathetic Magic Research Paper

Sympathetic magic is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence. Breaking it down word by word: sympathy meaning a shared feeling or understanding, and magic being the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language -- such as using prayer, sacrifice, or invocation -- to control the supernatural. Taking into account the meaning of the two terms separately, one can conclude that sympathetic magic means that there are symbolic rituals to control the supernatural, which ties in neatly with the principle of similarity. The principle of similarity simply means that there is a connection between the thing itself and the object depicted. Both of these ideas tie in with animism, which states that there is a spirit in everything around you. Thus, combining these three terms, one gains the understanding of the idea of sympathetic magic.
They are commonly thought to be fertility figurines -- that is, a figurine used to depict the ideal figure for a woman to have (i.e., large breasts and hips, and more weight), because those who had large breasts and hips with more fat ‘around the middle’ were the most likely to produce offspring. This is using the principle of similarity: the connection between the figurine (the object depicted) and women (the object itself). Venus figurines also use the concept of sympathetic magic in that they were using a symbolic ritual to ensure the possibility of producing children. (Although, there is a counter argument that Venus figurines were simply self-portraits because when one looks down, the breasts, hips, and abdomen are the main things seen, and, when viewed from this extreme angle, these areas appear to be enlarged, much like how these areas on the Venus figurines