Ostension is a [folkloristics|folkloristic] concept that is a good example of the powerful effect of [Folklore Mythology|folklore] on societies and on people's lives.

It's usually defined as "the unwitting acting out of shared narratives by a community." But here it's [show and tell|easier to show than to tell]*.

In [1808], a chill fell over the tiny British town of [Great Paxton], county [Huntingdonshire]. First, in late [1807], one woman came down with [convulsions] and was bedridden. A few months later, a girl [It's a Wonderful Life|fell through the ice] in the local pond - though she survived, she came down with convulsions as well, and so did a third girl the next month. As was later revealed to the (horrified) parish priest, Father Nicholson, the general consensus in town was that the women were [Bewitched|bewitched]. So one girl's father did what anyone would have done in this situation - he boiled a bottle of his daughter's urine, with pins in the cork, to find out the culprit. After [scientific method|several repetitions of the charm], it was generally agreed upon that the culprit was an old woman named [Ann Izzard]. And she runs in terror to Father Nicholson, and he chastises everybody [Sinners in the hands of an angry God|in one of his sermons], and nothing happens for a few weeks.

Then Ann and a friend go to market, and on the way home, the friend's wagon overturns. She charges Ann for [witchcraft|magically upsetting the cart] to spoil her goods. This whips the village into a frenzy, and a few days later, they come to the Izzard home at night, drag Ann out of bed naked, lacerate her with pins, bruise her with her door-bar, and dash her head on the [The future comes screaming and shattered, fragmented, howling through midnight cobblestone streets|cobblestone road]. She runs to the local [John Constable|constable], who refuses to defend her as he's [David Rice Atchison|not sworn in]. She runs to a friend's house, and she protects her, but the friend later "discovers" that someone who houses a witch is as bad as the witch herself, [anorexia|neither eats] [insomnia|nor sleeps], and dies a week later. It takes a second attack the next night and a village resolution to [ducking stool|duck her] the next morning to convince her to hide in Father Nicholson's house, where he is condemned by "eleven out of twelve" parishioners.

Father Nicholson delivers another hellfire sermon, citing [1 Samuel 28]:7-24, and the foolishness of believing in witchcraft. This calms the village down enough for legal proceedings to continue. Nine are convicted, and two jailed later for a further attack on Ann. The [Enlightenment]-era judges are appalled by the events, while the defendants don't seem to understand what's wrong - after all, drawing blood from the witch stopped their daughters' convulsions. Ann moves to the outskirts of town and dies unhappy at the age of 93. Father Nicholson writes all this down and becomes our [primary source] for this story (Mitchell, 2000).

As [Metamorphosis|unsettling] as this may be, it's most striking that the villagers' actions were almost entirely sourced in [Aarne-Thompson-Uther folktale classification system|shared narratives]. They knew that [magical worldview|a witch was causing their problems], and they knew how to find the witch, and how to tell she was a witch, and what to do with her - from [folktale|folktales] they had told and been told for centuries.

What's more, ostension is still a powerful force today. In [Zimbabwe], for instance, the relatively new scare of [HIV] has coupled with the relatively old scare of [Zimbabwe Albino Association|albinism] (it is widely believed throughout South Africa that the organs of [albinism|albinos] have magical properties) to create a new legend: that having sex with an albino woman will cure a man's HIV. This has led to many cases of [rape] (Machipisa, 2009).

In [America is not a country|America], and especially in the late 1980's, ostension manifests itself in the form of [rumor panic|rumor panics], most frequently as rumors of [Satanic cult] worshippers planning to murder high schoolers on [prom night]. There is, of course, no evidence for this - maybe some kids wearing [goth] makeup - but phone trees are set up, the community gets on [Red Alert|high alert], and even the police, just like that [Oops! Not a constable yet, Mrs. Izzard!|constable] from Great Paxton, reinforce the rumors (Ellis, 1990).

Another, closely related concept is [quasi-ostension], where legends are used to explain [ambiguity|ambiguous] events. So a murder actually happens and then the community blames it on Satanic cults. There's clearly a lot of overlap: Great Paxton's "discovery" of Ann Izzard was more quasi-ostensive, but their reaction was by-the-book ostension.

A final concept is [pseudo-ostension], which entails knowingly reenacting shared narratives. Everyone's heard [Typhoid Mary|the story] of a woman sleeping with men in order to give them HIV (or [typhoid], or [bubonic plague|the plague], or whatever the current scare is). A woman wrote into [Ebony] magazine under the name "C.J." claiming to have done this. Then a woman called into a radio station under the same name, claiming to [do the nasty] for revenge against the man who gave her HIV. In reality, this was [Lies, damn lies, and statistics|hoaxes and damned hoaxes], but the hoaxer did it to raise HIV awareness - and yes, the number of HIV tests at local clinics spiked ("AIDS", 2009).

And that's why you can use folklore as [atomic bomb|weaponry].

Yes, [nuclear submarine|weaponry]. In the [Michael Jackson|1980's] (under [Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev], even!), the [Soviet Union] began spreading rumors in South America that Americans were [Campaign Mode|on a campaign] to [kidnapping|seize their babies] and [I think of my organs and fold my arms|steal their organs]. Sounds innocuous enough - stupid, even - but anti-Americanism remains extremely high, largely because of these gut fears, and in [1994], a [tourist] was beaten to death in a bathroom in response to fears that she had stolen a child. Another woman was attacked on a bus and the [U.S. Embassy] had to send guards to protect her (Booth, 1994). It's not [napalm], but at the rate at which rumors spread, you can turn an entire country sheet-white against some nameless oppressor with [Creating a credible Urban Legend|folklore].

If you ask me, that's [SOY! SOY! SOY! Soy makes you strong! Strength crushes enemies! SOY!|more powerful than any ICBM].

Sources:

Booth, William. "Witch Hunt: Babies are Disappearing, Ugly Rumors Abound, and a Tourist's Life is at Stake." The Washington Post, 17 May 1994. [http://tafkac.org/medical/organ.theft/baby.parts/guatemalan_baby_snatchers.html], 1 Dec 2009.
Ellis, Bill. "The Devil-Worshippers at the Prom: Rumor-Panic as Therapeutic Magic." Western Folklore 49:1 (1990), pp. 27-49.
Machipisa, Lewis. "Albinos hit by Zimbabwe's race divide." BBC News, 14 Jan 2003. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2646967.stm], 1 Dec 2009.
Mitchell, Stephen A. "Witchcraft Persecutions in the Post-Craze Era: The Case of Ann Izzard of Great Paxton, 1808." Western Folklore, 59:3 (2000), pp. 304-328.
"AIDS: Spreading Fear, Not Disease." Time, 4 Nov 1991. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974172,00.html], 1 Dec 2009.

*which is actually the other meaning of "ostension." Thanks, [Oolong[user]]!

Ostension (idea)