Category: Witchcraft

Introduction

The sources that have been provided here prove that people in earlier times believed in witches and black magic and were so blinded by their beliefs that they did not hesitate to take the lives of thousands of innocent women. They believed that women practiced witchcraft in order to hurt men and women and even the children by using their magical and supernatural powers. For this reason witch hunts and witch trials were carried out which were completely unfair since the women were never given the chance to prove themselves and the court almost always found them guilty due to which they were either burnt alive or hanged, as the pictures suggest. Sometimes even children who were females were not spared and were killed since their own family members suspected them, along with their mothers, to be witches and somehow in the courtrooms proved them guilty as charged. But the writings given here surely prove that there may have been certain unexplainable activities although they do not completely prove that witches were for real.

History

People during the early ages believed in witches and witchcraft more then they do now. And thus, based on this the events portrayed in these sources could be dated back from the 15^th to 17^th century, which has been unofficially called the classical era of witch hunts. The first source depicts a traditional witch trial which was official in those times and even legally sanctioned by the authorities. The officials blinded by the fear of the supernatural world seldom heard what the women had to say and were often found guilty of witchcraft. Women were more targeted than the men and even their family members did not listen to what they had to say. The second source is the excerpt written by a man examining a person suspected of witchcraft. He was also told that his family had died due to the actins of some external powers. He gives us a detailed description of the afflicted people before him. From the excerpt, it seems like they had been subjected to witchcraft or black magic since the suspected people had pins through their arms and lips. Also, sometimes the suspects threw fits of anger and became ill wresting their legs and arms and turning their heads to a great extent.

The third source is the examination of a woman named Sarah Good who has been accused of hurting children. She denies to having done so, but her examiner was not convinced. She even said that it could have been another person with the same name but this too did not convince her examiner. Even her husband thought that she was a witch as she used to mutter the commandments all the time. Sarah Good kept on repeating that she had not tormented any of the children but since she was unable to prove herself, the examiner did not believe her. The forth source shows the picture of two officials tying the noose around the neck of a poor woman who may have been found guilty of witchcraft or black magic. Although some of the other women are desperately trying to save her, the officials are pushing them away. Some of the men are actually cheering for the officials since they want the woman to be hanged. This whole story could be that of a single woman found guilty of being a witch during the 15^th or 16^th century when women had very little power and say of their own.

Women

As stated earlier these sources could be telling us the story of a poor woman found guilty of being a witch or practicing witchcraft. The first source portrays a witch trial where we can see a woman lying on the ground being beaten by some men, although they are in the court room in front of public officials. The apparent outcome of these sources is that people blinded by their belief that witchcraft existed would go to any lengths to punish the women they thought were guilty of being a witch. If required the women were even beaten up and made to accept that they were witches and that they inflicted pain upon others. Since they did not have the support of their family members, they were taken away from their children and either burned to death or hanged in front of the public who instead of opposing to such a gruesome crime actually wanted the sentence to be carried out. The women were almost always found guilty and as they had very little say in those days they were easily proved guilty and sometimes even framed in place of another person, as is evident from the third source. It is also apparent from these sources that the authorities in those times were completely ignorant and blinded by their fear of the unknown to such an extent that they did not hesitate to hang and burn innocent women simple because the authorities believed them to be witches.

The only meaning that can be drawn from all of these sources is that the people between the 15^th century and 17^th century completely believed in the existence of witches, the supernatural and black magic so much so that if required they would even force people to falsely testify against women accused of practicing witchcraft. These sources continue to tell us the story of a woman who was accused of being a witch and even sent to trial. She was examined and when found guilty was brutally murdered in front of an ignorant crowd who cheered instead of revolting against such a crime. The women, completely helpless could do nothing to save herself since no one believed her, not even her husband and the examiners were able to find numerous evidences proving her to be a witch. Finally, she was hanged while people laughed and cheered at her.

Conclusion

At those times when people believed in witched people blindly followed their religion and cultural aspects to the point that some of them were even dimmed by it. The two visual sources tell us about the position of women in those times which was very low. Since they were weaker, they were subjected to all kinds of brutality, in this case being wrongly accused and proved of practicing witchcraft and black magic. The visual sources prove the point that the woman pictured here may not have been a witch at all. In the first visual source she is being beaten by an official and in the second one the officials are getting ready to hang her. Although she desperately tries to prove herself to the examiners, she fails to do so and thus, finally the authorities prove her wrong and decide to hang her. Had the women been a witch then some kind of supernatural activities would have also been depicted in these visual sources, but that is not the case. This strongly proves that these women were wrongly accused of being witches and actually killed in front of the masses.

From these visual sources we can also deduce women almost had no power of their own in those times. They could not even stop the authorities from falsely accusing them of being witches and were thus, often dragged to their own death. The visual sources also tell us about the ignorance of the common people and the officials who were responsible for the law and order of society. Instead of falsely accusing the women out of their blind fear of the unknown, the officials should have tried to find the truth. But as they lacked the knowledge of science they were unable to do so. The women were brutally hanged as people and children watched the gruesome scene and celebrated. These visual sources also prove that law and order were not the same for both the sexes in those times, since the pictures do not depict any men being accused of practicing witchcraft and thus, being tried in the court. This shows that the men were spared of this brutality may by because they were considered to be more powerful than the women in the society of the 15^th or 17^th century. But the women being the weaker gender were unable to defend themselves and often found a noose around their neck.

‘Witch-hunting… helped to unite men – by demonstrating the ultimate evil was female, not male.’

The study of popular magic and witchcraft tells us that early-modern European society was a wholly misogynistic one that demonized and persecuted women. The patterns of popular magic and witchcraft can be traced throughout most of Europe from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

The idea that ‘Witchcraft was not sex-specific but sex related’ according to Christina Larner, is arguable. The study of popular magic and witchcraft shows that the nature of early-modern society was prejudiced against women and sought for a way to suppress and get rid of a fraction of the female population. By the end of the seventeenth century, there was a notable shift in certainty about the existence of popular magic and witchcraft or maleficium. In Reginald Scott’s book ‘The Discoverie of Witchcraft’, he is a skeptic, his message is intended to cast doubt on the people. He determines through reason the improbability of witchcraft and uses religion in order to back it up (an unusual feat at the time where religion was prominent and was often used to encourage the belief of witchcraft). He determines that the belief in witchcraft and witch-hunting was wholly un-Christian. His accusations against the Catholic church, reportedly led to King James I in England in 1603 to burn all available copies of the book at the time. 2 This document and its brief demise is significant as it is reports the realities of witchcraft. Despite James’ supposed burning of his book, Scott’s suspicions gradually evolved into truth held by leading members of the social and cultural powers across Europe over the next hundred years, that magic was insolent, and the Devil was nothing more than a parable to serve as a moral influence. The disbelief was so extensive that those who believed in the physical reality of either were considered to be mentally ill. 3 An article published in Britain in 1671 by John Wagstaffe deeply criticised the belief in witchcraft demeaning it to mere ‘superstition having over-run the world… taking its advantage from the frailty of man’ 4

Examples of alternative explanations for witchcraft and those who confessed to being a part of it are seen all across Europe from as early as the fifteenth century. In France, in the 1490s, humanist physician Symphorien Champier was apparently the first to suggest that people who thought that they had participated in a Sabbat were suffering from a mental illness that called for medical treatment.5 In Germany, Agrippa von Nettelsheim in 1509, also denounced the cruelty and highlighted the greed of inquisitors as an ulterior motive for witch-hunting.6 Girolamo Cardano, an Italian physician and mathematician, further depicted witches as ‘poor, malnourished women whose black bile and melancholic humor made them susceptible to delusions and hallucinations.’ 7 So, the question is, if the disbelief in magic was so widespread, why did the witch-hunts continue for another approximately two hundred years?

It is no coincidence that witch-hunting took place in a firmly patriarchal society. The social, political, and economic dominance of men was essential for the belief in popular magic and witchcraft and resulted in witch-hunting. Larner argues that the relationship between the witch-hunts and patriarchy is only an indirect one. However, that seems futile considering it is undeniable that the connection exists all the same.8

It is unreasonable to say, perhaps, that the sole reason for the massacre of women during this time was purely economic reasons although it is no coincidence that most women accused of witchcraft were poor, marginal women. It is obvious that wives were less economically vulnerable than single or widowed women at this time. In Scotland, for example, the increase of witchhunts rose proportionally with the emigration of young men. In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries (peak witch-hunting years) over 35,000 men, more than twenty percent of the young male population, emigrated resulting in the increase of single, young women. 9 Maybe the ‘belief’ in popular magic and witchcraft demonstrates an extremely resourceful society that decided to eliminate societal and economic burdens while at the same time spreading fear and establishing control over the entire population of women.

From an ulterior perspective, the ‘belief’ in popular magic and witchcraft, and the witch-hunts as a result, were an effort to control women. ‘Witchcraft was part of a broader pattern of moral offenses for which women were given increased criminal responsibility for during the Reformation.10 Adultery was criminalized in 1563, followed by fornication and incest in 1567.11 These moral offenses were all related to sex, as was witchcraft, as the stereotype of a witch was a sexual deviant. This is clear from the concept of how a woman becomes a witch. It was said that in order to become a witch a woman must make a pact with the devil. In order to do this, she must have sex with him. Prosecuting these women for witchcraft (which typically stemmed from sex crimes) reflects a society that was outraged and disgusted by the perception of female sexual freedom and sought to impose a new moral order.

Although people accused of practicing magic and witchcraft were tried in secular courts, this does not excuse the obvious involvement of the Church. The Church also played a role in this sexual oppression of women, which is essentially what this was, in the physical form of accusations of witchcraft. Charges of sexual deviancy were usually made by religious and secular authorities who feared sexual conspiracy, as the Devil was a symbol for forbidden sexuality and desire of any kind. The state and the Church were ultimately intertwined, as their values and beliefs influenced one another. In the primary source ‘Malleus Maleficarum’, Kramer and Sprenger divulge through biblical connotations an extremely anti-female attitude. They claim with reference to Eve, the first woman, that she is a defect, ‘an imperfect animal’. They state that in regards to the tale of Eve and the serpent ‘it is clear in the case of the first woman that she had… little faith in the word of God. This document demonstrates the influence of the Church on citizens and how its beliefs fed into the prejudices against women and why the Church was heavily involved in the systematic executions of women. The study of popular magic and witchcraft shows us a society that was heavily influenced and controlled by the Church. This is further seen as the decline in religious influence across Europe was proportional to the decline in the belief of popular magic and witchcraft. ‘Witch-hunting came to an end, not when alternative methods of controlling women emerged, but when the state ceased to demand such a high level of godliness (and especially sexual morality) from its citizens’12

Another stereotype of a woman accused of witchcraft was one that was seen as a terror to societal norms, a woman with a quarrelsome voice. It is often that before a woman was accused of witchcraft if she did not hold any sexual offenses, she was accused of verbal crimes such as scolding and slander. Women were forced to conform to a certain ‘code of behavior’ in this patriarchal society. As Larner put it: ‘Witch-hunting is woman-hunting or at least it is the hunting of women who do not fulfill the male view of how women ought to conduct themselves.’13 This lead to the efforts of women to live up to the patriarchal standards of men, if they did not, they would be accused of witchcraft, tried, and potentially persecuted.

Of course, the ultimate component that negates the entire notion that the study of popular magic and witchcraft reflects a patriarchal, misogynistic society, a society that orchestrated the deaths of thousands of less than desirable women, is that naturally, men were accused of practicing witchcraft too. The statistics, however, are outrageous, of the thousands of people accused of witchcraft all over Europe, the average percent of those that were women was at least eighty-five. 14 Most of the men accused of witchcraft were also somehow connected to a woman who had been accused of being a witch, or they worked in healing or held some other feminine trait. Yes, although the connections between misogyny and the witch-hunts are indirect, it holds a great deal of significance all the same, ‘it was still an attack on women as women; in a sense, it got a little out of hand in attacking men as well.’15 Witch-hunting was an example of woman-hunting, even if it is only indirectly.

The study of popular magic and witchcraft tells us that the nature of early modern European society was patriarchal and misogynistic, and shows a state that hid behind a façade in order to inflict a higher moral standard for its citizens.

When one thinks of witchcraft terms like magic, sorcery, familiars, old ladies on brooms with long pointy noses, or rather everything associated with evil doings crosses the mind but is a comprehensive concept. Witchcraft differs in various cultures and shapes society in a way. Thus, if one is to study witchcraft, they would have to familiarize themselves with the background of that certain group of individuals. Evans Pritchard is also one of the recognized anthropologists to conduct an ethnography on witchcraft. He studied witchcraft among the Azande, thus the Azande people define witchcraft as a gift that everyone has, yet to perform magic is something that has to be learned and it can be used to do harm, also the Azande use witchcraft as a way of punishing those that have committed witchcraft upon others (Pritchard,1965). Witchcraft may seem unreal when trying to put reason into it, yet it is a dilemma in places such as South Africa, peoples belief in witchcraft occurs thus is a major issue that forms almost the entire population in South Africa. Witchcraft has been studied by a number of intellectuals and they have broken it down to the context of psychology, politics, economics, and historical setting. Therefore in this essay, I shall be attaining to provide an analysis of the ethnography done by Isak Niehaus

In 1990 Isak Niehaus conducted research in a place called Impalahock, during the end of the apartheid era. People were faced with a lot of the trauma caused by the apartheid, now that the worst was over measures of rebuilding were in motion and everyone was adjusting to what was to become the new South Africa. Niehaus on this ethnography follows the life of Jimmy Mohale who had developed a belief that his own father was bewitching him and that caused him bad luck in his life. Niehaus had developed a relationship with Jimmy as he was his assistant. Jimmy would visit Niehaus in his home, and he seemed fond of his mother. Until Jimmy stopped being in contact with Niehaus, he later learned that this was due to Jimmy’s illness and found out Jimmy was blaming Lockman Mohale (Jimmy’s father) for bewitching him. Furthermore, Niehaus speculated that Jimmy had AIDS, yet he could not draw any conclusion that his peculation was true because he refused to go see a doctor. Thus, the core matter in the book is Jimmy’s story and how this moulded the understanding of witchcraft.

The author divides the book in chapters. Chapter two to chapter three he begins with Jimmy’s upbringing, his family, and also when he first circumcised. When he was first introduced to fatherhood. Jimmy’s life did not seem to go as he had planned in his head, he was a teacher for sixteen years, yet he failed to achieve great lengths because of political struggles. Thus, he started developing theories that perhaps it was someone else’s doing agitating his life on downhill. Chapters four, five, and six explore Jimmy’s relationship with his father whom he at first argued in his defense that he was not a witch but later he seems to have taken a sharp turn, In chapter seven he and his brothers even orchestrated for their father to be killed. Chapter eight talks about the AIDS pandemic which had seemed to have spread along the area which Jimmy was living in. Most deaths he believed were due to witchcraft he believed. He then sought for help from prophets and diviners and never agreed to consult a medical perspectives until he passed on in 2005. The final chapter then discusses his funeral, how people never mentioned anything about circumstances that lead to his death, never was it mentioned thither faced any type of struggles, yet people had seemed to be faking.

The writer’s ethnography is a monograph, it is so because it focuses on Jimmy Mohale therefore it provides a detailed description of the character and the main subject being witchcraft. Niehaus uses arguments that are made by Ashforth and Comarof and Comarof to try to illustrate the origins of witchcraft as a way of people dealing with situations that come across as ambiguous and they cannot explain and thus turn to witchcraft to try make sense of them. Therefore, the writer tries to portray witchcraft as a metaphor as opposed to what people say is real. Yet why would one person be held accountable for bewitching others what characterizes one as a witch in a community? Well, Niehaus tries to answer such questions. Jealousy amongst family members and neighbors in most cases becomes the roots of where witchcraft begins. As cited by Niehaus individuals who cannot make social progress will say that wicked powers of envious and jealous people were to blame (Ashforth).

In 1986 couple of elders were killed in the movement which was executing people whom were speculated to be witches. These witches were also accused of turning kids into zombies. Doris whom was Jimmy’s aunt also lost her life in this catastrophe. There were boys who had reported that they saw a monkey that they were chasing away from a café run into Doris’s yard thus they depicted the monkey to be her familiar. Years later, the Maatsie family lost a child due to measles. The child was then buried on the backyard of their house. Doris was a neighbor to the family, few months after the Maatsie child was buried Doris’s cattle flocked upon the grave of the child which tumbledown the grave. People who saw described that Doris was sitting on the grave digging up the soil from the grave. Doris was later stoned to death. Jimmy was furious about this and disagreed that his aunt was a witch and did not have anything to do with the death of the Maatsie child. On the contrary the father of the child had polluted the chid because he was in heat due to having sex with his wife thus when he came to see his child when she was sick, this affected her, therefore, resulting in her death. This predicament was then drawn back to Lockman, Lockman was suspected to have sent a familiar to put a curse on Doris so that people could think that Doris was the Witch.

Adding Niehaus cites that Witcraft’s allegation come from hostile fights among the family and hate that branches way deep(Ashworth).In this case from the earlier feud that Lockman and his brother once had, it had produced so much hate that he saw that Lockman would never wish him well, as a result, all the misfortune would be because he envies him thus makes him a Witch. Perhaps the neighbors had also learnt that Doris was family with such a man thus when the cattle incident occurred it was easy for them to just assume that Doris had bewitched their child.

Niehaus does not basically believe in the whole perspective of Witchcraft, this is evident when he numerously tries to convince Jimmy to go see a doctor because he could not see how witchcraft could have been responsible for such a series of events thus his research conflicted with his own beliefs. Niehaus tries to come up with reasons why certain incidents could have happened that people assume is the doing of witchcraft and what shapes witchcraft in black communities. He points out that witchcraft seems to be part of culture when it comes to black societies, not every anomalous event could be explained thus they are taken to such an extent to be labelled as boloi (witchcraft). He introduces us to diviners, he makes assumptions that these diviners strengthen the belief on witchcraft. Diviners or a diviner rather is defined as an individual who has the ability to see peoples anonymities by using divination items and they have connections with the dead also they can see beyond life itself (Neterian: 2017). Thus, when Jimmy was faced with this series of unfortunate events he consulted a diviner which occluded what he already knew, that his father was the one who was bewitching him.

Niehaus seems to strengthen that witchcraft was mostly prevalent in at the end of the apartheid era yet confounding information that I found argues. During the pre-colonial times whilst South Africa was occupied by the Khoi and the San people. They used myths, tales, and rituals as a form of communicating with the ancestor and sacrificed animals such as the giraffe which was kind of a sacred spiritual animal, these beliefs held the notion that magic existed. Their belief also carried that those who were departed were now their ancestors thus, they continued to protect them, and warn them from any spirit realm. Therefore, they would have to keep the relationship with the dead by performing rituals. As a result, anything hey would ask from these spirits would be granted (Wallace:2015).

Adding after the apartheid era witchcraft was more famous according to my understanding because the AIDS pandemic was still surfacing and black people were not educated around those times, only the fortunate could get an education. So, they could not understand this illness that was sweeping out the population, in order to take control or seek answers people like Jimmy put the blame on witchcraft, as witchcraft was already installed in their beliefs. Witch doctors were also benefiting from this because they would not tell them the truth, yet they would only strengthen their beliefs. After apartheid, the country was still dealing with repairing, and black people were now to sought for better living thus competition in the work market increased those who were unfortunate on finding jobs or those would fail to succeed would put the blame on witchcraft. But magic were long before installed as I have mentioned on the above paragraph.

It is generally assumed in many parts of the world that witchcraft beliefs have given way to westernization but in sub-Saharan Africa, the belief in witchcraft is widely held. (Miguel 2005). Witchcraft. The definition of witchcraft is socially constructed and it differs from society to society. Chavhunduka(2003) defines it as the use of supernatural forces to influence or predict events. This essay serves to explore the various reasons for the increase in witchcraft accusations with socioeconomic and cultural changes in sub-Saharan Africa. Anthropologists and organizations working on the phenomenon of witchcraft observe that accusations increase as a response to changes and challenges in society. (Joselow 2012). Therefore social and economic pressure including conflict, poverty, HIV/AIDS, physical disability, and various social issues may come as new phenomena to them. In Zimbabwe, misfortune of any kind may be attributed to the work of witches who are said to have propensity to do evil Rodlach(2006) severe economic disparities between the rich and the poor seem to be a factor in witchcraft accusations. These accusations can be used as a weapon by the weak that forces the privileged class into the moulds of the larger population forcing them to take up the obligation of kinship reciprocity. On the other hand, they can in turn use these accusations to ignore the demands of their kinfolk to prove their power. The poor also fall victim to this accusation as one assumes that they are envious and resentful of and wish to destroy those who are better off. Often those accused are odd antisocial women. Politicians and the rich are also suspected to have pursued their careers with the aid of witchcraft. Also, accusations are often made by less fortunate kin against more affluent members because the latter have failed to redistribute their wealth or have been unfair in the way they share with their relations. Accusations may target those that are deviating from the village community by their behavior or those perceived as weak, marginal, or less often trouble makers.

Witchcraft accusations are usually directed at wealthier members because the poor believe they use some kind of evil force to amass wealth. It can also be noted that poor members can also be accused by wealthy people who experience misfortune and lose their economic status in society. These accusations hide the failures of these people and witchcraft is used to define their misfortunes. Marx’s conflict theory further explains this notion as he viewed the unfair distribution of resources as a further perpetuation of conflict within society. In support of the idea that prominent man are always targeted as witches, Yamba (1997) tells a story about Katiyo who was a prominent man and accused of witchcraft probably as a result of envy from other people. Cheater (1986) also gives an example of the East African Railways and Harbors Organization in Kampala. When drivers were involved in accidents or driving errors, they attributed it to the jealous of others whom they accused of attacking them mystically. Competition for jobs is thus another social problem that leads to witchcraft accusations. The older drivers who lost their jobs to younger and educated drivers attributed their job loss to bewitchment thus showing their insecurities under changing circumstances. In turn, the belief that they bewitched their juniors perhaps reflected their desire to reinforce their position in the hierarchy of status based on age.

Also, greed and jealousy contribute to the increase of witchcraft accusations against widows in society. Conflicts may also intensify as a result of land scarcity which may cause people to label each other as witches. When one dies their widows are vulnerable to family members who label them as witches in order to take their land. These women are accused of killing their husbands in order to gain wealth from them so the greedy relatives of the husband take over the wealth of the deceased. Bonate( 2003) notes that in post-war Mozambique women who insist on holding on to the land of their late husbands have been accused of being witches by the relatives of the deceased. This ma results in them losing the land and in some instances are left homeless. In Sukumaland in Tanzania land disputes are also an underlying cause of accusations of widows. According to inheritance laws, widows may continue to live on the land but without ownership which will now be transferred to the son. Accusations of witchcraft are therefore used to get rid of widows living on the land as tenants. One young boy killed his mother when a traditional healer had told him that his widowed mother was the cause of all his problems. Therefore this change from wife to widow can earn a woman a witchcraft accusation in order for someone to accomplish a mission of greed.

In addition, women are the most targeted especially in patriarchal societies in order to strip them of any power. Women entrepreneurs or economically empowered women are often accused of witchcraft by men who feel threatened by this new development of women who are independent of men. Elderly people returning to their villages with the savings of a lifetime have found themselves charged as witches and removed from their houses and earnings, or worse have been killed through hanging or other methods(African Agenda 1999). Elder women are the most targeted group. Masese(2006) notes that those who are excluded and are defined as at the margin of social interaction are liable to be thought of as witches. In this regard, they have built an image of a witch as of an old woman who eats greedily alone in her house. These may include those who do not attend funerals believed to be evading revenge from the spirit of the dead. These accusations also emanate from myths concerning how a witch should look like-that they have red eyes for instance. The eyes of many older women are red from a lifetime of cooking on smoky stoves, or from medical conditions such as conjunctivitis.

Limited knowledge of diseases also brings about witchcraft accusations combined with such a cultural belief system predisposes people to look for a scapegoat. (MacLean 2004). It is believed in Kissi County Kenya that witches normally harm people that have started improving their socio-economic status causing them to fall ill as a way of hindering their progress(Masese 2007). Mostly young people who would have moved from rural to urban areas in search of livelihood are more prone to HIV/AIDS. When they fall sick it is then taken that some members of their kin are against their effort to better their lives. Among the Abagusii of Kenya, illness that shows any symptoms of wasting in nature and defy any form of treatment were taken to be caused by witchcraft. Since the young ones are the most vulnerable; such deaths are classified as bad deaths and thus presumed to be caused by only witchcraft. (LeVine 1982). It was also noted that most accusations were in the month of July to August. It could be because at this time there is always an outbreak of Malaria so at this time many people fall prey to the disease. In Kisii County, Kenya Malaria is so dangerous that it can kill within two days. Therefore if it is not diagnosed many people will blame it on witchcraft. In this regard, they have even gone on to name it the month of witches. In this light, the coming in of new diseases may give rise to witchcraft accusations.

Economic globalization, that is, cultural change may also lead to the increase in witchcraft accusations. Any change that is not understood may cause people to escape the frustrations of trying to figure it out and find solace in accusing others of witchcraft. Economic globalization, coming up with new modern ways of entrepreneurship in which many people become rich but more stay poor has promoted violence against those accused of witchcraft in Kisii County.(Comaroff 1997). Imminent changes in fortune has generated frustrations among the young and impelled them to accuse and in some cases kill the old whom they see as hindering their progress through witchcraft. Maybe the youth feel threatened that their elders possess knowledge gained by experience in life but are unwilling to hand it over. Ogembo(2006) argues that structural adjustment programs and trade liberalization have also destabilized Kisii County, undermined their production system, and households are left in deprivation and despair that many people have come to believe that they are victims of witchcraft. Their failure to understand such processes has also increased witchcraft accusations in Kissi County. It becomes difficult for them to understand why some people prosper and some do not. Urbanization has increased suspicion between rural and urban dwellers as Jane Parish writes personify witches in the eyes of urban dwellers. (Geschiere 1998). Villagers use witchcraft accusations against the urban elite to enforce fading kinship norms concerning standards of mutual support.

Furthermore, witchcraft accusations can also be caused by the coming of new religious movements. Churches may play an important role in these accusations, the UNICEF has documented cases in Africa where pastors have designed children as witches for financial gain, charging families huge fees to exorcise the bad spirit (Safe child Africa n.d.)(UNICEF 2010)(Mungai 2014). The coming of new religious movements such as charismatic churches has promoted witchcraft accusations in Kenya with their emphasis on exorcism(Ogembo 2006). People’s anxiety has been increased by evangelists who preach about the connection of the devil with misfortunes, deaths, illnesses through books and open-air sermons. Churches condemn all misfortunes as witchcraft. Some say they can identify witches through visions. This spiritual work reinforces beliefs in witchcraft and increases accusations.

Physical disability, abnormality, mental disability, or physical illness may include autistic children or epileptic children (Cimpric and WCARO 2010). These are increasingly targeting children according to human rights reports and organizations working on this topic (Mungai 2014). Some societies believe that disability is as a result of witchcraft and the fear of the burden of taking care of people with disabilities will just compel them to find a way to get rid of them. These relatives of the people living with disabilities will be the first to label them as witches but in most cases, it is just name tagging. Also, albinism can bring about allegations due to a lack of public awareness. In Malawi albinism is believed to be associated with witchcraft. Women who give birth to children with albinism were to confess that they are witches in front of the whole community as albinism was believed to be a manifestation of witchcraft. Heinmann (2000) wrote that witches are believed to have intercourse wirh the devil in exchange of supernatural powers and albinos are the result.

Children can be more or less susceptible to witchcraft accusations depending on several factors. They can be accused of witchcraft because of unusual birth, these may include premature children or twins. Orphans and children with certain behavioral traits –that is- aggression, laziness, being withdrawn or antisocial may also be accused of witchcraft. Children may also be accused as secondary victims if their mother or grandmother is accused and they join in the exile. Some even consider it to be hereditary as a result these children are condemned to be later on accused in future. Pritchard ( ) notes that the power of witchcraft is considered as increasing with age. Children are thought of as weak witches and they had to inherit their power from their parents. Children who have conditions that people are not accustomed to are especially at risk of being accused of witchcraft. In Togo, if a child’s upper incisors break through before the lower, it is a Busu, which means once it grows it will see all kinds of unsettling things. Their anomaly testifies their future wickedness which dwells inside them. Moreover, most of those that are accused are orphans or only have a single parent. They are accused mostly by people who do not want to be burdened with looking after them.

Furthermore, witchcraft accusations may arise from some family setups like polygamous marriages. Intra-family accusations among co-wives are very common. As Douglas(1980) has observed accusations of witchcraft among the Azande of South Sudan, arise only in those social situations that fall outside of the political structure. Thus co-wives may accuse each other as might rivals in other arenas.

Mass media has played a big role in promoting an increase in witchcraft accusations. Most movies especially from Nigeria have a witchcraft theme where witches are brought to the book or destroyed according to the movie. This also creates awareness about witchcraft and gets people thinking about similar things happening in their lives.

Witchcraft, derived from the old English noun ‘Wicca’ and ‘wiccian’ and is often referred to as the practices of magical skills and abilities such as spell casting, conjuring the dead, demonology, etc., has played an important role in historical developments, distinct cultural meaning systems, and language variations in societies across the world1. These practices of rituals or ‘black magic’ were often opposed and punished in society, which usually involve the executions of the accused individuals such as burning, hanging, beheading, etc. Furthermore, witchcraft has many different meanings corresponding to different people and societies, for example, the original concept of witchcraft within the Europeans assumed that witchcraft is a form of sorcery, a combination of one’s beliefs and practices that is targeted at manipulating nature for the benefit of one1. While witchcraft in America stresses the relationship between contemporary groups of witches and the earlier practitioners of witchcraft, such as the medieval European witches2. Whereas in African societies, such as the Nupe and the Banyang, witchcraft carries different meanings which have a special significance and value according to their cultures and beliefs. In another word, despite that the two societies are located in the same country, there are many similarities and differences in the beliefs, values, and rituals of witchcraft.

Numerous practices of witchcraft had been observed and recorded in African societies throughout history and many anthropologists observed the practices and beliefs of such sorcery in these societies, displaying the many different narratives. Anthropologists and researchers (Historians, etc.) such as Issa Schapera, who recorded signs of witchcraft in the Tswana of Botswana in 1825 and Hans Werner Debrunner, who recorded activities of witchcraft were already noticeable around the middle of the nineteenth century1, shown that witchcraft has played a role in the life of the African societies early in the past.

For instance, one of the many narratives could be seen in the everyday life of the Banyang, a tribe located at the West of Cameroon. People in the tribe believed that witchcraft plays a role in the day-to-day, public, and moral activities within one which are affected by the interest and strength that are concealed inside the individual, by which they explain this ‘strength’ in terms of ‘were-animals’ that lies within one’s body3. ‘Were-animals’, also referred to as babu, is understood as a projection of oneself and is said to move in shadows or a spirit form with the conscious self when one lies inert and unconscious at home at night, where their trace of movements can only be seen by witches or the “people with eyes”3. However, not all of these animals are believed to do harm. In fact, the animals who do harm are said to represent strength in fighting and sharpness of temperaments such as the owl, python, leopard, elephant, bush, wasp, and hippopotamus. On the contrary, the ones that do not do harm are believed to be associated with one’s special abilities and qualities of temperament which lie within the skin and the muscles3. In addition, the belief of ‘were-animals’ are used to explain the circumstances of one’s overall health, such as illness and death, as well. It is believed that the results of one’s illness and death are due to the evil that they had done with the ‘were-animals’ and these are considered practices of witchcraft, in which consequently when one does not confess to their sins, it is said that one cannot restore their health and will be harmed by the njaw, a religious power believed to protect the community from evil3. In essence, this is one of the many narratives and beliefs of witchcraft that were present in the society of Africa.

On the other hand, another narrative of witchcraft can be seen in the life and culture of the Nupe, an ethnic group located in Nigeria. In Nupe society, witchcraft is split into two categories: men and women. The women, called gâci, practice witchcraft such as soul-eating, invisibility, separation of the soul from the body, etc., whereas the men are said to have powers that are much weaker and less specific4. According to the Nupe, witchcraft is not a hereditary power, not an innate capacity of man, yet which must be acquired from another who possesses the works of witchcraft. Correspondingly, witchcraft is also considered an evil practice, such as the act of murder for evil reasons that cannot be measured by social or human standards, in which the most severe punishment should be assigned to the individual: death4. Furthermore, in the opinions of the Nupe, every witch is said to have fire come out of their mouth and when faced with a more powerful colleague, tears are said to spring from their eyes4. Aside from the description of witches and witchcraft, the Nupe can come across quite extreme when faced with the event of dealing with accused individuals. In February 1932, three women that were accused of practicing witchcraft were stoned to death by the enraged people of Bida, a local government area in Niger State, when trying to defend themselves. When it comes to the allegation of, and the fight against witchcraft practices, the Nupe have several methods of confronting witchcraft. According to the Nupe, married women are suspected more than those who are unmarried, and the older the women, the stronger is the suspicion because it is thought that their power of is stronger as age increases4. Furthermore, the fight against witchcraft is quite simple for the Nupe, where the chief (a man), who is believed to have the ability to recognize a witch without fail, summons the accused individual, then asks her to confess her evil doings, and orders her to right the wrongs that she had done4. However, if the alleged witch refuses to fix their wrongdoings, the individual is then expelled from the village forever. It is also believed that in order to encounter and fight witchcraft, one must possess the magic of witchcraft oneself4. All things considered, these are the beliefs and methods of confronting witches and witchcraft of the Nupe, one of the many beliefs of witchcraft in African societies.

In comparison, although the African societies of the Nupe and the Banyang are located rather close to one another, their beliefs and views of witchcraft have obvious similarities and differences. Generally, both societies believed that witches possess special abilities and powers to utilize magic or in this case witchcraft, to carry out actions that are deemed evil, and the practices of witchcraft are punished. However, the differences between the two societies arise in which the Banyang refers to witchcraft as the influence of the spirit of ‘were-animals’ that lies within one’s soul and body, causing them to engage in evil acts, whereas the Nupe believes that firstly, magic or witchcraft is learned from an experienced witch, and secondly, that women are the ones who usually possesses the power of witchcraft and are often alleged, witches. Finally, in comparing the punishment of witchcraft, the Banyang believes that a witch will be punished by a religious power that protects the society from evil, the njaw3, while the Nupe punishes the witches with expulsion from the village/society and more seriously, death. Nevertheless, both societies display an important aspect of the relationship between witchcraft and society. In particular, it can be seen that the practices of witchcraft offer “an antidote to a narrow, de-personalized picture of nature [and] a religious model of tolerance – of celebration – of difference and multiplicity”2. For instance, some would view witchcraft as a threat, that they would need to stone and burn to death those who were ‘suspected witches’, that it is necessary to consult ‘witchdoctors’ or religious spirit beings who have the ability to protect them from evil, that the power of God, prayers, fasting, and churches have ritual means to keep the witches away, and etc.5 These behaviors and beliefs draw an overall image of the congregant and the believer2, and a dual view to human personality, in which these beliefs enables people to express moral and social factors concerning the nature of human behaviors and personality3.

To conclude, it is undoubtedly that the beliefs and practices of witchcraft in the African societies or even other societies around the world have several common and similar ideas and differences. For instance, where the Europeans consider witchcraft as a work of magic to manipulate nature for one’s benefit, whereas the Africans consider witchcraft as an act of jealousy or envy, etc. The many similarities and differences in the beliefs and behaviors toward the practices of witchcraft also involve the ways of finding out the alleged witches, the punishments of the witches or accused individuals, and the beliefs of the power and ability that the witches presumably possess. Nevertheless, the history and origin of witchcraft and magic could be seen in different societies, and the power of witchcraft can undertake more than just evil and wrongdoings. As discussed above, the power of witchcraft could act as a force, bringing people of society together, allowing them to communicate the moral and social factors concerning human nature, such as human behaviors and personality, and could also act as a way to account for the causes of ‘strange’ events in which they cannot make sense of.

Sources/References:

1. MESAKI, SIMEON. ‘The Evolution and Essence of Witchcraft in Pre-Colonial African Societies.’ Transafrican Journal of History 24, (1995): 162. http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/docview/1297887556?accountid=14771.
2. Scarboro, Allen, and Philip Andrew Luck. 1997. ‘The Goddess and Power: Witchcraft and Religion in America.’ Journal of Contemporary Religion 12 (1): 69-79. doi:10.1080/13537909708580790. http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/13537903/v12i0001/69_tgapwaria.
3. Ruel, M. J. ‘Witchcraft Beliefs in an African Society.’ Folklore 74, no. 4 (1963): 563-64. http://www.jstor.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/stable/1258736.
4. Nadel, S. F. ‘Witchcraft and Anti-Witchcraft in Nupe Society.’ Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 8, no. 4 (1935): 423-47. http://www.jstor.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/stable/3180591.
5. Baloyi, M.E., 2014, ‘A pastoral examination of the Christian Church’s response to fears of and reactions to witchcraft amongst African people in the Limpopo province of South Africa ’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies70(2), Art. #1317, 9 pages.http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v70i2.1317

In diverse societies, witchcraft is used differently, and its level of importance varies due to this. Our definition of witchcraft is: “the manipulation of powerful substances or words (via magic) to cause harm (only occasionally good)… It can also frequently be an unconscious activity, which means that the “witch” often does not know he/she is bewitching anyone” (McGarry 2016). The Bantu tribes that will be focused on in this paper, the Lobedu and the Chewa, abide by this definition and show the social function of witchcraft within their society. This is proved through how witchcraft and sorcery are used as excuses for shortcomings and to avoid rivalries, to create a just and assured society in comparison to our Western societies, and to deal with emotions that are not displayed due to lack of acceptance within the culture.

The Lobedu and Chewa tribes both use witchcraft and have similar beliefs that span across many Bantu tribes. The Lobedu make major distinctions between witchcraft, which they define as “the wickedness, sometimes without overt reason” which is used by the “night-witch” and sorcery, which they define as “the destructive technique” of the “day-witch” (Krige 1947, 9). They believe that there can be a moral grading of magic that has two extremes of good use of magic and medicine, and of evil use of magic and sorcery, in which in between fall several more grades of magic. The Chewa tribes believe in the same elements as the Lobedu’s witchcraft system, but have a specific emphasis on details, such as that the witch will kill the victim for the purpose of consuming their corpse. Although this detail may vary, other details align with Lobedu’s ideas, such as that the witch kills members of its own matrilineal ancestry, showing how only those close, such as family, can be victims of witchcraft. Now that the beliefs of these Bantu tribes have been outlined, it can be discussed as to why these types of beliefs play important roles within their societies.

Firstly, witchcraft is typically rare in the type of society that the Bantu tribes are a part of because in hunting and gathering types of societies, there are less likely to be accusations of witchcraft due to the lower amount of impersonal conflict (McGarry 2016). Even so, witchcraft and sorcery are used as explanations of evil in the universe and are used to give reason to the failures of those in the tribes. The Lobedu tribe believes that witchcraft “implies personal relationships with the supernatural, while sorcery means manipulating magic which is not supernatural” (Krige 1947, 9). This distinction is vital to this society, as witches tend to use methods of the supernatural that are a mystery to the rest of the civilization, and that witchcraft is usually maternally born and raised. On the other hand, sorcerers are frequently men who use medicines and incantations and are constricted by natural laws, unlike witches. Since the Lobedu society is “fundamentally cooperative” and “frowns on all forms of rivalry”, witchcraft is used to blame scarce commodities not on the limited resources, but to the shortcomings of men in the society (Krige 1947, 12). This results in a rephrasing that dispels the notions of rivalries over property, and instead stresses the culture’s reliance on cooperation. As discussed in lecture, in many situations, witchcraft’s use heightens in times of stress, meaning that both witchcraft and sorcery occur “only where you find stresses and strains in life” and where “there are tensions, actual or potential, between people” (Krige 1947, 17). This is shown by how the Lobedu society claims that neighbours or relatives may use witchcraft or sorcery against each other, but strangers will not. This relates to Evans-Pritchard’s view that “witchcraft has a function in society to maintain a sense of equilibrium or balance/harmony in society and to reduce the possibility for conflict” (McGarry 2016). This personal connection stresses the need for cooperation within the society and shows how witchcraft is only used when these connections are strained, and therefore is used as an excuse for rivalries occurring in a society that discourages them.

Next, the Bantu tribes use witchcraft to compare their society to ours and to create a justice system that works for them, as they see ours as ineffective. For example, the Lobedu tribe believes that witchcraft can be used as a type of force to apprehend criminals, claiming that “a criminal may be made the victim of an obsessive compulsion to relapse into crime so that he will once more be tried for an offense for which he has…been let off with a light sentence in European courts” (Krige 1947, 18). The way that they view justice is that the modern Western criminal justice system causes “criminals to multiply” and “witches to become more aggressive” because our leniency in trying to rehabilitate offenders presents challenges that result in “magically constraining [the offender] to crime” (Krige 1947, 18). This shows how this society uses witchcraft to create order and sanctions, believing that criminals should be given more serious sentences and that justice will be served through the use of witchcraft. This proves that this society has found it vital to convert the hardship experienced into a social sanction to create order and peace among the tribe.

Another example of how witchcraft is used to deal with conflict within the Bantu tribes compared to modern Western societies is how anxiety motivates the society to use witchcraft, much like anxiety can be used to influence the norms and decisions we make in our culture. For example, in the Chewa tribe, it would be assumed that you would spend a lot of time, effort, and money on trying to apply and obtain positive mankhwala, which is the idea of medicine that has magical properties to be used for good or evil. By trying to obtain it, the Chewa believe they can protect themselves, their families, and their belongings from the evil of witches. This belief shows that contradicting the anxiety they feel about the potential to lose a loved one, or about being robbed, is a force that motivates their beliefs in witchcraft. This can be compared to our society through how anxiety drives us to turn to other means of coping, such as religion or materialism. Marwick claims that “the anxiety-load of modern African society allowed to discharge itself in making possible the uncritical acceptance of witchcraft” (Marwick 1948, 125). This shows that like us, the Bantu tribes of Africa are driven to use witchcraft to contradict the fear they feel around the unknown.

Finally, witchcraft is used as an outlet to rationalize feelings that are not readily accepted or shown within these societies, such as anxiety, anger or jealousy. In lecture, we discussed Malinowski who argues that “man generally resorts to magic when his technology has failed him in his attempts to control his environment” (Marwick 1948, 121). This idea shows that when humans lack a firm grasp on what happens to them, they turn to something like witchcraft to create a rationalization or reason for why that has happened. Oftentimes, the Chewa tribe uses witchcraft as an outlet for their aggression, as they can enjoy the feeling of being a witch and causing misfortune to whatever angers them vicariously through hearing legends and stories about witchcraft rituals. Hostility and jealousy can also be solved within this society through projection, so that members of the tribe take the aggression they feel towards someone else, and turn it into the belief that the other member is instead being aggressive towards them. This projection is resolved through witchcraft as many other societies solve it, through witch-hunts and blame upon others due to witchcraft or sorcery. By rationalizing ill feelings or thoughts that people cannot explain, the use of witchcraft gives them a reason to feel this way. As discussed before, anxiety within a society can be lessened through the use of witchcraft, as it gives the person something to blame their unfounded fears upon.

In conclusion, the people in this society believe in witchcraft to relieve feelings of anxiety, to create societies that function appropriately, and to justify and assign blame to shortcomings and lack of advancement within the society. They do not have scientific explanations for events such as sickness or death, but instead witchcraft functions to provide a reason for these occurrences. Since the Chewa and Lobedu tribes are very similar, their social functions of witchcraft are very comparable, and when connected reveal the ways in which Bantu tribes use magic to create order and understand the world around them. Overall, when analyzing this society’s use for witchcraft, it was interesting to see the comparisons and distinctions with our modern Western society, as it gives context that we can understand while helping to dispel the readers’ bias.

References Cited

1. Krige, J. D. ‘The Social Function Of Witchcraft.’ Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political
2. Theory, no. 1 (1947): 8-21. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41801323.
3. Marwick, M. G. ‘African Witchcraft and Anxiety Load.’ Theoria: A Journal of Social and
4. Political Theory, no. 2 (1948): 115-29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41801350.
5. McGarry, Karen. 2016. Manipulating the Supernatural: Witchcraft. Lecture given in
6. Anthropology 1AB3, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, January 28, 2019.

Upon first inspection, The Epic of Sundiata seems to be a fantastical tale of witches, super human strength, and a man who cannot be deterred from his destiny. While the epic may not contain the classical makings of reliable historical evidence, it is essential to delve deeper into the story so as to explore the many facets of medieval Malian culture that are revealed. Somewhat like the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Epic of Sundiata was passed down as an oral tradition through generations of Malian people. Thus, there has been artistic license taken with the story, as it was passed from one griot (or storyteller) to the next. However, the epic has more to offer than exciting storytelling techniques. The Epic of Sundiata, while not an exact and verifiable history of medieval Mali, holds historical significance because it reveals aspects of Malian religion, moral values, and beliefs on destiny.

By following Sundiata’s life and ascent to power, the epic reveals the various religious beliefs of the time, illustrating how both paganism and Islam existed in unison. In the epic, there are ample references to Allah, for example, when Sundiata finally gains the use of his legs, his mother exclaims, “‘Oh day, what a beautiful day, Oh day, day of joy; Allah Almighty, you never created a finer day. So my son is going to walk!’”

In this moment, it is clear that Sogolon is referencing a singular and Islamic god, as she uses the term to refer to God used by Muslims. Presenting a contrast to The Epic of Sundiata, Ibn Khaldun, a celebrated Arab scholar during the 1400’s, gives a much more basic and straightforward account of medieval Mali and the genealogy of the Malian kings. Khaldun’s history supplements that of the epic, and highlights the existence of Islam in the region. He writes: “Then Mansa Wali the son of Mari Jata went on the pilgrimage during then reign of the al-Zahir Baybars [1260-77].” This is important to note as Mansa Wali was the son of Mari Jata, or Sundiata, and was ruling only one generation after the founding of the Empire. Thus, Ibn Khaldun’s account works to verify the evidence of the existence of Islam in medieval Mali in the epic.

The epic also shows evidence of a belief in supernatural powers that are seemingly unrelated to Islam during the rise of the Mali Empire. Many of the elements of Sundiata’s rise to power contain magical and fantastical elements. A prime example of this is the epic’s use of “soothsayers”, or people who can see into the future. The epic explains the importance of the soothsayer,

“The hunter disappeared but neither the king, Nare Maghan, nor his griot, Gnankouman Doua, forgot his prophetic words; soothsayers see far ahead, their words are not always for the immediate present man is in a hurry but time is tardy and everything has it season”

To the Western eye the presence of super natural components within the the epic may discredit the story as whole. However, it is important to note that these elements reveal important information about the belief, and possible reliance on, such people as soothsayers in medieval Mali.

The Epic of Sundiata contains moral lessons that demonstrate what it means to be “great” in Malian culture. Sundiata was a celebrated leader, and is a figure in Malian history who is worshipped even today. His character in the epic contains many godlike features, such as his super-human strength and unmatched moral fiber. While it is uncertain whether or not this depiction of Sundiata is historically accurate, it does reveal the Malian standards of an individual considered to have outstanding moral fiber. Within the grander story of Sundiata’s life, there lie other stories which are meant to morally guide the audience. A salient example of this is Sundiata’s reaction to the witches when they attempt to steal from him,

“There he found the nine witches stealing gnougou leaves. They made a show of running away like thieves caught red-handed. ‘Stop, stop, stop, poor old women’ said Sundiata, ‘what is the matter with you to run away like this. This garden belongs to all.’”

The witches reward Sundiata’s kindness by failing to honor his step mother’s wish to harm him. This anecdote within the epic carries a message of generosity, charity, and karma. The story of Sundiata’s treatment of the witches indicates that the aforementioned qualities were important enough within the culture to necessitate their communication to innumerable generations of Malian people.

The Epic of Sundiata demonstrates the importance of destiny in medieval Mali. From the prophecy of the soothsayer through the end of the epic, destiny and Sundiata are inarguably linked. From the moment of Sundiata’s birth he is destined to become a great leader and king, and his father, King Nare Maghan, does not question this truth even when his son seems incapable of walking. Griot Djeli Mamadou Kouyat? explains this phenomenon simply,

“God has his mysteries which none can fathom. You, perhaps, will be a king. You can do nothing about it. You, on the other hand, will be unlucky, but you can do nothing about that either. Each man finds his way already marked out or him and he can change nothing of it.

Sundiata’s destiny proves so inflexible that even his step-mother, Soumosso, who wished to to kill him because “his destiny ran counter to that of [her] son”, could not. It is even asserted that at age 10 Sundiata, “already had that authoritative way of speaking which belongs to those who are destined to command.” As indicated repeatedly, the Epic of Sundiata provides ample evidence that destiny was a central belief of the culture in medieval Mali.

When compared to Ibn Khaldun’s account of the Mali Empire, the Epic of Sundiata seems less credible because it is not a meticulous historical account of the time period. However, the epic discloses much more than a simple or straightforward history of medieval Mali. The epic works to reveals the thoughts, beliefs, religions, and motivations of a people. Standing alone the epic cannot definitively inform a precise history of Sundiata’s rise to power, but when supplemented with other accounts, such as Khaldun’s or the journals of travelers, the Epic of Sundiata becomes invaluable. The Epic of Sundiata is rich with tradition, and to write it off as “collection of misleading fabrications” is not only naive, but also damaging to the study of medieval West Africa.

A witch, in the most simple form, is a woman believed to have magic or supernatural abilities and that these powers are used for evil or nefarious purposes. Many people accused of being a witch were thought to be associated with or worshipping Satan himself. In addition to worshipping Satan as a holy figure, which was extremely against Christian belief, they were also thought to take part in rituals to the devil that included many unforgivable acts such as human sacrifice and cannibalism. However, this was just the tip of the iceberg, as many of the innocent that were accused of witchcraft, a word derived from the old English wiccecraft, were seen to be committing heresy regardless of their ties to the devil. Simple things such as, mental illness or simply not looking pleasant, could all be proof of witchcraft, and by default, heresy. This would not lead to good things as the Church and the people of the 1400s – 1600s did not look kindly upon heresy, and in essence, the defacing and vandalizing of their God in which they worshipped.

It is quite unclear when exactly people with “supernatural” abilities were first given the name ‘witch’ but the first ever recorded history of a witch is found in the bible. It can be found in Samuel 1 and was thought to be written between 931 B. C. and 721 B. C. The story tells of King Saul and his search for the Witch of Endor. When he find her, he demands she summon the late prophet Samuel to share with him his future. Samuel then reveals to Saul the he and his sons will die. The next day Saul’s sons die in battle which leads Saul to kill himself. On top of this, there are other later accounts and excerpts in the bible that mention witches and the public thought on them. Take, for example, the passage from Exodus that reads “thou shall not suffer a witch to live”. This roughly translates to: “you shall not allow a witch to live”. As one could see, witches were not especially accepted by the Christian public. Mostly on account of the Satanic connotations but they were also seen as challenging God as their power was believed to rival God.

However, the witch hysteria didn’t quite spark up until the mid-1400s, where those accused would admit to their sins, under great torture, and were put in jail or to death. A book written by two respected German Dominicans in 1486, Malleus Maleficarum, was a guide on how to catch a witch in the act of sorcery. The book describes in great detail how to identify, catch and interrogate witches. The book outsold all others at the time, excluding the bible, spreading across Europe like the plague. Thus, the witch hunts were born and remained common place from 1500-1600. During this time 80 000 people were suspected to be witches and 80% of them were women suspected to be worshipping and filled with lust over the devil. Witch Hunts and Trials.

The most infamous of all witch hunts is the Salem Witch Trials because of the absurdity of the origins and hectic, wild and messy trials. It all started in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 with two girls, who were ill, started suffering spasms and deranged behaviours such as screaming aloud at random. They claimed to be cursed by their neighbour Tituba, and many others, and accused them of being witches. Now science can point the figure at the culprit the girl’s illness and symptoms, which was a common fungus in the foods they were consuming. Nevertheless, Tituba and many other woman were interrogated. All claimed innocence but began to point fingers at other members in the community. This snowballed and sent the whole town into hysteria. In the end, 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft, 18 were put to death.

The Connecticut Witch Trials were less dramatic by leaps and bounds. Though the trials were still fast in pace they were less panicked and frenzied. They took place the year 1947 in Windsor, Connecticut. The trials held host to the very first execution of a witch, Alse Young, in America. It resulted in 46 people being accused while only 11 were put to death. In contrast to both Salem and Connecticut, Virginia was somewhat tolerant of witches. They were still captured, interrogated, tortured, and if found guilty, put to death but things were a little different. There was a law put in place to protect people that were wrongly accused with witchcraft. It was illegal to give a false accusation of a witch. Therefore, if after trial, the witch was found not guilty, the person who had accused the witch would be sent to jail or executed.

Mother Shipton, or Ursula Southeil, was an English prophetess. She was believed to be a witch in the 1490s because of countless reasons. Her mother was Agatha Southeil, who was believed to be a witch. Shipton was extremely ugly and disfigured as she grew up, most often called her ‘Hag Face’ which did not help the witch stigma around her. On top of all this she was very clairvoyant, like her mother. She predicted the Great Fire of London, the Spanish Armada and even the execution of Mary, Queen of the Scots. Even with all of this evidence to back up the communities claim of her being a witch, she was never tried for her lifestyle and was left to die a normal death of old age. A woman by the name of Grace Sherwood was accused of witchcraft in 1706. Her neighbours claimed that she was killing their pigs and placing hexes on their cotton. She was brought to trial and put through the water test. The test starts with the binding of the suspects arms and legs so they can no longer move them. They are then thrown into a body of water. This test can have one of two results. The suspect could continue to sink to the deep depths of the water, proving them to not be a witch but also successfully drowning them. If the suspect were to float back the top of the body of water, as buoyant bodies usually do, they were truly a witch. Grace underwent this test and was discovered to be a witch as she resurfaced in the water after they had tossed her in. She was put to death.

Agnes Sampson was a scottish midwife and healer in 1590. Around this time King james of Scotland and Anne of Denmark-Norway marry. Together the pair is very cautious and anxious when it comes to witches. Naturally it makes complete sense that while they are partaking on a voyage and a deadly storm hits they point their fingers at the witches as the culprits. Over 70 were accused of being the witches behind the attempted murder, Agnes Sampson being one of them. Agnes, like many others, were tortured and interrogated. In between fits of torture, the would be left in a Witch Bridel that was chained to the wall behind them. The bridel pushed four prongs into the mouth, holding it open and making any movement completely unbearable. Many were quick to give up and confess to a crime they did not commit, seeing the fate before them but contrary to the others accused, Agnes did not give up easy. She was one of the last to confess and after doing so she was strangled to death and burned at a stake.

Jane Horne, the last legal witch put to death in 1727. She was accused of many things, but on of the most infamous was turning her daughter into a horse. Many believed she was deranged because of her ties to the devil, but now we know that was really just a symptom of senile dementia. Jane and her daughter were brought to trial after the accusations and they were both proved guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death. While the daughter managed to escape, her senile mother was left bewildered and confused. They stripped her and soaked her in tar. Witnesses claim that when at the stake, as the fire advanced on her she smiled and warmed herself to it.

As horror films became big in hollywood, so did the idea of the witch start to resurface. There are over 50 recreations of the witch stereotype from the 1950s to present day. As the ‘witch’ made its way onto the big screen, it entered as more of a ‘folk tale’ witch. An ugly hag that lived and the woods and never came out. It centered around the ugly and mysterious aspect instead of tying into the more religious side of witches. This was first seen in Comin’ Round the Mountain (1957) and would be later seen in the Gene Autry Show (1957). The 1960s sees a shift in how witches are portrayed in the film making scene. Instead of being a mysterious old hag, witches were now more satanic as those stereotypes from its history return. They were appeared to be working for the devil now instead of just for mischievous purposes. Take, for example, the movies Twilight Zones “Jesse Belle” and the Undead (1953), a femme-fatale themed storyline starring to witches. Along with the more satanic themes films about witches take on, the more feminine and sexualized the movies got as film moved into the 2000s. They gave witches an alluring factor to tie in with the lust that the devil bestows upon them. This is especially prominent in the movies Coven (2013) and Penny Dreadful (2015).

Contrary to popular belief, the Wicca are not followers of Satan and mean no harm on society with their spell and magick. They are an incredibly earth-centered, neo-pagan religion. It derives its modern teachings from the first Wiccan, Gerald Gardner (1884- 1964). The religion is unlike many others as the members of the religion do not worship or revere a single God or many Gods but live their lives worship all of creation and all the Earth gives them. It has become more popular to the teens of modern day because their beliefs allow for acceptance of homosexuality, gender fluidity and much more. They see all that is created as special. They are seen as modern day witches as they practice spells to manipulate the earth as a part of their religion.

Looking back on the research displayed in this report, I do believe that in some sense witches are real. I do not believe that only back in the 1400s did they exist, but that in our modern age they still exist. I believe that back then and now, people practiced some form of witchcraft but that it is much more watered down and less evil then what we all believed it to be. Much like the modern Wiccan religion, I believe that pagans that casted “spells” and manipulated the earth did exist but that it wasn’t for mischievous or nefarious purposes. No, i believe that they were to send well wishes and good luck upon loved ones and friends and that they used the Earth to making healing remedies to illnesses they had not yet cured. Witches do exist, they are just misunderstood.

In the year 1692 an incident that resulted to twenty people being executed and even an additional two hundred people being accused of witchcraft .These injustices had prevailed in the society and people would be randomly accused and randomly killed because people believed that witchcraft was a punishable crime like other. In the most bizarre events in the American history the Salem trials had entirely become rampant and even shaped the court decisions (Levin,1955) However in the year 1933common sense prevailed and most people argued that witchcraft would not be a punishable offense since supernatural forces could not be used as evidence in a court of law. Before the trials were brought to an end many prejudicial killings and occurrences of people being hanged after being accused of being witchdoctors had prevailed in the Salem community. The paper will basically address the various injustice son Salem trials and also give logical conclusions about these trials.

The initial events of these Salem trials began when a number of young girls in a particular community got a strange illness in February 1962 .Some of the possible and famous symptoms include fever aches and even pain. At that particulate point the medical examination could have directly proved that it was a bad flue. However these symptoms further progressed and become more volatile that the caused the girls to scream and even contorted their bodies in strange position by crawling under furniture. They were also heard uttering strange sounds and claiming that they were pricked by pins. In an attempt to examine and find the cause of these strange behaviors a local doctor closely examined the girls and claimed that they had been inflicted by a supernatural witchcraft force (Blumberg, 2007). In the seventh century the Salem had been known of blaming witchcraft of the evils of the world and even prosecuted those who were thought of conducting these evils. As the mysteries continued the girls blamed three women for afflicting them with these estrange illness and hence the Salem trials began.

Some of the first three women who were to face these charges were Sarah, Tibuta, Good and Osborne. These women were seen as outcasts in the community and these made them an easy target for people in the Salem community to spread rumors that they were the ones who had bewitched the girls and even made them to suffer these strange illnesses and even make strange sounds at night. Both Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne strongly denied and even said that they had no association with witchcraft or even the devil. However Tibuta on the centrally decalred that indeed the devil had visited him and all she needed was to serve him.(Warshow,1953). She did these in order to spark a debate and also believed that it could stop her from being further beaten and would go and jail to avoid her being killed. When she admitted of being a witch all the three were damned to jail Chaos broke out and in the other consecutive months many people were being arrested for witchcraft accusation of bewitching young girls in the Salem. However no one was bullet proof to these accusations when a famous loyal churchgoer was charged with witchcraft and people began to panic. This is because pinpointing of even innocent people that had not history of witchcraft began to occur. When people needed to eliminate someone from a leadership position they went ahead to ensure that they were falsely accused of witchcraft and even went into jail. The basic assumption was that if Martha Corey a famous churchgoer had been charged and accused of witchcraft then basically anyone else in the Salem community would probably face same charges because she was seen and perceived to be the most religious. As more and more charges were brought before courts and responsible authorities people from Salem and even surrounding areas were brought in for questioning. Many of the accused however were simply unable to defend themselves because these charges were simply biased in nature and it was also very difficult to prove whether an individual was with or not. It was pathetic that the authorities went ahead to allow fake evidence such as foul gossips and other merely unsupported evidence and assertions. For example dreams and visions by people believed to decode witchcraft would be used against people and victims and these sets of evidence in a modern day would not build any form of solid evidence against the people. For example even after Rebecca nurse had even provided enough evidence that were beyond any reasonable doubts to prove that she was not guilty the presiding judge in these trial decided to reconvene the jury in order to reconsider the laid down facts. To the surprise of many after the trial the nurse was found to be guilty and even convicted to be hanged. It was now clear that those who were weak and timid in their justification about their association with witchcraft would definitely be hanged .killed or convicted. In the year 1692 frenzy executions were conducted and an elderly old man was crushed to death with heavy stones.

There seemed to be no end to these prejudicial killings and trials until the then educator and president of Harvard College begged the court to reconsider their decision since there was no room for testimony and evidence that included dreams or even visions. He also went on record in his publication it would be better to release ten suspected witches than killing one innocent person. In response to these Mather’s appeal The then Governor of Massachusetts William Phipps finally put an end to these unfair and unjust trials by suspending all th trials and even releasing all the people charged with witchcraft on may 1963.These action was widely welcomed by people and also put an end to this prejudicial kills that had occurred. Both religion and the church also played a major role in facilitating these trials because most of those accused were thought of being sinners and those who did not go to church. The trials also became personal and those who were in conflict with the church norms and tradition would easily be victimized and even mad to undergo trials. Solid and tangible evidence have to be well incorporated before a judge can fully declare someone guilty. From a critical point of view witchcraft is not verifiable an d no evidence can be used to prove whether someone is a witch or not. For example in the case scenario for the three girls, medical examination would have proved that they were suffering from a bad flue as opposed to witchcraft which many had claimed. During the 17th century religion also played major role in also determined who was right and wrong which was totally against their free will and ability to make decisions and live their lives how each one wished.

In conclusion the trials in Salem were clearly unjust. Witchcraft was non verifiable and no one could claim that supernatural forces could be used as evidence in a court of law. Accusing people of witchcraft was simply a clear way of getting rid of people regarded as outcasts and sinners in the church. Just by the mere fact that those accused were not allowed to have a legal counsel was clear violation of their human rights and the court had even failed to protect its people by allowing fake evidence in its rulings (Fels, 2017) Since the Salem trials were banned in 1702 the justice legal systems dramatically improved and hence before any accusation or case laws were allowed to precede solid evidence had to be provided before a court of law and carefully evaluated. In case the evidence was not sufficient the clients had to advise. Social rimes such as witchcraft which mostly rely on dark and supernaturally forces cannot be verified and accusing an individual would be totally wrong and illegal. Other dispute resolutions such arbitration would be used in order to settle this matters outside a court of law since it would be very hard for a judge to ascertain when, where and whether the occurrence had occurred or not.

Introduction

Anthropologists define witchcraft as the practice when people embody certain powers or ideas to hurt other people (Bowen, 2018). Experts generally utilize this term interchangeably with sorcery and magic while emphasizing the negative impact of these powers on others or “embodied harmfulness” (Bowen, 2018, p. 187). Before the current reading, I had a similar understanding of witchcraft and associated it with something malevolent, although I do not perceive the concepts of sorcery and magic from a negative perspective.

Discussion

In my opinion, witchcraft and the concept of “embodied harmfulness” persist in the modern world because of human psychology. It is easier to explain a complicated occurrence or your failures by holding “evil forces” accountable. Hypothetically, if one fails an exam, it is less stressful for them to blame external factors instead of their abilities. The same concept could be applied to witchcraft, demonstrated by the example of the Mekong practice in Cameroon – the idea that rich people turn their employees into zombies to acquire great wealth (Bowen, 2018, p. 194). Besides, I believe that people have a genuine interest in supernatural forces, which is another reason for the existence of witchcraft in the modern world.

According to the article, the practice of spirituality is associated with poverty and ignorance in the Dogondoutchi region, while Islam corresponds to power and respect (Masquelier, 2020). This idea relates to the “disenchantment of the world” since people in the area wish to gradually get rid of animism and spirit-based beliefs.

In the Dogondoutchi, Islam represents “modernity” since it directly opposes spirit-based beliefs. For instance, the author argues that land appropriation, including space for schools and urban areas, has been “facilitated by the promotion of Muslim ways of being” (Masquelier, 2020, p. 246). Another connection between “modernity” and Islam is the concept of female modesty, which suggests that women must dress chastely and regulate their sexuality.

I agree with this perspective since, according to the article, the Islamic part of the community tries to oppress the indigenous element. Logically, one of the best methods to achieve this objective is to demonstrate the effectiveness of Islamic rituals in taming spirits. This approach would show people with indigenous beliefs that Islam is a better alternative to their practices since it can effectively cope with possessions by spirits. As a result, Islam acts as a means to tame the indigenous past, oppose people with animistic beliefs, and as an instrument of modernization.

Mal’occhio or the “evil eye” is a superstitious belief in the Mediterranean region that states that envious people might unintentionally curse others with their gaze (Redheadprodmtl, 2020). This practice has survived for more than 5,000 years, reflecting the implications of human psychology and the importance of cultural traditions (Redheadprodmtl, 2020). The information in the film demonstrates the cultural significance of witchcraft and people’s desire for superstition. I believe that this is a gendered practice because of its extensive history. Five thousand years ago, men were generally more respectable than women in society; thus, the concept of envy and jealousy was more likely to affect women. Since then, the tradition was passed upon generations, but the core concept remained the same.

Conclusion

In summary, I have vastly enjoyed the proposed readings and film, and they have further enforced my understanding of witchcraft. For instance, the article about the Dogontoutchi demonstrates that people might utilize superstitious beliefs to support their agenda – to promote Islamic traditions in the region and oppress the indigenous practices. Consequently, Mal’occhio reveals the significance of cultural traditions and their impact on the perception of witchcraft. Ultimately, I believe that witchcraft remains a relevant practice in the modern world due to cultural traditions and human psychology.

References

Bowen, J. R. (2018). Religions in practice: An approach to the anthropology of religion (7^th edition). Routledge.

Masquelier, A. (2020). A disenchanted landscape? Jinn, schoolgirls, and the demonization of the past in Niger. Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural, 9(2), 243-266.

Redheadprodmtl. (2020). Mal’occhio | 2010 | documentary film. [Video File]. Web.