Witchcraft in Africa
In Africa, witchcraft refers to various beliefs and practices. These beliefs often play a significant role in shaping social dynamics and can influence how communities address challenges and seek spiritual assistance. Much of what "witchcraft" represents in Africa has been susceptible to misunderstandings and confusion, due to a tendency among western scholars to approach the subject through a comparative lens vis-a-vis European witchcraft. The definition of "witchcraft" can differ between Africans and Europeans which causes misunderstandings of African conjure practices among Europeans. For example, the Maka people of Cameroon believe in an occult force known as djambe, that dwells inside a person. It is often translated as "witchcraft" or "sorcery", but it has a broader meaning that encompasses supernatural harm, healing and shapeshifting; this highlights the problem of using European terms for African concepts.
While some 19th–20th century European colonialists tried to stamp out witch-hunting in Africa by introducing laws banning accusations of witchcraft, some former African colonies introduced laws banning witchcraft after they gained independence. This has produced an environment that encourages persecution of suspected witches.
In the Central African Republic, hundreds of people are convicted of witchcraft yearly, with reports of violence against accused women. The Democratic Republic of the Congo witnessed a disturbing trend of child witchcraft accusations in Kinshasa, leading to abuse and exorcisms supervised by self-styled pastors. In Ghana, there are several "witch camps", where women accused of witchcraft can seek refuge, though the government plans to close them.
In west Kenya, there have been cases of accused witches being burned to death in their homes by mobs. Malawi faces a similar issue of child witchcraft accusations, with traditional healers and some Christian counterparts involved in exorcisms, causing abandonment and abuse of children. In Nigeria, Pentecostal pastors have intertwined Christianity with witchcraft beliefs for profit, leading to the torture and killing of accused children. Sierra Leone's Mende people see witchcraft convictions as beneficial, as the accused receive support and care from the community. In Zulu culture, healers known as sangomas protect people from witchcraft and evil spirits through divination, rituals and mediumship.
In parts of Africa, beliefs about illness being caused by witchcraft continue to fuel suspicion of modern medicine, with serious healthcare consequences.
Historian Jacob Olupona writes about religion in Africa: "...African religions are not static traditions, but have responded to changes within their local communities and to fluxes caused by outside influences, and spread with diaspora and migration". The people central to African religions, "including medicine men and women, rainmakers, witches, magicians, and divine kings... serve as authority figures and intermediaries between the social world and the cosmic realm". Monica Wilson wrote that witchcraft was the inversion of accepted behavioural norms, and the "wilful misdirection of the mystical powers" innate to each person.
History
saw the existence of indigenous witchcraft practices, with some societies attributing supernatural powers to certain individuals. These beliefs ranged from beneficial powers like healing to malevolent forces capable of harm. The arrival of European colonial powers introduced significant changes. Colonial authorities often viewed African witchcraft as superstitious and attempted to suppress or eradicate indigenous practices, leading to the criminalization and persecution of suspected witches. This colonial influence sparked a complex interplay between traditional beliefs and foreign religions like Christianity and Islam.In the post-independence era some African countries continued to grapple with witchcraft-related issues, including accusations and violence. Witchcraft remains a significant aspect of many people's lives, with varying perceptions of its powers and dangers. Legal responses have emerged in some nations to protect individuals from harm and discrimination due to witchcraft accusations, but the practice and beliefs continue to evolve in the context of modernization and globalization.
Forms
African witchcraft beliefs are incredibly diverse, encompassing practices from healing and divination to the worship of ancestral spirits and deities. Some of the most notable African "witchcraft" traditions include Vodun, Hoodoo, Santería, and Candomblé, each with its unique blend of African, indigenous, and sometimes Christian or Catholic influences. Many of these traditions have roots in specific African ethnic groups and have evolved over centuries in the diaspora, particularly in the Americas and the Caribbean. They often involve rituals, ceremonies, and the use of herbs, charms, and divination methods to connect with the spiritual world and address various aspects of life, including health, prosperity, and protection. Conjure in Africa and the Black diaspora can be used for negative and positive purposes. The positive purpose was protection against evil witches who cast spells on innocent people.Diaspora
While some traditions have faced stigmatization and persecution, they continue to thrive and adapt to changing societal contexts. Black people in the diaspora share experiences of racism and prejudice regarding their religious practices. In the Black Diaspora, the word Juju is used to describe all forms of conjure and charms made and used in African Diaspora Religions and African Traditional Religions that incorporate conjure into their religious practices. In the Caribbean, enslaved Africans utilized Obeah to attack their enslavers. The practice of Obeah was prohibited by Europeans out of fear and the ability of Obeah men and Obeah women to organize enslaved communities for slave rebellions.Scholars at Duke University have identified Bantu-Kongo cultural influences in Black populations across the Americas, particularly in the continuation of Nkisi and Nkisi Nkondi traditions and Kongo burial traditions among African Americans in the Southern United States. These practices, rooted in Kongo spiritual beliefs, were employed to ward off evil spirits, conjure spirits of the dead and ancestral spirits, and provide protection against withcraft. The Nkisi Nkondi is made by an nganga and the spirit of the Nkondi is used to hunt and punish evil witches.
Influence on witchcraft in Latin America
African witchcraft beliefs have exerted a profound influence on practices called brujeria in Latin America, especially in regions with incoming African diaspora religions, such as Brazil, Cuba, and the Caribbean. This influence is marked by syncretism, where African witchcraft beliefs have merged with Indigenous, European, and Christian elements. For instance, in Brazil's Candomblé and Cuba's Santería, African Orisha worship is blended with Catholicism, allowing practitioners to maintain their African spiritual heritage while adapting to the dominant religious culture.Present day by region
Azande
Witchcraft plays a significant role in the beliefs and culture of the Azande people, located in North Central Africa, particularly in regions like South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Northern Democratic Republic of Congo. In Azande society, witchcraft is perceived as a potent force used to harm individuals, and it permeates every aspect of their lives. They believe that witchcraft is hereditary and can only be passed from parent to child of the same gender. This psychic power is believed to work at close range and can manipulate nature to cause harm, such as using animals or collapsing structures.The Azande do not attribute human errors like mistakes in farming or moral crimes like lying to witchcraft. Instead, they primarily associate it with negative occurrences, such as disease and death. A witch will only use their powers against someone they dislike, with the process involving the transfer of the victim's soul to a group of witches. While the victim's relatives can prepare a defense, they must seek advice from an oracle before retaliating.
Oracles are crucial in Azande society for identifying those responsible for using witchcraft and predicting future tragedies. They employ various methods, such as the poison oracle, to determine if witchcraft is being used. The outcome of the oracle's decision influences the course of action taken by the community. Besides the poison oracle, there are also the termite oracle and the rubbing-board oracle, each with its level of reliability.
In addition to oracles, witch doctors are also consulted to predict disasters and identify witches. They undergo extensive training and perform rituals, often in front of a crowd of villagers, to locate the source of evil magic. Medicinal herbs play a crucial role in the power of witch doctors.
Early colonial observers often viewed Azande witchcraft as belonging to a primitive people, but anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard's seminal work Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande challenged this perception. He argued that Azande witchcraft is a coherent and logical system of ideas, similar to other world religions, contributing significantly to the field of anthropology by conducting extensive fieldwork and studying Azande beliefs and practices in-depth. Evans-Pritchard's work has had a lasting influence on the study of "primitive thought" and has guided subsequent generations of anthropologists in understanding the complexity of witchcraft in Azande culture.