Azande witchcraft
Witchcraft among the Azande is evil magic used to inflict harm on an individual and the cause of all unusual or terrible events that take place.[1] The Azande believe it is a power that can only be passed on from a parent to their child.[2] To the Azande, witchcraft is used when one individual has hatred toward another person. It can also manipulate nature to bring harm upon the victim of the witch.[1] Oracles and witchdoctors determine whether someone is guilty of using witchcraft on someone.[3] More magic is then created to avenge the death and punish the one who committed the homicide.[1]
Description
The Azande are an African tribe found in the Northern African country of Sudan.[4] Witchcraft is present in every aspect of Zande society, and is believed to be the major cause of disease, death, and any other unfortunate events that occur.[1] It clings to a digestive organ of the body, and it can only be inherited either from a father to his son or a mother to her daughter.[2] Witchcraft is a psychic power that can only be used at a short range.[3] Because of this, the Azande tend to distance themselves from their neighbors and live closer to oracles.[1] Witchcraft can also use nature to cause injury or even death if the witch allows it.[1] It can use an animal such as a buffalo to kill someone or cause a structure such as a storage house to collapse on top of someone.[1]
Although witchcraft is the cause for any bad events that happen to anyone, the Azande do not blame it for human faults.[1] It does not cause people to make mistakes in activities such as farming, hunting, or making crafts.[1] Witchcraft also does not influence anyone to commit any moral crimes such as lying, cheating, or deceiving someone.[1]
A witch will not use his or her powers to hurt someone unless he has hatred toward them.[1] When a witch uses their witchcraft on a victim, it flows out of them and into the body of the sleeping victim to steal their soul; a group of witches will then eat the soul of the victim, working collaboratively. Killing a person is a slow process, for the witch may have to perform witchcraft several times on the person to actually accomplish it. In turn, while the witch is performing their witchcraft, the victim's relatives can prepare a plan of defense and strike back at the evil magic,[3] but before they are allowed to do this, they must seek advice from an oracle.[1]
Role of oracles
Oracles are tasked with finding those responsible of using witchcraft on an individual and also predicting future tragedies. If someone believes witchcraft is being used to cause misfortune upon one of their relatives, they may seek the wisdom of the oracles to see if that is the case. Different methods are used by oracles to determine whether someone is using witchcraft to bring disaster upon an individual.[3]
One method of finding the answer is used by a specific group called the poison oracles. The poison oracles use a vegetable poison called benge and feed it to a fowl. The purpose of this for the oracle to answer any question given before them.[3] The answer to the question depends on whether the bird is killed from the poison or it survives. There are specific situations where a second fowl is fed the same poison to confirm the results of the first test. In order for the first test to be accepted as solid evidence, the results of the second test must be opposite of the first.[4]
Witchdoctors
In addition to the oracles, witchdoctors can also predict disasters and reveal the witches who use their witchcraft to cause harm.[3] Although both oracles and witchdoctors have these abilities, witchdoctors are considered to be more accurate as far as pointing out witches.[5] Witchdoctors must go through extensive training before they can officially become a witchdoctor.[3] When their assistance is needed, they come together and perform a dance near the home of one who is sick or dead to locate the origin of the evil magic.[5] The power that allows witchdoctors to track down witches comes from medicinal herbs.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1935). "Witchcraft". Africa. 8: 417–422 – via JSTOR.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b Wagner, Gunter (1937). "Witchcraft among the Azande". Journal of the Royal African Society. 36: pp. 470 – via JSTOR.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h Wagner, Günter (1937-01-01). "Witchcraft among the Azande". Journal of the Royal African Society. 36 (145): 469–476 – via JSTOR.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b Sankey, Howard (2010). "Witchcraft, Relativism and the Problem of the Criterion". Erkenntnis. 72: pp. 1-16 – via JSTOR.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ a b Forde, C. Daryll (1939). "Review: Witchcraft, Oracles, And Magic Among The Azande By E. E. Evans-Pritchard". The Journal of American Folklore. 52: pp. 135-136 – via JSTOR.
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