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Belief in Spells and Witchcraft and its Effects on African Societies

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Belief in Spells and Witchcraft and its Effects on African Societies

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Home Page > News and Society > Culture > Belief in Spells and Witchcraft and its Effects on African Societies

Belief in Spells and Witchcraft and its Effects on African Societies

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Posted: Jan 27, 2011 |Comments: 0
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Belief in witchcraft, spells and other superstitions are widespread. In some places, it is not just something used to entertain children during Halloween; it is big business and it can be life and death.

Belief in witchcraft is a common phenomenon in some developing nations, particularly, Sub-Saharan Africa. This belief has a very pronounced effect on the day to day lives of the believers. Again, it burdens the economies of the societies where the belief is endemic.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, some of the ways belief in witchcraft affects lives include:

1: How individuals treat one another for fear that evil spirits, spells or witchcraft might be invoked against the offending partner

2: How people accept or shirk responsibility for mishaps. There is always the witch to blame for any situation even when individuals have literally been irresponsible.

3: The value people put on their lives. Believers in spells and witchcraft perpetually expect the worse to happen and consider their lives of less value than non believers.

A Gallup study recently conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa shows that individuals who believe in witchcraft rate their lives worse than those who don’t. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the best possible life, those who believe in witchcraft rate their lives at a 4.3 on average, while those who do not believe or don’t have an opinion rate their lives higher on the scale, at 4.8 on average.

Generally, the lower the education level and household income, the more likely it was for a person to believe in witchcraft. Even among the most educated those who say they believe in witchcraft rate their lives worse than those who don’t. The poll also showed that on the average 55% of all residents in Sub-Saharan Africa believe in witchcraft.

It is important to remember that while the repercussions of the belief may be severe in some parts of the world, belief in witchcraft is a worldwide phenomenon. In the US, 21% believe in witchcraft, 23% believe in ghosts, 25% believe in astrology. Approximately 33% Americans believe in unidentified flying objects and ghost.

Belief in witchcraft has diverse societal implications. A couple of months ago, an elderly Ghanaian woman was burnt by some young men on suspicion she was a witch (http://www.talkafrique.com/issues/ghana-witch-killing-points-to-a-broader-culture-of-fear-and-superstition). Women, especially the elderly, are taunted and abused indiscriminately for any concerns they might be witches.

There are several local and international non-governmental organizations fighting on this front in several African countries to defeat this social stigma.

We will look at specific examples of these efforts in Part 2 of this series.

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About the Author:

Kwabena (a.ka. Kirby) is the founder of the blog http://www.talkafrique.com. He has a Masters degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ghana, and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Florida. In his spare time, he enjoys discussing and writing on issues affecting minority groups and the developing world.

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belief in witchraft, belief in spells, superstitions, african witchcraft

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African American Wiccans

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Before you debate the term “african american” Listen to this brothers Perspectives on The Craft from a MALE point of view.. You just have to ADORE THE DIVINE MASCULINES!! Especially when they are apart of THE CRAFT!! How cool is it to cast a circle with a Brother! He just started a show on Blogtalkradio to discuss his take on Wicca, Magick, Voodoo He has been practicing for 8 years and is a Proud Wiccan. I personally know very few Wiccan Brothers. Nice to see some are coming out to discuss their take on being a Male Witch…LOL! This is his disclaimer on his show: African Americans in Wicca are Rare. While Wicca is steadily growing, the Black Perspective is often left out. It is obvious that people of color are a minority within the craft and I feel that it is important to discuss this fact. Why do some black people feel drawn to witchcraft which is mainly populated by Caucasians instead of voodoo which is mainly populated by Africans and other people of color? Here is the link to his show. If you know some Brother or Sisters who practice wicca, he is looking to network with them. www.blogtalkradio.com

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Churches denounce African children as “witches”

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African Children (C) Robin Hammond, SteppingStonesNigeria.org An increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of “witch children” reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files.

Some of the churches involved are renegade local branches of international franchises. Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

“It is an outrage what they are allowing to take place in the name of Christianity,” said Gary Foxcroft, head of nonprofit Stepping Stones Nigeria. [video]

View full post on Religion News Blog » Witchcraft

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Rise in African kids accused of witchcraft

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Rise in African kids accused of witchcraft
London, July 18 : The number of children accused of witchcraft in parts of Africa is increasing significantly, with orphans, street children and disabled mostly at risk, Unicef has said.

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Rise in African children acccused of witchcraft

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Rise in African children acccused of witchcraft
An increasing number of children are being accused of witchcraft in parts of Africa, the UN children’s agency says. Orphans, street children, albinos and the disabled are most at risk.

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African Witchcraft – The History, the Practices and the Controversies

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African Witchcraft is a collective term used to describe the spiritual traditions (both past and present) of the various ethnic groups in Africa. From a historical point of view, Egyptian Witchcraft and Arabic Sihr traditionally formed a part of the mix. These two ceremonial forms of Witchcraft are nearly extinct, and have been replaced by the Islamic faith.
The witchcraft practiced in the rest of Africa is shamanistic in nature. Long before the East and the West converged on the continent, the shamanistic practices of Africans were remarkably similar in spite of the ethnic and tribal diversity that prevailed.
This is no longer the case, though. The influences of the Christian and the Islamic religions on African Witchcraft are noticeable. The colonization of Africa by the English, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Germans, brought its own set of cultural influences too. This accounts for the diversity now to be found in the practice of African witchcraft from ethnic grouping to ethnic grouping and from tribe to tribe.
This diversification should not be interpreted as dilution or intensification, though. It merely implies that African witchcraft in its purest form has been exchanged for African shamanism of an eclectic form.
The heinous practice of slave trading led to the export of African witchcraft to the Americas, where it now survives under the auspices of religions such as Voudun, Obeah, Santera, Quimbanda and Candombl.
What is African Witchcraft?
African witchcraft is a nature based religion, where one or more Deities, nature spirits and ancestral spirits are worshipped. The witchdoctor, with his or her ability to commune with Deity, nature spirits and ancestral spirits, is traditionally held in awe – an awe which is an odd mixture of respect and fear.
The reason for this fear is simple. Magic in the African sense may be used for both positive and negative purposes. It can be used to bless and to curse, to cure and cause disease, to bring peace and to initiate battle, to protect and to harm, to create and to destroy.
The witchdoctor can be either male or female. Although there is no gender equality in African culture, no distinction is generally made where spiritual practices are concerned. The witchdoctor is responsibile for divination, healing, presiding over rituals, conducting rites of passage, performing sacrifices, finding lost cattle, protecting warriors, casting and removing spells, and narrating the history and myths of old.
For harmony between the living and the dead, which is an essential component of leading a trouble-free life, ancestors are shown respect by means of daily offerings, prayers and songs, elaborate rituals and animal sacrifice.

Rose Ariadne has been practicing ancient forms of Witchcraft for over 25 years. Get more info about African witchcraft here: http://www.askroseariadne.com/editorials/african-witchcraft-the-history.html

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