Belief in witchcraft or following its practices have problematic outcomes on those living within a society that does not accept witchcraft beliefs, nor does it view witchcraft as something beyond its negative stigmas that were created by accusations. For anthropologists such as Evans-Pritchard, witchcraft became a way to theorize how witchcraft creates a formal function within a society, rather than it simply being a belief of how the universe works. Evans-Pritchard's work influenced many stigmas that surround witchcraft from the 1920s to now, by insinuating that witchcraft in the Azande context is an irrational form of thought due to their "primitive" culture. To Evans-Pritchard, witchcraft became a irrational explanation for misfortune and thus, supernatural beliefs are none other than imaginary beings created by primitive religions. This notion of the "primitive" society creates an offensive accusation on those who follow witchcraft because it says that witchcraft can in no way be considered a religion simply because its beliefs and practices differ than other religions. However, the fact still remains that due to outside media such as movies and television series, witchcraft implications have remained to be seen as negative and unworldly with no values, and of course in connection to "Satanism". Yet, witchcraft is still seen in many cultures around the world, and even though it has been around for hundreds of years, witchcraft is still unwanted in societies in the present day. Neopaganism has developed around the forces of nature and magic is seen as something that is good and can give back to the community. Its practices emphasize that the world revolves around karma, and in order to receive goodness in life is to thank the g...
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Witchcraft, the use of magical faculties, most commonly for religious, divinatory or medicinal purposes, something that is supernatural. One would think something of the supernatural order would be null and void to the concepts of social norms and labeling. Well one would be wrong. From the start of this ordeal in Salem social order was one of the first things to be thrown down on the people of Salem. The first three women accused of practicing Witchcraft and being witches were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. These 3 women who lived in Salem during the Witch Craze of 1692 were seen as “rejects” and the “outcast” of the community. Sarah Good was no more than a homeless person, always begging for food and place to sleep. Sarah Osborne wasn’t a poor women like the lesser Sarah but she was a mean old lady who was confined to her bed most of the time due to her old age. Now Titbua, she wasn’t a fre...
Witchcraft has always fascinated many people and been a very controversial topic in North America during the seventeenth and 17th centuries. Many people believe that witchcraft implies the ability to injure or use supernatural power to harm others. People believed that a witch represented the dark side of female presence and were more likely to embrace witchcraft than men. There are still real witches among us in the Utah who believe that witchcraft is the oldest religion dealing with the occult. However, the popular conception of a witch has not changed at least since the seventeenth century; they still caused panic, fear and a variety of other emotions in people.
The growing practice of Neo-Paganism in America has caused many to turn their heads. The misunderstanding of the religion has caused many to equate the practitioners with the popular conception of typical "witches," that perform black magic rituals, satanic sacrifices, and engage in devil-inspired orgies. After many years, the Neo-Pagan community has cleared up many misconceptions through the showing that many of them do not engage in activities, and are rather participating in a religion, just as those would that participate in a Christian community. It's unacceptance continues, perhaps due to its non-conformity to the ideal of worshipping a Christian God. Through the use of ethnography, anthropologists and sociologists are able to present the public with a much different view than what we are bombarded with in popular media.
Stephen King once stated “We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.” People can be influenced greatly by their society and surrounding environment. Once a common belief is generated, it is usually difficult or others if. In the play, The Crucible, such is shown through the Salem witch trials. In the article, “It’s 2013, and They’re Burning ‘Witches’” the people of Papua New Guinea, also known as PNG, still believe that black magic is used to kill people who have no relation to each other. The general belief that the society influences determine the rash decisions that people take and the fear the unknown results in the blame of the unknown.
Evans-Pritchard does a more encompassing analysis of the magic used by the Azande by trying to understand the abstract questions from their perspective. Magic, in the case of the Azande being witchcraft, runs their society. It is their “natural philosophy”, used to explain occurrences instead of rationalism (Evans-Pritchard 18). It runs their system of values. Evans-Pritchard describes how it affects every aspect of Azande life from domestic life to fishing. Their misfortunes are due to witchcraft unless it was done by sorcery. Witchcraft is the “idiom in which Azande speak about them and in which they explain them” (19). Evans-Pritchard is quick to explain this facet about the Azande and it shapes how he observes a Zande. He was able to learn their idiom and apply the “notions of witchcraft as spontaneously as themselves in situations where the concept was relevant” (19). Like Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard states that he cannot expect to ask a Zande to analyze his or her own “doctrine” (23). It would be beyond their capabilities. But, Evans-Pritchard provides a solution. By observing many situations that involve witchcraft, he can “extract the principles of their thought” (23). He hopes that by watching the Azande and the witchcraft he will get a better idea of how their logic system works. He clarifies that the Azande’s use of witchcraft does not account for “the existence of phenomena” (21). Evans-Pritchard gives scenarios that explain a Zande’s chain of thought. If an
...everence for nature--define the modern witch. Witchcraft is not devil worship or a cult of sex orgies and drug abuse, but is simply "...a way of life for hundreds of thousands--perhaps millions--of well adjusted adults who simply share a view of nature that is different from that of the majority," (Cunningham, xi). This is who witches are and what they do. Witches are good, moral, law-abiding people. Even those from the west.
There has been a belief of witches for thousands of years. Europeans were very superstitious between the 1300s and 1700s. Tens of thousands of people were executed for being convicted of witchcraft, therefore, the colonists of modern day Danvers, Massachusetts, exposure to the beliefs caused them to brutally execute each other. (Blumberg and Linder).
Witchcraft is said to be the most widespread cultural phenomenon in existence today and throughout history. Even those who shun the ideas of witchcraft cannot discount the similarities in stories from all corners of the globe. Witchcraft and its ideas have spread across racial, religious, and language barriers from Asia to Africa to America. Primitive people from different areas in the world have shockingly similar accounts of witchcraft occurrences. In most cases the strange parallels cannot be explained and one is only left to assume that the tales hold some truth. Anthropologists say that many common elements about witchcraft are shared by different cultures in the world. Among these common elements are the physical characteristics and the activities of supposed witches. I will go on to highlight some of the witch characteristic parallels found in printed accounts from different parts of the world and their comparisons to some famous fairytales.
vulnerable to the Devil’s blandishments. A lurid picture of the activities of witches emerged in the popular mind, including covens, or gatherings over which Satan presided; pacts with the Devil; flying broomsticks; and animal accomplices, or familiars. Although a few of these elements may represent leftovers of pre-Christian religion, the old religion probably did not persist in any organized form beyond the 14th century. The popular image of witchcraft, perhaps inspired by features of occultism or ceremonial magic as well as by theology concerning the Devil and his works of darkness, was given shape by the inflamed imagination of inquisitors and was confirmed by statements obtained under torture. The late medieval and early modern picture of diabolical witchcraft can be attributed to several causes. First, the church’s experience with such dissident religious movements as the Albigenses and Cathari, who believed in a radical dualism of good and evil, led to the belief that certain people had allied themselves with Satan.
Religious influence, the manipulation of fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft all are very influential to the popular belief of witchcraft during this time period. The popularity of witchcraft in this time period is important because it has shown how in the past when there is no logical explanation they would automatically blame Satan and say it was Satan’s doing. It also shows that history repeats itself because during the Cold War many individuals were accused of being communist even though there was no hard evidence proving this accusation; however, out of fear people will still be convicted, just like during the witch trials. Moreover, witch trials were not only influenced by many things but they have been influential; therefore, showing that they influenced things in our time
Witchcraft was relentlessly thought as the work of the devil with only sinful and immoral intentions. Julio Caro Baroja explains in his book on Basque witchcraft that women who were out casted from society and unable to fulfill their womanly duties became witches as a way to compensate for her failed life. They were thought to be a threat to society as they dwindled in evil magic. This misunderstanding may have originated from the literary works of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, in their published book, “Malleus Maleficarum”. Accusations of being adulterous, liars and dealing with the devil materialized because of the...
...e wrong to think that because it had just given even worse results than killing people. One example would be that the town would no longer prosper to it's former glory, and other towns are starting to be affected this witchcraft as well. In fact, one town had it's court overthrown by the people. With these actions and others happening as a result of society calling the big shots, I think people would want to believe their own personal beliefs or actions.
“livestock die because of witchcraft, family members turn against each other because of witchcradt, servants defy masters because of witchcraft. For every ill in Salem, witchcraft is the scapegoat.’ (56)
Psychological susceptibility to various faiths in the fact that human life is exposed to supernatural forces that affect a person's fate, and often prejudge its outcome, always existed in all human societies and cultures. One of the major determinants of this psychological susceptibility is superstitions that appear as the main engines of believe in the intervention of supernatural forces in human’s life. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica (2010) ‘superstition’ could be defined as ‘belief, half-belief or practice’, which does not have any rational explanation or basis. Despite this fact, according to Behringer (2004) the amount of believers in witchcraft and superstitions are significantly higher than in XVII century.
Belief in witchcraft is the traditional way of explaining the ultimate cause of evil, misfortune or death.” The African worldview is holistic. In this perception, things do not just happen. What happens, either good or bad, is traced back to human action, including “ancestors who can intervene by blessing or cursing the living.” Witches, on the other hand, harm because they want to destroy life.