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The nature of African religion
Witch hunting 1600 europe
Salem witch trials colonial america
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I. INTRODUCTION The Enlightenment and the emerging of modern rationalism have paved the way to a worldview where the suspicion of witchcraft is not needed to explain the mysterious phenomena of this world. This is not the case in Africa. The belief in the existence of witches, evil persons who are able to harm others by using mystical powers, is part of the common cultural knowledge. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop states, “Almost all African societies believe in witchcraft in one form or another. 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. Every misfortune or problem can be related to witchcraft, especially when natural explanation is not satisfactory. Therefore, this paper is aimed to present in brief the general opinion about beliefs on witches and witchcraft which is synonymous among most African societies. Besides, it will consider some incidents related to witchcrafts as well as Christian response to witchcraft before conclusion II. GENERAL OPINION ABOUT WITCHCRAFT In most African societies, a witch is seen as the enemy of life and society. Laurenti Magesa affirmed “African Religion has a pragmatic approach to life: Everything that promotes the well-being of the community is good, and everything that destroys the community is evil.” Magesa suggests not to use the abstract Christian concept of sin but to speak of ‘wrong-doing’ or ‘destruction of life’. Evil is always attached ... ... middle of paper ... ...ghty such as in the case of Job. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bloomill, G. Witchcraft in Africa. Cape Town, npp, 1962. Kirwen, Michael. The Missionary and The Diviner. New York: Orbits Books, 1987. Kroeber, A. and C. Klockhohn, Culture: A Critical Review of Concept and Definition New York: Vintage Books, 1989. Kunhiyop, Samuel Waje. African Christian Ethics. Kaduna: Baraka Press, 2004. Magesa, Laurenti. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998. Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion. Nairobi: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1978. _____________. African Religions and Philosophy. New York: Anchor Books, 1970. Shorter, Aylward. African Culture: Overview. Nairobi: Pauline Publications Africa, 1998. Ray, Benjamin C. African Religions: Symbol, Ritual, and Community. New York: Pretence Hall, 1976.
Fiero, Gloria K. "Africa: Gods, Rulers, and the Social Order." The Humanistic Tradition. 6th ed.
The terms voodoo, hoodoo, black magic and conjure arouse different ideas and interpretations such as fear, fascination, or repugnance. For some, the image of voodoo dolls, which are used to bring pain to the one’s enemy are associated with these words. Others might consider curses and spells used for evil intentions to be at the heart of voodoo. A more innocent notion of voodoo encompasses the idea that it is to be used for the communal good. All of these ideas came together and merged with Christian and Catholic beliefs after Africans were transported to the Americas and subjected to unimaginable horrors as slaves. Many historians define voodoo as “a syncretism between the African religion Vodu and Catholicism.” Voodoo is an entirely new creation, which was born as the African slaves were confronted with New World religions. These new ideas were “camouflaged as European saints, the Orisha divinities continued to be invoked, fed, and celebrated by their transplanted New World devotees, who in turn expected protection and assistance from their ancient spiritual guardian.” In some cases, slaves used the culturally accepted Catholic saints as a cover for their ancestral beliefs which were often seen as foolish and heretical by their masters. This new belief system “met new world needs that the settled and passive African modes could not match.” Voodoo held an important part in many slaves’ lives as remnants of their African beliefs evolved into a meaningful and powerful force. Voodoo was an essential element of survival for many slaves because it helped them cope psychologically with the physical torment they endured, it gave them a sense of power in impossibly difficult situations, and it served as a unifying force.
...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.
Outdating Christianity and Judaism, Paganism and witchcraft are a few of the oldest religions known to man. Although many people use Paganism as an umbrella term for any other religions other than Christian or Judaic, witchcraft and Paganism are not the same thing (Lokken). Wicca and witchcraft has been practiced by many cultures in many different parts of the world. The people who practice some of the magick that Wicca has to offer may not define themselves as witches, but it has been practiced. Evidence of Africans using witchcraft has been found; however, it is not the witchcraft that follows the Wiccan Rede, or the Three-fold Law (“What). The Wiccan Rede is summed up in just a few words “an it harm none, do what ye will” (Zimmerman 63). Furthermore, the Thrice Fold Law is the law of karma; where whatever someone does, good or bad, it comes back to them thrice fold. Due to this Thrice Fold Law and the Wiccan Rede, most witches do not want to harm anyone because they know it will come back to them
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
Sidky, H. Witchcraft, lycanthropy, drugs, and disease: an anthropological study of the European witch-hunts. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1997.
“If anyone, deceived by the Devil, shall believe, as is customary among pagans, that any man or woman is a night-witch, and eats men, and on that account burn that person to death... he shall be executed” (Charlemagne) When the words witchcraft or magic are spoken, most people think of the Salem Witch trials or the popular television characters that we have today. But do we really know what happened centuries ago that caused the creation of these ideals and these characters we have grown to adore? Witchcraft still has a tight hold on the mind of many and continues to influence the gap between the popular and elite cultures of today.
For many centuries to the present day, Christians have lived in fear of witches. They were known as to be the devils child who only practiced black magic and thought of as the Christians “persecution”. Witches have been known to mankind since the 1200’s. Throughout the 1400’s, the examination of witches was more focus and moved from the Jews. In the church’s law, it was stated that the belief of existence and practices of witchcraft was “heresy”. Because of what the Christians believed, churches would then torture and hunt down anyone who they thought were witches and killed the many women and only a few of the men. They even made them make the confession of flying through the midnight sky, being in love with the devil himself, practicing black magic and even turning into animals.
Khapoya, Vincent B. The African Experience: An Introduction. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. Print.
Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions that affect women -similar to other marginalised groups in society- will be subject to the definitions and decisions of those in power. In this context, the power base lay with men. It can be said that the oppression of women may not have been deliberate, it is merely a common sense approach to the natural order of things: women have babies, women are weak, women are dispensable. However the natural order of things, the social constructs reflect the enduring success of patriarchal ideology. As such, ideology is a powerful source of inequality as well as a rationalisation of it. This essay will examine the nature of witchcraft and why it was threatening to Christianity.
Witchcraft is the use of these forces for negative ends, to extort evil, and magic asks for positive ends. Witchcraft has been found to exist in all corners of the globe at some point. It is no coincidence that during the Enlightenment, witch hunts in Europe and North America became common. The aim was to rid society of these people regarded as unreasonable and dangerous. By contrast self-proclaimed witches still have a function in some societies today, mainly in the developing world. Magic however is often a word used to describe certai...
The presence of these spirits in the African society offers a serious challenge to the behavior patterns of the people on the continent and elsewhere because traditional religious practices permeate every aspect of life on the continent. These spirits in many ways act as moral entrepreneurs of the African society. They abhor crimes like adultery, stealing, cheating and suicide. These spirits communicate their wishes, demands and prescriptions to the larger society through the traditional priests.
Magic, Witchcraft and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural by Arthur C. Lehmann and James E. Myers. Fourth Edition (1997), pp 375-420 Published by: Mayfield Publishing Company
III. Smithson, Jayne. “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” Class lectures. Anthropology 120. Diablo Valley College, San Ramon 2004.
From Europe and Africa to the end of Asia and the regions beyond the ocean known as America , " Dark Arts " have become so notorious and frightening, that the mere mention is able to sow the fear and panic to its defenceless victims. Modern man reacts to the sounds of witchcraft either with mockery and humorous outbursts or suspicion. Magic cloak of prejudice and superstition that surrounds Western societies is increasing systematically day after day.