Witchcraft
The ability of a person to cause harm by means of a personal
power that resides within the body of the witch
Witchcraft in Pop Culture
• Has become a bit distorted from traditional views of
witchcraft:
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N14Ho-VVPgA (from
Disney’s Snow White)
• The concept of “Witch” has taken on a less-intimidating/romanticized
more “story-book-monster” type of quality like Zombies, Vampires,
Ghosts, Frankenstein, etc.
Azande Witchcraft
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(1937) Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic
among the Azande by Evans-Pritchard.
– This publication put the Azande (southern
Sudan and northeastern Democratic
Republic of Congo) “on the map”
Anthropology-wise and made EvansPritchard famous.
Witchcraft or mangu exists within the
body of an individual. Passed down from
parent to child of the same sex
(fatherson, motherdaughter).
Important to the Azande is whether or not
a person is consciously (or unconsciously)
directing their mangu to harm someone
else.
– Witches are never strangers or those in a
superior social position.
– If someone is sick, various oracles are
consulted. If the oracles point to witchcraft
as the source of the sickness, authorities
confront the accused witch.
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In order to reverse the harmful affects of
his/her mangu the individual will perform a
ritual that involves taking water into his/her
mouth and then spitting it out, therefore
cooling the mangu.
– Mangu is blamed when an unexpected
calamity occurs. The afflicted person must
be the object of a witch’s
hatred/jealousy/etc. in some way.
Navaho Witchcraft
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Unlike Azande Witchcraft, this is a taboo subject not discussed in public. Witchcraft must be
learned, it is not inherent.
Initiation into Navaho Witchcraft, is known as initiation into Witchery Way
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Identifying a witch:
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Like the Azande, Navaho witchcraft is an anti-social and amoral behavior
Witches thought to congregate in caves at night, practicing incest and cannibalism, having sexual
relations with corpses and perform ritualistic killings.
Learn Witchery Way from a relative, and it often involves killing a close relative like a sibling. Male
witches are more common, as are old women.
Corpse Powder (made from bones and flesh of a corpse) is used to kill their victims. Often blown into the
mouth and nose of a victim while sleeping or during a ceremonial.
Witches able to transform themselves and travel fast over land, usually by night.
Follow unusual animal tracks to someone’s home.
An unexplained gunshot wound, when, during the previous day, an animal had been shot fleeing the
scene of the crime.
If a witch is caught or captured, he or she is made to confess. If confession is not forthcoming, he or she
is killed on the spot or later (presumably) by lightning.
Witchcraft beliefs here function to:
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Provide a culturally acceptable manifestation of bad/amoral behavior
Defines what is “bad,” which consequently defines what is “good.”
Accumulation/hoarding of possessions usually indicates wealth, so encourages people to share/be
modest in their possessions.
Witchcraft
Other Ethnographic Examples
• Gnani village (Ghana). Witchraft as anti-social. Similar to
Azande’s concept of mangu. Also, divination by Ordeal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtK0gxdiX5w
• Similar example from Zimbabwe:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/cultureplaces/work/zimbabwe_witchdoctor.html
• The Sonora witches’ market (Mexico). Witchcraft as antisocial. Similar to Navajo culture’s idea of purposeful
witchcraft: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/cultureplaces/work/mexico_blackmagic.html
Euro-American Witchcraft
Timeline
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0-300 C.E., Pre-Christian Roman empire:
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Sorcery as involving the manipulation of evil spirits
“miracles” of Jesus may have been taken as a form of sorcery
273-337 C.E. Constantine I converts to Christianity, which officially ended the
persecution of Christians made famous under the previous emperor Diocletian.
313 C.E. Edict of Milan, a decree from the emperors Constantine and Licinius that
proclaimed religious tolerance in the Roman Empire.
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With Christianity now sanctioned by, and slowly becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire, those
who performed “magic” outside of that performed by Jesus or his followers were termed heretics and said
to practice…
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Heresy: Crimes against God
» All other forms of magic now labeled “sorcery” and the work of the Devil. Other, non-Christian groups “Pagans” were
thought of as worshippers of Satan – the embodiment of everything amoral and indecent.
Middle Ages (5th-13th centuries) Roman Law: Crimes against God punishable by death
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Unrepenting heretics and witches were burned. Heretics were brought to attention of authorities only if an
accusation was made against them.
13th Century Europe: Inquisitions: Formal investigations whereby a unit of the Roman
Catholic Church would convene to judge cases of heresy.
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1227-1235: Establishment of the Papal Inquisition: Official regulation of Inquisition activities by Roman
Catholicism and the Pope.
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1252 the papal bull
seizure of heretics.
Ad Extirpanda is introduced by Pope Innocent IV authorizing the imprisonment, torture, execution and property
Most areas in Continental Europe contained Inquisitors (mostly of the Franciscan and Dominican order)
At first punishment was mild (wear a crucifix or go on a pilgrimage). The goal was to get heretics/witches
back on the Christian track.
Execution only reserved for those who steadfastly would not repent.
Extent of the Roman Empire at its peak in ~120 C.E.
Towards the end of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance (the time of the Witchcraze), the “Holy
Roman Empire” encompassed the areas on the map below of Galia (France) Italia (Italy) Brittania
(British Isles) upper parts of Hispania (Spain) and eastern parts of Germania (Germany)
Euro-American Witchcraft
Timeline cont.
• ~1450-1650: Witchcraze in Continental Europe
– In which many people (anywhere from 1,000 to many millions of
people) were accused, convicted, and executed as witches
• 1486: Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer against Witches). A book put
out by the Catholic Church that classified witches as:
– Those who renounced the Catholic faith and devoted themselves, body and soul to the service of
evil.
– Engaging in orgies that included the Devil.
– Shape-shifters that could fly and make magical ointments.
– Mostly women, due to their weaker, stupider, more superstitious and sensual nature.
• 1640s-early 1700s: Witchcraze in England
– On the outskirts of the Roman Empire, England had no Roman
Law, no Inquisitors, no English translation of the Malleus
Maleficarum until modern times, and a weak tradition of heresy.
• Witches seen not so much as heretics, but instead as those who
harmed livestock, caused diseases and hurt infants and children.
– If found, they were tried under a Civil, not Religious authority. That is, until…
• 1640s King James I (Scotland) was a big proponent of the
Continental European Witchcraze and opened the door for its
occurrence in the British Isles.
Euro-American Witchcraft
Timeline cont.
• 1640s-early 1700s: Witchcraze in the United
States
– 1692 Salem: A farming society at the edge of the
settled world where accusations of witchcraft erupted
resulting in the jailing of over 100 people and the
execution of 19.
• 2 young girls (ages 9, 11) experimenting w/ divination
techniques, apparently scared themselves and started acting
strangely…
– Trashing around, contorting themselves in odd ways, constantly jumpy/nervous
– Other girls and women began acting the same.
– All medical explanations were ruled out, so…
• Witchcraft was suspected
– Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba (a West Indian Slave) were accused
» All were individuals living on the fringe of society.
» Once accusations were made, screaming howling, visions and mysterious
tooth marks appeared on those afflicted.
• Why? Boredom? Attention? Divination did not work/things
don’t go our way so someone must be to blame?
The Evil Eye
• Similar concept to Witchcraft
• Found primarily in India, the Near East, parts of Europe and
Mexico, the belief that a person is able to cause illness or some
other type of misfortune simply by looking at or praising
something or someone.
– Power of the Evil Eye, like that of witchcraft, lies within the body of the
individual. No spells, sorcery, chants, etc. are necessary to gain this
power. It is innate.
• If someone with the Evil Eye is jealous, the individual who is
the object of that jealously may encounter misfortune, so…
– In some cultures it is recommended not to show off one’s
wealth/happiness in public for fear of this very occurrence.
Satanism
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Worship the concept of Satan/Lucifer (not
the Devil of Christianity) who represents
power, virility and sexuality. Do not believe
in Heaven/Hell/Angels/Demons/Human
Sacrifice, etc. Everyone responsible for
their own actions. Lust, greed, selfishness
are things to be embraced as the normal
state of a human being.
Church of Satan Founded in 1966 by
Anton Szandor La Vey based on the
principle that:
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“human beings are inherently selfish,
violent creatures.”  from the forward to
the The Satanic Bible (1969). The Church of
Satan is a form of hedonism
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The pursuit of or devotion to pleasure as a matter of
principle
Believe in indulgence over abstinence, vengeance
over forgiveness, love only to those who deserve it.
Catholic “sin” as virtuous, but within Satanism,
“sin” still exists in the form of:
– Stupidity, pretentiousness, self-deceit,
conformity
Magic used to help friends and family, but
also to destroy the enemy.
Sigil of Baphoment: Symbol for the church
of Satan