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

• (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 Evans-Pritchard famous.

• Witchcraft or mangu exists within the body of an individual. Passed down from parent to child of the same sex (fatherson, motherdaughter).

• 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.• 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• 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

– 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.• Identifying a witch:

– 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:

– 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/culture-places/work/zimbabwe_witchdoctor.html

• The Sonora witches’ market (Mexico). Witchcraft as anti-social. Similar to Navajo culture’s idea of purposeful witchcraft: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/culture-places/work/mexico_blackmagic.html

Euro-American WitchcraftTimeline

• 0-300 C.E., Pre-Christian Roman empire:– 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.– 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…

– 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– 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.– 1227-1235: Establishment of the Papal Inquisition: Official regulation of Inquisition activities by

Roman Catholicism and the Pope.• 1252 the papal bull Ad Extirpanda is introduced by Pope Innocent IV authorizing the imprisonment, torture, execution

and property seizure of heretics.– 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• 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:– “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• 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