Witchcraft: it is a word that conjures up many images. It can be an image of a green-skinned woman with a pointy hat cackling while flying on a broomstick; it could be an image of a group of peaceful people in the wilderness at night, reciting the Wiccan reed; or it can be an image of an accused 17th century European burned at the stake. The image the word conjures depends on each individual and their society’s perspective. Among Africans there is a completely unique view of witchcraft, one that both frightens yet captivates African society. While learning about African witchcraft, certain questions have to be answered. Is Witchcraft a positive or negative phenomenon? Where does witchcraft come from? How does one become a witch? What exactly do witches do? How are witches stopped? These are complicated questions with complicated answers.

So what is the African view of Witchcraft? Is witchcraft a positive or negative phenomenon to an African? This is a tricky subject. Abraham Akrong writes that the problem with the concept of witchcraft is that in popular usage, witchcraft could be either good or evil. In talking specifically about the people of Ghana, Akrong says that witchcraft is often associated with negativity but also states there is an equally strong view that it can be used for positive action. Akrong comes to the conclusion that among the peoples of Ghana, witchcraft is a force that is neutral in nature; it is neither bad nor good but depends completely on the individual manipulating this force to his or her will.

In the work of Henrietta L. Moore and Todd Sanders, these scholars seem to agree with what Akrong says; that witchcraft can not truly be defined as good or evil in the African context, but they also point out that when witchcraft is spoken of one is usually referring to something of a “nefarious sort”.

Evans-Pritchard’s work on Witchcraft among the Azande is considered to the most important and extensive work about African Witchcraft ever. In fact Moore and Sanders refer to it as an “anthropological benchmark”.

If one was to look at Evans-Pritchard’s work to answer whether witchcraft is a positive or negative force one would find it best stated in the way he defines witchcraft. He states that witchcraft is a “supposed psychic emanation from witchcraft-substance which is believed to cause injury to health and property”.

Mbamo writes that among the Vagciriku people “The aim of this practice is harmful. There is nothing good in urodi (witchcraft). Everything about it is evil. People tend to look down on urodi.”

Yet, Mbambo and Evans-Pritchard’s work was about those individual cultures, not all of the African people. Bongmba’s writings on the concept of witchcraft power (tfu) in Cameroon states quite clearly that this power can be used in a positive or negative manner.

On the subject of mystical forces (of which Witchcraft is one type) among the Mupun people, Danfulani writes that “mystical forces are conceived according to their utility, that is whether they are seen as positive or negative agents. This duality depends on who is handling or feeling the impact of the particular magical force being manipulated”. 7 Later, Danfali writes that the Mupun consider Sot (as witchcraft is known among the Mupun) to be inherently evil.

Whatever the case, one must then come to the conclusion that the nature of whether or not witchcraft is inherently evil is one of ambiguity. It is a question in which its answer depends on where one is in Africa and the African society one is viewing the question from. To some it is a force that can be used for evil and good, for others it is plain and simply evil. One thing is clear though, no where in Africa is it something that is plain and simply good. There is always some negative aspect to witchcraft.

One then has to ask what then witchcraft is to Africans? Once again we are left with a complicated answer that depends on where in Africa one is referring to. An entire chapter in Evans-Pritchard’s book is dedicated to what witchcraft is. He states that “witchcraft is a substance in the bodies of witches…it has been described to me as an oval blackish swelling or bag in which various small objects are found.”

Evans-Pritchard goes on to describe the different theories and ideas about where exactly this substance is found in the body, but it is quite clear from these statements that to the Azande people: witchcraft is a literal physical substance that can be viewed with the five senses. Is this true among all African peoples? Bongmba stated that “People believe in good and evil spirits, and that the latter can provide people with negative power.”

Bongmba implies that witchcraft is not something that comes from within the human body, but something that comes from an external source; an evil spirit. Among the Mupun people, witchcraft is a mystical force, one of many that make up the cosmos.

One can conclude then that some Africans may see it as a physical object, a mystical force, or an evil spirit. There is no African consensus on what exactly witchcraft is.

Now one would ask how someone becomes a witch? Once again one finds that the answer depends on which African peoples one asks the question of. Among the Azande, witchcraft is passed down genetically. A witch is born a witch. A female witch passes witchcraft down to her daughters, and a male witch passes it to his sons.

This does not mean that just because one is born a witch, they will perform witchcraft. According to Evans-Pritchard, “Zande doctrine includes the notion that even if a man is the son of a witch and has witchcraft-substance in his body, he may not use it. It may remain inoperative.”

Among the peoples of Ghana, witchcraft can also be passed down genetically. Although there is no mention of a father giving witchcraft to the child; it is always the mother. Even if the mother is not a witch herself, she can contaminate her unborn child with witchcraft if she bathes in the river immediately after witches have bathed in it. But it is also said that witchcraft can be obtained through gifts or purchased from a wizard.

Among the Vagciruku, one also becomes a witch through genetics. Uniquely, the Vagciruku say one may become a witch as a “side-effect” of certain medications. In this case, it was never their intention to become a witch.

Among the Mupon, witchcraft can be obtained in seemingly the most ways. It can be inherited genetically, purchased, and can be unconsciously taken from one’s spouse if one’s spouse is a witch. In this way, it passes from one to another like a disease. One also can become a witch if one is overly greedy and selfish. Completely unique to the Mupon though is the idea that everyone has the potential to become a witch, if they want to.

The one factor that is observed in all of these cultures is that each has an understanding of witchcraft as a genetic phenomenon, something given from another family member. If one had to boil it down, one can make the generalizations that all Africans believe that witchcraft comes from within the family.

Now one has to ask what exactly witches do. How is witchcraft performed? And what do Africans mean when they speak of the harm done by witches. The harm done by witches is not a physical action. Most often Africans speak of witches leaving their bodies to perform their evil. Everything is done in the spiritual world, not the physical world. Evans-Pritchard writes that “while witchcraft itself is part of the human organism its action is psychic”.

The Azande describe a witchcraft-soul which leaves the physical body of the witch to do its harm. At night, it can be seen as a bright light. This explains how a witch can be in one place physically, while still doing harm to someone that is not near them. Not only does the witch travel in a spiritual or psychic way, all of its harm is done in the spiritual domain. The Azande believe that a witch will consume the soul of the victim’s organs, not the physical organs. Since the spiritual world and the physical world are eternally linked, the damage done to the spiritual organs of the victim will eventually show itself in the physical organs. 

Unlike the Azande, the Ghana witches travel as animals, not as lights. Albeit, in both cases the witch does not bring its physical body along for the ride. Akrong writes, “The witchcraft spirit is believed to leave the body while the witch is asleep: the operation of the witch is believed to be done in the spiritual real through the soul of the witch.”

The Vagcirku have many different ideas about how witches carry out their evil deeds. In a way, the Vagcirku seem to be the most powerful of the African witches. They have been known to employ Goblins and bewitch others to do their bidding. They may turn into animals and eat the livestock of their victims. They can call upon lightning to strike their victims. Female witches in particular seem to have incredible power over their spouses. They are able to cause their husband to not gain an erection; they may control his every move, and even make him follow his wife around wherever he goes.

Among the peoples of Botswana, witchcraft is classified into four categories. These four categories are heart, mouth, night, and day witchcraft. Heart witchcraft is when a witch is offended; he or she will remove the protection of the ancestors from their victim. This results in misfortune happening to the victim who is no longer protected from it. Mouth witchcraft is very similar to heart as in both cases the protection of the ancestors is taken from the victims, but in Mouth witchcraft the curse is spoken aloud.

Night witchcraft among the people of the Botswana is something entirely different. Night witches are usually women who come out at night and perform mischief. This includes creating zombies, making people oversleep, and sucking the milk from cows. According to Kuswani, night witchcraft is generally associated with elderly women. It seems that these night witches are in their physical bodies, unlike the witches of Ghana and the witches among the Azande. Day witches practice their witchcraft during the day and are surprisingly the most dangerous, for they are said to poison and kill their victims usually through food poisoning. It is believed that Day Witches cause alcoholics to become alcoholics.

Now that one has learned what a witch is capable of one has to ask how it can be stopped. What is the anecdote for witchcraft? Is there one? One form of eliminating witchcraft is banishment. In Ghana at least, women accused of witchcraft are banished from their homes and sent to “witch villages.” Banishment seems even more humane than the apparent cold-blooded murder of accused witches today. Akrong writes:

This has often resulted in instant cold-blood murder of the accused, usually women. Stories about witchcrafts in our newspapers abound in such types of cold-blooded murder of women accused of witchcraft. Once a witch has been identified, there is a demand for confessions. People beat and torture the accused, which sometimes results in the death of the suspected witch, with the complicity of the bystanders.

What Akrong is saying may shock and appall an outsider, especially one from a western background, but in the worldview of the African peoples, witches are very real, very evil beings that are not to be taken lightly. The logic of their worldview would allow for such a violent treatment of an accused witch.

According to Evans-Pritchard, action against witchcraft is usually not taken if the harm caused was very minor. This is best explained in the following example:

If a man is bitten by a poisonous snake he either gets well or he dies. Should he recover, no good can come of asking the oracles for the name of the witch responsible for the bite. But if a man falls and his sickness is likely to be serious and of some duration, then relatives approach the witch responsible in order to turn the scales between recovery and death.

This means that small problems are not worth asking the oracle about, but if there will be serious consequences of the witchcraft, especially when it comes to death, the identity of a witch needs to be found. Evans-Pritchard writes also that, “Most people have told me that murder alone could be punished and I have recorded no cases of witches being punished for other losses.”

What is done to eliminate witchcraft among the Azande then? Evans-Pritchard writes about a few options. The first option is a public oration where the victim declares to the village that the oracle has disclosed the name of a witch and it is asked that the witch stop what he or she is doing. The name of the witch is not told to the public. In this way, the witch is given a chance to stop performing witchcraft and not be found out about. If the witchcraft continues, the witch knows that the name will be told to the public and no witch wants to be found out.

Another option is to send a deputy with a chicken wing to the door of the witch. This deputy will inform the witch what he or she is being accused of and asked to stop. Evans -Pritchard describes the action of the accused in this way, “Almost invariably the witch replies courteous that he is unconscious of injuring any one, that if it is true that he has injured the man in question he is very sorry.”

According to Omoyajowo, certain groups have made it their mission to combat witchcraft in Africa. A group called the Bamucapi traveled around and accused peoples of witchcraft and the accused houses would be searched. The accused were forced to drink a mixture that was supposed to cleanse them of witchcraft altogether. This group also sold protective charms and powders to combat witchcraft. A similar group existed among the Yoruba after World War 2, but they were banned by the government in 1951.

It seems that there is no concrete way to eliminate witchcraft among African peoples. Some prefer banishment, public humiliation, simply asking for it to stop, and magical drinks. It depends, much like everything in African Witchcraft, on which peoples one is studying.

To conclude, many questions have now been answered about African Witchcraft. Is Witchcraft a positive or negative phenomenon? Where does witchcraft come from? How does one become a witch? What exactly do witches do? How are witches stopped? The answers to these questions depend completely on which African peoples one is asking the questions of. It is almost impossible to generalize when it comes to Africans, as they are a diverse people with diverse beliefs. One thing they have in common though is that all African societies include some belief in witchcraft.