Witchcraft
by Lucy Mair
Buy on AmazonI included this because it is an account of what anthropologists think about witchcraft, and the material is mostly African. It shows the anthropological method of comparison between societies and how complex witchcraft can be, and how amusing in some ways. For example, Lugbara witches are sometimes said to walk on their heads. In another society witches drink highly salted water, which normal digestive systems could not tolerate. In another they fly at night. Yes, that is evocative in our own mythology – when we mention this students always think broomsticks and devil worship and we have to unpack all that again. The evil that witches do is sometimes to gather together and eat the relative of one or other of the witches. They are thought to owe a debt of flesh. But this is not real killing. The relative wakes up the next morning feeling absolutely fine. It is not cannibalism, but since they have been offered and symbolically eaten, they will suffer harm. The contrast to the evil done by witches is helping your relatives and doing good. This is the highest good you can do, just as harming your relatives is the lowest evil. This book isn’t easily available but it is worth seeking out if you are interested in the complexity of witchcraft and how it fits into other aspects of life and religion. It is part of religion but can be talked about separately, a bit like Satanism – that is part of Christianity but can be talked about separately. These religions are society embedded in belief in so far as changing society means changing beliefs.