Using Supernatural Powers
Practitioners of African religions believe that some people have the ability to manipulate the supernatural for their own ends. Western scholars have traditionally used the term witchcraft to explain the use of supernatural powers to cause illness or other misfortune.
(It is important to note that in other religions, such as Wicca, the term witchcraft does not have negative connotations. For more on Wicca, see Chapter 14.) In African languages, many different terms are used to denote witchcraft, although the idea that one can use supernatural powers to cause harm is fairly widespread. Often, witchcraft pervades everyday life and is understood as a normal part of existence. However, the use of witchcraft is not always thought to be intentional. In fact, in some cultures, people may be “witches” without even knowing it. As a result, they may cause harm to others unintentionally.How do people communicate with gods and spirits in other religious traditions? Are practices similar across religions or different?
One of the most well-known examples of witchcraft is from the Azande, who live in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. The Azande believe that witchcraft is a physical substance that is present in some people’s bodies. Evans-Pritchard, who conducted research among the Azande in the 1930s, showed that witchcraft beliefs were part of the Azande theory of causation. Witchcraft is a way of explaining why certain things happen to certain people. For example, if a man happened to be killed because he was sitting under a granary when it collapsed, the Azande would attribute this to witchcraft. Even if the granaiy collapsed because termites had destroyed the supporting wooden posts, the question of why it collapsed when a particular individual was sitting underneath it remained. The Azande would argue that this was an instance of witchcraft: the termites explained how it collapsed, but this explanation did not answer the question of why it collapsed when it did and killed the man sitting under it.
Only witchcraft could answer the “why” question.-7Sometimes, people use supernatural powers or call on supernatural beings to facilitate healing. Healers may use special divination methods to determine what has caused an illness. Although illness might be attributed to biomedical causes, a healer normally looks for an ultimate cause, which might be witchcraft or the malicious actions of spirits. Then the healer can take special ritual action to try to cure it. A cure may involve repairing damaged social relationships that have caused jealousy. Or a cure may involve a sacrifice to appease an angry spirit that caused the illness. Among the Ndembu of Zambia, some illnesses are believed to be caused by a particular spirit that is attracted to social conflicts. The spirit eats at the flesh of quarreling people with a sharp “tooth.” To get rid of the spirit, Ndembu religious priests encourage the afflicted people to air their grievances against one another. During this discussion, the priest will use a special cup to extract the “tooth” that has been causing the illness.—