The text ‘Witchcraft oracles, and magic among the Azande’ written by E.E. Evans-Pritchard in 1976, deeply explores the relationships and correlation within primitive society as well as the meanings primitive individuals give to rituals, as a means of understanding how different people in different societies in our world works and operates. Evans-Pritchard saw these relations as emerging from collective representations as a means of classifying and representing the world we live in. The term ‘Azande’ refers to a culturally diverse group of people, who have been brought and united together under the political and government organisations of a number of distinct kingdoms over the past two hundred years. E.E. Evans-Pritchard (1976, p.19) explains …show more content…
It is something that is inherited, usually passed from father to son and mother to daughter. Azande believe that if the soul of the father is more powerful, the child being conceived will most likely be a boy; if the mother’s soul substance is greater, their child will therefore, be a girl. So, although every child is a product of both parents, each also has more of one particular gens and parent’s soul. And moreover, if that parent is a witch, inheriting this inherent power to do harm is inevitable. And so, Evan-Pritchard mentioned, because this property is organic, it grows as a person grows. Therefore an older witch is a more dangerous witch than a younger witch. Children in the Zande society, whose witchcraft substance is small, are never accused of major acts of harm such as murder. They can, however, have the power to cause minor misfortunes for other …show more content…
Similar to religions in our society, witchcraft provides solace for the Azande people. For example, it provides them with a definite and clear reason to explain sorrowful events such as death or other misfortunes and other tragedy. This can be followed by the famous Marx quote: ‘religion is the opiate of the masse’. For the Azande society and culture, witchcraft helps dull the painful and sorrowful emotions following misfortunes and also serving as a control on the Azande people - it helps them to discipline them by providing them with a socially-accepted avenue to channel their negative thoughts and
They offer an explanation when presented with the death of a young adult, or when someone who seems to be of relatively good health becomes ill (Barker 2008:129). For example, the death of a young woman named Mona was blamed on sorcery in order to provide an explanation to the villagers since there were given no medical reason (Barker 2008:125). Barker concluded that although Christianity does not believe in sorcery, and both methods of understanding have different views, they can and do coexist in harmony within the Maisin people (Barker 2008:134). Hedican’s textbook “Social Anthropology” discusses the coexistence of Christianity and traditional beliefs among the Mi’Kmaq.
At some point during the 15th century, Witchcraft was a normal part of everyday life. Witches accompanied religious ministers to help the ill or to deliver a baby. They were regarded as having spiritual power in their communities. When something went wrong, no one questioned the ministers or the power of the witchcraft. Instead, they questioned whether the witch intended to inflict harm or not.
Add to that the stress and insecurity of being brought up in an unstable home, which only makes them more expedient to blame. Unnecessary death due to faulty witch accusations also happens when social misfits are targeted. This problem is extremely prevalent in Ghana, where “outspoken or eccentric women... accused of witchcraft... [are] forced to live out their days together in witch camps” (Whitaker 1). Women like this often do not have family and friends
In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, passions turned into problems. Witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts became a remembered event since 1692. Three girls were said to have interactions with the devil. When they were confronted about it they denied every interaction the people who were convicted they would say they weren’t a witch and would bring someone else’s name into the equation. Those who would admit to being a witch would go to jail, but for those who denied having interaction with the devil would have been trialed and hung, so really, anyway you put it
This violence began because of the religion in the villages allowing people to blame any negative event or problem on witchcraft, and children were the easiest to accuse. The defenseless children could not fight back or stop the abuse that happened to them. Fake pastors would profit from this torture by offering illegitimate services such as exorcisms to dispel the Devil from children. Parent’s would also use witchcraft as an excuse to stop caring for their children if they were struggling financially. No real proof was ever given for these accusations, if something bad happened it could easily be pinned on a child.
Alexia Mendez Ms. O’Brien AP Euro 1 November 2017 Witchcraft DBQ Starting in the fifthteenth century, a witchcraft craze occurred. People, left and right, mostly women, were being accused of being a witch. These people, innocent or not, once accused were put into prisons where they were questioned and tortured until they would confess being a witch.
"The story of witchcraft is primarily the story of women . . . ." Karlsen argues for the relevance and importance of women’s roles in the panic of witchcraft fear in 17th Century American society. She subtly contests that specific interests were at work in the shaping of witchcraft accusations; book elaborates that a specific type of woman risked accusation based on her demographic representation in society. Karlsen further elaborates on her theme with,
These views, in and of themselves, speak to the level of intolerance permeating America and to the level of fear associated with witchcraft. The Religious intolerance and fear experienced in English North America was not a sole construct of Puritanism in New England. These ideas permeated Southwards throughout the length of the thirteen English colonies. Oftentimes, the fear of witchcraft led to colonial governments establishing capital laws against any person entering into communion with Satan.
Many traditional Cherokees believe that after one dies, his or her soul often continues to live on as a ghost (Cherokee Indian Religion). They are supposed to have the ability to materialize where some but not all can see them. More fundamental beliefs that they follow is that good is rewarded, and evil is punished, and witchcraft among the Cherokee does not resemble that of non-Indian cultures (Cherokee Indian Religion). Even though they follow a strict belief system and everything had a purpose and was thought out, there are times when punishments cannot be explained. When someone does something right, it is rewarded either by being ranked higher or having individual honors or privileges within the society.
In the article, Morgan defines witchcraft as “an ancient and in some societies a relatively respectable profession. ”(Morgan, 47) The meaning of it seems as if witchcraft is not a threat to everybody and that there was more to being a witch. There were two different witchcraft that the witches did. One of them was benign witchcraft while the other one was malign witchcraft.
Those who practice use an important tool, magic, “not black magic, but the magic of healing and making whole” (Wicca, Chambers
The practice of witchcraft was the hidden secret that surrounded the girls which later came back to disrupt the people. Religion practice was something huge to be followed and the witchcraft trials did not align with that, this lead to the people's name to be something so important to them. Those who did not follow the ten commandments were killed giving the girls practice, they committed the wrongs but start to put
After reading “Devil in the Shape of a Woman: The Economic Basis of Witchcraft “by Carol Karlsen I was intrigued by Karlsen’s interpretation, and upset about the ways women were treated. During these witch hunts women and men alike were accused of the crime, but the majority were women. I found it interesting that she related the commonly known Puritan beliefs, which lead to accusations of witchcraft, with gender roles. She ultimately says that Puritans feared these accused women because they symbolized female independence. I found it shocking that women, often the wealthier, had a greater chance of being let go of their accusations if they had a husband to spoke on their behalf.
Through partaking in interaction rituals, individuals become members of something greater than themselves. This feeling of being apart of something greater than oneself provides a moral community for the individuals, which then guides individuals in their beliefs and behaviors. It is similar to a never-ending circle; as individuals see the emotionally charged environment that this religion provides, they want to be a part of it, so they partake in unusual rituals, which furthers their engagement and emotional connectedness to their community. It almost reminds me a bit of an addiction. This community turns objects, such as poison and snakes as sacred, which in turn creates a sacred and profane world.
So what this entails is: you either tell the truth and deny that you have anything to do with witchcraft and be hung or tell a lie, which is a sin, and go to jail for an extended period of time. Those accused of witchcraft are put in front of those who have accused them and the judges and do not get to plead a case. But this was not a big problem before a group of girls started to tell