A reoccurring discussion in the realm of medical anthropology is the overall relation witchcraft has to illness and how modern biomedical understanding differs from the “primitive” idea of misfortune. Consequently, these discussions have led to vigorous debate regarding global perception of misfortune and how we determine cause of illness among different societies. Taking all elements into account, one could argue that there are certain aspects biomedicine can benefit from when studying the complexity of witchcraft in indigenous societies as it can open new doors in the sector of interpretation of unfortunate events, illness perception and understanding of traditional beliefs.
To introduce my argument, I would like to begin with an illustration
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Evans-Pritchard and his classic work, “The Notion of Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events.” In this text, Evans-Pritchard discusses the Zande community in Africa, whose way of life in many aspects is affected by witchcraft. As he states witchcraft “…plays its part in every activity of Zande life; in agricultural, fishing, and hunting pursuits; in domestic life of homesteads as well as in communal life of district court” (Pritchard, 1937). Here, he examines multiple ethnographic examples within the community and how witchcraft plays an important role in their concept not only of illness, but also misfortune within the society. One example involves a young boy who had injured his foot while traveling on a path. The boy bumped his foot on the root of a tree and explains how witchcraft was the offender in this situation therefore serving as the main cause for his injury. Evans-Pritchard clarifies how he disagreed with the boy and mentioned his carelessness as being the ultimate cause of the accident but the boy responds by explaining “that witchcraft had nothing to do with the stump of wood being in his path but added that he kept his eyes open for stumps, as indeed every Zande does most carefully, and that if he had not been bewitched he would have seen the stump” (Pritchard, 1937). Here, we see how the Zande perception of witchcraft is not necessarily related to the cause for the mishap, rather it is why the mishap occurs and the circumstances, which enable misfortune to take place. (Pritchard,
The medical field in relation to varied cultural beliefs and traditions is something that is important to many, yet rarely talked about by almost all individuals. In other words, the cultural clashes created in medicalization is under looked by a multitude individuals. This is because many do not experience the hardships first hand. For that reason, the thought of difficulties within treatments of health issues or illnesses does not cross some individual’s minds. Nonetheless, each group of people is unique, in addition to, how they perceive the medical world.
Characters who confess and name other “witches” are viewed as glorious people who ultimately choose God over the Devil, giving them power over others in the village. In contrast, characters who deny witchcraft claims are disgraced. Accused witches who do not confess are convicted and executed
Acknowledging that most women in the witch trials were falsely accused of using magic to harm others, many feared for their lives as punishment would mostly lead to death. Governed cases favoured this issue through committing to personal interest instead of evaluating the individuals benefit. Optimizing the feeling of helplessness most victims were committed to pursue the witch trails given in order to confess. Following through one of the dialogues, we can determine that in Tituba’s case the responsiveness of the trail moreover shows the commitment of deny as for being the first accused woman to confess to witchcraft. Being the primitive confession, we can make assumptions that the court carried out an underlying statement hindering the emotional state of the person being implicated.
This started a chain reaction, and many more people in the village became “afflicted,” and accused many others in the village of witchcraft. The question is why? A possible theory into why so many people decided to begin accusing their neighbors of witchcraft was due to a claustrophobic community lifestyle. People lived in a small, face-to-face society where they could not easily move away from neighbors with whom they found themselves in competition, or whom they disliked, and who became natural scapegoats for violent emotions that could not be expressed within the close family circle for fear of damaging it.
Accused and Betrayed Throughout the late 1600’s women had been accused of being a part of witchcraft. In this time women went through many disgusting torture treatments and got charged with many different things. When a women had been accused she would be “treated” with many different types of torture until they had died or had admitted to doing witchcraft. Some of the tortures were called: “The Garotte”,” Dunking the Witch”, and “The Boots”.
Through discrimination, the girls and other villagers were accused of being a witch while they were all totally innocent. This shows how discriminating the potential witches are similar to the discrimination of the Muslims during and after the September Eleventh
The protestant boy claims he feared hell and the Devil. The pictures of the devil carrying the witch to hell and the witches on their knees kissing the anus of the devil are great representations as to the mindset that the word “witch” creates in the minds of
In his book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702),” clergyman John Hale comes forth to confront the recent events going on at the time. Initially, Hale alludes to the questionable actions and activities of the townspeople being accused of witchcrafts, and being imprisoned as punishment. In addition, he discloses how everyone suspicious will be accused, not even young children are safe from the hands of this fate. Hale’s purpose of publishing this book was to describe the incident of the Witch Trials, and to reveal his experience of the trials, since his own wife was accused. By employing a didactic tone, Hale relays the actions of the past that targeted the Puritans and those wrongly accused of witchcrafts, so this occurrence
During this apparent incident a man named Cotton Mather wrote and published a book about an incident of witchcraft. This made the people think that Betty Parris was a witch. After other local girls developed similar symptoms, they called a doctor. After the doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with them and said that their problems may have a ‘supernatural origin’ more people started believing that they were
"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.
Ranging from the south Alleghenies mountain range all the way down to the south of Georgia and far west of Alabama, lived the Cherokee Indians. They were a powerful detached tribe of the Iroquoian family and were commonly called Tsaragi which translates into "cave people. " This tribe was very prominent in what is now called the U.S, but over time has been split up or run out of their land because of social or political encounters with the new settlers from Europe. Despite the dispersion or the split amongst this tribe, they still obtained their core religious beliefs, practices and ceremonies. Their detailed belief system, fundamental beliefs, significant meanings, and their connection to song and dance make up their religious system.
Within weeks, after days of hysteria in court, dozens are convicted of being witches. In late August, 19 people accused of witchcraft have been executed, even after new evidence would prove their innocence. Accusations of witchcraft run wild as citizens betray
"In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is, ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be a witness to it? The witch and the victim.
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.