Full Description
A renowned authority on East Africa examines the effects of witchcraft beliefs on African culture, politics, and family life.
Encounters with Witchcraft is a personal story of a young man's fascination with African witchcraft discovered first in a trek across East Africa and the Congo. The story unfolds over four decades during the author's long residence in and many trips to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. As a field researcher he learns from villagers what it is like to live with witches, and how witches are seen through African eyes. His teachers are healers, cult leaders, witch-hunters and self-proclaimed "witches" as well as policemen, politicians and judges.
A key figure is Mohammadi Lupanda, a frail village woman whose only child has died years before. In her dreams, however, she believes the little girl is not dead, but only lost in the fields. Mohammadi is discovered wandering at night, wailing and calling out for the child. Her neighbors are terror-stricken and she is quickly brought to a village trial and banished as a witch. The author is able to watch and listen to the proceedings and later investigate the deeper story. He discovers mysteries about Mohammadi that are only solved when he returns to the village three decades later.
Today, witch-hunting and witchcraft-related crimes are found in more than seventy developing countries. Epidemics of violence against alleged witches, mainly women, but including elders of both genders, and even children is on the increase in some parts of the world. Witchcraft beliefs may lie behind vigilante murders, political assassinations, revenge killings and commercial murders for human body parts.
Through African voices the author addresses key questions. Do witchcraft powers exist? Why does witchcraft persist? What are its historic roots? Why is witchcraft-based violence so often found within families? Does witchcraft serve as a hidden legal and political system, a mafia-like under-government? The author holds up a mirror for us to think about religious beliefs in our own experience that rely heavily on myth and superstition.
Contents
Prologue: First Encounter
1. The Colonial Days
An Archeologist's View of Witchcraft
Ancient Spirit Painting
Lion-men and Colonial Witch Trials
Angry Man with a Cross-bow
Witchcraft and the Congo Pygmies
Crocodile Bile and the Poison Principle
2. Living with Witches
The Witchcraft Trial of Mohammadi
The Woman Who Poisoned a Chief
Witchcraft Symbols in Western Tanzania
Reflections on Mohammadi
3. Through African Eyes: The Arts
The Gift of an Execution Mask
Seeing Witchcraft Images in Nature
The Witch's Toolkit: Implements and Artifacts
Guns, Throwing Knives and Power Symbols
Spirit Art and the Ideas of an African Chief
4. Witch-Hunters and Witch-Cleansers
Secrets of a Professional Witch Hunter
Using Witch Hunters for Political Coercion
A Famous Witch-Cleanser in Malawi
Faith Healers, Snake Handlers, Herbalists
Kajiwe (Little Stone), Kenyan Witch-Hunter
5. Witchcraft and Violence
Meeting Idi Amin in Uganda
State-Sponsored Terror with Witchcraft
Skin Gangs and Secret Societies
On Trial: Witchcraft Court Cases
A Rough Map of Witchcraft in Eastern Africa
6. The Spirit Wars
How Prophet Movements Use Witchcraft
Healing the Sick by the Sea
"Evil Eye" Among Desert People
Witchcraft violence in an African Christian Church
Missionary Zeal: African Spirits versus Christian Spirits
7. Witchcraft and Juju Economics
Smuggling of Witchcraft Poisons and Products
Long Distance Trade in Protective Medicines
The Healer's Trade: Witchcraft as a Diagnosis
Commercialization and Urbanization of Witchcraft
Spirit Art, Devil Art and Modern Art for Profit
Witch Beliefs as Barriers to Economic Development
8. Political Witchcraft
Witchcraft Threats and Mafia-Like Politics
The Tanzanian Holocaust: The Sungusungu Killings
Meeting Kenya's President Moi
Devil Cults in Nairobi: Alleged Satanic Practices
The Use of Witchcraft in Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army
Rebellion in Kenya: The Rise of Mungiki
9. Lessons Learned
"Look, There is No 'Paranormal'"
Lessons from a Little Boy
How Witchcraft Really Works: An African View
Death by Suggestion: A Final Confession
Killing Elders as Witches, the Rise of Senecide
10. Mohammadi's Shadow
Return to my Village
Dramatic Changes Over the Years
Why Witches are Never Mentioned
The Truth About Mohammadi's Life
The Mystery Resolved
Epilogue: The Future of Witchcraft
Further Reading and Bibliography
Acknowledgments and Credits
Index
