Modernity, Witchcraft and the occult in Postcolonial Africa

Henrietta Moore and Todd Sanders are the editors of “Magical Interpretations, Material Realities: Modernity, Witchcraft and the occult in Postcolonial Africa,” a collection of articles by African authors addressing witchcraft in their individual societies. Through investigative writing about numerous groups on the African continent, the authors examine the prevalence of witchcraft and superstitious beliefs from an insider’s perspective. Majority of the essays that have been consulted in the book, have demonstrated that believing in the existence of witchcraft has negatively affected development in Africa owing to the culture of fear and suspicion that these beliefs cultivate.

Evidence and Analysis

The book begins by exploring the perception of spirituality in Cameroon through the work of Francis Nyamjoh who seeks to explain how spirituality is viewed in the Cameroonian society from the inside out. Nyamjoh begins by describing how western scientific and ideological beliefs have been inculcated into the African culture and the role they have played in shaping how Africans view their traditional beliefs and practices. The author is of the opinion that most of the attitudes adopted towards African culture were guided by colonial attitudes of prejudice and stereotypes (Nyamjoh 2001, p.29). He explains that western societies and religions tends to dismiss competing systems of belief owing to the marketability of their cultures and belief patterns. It is true that many Africans tend to view their own culture through western ideological beliefs because the education and religions are modeled to represent those of Western nations.

Nyamjoh argues that the adoption of western patterns of thinking have disrupted academic understanding of African culture and beliefs from an African perspective. He explains that the only way that African studies can progress is through the re-integration some of the beliefs and practices of spirituality. Through the practice of these forms of spirituality by scholars, can a genuinely African view be formed. In his opinion, Njamoh explains that the western understanding of African culture is insensitive and with the knowledge obtained being directed at convergence with western beliefs and cultures. This observation by the author holds true in that African cultures have been understood from a position of contempt with the ultimate aim being convergence with western beliefs and cultures. The assumption being that Africans should integrate western beliefs and institutions without considering the feasibility of such a convergence.

Njahmoh explains that in the western understanding the world is regarded as being dichotomous in that, it is made up of two distinct parts; what is considered as being real and the unreal. In this understanding, the real is considered as what can be explained rationally with the unreal being that which cannot be explained using a rational explanation (Nyamjoh 2001, p.29). However, African societies do not subscribe to a similar dichotomy. In the African perspective, there is no difference between the real and the unreal because the two have been combined into one, where either cannot exist alone. Njahmoh argues that one cannot claim to understand the visible if the invisible is yet to be understood, which observes the African belief in simultaneous multiplicities. The universe should, therefore, not be viewed as being made up of two incompatible parts but should be viewed as two separate entities that have been united to form one. The author is suggesting that belief in the spiritual realm in the western understanding may be considered as witchcraft but in the African way of life the real and the unreal are interconnected, and one cannot exist without the other. To understand witchcraft from the African perspective, one must view it as not just an explanation of the irrational but also the rational.

However, in Malawi where the majority of the people prescribe to Pentecostalism the topic of witchcraft attracts skeptics and laughter. Rijk Van Dijk explores how witchcraft interacts with the Pentecostal Christian beliefs in urban Malawi. The author follows a Pentecostal preacher called Peter from Chilomoni and how his peaching movement demonstrated how the people viewed witchcraft (Van Dijk 2001, p.105). After failing to obtain good grades in school, Peter began claiming he had developed special spiritual powers of healing that could also enable him to identify witchcraft. He began crusades in his hometown of Mulunguzi, after getting a support group he managed to expand and hold crusades in other areas of Blantyre. Peter would showcase his abilities by looking for charms referred to as zitumwa which was believed to give incredible powers albeit at a cost. In Mlunguzi he carried out these exercises to rid people`s homes of magical charms (Van Dijk 2001, p.105).

However, over time some people felt bothered by these witch-hunting activities and moved to other areas. To those that remained, Peter`s activities were a form of entertainment and not a serious concern. The visions that Peter would have regarding evil caused by witchcraft were not taken seriously. Instead, they entertained people with no one taking heed of the warnings. This can be because a majority of the people lived in urban centers and were Pentecostal Christians who did not believe in the existence of witchcraft.

The author has managed to show how traditional beliefs in the power of witchcraft and religion interact with each other. Van Dijk demonstrates that Christian beliefs prevent African communities in urban areas from believing in witchcraft. The anchoring of the community in Pentecostal Christian faith prevented the members from turning against each other when one of them was being accused of using charms or witchcraft. The author also debunks the myth on the existence of witchcraft by painting Peter as a failure who has found redemption in spreading falsehoods and pretension of having special abilities.

Moore and Sanders have included the work of Jane Parish who was researching the belief and practice of witchcraft among the Akan people. In her book, Parish explores how traditional beliefs in witchcraft are viewed in a society that is steadily embracing modernity such as formal education. The author concentrates on how inequality in the Akan society has led to the division of their society in two; those that believe in superstitions and those that do not. Those who do not agree on the power of superstition are young men who have obtained a formal education. These educated individuals have been bestowed political power which is a requirement by their sponsors who aim for educated people to form the aristocracy in their society (Parish 2001, p.122) However, this status only ensures respect in the society though there no economic benefits their uneducated peers thus earn more than them. The educated young people, in turn, feel that their peers are engaging in witchcraft to accumulate wealth. As a result, the aristocracy is disdainful of the shrines in their societies which they view as money-making ventures that are run by swindlers who take advantage of unsuspecting people. The young aristocrats argue that they cannot visit these shrines because their Christian faith does not allow them. Such sentiments have led many in the aristocracy to blame ancestral shrines for economic and social injustices whereby they are seen as aiding evil people such as thieves to succeed.

In the Akan society, witchcraft is seen mainly as a product of greed and jealousy which the people believe is part of the colonial legacy. Colonialism brought about capitalistic natures in people who seek to accumulate resources for their personal use as opposed to the communal nature of wealth that previously existed (Parish 2001, p.124). Those who believe in traditional African worship argue that presently it is the greed that occasioned by wealth accumulation which has led to the misuse of the traditional shrines.

These shrines in the past would be used solely for positive purposes such as healing and spreading positive values in the society. Presently many seek them for talismans that will aid in the accumulation of wealth. Young men in urban areas have also turned to charms to increase their business opportunities and help them find partners. These young men are concerned with making money and have admitted to coming up with schemes that involve the sale of fake charms to unsuspecting tourists (Parish 2001, p.125). As the young men came to find out, white tourists did not like the fetishes because of the poor craftsmanship with which they were made with, preferring to visit the artisanal shops. However, African American tourist readily bought the amulets maybe because they still revered the practice.

Jane Parish discovered African witchcraft amongst the Akan people of Ghana is seen as an avenue of making money by those that believe in the traditions as well as those who do not. For those who believe in witchcraft, they consult witch doctors to give them talismans which can protect them from harm and boost their success. Spiritualism in the Akan is portrayed as having changed from the traditional values offering relief from disease and is instead viewed as a means of obtaining wealth among the Akan people.

For the Tuareg of Niger, superstitions play a central role in the society and guide the members in everything that they do. In her book, Susan Rasmussen explores how the belief in the supernatural controls all aspects of life and how these ideas affect their interaction with the world at large. The Tuareg people are strict adherents of their culture and as a result they reject any outside influence in the community. This has seen the community decline food and technical aid from the central government and aid agencies (Rasmussen 2001, p.151). An example of this was the opposition by the community to the installation of rain gauges which they insisted were the reason the region received low rainfall. The author is of the opinion that this resistance by the community was occasioned by the fear that their political systems were being threatened by the aid agency.

They might have interpreted the installation of rain gauges as an attempt by the aid agency to influence the members of the community to adopt western ways of life. In the Tuareg community, it is the Marabouts who ensure that the community strictly adheres to their traditional beliefs and religion. The traditional role of the Marabouts was rainmaking and could have seen the installation of the rain gauges as a direct challenge to their power which may have occasioned them to blame inadequate rainfall on them (Rasmussen 2001, p.151). Not only have the Marabouts opposed scientific projects they have also sought to assert their dominance in religion by refusing to celebrate Biannu as instructed by the central government. The author depicts the strict adherence to religious and traditional beliefs as a hindrance to the attainment of development.

Moore and Sanders have also looked at how witchcraft has evolved in South Africa since the country attained independence. Even though South Africa is one of the most developed nations on the African continent, there is a widespread belief in the supernatural. As a result of this belief, there are numerous cases of witches getting lynched by angry mobs who accuse them of committing evil. In his book, Izsak Niehaus explained that even the judiciary acknowledges that witchcraft does exist by giving more lenient sentences to individuals who plead guilty to killing witches (Niehaus 2001, p.189). The judges usually consider that as an extenuating circumstance. In one case, four individuals were sentenced to five years instead of life imprisonment because they confessed they murdered because they thought the individual was a witch.

The history of belief in witchcraft in South Africa began after the country obtained independence where various African scholars pushed for laws that punish the practice of witchcraft. This increased hysteria in the country with many believing that witchcraft does exist. Traditional healers were then used to look for witches who would be burned or killed by groups of young men (Niehaus 2001, p.189). Over the years, commissions have been set up to investigate witchcraft and come up with solutions on how this problem can be eradicated with the main solution being community education.

The belief in witchcraft has brought about a vicious cycle of violence which no one is safe from as Adam Ashforth reports. In Soweto, the author found out that jealousy was considered as the main reason one would consult a witch to commit an evil deed with women being thought of as most likely to engage in such practices (Ashforth, 2001.189). Therefore, in most cases involving the killing of witches, it is mostly women who are targeted. This has created an environment of fear in Soweto whereby, people are afraid of being bewitched and at the same time being thought of being witches.

According to the work of Fisiy and Geschiere, a similar situation is being witnessed in Cameroon. The authors set out to gather firsthand data on witchcraft and the effects it had on the community as well as solutions of combatting the vice. During the colonial period, witchcraft in Cameroon was regarded as a scientific discovery whose importance in the community would diminish. However, this would come to be regarded as the leading challenge to modern Cameroon. The end of the colonial period saw many citizens demanding that laws be enacted to protect the people from witchcraft. Though this was done in good faith, it turned out to be a wrong move since courts became filled with cases in which people were accused of being witches but it could not be verified in the courts (Fisiy and Geschiere 2001, p. 189). Thus an environment of fear and suspicion was cultivated where accusations of witchcraft were commonplace, especially during the cocoa and coffee crisis of the 1980s. The author explains that the idea of witchcraft is mainly ambiguous with no clear characteristics for the vice and is mainly dependent on mere suspicions. Witchcraft is not the hindrance to development rather it is the paranoia that has been cultivated by the citizens which prevent them from fully utilizing their potential.

Conclusion

“Magical Interpretations, Material Realities: Modernity, Witchcraft and the occult in Postcolonial Africa” edited by Henrietta Moore and Todd Sanders provides an insight into the belief and practice of witchcraft from an African perspective. This book seeks to demystify the myth that the practice of witchcraft is what is undermining development in Africa and prove that it is the belief in the existence of witchcraft which is hindering meaningful development from taking place. The book has managed to offer a new and informative perspective into the ideas and the effects of witchcraft on the African continent.

Reference

Moore, H.L. and Sanders, T. eds., 2003. Magical Interpretations, Material Realities: modernity, witchcraft and the occult in postcolonial Africa. Routledge.