Download or read book Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa written by John Middleton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Containing ten essays by anthropologists on the beliefs and practices associated with witches and sorcerers in Eastern Africa, the chapters in this book are all based on field research and new information which is studied within its wider social context. First published in 1963.
Download or read book Witchcraft Sorcery and Magic in Africa written by Daniel A. Offiong and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Witchcraft Magic and Divination written by Patrick Mbunwe-Samba and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2012 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is largely the personal account by Patrick Mbunwe Samba, of how life in his home village of Binshua has been permeated throughout by belief in witchcraft. The book not only provides a historical account informed by his reminiscences of his childhood, it shows as well that even today, belief in witchcraft is very widespread. Witchcraft exerts a profound influence on society in Binshua and in Cameroon in general. The book also provides accounts of the experiences of others, some of them very recent, and gives examples of what injustices and suffering can be caused by the notion that any misfortune must have been caused by witchcraft. For the overwhelming majority of people in village communities such as Binshua, Samba argues, anything not immediately understandable is witchcraft - which is synonymous with mystery. Many educated Africans, too, revert to such traditional attitudes in stressful situations. It may be thought surprising that in spite of the impact of Christianity, Western culture and the improved level of education, the majority of people still believe in witchcraft, and that this phenomenon not only persists but is actually increasing. The book perplexes and challenges by avoiding to provide simple answers to the question whether which witchcraft is real or imagined.
Download or read book Witchcraft Sorcery and Social Categories Among the Safwa written by Alan Harwood and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-08-16 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1970, this book explores the role of concepts of disease in the social life of the Safwa of Tanzania, particularly through beliefs concerning witchcraft and sorcery. Examining Safwa ideas about the cuasation of disease and death and the use of aetiological terms in actual cases, it demonstrates a parallel between these ideas and terms, on the one hand and the Safwa system of social categories on the other. A descrption of the Safwa environment, way of life and social system is followed by an account of the concepts of death and disease and of their causes as revealed in ancestor rites, divination and autopsy. An analysis of case histories demonstrates that the cause assigned to a particular instance of illness or death depends upon the status relationship between discputing parties who are associated with the patient. The way in which the parallel between aetiological and social categoeis helps to control the outcome of disputes is also examined.
Download or read book Witchcraft and Sorcery in Rhodesia written by J. R. Crawford and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-08-16 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1967, this book is a study of witchcraft and sorcery among the Shona, Ndebele and Kalanga peoples of Zimbabwe. It analyses in their social context verbatim evidence and confessions from a comprehensive series of judicial records. It provides the first systematic demonstration of the importance and the exstent to which such sources can be used to make a detailed analysis of the character and range of beliefs and motives. The main emphasis is on witchcraft and sorcery beliefs, the nature of accusations, confessions and divination, btoh traditional and as practised by members of the Pentecostal Church.
Download or read book The Power of the Occult in Modern Africa written by James Kiernan and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2006 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The occult is a framework of ideas and related practices that is drawn upon as a common resource to provide an understanding of how an apparently random world 'really' works. Based mainly on experiential research in a range of African societies, the essays in this volume examine the relevance of the occult to a variety of social concepts and contexts. These studies stress three features of the occult in modern Africa: 1) as an explanatory and tactical device, it is resilient; 2) it is malleable, with a capacity to absorb and assimilate new elements; 3) it is flexible and adaptable to emerging situations and novel circumstances. Of interest to specialists in the fields of religion, social science and African studies, this book will benefit the general reader interested in the occult and its relevance to modernity and globalisation.
Download or read book Witchcraft Sorcery Magic and Social Order Among the Ibibio of Nigeria written by Daniel A. Offiong and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa written by John Beattie and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Studies in Witchcraft Magic War and Peace in Africa written by Beatrice Nicolini and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays offers opportunities towards a better understanding of African societies and their historical role in numerous political and military conflicts, and also within peace-building processes. This book broadens the focus from invocations of the supernatural in military and political mobilizations to rituals of healing in post-conflict societies.
Download or read book Magical Interpretations Material Realities written by Henrietta L. Moore and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Magical Interpretations, Material Realities brings together many of today's best scholars of contemporary Africa. The theme of "witchcraft" has long been associated with exoticizing portraits of a "traditional" Africa, but this volume takes the question of occult as a point of entry into the moral politics of some very modern African realities.' - James Ferguson, University of California, USA 'These essays bear eloquent testimony to the ongoing presence and power of the occult imaginary, and of the intimate connection between global capitalism and local cosmology, in postcolonial Africa. A major contribution to scholarship that aims to rework the divide between modernity and tradition.' - Charles Piot, Duke University, USA This volume sets out recent thinking on witchcraft in Africa, paying particular attention to variations in meanings and practices. It examines the way different people in different contexts are making sense of what 'witchcraft' is and what it might mean. Using recent ethnographic materials from across the continent, the volume explores how witchcraft articulates with particular modern settings for example: the State in Cameroon; Pentecostalism in Malawi; the university system in Nigeria and the IMF in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. The editors provide a timely overview and reconsideration of long-standing anthropological debates about 'African witchcraft', while simultaneously raising broader concerns about the theories of the western social sciences.
Download or read book African Magic written by Heidi Holland and published by Penguin Books (South Africa). This book was released on 2001 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on a number of true stories, Heidi Holland explains why many Africans understand the relationship between people and unfortunate events through belief in witchcraft.
Download or read book Witchcraft Sorcery and Spirit Possession written by Leny Lagerwerf and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Witchcraft Sorcery and Divination in Sub Saharan Africa written by Wendy Elizabeth Field and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Murder for Magic written by Alastair Scobie and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sorcery in the Black Atlantic written by Luis Nicolau Parés and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-01-15 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most scholarship on sorcery and witchcraft has narrowly focused on specific times and places, particularly early modern Europe and twentieth-century Africa. And much of that research interprets sorcery as merely a remnant of premodern traditions. Boldly challenging these views, Sorcery in the Black Atlantic takes a longer historical and broader geographical perspective, contending that sorcery is best understood as an Atlantic phenomenon that has significant connections to modernity and globalization. A distinguished group of contributors here examine sorcery in Brazil, Cuba, South Africa, Cameroon, and Angola. Their insightful essays reveal the way practices and accusations of witchcraft spread throughout the Atlantic world from the age of discovery up to the present, creating an indelible link between sorcery and the rise of global capitalism. Shedding new light on a topic of perennial interest, Sorcery in the Black Atlantic will be provocative, compelling reading for historians and anthropologists working in this growing field.
Download or read book African Science written by Douglas J. Falen and published by University of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 2018-11-27 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this sensitive and personal investigation into Benin's occult world, Douglas J. Falen wrestles with the challenges of encountering a reality in which magic, science, and the Vodun religion converge into a single universal force. He takes seriously his Beninese interlocutors' insistence that the indigenous phenomenon known as àze ("witchcraft") is an African science, credited with fantastic and productive deeds, such as teleportation and supernatural healing. Although the Beninese understanding of àze reflects positive scientific properties in its use of specialized knowledge to harness nature's energy and realize economic success, its boundless power is inherently ambivalent because it can corrupt its users, who dispense death and destruction. Witches and healers are equivalent to supervillains and superheroes, locked in epic battles over malevolent and benevolent human desires. Beninese people's discourse about such mystical confrontations expresses a philosophy of moral duality and cosmic balance. Falen demonstrates how a deep engagement with another lived reality opens our minds and contributes to understanding across cultural difference.
Download or read book Witchcraft in Post colonial Africa written by Khaukanani Mavhungu and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2012-10-10 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a comparative ethnographic study of witchcraft and associated violence between the kingdoms of Kom and Venda in Cameroon and South Africa respectively. The book shows why despite its prevalence in both societies, witchcraft does not lead to open violence in Kom, while such large-scale violence is commonplace in Venda. It reveals that this difference can be explained by factors such as the variations in local ideas on witches, differences in the role of traditional authorities, and various state interventions on witchcraft matters. The book demonstrates, through a rich collection of detailed cases, that contrary to anthropological theory that views witchcraft as a mechanism for the expression and resolution of social tensions and conflicts, witchcraft may at times become a disturbance of amicable social relations. Witchcraft accusations may occur in a context where strained social relations have not preceded them. The knowledge and experience that people have about witchcraft is sufficient to trigger an accusation and a violent reaction. Different forms of witchcraft account for variations in witchcraft attributions and accusations. This comparison provides a valuable contribution to ongoing witchcraft policy discourse amid widespread citizen anxiety over witchcraft, and the increasing call on the post-colonial state to intervene and protect its citizens against occult aggression.
