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International African Institute

WitchcraftAuthor(s): E. E. Evans-PritchardSource: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Oct., 1935), pp.417-422Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute

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AFRCJOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTEOF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURESVOLUME VIII OCTOBER 1935 NUMBER 4

WITCHCRAFTE. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD

T HERE arefew, if any,African ocietieswhich do not believe nwitchcraftof one type or another. These types can be classifiedand their areasof distributionmarkedout. Thus we have the ' evileye' type, the likunduype, and the kindokiype, and doubtlessothervariationscould be distinguished. But though somenotion which wecan describeas a belief in witchcraft s found in maybeeveryAfricansociety it is far from playing a uniformpart in each. In many com-munities,includingthe one from which the informationused in thispaperwas gathered,witchcraft s a function of a wide rangeof socialbehaviour,while in others it haslittleideological mportance. In thispaper my conclusionsaboutthe social relationsof the witchcraftcon-cept are drawn from twenty months experienceof the Azandenationof the Nile-Uelle divide, where witchcraft is a ubiquitous notion.Whether what is true of this people is true of many other AfricancommunitiesI cannotsay.There is muph loose discussion about witchcraft. We must dis-tinguishbetweenbadmagic (orsorcery)and witchcraft. ManyAfricanpeoples distinguishclearlybetweenthe two and for ethnologicalpur-poseswe must do the same. Witchcrafts animaginaryoffencebecause

NOTE.-This paperwas read at the InternationalCongressof Anthropologicaland Ethnological Sciencesheld in London in 1934.' Africa ': theJournal f theInternationalnstituteofAfricanLanguagesndCulturesis publishedytheInstitute,butexceptwhere therwisetated hewritersof thearticlesarealoneresponsibleor theopinions xpressed.Ee

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418 WITCHCRAFTit is impossible. A witch cannotdo what he is supposedto do andhasin fact no real existence. A sorcerer,on the other hand, may makemagic to kill his neighbours. The magic will not kill them buthe can, and no doubt often does, make it with that intention. Thispaperdealswith witchcraftand not with sorcery.The notion of witchcraftclearlyhasvalue. Zande cultureas consti-tutedatpresentandin the pastcould not have existed without it. Thevast knowledge of magic possessedby the Azande would have beenuselesssinceits mainpurpose s to counteractwitchcraft. Their elabo-rate hierarchyof oracleswould have been likewise useless becausetheir chief object is to reveal witches. Their thriving corporationofwitch-doctorswould have been without aim. For witchcraft,magic,witch-doctors, and oracles are all functions of each other and aremeaningless f deprivedof their interrelations. But these notions arealsoan essentialconcomitant o socialorganization.For example:thepatrilinealkin area blood-revengegroupandmutual-assistanceroupin paying compensationfor homicide. Now practicallyevery deathis due to witchcraftand must be avenged. One does not need to askwhetherit is due to witchcraft,for this is knownin advanceand onemerelyseeks the name of the murderer. The cohesion of the kin islargelydue to its co-operativeactivityas a blood-revengeandmutual-assistancegroup, and in a politicallydevelopedsocietyin which realmurder is of the rarest occurrencethe notion of witchcraft is anessentialalternative.The power of the chiefs is also basedto a great extentupon theircontrol of the oracles,which are the only means of discovering thenamesof witches responsiblefor deaths. Hence vengeancecan onlybe accomplishedthrough the medium of the chiefs oracles. Evenspacialdistributions partlya consequenceof belief n witchcraft, incemen will only live in sites aboutwhich the oraclesarefavourableandthey preferto live as far removedfrom their neighboursas possiblebecausewitchcraft s less dangerousat a distance. Hence therearenovillages but only homesteads.These exampleswill sufficeto show how importantare notions ofwitchcraft n the sociallife of the Azande.Notions of witchcraftcomprisenaturaland moralphilosophies. Asa naturalphilosophy t revealsa theoryof causation.Misfortunes due

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WITCHCRAFT 419to witchcraftco-operatingwith naturalforces. If a buffalogores aman,or the supportsof a granaryare underminedby termitesso thatit falls on his head, or he is infectedwith cerebro-spinalmeningitis,Azande say that the buffalo,the granary,and the disease,are causeswhich combine with witchcraftto kill a man. Witchcraftdoes notcreatethe buffaloand the granaryand the diseasefor these exist intheir own right, but it is responsiblefor the particularsituation inwhich they are brought into lethal relationswith a particularman.The granarywould have fallen in anycase,but since therewas witch-craftpresent t fell at the particularmoment when a certainman wasrestingbeneath t. Of these causesthe only one which permitsinter-vention is witchcraft,for witchcraftemanates from a person. Thebuffaloandthe granarydo not allow of interventionandare,therefore,whilst recognizedas causes,not considered he sociallyrelevantones.At the sametime there aresituations n which some othercause ina numberof interactingcauses is recognizedas the socially relevantone and witchcraft s no longer emphasizedas a causalfactor. Thusany error in agriculture,hunting, crafts, which might have beenavoided if the personconcernedhad had more knowledgeand expe-rience,is put down to incompetence. Likewise moralshortcomingsare not considereddue to witchcraftand this excusewould not be per-mitted in defence of lying, adultery,and disloyalty. Similarlybreachof taboo leads to failure of an undertakingwithout the concept ofwitchcraftbeing evoked.As a system of moral philosophynotions of witchcraftdefinethemoralsentimentsand have greatinfluenceupon conduct. For witch-craft is not a random force which strikes here and there withoutdesign. Any one maybe a witch but it is of no importanceso long ashe does not direct his powersagainsthisneighbours,and he will onlydo this when motivatedby hatred, ealousy,envy,greed,and so forth.Azande are expliciton this point. They say that these sentimentsgoaheadandthatwitchcraft ollows afterthem,meaning hattheyaretheorigin of every act of witchcraft. Hence they may be regardedasdiagnosticof witchcraft n a personand a manwho wishes to avoidsuspicionsof witchcraftmust refrain rom displaying ll-will towardshis neighbours. Moreover,the manwho quarrelswith his neighboursand speaksill of them is the manwhose namethese neighbourswill

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420 WITCHCRAFTplacebeforethe oracleswhenthey aresick, so that thereis a tendencyfor sociallyundesirablemembersof acommunity o bealso itsacknow-ledged witches. This holds true generallyfor Zande society if werememberthat the noble class and, to a lesser degree, the rich andpowerfulamong commonersare immunefrom accusations.Even in the past, unless witches had actuallycommitted murdertheywere left in peace,andwhen proved guilty of murderwererarelyexecutedbut were allowedto pay compensation. To-daywitches arenot subjectto anypenaltybecauseBritishgovernmentwill not recog-nize that death can be causedby witchcraft. Azande indeed believethat witcheswho killpeopledie frommagicmadeto avengethem,butit need hardlybe said that their belief is baseless. To-day the wholeprocedureof vengeanceis carriedout to everybody'ssatisfactionona mysticalplane. A man is killed by witchcraft;magic is made toavengehim; some one else in the neighbourhooddies andthe oraclesdeclarethat he has died as a resultof the magic. The relativesof thismanin theirturnmakemagic,and so it goes on. Everyone is satisfiedat avenging his kin and nobody is any the worse off.Neverthelesspeople are daily accusedof lesser acts of witchcraftdirectedagainstotherswith the objectof causingthem sickness or offrustrating heir economicand social undertakings,and it is of someinterestto inquirewhat is the positionof a manso accused. He suffersvery little inconvenience. When he is informedthat the oracles havedeclaredthat he has bewitcheda certainman he says that he is verysorry and is totally ignorant of having done so, blows some waterfrom his mouth in sign of goodwill, and the matteris closed. Evennotoriouswitches are in no way ostracizedand are treated n exactlythe same manneras any one else. On the whole they are perhapstreatedwith greaterrespectthanother people. Azandearenot reallyinterestedin who are and who are not witches. Any one may be awitch-it is immaterialwhether he is one or not-but what is ofimportanceis to know whether he is at the moment directing hiswitchcraftagainstyou. Henceno one asksthe oracleswhetherso-and-so is a witch but only whetherhis witchcraft s causinga certainmanto be ill at the time. In so farasthereis anydisgraceattached o beinghabituallyaccusedof witchcraft t is due to the belief that the manisalways jealous of his neighbours and wishes them harm,which is

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WITCHCRAFT 42Iunworthy of a good citizen. In any case it is no crimeto bewitch aman so long as you do not murderhim, so a witch is left in peace.

To understandwitchcraftwe have to view it in relationto (a) theparticular ituationthat evokes the notion and (b)the social relationsbetween a man and the witch accused of molesting him. Sickness,failure,andinjuryof all kindsevoke at once the notion of witchcraft,but it is still a generalizednotion andhas to be particularized y beingpersonified f it is to permitintervention. This is done by askingtheoracleswho is the witch who is causingthe trouble. But one does notplacenamesof people beforethe oracles n a haphazardmanner. Oneselects only the names of those with whom one is on bad terms.Hence everytime an accusationof witchcraft s madeit refers to twothings: some misfortunewhich evokes the notion of witchcraftandsome enmitywhich evokes the nameof the witch accused.I will restrict myself here to two comments upon the ethicalside of the problem. It is evident that no European governmentwill permit persons to be punished for imaginaryoffences. Thequestionis not whetherwitchcraftshould be regardedas a crimebutwhetherit is a fact. In my experience he proofs thata witch hasper-formedany action designedto kill anotherare entirelyof a mysticalorder.I mayadd that the common discussionwhethersorcerersought tobe punishedunderEuropeanruleis, in my opinion, lackingin appre-ciation of the conditionsunderwhich an act of sorcery s carriedoutin Africa. Eithermagicis made so openly thatthere can be no doubtthat its action has the moralsupportof the communityor so secretlythat it is almostimpossibleto produceproofs other thanthe mysticalrevelationsusuallycited by Africansas such.In the secondplaceI venture to suggest that beliefs and behaviourare so closely interrelated hat very little progress is made towardsconvincingAfricansof the imaginarycharacter f witchcraftuntil theinstitutionswhich are bound up with these beliefs have deterioratedor at least are renderedinoperative (as in the case with childrenbrought up at mission stationswho afterwardsdo not resumethesocial life of theirpeople). To reasonagainstAfricanbeliefin witch-craft is useless becauseintellectually t is perfectlycoherent. Peopledo not easilysurrenderbeliefswhich they arecompelledto express n

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422 WITCHCRAFTtheirdailybehaviourand we havealreadynoted how notions of witch-craftareessential o the maintenance f oraclesandmagicand the partthey playin the preservationof morality,kinship,andpoliticalauthor-ity. In other words the question of how we shall treat witchcraft nAfricancommunities s partof themuchlargerproblemof our attitudeto African institutions in general. E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD.

ResumeLA SORCRIJ.RRIE CHEZ LES AZANDIf

Cet articlese fonde sur des renseignementsrecueillisparmiles representantsdupeuple Azande habitant entre Nil et Ouelle; ils peuvent s'appliquer ou non ad'autrescommunautes. Deux types de sorcellerie sont a distinguer- la sorcellerie('sorcery') qui est pratiqueeavec l'intention arreteede tuer,et la sorcellerie 'witch-craft') qui n'existeque dans les idees du peuple. L'auteurparle ci du derniertype,et ce qui est importantc'est que les Azande,en tant que centreculturel et social, ycroient fermement. Chaquemort est expliquee par la sorcellerie,et la decouvertedu coupable avec l'aide de la magie, d'oracleset de 'witch-doctors' est alors ledevoir des parentsdu defunt. La cohesion de la parenteen ligne paternelleestlargement due a la cooperationqu'assurentses membres comme groupe de ven-geurs de sanget groupe d'assistancemutuelle. Les idees surla sorcelleriecompor-tent une philosophie naturelleet morale. La premiereadmetl'idee de causalite: asorcelleriese combineavec les forces naturellespourfaire le mal,maisc'est la seulecausequi puisse etre decouverte parce qu'elle est le fait d'une personne. La sor-cellerie etantun instrumentdansla main des individusplutot qu'uneforce abstraitea aussi son importancedans le domaine moral. D'autrepart la sorcellerieayantal'origine le mauvaisvouloir, il suffit que l'on soit manifestementbien dispose al'egard de ses voisins pour eviter les soup;ons. De petits actes de sorcellerienesont pas considerescomme des infractionsgraves, tandis que le meurtredoit etrevenge parune contre-action. Les Europeensont a se demander,non pas si la sor-cellerie est un crime, mais si c'est un fait. L'auteurpense d'apresson experiencepersonnelle que les preuves permettant l'inculpation sont en general d'ordremystique. Maisla croyanceen la sorcellerieest si etroitementunie avec la conduitequ'elle doit sans doute coexisteravec toutes les institutions africainesen general.

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