Abstract Our attempt in this paper is to examine African traditional Metaphysics in the understanding of witchcraft. There are two strategic hurdles to overcome. First, is how we can meaningfully talk about African Metaphysics and secondly, is how we can cover the breadth and depth of African notion of witchcraft. What we attempt therefore to do is to carry out some intellectual stock – taking on African witchcraft. Perhaps, the consoling goad is the fact that no work can claim to say all that needs be said on any subject matter. What is important in any given work is to have a clear vision of what is intended to achieve. In this light, we feel persuaded that these hurdles can be safely handled and overcome. We must state that our attempt is not directed at speculating on the ideological roles of philosophy that is immutable, homogenous and hidden in the consciousness of the African people. This is also not to say that the unanimity question is totally baseless. A cultural philosophy must have certain underlying logic and understanding. However, it will be a mark of intellectual 1
Transcript
Abstract
Our attempt in this paper is to examine African traditional
Metaphysics in the understanding of witchcraft. There are two
strategic hurdles to overcome. First, is how we can meaningfully
talk about African Metaphysics and secondly, is how we can cover
the breadth and depth of African notion of witchcraft. What we
attempt therefore to do is to carry out some intellectual stock –
taking on African witchcraft. Perhaps, the consoling goad is the
fact that no work can claim to say all that needs be said on any
subject matter. What is important in any given work is to have a
clear vision of what is intended to achieve. In this light, we
feel persuaded that these hurdles can be safely handled and
overcome.
We must state that our attempt is not directed at speculating on
the ideological roles of philosophy that is immutable, homogenous
and hidden in the consciousness of the African people. This is
also not to say that the unanimity question is totally baseless.
A cultural philosophy must have certain underlying logic and
understanding. However, it will be a mark of intellectual
1
philistinism to continue to hold that all Africans conceive
reality from exactly the same perspective. What we have are
similar out-looks which enjoy a higher semblance than with views
outside the African sub-region. Our target is to look at the
“score board” to see how we stand with the spate or write-ups on
African notion of witchcraft in the aspects of African
metaphysics. This we see as feasible.
Introduction
In the contemporary discourse, the subject of African
understanding of witchcraft is a matter of on-going debate among
intellectuals of African philosophy which has covered a wide
range of ideas and practices. The problem lies on the very
understanding of African Metaphysics; whether we can in any
meaningful and coherent manner talk about a traditional
metaphysics that covers or incorporates the inevitable nuances2
that go with cultural and individual differences. In the
contemporary discourse, the term witchcraft refers to a wide
range of ideas and practices. Among most social science scholars
of Africa, particularly anthropologists, witchcraft is defined as
an act of magic that results in harming a person or aspect of the
material world on which he or she depends. During the past
decades, witchcraft has occupied a controversial place in African
studies as a general term that describes the harmful use of
magical powers.
Witchcraft and magic exist in all societies, but as many scholars
such as BolaJi Idowu, and T. I Okere have shown, in the history
of Western thought and popular culture, and in much of
contemporary European-American scholarship, witchcraft has been
positioned as a backward or erroneous system of thought. Okere
opined that Western scholarship has often presented witchcraft
ideas out of context and emphasized their association with harm,
which has resulted in a fundamental misrepresentation of African
religions. According to E.E Evans-Pritchard, witchcraft among
3
the Azande people provided explanations for everyday events and
presented a theory of causality.
From the contemporary critical perspective, however, it can be
faulted for making the assumption that it did not have the same
explanatory power as scientific modes of thought and reasoning.
African philosophy has been at the forefront of critical
assessment of the biases of Western scholarship and the quest to
develop discourse and ways of re-representing African religious
life. The study of witchcraft now involves a broader range of
scholars who have extended debates and included in their studies
many new areas of interest.
Metaphysics: Towards a definition
The etymological meaning of metaphysics holds that metaphysics is
derived from the Greek words Meta-Ta-Physika meaning “after physics”
or transcending the physical. Andronicus of Rhodes, the
Chronicler of Aristotle’s work is said to have coined the term to
described Aristotle’s work concerned with issues bordering on the
extra-mental, spiritual, abstract, universal or transcendental
4
disciplines. It was seen as the science of being equal being.
This means the study of reality from the point of view of other
beings. Though Parmenides is often referred to as the real
enunciator of western metaphysics before Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle gave it a more detailed and rigorous treatment. Down to
Immanuel Kant, metaphysics became divided into three major parts,
namely; rational theology, rational cosmology and rational
psychology.
Metaphysics is a philosophical stance which tries to reach a more
comprehensive view of reality without neglecting the unique place
of individual thing in the holism of reality. A.J. Ayer
succinctly defined metaphysics as that branch of philosophical
discourse which deals with the fundamental question about the
structure of reality.1 Metaphysics therefore is a science that
seeks ultimate understanding of reality. According to Collingwood
Metaphysics is a science of pure being; as a science which deals
with the presuppositions underlying ordinary science.2 Its
procedure is to ignore the differences between the individual
thing and that individual and attend only to what they have in
5
common. Metaphysics deals with the nature of existence, a study
of reality as a whole that is concerned with the generalization
of experience for the purpose of identifying fundamental
entities.3 It therefore involves a synthesis of all experiences
in order to achieve a coherent whole which gives a complete
picture of reality. It is in this latter sense that we intend to
survey aspects of African metaphysics to see how the disparate
metaphysical objects of the African people fit into a coherent
metaphysical framework.
Understanding African Metaphysics
African metaphysics is the African way of perceiving,
interpreting and making meaning out of interactions, among
beings, and reality in general. It is the totality of the
African’s perception of reality. African metaphysics therefore
include systematization of African perspective as it relates to
being and existence. This embrace the holistic conception of
reality with its appurtenance of relations, qualities,
characterizations, being and its subtleties universals,
particular, ideas, minds, cultures, logics, morals, theories and
6
presuppositions. African Metaphysics is holistic, interrelated
and logical; it underpins their standard and expectations. This
is not to give the impression that all Africans share the same
standard because most African standard is community based.
Borrowing from Quine, each community operates from a background
theory that penetrates its perception of reality.4
The African metaphysics is pragmatic; if an idea, an explanation,
a conception, a belief or folk wisdom worked; it was accepted
even though they may not fulfill certain fundamental criteria of
objective reality but they still dug deep to unravel through
mystical means to ascertain the basic for such phenomenon in
their reality scheme. This means that the Africans are aware of
the consequence of superficial contemplation of their universe.
They thought and tried as deeply as their theoretical and
experiential apparatus could aid them.
As J.I Omoregbe opined, Africans store their ideas in form of
folklores, folk wisdom, mythologies, traditional proverb,
religious world views, etc.5 This enables them to examine more
closely their views. Their experiences are tested in order to
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ascertain their truth. These tests provide the Africans with
clues as they continue their forays into the wilderness of
reality. It is therefore against such a background that African
metaphysical should be periscoped. Nothing is accepted without
evidence and reason. The reason may commit us to either empirical
or rational validation. We can therefore say that in African
metaphysics, empiricism merges with rationalism. The cleavage
between empiricism and rationalism, if it exists at all, is not a
matter for serious epistemological dispute. With this background,
we shall examine the notion of “Person” and “Being” in order to
show how they feature in African understanding of witchcraft.
Personality
Personality as a noun concept means all the qualities and
attributes that makes an individual a distinct person. It
includes one’s make-up or constituent parts, character, conduct
and personal idiosyncrasies. But personality in the context in
which we are viewing it is seen from the angle of what makes-up
the human personality in general and the significance of each
constituent part. Most generally In an African mind, a person is
8
made up of spirit, and body. The spirit is usually said to be a
higher principle in close link with the divine order, while the
body performing relational, regulative and communicative
functions for both the spirit and the body.
In the African conception of personality, the problem is that of
reaching a consensual view as to the constituent parts of the
human person. The Ibos, the Yoruba’s of Nigeria and the Akans of
Ghana have their views of human personality. In Igbo metaphysics,
we have three component parts of human person namely Ahu (body)
Mkpuruobi (soul, though one may argue that this is a latter
development from Christian theology) and Mmuo (spirit). For the
Igbo, a man is simultaneously a physical and spiritual entity.
However, it is his spirited dimension that is eternal. In the
Akan conception of personality, we witness three variants of this
conception; the dualist, trichotomist and “pentachotomist”
positions. For instance, Wiredu holds a pentrachotomist view
instantiated by five parts of the human personality. We have the
Nipadua (body), the Okra (soul), Sunsum (spirit), Ntoro
(character from father), Mogya (character from mother).
9
Kwame Gyekye on his part has noted that Akan conception of a
person is thoroughly dualistic, not tripartite.6 With this, we
have seen the Igbo trichotomistic view, the pentachotomistic view
of Wiredu and the dualistic view of Kwame Gyekye. For Gyekye it
is soul and body, that is Okra and Nipapadua (Honam)
respectively. The truth here is that the seeming disagreement as
seen above is more apparent than real. The views are collectively
correct, that is, Wiredu’s pentachotomistic view, Ibo trichotomic
view and Gyekye’s dualistic view. The problem lies in the need
for further clarification and elucidation.
To understand the concept of a person, we have what we call
“three folds categoreal objectification.” The first level is the
residual categoreal objectification which has to do with the double
aspect conception. Secondly, we have the middle ranged categoreal
objectification and finally, the bloated categoreal
objectification. The point is that all these views are correct
African perspectives on theory of human personality. (The
residual categoreal merely simplifies and reduces the conception
to their two main broad categorization, that is body (material)
10
and spirit (immaterial). The tripartite conception stresses the
need to demarcate the spiritual elements into their functional
cleavages. The spirit is functionally different from the soul
though both are immaterial. The spiritual gets information
directly from the creator and transmits the same to the soul
which in turn affects the body. On the reverse side, the body
first affects the soul and then the spirit. The third and last
categorization is the bloated categoreal objectification. This view
clearly objectifies the African man’s basis for interpreting a
man’s personality. This view sees man as earthly, that is, body
and as biological, that is, having input from parents. Man is a
product of his maternal and paternal lineagial roots. This
explains why in most African communities, a man has a right to
seek for a place of abode both in his paternal and maternal
families. He is not regarded as a stranger in any of these
places.
An African metaphysics would not subscribe to the Humean and
Russellian’s view that there is no continuing self identity. Or,
as William James has said that man is a stream of consciousness,
11
for the African, man has a continuing self – identity. This, the
Igbos call “mmuo”, that is, spirit. The ‘chi’ is the destiny
which can change depending on a number of factors like handwork,
spiritual fortification etc. Divine intervention can change a
person’s ‘chi’ but his spirit (mmuo) cannot be changed – it
continues as an identical being throughout existence. So in the
Igbo metaphysics of personality, a man’s essence is his ‘mmuo’
(spirit) which continues to exist even after physical death.
Existence of human personality is dual, earthly existence and
spiritual (eternal) existence. The body exists temporarily on
earth while the spirit continues to exist after death. The
African conception of personality is therefore paramount in our
effort to explain the notion of witchcraft.
To an African, being is that which has force, in fact, to be is to
be Force. Force is not for Africans an adventitious, accidental
reality, it is the reality itself. Force is even more than a
necessary attribute of beings: force is the nature of being,
“force is being, and being is force.”7 Force is not for Africans a
necessary, irreducible attribute of being, rather, the notion of
12
force takes for Africans the place of the notion of “being” in
European philosophy. It is because all being is force that the
category includes of necessity all beings such as God, men –
living and departed – animals, plants, etc. Since being is force,
all these beings appear to the African as forces. It can rightly
be said that Africans regard being as exclusively and essentially
a principle of activity. Africans make a clear distinction and
understand essential differences between different beings, that
is to say, different forces. According to Placide Tempels,
Africans distinguish in man body, shadow and breath, the breath
is the assumed manifestation, the evident sign of life. When the
body with its shadow and its breath disappear, what lives on
after death is not described as simply a part of a man. Rather,
Africans speak of what lives on after death as “the man himself,”
or it is “the little man”8 who was formerly hidden behind the
perceptible manifestation of the man.
Being
Being is a generic term which represents all existing things and
Africans conceive everything as being. There is nothing that
13
exists that is taken lightly; this is from the belief is that
there is reason for whatever is. Though man may not immediately
know why a thing is created, but they all serve a purpose. Being
is therefore conceived as the whole range of existent things. The
Africans have a hierarchy of being with God at the apex followed
by the ancestors, then, we have totems or emblems of hereditary
relationship followed by other spirits that can be manipulated
with magical powers for certain ends. These are represented at
times as charms and amulets, then, we have man and finally,
animal and plants as occupying the lowest level.9
There is the argument that this hierarchy is not rigid because
events can cause insignificant god or divinity to become so
powerful that it assumes a central place of reverence in the life
of the community more than the ancestors. The ancestors are
revered because it is held that they are always better disposed
to the good of living. But other gods or divinities are highly
capricious and unpredictable. Plants and animals can be habited
by powerful forces which make them to become very prominent in
the spiritual rating of the society. This conception of being
from the point of view of force is pervasive in African
14
conception of being.10 To the Africans, the fundamental notion
under which being is conceived lies within the category of forces
and African metaphysics studies this reality (that is, force),
existing in everything and in every being in the universe.11
Force in African thought is a necessary element in being, and the
concept “force” is inseparable from the definition of being. There
is no idea among Africans of being divorced from the idea of
force. Without the element force, being cannot be conceived and
this is the basis of African ontology.
To an African, being is that which has force, in fact, to be is to
be Force. Force is not for Africans an adventitious, accidental
reality, it is the reality itself. Force is even more than a
necessary attribute of beings: force is the nature of being,
“force is being, and being is force.”12
Force is not for Africans a necessary, irreducible attribute of
being, rather, the notion of force takes for Africans the place of
the notion of “being” in European philosophy. It is because all
being is force that the category includes of necessity all beings
such as God, men – living and departed – animals, plants, etc.
15
Since being is force, all these beings appear to the African as
forces.
It can rightly be said that Africans regard being as exclusively
and essentially a principle of activity. Africans believe that
whatever happens cannot go unnoticed by the omnipresent eyes of
the creator. God being at the apex of the hierarchy of beings
oversees and regulates what goes on in the universe. God’s
supreme position is made clear in the African names of God. The
Igbo for instance call God Okaka-Amasi-Amasi and Chukwuokike meaning
“one who is not fully known, and the creator of the universe”.
The Yorubas call Him Olodumare meaning the Almighty God while the
Akan people of Ghana call Him Onyame which means the Supreme
Being.13 In other words, God alone is full actuality and
infinite. Other beings are finite and limited. For the Africans,
beings form an intricate nexus of reality.
Understanding Witchcraft in African Conception
Today the term witchcraft is used more popularly and broadly to
describe all sorts of evil employment of mystical powers, carry
on certain activities in disembodied form generally in a secret
16
fashion. This could include sucking of blood, eating, holding of
meetings, causing accident or inflicting pains or diseases.
African societies do not often draw the distinction between
witchcraft, sorcery, evil magic, evil eye and other ways of
employing mystical power to achieve some ends. Whatever the
terminology, what is most important is that Africans believed
that there are individuals who have access to mystical powers
which they employ to handle issues and these powers are gifts
from the creator.
The study of spiritism, occultism, mysticism, and cybernetics
reveal that man is a carrier of great current of waves which can
be projected to bring about certain desired ends in the form of
astrophysical travel. Africans hold that created beings preserve
a bond with one another and nature, an intimate ontological
relationship, comparable with the causal tie which binds the
creature and the creator. For Africans there is an ontological
relationship of forces among being with another being. In the
created force Africans see a causal action emanating from the
very nature of that created force and influencing other forces.
17
One force will reinforce or weaken another. This causality is in
no way supernatural in the sense of going beyond the proper
attributes of created nature. It is, on the contrary, a
metaphysical causal action which flows out of the very nature of
a created being. The knowledge of the action of these forces in
their specific and concrete applications constitutes the realm of
African natural science.
This interaction of beings has historically been denoted by the
word “magic and evil” by Westerners. If it is desired to keep the
term, it must be modified so that it is understood in conformity
with the content of African thought. In what Europeans call
“primitive magic” there is, to primitive eyes, no operation of
evil forces, but simply the interaction between forces, as they
were created by God and as they were put by him at the disposal
of men. The child, even the adult, remains always for the
African, a man, a force, in causal dependence and ontological
subordination to the forces which are his father and mother. The
older force ever dominates the younger. It continues to exercise
its living influence over it. This is in accordance with the
18
African conception in so far that the beings (forces) of the
universe are not simply a multitude of independent forces placed
in juxtaposition from being to being. All creatures are found in
relationship according to the laws of interdependence. Nothing
moves in this universe of forces without influencing other forces
by its movement. Africans perceive the world of forces like a
spider’s web in which no single thread may be caused to vibrate
without shaking the whole
network.
In fact, in Africa the idea of witchcraft is when these forces
are in opposition with one another. When their casual influence
are in conflict with the natural laws. For Africans,
witchcrafting is an anti-social employment of mystical power; a
bad and abusive way of using the God given vital power. For
example, they send flies, snakes, lions or other animals to
attack their enemies or carry disease to them; they spit and
direct the spittle with secret incantations to go and harm
someone, they dig up graves to remove human flesh or bones which
they use in their practices, they invoke spirits to attack or
possess someone. Africans feel and believe that all the various
dangers and unhappy mysteries which they encounter or experience,
are caused by the abusive use of this mystical power by some
people to cause havoc in the community. It is here that we may
understand, for instance, that a bereaved mother whose child has
died from malaria would not be satisfied with a scientific
explanation that a little mosquito carrying a malaria parasite
stung the child and caused it to suffer and die from malaria. She
will wish to know “why” (which is a philosophical question), the
mosquito stung her child and not somebody else’s child. The only
satisfactory answer is that “someone” sent the mosquito, or
worked other evil magic against her child. This is not a
scientific answer, but it is reality for the majority of
Africans. Whatever scientists and theologians might say, nothing
harmful happens “by chance,” everything is “caused” by someone
directly or through the abusive use of mystical power.
Anthropologists, sociologists, etc. use the term “witchcraft”
denote people with an inherent power by means of which they can
abandon their bodies and go to carry out some evil acts. In some
societies, like the Azande, it is believed that one can even pin-
20
point the spot in the witch’s body where “witchcraft” is located.
They belief that some people do not realizes that they are
witches or wizard and this makes witchcraft an infectious or
hereditary tendency. Some people suspect themselves to be witches
while in actual fact (or, perhaps, in reality) they are not.14
How Witchcraft Operates
The chart below and its explanation prepare our mind to
understand the concepts we are dealing with:
The Body-Mind Consciousness
S/
No
Body
types
Mind Phenomenon Types of
Consciousness
1. Physical or Gross
Body
Ordinary Mind Waking Consciousness
2. Subtle or Astral
Body
Super Mind Dream Consciousness
3. Causal Body Higher Mind Deep Sleep
21
Consciousness
4. Super Causal Body Illuminated
Mind
Turiya State
Consciousness
5. Purushatva (Atman) Over Cosmic Consciousness
Explanation
The chart above portrays five different bodies and we are most
familiar with our physical body. We may also be conversant with
our astral bodies. In dreams, we make use of the astral body.
Because there is a body that we use while dreaming difference
from the physical body. That body is the astral body or subtle
body. The physical body is used within the physical plane while
the astral is used within the astral plane or world. In the
astral plane, we have the higher astral and the lower astral;
this could be classified as higher mind and lower mind. The lower
astral plane is the area of mischief. This is the area where
witchcraft operates. The witch is able to move into the subtle or
astral body almost consciously and manipulates the powers at
his/her disposal to his/her ends. This is the place witches and
wizards can only operate.
22
When we say that witches and wizards are having their meetings,
it is from this lower astral plane or world that they operate.
All the phenomenon of those who consult spirits and the dead do
so at the subtle or astral level. This is because people die at
this plane. When one leaves his or her body and travels into the
astral plane and eventually drops the astral body, one passes on.
At the lower astral plane are the shells of those who have left
the astral plane. A lot of entities move around this plane. In
addition, if they have find out that you are curious to contact
your dead relatives, they pick up the shells the relatives
dropped before they passed on and they can use those shell to
reproduce their voices and some of their memories. In this way,
these entities give you some information that can be very
intriguing before they introduce their diabolic pranks. In other
words, the dead one actually contacts are not the real souls of
their relatives they wish to contact but entities who are playing
mischief at the lower astral plane. At the higher astral plane,
one can contact good spirits.
23
The physical body is the body we use in our normal ordinary
consciousness- the normal (waking) day consciousness. But suppose
one sleeps off while reading and start dreaming. Such a person
leaves the physical body and walked into the astral body. Between
the astral and the physical body we have what is called the
silver cord. The silver cord is like the umbilical cord linking
mother with child. It is an invisible cord linking the physical
body with the astral body and keeping the physical body alive
during astral projections when the breath of God in man (the
spirit –soul) travels with the astral vehicle. Death of the body
does not occur till the silver cord has snapped. The astral body
can travel miles within in seconds as long as the silver cord is
still joining it to the physical body. Supposing one is reading
and falls asleep and his silver cord is snapped, one passes on.
The body is left behind. That is what we mean by death. Some
people go to sleep and never wake up; their silver cord is
snapped during the sleep.
Next is the deep sleep state, while astral movement is
experienced in the dream state, deep sleep is experienced in the
dreamless sleep. i.e., sleep without dream. When we are in Deep
24
Sleep, we shift to the Causal Body. This Casual Body is a black-out;
a stress free sleeps. When one wakes up from such sleep he/she
feels refreshed than dreamed sleep because in dreams we are
actually operating with the astral body which also affect our
physical body. In the causal Body, we have perfect form of rest. In
the dreamless sleep you leave the astral body and move into the
Causal Body where no experience or activities take place. Some
people who have had a near-death experience report that they have
no experience whatever; they do not experience anything because
during the near-death experience, they did not stop at the astral
plane but moved onto the causal body. That is why there was a
total black-out.
The next body is the Super Causal body. When we approach this plane,
we are very near to reality. The mind is illuminated into the
Turiya state of knowing, here we cannot really call it body, and
it’s like tin air in comparison with earth or with water. You can
hardly touch air. Only when the wind is blowing can we have a
feel of the air. We have many kinds of experiences in the super
Causal body. Mystical experiences are had here. The people who
come into this plane can see the present, the past and the
25
future. They are very near to Almighty God.15 In the super-
causal we have the beginning of the Turia the super-Turia state and
the opening of the third eyes.
The final stage is the spirit soul, the atman stage of existence,
the over mind and cosmic consciousness of reality. Before anybody
moves into this stage, all other bodies eventually have to be
dropped. Then come the eventual entering of the Kingdom of God.
The journey of no return, here one does not re-incarnate because
he/she has attain upper most perfection, here one becomes a
deity. Anybody who reaches the spirit-soul, Atman is not allowed
to come back. He/she simply merges with God.16
Conclusion
In the minds of Africans, each being has been endowed by God with
force, capable of strengthening the vital energy of the strongest
being of all creation: man. The worst misfortune, and the only
misfortune, is the diminution of this power or force by the
possessor. Every illness, wound or disappointment, all suffering,
depression or fatigue, every injustice and every failure – all
these are held to be, and are spoken of by the African as, a
26
diminution of this vital force. Illness and death are the result
of some external agent who weakens us through their greater force.
It is only by fortifying our vital energy (force), through the use
of magical recipes, that resistance to malevolent external forces
is acquired.
Africans are aware of a mystical power in the universe. This
power is ultimately from God, but in practice it is inherent in,
or comes from or through physical objects and spiritual beings.
That means that the universe is not static or “dead”: it is a
dynamic, “living,” and powerful universe. To the African, access
to this mystical power is hierarchical in the sense that God has
the most and absolute control over it; the spirits and the
living-dead have portions of it; and some human beings know how
to tap, manipulate and use some of it. These mystical powers
are thought to be capable of being employed for curative,
protective, productive, preventive and destructive purposes by
some individuals. This negative use of this power to cause fear
or harm others is what we have termed witchcraft. For this
reason, Africans wear, carry, or keep charms, amulets and a
variety of other objects, on their bodies for protection.
27
Endnotes
28
1 Ayer, A.J . the central Questions of Philosophy. Harmondsworth:Penguin Book, 1975. P. 23
2 Collingwood, R.G. An Essay on Metaphysics Oxford. ClarendonPress, 1969 p. p. 12.
3 Harold Oliver H. A Relational Metaphysics. London:Martinus Nijtoff Pub, 1981 p. 1
4 Quine, W. V. O. From a Logical Point of View, Combridge HavardUniversity Press, 1953.
5 Omoregbe, J.I, “African Philosophy” Yesterday in Africa:Trends and perspectives Ile-Ife: University of Ife press, 1985.
6 Gyeke Kwame, “the Akan Concept of a person” in Introduction toAfrican Philosophy ed. Richard Wright. New York: UniversityPress of America, 1984.p.208.
7 Placide Tempels, Bantu Philosophy (Paris, Présence Africaine, 1959)p.518 Ibid, p. 559 Opoku, Asare, West African Traitional Religion Accra: FEP
International Private Ltd., 1978. Pp.9-10.10 Maurier, Henri, “Do we have an African philosophy? In
Richard Wright Introduction to Africanphilosophy, New York,University press of America 1984. (Maurier qtd in WrightPp.34-35).
11 Ansah Richard. African Concept of Being, with Special Reference tothe Concept of Witchcraft and Medicine in Africa. Paper presented atUniversity of Cape Coast World day of Philosophy. P.212 Placide Tempels, Bantu Philosophy (Paris, Présence Africaine, 1959)p.5113 Opoku, Asare, West African Traitional Religion Accra: FEP
International Private Ltd., 1978. Pp. 34-35.14 Ibid, p. 61.15 This is the plane St. Paul was describing in 2CorinthiansChapter12. “ I saw a man, whether in the body or out of the body, Godknows, who was wrapped up into the third heaven. And he was shownwhat is not allowed for man to see.” Here St. Paul moved into thesuper-causal plane.
16 Rev. Fr. Dr. Raymond C. Arazu, Cssp: Wtch-craft, Spiritism andOcultism as Challenges to the Christian Faith. InternationalMissiological Symposium 2011 at the Sprirtian International School ofTheology Attakwu Enugu State Nigeria. Pp,2-5.
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