African
Witches
Africans have a wide range of views of traditional
religions. African Christians typically accept Christian
dogma as do their counterparts in Latin America and Asia.
The term witch doctor, often attributed to Zulu inyanga,
has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses
witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who
diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches" (using
practices indistinguishable from Witchcraft). Combining
Roman Catholic beliefs and practices and traditional West
African religious beliefs and practices are several
syncretic religions in the Americas, including Voudun,
Obeah, CandomblĂ©, Quimbanda and SanterĂa.
In Southern African traditions, there are three
classifications of somebody who uses magic. The thakathi is
usually improperly translated into English as "witch", and
is a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others.
The sangoma is a diviner, somewhere on a par with a fortune
teller, and is employed in detecting illness, predicting a
person's future (or advising them on which path to take),
or identifying the guilty party in a crime. She also
practices some degree of medicine. The inyanga is often
translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans
resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken
belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a
practitioner of malicious magic). The inyanga's job is to
heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical
items for everyday use. Of these three categories the
thakatha is almost exclusively female, the sangoma is
usually female, and the inyanga is almost exclusively male.
In some Central African areas, malicious magic users are
believed by locals to be the source of terminal illness
such as AIDS and cancer. In such cases, various methods are
used to rid the person from the bewitching spirit, often
Physical abuse and Psychological abuse. Children are often
accused of being witches. A young niece may be blamed for
the illness of a relative. Most of these cases of abuse go
unreported since the members of the society that witness
such abuse are too afraid of being accused of being
accomplices. It is also believed that witchcraft can be
transmitted to children by feeding. Parents discourage
their children from interacting with people believed to be
witches.