The ideas of rationality and reasoning are key concepts in anthropology because they reveal a great deal about how certain cultures perceive and interpret the world. This is demonstrated in the use of witchcraft within the Azande. The homeland of the Azande lies primarily in three African states: Sudan, Zaire, and Central African Republic and constitutes a complex amalgam of different ethnic groups, who are largely united by their culture and spiritual practices. Azande witchcraft provides a social and behavioral blueprint for acting upon the world. It is methodically used to explain any unfortunate event which takes place and provides an explanation for the unusual and inexplicable. To the Azande, witchcraft and misfortune are synonymous, existing as two sides of the same coin. To speak of one without the other is to ignore a core Azande belief. As seen in the film, it is also used to get to the bottom of accusations such as adultery. E.E. Evans-Pritchard writes how “the concept of witchcraft nevertheless provides them with a natural philosophy by which the relations between men and unfortunate events are explained and with a ready and stereotyped means of reacting to such events” (363). The belief in witchcraft not only provides a way to make sense of events, but also guides a systematic way to respond to them. Witchcraft provides practicality and rationale to the lives of the Azande, which contradicts the usual perception of witchcraft as unfounded and elusive.
Witchcraft pervades into all aspects of Azande life – from agriculture to hunting to domestic affairs. The occurrence of witchcraft is commonplace. A witch is not seen as a taboo but more in terms of an obstacle that must simply be dealt with. A witch arises from possessing the inherited organ, mangu which can be passed on by people of the same sex. The witch is not necessarily seen as evil, because their mangu may be doing harm without them even knowing. Once a person accused of possessing mangu earnestly shows that they have no ill will and pacify the evil within them, they are able to return to their normal lives. In a way, this contradicts what is usually seen in Western culture, where people suspected of disrupting the peace in society are ostracized, and it becomes difficult for them to reintegrate back into society. Furthermore, the normalcy of witchcraft takes away any sense of miracle or dismay from its practice. In fact, the Azande anticipate having encounters with witchcraft as it provides an explanation for any undesirable events because “witchcraft participates in all misfortunes and is the idiom in which Azande speak about them and in which they explain them” (364). Any misfortune at any time can be linked to witchcraft and is rarely explained by factors such as incompetence or failure on the part of an individual. Witchcraft is therefore an unconscious activity for the Azande.
An aspect of the film which stood out to me was the interplay between Azande religious practices and Christianity. It seemed that Azande people followed a hybrid of the two, where they abided by the moral guidelines of Christianity but also relied on witchcraft for providing the practical solutions to their problems. In fact, the film describes how “at times of misfortune, an Azande doesn’t turn to his Priest for help, but a more traditional authority such as the local Chief” (Witchcraft among the Azande, 4:41). When issues such as adultery arose, the authority of local chiefs predominated and oracle practices such as Benge would provide the answers to their questions. This also shows the underlying conflict between the two belief systems. The priest was one of the few Azande Christians who did not believe in witchcraft and preached against it. However, the trust in magic was deep-rooted in the Azande people, causing them to only rely on traditional practices of oracles to deal with misfortune. The church services and priest were not able to offer the answer to their problems that way witchcraft did. Therefore, most Azande people, such as the witch doctor who “is a Christian and like most Azande Christians, he is happy to embrace the new but sees no need to reject the old practices like witchcraft, especially when they work” (Witchcraft among the Azande, 36:32). Moreover, there was an aspect of generational differences in upholding traditional Azande beliefs. The older generation viewed the morals of the younger generation as questionable due to the decline in Azande tradition. This was especially seen with notions of marriage and sex. The younger generation was more inclined to trust Catholic teachings instead of Azande traditional practices, showing that the two belief systems did not preside in harmony, and that there was tension between them.
Ultimately, the practice of witchcraft in Azande culture is a way to make sense of the world around them. Their spiritual practices provide them with a sense of reasoning and comfort. To them, there is no such thing as a coincidence or an inexplicable event. The belief and practice of witchcraft allows for control over such situations. When misfortune strikes, they are not baffled or frightened by some force beyond their control. Instead, they have a methodical system to approaching such events and reaching a practical solution. This reminded me of the Clifford Geertz reading from our first class, where religion can be seen as a response to suffering. The symbols and practices that a society attributes within its belief system are put in place to make suffering more “sufferable” and provide a sense of reassurance from the uncertainties of life. This is precisely what the practice of witchcraft achieves for the Azande people.
Works Cited:
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. “Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events.” Reader in Comparative Religion: an Anthropological Approach, by W. A. Lessa and E. Z. Vogt, Harper, 1979, pp. 362–366.
“Witchcraft among the Azande.” , directed by Andre Singer. , produced by Andre Singer. , Royal Anthropological Institute, 1981. Alexander Street, https://video-alexanderstreetcom.proxy.library.emory.edu/watch/witchcraft-among-the-azande-2.
Hi Bushra!
Your post makes some insightful points on the simultaneity of witchcraft and Christianity within Azande culture.
Your main point about witchcraft and misfortune being synonymous reminded me of our conversation about Geertz’ work in which we determined religion and cultural practices are created in order to deal with the common human condition of suffering.
The intersection of Christianity and witchcraft also challenges our perceptions of “Western” religions, as witchcraft is generally not a system that accompanies Christianity. However, it makes sense that in situations where Christianity cannot provide suitable explanations, they are able to turn to witchcraft as a meaning making system and to ease their suffering.
You also brought up how while witchcraft and Christianity exist simultaneously, there is also some generational tension among beliefs. This reminds me of our conversation on Tuesday where we discussed how in order to employ cultural relativism, anthropologists temporarily suspend their own beliefs to focus on the cultural beliefs they are studying. They are able to put one belief system aside for another depending on the situation and how it best serves them. It seems like a similar tradeoff may be happening in Azande culture, where the people may turn to Christianity for morals and teachings but when it is not able to provide adequate explanations for their suffering, they turn to witchcraft to make sense of it.
Hi Bushra!
Your blog was very insightful in emphasizing the key aspects of Witchcraft in Azande culture. I agree with you that the Azande utilize witchcraft to explain any negative event. To them, there is no fate or misfortunes, but all evil is caused from some root. I was intrigued to learn about the different oracles that the Azande follow when trying to figure out who is the cause of bewitchment and answers for impending questions. The local chief would always pass the final judgement to answer any final questions based on an oracle involving a chicken and poison and all of the people would strictly abide to whatever the final decision is. The film itself has an unbiased and straightforward message that teaches us about the Azande culture without employing any ethnocentrism. I really liked how you brought attention towards the similarities and differences between Christianity and the Azande religious practices as this was not something that I immediately noticed. I do believe that there is a generational change within the Azande culture and a gradual shift to more Christian beliefs, however, they will always remember their beginnings with witchcraft. I also found it interesting that you mentioned Geertz work in your blog in terms of how he defines suffering. My understanding from Geertz’s work was that suffering can be found in many forms and not just one. Religion indeed can often be used as a response to suffering and in this film the witchcraft is the response to any negative aspects in the life of the Azande.
Hey Burhsra!
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. It will tied all the thoughts I had together when I was reading the article and watching the movie. At first, when I was watching the film and they mentioned that the Azande culture synchronizes Christianity and Witchcraft, I thought it didn’t make much sense because those two have numerous amounts of contradictions in terms of rules and fundamental beliefs. As your post says, the reason why they do this is that they want to make sense of the world they live in and have tangible answers and solutions to their problems through rituals and traditions like the chicken ritual. The Christian Bible is very abstract and does not really answer specific questions that they might have and so utilizing witchcraft to maintain social order and to release tensions in the community allows their community to stay orderly. As you said, I do think because they have that enriched belief in magic within their community for generations upon generations, it was hard for them to accept Christianity on its own because it lacked that sense of magic that they believed thus far.
Hi Bushra!
Your blog was very insightful in emphasizing the key aspects of Witchcraft in Azande culture. I agree with you that the Azande utilize witchcraft to explain any negative event. To them, there is no fate or misfortunes, but all evil is caused from some root. I was intrigued to learn about the different oracles that the Azande follow when trying to figure out who is the cause of bewitchment and answers for impending questions. The local chief would always pass the final judgement to answer any final questions based on an oracle involving a chicken and poison and all of the people would strictly abide to whatever the final decision is. The film itself has an unbiased and straightforward message that teaches us about the Azande culture without employing any ethnocentrism. I really liked how you brought attention towards the similarities and differences between Christianity and the Azande religious practices as this was not something that I immediately noticed. I do believe that there is a generational change within the Azande culture and a gradual shift to more Christian beliefs, however, they will always remember their beginnings with witchcraft. I also found it interesting that you mentioned Geertz work in your blog in terms of how he defines suffering. My understanding from Geertz’s work was that suffering can be found in many forms and not just one. Religion indeed can often be used as a response to suffering and in this film the witchcraft is the response to any negative aspects in the life of the Azande.
Hi Bushra!
I thought your blog post demonstrated a strong understanding of our learning for this week. You brought up two points that I also connected with while watching the film and reading the texts. Firstly, you discuss the interplay between Azande religious practices and Christian religious practices. I would like to learn more about the history of adopting other practices into traditional religions. The reason that it stood out to me though was because I recently heard a podcast pertaining to Christianity and Judaism and how their religious texts outlaw witchcraft such as divination and spellwork. As religious thinkers speculate, the reason such practices are banned is because they detract from being faithful to just one heavenly god. With these ideas in mind, I found it intriguing that Azande religious practices and Christianity coexisted so well. However, your idea that the Azande people “abided by the moral guidelines of Christianity but also relied on witchcraft for providing the practical solutions to their problems” encapsulates this coexistence perfectly. According to Evans-Pritchard’s writing, witchcraft essentially occurs with misfortune, and after watching the film, we see that it is also through witchcraft that they can work to counteract other negative things. To my knowledge, Christianity does not provide as much of a concrete practical framework when it comes to dealing with some of these circumstances, so it seems that witchcraft fulfills this need. In this vein, the other point I enjoyed in your blog was the connection between Geertz’s definition of religion and how witchcraft is utilized in this sense. Upon reading Evans-Pritchard, I was also reminded of how Geertz contended that religion is a way to cope with the suffering of the world. It seems the Azande’s use of witchcraft would certainly support his point. Great job!
Hi Bushra!
Your post is an astute look at Witchcraft, Christianity, and the roles the two play in the Azanade life. I too found the intersection of Christianity and Witchcraft rather interesting both in practice and how the generations are divided by beliefs and practices of the two. The relationship that the priest had with Witchcraft was very different from the relationship the chief had with Christianity. The priest acknowledged the role that Witchcraft played but should completely fade out whereas the chief recognized why Christianity was valuable and would stay, while also hoping that Witchcraft would not disappear. You discussed how Christianity provided a set of morals that the Azande people followed and how Witchcraft provided concrete solutions to everyday problems. The way they worked in conjunction was seen in the adultery case with Christian morals pointing against adultery and the oracle being used to collect evidence and answers to enforce those morals. However, the coexistence, as you mentioned, is beginning to fade with the younger generations. I found that interesting especially because the priest acknowledged that it was going to be a long time before Witchcraft would ever fade away. The young parents were shown purifying their baby, a practice of Witchcraft. Although they were not as traditional as their parents, they still saw the value and importance of Witchcraft rituals. Your closing comparison to Geertz is a great summary of the Azande relationship to both Witchcraft and Christianity as a way to understand suffering.
Bushra, amazing blog post!
I really like how you focused on the interplay between Witchcraft and Christianity, and the ways both of them fine harmony and chaos in Azanade life. I made a similar connection to the comment you made about Geertz and religion being a response to the shared suffering of the human condition. I think the cooperation in the minds of the Azanade really highlights Geertz’s point. When you write “such as the witch doctor who “is a Christian and like most Azande Christians, he is happy to embrace the new but sees no need to reject the old practices like witchcraft, especially when they work” (Witchcraft among the Azande, 36:32)” the comment from the movie about seeing no need to reject a belief “when they work” provides a somewhat Darwinian perspective on the competition or cooperation between these belief systems. Typically, Christianity replaces native religions as a colonizing force, however when there is no reason or competition (due to Christianity’s vastly different system of explaining phenomenon), a cooperation and evolution can occur, instead of a selection and removal.