WITCHCRAFT and VOODOO

African Voodoo/Vaudoux and Obeah

Witches have been persecuted throughout the ages, used for gain and blamed for people's problems. They were believed to be supernatural beings who worked at night and belonged to secret organisations.

All commonly held beliefs in tribal Africa, Asia, America and pre-modern Europe long ago. It was also believed that a witch gained power from evil spirits through the devil, definitely anti-Christian. In Africa this was not the case, all witches were not considered to be evil.

Early records in Europe show two distinct traditions of belief. In the far North, (Iceland eastwards to the Baltic lands and Russia), magic was the preserve of specialists - Shamans. Every tribe had one and of course, trouble was blamed on hostile Shamans. They were usually male, but a woman had a chance to practice if there were no men with the gift.

In the rest of Europe, (Greeks, Romans, Germans and Celts amongst them), men were thought to be able to learn magic and work sorcery, while women had the primeval natural talent. Women were also thought to be natural healers and were feared for the ability to use the power for evil. Most European witches were female.

Pagan peoples of Europe often executed people they believed to be witches. Christianity soon put a stop to this little hobby during the middle ages, claiming god was all-powerful, therefore rendering all witches ineffective and deluded.

Then the ideology of the religion changed. God had empowered the devil to wreak havoc to test humans, and witches became Satan's servants.

This idea spread slowly through Europe. A rise in population caused a virulent spread of disease, natural disaster,s and a split in the Christian church, all added to the resurfacing of the witch-hunts.

Victims were usually female and included midwives and healers. Healers often worked as witch hunters, using their power to uncover bad witchcraft.

Execution estimates range from 30,000 to 100,000. Included in the statistics are some terrible local experiences.

In 1589 at Quedlinburgh Germany, One hundred and thirty three women were burned in one day.

One of the most famous witch-hunts took place in Salem Massachusetts, Bay Colony in 1692. Nineteen people suspected of witchcraft were hanged and many others imprisoned. Their accusers were a few young girls who had been listening to tales of voodoo, and claimed to be possessed by the devil.

The trials grew quickly into mass hysteria and more than 150 people were accused, including the Governors wife. Community leaders eventually came to their senses and started to cast doubt upon the evidence, which lead to the end of the trials, and the prisoners that were left were pardoned.

Only one judge, Samuel Sewell is said to have admitted to making a mistake in a public statement. The families of the dead were eventually paid an indemnity to try and compensate them for their loss and suffering.

A general belief in witchcraft didn't begin to wane until after 1632 and nobody knows the true body count of 'witches' put to death, or how many of them were actually practitioners of black magic.

Many innocent people were undoubtedly killed.

Voodoo is a belief that originated amongst African slaves who needed a form of protection, but had very little going for them. Their options were limited and the defenceless slaves were often accused of black magic. They were an easy target, it was much harder to accuse free men of crimes, this meant the slaves felt the need to practice more voodoo to try and protect themselves from false accusations and worse, and a vicious circle ensued.

Their beliefs gradually mingled with those of the white French plantation owners and Roman Catholics and Voodoo evolved.

Voodoo is a religion that combines a belief in various spirits and one god. Bondye (god), from the French bon dieu, is akin to the Christian god, but remote and unapproachable. The real devotions are given to the spirits, Loa/Iwa who are not evil, but intermediaries to Bondye, and like angels, can also be guardians.

But like every religion, Voodoo has its dark side. It was believed that witches would gather at the graves of the recently dead, reanimating corpses they would then kill again to eat the flesh. Body parts would be used for charms and another belief was that the ceremony created a familiar who would carry out a warlock's evil bidding. The creature was called an umlovu by the Zulu's, and described as short, inarticulate, confused and missing the tip of its tongue. This meant it was unable to reveal it's masters secrets.

More ordinary familiars included Leopards, Hyenas and Baboons.

Voodoo is still a religion today in Haiti and various other places. Female Voodoo leaders are known as mambo and male as hungan.