Witchcraft

One of the people I've questioned advised me to err on the side of caution with my interest in learning more about witchcraft, for fear of the witchdoctors finding out and casting a curse on me.  But... hey... the Anthropologist in me is ever-present!

I shall also begin by stating that I absolutely do not believe that it is possible to manipulate people and objects with curses.  However, I do believe that the power of fear is not to be underestimated.  I have been confronted by one old man who was wearing rags and animal skins and chanting at me in Jinja on the first day.  I raised my eyebrows at him and walked off, feigning disinterest.  He didn't pursue me.

The traditional beliefs of witchcraft reach back to the early tribes here in Africa.  My Dad's experiences of it when he was growing coffee in Kenya years ago are very similar to what I have also come across in Uganda.  Dad reminded me on Skype how he went to seek advice from a witchdoctor on two occasions.  One instance involved the robbing of all the mangoes off his tree... no sooner were they ripe, than they disappeared.  And the other time was when somebody was stealing his hoe every time he got a new one.  Well, the local folk knew that Dad had consulted a witchdoctor about these two incidents and, lo and behold, not another mango was stolen from then on and all the hoes that had ever been stolen in the history of the farm were returned overnight.  I think Dad had almost enough to go into business!

In my mind, it was the culprits' fear of a curse that might take hold of them - if they weren't to put things right - which pushed them to act in this way.  They allowed themselves to become overpowered by the suspected knowledge and fear of what might happen to them if they did steal a mango or if they didn't return the hoe.

When twins are born here, they are either thrown away into the forest or the parents take part in a Twin Dance Ceremony, which casts out their 'evil spirits'.  Because the tradition is so deep-rooted, the fear of what might happen if they didn't do the Twin Dance persuades most to opt for taking part in this ceremony.  There is a feeling that it is better to be safe than sorry.

Children who have allegedly been cursed might be able to overpower 5 adult men holding them down.  I could almost guarantee that any child I know would kick and scream with ferocious tenacity if they were to be held down.  I certainly would, especially if they were talking about me being possessed by something evil.

What I cannot ever understand is how some greedy and evil bastards pay a witchdoctor to advise them over how to earn a fortune quickly.  So strong is the belief that witchcraft delivers its promises.  The advice is always child sacrifice.  The child's blood will 'feed the evil spirits', and these spirits will repay the individual handsomely with wealth unimaginable.  Every night on the local news are multiple stories about the remains of children being found.  The children are selected carefully... the little ones who haven't been schooled and wouldn't even know the names of their parents (other than Mama and Papa), nor their towns.  They trust without question.

Even Teopista and Lawrence believe in the power of witchcraft.  It is an ever-present force to be feared.  All illnesses, from epilepsy through to coughing, are explained away as a curse.  It is really tragic that such credence is given to this evil ideology.