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African Witchcraft Evans-Pitchard, the author of Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande, says that the Zande witches have many beliefs such as magic and sorcery. The Zande witches came from the Zande tribe in Northern Africa. Magic and sorcery plays important roles in the Zande witches' lives. European Witchcraft King James of England was very afraid of witches in his time. In the King James Version of the Bible, the Hebrew word "kashshaf" would be translated as witch instead of "old woman" or "sorcerer." In general, many Europeans were afraid of witches and some recorded the information of the trials, tortures, and executions of witches. Indian Witchcraft There are two short stories that portray Indian witches. Both stories are based on the Santal tribal areas of India. (Witchcraft still exists in this area). Bandyopadhyay's story is about an old woman living outside a village who believes that she has powers of a witch. Throughout the story, the old woman tries not to contact other people, so she would not harm them. There is another story by Devi that portrays villagers around the Bantal area as witches. |