Witchcraft in America - Research Paper Example

Witchcraft in America This research paper endeavors to understand the various forms of witchcraft in America in terms of there origin, purpose and the principle in which they operates. The paper has also considered a comparative analysis of the concept of witchcraft in selected parts of the world with the aim of evaluating and comparing the modes of operation and beliefs associated with such witchcraft. The nature of witchcraft in America demonstrates very insignificant relationship with those of other countries if any and is consigned to perform more or less the same needs as those of other areas. This paper then discusses the various forms of witchcraft in America after the realization that they were caste to play different roles by different peoples. The origins of the forms are also discussed to give in depth analysis of the witchcraft trajectory path. This paper provides useful information for understanding how various communities in the world believe in the power of the unseen forces for values. Introduction In old days and the contemporary society, witchcrafts are not a new term. Witchcraft started long time and the writings about witchcrafts can be traced during Paleolithic period and in the bible and other religious writings like Koran. The fact the there are writings about witch crafty in the basic religious teachings and that they are highly condemned, it makes even the most doubtful believers about the power of witchcrafts to think about their position for the second time. Taking about witchcrafts bring into focus the issue of the sorcerers. To distinguish the two has been a problem to many people, and in very many circumstances, the two are interchangeably used. It is though not accurate to consider the two as the same thing. Witchcraft can be said to be an involuntary innate personality in a person that is associated with unique physical happenings. It should be noted the witchcrafts do not need spells, tools and any sort of ceremony to perform his /her business but use pure psychic (Mirecki, and Marvin, 133). On the other side, sorcerers can be defined as the use of spells, ceremonies, and accessories that are performed by a proficient person who understand the process of using them. One needs not to have the innate ability to perform sorcery though it is a physical process that can be witnessed. From the two definitions, the distinction between sorcery and witch crafty can be drawn; it is though important to note that the two uses spirits to achieve their aims. The extent of witch crafty has been found to take place all over the world from Africa to Asia and to America. Christians believe in the power of the witchcraft and that explains why in the early times, the Catholic Church is in record to have engaged in the killing of those who are suspected to be practicing witch crafty in the society (Mirecki, and Marvin, 98). The same applies to other religions such as the Islamic who in their Koran writings also recognizes and condemn the power of witchcrafts. A strong debate has always erupted as to whether the power of witchcrafts can harm or not, this is because from most witchcrafts, the assertion is that they do not harm while the conventional belief about it is that it is purely used to harm. The concrete response to this can be left to the individual experience or knowledge about witchcrafts. The persecution of the witchcraft during the middle age period resulted into the witchcrafts taking low profile and issues related to witchcraft were done under ground. This explains why there are no writings and books to aid in referencing the account of witchcraft during the ancient times. Even though there are no records of witchcraft, there were found painting and sketchy writing by the archeologist, this painting and writings are believed to have been occasioned by the then witchcrafts. As a matter of public knowledge, witchcrafts have been billed to be possessing supernatural powers and that they can perform rituals that go against the laws of nature (Mirecki, and Marvin, 130). Objectives of the Research This research about witchcraft in the US was aimed at unraveling some of the issues surrounding witchcraft and in that regard aimed to; I. Establish the degree to which witchcraft is practiced in America and the extent to which people find it useful II. Understand through comparative analysis the trend of witchcraft in the US and other parts of the world III. Evaluate and construe the societal response to the witchcraft spread in the US thus deduce if there are believers in it. IV. Understand the response and opinion hold by the church as far as the practice of witchcraft is concerned. Literature Review Since witchcraft is practiced all over the world, it is important to demonstrate the correlation between witchcraft in the US and other parts of the world. In this sense, the selected areas in the world here include the following; Witchcraft in Africa Just like any part of the world, Africa equally believes in the power of witchcraft and that this power can be used to fathom the cause of a problem, to predict the future, and to unravel the story behind a mysterious happening and so on. In Africa, there are many communities hold their own version of witchcraft; an example is the Nyakyusa tribe in the eastern Africa (Mirecki, and Marvin, 141). This particular group of people in Africa refers to witchcraft as “python in the belly,” the South African’s Pondo community make reference of it as the “women’s snake,” while the Xhosa of the same region believe that witchcraft is a hairy beast with powerful ability. All these references in Africa are made due to what the society believes are the powers of the witchcraft. In Africa, most societies do classify witchcrafts. Like in the in the traditional society in South Africa, witches were classified into three; The “Thakathi” was that person who was able to perform witches exclusively for the purpose of inflicting harm or injury to the body. Then there was the “Sangoma”, this was the person who was thought to play several beneficial roles in the society including telling fortunes, identifying criminals in the cases of theft, telling people their future and explaining the source of bad omen for the society. Lastly, there was “Inyanga,” they practiced healing processes and prescribed herbs for the patients. Gender factor of the three personalities was also significant to the society, for instance, sangoma in most cases was a female, thakatha exclusively was almost considered to be also women while inyanga was exclusively men (Mirecki, and Marvin, 145). In Africa, witches are believed to be responsible for the existence of diseases such as AIDS and cancers. In such societies, those considered witches are secluded upon and in the recent past witches have been burned and killed in very orgy situation (Mirecki, and Marvin, 159). The killings are motivated by the fact that they are responsible for certain mysterious deaths and happenings in the society. Homes of the witches are not supposed to be visited and children are told which homes to visit and the ones not to visit. Some societies also kill or disown children who defies this order since they believe that witches can be passed in a latent way. Witchcraft in Asia In India, witches dates many years during the iron ages and are popularly referred to as the “Atharvaveda.” This is considered a collection of charms and spells which is having very close association with witchcraft. It is believed that it is responsible for harming an enemy and making one succeed in “winning the heart of the one he/she loves.” It is in India that there are about 200 media reports on witchcraft every year (Mirecki, and Marvin, 161). In some states in India like Orissa, strict laws that prohibit witchcraft have been enacted and those found involving in them are accorded severe penalties (Mirecki, and Marvin, 163). The situation is quite different in Japan where witches are taken positively and the Shamanistic religion as well as Buddhism believes that witches and religion work hand in gloves. In the Chinese society, the elements of witches is highly entrenched in the mysticism, art and religion. This situation is more or less similar to that of the Japanese. Unlike other parts of the world, the Chinese are rich in literatures that make adequate reference regarding their witches. This is probably hinged on the fact that there is no clear discriminatory view between religion and witches as it is in Africa and other parts of the world. Witches have been noticed to be very popular in some parts of the Chinese cities like Guangdong (Mirecki, and Marvin, 182). Witchcraft in Europe The witchcraft syndrome has not excluded Europe form the network. The witches in Europe are rather similar to those of the different cultures in the world. During the Bronze period, Europe believed so much into witches and believed that every aspect had its own unique god. Through the witches, they worshiped the several god and believed in the presence of a divine creator (Stuart, 122). The teachings of the witches at the time were that there is life after death, this made them believe in reincarnation, and that death is a temporary event before the beginning of life again. Witches in Europe to some extent drew similarities with those of Chinese and Japanese in the sense that they believed in the in the witches that could work in tandem with religion. They believed that sorcery did not involve demons and evil spirit and certain religious verses were common during witches’ performance. During the 16th and 17th century, witches for some reasons began to be punished and this reached the peak in the 1793 where witches were secretly performed but in a very gradual way diminished in Europe significantly. This was a period of latency for the witches in Europe and up to 1951, the situation remained the same (Stuart, 134). The repealing of the parliamentary section that rescinded on the punishment made it have a mild resurgence. Today it can be said that witches is not as pronounced in Europe as it is in other parts of the world like Africa and Asia (Stuart, 139). Witchcraft in America Witchcraft in America displays no significant deference with those demonstrated in other parts of the world. They too believe in the power of the spirit and that the lad do provide for the materials to perform witchcraft. They believe in the use of herbs, shells, stones, feathers and bones for enabling charm to operate. They also use the materials derived from the land to make consumes, masks and other remedies associated with witchcraft. There is a strong belief in the unseen power provided by nature in the performance of the witchcraft. This has enabled them to strive and create a strong connection with this power in a bid to maintain with unity with the power (Games, 113). Witchcraft is also manifested in North America, Navajo. They are referred to as Hatalii (Games, 142). These witches are said to posses the power to diagnose and treat diseases or ailment using the power of the unseen. In the process of treatment, they use such materials like crystal rocks. The treatment involve serial chants to appease the foreign power perform the curing. The knowledge of Hatalii is passed from generation to the next through a series of training that involves mastering of all the chanting. The belief in this witchcraft is that some form animals do surreptitiously make the delivery of the curses in a secretive way. Navajo is said to exist I the different forms and of which all the forms, Witchery way id the most popular and common in North America. This forms works by making use of the corpse bodies. Preference is given to the bodies of children particularly twins. Not any part of the body is used to do the witchcraft, there are specific body parts that are believed to have the potent to cure, these include the skull back and fingerprints. The other form of witchcraft in America is the Appalachian Granny Magic (Games, 178). It is believed that this form came from Europe long time ago in the 1700s. There is a belief that the immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought this forma and settled in the Appalachian mountain. There is one peculiar belief in this form of witchcraft, the need to constantly appease the dead and their spirit by making constant offerings them and believed in spiritual guidance from them. The spells in this form are made to happen through songs and dance (Reis, 277). Hoodoo is another form of witchcraft in America. It is believed to be a blend of the African magic, Europe, and the Native Americans witches. It also includes grimoires and some biblical considerations are intertwined in it. This has contributed to the belief that hoodoo is professing Christian teachings. There are sub category of hoodoo called Rootwork, Rootwork involves the use of herbs and roots only in the process of performing magic (Reis, 294). The majority of people who practice this type of witchcraft are the Americans of the Africans descents in the Southeast of America. This is not limited to them alone as the white descendants are also known to practice it as well as the Native Americans and Latino. The main goal of the witchcraft is to enable individuals succeed in life by gaining absolute power in areas not limited to luck, money, health, revenge, love, necromancy, and employments. Kahuna sorcery forms another basis of witchcraft in America and involves sorcerers and traditional healers. They are majorly found in the island f Hawaii (Saari, Peggy, and Elizabeth, 201). Kahuna is largely applied in the areas of temple building, woodcarving, gazing star, and agriculture. The prayers were directed to the ancient gods and with the introduction of Christianity in the 19th century, Kahuna practitioners had no option but to go underground completely. This fact refutes any claim the since it was involved in temple building, they had a relation with Christianity. The Pennsylvania Dutch also had their version of witchcraft referred to as Pow-wo (Saari, Peggy, and Elizabeth, 151). In as much as the name given to the witchcraft was native, the Europeans in their magic spells first practiced it. It involved a blend of prayers and magic words to offer remedies to the menial domestic diseases and troubles associated with rural areas. The books of Moses were particularly important to the witchcraft, they believed the book harbored the powers that were transferred to Moses and that enabled him to command spirits. Other forms of the magic that constituted witchcraft in America included and not limited to Vodou, Santeira,and Lousiana Voodoo (Saari, Peggy, and Elizabeth, 189). Conclusion It is possible to either believe that the every humanity has in the pre-historical or up to now have considered the role of witchcraft in one way or the other useful in accomplishing some of the unfathomable happenings in their lives. Witchcraft has also moved from one place to the other and was assimilated in the people. In most cases, the principle in which witchcraft is based is different from those of Christianity except in a few isolated cases. The spread of Christianity has also significantly reduced the concept of witchcraft in many places of the world. Witchcraft has also been used to cause harm and injury and this is the aspect that it is well known for, America is not left behind in this other belief oriented operation, they have had their fair share of the same. Works Cited Games, Alison. Witchcraft in early North America. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010. Print. Mirecki, Paul Allan, and Marvin W. Meyer. Magic and ritual in the ancient world. Leiden: Brill, 2002. Print. Reis, Elizabeth. Spellbound: women and witchcraft in America. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1998. Print. Saari, Peggy, and Elizabeth M. Shaw. Witchcraft in America. Detroit: U.X.L., 2001. Print. Stuart, P. G.. Witchcraft in Europe and the New World, 1400-1800. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001. Print. Read More