IMPORTANT: ILL WILL

I find it rather prudent at this point that I tell you a huge aspect that I have completely forgotten to elaborate on.

Witches cast spells against their neighbor because of some ill will or grudge.

The Azande do not believe in magic like some other cultures might do: magic for them is not inherent in all living things. It is something that a person with the mangu in their body can wield against their neighbors. (Sometimes unconsciously, but usually not) According to the accounts of Evans-Pritchard, witched need close proximity to cast their spells on people, that’s why when misfortune strikes, Azande will often suspect their neighbors. A common way to counteract bewitchment is to leave when no one is around (usually at night) and camp out in the bush where no one can find you. That way the witch won’t know where you are to send her spirit-soul after you.

If they can’t find you, they can’t bewitch you!

My first instinct with this idea of sending one's soul out is to relate it to space. I thought that it was very weird that witchcraft had specific parameters of space in which to work in. Actually, they have to track you down to a specific place in order to bewitch you. Space is a place with no meaning. For witchcraft, a space gains meaning and becomes a place when the person they are trying to bewitch is in that space.

That analysis pretty much broke my last shreds of ideas on magic. (I know there are different kinds of magic in the world, but for Azande, this is it) I always thought that you just needed a bit of the person or something like that in order to bewitch them. This is a completely new way of thinking about it for me than what I am used to seeing in circles in the U.S. (Wicca, films, etc)


Evans-Pritchard, E.E. Witchcraft Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Clarendon P: Oxford. Print.