Abstract
It
is known to most Africans and the international community that Africa is a poor
continent, though she is very rich in mineral and human resources. Her basic
problems as a continent includes: bad leadership, corrupt and selfish
politicians, mismanagement of resources, high degree of illiteracy etc. These
have led the continent into various socio-economic problems including poverty
and war. My research has proved that in Africa, especially in the sub-Saharan
part, many people believe in the existence of occult powers and this belief affects
their behaviours: the way they do business, their attitude to one another,
their political and social life. Such occult powers include: witchcraft,
sorcery, possession of extra ordinary power, divination and ability to foretell
the future, conjuring the dead, mermaid spirits, jujus (gods and
goddesses), ability to control various spirits, etc. Academics in various
fields, successful business men and women, renowned politicians, legal
practitioners accept that occult phenomena influence the way they lead their
lives and carry on with their businesses and professions. This presentation investigates
in a critical and coherent manner whether Africans can make use of occult
powers to solve their problems. For example, could corrupt politicians and
dictators be removed from office by the use of occult powers? What use could be
made of the so-called occult powers of witchcraft, necromancy, jujus etc.
in solving Africa’s problems?
Introduction
Occult
Power: Meaning and Explanation
The
word “occult” refers to what is hidden as opposed to what is made public or
open. It is not what everybody knows. It is revealed or given only to a few.
According to Chambers 20th Century Dictionary, occult is what is,
“secret, esoteric, unknown, not
discovered
without test or experiment; beyond the range of sense, transcending the bounds
of natural knowledge; mysterious, magical, supernatural.”[1]
What
is occult is what is mysterious, invisible and occultism is “the doctrine or
study of things hidden or mysterious.”[2]
There are several powers which some people claim to have. These kinds of power
are restricted only to such people, to the initiated or to all the members of a
given group that possess them. Power that is regarded as secret or occult is
not given to everybody. Witches, wizards, traditional medicine men/women,
members of secret cults/societies, clairyovants, people with miraculous powers
are among those, who, in Africa are believed to have occult powers with which
they carry
out
different assignments, often to their own advantage or to the advantage of the
members of their group or their friends. Occult powers are not provable by
scientific experiments and experience. For Flavell, occult powers should be
understood as:
…special
mysterious powers granted to individuals and groups of individuals, either as
specialist or by heredity, or by initiation into occultic groups. Occult powers
can also be
acquired
by the application of special charms made by special experts.[3]
Belief
in occult powers are different from religious belief, though they many seem to
be related. This Flavell also pointed out.[4]
There are instances where some people take occultism to be a form of religion.
But it is not really a religion, since membership to such a group is restricted
and the doctrines are kept secret and the adherents often take oath of secrecy.
Thus, the power of the divine to intervene in normal human affairs which is
regarded as miracle is excluded from our understanding of occult power. In order
to explain miracles, theologians usually make a distinction between God’s providentia
ordinaria and God’s providentia extraordinaria. It is the latter
that is generally regarded and identified as miracles…[5]
In a
simple language, miracles in general are “events which are the product of
natural causes but whose context is such as to suggest a special divine
intention with regard to their occurrence.”[6]
Miracle belongs to the realm of religion and not to the domain of occultism. Many
people in Africa believe in the existence of occult powers. They believe that
with such powers people could perform or do what is normally and naturally
beyond the ability of human beings. For example, human beings naturally do not
turn into rats and other animals. But some believe this is possible by the possession
of a mystical power, power which witches and wizards are said to possess. For
the purpose of this article, occult powers exclude all those powers which could
be explained by today’s science. Occult powers do not include the medicinal
curatives powers of plants and herbs, which could be explained by pharmacy and
pharmacology; nor do they include occurrences which are explicable by physics
and other natural sciences. However, due to ignorance, some people include
scientifically explainable occurrences and behaviours among occult powers. For
example, in Greek antiquity, when the Pre-Socratic philosopher Thales of
Miletus predicted an eclipse of the sun which indeed did occur in 585 B.C.,[7]
some claimed he was able to do that
because of occult powers which he possessed.
African
World View as Background to the Belief in Occult Powers
The
major background to Africans’ belief in the influence of occult power stem from
the way they perceive the world. For Africans, particularly black Africans,
there are basically two worlds: the world in which we live and the world of the
underworld, which is inhabited by spirits, ancestors and forces. These spirits
and forces influence humans and could be appeased with sacrifices. The
traditional African world view is generally like a pyramid. At the apex is the
Supreme Being; in the middle are the deities, gods and goddesses who are regarded
as agents of the Supreme Being. At the lowest part of the pyramid are located
human beings and other creatures. The deities are believed to be appeased through
sacrifices and other religious observances.[8]
Because of the belief in the existence of a hierarchy of beings, Africans
accept that some of the beings in the world are powerful.
One
can gain admittance into using the “supernatural” power given by them if one
got initiated or is gifted. A typical African believes that it is possible to
get a secret or occult power and knowledge which he may use negatively to influence
his fellow human beings. This is on account of the African world view that:
…man
is not alone in the universe; that there are some other creatures. When man
gains admittance into the wisdom which these other creatures have, he is
allowed to profit in a small degree from their hidden treasures of knowledge.[9]
Although
some other cultures and traditions also accept the existence of beings other than
man, in Africa this belief is often exaggerated or blown out of proportion.
This is why there are more jujus (gods and goddesses) in Africa than in
any other continent, even among highly educated people.
Belief
in the Occult and Paranormal among Africans
Among
Africans, particularly those inhabiting, southern, western, eastern and central
areas of the continent, belief in occult and the paranormal is rampant. In
South Africa for example, people who were H.I.V. positive were told by medicine
men/women that having sex with a virgin provided a cure for H.I.V/A.I.Ds. This
false belief increased the number of people infected with the dreaded virus
because the virgins who were innocent were contaminated and infected with the
virus. The South African government reacted later to the trend and sought the
license to produce antiretroviral drugs locally. That helped a lot!
In
West Africa, belief in voodoo, mysterious powers and occultism has continued to
spread. In Nigeria, for example, many police men who stand on the road with A-K
47 rifles also attach pieces of red clothes etc to their guns under the false
belief that there are some armed robbers who cannot be killed by bullets
because bullets from police riffles cannot pierce their bodies. They have “bullet-proof”
bodies and they are said to have acquired such power through occultism. The
pages of the national Newspapers in Nigeria are often filled with stories of
people who are said to have occult powers. This
includes:
witchcraft powers, sorcery, money-making jujus, ability to see and
interact with the dead and the power to harm one’s enemies from a distance,
etc. Many people believe these stories. The influence of the media on
paranormal and occult phenomena is much. The Vanguard Newspaper of
Nigeria for example, reported sometime on its first page how the police were
pursuing an armed robber and suddenly the robber changed into a goat. According
to the story, the police arrested the goat and later charged it to court. They
were convinced it was the robber that changed into a goat. The
story
reads:
It
was a shocking sight yesterday as men of the Kwara State Police Command paraded
a goat as an armed robbery suspect. The goat “suspect” is being detained over
an alleged attempt to snatch a Mazda car.[10]
The
police did not imagine that it was possible that the robber mixed up with the
crowd present at the time of the robbery. They acted out of prior conviction
and belief. If law enforcement agents could act in this manner, it shows the
level at which belief in superstitious and occult powers operate in the
Nigerian (and some other African countries) socio-political and socio-economic spheres.
In
Nigeria, in August 2008, the story of a local government chairman who set
N250,000,000 (two hundred and fifty million) Naira (which is about U$D
240,000,000) ablaze made waves and attracted criticisms from everywhere. The
chairman was asked to burn the money by a traditional medicine man as a way of
casting spells on his enemies and subduing them so that they would have no
power over him. Apart from these cases, in the Central African Republic people are
still being tried and sent to prison on accusation of witchcraft. Once a person
is accused of such a “crime” by someone or the community, the accused is
brought to traditional medicine man/woman that proves the innocence or guilt of
the accused through incantations and examination of the accused body. That is the
only proof that is required. The judge in the court relies on the proof
provided by the medicine man or woman without considering whether such is
contrary to an objective understanding of justice and fair hearing.[11]
By such mundane practice, many innocent people have been sent to prison. This
is possible because the Central African national constitution still has a
provision that makes witchcraft a punishable offence. In Nigeria, it was in
1903 that the law which abolished witchcraft and juju was promulgated, while
the law that proscribed unlawful societies (secret societies) was made in 1905.[12]
The
instances of belief in occult powers enumerated above are only a few of the
various beliefs in occult powers that pervade the multiethnic and pluralistic
continent of Africa. This belief plays a major and important part in the psyche
of many an African that even
men
and women in the academia who are supposed to have an objective assessment of
the society are also enveloped in such pessimistic and ridiculous explanation
of social phenomena, often without recourse to rational and critical
assessment.
Mode
of Acquisition of Occult Powers
Occult
power is normally acquired through two basic ways: either one is naturally
gifted with such ability, or one acquires it by associating with a group from
which one gets the power. Occult power could also be given to someone who has
paid to acquire it. For example, there are people who pay to get charms and
amulets which they believe will give them occult powers and protection. Some
philosophers have posited the existence of other beings. In Greek antiquity,
Anaxagoras for example, said there were bodies and
beings
other than humans. According to him, “beneath the heavenly bodies are certain
bodies, invisible to us, that are carried around along with the sun and the
moon.” [13]
Even Aristotle in his discussion of the opinions of Anaxagoras and Democritus
said that they believed in the existence of some heavenly bodies and objects.
He discussed these heavenly bodies at length in his On Celestial Phenomena.[14]
Among
Christian theologians and philosophers the existence of other beings was not
put in doubt. It is seen in St. Augustine for example, in his discussion on
pagan deities, demons and Christian angels.[15]
In the Medieval era the angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas argued that there
were immaterial beings. In the world therefore, there are beings that are quite
powerful (positive or negative). People are able to get occult power from some
of these other beings. The devil could also give someone an occult power,
which
will enable him (the possessor) to do things which naturally he would be
incapable of. This kind of power is occult because it is not given to
everybody, but to those who have pledged to abide by the rules and regulations
given by him. Members of secret cults could get such power.
People
who possess occult power can also make others acquire and use it. This is what
happens when someone goes to a traditional medicine man to pay him in order to
be given some occult power. Some claim to be able to make human beings “bullet-proof”
in the sense that no gun fired at them will be able to pierce the body. Some have
also claimed to have acquired “mysterious” powers from powerful medicine men.
In Ghana there are people who claim that they can take any quantity of alcohol
drink without being drunk. Rather, other people who sit close by will get
intoxicated, even though they have not taken any alcohol. I am still
investigating into this issue, to find out whether it is true or false. Some
other occult powers are acquired by making of concoctions from herbs and other
materials. This concoction is either smeared on some parts of the body or
drunk, followed by some incantations. This is what happens in the case of
witchcraft and sorcery where one gets the power by being a member of the cult
and eating/drinking what he or she has been given. In the opinion of some self
acclaimed witches, it might entail the drinking of human blood.
It
is possible to get occult power through spirit possession. In this case a man
or woman is possessed by a spirit which gives him/her the power to perform what
normal human beings are not able to do. This is a rare occurrence. The person
who is possessed serves as a medium and does what the spirit orders or demands.
In Akan culture of Ghana, one could, through spirit possession get the power to
know the herbs that are to be used to cure different illnesses. This kind of
spirit is called Dunsi nii. Such possessed people normally do become
traditional healers. There is also temporary spirit possession by evil spirit.
In this case the possessed exhibits behaviour that is queer and abnormal.
Experts, particularly religious experts (and some faith healers) can cast the spirit
out. There is however a difference between spirit mediumship and spirit
possession (or demonic possession). While the former is often not harmful, as
one acts as a messenger of the spirit, the latter brings about ill health.[16]
For the purpose of this presentation, parapsychology, hypnosis, trance and
religious faith healing are not regarded as occult powers. Thus, they are not
regarded as modes of acquiring occult power.
Examples
of Occult of Powers
There are several occult powers which some people claim to have. Some of them have been mentioned above. Some of the outstanding among the powers include:
1. Witchcraft: witches and wizards are said to be able to manipulate the forces to their advantage and can cause harm to their perceived enemies. The belief is found in many parts of Africa especially among people living in the coastal regions.
2. Pin-casting: having the invisible power to be able to cast out pins or pieces of iron which are supposed to be responsible for ill health.
3. Sorcery: sorcerers are presumed to have the power to cause misfortune, accidents or even to maim and kill people.
4. Necromancy: ability to conjure the dead, which some people claim to have. In Ghana, for example, through mirror-viewing at Antoa shrine (in Ashanti Region) and other places, people went to consult their death relatives and friends. In ninety-eight percent of the cases the aim of the visit or consultation was not achieved.
5. Money-making
charms/jujus: there are people in Africa particularly in Nigeria who
have committed murder because they were carrying out an instruction given them
by a “specialist” who had the power of making them rich over night. In most of
the cases the person concerned must kill his or her loved one in order to achieve
his aim of being wealthy with little or no labour and effort. Astonishingly,
from my research, those who claim to have this power of making others wealthy continue
to live in near abject poverty. Their only source of income was from the
clients and customers who came to their shrines. When I asked the question: you
make this charm/juju for other people and you said it worked; why not make it
for yourself, so that you would also become rich? The man replied that it would
not work for him. It works only when he makes it for others.
Can
Occult Powers be used to Solve African Problems?
Many
claimed occult powers in Africa are not real. It is not because they cannot be
scientifically proven or investigated. No!
There
are things which are true, which science cannot investigate by the use of
empirical methods. The fact of transubstantiation in Catholic theology, for
example and many religious truths cannot be proven to be true or false by
investigation or scientific evidence. Rather, many claimed occult powers are
not true because proper investigation into many of them, using the methods and
criteria provided by the “holders” of such powers have not worked. Often claims
are made, and when the investigation begins, the arguments begin to change. For
example, a man claimed to have what in local language is called aduro,
(literally meaning ‘impenetrable’ by bullets and knife). I asked him to allow
me to organize to have him shot at the leg. I even promised him some money.
This man who was boasting of the power he had, surprisingly said since I had
come to test his power that it would not work. According to him, it works only
where there is real and apparent danger to his life. Since many claimed occult
powers do not function as they claim, they cannot be used to solve issues and problems
inherent in Africa. One of the most widespread and known occult power in Africa
and beyond is that of witchcraft. In the Old Testament time, it was inherent
even in the culture and tradition of the Jews. In early Christian era it was
regarded as pactum implicitum cum daemone (implicit pact with the demon)
and was condemned. The story of Saul and the witch of Endor in the Old
Testament (1 Samuel 28:12-19) brings to the fore OT belief in the existence of such
occult power. According to the Bible narrative, Saul had expelled all the witches/wizards
from Israel, but he disobeyed God in not killing the Amalekites as God had
instructed him. God therefore decided not to communicate any longer with him.
He was to be delivered into the hands of the Philistines. He called on God and
He did not answer (as He used to). So, Saul disguised himself and went to Endor
to consult one of the witches he (Saul) had banned from Israel. Saul asked the
witch to bring up the spirit of Samuel, which she did.[17]
Samuel said to Saul, “why have you disturbed my rest by conjuring me up?” Saul
then explained that he was distressed and wanted to know if he could win the
war against the Philistines, but God gave NO for an answer. Samuel told Saul
that God was silent because He was annoyed with him and that he would be killed
in the war. “What is more, Yahweh will deliver Israel and you too into the power
of the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me…” The whole
thing happened as Samuel had predicted. The following day, Saul and his sons
were slaughtered in the battlefield. So, the witch of Endor had an occult power
which she used to conjure Samuel and helped Saul in his distress. Witchcraft
was also a problem in Europe. At a time, some popes had to issue instructions
on how witches were to be treated. Even Canon Law had provision on how to
extract information from witches.
The
Catholic Church in Medieval Europe had teachings on witchcraft, like that of
Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae, 1 pars. q. 51, ad. 6), and the
letters of Popes Gregory IX (Vox in Rama, 1233) and Innocent VIII (Summis
Desiderantes Affectibus, 1484) which warned people of the danger of
witchcraft.[18]
In the Medieval period, the Catholic Church saw witches and sorcerers as
enemies of the faith and wanted to have them wiped out. With the Bull of Pope
Innocent VIII persecution against them began.
In
Germany, two German Dominican friars/monks “Heinrich Kraemer and Johann
Sprenger were appointed as inquisitors, charged with carrying out the war
against witchcraft in North Germany to a successful conclusion.”[19]
The joint work of Kraemer and Sprenger entitled Malleus Maleficarum became
at that time a reference book on witchcraft and how to deal with it. What
followed was decades of inquisition during which condemned witches were burnt
at stake.
Witchcraft
never helped Europe to progress. Although development, industrialization and
enlightenment have helped Europe to overcome and overgrow the belief and dependence
on witchcraft, in Africa, the trend is different. Many still hold on to it. In
spite of witchcraft confessions and people claiming to belong to the group,
objectively speaking, in reality and factually it is difficult to establish
witchcraft existence in the same way it is difficult to totally deny its
nonexistence. However, from the nature of operation of so called witch covens,
witchcraft cannot be used to solve African problems because it is basically
negative and perceived enemies and opponents are attacked. Witches are people who
have no morality. What they do is normally hidden. Some of the stories about
witches and their activities are over exaggerated. Witchcraft cannot be used to
influence economic and political problems in Africa. Even in South Africa where
there was apartheid and official racial discrimination for decades and in
countries like Nigeria and Congo where the politicians are corrupt, witchcraft
has no solution to offer. It does not have the power it claims to have. Psychologically,
it is possible that due to the image which has been imprinted on the psyche, a
person could be said to have been influenced by witchcraft.
Apart
from witchcraft there is the problem of pin-casting. Occult power said to have
been possessed by those who practice pin-casting is a farce. They play on the
psyche of their clients who are often very gullible on account of the illness
from which they are suffering. They are therefore ready to do whatever they are
told. When they are told that some pins have been removed from their bodies,
they believe it to be true. Sorcery operates in a similar way as witchcraft.
This, also, does not offer any hope of its being used to solve African
problems. Why can’t sorcerers use their acclaimed power to impact positively on
the stock market, or use that power to “force” political leaders to open up
more factories to employ more people in order to reduce unemployment. This,
too, is not possible. Some cases of sorcery have been discovered to be
psychological disorder, which impinge on the mental health of the so called
sorcerer. Necromancy is another occult power which some people in Africa claim
to have. My research revealed that this is a rare occurrence. I could not get
any necromancer who was able to conjure the spirit of a dead person in order to
get relevant information. Those necromancers, who claim to conjure the dead by the
use of mirrors and other devices, deceive their clients, whom they often tell
to do what is almost impossible. If necromancy were to work, it would have been
a veritable tool in solving cases in Africa, especially cases that have to do
with will and inheritance. Many West and Central Africans do not write wills
(testaments) and when they die, their families are thrown into confusion and
the struggle for properties begins to tear the family apart. Again, necromancy
would have been very useful in solving unresolved murder cases. But we know
that there are many murder cases in Africa and the world that are not yet resolved.
Often, a scientific way of resolving them is to carry out a DNA test. This is
costly and demands time. The dwindling of world economy, high unemployment rate
and increasing poverty ratio among the peoples of the world have made some
Africans to look for an easier way of making money. Some engage in illicit
businesses, like the traffic in narcotics and the sale of inferior and low
quality materials, while others resort to making of charms and amulets as ways
of getting rich quick. Some believe that these charms would help them to get
rich overnight. My research reveals that the traditional medicine men who claim
to have the power of making people rich do not really have such power. Even
people who join secret societies and clubs do not become wealthy on account of
the occult power which they have “acquired”, rather the association with highly
connected and wealthy people helps them to get money for their businesses and
open to them other avenues to financial growth. If money-making jujus and
charms work the way their proponents claim, why couldn’t they be used to make
so much money as to be able to wipe away poverty among Africans and peoples of
the world? Africans could have used it repay the debts they owe international
communities and financial institutions. Many Africans are very poor and earn
less than U$D 2 per day. The hope of making money quickly makes some Africans
lazy. Instead of working very hard, some waste their time and at the end go to
make charms that does not work. When they discover the charms have not given
them what they hoped for, they begin to suffer from depression and high blood
pressure.
Conclusion:
The Way Forward
Man
is a material as well as a spiritual and metaphysical being. In his materiality
he seeks to satisfy his needs which basically include food, shelter and basic
comfort. The quest to satisfy these needs leads him into doing various things
to better his conditions and make himself happy. On the other hand, as a
spiritual/metaphysical being man believes in the existence of superior or
supernatural beings and powers. Often he seeks to have a share in the superior
powers, powers which are beyond his normal capability. So, he seeks to obtain
powers which are occult. This is not given to all but only to a few who are
either gifted with such or who try to get it through other means in order to
use it for their own advantage. There are very few people in the world who can
boast of having real occult
power. Often the possessors shroud this in secrecy and mystify it. Many others
claim to have occult power because it makes them “superior” to the rest. Thus,
the issue of occult power is exaggerated among Africans especially among West
Africans. Very many people are therefore deceived into believing that occult
power is rampant. As a result, even highly educated and highly placed people
believe in this, to the detriment of societal life and progress. Today, it is
not easy to clear the minds of the people and their strong belief in occult
power and its acclaimed efficacy. One of the ways of helping to solve this
problem is to educate the people properly that belief in a wide spread occult
power is not in order. Africans should be taught to know that there is a
difference between the natural powers which herbs and substances have, (which
could be explained scientifically) and the exaggerated, mystified power which
traditional medicine men and others take to be as a result of occult power.
This education that is required should involve the study of philosophy which is
a discipline that raises critical questions on issues, and anthropology, which
studies peoples and cultures. People will then be able to look at the issue of
occult powers more critically. If the ability to have and manipulate occult powers
is very wide spread and efficacious, why have Africans not used them to solve
their socio-political and socio-economic problems?
The introduction of philosophy and anthropology
at the primary and secondary institutions will be a right step in the right direction
towards solving this problem that has misdirected some Africans; even
academics, law enforcements agents, politicians as
well
as men and women, young and old.
ENDNOTES
[1]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary, edited by E. M.
Kirkpatrick. Edinburgh: W & R Chambers Ltd., 1983, p. 874.
[2] Loc. cit.
[3]
Ambrose
Flavell, OSB “Occult Powers and Socio-Economic Dynamic in Nigeria” in Bigard
Theological Studies, July – December 2006, Vol. 26 No. 2, p. 11.
[4]
Flavell
argues that “both religious and occult beliefs are not always amenable to the
usual rule of logic, and their claims are often not verifiable by empirical
causal explanations.” Loc. cit. In religion, the adherent may pray for the
intervention of the divine in normal human affairs, while in occultism, the
adherent commands the invisible occult forces and wants to use them to his own
advantage and often to the detriment of others and the society. “In most cases,
possession of occult power is linked with the ability to do evil.” Loc. cit.
[5]
Aloysius
C. Obiwulu, “Influence of the Paranormal and the Occult on the Life of Nigerians”
in The Paranormal, the Occult and Society, edited by Aloysius C .
Obiwulu. Enugu: Delta Publications, 2008, p. 9.
[6]
William Lane Craig, “Creation, Providence and Miracles,” in Philosophy of
Religion, edited by Brian Davies. London: Cassell Publishers, 1998, p.152.
[7]
Thales
came from the Greek Island of Miletus. He was regarded as one of the seven
sages of Greece because of his extraordinary wisdom. In his days, philosophy
was to some extent mixed up with mythology and religion. Thales combined
philosophy with science, cosmology and practical wisdom. “He is stated on good
authority to have predicted an eclipse of the sun which the calculations of
modern astronomy show to have occurred in the year 585 B.C.”
See
Alfred William Benn, Early Greek Philosophy, London: Archibald Constable
and Co. Ltd., 1908, pp. 15-16.
[8]
Aloysius
Obiwulu, “The Impact of Slavery on the Demographic and Economic Growth of
Africa” in J. Obi Oguejiofor (ed.), Philosophy, Ideology and Civil
Society. Owerri: Living Flames Resources, 2009, p.360.
[9]
Aloysius
Obiwulu, “Influence of the Paranormal and the Occult on the Life of Nigerians”
in Aloysius Obiwulu (editor), The Paranormal, the Occult and Society.
Enugu: Delta Publications Ltd., 2008, pp. 10-11.
[10]
“Police
Parade Goat as Robbery Suspect” in Vangaurd Newspaper, Vol. 25, Number
60767, January 23, 2009, pp. 1 and 5. The photograph of the goat was published
on page 5 of the Newspaper. Other Nigerian Dailies also published the same
story.
[11]
The
American television network, CNN reported on August 27, 2014 that in Bagandou,
a town in Central African Republic, witchcraft accusation is still rampant in
the area. Those accused range from young people to very old men and women. We
know it is very difficult to prove beyond reasonable doubt that someone is a
witch or wizard. In Bagandou some people had been imprisoned because they were
found guilty of “eating” the soul of people.
[12]
B.
Obinna Okere regarded these laws as obnoxious. They were aspects of Nigerian
native law and custom. They have been abrogated by civil legislation. See B.
Obinna Okere, “Nigerian Customary Law and the Received English Law:
Confrontation and Harmonisation” in Religion andAfrican Culture, edited
by Elochukwu E. Uzukwu. Enugu, Snaap. No date of publication given, p. 31.
[13]
The First Philosophers: The Pre-Socratics and the Sophists, a
new translation by Robin Waterfield. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, p.
128, paragraph T9
[15]
Confer:
St. Augustine, The City of God, translated by Gerald G. Walsh, Demetrius
B. Zema et al. New York: Image Books, 1958, see Book IX, chapter 1.
[16]
For
more details, see Spirit Mediumship and Society in Africa, edited by John
Beattie and John Middleton, foreword by Raymond Firth. New York: Africana
Publishing Corporation, 1969, p. ix. This work was quoted by Raymond Arazu, Man
Know Thyself. (Discovering the Master Plan by Knowing which Everything else
is Known). Enugu: Snaap Press Ltd., 2003, pp. 58-59.
[17]
See
(1 Samuel 28: 12-19). According to the Bible, “The woman then saw Samuel and
giving a great cry, she said to Saul, “why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
The king said, ‘do not be afraid! What do you see?’ The woman replied to Saul,
‘I see a ghost rising from the earth.’ ‘What is he like? He asked. She
answered, ‘he is an old man coming up; he is wrapped in a cloak.’ Saul then
knew that it was Samuel and bowing to the ground, prostrated himself.”
[18]
Aloysius
Obiwulu, “Influence of the Paranormal and the Occult on the Life of Nigerians”
in Aloysius Obiwulu (editor), The Paranormal, the Occult and Society,
op. cit., p. 15.
[19]
John
Hogan, Man Know Thyself, op. cit., p.78. See also George Ryley Scott, History
of Torture. London: Sphere Books Ltd., 1971, cf. 95ff. In spite of what the
Catholic Church did in Medieval Europe, it was only in 1951 that the Witch Act
was totally abrogated in Britain.
