The Azande

Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande Aaron Wintrich Professor Arthur Anthropology of Religion 10/30/12 2,075 Words Wintrich II Witchcraft among the Azande is an integral part of everyday life. From highly involved communal practices to individual daily life, witchcraft and such happenings can take place at any time and to anyone. During his time among the Azande, Evans Pritchard originally thought of the Azande’s belief in witchcraft as naïve, believing that all mishaps were

I. Introduction This extended essay will involve a comparison of ethnographic material from two case studies, E. E. Evans-Pritchard’s, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande (Oxford 1937) and V. Chryssanthopoulou’s article on “The Evil Eye among the Greeks of Australia: Identity, Continuity and Modernization”, in J. C. B. Petropoulos (ed.), Greek Magic: Ancient, Medieval and Modern (Routledge 2008, pp. 106-118). The aim of this comparison will be to illustrate two different indigenous

Witchcraft, Magic and Rationality Social Anthropology seeks to gauge an understanding of cultures and practices whether they are foreign or native. This is achieved through the studying of language, education, customs, marriage, kinship, hierarchy and of course belief and value systems. Rationality is a key concept in this process as it affects the anthropologist’s interpretation of the studied group’s way of life: what s/he deems as rational or plausible practice. Witchcraft and magic pose

E.E Evans-Pritchard once said, “I have often been asked whether, when I was among the Azande, I got to accept their ideas about witchcraft. I suppose you can say I accepted them. I had no choice. In my own culture, I rejected Azande notions of witchcraft. In their culture, I accepted them. In a kind of way, I believed them.” In the documentary Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard: Strange Beliefs, the research of British social anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard on the Zande tribe of central Africa

In Africa’s largest country, Sudan, is where the Azande people lived. In southwestern Sudan, north of Zaire, and to the east of the Central African Republic to be exact. The Azande lived in houses near the river bank where there was a lot of greenery and shade for their homes. They lived there for some time before they were forced to move.They had to move away from the river banks and near roads, because of a sickness spread by a bug that lived in the shrubbery there. In their new location, a traditional

other while also addressing the benefits and drawbacks of separating religion and politics. E.E. Evans-Pritchard 's approach to religion and its correlation to the political can be seen in his study of the Azande people through the book Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande. In it, he explains the impact that witchcraft has on the lives of the Zande, arguing that it permeates their every being and is what structures the entire society. Evans-Pritchard focuses on a three-pillared institutional

The Azande from an inside perspective: Editor’s notes: Azande culture is surprising simple in structure, or at first glance from a western perspective, it appears to be simple. This culture is very different from what Americans or even Westerners experience on a day-to-day basis. The Azande culture is hierarchal and patriarchal, and has many actions, beliefs, and superstitions that have manifested themselves out of centuries of attempts to justify natural occurrences with a logical, understandable

During his studying of the Azande, Evans-Pritchard faced many different challenges. One challenge he faced was his ability to understand the rules and guidelines of witchcraft itself, and those who practice it. It seemed that the restrictions surrounding gender and who can be and can’t be a witch was left without explanation and many times simply confusing, and many of the rules and guidelines for those in the culture seemed without explanation. For example, when tragedy or accidents happened, Evans-Pritchard

place called Zande where the Azande people live. In the book written by Holly Peters-Golden, Culture Sketches, Chapter 1 educates the reader on the subject of the Azande people and their primitive way of life. The author discusses the uniqueness of their culture, including their traditions, beliefs, and customs. While American and Azande cultures vary greatly, both societies have the freedom to practice

and colonial ‘primitive mentality’ (Levi-Bruhl, 1926) is still so markedly debated. To understand if witchcraft is rational, we must look to understand the cultural and social systems of those who practice it. Using Evans-Pritchard’s research on the Azande to