The Power of Evil Presentation

by benjamin c. ray

Presented by menen gowdie

The Power of Evil

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06- Discussion Questions

05- Quote

04- Witches: Yoruba, Manianga, and Azande

03- Songhay Witchcraft & Sorcery

02- Power of Evil (quote)

01- Main Thesis

Table of Contents

Within African cultures, Ray discusses what effect the power of evil has on the Songhay, Yoruba, Manianga, and Azande peoples.

Main Thesis

Benjamin C.Ray

"Evil powers maim and kill their victims;the sufferings they cause are undeserved and socially destructive. Evil comes from men's hearts, from the envy and jealously of human beings, through acts of witchcraft and sorcery."

Quote

His experience:"the notion of witchcraft now struck me not as an abstract category, but as a concrete entity-a person who could do no harm."

- As described by anthropologist Paul Stoller, "Songhay witches were supposed to eat the souls of their victims. They were the most malevolent force in the Songhay cosmos, continuously causing illness and death along their path." (Ray 106)

The Songhay Witchcraft

Character:The Songhay sorcerers see themselves as living in a spiritually powerful and sometimes deadly universe. A universe that is controlled by a distant creator God, his messenger Ndebbi, various angels, ancestors, and spirits who live up in the heavens.

The Songhay Sorcery

Sorcerers:- Are diviners and healers - Agents of destructive magic which they sell people who want to use it

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Commitment:Undergo years of apprenticeship and memorize a maximum store of oral knowledge (verbal incantations, botanical and medical information, and ritual echnique

Competition:They are jealous seekers of power who compete with each other.

The Songhay Sorcery (cont.)

Point of view:The only way to succeed in this world is to draw upon the powers and forces of the heavens which means to use spells to overcome one's personal enemies.

• Thought to be a substance (called mangu) that is located within the stomach and inherited by large numbers of people
• Witchcraft is a common feature of their experience and explains most ordinary misfortunes.

• People are initated as witches before birth by their mothers or during early childhood
• Regard witchcraft as a potential in everyone, a part of human nature that can go astray.

• Think of it as an activity a person chooses before birth
• A person cannot be "made" a witch but must have deliberately selected this ability as his or her destiny

The Azande

The Manianga

Witchcraft

The Yoruba

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"First spear": Termites- Termites appear as "first spear"

Why does a granary collapse and injures this or that particular person?

"Second spear": Witchcraft- Does not deny that termites eat the supports of granaries because Zande witchcraft beliefs do not exclude natural causation

View of the Azande

Zande witchcraft accusations provide a means of dealing with antisocial behavior.

Azande accusations

According to Edward Evans-Pritchard, "Witchcraft accusations point to socially relevant causes and deman d social intervention" (110).

for the azande, witchcraft accusations convert the seemingly arbitrary misfortunes of life into occasions for exposing human ill will, whether conscious or unconscious, in hopes of relieving at least some social conflict and human suffering. Yet, they know that such problems will always be present"(110)

IV. In terms of learning about witchcraft, out of The Songhay, The Manianga, The Yoruba, and The Azande, which of these caught your attention the most? Why?

II. In reference to the depictions of evil powers in these cultures, what do you notice about gender?

I. What changed Stoller's view of Songhay?

III. How can learning about evil power in Africa contribute to the overall concept of meaning and reasoning behind these practices?

Discussion Questions:

The Azande and Witchcraft

If you are interested, here is a video documentary on the Azande and their history with witchcraft.

Thank you all for listening!

Any questions/Comments?