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Article: A skeptical look at African witchcraft and religion.
- Article from:
- Skeptic (Altadena, CA)
- Article date:
- March 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WITCHCRAFT IS A PREVALENT BELIEF AND PRACTICE on the African continent. It permeates and controls the thinking, perception and lives of nearly all Africans, both educated and non-educated. It is an integral part of Africa's traditional religious heritage. Several writings on African indigenous religious systems attest to this.
For instance, V. M. Turner, in his 1968 book The Drums of Affliction: A Study of Religious Processes Among the Ndembu of Zambia, cites as one of the features of the religion of the Ndembu people, the "belief in the anti-social destructive power of female witches and sorcerers, known as aloji, meaning perverted destroyer of life. The aloji ...