Reproduced comment

Via the blog Withcraft: Physical or Spiritual?:

Marco Methuselah • 3 years ago
Dr Onyinah has presented a very interesting topic whether witchcraft is spiritual or physical. He observes only from one point of view (Akan perspective). Just as it is difficult to speak of an African Culture using one context to present the whole of Africa, it is still difficult to answer the question raised by Dr Onyinah whether witchcraft is spiritual or physical. Using a Sukuma context from Northwest Tanzania witchcraft is both spiritual and physical. It is believed by local Wasukuma people that in order for a witch to travel from one place to another he/she needs a physical vessel such as a bird, hyena, snake, dog or a black cow. Two very known male witches attended a funeral of my grandmother. At mid-night while almost everybody had slept, they began discussing how they travel responding to a witchcraft call. They were saying “when I began riding my motorcycle (swahili pikipiki)” I met somebody . . . on my way (mentioned another female witch) whom I all know. Then, I asked the friend of my father named Magoso “what do you mean by motorcycles” then they laughed at me saying that “you are still a young pastor but we can tell you. . . . By motorcycles they meant hyenas and some animals that are accepted in witchcraft transport. Birds are called ndege which means aeroplanes.

Therefore, in Sukumaland a witch uses a physical vessel. This physical vessel as a means of transport, and physical roots as medicine. It would not be enough for the physical means of transport to run, fly without a spiritual power. Spiritual power is needed for a witch on a hyena to run with very high speed or bird to fly in a very high speed. This brings us to a conclusion that witchcraft is also spiritual.

Pentecostal believers and preachers have articulated that witchcraft is a demon or spirit. I have heard pentecostal preachers who say that in order for a witch to fly in basin (traditional tool made from plants locally known as ungo) he/she needs a spirit/demon to enable the movement. We can hear in churches and in open air gospel meetings rebuke the power of witchcraft in name of Jesus. This is just an indication that witchcraft is spiritual.

Whether witchcraft is spiritual or physical or is both spiritual and physical is just an indication that witchcraft in Africa is a reality. It is there. There are people who bewitch others. There are people who have been bewitched in one way or another and there are also people who have been never bewitched. In Northwest Tanzania almost everyone has been tempted to be bewitched, made sick, and got healed whether from a diviner or prayed for by a pastor or a preacher.

The issue of witchcraft has to be given a theological respond. When I was pastoring in Sukumaland, members of the church would come saying that they had seen somebody (identifying somebody they know trying to bewitch him/her. When we prayed they said they had peace in their houses. When somebody is walking at night then meet a dog or hyena both non-Christians and Christians do not believe if they were really animals. They see witchcraft from a spiritual point of view. This blog discussion will finally come to a good conclusion and solution of the problem. These articles we are discussing should also be printed in a book to enable those who had no time and skills viewing Henry blog on witchcraft and witch accusation.

Thanks,
Marco Methuselah.

 

 

African dog witchcraft

From Google Books:

Elephant have right of way – Page 104

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=OHgwAQAAIAAJ
Betty Leslie-Melville, ‎Jock Leslie-Melville – 1973 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
Is accused of setting memoes a of his church on to an old woman who tried to seduce the holy man in the early hours of the morning. In his defence Agabaossi told police he and the rest of the faithful beet up the old woman because she had changed into a dog. “This witch- also a healer, t at 2 a m he and ten sleeping on i while under treal- a wakened by the piercing hooting of owls — a sign of bad medicine. “Next three dogs appeared For us everything was clear Someone was trying …

The Chagga and Meru of Tanzania: East Central Africa – Part 18

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=1315309475
Sally Falk Moore, ‎Paul Puritt – 2017 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
A woman who possesses usavi (witchcraft) must pass her knowledge on to her daughters. This usually takes place just before circumcision or marriage when a mother is supposed to stay indoors with her daughter for several days. The daughter cannot refuse to accept the knowledge or she will be unable to bear children. She demonstrates her acceptance of usavi by secretly killing some living creature such as a dog or a cat or perhaps a human being. It is therefore often possible to …

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Introducing World Christianity – Page 32

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=1405182490
Charles E. Farhadian – 2012 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
A Nairobi team reported back to Lighthouse Church on their mission to Yei and Maridi, in Southern Sudan. The people were hungry and thirsty and had not danced for 20–30 years, for it was a stronghold of witchcraft. Maridi was bound by territorial spirits. People were traumatized with drink, while 10 percent of the 50,000 were mad and 20 percent depressed. Dog flesh was a delicacy for the mother-in-law. The team went to work by delivering people from turning into a cat or a dog, …

Animals in African Art: From the Familiar to the Marvelous – Page 75

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=NATqAAAAMAAJ
Allen F. Roberts, ‎Carol A. Thompson, ‎Museum for African Art. New York, NY. – 1995 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
Several of the animals mentioned so far are known or suspected to be vehicles for shape-shifting: crocodiles are one such beast, dogs are another.97 In some of the societies we have discussed, people may become were-crocodiles, and as such … for Kaguru of Tanzania, spotted hyenas are the “witches of the animal world,” and human witches hug hyenas “by the belly as they race through the sky” on their maleficent errands.110 Hyena masks and other visual representations must …

Mysteries and Secrets of Voodoo, Santeria, and Obeah – Page 187

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=1770703101
Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe – 2008 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
An African amulet from Tanganyika was made from a dog’s gallbladder. This making of amulets and talismans from animal sources was an integral part of the ancient African traditional beliefs that eventually … The medieval European wizard or witch might well grow very fond of a pet goat, toad, or cat, while also valuing it as a familiar and a talisman. Talismans also related to varieties of age-old sympathetic magic. Strewing coins on the floor or on a tabletop was though to attract wealth …

Email from Ngeti: An Ethnography of Sorcery, Redemption, and …

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0520281101
James H. Smith, ‎Ngeti Mwadime – 2014 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
An Ethnography of Sorcery, Redemption, and Friendship in Global Africa James H. Smith, Ngeti Mwadime. Ijust did not know what to do, just continued raving at the dog/witch, which/who finally yelped/cried at this sudden cacophony of incomprehensible tirades, tucked its/his/her tail between its/his/her legs, and off it/he/she went. It was when it/he/she was disappearing round the corner that I came to my senses, lifted the club above my head, and let go at the dog/witch. I only managed …

Email from Ngeti: An Ethnography of Sorcery, Redemption, and …

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0520281101
James H. Smith, ‎Ngeti Mwadime – 2014 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
Ijust did not know what to do, just continued raving at the dog/witch, which/who finally yelped/cried at this sudden cacophony of incomprehensible tirades, tucked its/his/her tail between its/his/her legs, and off it/he/she went. It was when … “tying” was going to be performed in Lunga-Lunga, a border town between Kenya and Tanzania.16 This woman had a shamba there and stories abounded, still do, that those who are taken to be “tied” there are invincible: no witchcraft works on them.

Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard) – 1925

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=wrxu68fBN50C
Vol. 2 – ‎Magazine – ‎Full view
If one were faced with a mad dog one would shoot it. first and enquire afterwards whose dog it is. So in the case of suspected witchcraft the witch doctor would be brought under control until enquiry can be made. In this instance all that is asked for is that a District Commissioner should have power to call an individual in who may be at the root of all the trouble in the district, and keep him under his eye. I am thoroughly in agreement with that, and as the Honourable Acting Chief Native …

South African Journal of Science – Volume 30 – Page 631

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=K1sbAAAAMAAJ
1933 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
The dog is, however, uncommon as a totem in Africa, although he frequently figures in the folk-tales of tribes as far apart as the Mubunda of Barotseland and the Nandi of Kenya. … peoples takes hold of the head, front and hind legs of the animal, while a third man, usually a witch doctor or priest, cuts the animal in two with one sslash of a long-bladed spear, and while doing so invokes curses upon any one who breaks the peace by prophesying for him a violent death like the dog.

The Uganda Journal – Volumes 21-22 – Page 181

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=-gAOAQAAMAAJ
1957 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
“In spite of the lead given him by his brother, Ntare dared not attempt to reconquer his country. At length a sickness fell upon the Banyoro, for which the credit was ascribed to Ntare and the magic given him by the chief of Buha in the form of three arrows, which were shot into Karagwe. Then Ntare and his mother took the road home, accompanied by a witch-doctor from Buha, who, in the form of a dog or a jackal, went forward to see whether the way was clear. And when Ntare came into …

Animal Sheltering – Page 10

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=d19WAAAAYAAJ
2009 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
In Uganda, where she lived for five years, she saw people train guard dogs by confining them to small wooden crates all day. Sometimes, there would be a rumor that a dog was rabid — or even that a dog was a witch — and the locals would abuse the animal out of fear. In Armenia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria, dogs wander around starving in the cold, and no one thinks of feeding them. And yet, Menczer sees sparks of hope — signs that people in developing countries are becoming more …

A Handbook of Eweland: The northern Ewes in Ghana – Page 94

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=kT4_AQAAIAAJ
Francis Agbodeka, ‎Kodzo Gavua – 1997 – ‎Snippet view
A person who is punished through the spirit of a cat, for instance, may become very sick and grow lean, as in the case of AIDS, until his death, while a group of people punished through the spirit of a dog may never know peace among themselves. There is a general belief in the existence and power of witches. Witches are persons whose spirits are believed to be capable of causing harm or good fortune. The majority is held responsible for death and sickness, particularly among …

Translating the Devil: Religion and Modernity Among the Ewe in Ghana

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=086543798X
Birgit Meyer – 1999 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
Religion and Modernity Among the Ewe in Ghana Birgit Meyer. 188 TRANSLATING THE DEVIL. Witchcraft,. or. “The. Dark. Side. of. Kinship’. Leaders of both Agbelengor and the EPC of Ghana’ asserted that most cases they are asked to treat concern adze. Although, occasionally, people are afraid of being turned into witches themselves, the problem is more usually the experience of … At first, she dreamed about a dog biting her – a dream sign which indicates a witchcraft attack.

The International Journal of African Historical Studies – Page 350

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=FngMAQAAMAAJ
2001 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
There he established his Tongo shrine and trained priests who would set up satellite shrines throughout southern Ghana. Kobina Assifu was a capable, personable man who impressed both Akan chiefs and colonial officials.45 As Tongo’s fame grew, it attracted the attention of the African press and the government. On 18 January … Obeng explained that discovered witches were fined “£15 to £25, one live sheep, one dog, three fowls, seven eggs and six bottles of gin.” Assifu charged …

The Akan of Ghana, West Africa: a cultural handbook for reference

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0961457317
Kofi Appiah-Kubi – 1999 – ‎Snippet view
Others are believed to fly nude or use a spider’s web, ride on animals’ back— such as cats, dogs, rats or birds. Their meeting places are mostly on trees, or the outskirts of towns. Their ritual is strictly spiritual. These witches construct their witchpot filled with human blood. These pots are mostly kept on trees or outskirts of towns. However, no blood has been discovered in any of these known or assumed spots because it is invisible to human eye. How does one become a witch?

Nigerians and their pets

Nigeria’s got to have an interesting trajectory, though not unique to other African countries with a substantial Muslim minority (such as Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and possibly Ethiopia) and even its immediate neighbours like Ghana and Cameroon one could say that it’s composed of historically two or three different regions. The Northern part includes Sokoto and there was a Sokoto empire before.

As expected given Islam’s apparent tolerance for cats, cat ownership’s considerably higher in the North among Hausa and Fulani people. This might not always be the case for whatever reason though pet ownership rates differ in the south due to superstitions. Then again the same can’t be said of other countries like Uganda even if cat ownership is similarly low given Uganda has lots of cattle and goats dogs would be preferred for herding them.

I could be wrong about it in Uganda though. Conversely speaking Nigeria’s closest neighbour Cameroon has a relatively higher rate of cat ownership as do Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire (with Akan majority population) despite certain superstitions*. I guess Ugandans, Cameroonians, Ivorians and Ghanaians are likelier to keep cats around for pest control. Among Ugandans they’ve been doing this since the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

At least as I far as I can remember though still wrong about it.

*Because they’re milder too.