Beliefs

While there certainly were books being made in the Middle Ages and very early Renaissance, most of the population were practically illiterate. If there were any books, these would’ve been mostly read by a few select people. The level of literacy would’ve been comparable to what’s going on in some African countries today. Conversely speaking, the witchcraft beliefs in some African churches would’ve been a better idea of what books like ‘Discours des Sorciers’ were reporting and talking about.

I won’t be surprised if countries like Ghana and Zambia as well as studies on them would’ve given similar impressions to what occurred in early modern Europe. While cats got demonised in the late 1290s, I suspect the belief in demonic and bewitching dogs would’ve been earlier and more frequent than what most people believe at least according to a few select writers who carefully observed such things. It is with these books that we’ve a better idea of what Dante was writing about in the Divine Comedy centuries earlier.

There’s even a belief in cynanthropy or witches turning into dogs which’s commonly reported in demonology and witchcraft texts. There’s even substantial mention of the Devil appearing as a dog. Admittedly, I’m annoyed with that though there’s a study on witchcraft trials in Labourd where witches and wizards alike were noted for turning into both cats and dogs there were only a few specific examples of witches turning into cats.

As opposed to a study on witchcraft trials in the Channel Islands where there were more specific examples of witches turning into dogs though these were simply translations of each other. That and churches used to employ people to eliminate dogs. (If I remember* precisely, especially in the Infernal Dictionary a dog would be burnt for being a demon in disguise.)

But the belief in canine witchcraft, though seldom studied any further, deserves credit in how it influences not only the Divine Comedy but also Early Modern plays which shows how prevalent those beliefs are.

Here are excerpts on how prevalent those beliefs are:

Authority and Consent in Tudor England: Essays Presented to C.S.L. …

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0754606651
Clifford Stephen Lloyd Davies, ‎G. W. Bernard, ‎Steven J. Gunn – 2002 – ‎Snippet view
Helen Smith was also sentenced to death at the assizes.3i But perhaps the most significant feature for our purposes in this 1579 account of witchcraft in Essex is Elizabeth Francis’s story of how she met her shaggy dog familiar. Francis had just been in an altercation with a neighbour, and was very angry when the dog appeared to her. These were, as many demortologists commented, the very circumstances in which the devil was most likely to appear to a potential witch. The devil was …

Witchcraft in the Middle Ages – Page 216

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0801492890
Jeffrey Burton Russell – 1972 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
The Beginning of the Witch Craze of witchcraft and burnt.32 The trials were conducted by the secular courts and the fact that they specify witch characteristics in great detail suggests again that of the Inquisition’s responsibility in the development of the phenomenon … The witches at Simmenthal were accused of constituting a sect that met at Church on Sunday morning, not for mass, but to worship Satan. … He was a black rooster, a black dog, a black cat, a black crow, a pig, or a dog.

Le diable en procès: démonologie et sorcellerie à la fin du moyen âge

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=2842921429 – Translate this page
Martine Ostorero, ‎Étienne Anheim – 2003 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
grands procès du moment et les révélations de la justice à ce sujet ont pu suffire à suggérer aux miniaturistes cette représentation du sabbat. L’image paraît particulièrement concordante avec les propos que l’inquisiteur d’Arras aurait tenus lors de son sermon général du 9 mai 1460. Il y affirmait en effet que les sorciers et les sorcières trouvaient au sabbat « un diable en forme de bouc, de chien, de singe, et aulcunes fois d’homme, et il l’adoraient et plusieurs d’entre eux lui donnaient …

The devil in trial: demonology and witchcraft at the end of the Middle Ages

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=2842921429 – Translate this page
Martine Ostorero , ÉTIENNE ANHEIM – 2003 – Snippet view – More editions
The great trials of the moment and the revelations of justice on this subject have been enough to suggest to the miniaturists this representation of the Sabbath. The image seems particularly consistent with the words that the inquisitor of Arras would have held during his general sermon of May 9, 1460. He affirmed indeed that witches and witches found on the Sabbath “a devil in the shape of a goat, of dog , monkey, and aulcunes both man, and he adored him and many of them gave him …

*In another document, this time on Burgundy churches also used people to beat up dogs on the suspicion that they’re demons.

What I’ve suspected

I think I brought up about the correlation between religiosity and attitudes to dogs and dog-keeping. This might not always be the case but it seems parsimonious that with in many, if not most places the younger generation’s more secular than the older and have more sentimental attitudes to animals than the oldsters do most especially marked in culturally Christian or Muslim countries.

As expected, these are more likely to be childless fur parents. Again not necessarily always the case either but makes sense if you add in the degree of religiosity. A good number of Christians (and probably Muslims) are wary of lay believers, especially if they don’t follow God closely. Which includes displacing devotion to him to other things. This is what got churches and mosques into demonising distractions.

Not just with cats but also with dogs since they’re disliked in both Christianity and Islam. The Bible has a low opinion of them and like I said, it can be used to justify cynophobia like others use to justify homophobia. I won’t be surprised if stronger sentimental attachment to dogs correlates with lower religiosity.

Now here’s an excerpt from this article which proves my point:

Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University said, “Pets are becoming a replacement for children.” Her research on the “the entitlement generation” has been published in a book called Generation Me.

Apparently it’s more than just anecdotal. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document a considerable decline in babies born to women between the ages of 15 and 29. A parallel statistic shows an enormous increase in ownership of small dogs among millennial women.

The American Pet Products Association says the number of small dogs — under 25 pounds — in the United States has skyrocketed, from 34.1 million in 2008 to 40.8 million in 2012. Pampering them is up too. They also found that sales of premium dog food has grown more than 170 percent in the last 15 years, now accounting for 57 percent of the market.

Conservative commentator Dennis Prager says there had always been throughout history three social realities driving the birth of children: a lack of contraception, the economic necessity for children to care for parents in old age, and religion. Prager points out that contraception has changed the way couples approach the act of sex; plus government entities like social security and welfare now care for senior citizens so children don’t have to. He believes the decline of the centrality of religion in many American lives today removed one of the main propelling forces for the values inherent in parenthood.

Unsurprisingly I thought of this before and this should be studied more seriously. Given a good number of churches (especially in parts of Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia) demonise dogs, it’s parsimonious that it does confirm suspicions of idolatry and Biblical and Koranic disdain for dogs.

The other problem

Keep in mind that it’s not homophobia that bothers me but that many, if not most, white Evangelicals don’t give their black African counterparts credit for it if they hated homosexuality so much. Many African countries not only have rising, substantial Christian populations and converts but are also very homophobic and transphobic at that. The LGBT scenes in those places are very underground.

While this isn’t entirely ignored among such circles, it seems the real attention’s diverted at a country that’s actually very LGBT friendly. Israel gets prioritised over more homophobic countries like Zambia or Nigeria due to its apparently high status among some Evangelicals. Never mind that if the film God Loves Uganda is any indication, White Christians have had more success at converting blacks to Christianity en masse than they do with Jews.

Black Christians seem all too real in their devotion to God, rivaling their white counterparts at it. Jews are more unattainable and somewhat more desirable even though such forced conversions has made Jews wary of Christianity in general. Also realistically speaking, if a person is saved by truly believing in Jesus then it’s much likelier for a Ghanaian to enter Heaven than an Israeli would.

African countries may have their fair share of sinners but because they managed to be converted to Christianity through colonisation en masse they’d be a greater success story than Israel is at this point. Israel’s not really that Christian-friendly since you have news reports of Israelis spitting at Christians and destroying Christian churches even. Though this too occurs in African countries but to a lesser degree (as it depends on the country itself).

Ironically the money often used to support Israel is not only at the expense of its own Christian community (mostly in Palestine and that several Israelis enjoy insulting both Jesus and Virgin Mary) but also to rebuild conflicted countries like Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and the like.

More beliefs in canine witchcraft

From Google Books:

Dreams in the African Literature [i.e. Church]: The Significance of …

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=9042005963
Nelson Osamu Hayashida – 1999 – ‎Preview
Yet we are quickly reminded how for one AIC God can be revealed in lightning, a snake, or some other creature; and for another AIC group witchcraft or evil spirits are conveyed in owls, rats, dogs, cats, and cows. … Dream symbols such as light, shining clothes, and a group of Christians on one side of the river pleading with the dreamer to cross and join them have been noted to be similar to that found in the Mission churches in Zululand of South Africa as well as in the Mission …
The Quivering Spear and Other South African Legends and Fables

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=w4DfAAAAMAAJ
Thomas A. Nevin – 1996 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
Of one thing they were certain: one of them would be accused by the witches and he or she would not see the sun set that day. Justice would be swift. There would be no mercy. 1 he witches had dressed themselves for the evil ceremony. Bangles of dog’s teeth circled their ankles, wrists and necks. Bracelets of white beads ringed their upper arms. Tails of monkeys, cats and other animals hung from their waists. One of the witches wore the skull of a jackal on his head like a terrible …

The Roots of Black South Africa – Page 171

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=uW4wAQAAIAAJ
W. D. Hammond-Tooke – 1993 – ‎Snippet view
Any person who saw an ichanti fell ill and would die unless treated. Other South Nguni familiars were the baboon, on whose back witches were said to ride backwards (Venda witches used the hyena for this per- pose), and the impaka, a small rodent sent by its owner to bite people’s throats. Among Sotho and Venda familiars were usually animals. Pedi witches used the baboon, polecat, wild cat, dog, snake, owl and bat, while Venda familiars were typically the hyena, weasel, crocodile …

South African journal of African languages: – Volumes 23-24 – Page 85

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=1WsHAQAAIAAJ
2003 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
They tell stories as stories and show how society reacts to witches. F.Z. A MatSela’s Mahakwe a tsela (The pebbles of the road), published in 1997, is a collection of eleven gripping stories about mysteries and witchcraft in Lesotho. In the stories where witches are the culprits, they are sooner or later found out and then punished. For example, in the story, Ntjanyana e iphetolang ngwana (The dog that becomes a child), the reader learns how two witches take away an ill child at night …

Witchcraft, Power and Politics: Exploring the Occult in the South …

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0745315585
Isak Niehaus, ‎Eliazaar Mohlala, ‎Kally Shokaneo – 2001 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
Exploring the Occult in the South African Lowveld Isak Niehaus, Eliazaar Mohlala, Kally Shokaneo. metaphor of a one-way mirror – witches can see other people, but people cannot see them. By day witches were ordinary people who might even appear to be sociable, friendly, kind and hospitable. However, at night, when … She recounted that she observed it one evening, but was quick to point out that when she saw the tokolotsi it had assumed the form of a dog. Similarly, there were …

The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns – Page 64

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=1134679424
Bassey Andah, ‎Alex Okpoko, ‎Thurstan Shaw – 2014 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
In Africa, the differentiation of fragmentary bones and teeth found on archaeological sites as dog or wild canid is more difficult than in other parts of the world because of the presence everywhere of species of jackal whose size overlaps that of the dog. In reports on faunal remains it is therefore … food and in ritual ceremonies; their skins are used, their teeth are made into necklaces and their bones are employed in medicine and witchcraft. European dogs were probably introduced to …

Female superstitions of sex – Page 144

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=pJ6FAAAAIAAJ
Kenneth Kangende – 2004 – ‎Snippet view
The familiar is an animal called isinquawunquawu used in witchcraft to kill people. In rural areas of Zambia, I have heard many similar stories about women who are alleged to have given birth to animals such as a goat or dog. Such stories are associated with witchcraft. It is believed that using black magic, a wizard can make a woman pregnant and make her bear a beast. This is all mere superstition. It is biologically impossible to cross-breed a human being with a beast without a …

Mention of evil Zambian dogs

Via Google Books but I could be wrong in here:

Zambia Then And Now: Colonial Rulers and their African Successors

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=1135784434
William Grant – 2009 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
ALunda wouldnot say,’I havebeen bitten by adog.’ He would say,’Anansumi kudi kawa,’ which means, ‘They have bittenme bya dog.’ Inother words, the dog was sentby evil spirits tobite. Death,diseaseor economicaffliction wasnot causedby germsor other impersonal forces, but byhuman ones. So,find the witch—and witch doctors were happy to oblige, for afee. Most, ifnot all,were rogues and charlatans whom we triedto banish fromour District, notgiving toanythe benefitof thedoubt.
Spirits And Letters: Reading, Writing and Charisma in African …

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0857453912
Thomas G. Kirsch – 2013 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
Frank talk about witchcraft, in contrast, was an indication that nobody present was locally suspected of being a witch.2 In the case of suspicions of witchcraft, delegation of responsibility was also connected with Zambian national law. Like the Witchcraft … He disclosed that a dog had appeared in his visions (leubona ebilengaano rnurnuya usalala [to see a vision through the Holy Spirit]), which he explained as signifying that the affliction had been induced by witchcraft. Instead of giving …
Zambia Museums Journal – Volumes 1-9 – Page 111

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=PdFBAAAAYAAJ
1970 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
(I) Ndibu (Plate 24) : The Ndibu bell is used to call dogs and also by witchdoctors or witch-finders, who employ it to frighten evil spirits. (II) Ulupambo: Ulupambo is a 2 inch long by 2^ inch wide bell, which the chiefs originally used for calling the people. Ulupambo bells are used nowadays in different ways and they are referred to according to the way they are used. a – If worn around the ankles they are called mandyata or mansonko- lo ; the dancer formerly added macentete beads at …

You Can Defeat Demons: A Practical Guide to Casting out Evil Spirits

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=1466957972
Emmanuel M. Nsofwa – 2007 – ‎Preview – ‎More editions
A Practical Guide to Casting out Evil Spirits Emmanuel M. Nsofwa. into creatures other than werewolves or vampires is common. Native witches usually turn into such animals as lions, leopards, tigers, hyenas, crocodiles, snakes, or domestic animals like dogs or cats. These man animals can bedefeated inthe name of Jesusbecause He … He wasa very effective evangelistin both urban and rural Zambia. One day he came for counselling in matters relating to his personal life and …
Chewa Medical Botany: A Study of Herbalism in Southern Malawi

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=3825826376
Brian Morris – 1996 – ‎Preview
But throughout the colonial period and even to the present day, the mwabvi continues to be used on surrogates such as dogs and chickens, and on rare occasions, even directly on humans. … In Zambia Marwick recorded (1965; 88) that the Chewa used two types of mwabvi tree: Erythrophleum suaveolens which was also known as chinkhundu, was said to be so strong that a bark infusion killed witches outright from its effects, the other was tentatively identified as Crossopteryx …

Newswatch: Nigeria’s Weekly Magazine – Page 36

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=N04uAQAAIAAJ
2003 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
Some people even go to some pastors who are not gifted in spiritual gifts and testify: “the witches came to ki II me today. They were struggling with me. Suddenly a big matchet entered my hand.” Sometimes they say “a big dog pursued me, I took a matchet and cut it into pieces, they will say praise the Lord and the church will answer “hallelujah, hallelujah!” They wouldn’t know that it was planned by the witches. Sometimes, the people would say, “Oh I flew above ail of them.

Galu Wamkota: Missiological Reflections from South-Central Africa

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=9990887055
Ernst R. Wendland, ‎Salimo Hachibamba – 2007 – ‎Preview
(Zambia Daily Mail, June 18, 1981) Most of the traditional healers have come to learn of concoctions which are more potent than the charms of the witches and can remove the witch’s disease from the victim. … Traditional … About six ladies allege that a man whose advances they have snubbed during the day turns himself into a half dog, half man creature and `filters’ into their rooms at night to taste fruit which would be denied to him in normal circumstances. … The ladies, it has been …

African mythology: an encyclopedia of myth and legend – Page 89

https://books.google.com.ph/books?isbn=0261666533
Jan Knappert – 1995 – ‎Snippet view – ‎More editions
Fall of Man The story of the Fall of Man is well-known in many parts of Africa. The Baganda of Buganda relate that, after their creation, Kintu, the first man … In Europe we can only think of the black cat sitting on the witch’s shoulder. In Egypt too, the familiar spirit is usually a cat or dog. … In Zimbabwe the witches ride on hyenas and in Zaire a very evil sorcerer employed a ferocious leopard to kill his enemies for him. Marain Jagu in Senegal owned a calabash in which he had conjured …

A Short Introduction

Africa is a very misunderstood continent, almost always framed in tragedy and though that’s true other African countries are resilient enough to return and rebuild themselves. Rwanda is that country that’s devastated by war but is able to recover in due time.

Nigeria had also seen its province secede and despite ongoing problems today, it’s trying its best to remain stable. (One would suspect people praying for peace and stability in one of these countries.) One could classify each country under language.

Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, both Congos, Burundi, Rwanda, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Chad should fall under Francophone Africa. Logically, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, South Africa and Zambia should be part of Anglophone Africa.

Only Angola, Cabo Verde and Mozambique fall neatly under Lusophone Africa. (If combined with Francophone and Hispanic Africa, they’d make Latin Africa.)

Though that’s problematic considering that Cameroon has a substantial but marginalised Anglophone minority and both Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana (formerly Gold Coast) have the same dominating ethnicity (Akan).

Some of them originally weren’t either British or French colonies. Others use Swahili and/or Arabic. I would expand on it later.