Witchcraft's facilitation in neo-colonial influence
Witchcraft was always used as a mode of justification to control women as it couldn't be ‘disproven’, meaning the signs that prove a woman is a witch could be constantly fabricated. In the case of capitalism, witchcraft helped facilitate it within society as it was closely intertwined with patriarchal power.
For capitalism to thrive, it requires labourers to work many hours a day, and in its favour, it is necessary for the woman to be at home all day to ensure the next generation of labour workers. “‘Witches’, according to witch-hunting texts like the Malleus Maleficarum, were women who kept childbirth and pregnancy in female hands: midwives, abortionists, herbalists who provided contraception” (Doyle, 2019). Any woman who threatened this androcentric capitalist system of reproduction could risk being accused, this includes childless women who were blamed for their own ‘cursed’ wombs which in turn, does not benefit a capitalist society. Women who had premarital sex were also in danger, arguing only a witch would give into the devil’s perversions, yet only the womenn would get banished, men could instead blame natural impulses as an excuse.
Accusations, however were not only subjected to issues surrounding childbirth, “elite men have very little idea of what women actually do, so women’s worlds become mysterious; mystery is suspect; women are suspect; elite men become deeply concerned about what women do when they are off together” (Zwissler, 2018: 7). This is seen in some of the ‘clues’ of a witch, such as accusations based on ‘argumentative’ women, women were supposed to be inferior to me, only a witch would refuse to be submissive. If a woman is strong enough to rebel against stereotypical norms, this makes it less likely for her to stay home and raise the next generation of labourers. Ultimately as witch hunts helped the rise of capitalist power, it was also women’s “great historic defeat, on whose burning stakes the bourgeois ideals of dependent, domestic womanhood were forged” (Howard, 2021).
Ironically, society tried to banish witchcraft as it destabilised social order, yet the fundamentals of capitalism mirrored accusations of witchcraft. Witches were accused of unfairly taking too much from society, but paradoxically, capitalism follows a similar process. While witches ‘sell their soul’ to the devil, the devil is material, we desire it unknowingly and have no power over its hold over us. Just as a witch is ultimately controlled by the devil, we have sold our soul to capitalism. It's ironic that scientists try to banish witchcraft when their ideology follows the same methods, capitalism itself is a form of witchcraft. This leads me to the topic of religion and how witchcraft banishment cements colonial power. Witchcraft is generally seen as the denial of God, this is very anti- colonial as they used religion as a large part of justifying control through enforcement and socialisation. Any rise in popularity for witchcraft is very problematic for them because it breaks down means of control. The correlation of witchcraft banishment and religion can be highlighted especially during the 15th century, where witchcraft became associated with Christianity. Since Christianity was spreading throughout the world, accusations increased at times of social and cultural crisis as a consequence of British colonial rule. Practising witchcraft changed from being a secular crime, punishable by fine to becoming heresy, punishable by death. “Over centuries, however, the worldview of elites shifts. Instead of the beings in folk stories and pre-Christian practises representing silly, old-fashioned delusions, they come to be seen as real, demonic creatures, which are powerfully opposed to God [...] In this new worldview, magic is not a foolish mistake, but diabolical, literally threatening to God and his flock” (Zwissler, 2018: 5). Any threat against the distribution of Christianity was also a threat to their colonial authority. They accused not only women, but entirely different cultures and religions, of practising harmful witchcraft to maintain Christian colonial power.
This could be pointed out multiple times in history, for example, during the Middle Ages, further highlighting the link with the rise of Christianity globally, accusations of blood libels increased towards the Jewish community. According to the Anti-Defamation League, “the ‘blood libel’ refers to a centuries-old false allegation that Jews murder Christians – especially Christian children – to use their blood for ritual purposes” (Burleigh, 2016). This calls attention to the further strengthening of colonial power, as it demonises other religions in order to progress the strength within Christianity, maintaining the idea that others use magic and dangerous witchcraft to endanger the one pure and godly religion.
In order to maintain the socialisation of Christian authority, the anxiety and doubt towards magic and witchcraft must be maintained, namely, the recent popular internet cult, Qanon. They believe the world is ruled by satanic worshipping reptile elites who survive on harvesting children's adrenochrome. This cult is a recycled version of anti-sematic tropes, relying heavily on blood libel similarities. The followers’ main goal is to protect children from these satanic cannibals, promoting indirect hatred towards the Jewish community. “You have everything from lizard people, and UFOs, and ancient anti-Semitic tropes, all kind of coexisting under the umbrella of Q" (Ibid.). Therefore, by bringing up a more modern example of magic, I argue although the banishment of witchcraft isn't as explicit as burning witches on the stake, colonialism still benefits from accusing people of witchcraft today yet through a different societal context.
Another issue with the colonial perspective of witches is that witchcraft is only used for bad intentions. Although most were wrongfully accused, not only do many people identify as witches in western countries but witchcraft has been a huge part of many cultures around the world. This highlights the West's need to put bad light on magic practices on purpose to serve colonial interests. Whether that includes forging ideas surrounding witches to create public fear to grow their following or twisting positive practice of witchcraft of a certain culture to fit colonial religion. However, the colonial ideas of using witchcraft banishing propaganda for social cohesion isn't limited to previous centuries. Even more recently with the help of mass media are these false rumours able to spark through a controlled society. For instance, the Thames torso investigation in 2001, where the torso of a little boy was found in the Thames River. During the case, the police were working very closely with the media. A Channel Four documentary about the investigation insinuated that the boy was killed in a ritual murder due to African occult purposes, mirroring past colonial racist accusations that helped put the west into power. Not only were such ideas highly insinuated on England's most popular channel, but even the vice chairman of the Metropolitan Police Independent Advisory Group stated on BBC News: “We are talking about either witchcraft, juju or voodoo ... In promoting cultural diversity, we import the good and the bad. If this is a ritual killing, then unfortunately - as bad as it may sound - we have imported those aspects of culture into mainland Britain'' (Sanders 2003: 60). When an ‘unbiased’ news channel and an authority figure are able to corroborate and justify such rumours, the general public then see that as a confirmation, legitimising the racism against African culture. This became a racialized witch hunt, using rumours of occult purposes as a scapegoat to make accusations against marginalised groups. This affected views on immigration, spreading irrational fears that the British citizens don't want their country ruined by allowing dangerous occult cultures into England. In turn this, further benefits Western ideas of colonisation, helping with politics and social propaganda. Yet it should be noted that in reality, these occult ritual murders were extremely rare in the whole of Africa, “O'Reilly even noted that, in 2000, only three such cases were reported across the whole of Africa (Guardian 2002). Yet the imagery produced through police-media engagements suggests something altogether more sinister: that 'ritual murder' or human sacrifice' is, in one journalist's words, 'a crime common in sub-Saharan Africa' (Davenport 2002)” (Sanders 2003: 62).
The issues caused by witch accusations were no longer just between West and Africa as a whole, but accusations were also within neighbouring countries. For example, the Nigerian ambassador was obliged to hold a press conference in 2005 denying rumours denying the allegations that his citizens were using witchcraft to steal the genitals of Togolese men, with many Africans targeting West Africa as the source of magic. “Accusations are thus fuelled by xenophobia and build on pre-existing tensions and often a past history of communal violence” (Bonhomme, 2012: 216). This highlights the detrimental effects of instilling Western discriminatory colonial ideas into other cultures, indirectly conquering other cultures beliefs to fit the Western mould. On the other hand, when accusations of witchcraft are circulating within Africa, the West then decides to view the entire concept of witchcraft as primitive and barbaric. People who claimed to be victims of penis snatching were diagnosed with the mental disorder by Western psychiatrists known as Koro (Radford, 2013). Whether these people have a mental disorder or not is beside the point, I'm simply highlighting the differences of approaches the West takes in regard to witchcraft depending on their own involvement. “While 'we' represent the pedestrian, rational, scientific and morally righteous, 'they' represent the exotic, irrational, superstitious and morally indefensible” (Sanders 2003: 60). The need to explain away the illusory of African beliefs is simply another mode of Western control. When witchcraft is spoken about in UK media, it's something to fear, making it entirely acceptable to believe that magic is real, and a threat as seen with the Thames torso example. Since penis snatching is more common in Africa, it needs to be ‘rationalised’. Why wasn't the hysteria over the Thames torso rationalised in the same way?
The Thames torso investigation can also shed light on the link between witchcraft and globalisation. The West has always maintained the idea that progression of modernisation is tightly linked with science and technology and while Africans were branded as superstitious and morally corrupt, they were then seen as a threat to global development. “Globalisation logically implies a meeting of worlds, which in this case implies that a corrupt and morally bankrupt 'them' threatens a sensible and moral 'us'. A savage and superstitious Africa threatens to undo the moral fibre of a righteous Europe through globalisation” (Ibid.,60). Therefore, from this perspective, when looking at witchcraft as a whole, in order for society to advance, it should be restrained through banishment, which in turn makes people conform by avoiding antisocial behaviours. However, in actuality, at least in the West, rather than magic and witchcraft practises perishing, they have instead adapted and been reshaped in the context of the New Age. Because of globalisation, practising witchcraft is more popular than ever in the West, as everyone is interconnected through social media. People’s belief in religion has declined allowing for more exploration of spirituality and today witchcraft is becoming more positive, seen as a force of sacred feminist and sexual empowerment against the patriarchy.
To conclude, I would now like to reflect on the role of the anthropologist within these debates, “anthropologists are hardly innocent here either. We must ask: Have we, too, been complicit in the (re)production of such derogatory images? Where are the public anthropological voices attempting to disrupt and undermine such recognisable Othering discourses? What role should we, or can we play in these debates?” (Sanders, 2003: 64) Anthropology shouldn't not have a limited framework of belief, the issue with the discipline is that the basis of the anthropological framework is built on colonial, white supremist beliefs. An anthropological framework isn't ‘logical’, it's simply one perspective of belief. In reality, anthropology should include many frameworks of belief that accommodates for cultural complexities, Anthropologists shouldn’t be looking to disprove or legitimise the existence of witchcraft, instead should be looking simply to explain it and leaving it up to the reader can make up their own mind. As Favret Saada says, “I situated my project within the framework of an anthropology of belief. After a few months of fieldwork, I began to question the well-foundedness of this term [witchcraft], insofar as it was used as a concept, supposedly devoid of ambiguity” (p.45). In the case of the reader, it is generally assumed from a Western perspective that they do not believe in witchcraft as it goes against the belief of science, yet Saada points out the importance of how the researcher explains their conclusions. Witchcraft was “almost as widespread among non- natives, including among those whose cultural traditions do not include witchcraft. Should we then say that, because they are fascinated, they too believe? No, or in any case, not in the same way as bewitched Bocage peasants. How, then? We cannot say. For the implicit pact of fiction (it‘s just a story) or of ethnographic writing (they are only natives), exempts the listener or reader of such a tale from all intellectual responsibility" (Favret Saada, 2012: 48).
Bibliography
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• Burleigh, N., 2016. #Pizzagate resurfaces an old anti-Semitic slander. [online] Newsweek. Available at: < https://www.newsweek.com/pizzagate-resurfaces-anti- semitic-slander-528950 >
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• Radford, B., 2013. Penis-Snatching Panics Resurface in Africa. [online] livescience.com. Available at:
<https://www.livescience.com/28015-penis-snatching- panics-koro.html>
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• Sanders, T., 2003. Imagining the dark continent: the met, the media and the Thames Torso. Cambridge Anthropology.
• Zwissler, L., 2018. In the Study of the Witch: Women, Shadows, and the Academic Study of Religions. Religions, 9(4), pp.1-18. Available at: