African History Commons^™

The Practice Of Witchcraft And The Changing Patterns Of Its Paraphernalia In The Light Of Technologically Produced Goods As Presented By Livingstone Museum, 1930s - 1973, Friday Mufuzi

Zambia Social Science Journal

In many African societies, there is an ingrained belief that misfortunes are induced by fellow human beings. Often, some family members are accused of being responsible for inexplicable problems. These may include infertility, impotence, miscarriage, lack of success in business, inability to gain promotion, poor crop harvest, sickness, and many others. In all these problems, witchcraft has been blamed. Its continued existence has thrived on human needs, quest for knowledge, desire for power, and more especially the fear of death; and when executing their operations, practitioners often use objects, and, over time, these have undergone several transformations. This paper explores …