essay
The innocent sorcerer: coping with evil in two African societies (Kapsiki & Dogon)
Religion in Africa : experience & expression • 4 • Published In 1994 • Pages: 196-228, 443-483
By: Beek, W. E. A. van.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, van Beek discusses Dogon witchcraft and notions of evil and compares them with those of the Kapsiki from northern Cameroon. Dogon personality and self are deeply embedded in the community and kin group. For them evil is an anonymous force, originating from the bush, which precipitates a person's falling-out with the community. Evil is spread through the careless use of words and speaking ill of someone. It is seen as a poison that is ingested orally. Protective and purifying rituals involve chewing special roots and barks, drinking, taking an emetic, and exhibiting polite beahvior in rituals. Attached to this article is a 41-page bibliography on African religion.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Information sources listed in other works
- Sorcery
- General character of religion
- Magic
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Dogon
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1978-1992
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1978-1992
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Tireli, Bandiagara, Mali
- NotesAdditional notes
- Walter E. A. van Beek
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 443-484)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 92030302
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Dogons (African people)