How Does Black Magic Affect Malawi’s Life and Culture?

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Herbs identified as angel’s root, devil’s shoestring, bowels-of-Christ, and blood-of-Jesus leaves were utilized to heal and give the carrier control and protection. “Jew David” was a plant that was especially prized among slaves for its therapeutic properties whereas “Adam and Eve” root brought luck. Individuals who possessed Samson’s root or St. John’s-wort boasted of supernatural security (26)

Conjurers even incorporated the Trinity into practices (26). So essentially, Malawians and other African cultures were conflicted and confused.

These confusing moments of social and religious beliefs led to witch hunts. People

wanted to hunt these witches because they caused people harm and innocent people were accused. These accusations always led to violence and persecution. The accused are subjected to abuse, and their property is burnt (Byrne). Another consequence is if a witch was caught and tried, they were tied up with banana leaves and basically burned at the stake (Nyabwari and Kagema). These accusations are further ignited by religious leaders who said that witchcraft is manifested by satanic evil. The result of this is more witch hunts. Witch hunts caused a law called Malawi’s Witchcraft Act. The law was put into place by Malawi’s colonial power in 1911. This act was enacted to wipe out dangerous practices to trial by order of using charms and witchcraft in general. It is still in effect today but the law system cannot protect the victims of accusations. (Byrne)

Even until today, witchcraft is still at large and the hunts are still strong. Africa is still

affected this day by magic. Even though there is good magic, black magic controls the minds of Malawians and other African cultures since this is part of their daily lives. This caused a certain evil to be unleashed that can never be held back. Magic to them is the cause of disease and other omens. It lead to many things from social and religious beliefs. The issue of magic needs to be known.This leads to accusations of the innocent. This curse will become a problem if the law does not uphold. But overall, magic is something that cannot be taken back and evil is being caused.

Works Cited

Byrne, Carrie. "Hunting the Vulnerable: Witchcraft and the Law in Malawi." Hunting the

Vulnerable: Witchcraft and the Law in Malawi. Consultancy Africa Intelligence, 16 June 2015. Web. 7 Sept. 2015. .

Chireau, Yvonne Patricia. "Our Religion and Superstition Was All Mixed Up" Black Magic:

Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition. Berkeley, CA: U of California, 2003. N.12,14,16,25,26. Print.

Kamkwamba, William. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. NY: HarperCollins, 2009.

10. Print.

Nyabwari, Bernard Gechiko, and Dickson Nkonge Kagema. "The Impact of Magic and

Witchcraft in the Social, Economic, Political and Spiritual Life of African Communities." International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education I.5 (2014): 9-16. Print.

Russell, Jeffrey Burton. "Witchcraft." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica,

n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2015. .