*The REALL News*

"It's a very dangerous thing to believe in nonsense." -- James Randi


Volume 6 Issue 6 August 1998

Bullets into Water: The Sorcerers of Africa

by Richard Petraitis

Across Africa, purported sorcerers and sorceresses are killed by rural mobs or executed by governmental decree for the practice of magic. For centuries, a belief in magic has pervaded the continent of Africa, despite the often tragic consequences of magical thinking. As many African nations struggle with independence and modernization, civil wars sparked by ethnic hatreds have raged in lands where the belief in men of magic remain strong. During different periods of history, warfare has been waged by soldiers trusting the supernatural protection bestowed on them by sorcerers and self-appointed prophets. The reality, called battle, has provided students of history with accounts of the tragedy of spells and charms when employed against modern military arms. The Colonial Era and our present century dashed the sorcerer's claim to exercise control over nature, with the sad dramas of Africa's battlefields.MoreMore

 

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