A reoccurring discussion in the realm of medical anthropology is the overall relation witchcraft has to illness and how modern biomedical understanding differs from the “primitive” idea of misfortune. Consequently, these discussions have led to vigorous debate regarding global perception of misfortune and how we determine cause of illness among different societies. Taking all elements into account, one could argue that there are certain aspects biomedicine can benefit from when studying the complexity of witchcraft in indigenous societies as it can open new doors in the sector of interpretation of unfortunate events, illness perception and understanding of traditional beliefs.
To introduce my argument, I would like to begin with an illustration
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Evans-Pritchard and his classic work, “The Notion of Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events.” In this text, Evans-Pritchard discusses the Zande community in Africa, whose way of life in many aspects is affected by witchcraft. As he states witchcraft “…plays its part in every activity of Zande life; in agricultural, fishing, and hunting pursuits; in domestic life of homesteads as well as in communal life of district court” (Pritchard, 1937). Here, he examines multiple ethnographic examples within the community and how witchcraft plays an important role in their concept not only of illness, but also misfortune within the society. One example involves a young boy who had injured his foot while traveling on a path. The boy bumped his foot on the root of a tree and explains how witchcraft was the offender in this situation therefore serving as the main cause for his injury. Evans-Pritchard clarifies how he disagreed with the boy and mentioned his carelessness as being the ultimate cause of the accident but the boy responds by explaining “that witchcraft had nothing to do with the stump of wood being in his path but added that he kept his eyes open for stumps, as indeed every Zande does most carefully, and that if he had not been bewitched he would have seen the stump” (Pritchard, 1937). Here, we see how the Zande perception of witchcraft is not necessarily related to the cause for the mishap, rather it is why the mishap occurs and the circumstances, which enable misfortune to take place. (Pritchard,