Yoruba Tribe Witchcraft

As historical and diverse as African traditional religions are, so is the tale of witchcraft and healing practices. The gender discourses of both witchcraft and healing hold dualistic views of good and evil. This paper will focus on how the Sukuma, Kongo and Yoruba tribes navigate gender in terms of witchcraft and healing discourses. With the assistance of David Westerlund’s essay “African Indigenous Religions and Disease Causation”, this paper will analyse the similarities and the differences in how these respective tribes deal with witchcraft and healing discourses. The analysis will look at the three main goals of African traditions: children, health and wealth and how they inform each other, to further highlight the gender dynamics found

Amongst the Sukuma and Kongo clusters, a curse is another way to provoke illness. In the Yoruba tradition, it is said that witches commit gruesome crimes such as infanticide. They instigate all types of illnesses, like meningitis, and mental and nervous disorders. The symptoms often include swelling and intense internal pain. The ‘balogi’ are the prime instigators when it comes to accidents and deaths. The Yoruba use the curse of ‘epe’ which is a significant non physical way of causing illness among the tribe. These examples tie in with the theme of life-takers. To improve illness or deathly symptoms, healing must take place (Westerlund 2006). When discussing ATR’s, it is important to understand the difference between healing and curing. The act of curing is based on medicinal methods, tools and ingredients. Whereas healing involves the restoring of balance and bringing the victim to a stage where affliction does not exist anymore. According to Olademo the healer could be “ a diviner and a custodian of tradition” (Olademo 2012). It is said that to be healed in the physical world, you need to be healed in the spirit world first (Thomas 2004). The treatment given by a healer may include both herbal and medicinal properties, as well as a sacrifice to please the Orisa (Nu 2013). Gender comes into play when there are noticeable restrictions on female healers based on their physiology. A woman healer is not allowed to touch certain sacred ingredients and participating in selected rituals at the time of her monthly circle. This is because blood is seen as a conveyor of power, and is usually associated with pollution. As a result of this, tension builds between marriages and a considerable amount of women healers in Yoruba land are then forced to separate from their partners. This sheds light on the gender dynamics in relation to healing. Healing is connected to the last point which is