World of Witchcraft

In 2000, 15-year-old Brandi Blackbear was accused by her high school of "hexing" a teacher and casting spells.

Blackbear said her only crime was her interest in a religion called Wicca. But the courts saw it differently and ruled that Union Intermediate High School in Tulsa, Okla. had not violated Blackbear's constitutional rights by disciplining her for "disrupting the educational process."

Wicca is a modern pagan religion, which usually incorporates the practice of witchcraft.

Although rare in the modern western world, Blackbear's case is only one of many cases of women being accused of practicing witchcraft in the last millennium.

It's a global phenomenon.

Phillips Stevens, an associate professor in the anthropology department, teaches "Magic, Witchcraft and Sorcery" (APY 377), where students learn that witchcraft prosecution is not an isolated, historical incident. Rather, Stevens teaches the belief in witchcraft is shared almost universally by all cultures, although there are significant cultural differences among believers.

Stevens teaches not only the history of witchcraft and the causes for accusations, but also traits of witches.

He recently showed members of the Anthropology Club the documentary World of Witchcraft. The film explores the legal system of the Central African Republic (CAR) in relation to witchcraft. Article 162 of the CAR's penal code makes witchcraft a crime punishable by death or long-term imprisonment.

Stevens also lectured about the global beliefs of witchcraft.

The political officials of CAR believe sorcery and witchcraft are cultural values and the "west should leave Africa free" to believe and to prosecute.

"They are two different ideologies," said Dan Rosen, a senior anthropology major and treasurer of the Anthropology Club. "There are Western ideas of law and medicine, and there are also traditional ideas of healing."

Jessica Fletcher, a senior anthropology major, shares Rosen's concern about her own Western upbringing.

"It's hard to remove personal bias and belief when examining another culture or practice," Fletcher said.

In modern Western culture, these characteristics are barely enough to be investigated but elicit a very different response in non-Western cultures.

In the film, every person who spoke with director Daniel Bogado - except for one - swore they believed in witchcraft. Even those in jail for the crime who protested their guilt believed witchcraft is real.

While filming, Bogado recorded the beliefs of several political officials from the area including Minister of Justice Laurent Ngon Baba and cabinet member Marcel Serekossi. Ngon Baba stated witchcraft must exist because the country has a law against it. Serekossi equated the belief in witchcraft to belief in God.

Religion is often the root of witch accusations. Stevens said a gradual shift in Christian religious beliefs during the Late-Medieval period led to the start of the European witch trials in the 15th century.

In 1542, Henry VIII passed the first of several Witchcraft Acts in Great Britain. It made witchcraft a crime punishable by death and forfeiture of land. In America, the most famous of the witchcraft trials occurred in Salem, Mass., in the 1690s.

According to Stevens, accusations of witchcraft are always preceded by times of severe social and political unrest.

"When you put away your own kin, [on charges of witchcraft] it's serious," Stevens said. "There's something else going on there."

Warring factions trying to establish a village separate from the town plagued Salem, Mass.

The Rev. Samuel Parris, who led the village church, further divided the people by demanding outrageous fees for his salary.

Not only was Salem Village unstable, but the entire Massachusetts Bay Colony had its charter revoked by King James II and was facing an uncertain future. Further, the whole area was subject to tensions from the French and Indian Wars.

Stevens believes certain characteristics trigger the word "witch." These include being rebellious, capable of transformation and flight, accompaniment by an animal counterpart and the practice of ritualized murder. Witches do not need magic to accomplish these feats - they are imbued with these properties.

But as Blackbear's case shows, crying "witch" is even present in modern America.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had defended the rights of citizens practicing Wicca and other minority religions in the past, but they believed this was the first time they were defending a citizen against a lawsuit involving an actual accusation of witchcraft.

Wicca represents only 0.1 percent of U.S. religious practitioners, according to religioustolerance.org. But Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions in the country, with membership growing from 8,000 to 134,000 from 1990-2001.

Additionally, the U.S. courts have consistently recognized Wicca as a religion. It has an entry in the United States Army Chaplain's Handbook and the Department of Veterans Affairs includes the Wiccan pentacle as one of the religious symbols that can be engraved on a veteran's headstone.

Although Western culture creates a perception that witchcraft is no longer an issue, Blackbear's case is a cautionary tale that westerners are still susceptible to unwarranted beliefs in magic. Steven's will not miss as an opportunity to analyze and understand witches and their persecutors.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com