Witches still exist indeed. And they have also become digital in their approach to destruction. The digital ability of present day devils consequently puts them many steps ahead in the destruction of human life. The word “witches” is used as a collective for both witches (females) and wizards (males) in this article.

The Old Testament of the Bible hardly mentions evil spirits. The New Testament (Nave’s Study Bible, Copyright The Southwestern Company, USA), however, is replete with examples of people who were delivered from devils by Jesus during the time of his Ministry. Mathew, Mark and Luke, to mention some the relevant Books of the New Testament, contain a number of the devilish attacks that came to the attention of Jesus.

In Mathew 4: 24, it is stated that Jesus delivered many people who had been possessed with evil spirits and healed many of those who had been afflicted with many types of diseases. In Mathew 10: 1, confirmed also in Mark 6: 13, it is written that Jesus gave his disciples the “power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”

One famous example of Jesus casting out fierce devils from two possessed persons who lived in “the tombs” is cited in Mathew 8: 28-33. The devils requested Jesus to send them out into the herd of swine that was feeding on a nearby mountain toward the sea. At the command of Jesus, the devils came out of the two possessed men and entered into the herd of swine which then ran violently down the mountain into the sea where they got drowned. This story is corroborated in Mark 5: 1-15 and in Luke 8: 26-37. In both Mark and Luke, the devils were cast out of one man and not out of two men. But this difference is not important because the difference would obviously have come from the different sources of the original story.

A second example of Jesus casting out an evil spirit comes from Mathew 15: 21-28 where a woman of Canaan, said to be of Greek origin, sought Jesus to cast out the devil out of her possessed daughter. Jesus was unwilling to oblige but being impressed with the woman’s faith, the devil immediately came out of the woman’s daughter even before the woman returned to her house. This story is corroborated in Mark 7: 25-30.

A third case of deliverance from the devil comes from Mathew 17: 14-21, corroborated in Mark 9; 17-29, and in Luke 9: 37-42. This was a case in which the disciples who had been given the power to cast out devils could not cast out the devil from the son of a man who therefore came to seek the help of Jesus. After Jesus cast out the devil, the disciples asked why they had not been able to cast out the devil. Jesus answered that to be able to cast out that kind of devil needed prayer and fasting, besides strong faith. This answer clearly shows that there are different classes of the devil, some stronger and more violent than others.

Believes about witches in many parts of Africa are similar to the manifestations of the devil in the Bible. Satan, also called “The Devil” was the angel who led the war against God, as told in Revelation 12: 7-9; 12. As a consequence of the war Satan was expelled from Heaven and cast down to Earth together with all the other angels who formed part of Satan’s rebellious troop. It is these fallen angels that constitute the plethora of gods, witches and other evil spirits of the world.

The account of the existence of Satan in Africa cannot be a coincidence with the account in the Bible. It is very likely that the introduction of the Christian religion in Africa in the 15th century was the point where African converted Christians began to learn the Bible, and about the fall of Satan to Earth. 

The African belief is that witches are generally found in families. It is also believed that witches have associations with membership that cuts across families. Each family consisting of the nuclear family and members of the extended family is bound to have at least one witch, it is believed.

Witches are believed to be responsible for afflictions such as serious sicknesses, stagnation in the lives of some family members; poverty; drunkenness; crime; inability to obtain employment; and many other maladies. Witches, it is said, never wish to see any family member make progress in life to outshine other members of the family. The more progressive members of the family will generally face the envy and wrath of the witches in the family who, with their superior spiritual powers, will do everything to destroy the progress and ambition of such family members.

Quoting from John 10: 10, a colleague put the actions of witches this way a couple of years ago. 

He continued:

Witches are capable of causing the malfunction of a vehicle to get into an accident, no matter the number of persons in the vehicle. They have no pity. They are at the root of many divorces.  They are at the root of problems in a family, and can cause mental disorders in their victims. They have kept pace with the digital technology of present times. When the victim is using a word processing programme, witches are capable of disrupting the victim’s work by shifting the highlights on the menu bar from Home to References to Review and View, back and forth in nano seconds while the scroll button is also kept busy moving at top speed from page 5 to page 20, back to page 1 and down to page 18 etc; disrupting the work and forcing the victim to stop work, wait and see when the dazzling magic would stop. The disruption can go on every day. 

Witches can see far into the future and can influence and turn the mind of their victim into making the wrong investment decision that will end in loss of substantial amount of money in five years time. One can never know of the spirit that is tormenting one’s life until by some rare circumstance, one meets a powerful prophet who has the capability of casting out devils, he concluded.

Familiar spirits are spirits of the gods a family carried along in their migration from their original home to their new settlement. The elders of the first family who brought the god may have long been dead and gone. The spirit of their god now buries itself in the foundation,  that is, below the floor (of the ground floor) of the new home where it stays out of sight forever, until it is dislodged and sent away by superior Christian forces.

Familiar spirits are malignant spirits. They remain calm throughout the years, however. It is only during the traditional festivals that a family will offer drinks and food to the spirit at their location in the family home.  Familiar spirits could however, become malignant by controlling the destiny of family members. A family that is home to a familiar spirit certainly does not achieve much in life.

Apart from witches and familiar spirits, there are also spirits that roam about in the air looking for victims. An attractive woman or man may capture their attention and could be easily possessed if such persons do not already possess inner strong religious convictions.

The gods live in water bodies, in trees, and in rocks. There are categories of gods: lower gods and higher gods. The gods have their adherents, or worshippers who consult them on their various life problems; offer sacrifices to them and celebrate them on festive occasions.

It is believed that witches form the lowest class of devils. Witches form the lowest class possibly because they are never consulted and never celebrated. Just like the spirits of the air, witches do not have any positive features to their credit. They are known only for their bad deeds. It is however, also noted that there are cases where a witch may use their witchcraft for protecting their children and not for any other malignant purposes. Such cases seem to be rather few in number.

Apart from the above classes of devils, there are also talismans that are used for personal protection and not as sources of attack on any other persons.

The African belief in witchcraft as an evil force is similar to the belief of witchcraft in the Christian religion as s demonic force. If the New Testament is taken as the authoritative source of Christian belief on the nature of witchcraft, then there is agreement on the nature of witchcraft in both African and Christian beliefs.

However, the issue of witchcraft seems to be blurred in Europe and in America. This confusion arises because witchcraft is considered an aspect of heresy in Europe and America. Heretics, whether, they were witches or just unbelievers in the Christian religion, faced persecutions and death. 

One source indicates that witches had positive image as far back as 2500BCE; especially since they were considered as seers and healers. In later years, identified witches and heretics were banished from the Catholic Church. From 753, witches and heretics, that is people who did not accept the doctrines of the Catholic Church were burnt in Europe. At the time of Pope Benedict VIII (1012-1024) the first witch was executed in 1022.

Unfortunately, the system of identifying witches by throwing a suspected witch into a river, bound hands and feet, to see whether they would sink or float was not an ideal identification system. The burning and execution by any other means hence drove witchcraft underground till 1930 when it re-emerged. 

Witchcraft laws were repealed in 1951 giving way to the practice of witchcraft involving millions of people in Europe and America. Witchcraft is noted to affect every aspect of human life in England, France, and in the Americas.

Writing on the internet, William E. Burns states that “Witchcraft, once regarded as a marginal and unimportant subject by the generality of mainstream historians, is now established as a theme of major historical significance.”

Witchcraft is recognized as a devilish spirit that individuals may possess for causing afflictions of different sorts on their victims within the family. Witches are agents or associates of the Devil. Witches do not leave the Earth with their witchcraft. They transfer their witchcraft to a younger person in their family before their death. This means that witchcraft stays in a family and haunts a family forever until it is detected and cast out by a Prophet who has the power to cast out devils. It is not every pastor or prophet who has the power to cast out devils.  

Witches, enchanters, diviners, familiar spirits and others belong to the class of devil’s agents that God hates (Deuteronomy 18: 10-11) and who equally hate God. Such agents are found in every sphere of life since ancient times to the present. They are pastors, choristers, mechanics, professors, carpenters, military persons and in all manner of trade everywhere and every time. This is the African belief on witchcraft and this belief is supported by the Bible as indicated in the verses of Deuteronomy above. 

Grouping together witches and heretics as “witches,” as happens in the European and American concept of witchcraft, as already indicated, blurs the distinction between witches and heretics. Heresy could be a source for invention. Heretics who rebel against accepted ideas, principles, ideals and doctrines could be sources for inventions of new ideas, new processes, and new engines for world development.  It is very likely that Martin Luther, who spearheaded the Protestant movement by breaking away from the Catholic Church, would have been executed if he had lived in the 13th or 14th centuries when the burning and executions of heretics were rampant. 

Although there has been no clear system for identification of witches in Africa, except by the opinion of an acknowledged prophet, who are rather very few in Africa, heretics are generally distinguished from witches in Africa. One disturbing aspect in the identification of witches in Africa is the tendency for accusing old women who are suggestible and have other mental problems as witches. Poor and old women are therefore the ones that are most vulnerable to witchcraft accusations in Africa. It is significant to note that old men are hardly ever accused of being witches in Africa.

Witchcraft has always been an important and detestable subject and has never been 

“a marginal and unimportant subject” in Africa. As to whether the subject will ever be subjected to significant study in Africa, as already happening in Europe and America, is another issue. 

Given the living conditions especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where scholars and researchers are more concerned with bread and butter issues, it is doubtful whether they will be interested, apart from issues of resources, in carrying out studies on this important and destructive witchcraft force.  But one could be wrong in this presumption. In the meantime, and until research and answers could be provided from witchcraft studies, the phenomenon, as part of humanity, will continue to exist. 

1. https://www.simplemysticmiracles.com/witch-craft

2. https://www.amazon.com>Witch-Hunts-Europe-America

3. https://www.abc-clio.com>products