Witchcraft and children
Encyclopedia
A 2008 article in the Los Angeles Times
from Associated Press
reports that thousands of African children have been abandoned, tortured and murdered because they are believed to be witches. While in the West the belief in witchcraft has largely died out, the burning and murdering of “witches” was common practice in Europe and North America. The infamous Salem witch trials
are a well known example of this witchcraft belief induced hysteria. As the modernist worldview gradually replaced the pre-scientific worldview witchcraft beliefs and the persecution of witches largely died out in the 18th century with some exceptions in pockets in Eastern Europe. In other parts of the world witchcraft beliefs are still part of the prevailing worldview especially in parts of Asia and Africa. In Africa there appears to be a revival of witchcraft beliefs as African traditional beliefs mixed with Evangelical fervour have given it a new impetus.. Gary Foxcroft of Steppingstones Nigeria, an organisation that is active in campaigning against child witchcraft abuse has stated that it is an absolute scandal how the teachings of Jesus are twisted and abused to commit horrible child abuses. They have also mobilised a coalition of churches and Christians in Niegria and beyond who are outraged by the suffering caused in the name of Jesus which is directly in contrast with Jesus' original teaching .
Another worrisome trend in Africa is that children have not only been victimized by believers in witchcraft, but that they are also used as witch-finders resulting in people being convicted and punished on the basis of children's testimonies .
.
and Francesco Maria Guazzo
believed that it was enough proof of a witch's guilt to have witch parents. They believed witch parents introduced the children to Satan, took the children to Sabbats, married children to demons, inspired the children to have sex with Satan, or had sex with Satan with the child present. Many times the child accused of witchcraft, due to being shunned, threatened community members, thereby enforcing their beliefs that the child was a witch.
There are several cases of witchcraft in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries that involved children as witches. In Sweden in 1669 a large number of children were included in a witch hunt and in Wurzburg as in Salem in 1692, children were the focus of witch hunts. In Augsberg, beginning in 1723 an investigation into twenty children between the ages of six and sixteen resulted in them being arrested for witchcraft. They were held for a year in solitary confinement before being transferred to a hospital. The last child was freed in 1729.
is that of a seven year old girl named Brigitta Horner. In 1639, Brigitta claimed to be a witch and that she had participated in witches Sabbats where the Devil was present. Brigitta claimed to have been baptised in the name of the Devil instead of God. The pastor who baptized Brigitta was married to her grandmother who then taught her the arts of witchcraft.
In Nigeria
, some unscrupulous African Pentecostal pastors have incorporated African witchcraft beliefs in their brand of Christianity resulting in a campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies are branded as evil and are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities providing costly exorcism services.
In Angola
, many orphaned children are accused of witchcraft and possession by relatives in order to justify not providing for them. Various methods are employed, such as starvation, beating, having unknown substances rubbed into their eyes or being chained or tied up.
In Congo
, it is estimated that there are 25,000 homeless children living on the streets of the capital city and that of these, 60% were expelled from their homes because of allegations of witchcraft. Accusations of witchcraft is the only justifiable reason for refusing to house a family member, however distant the relation.
In Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in detention centers in March 2009 and forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, according to Amnesty International.
In the Nigeria
n states of Akwa Ibom
and Cross River
about 15,000 children branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets. A documentary aired on Channel 4 and BBC Saving Africa's Witch Children
shows the work of Gary Foxgroft and Stepping Stones Nigeria in addressing these abuses.
In Sierra Leone
, sick infants tend to have better survival-rates due to witchhunts : "the effect of the witch cleansing probably lasts for ... years in the sense that mothers are predisposed to tend their babies with more hopefulness and real concern. ... Therefore ... many babies who, before the arrival of the witchfinder, might have been saved if the mothers had had the heart and will to stop at nothing to tend their babies, WILL now survive precisely because they will receive the best attention which circumstances allow as the mothers now believe that the remaining children arre free of witchcraft. So there is a REAL reduction in the infant mortality rate in the years immediately following the witchcleansing movement".
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
from Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reports that thousands of African children have been abandoned, tortured and murdered because they are believed to be witches. While in the West the belief in witchcraft has largely died out, the burning and murdering of “witches” was common practice in Europe and North America. The infamous Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
are a well known example of this witchcraft belief induced hysteria. As the modernist worldview gradually replaced the pre-scientific worldview witchcraft beliefs and the persecution of witches largely died out in the 18th century with some exceptions in pockets in Eastern Europe. In other parts of the world witchcraft beliefs are still part of the prevailing worldview especially in parts of Asia and Africa. In Africa there appears to be a revival of witchcraft beliefs as African traditional beliefs mixed with Evangelical fervour have given it a new impetus.. Gary Foxcroft of Steppingstones Nigeria, an organisation that is active in campaigning against child witchcraft abuse has stated that it is an absolute scandal how the teachings of Jesus are twisted and abused to commit horrible child abuses. They have also mobilised a coalition of churches and Christians in Niegria and beyond who are outraged by the suffering caused in the name of Jesus which is directly in contrast with Jesus' original teaching .
Another worrisome trend in Africa is that children have not only been victimized by believers in witchcraft, but that they are also used as witch-finders resulting in people being convicted and punished on the basis of children's testimonies .
Witch finders and accusers
In Europe during the sixteenth century older children comprised a special category of witch hunters and brought accusations of witchcraft against adults. In 1525 the traveling judge in the Navarrese witch hunt utilized two "girl witches" who he felt would identify others as witches. He hung about forty witches based on the testimony of the two girls. Child witchhunters sometimes accused their parents, grandmothers, or other people as witches. Children would either bring charges of witchcraft themselves or exhibit symptoms of possession or bewitchment that would cause a panic among adults, at which time adult relatives would begin making accusations of witchcraft. The most renowned case of trials started by child accusations is that of Salem, Massachusetts, that occurred in 1692. Children were viewed as having a significant role in convicting witches, due to their being able to identify people, impulsively and without compulsion. Children who made such false allegations often directed them at adults with whom they had strained relationships, such as teachers, puritanical neighbors or mothers' boyfriends, in the Salem witch trialsSalem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
.
Children as witches
By the start of the seventeenth century many children were being punished and put in prison for taking part in witchcraft, usually because of their alleged participation in Sabbats. It was a common belief that witches' children inherited witchcraft from their parents. Witches were thought to pass on their power and knowledge to their children. It was often the practice when charging a person with witchcraft to charge the whole family. Witches who confessed often claimed that they learned witchcraft from a parent. Pierre de LancrePierre de Lancre
Pierre de Rosteguy de Lancre or Pierre de l'Ancre, Lord of De Lancre , was the French judge of Bordeaux who conducted a massive witch-hunt in Labourd in 1609...
and Francesco Maria Guazzo
Francesco Maria Guazzo
Francesco Maria Guazzo, aka Guaccio, aka Guaccius was an Italian priest in Milan. He wrote a book, the Compendium Maleficarum , in which he cited numerous experts on the subject, among them Nicholas Remy....
believed that it was enough proof of a witch's guilt to have witch parents. They believed witch parents introduced the children to Satan, took the children to Sabbats, married children to demons, inspired the children to have sex with Satan, or had sex with Satan with the child present. Many times the child accused of witchcraft, due to being shunned, threatened community members, thereby enforcing their beliefs that the child was a witch.
There are several cases of witchcraft in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries that involved children as witches. In Sweden in 1669 a large number of children were included in a witch hunt and in Wurzburg as in Salem in 1692, children were the focus of witch hunts. In Augsberg, beginning in 1723 an investigation into twenty children between the ages of six and sixteen resulted in them being arrested for witchcraft. They were held for a year in solitary confinement before being transferred to a hospital. The last child was freed in 1729.
By country
One example of a child-witch narrative in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
is that of a seven year old girl named Brigitta Horner. In 1639, Brigitta claimed to be a witch and that she had participated in witches Sabbats where the Devil was present. Brigitta claimed to have been baptised in the name of the Devil instead of God. The pastor who baptized Brigitta was married to her grandmother who then taught her the arts of witchcraft.
In Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, some unscrupulous African Pentecostal pastors have incorporated African witchcraft beliefs in their brand of Christianity resulting in a campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies are branded as evil and are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities providing costly exorcism services.
In Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, many orphaned children are accused of witchcraft and possession by relatives in order to justify not providing for them. Various methods are employed, such as starvation, beating, having unknown substances rubbed into their eyes or being chained or tied up.
In Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, it is estimated that there are 25,000 homeless children living on the streets of the capital city and that of these, 60% were expelled from their homes because of allegations of witchcraft. Accusations of witchcraft is the only justifiable reason for refusing to house a family member, however distant the relation.
In Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in detention centers in March 2009 and forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, according to Amnesty International.
In the Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n states of Akwa Ibom
Akwa Ibom
Akwa Ibom is a state in Nigeria named after the Qua Iboe river. It is located in the coastal South-Southern part of the country, lying between latitudes 4°321 and 5°331 North, and longitudes 7°251 and 8°251 East...
and Cross River
Cross River State
Cross River State is a coastal state in southeastern Nigeria, bordering Cameroon to the east. Its capital is at Calabar, and it is named for the Cross River , which passes through the state...
about 15,000 children branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets. A documentary aired on Channel 4 and BBC Saving Africa's Witch Children
Saving Africa's Witch Children
Saving Africa's Witch Children is a documentary featuring Gary Foxcroft and his organisation Stepping Stones Nigeria who campaign against the branding of children as witches in Nigeria. In some of the poorest parts of Nigeria, Pentecostal evangelical religious fervour is combined with the old but...
shows the work of Gary Foxgroft and Stepping Stones Nigeria in addressing these abuses.
In Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, sick infants tend to have better survival-rates due to witchhunts : "the effect of the witch cleansing probably lasts for ... years in the sense that mothers are predisposed to tend their babies with more hopefulness and real concern. ... Therefore ... many babies who, before the arrival of the witchfinder, might have been saved if the mothers had had the heart and will to stop at nothing to tend their babies, WILL now survive precisely because they will receive the best attention which circumstances allow as the mothers now believe that the remaining children arre free of witchcraft. So there is a REAL reduction in the infant mortality rate in the years immediately following the witchcleansing movement".