Witches, HIV and Aids
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Posted by Gerda Wever-Rabehl Oct 12, 2006 |
Contemporary witch hunts are, as I've argued in the articles on witches I've done so far, closely related to superstitions, poverty and natural disasters. Once you combine a steady faith in the supernatural with hunger, poverty, and unemployment, you'll undoubtedly get people to blame their unfavorable event on black magic. We just are fond of believing in the invisible, or, some might say, the irrational and in this week's article , I argue that we've believed in witches, ghosts, the devil, angels, and other invisible entities for so long and in so many different places that it has become part and parcel of the human psyche.
Sometimes this predisposition to believe in a mysterious and invisible reality has disturbingly consequences. Besides the fact that thousands of people continue to be killed because they are believed to have evil powers, in some regions, people associate AIDS and HIV with evil spirits. Rune Blix Hagen (2004) suggests for example, that at times, women are accused of being behind the AIDS epidemic. They are seen as dangerous witches who must be rendered harmless. Certain AIDS-infected men believe that evil spirits can be forced out by dipping their penises in the vaginal fluids of virgins. These ideas about witchcraft can result, says Rune Blix Hagen (2004), in the raping of young girls and the killing of older women. This phenomenon, part of larger incidents of witch-related violence, is a growing problem in some countries .
Rune Blix Hagen (2004) points out that the authorities of various African countries are trying to focus attention on peoples' tendency to relate AIDS with witchcraft. In a Malawi information campaign, for example, large road signs and posters have been erected with the message "AIDS is real... it is not witchcraft. Always use a condom and live" (Rune Blix Hagen (2004).
References
Rune Blix Hagen (2004). The Witch-hunts on African Sorcerers?by Rune Blix Hagen, Subject Librarian, University of Tromsø. Available online at http://www.ub.uit.no/fag/historie/africanwitches.htm