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Witchcraft Past and Present
cure their physical symptoms while also looking to the local ‘witch
doctor’ to explain and treat the hidden causes of the illness. The sick may
wear amulets to protect them from illness, practice the divination
advised by the witch doctor, and take the ‘medicine’ prescribed.
Often when witchcraft is held to be responsible for misfortune the
sufferer will try to discover the source. The bewitched might seek help
from a diviner to establish the identity of the witch. The diviner may go
into a trance and use a variety of props, often dice or animal bones, to do
this. Among one African people, divination to find out a witch’s identity
is by administering poison to a chicken and mentioning the name of the
suspect. If the chicken dies, the suspect is innocent: if it lives, guilt is
pronounced and the appropriate action taken.
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