Journal of Vampirology - 1988 - Vol 5 No 2

Magazine Overview

Title: JOURNAL OF VAMPIROLOGY
Issue: VOL. V, NO. 2
Date: 1988
Publisher: John L. Vellutini
Country: USA
Language: English

This issue of the Journal of Vampirology, Volume 5, Number 2, published in 1988, focuses on "The African Origins Of Vampirism." The cover features a striking black and white illustration of a person riding a spotted animal, possibly a hyena, in a savanna setting. The issue includes an editorial and a main article exploring the connections between African witchcraft beliefs and European vampire lore.

Editorial

The editorial welcomes readers to the latest issue, which stems from research into "vegetative vampires" and the "Yam Spirit of West Africa." The author, John L. Vellutini, expresses surprise at the lack of attention given to African tribal beliefs about vampirism by Western vampirologists. He notes that while authors like Montague Summers and Anthony Masters cite African examples, these are often repetitive or not germane to the subject. Vellutini suggests that the association of vampirism with witchcraft in Africa might be a reason for its neglect, as the deceased witch is seen as potentially as malevolent as the living one, exhibiting similar signs of post-mortem corruption and requiring similar annihilation methods (cremation, decapitation) as European vampires. He also points out the frequent mention of zombification in Africa, another overlooked aspect.

Vellutini criticizes the tendency of vampirologists to treat vampirism in isolation, ignoring cross-cultural parallels, which he terms "cultural elitism" and suggests might even be "inherently racist." He laments the lack of acknowledgment of vampirism's universality, despite its frequent assertion. The issue is dedicated to Valerie E. Smith for her support.

The African Origins Of Vampirism (Pages 2-16)

This extensive article explores the pervasive nature of witchcraft in Africa and its parallels with vampirism. The African witch is described as capable of subverting life through various means, including causing plagues, crop failure, infertility, and epidemic diseases. They are also said to be able to make men pregnant, extract organs (heart, liver), and even remove heads. Examples are given of witches playing football with severed heads.

Acquisition of Witchcraft and Familiars

Beliefs about acquiring witchcraft vary, including inheritance, purchase, reincarnation, or transmission through poisoned food. Extreme examples from Ghana involve direct transference, such as a witch vomiting into another's mouth or a ritualistic union. Animal familiars are common, with the snake being prevalent. One informant describes keeping a snake familiar in her vagina. Other familiars include hyenas, jackals, bats, and owls, with the owl being particularly feared as a prognosticator of death. The Balovale of Northern Rhodesia believe snake familiars have multiple human heads.

Transformation and Metamorphosis

African witches are believed to transform into various animal forms, from flies to elephants. The debate among tribalists and theologians mirrors that concerning werewolves: whether it's actual metamorphosis, animating an animal phantasm, or astral projection into an animal. P. Amaury Talbot suggests that the soul might leave the body to assume an animal likeness or enter an animal. The ability to transform can be inborn or acquired through "medicines." The concept of the "astral double" and ectoplasmic materialization are also discussed as potential explanations.

Psychic Vampirism and Cannibalism

African witches are also said to engage in cannibalism, necrophagy, and vampirism, often on a psychic rather than physical plane. Geoffrey Parrinder attributes these to "imagination" or "obsessional neurosis." The article describes beliefs about witches entering sleeping victims psychically to wound them with "secret spears," leading to death. Post-mortem examinations revealing ulcers are considered evidence of witchcraft. Witches are also believed to exhume corpses for feasts, sometimes using human arms to stir beer. Some accounts suggest witches eat human flesh to gain speed, and that human hearts are stuck in their throats, preventing them from speaking at night.

Post-Mortem Beliefs and Practices

When a person is killed by witchcraft, it's often attributed to a poison or the witch sucking blood through an animal form. The power to "suck out the heart" is described as a terrible ability. Ulcers that don't heal are seen as evidence of blood-sucking. The "Obayifo" is described as a human vampire delighting in sucking children's blood. Witches are believed to transform their "heart-souls" into birds or cats to prey on victims. They are also said to catch the "life-soul" and act as vampires, causing victims to become lean or develop coughs. Witches might use sticks to make corpses rise and follow them for consumption, or use hyenas to exhume fresh corpses for eating. Human arms are used to stir beer for strength. Recently buried corpses are exhumed, dissected, and parts, especially internal organs, are eaten. This is believed to enable witches to run fast.

Witches are said to leave their bodies at night to revel with others, feasting on people's hearts, leading to sickness and death. They are believed to gather around a pot containing the "blood" (vitality) of victims, which they drink. Witches' favorite meeting places are graves, where they eat flesh from recently deceased bodies. The Mazezuru guard graves for six days after burial.

Ordeals and Punishments

Suspected witches were subjected to ordeals, often involving torture and poisonous brews (Calabar beans, sasswood bark). If the accused died or sickened, guilt was confirmed. An extreme example involves a priest mixing decomposed corpse fluid with nkasa bark powder. The "carrying of the corpse" ordeal involved a dead body answering questions by swaying. Punishments for witchcraft were invariably death, often by strangulation, drowning, or clubbing. Cruel punishments included being speared or having the tongue pulled out and impaled on a stake. Remains were usually burnt or left for scavengers, with heads sometimes removed to prevent reunification with the body.

Post-Mortem Examinations and Signs of Witchcraft

If a recently deceased person was suspected of witchcraft, exhumation was performed. Signs indicative of guilt included blood in the burial plot, incorruption, and abnormal swelling of the corpse. Belief in reincarnation meant destroying such corpses to break the cycle of rebirth. If a body swelled after death, it was believed the dead person practiced witchcraft, with the swelling due to the presence of victims. Some cultures kept bodies for days to check for swelling. Crude autopsies were performed, looking for marks on internal organs or swollen/blackened bowels. Witchcraft was sometimes believed to be in the form of a small bat or bird, extracted to prevent reincarnation. Among the Mbembe, witchcraft resembling a bat with four teeth was found in the heart, eyes, or occiput. Among the Ekoi, a bat-like object in the heart led to the corpse being burnt. The Keaka examined bodies for diseased internal organs. The Obang examined corpses for blood in the mouth, indicating a were-form that had eaten a man. A "swollen bowel" (ubula) was a sign of a python, indicating a witch. Autopsies involved examining intestines for "witchcraft-substance." The mouth of the aorta or fimbriated fallopian tubes were sometimes presented as proof of witchcraft. Maggots in a corpse indicated witchcraft for some Kaguru. The "likundu libe" (evil-infested intestine) was considered the source of witchcraft. If a person died mysteriously, a post-mortem examination might be held, and if certain portions were black, the person was pronounced a witch. "Akalogoli" (witches) were identified by digging up bodies and performing rituals. "Ko'du" (witchcraft) was found in the belly, sometimes resembling a man's thumb or larger, containing substances like hair and pebbles.

Other Tests and Beliefs

Two other tests for witchcraft are mentioned: the "antelope horn" (chilola), which violently moves when near a guilty person, and "smelling out," where a witch-doctor uses a special fetish or an organ of scent to identify the guilty party. The latter is sometimes linked to the smell of human flesh on the fingers of cannibals and necrophages. The article notes that African witches are not alone in causing trouble, mentioning ancestor spirits and "evil undead" categories.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are the pervasive nature of witchcraft in African societies, its multifaceted manifestations (from psychic attacks to physical acts), and its strong parallels with European vampire lore. The editorial stance is critical of the academic field of vampirology for its perceived Eurocentrism and neglect of non-Western traditions, suggesting a need for a more inclusive and less culturally biased approach to the study of these phenomena. The article emphasizes the deep-rooted and ancient nature of these beliefs in Africa, presenting them as integral to the cultural and spiritual landscape.

This document, likely an issue of a magazine or journal focused on paranormal or anthropological topics, delves deeply into the complex and often frightening beliefs surrounding witchcraft and related phenomena in various African cultures. The content is heavily reliant on cited sources, suggesting an academic or research-oriented approach. The primary focus is on the nature of witches, their powers, and the various entities and practices associated with them, often drawing parallels with European folklore, particularly vampirism.

The Nature of the Undead and Spirit Entities The issue begins by discussing the concept of spirits being 'pressed' into the service of witches, differentiating between disencarnate souls and those retaining corporeal form. It highlights the controversial theory by Wade Davis regarding the role of the puffer fish's tetrodotoxin in creating 'zombis' by inducing a comatose state. The text notes the lack of African parallels cited by Davis, but suggests alternative explanations, such as the use of native drugs like 'maime' (Basuto chloroform) which render victims compliant.

• Several types of undead or spirit entities are described:
• Ghosts/Spirits: These can be raised by witches to annoy and frighten people. They can be disinterred corpses ('isithfuntela' or 'umkhova') which are physically altered (tongue cut out, pegs through the brain) to make them subservient. They are described as tall, black, and capable of hypnotism, sometimes attacking victims by driving nails into their heads and stuffing their ears and nostrils.
• Soulless Beings: Individuals thought to be dead but who have been made to appear so by sorcerers. They are removed from graves and sold into servitude, not recognizing their old friends.
• Aiimu: Evil spirits associated with the Swahili 'Shaitani,' believed to be the disembodied relics of people who killed their neighbors through black magic. They are banished to woods and cause madness in those they possess.
• Uvengwa: A self-resurrected spirit and body of a dead human, described as tangible, white, and sometimes having one eye or webbed feet.
• Mazwa/Tuzwa/Bashi-kazwa/Tuyobela (Kayobela): Ghosts of people 'pressed' by witches, acting as free agents. They can cause disease, waylay people, and strike them dead. Tuyobela are described as dwarfish, chirping like birds, and sent to steal, sicken, or kill.
• Khidudwane: A human being killed by a witch to be their slave. Only the shadow enters the grave; the real person is enslaved and used for labor. Meeting a khidudwane can cause fainting and a feeling of being drained of blood.
• Captured Souls: Souls of the dead can be captured before ascending to report to God, nailed to trees, or attached to rings. These become tools for magicians.
• Musukule: A witch's device that transforms a victim into a zombie laborer. A charmed banana stem is used to deceive relatives about the victim's fate.
• Ngozi: A spirit with a grudge seeking vengeance for murder, causing death and illness in the killer's family. It is a feared tool for witches.
• Witch Demon: A spirit that can remain in a corpse after interment, exhume the body at night, and continue its evil work.
• Mitala: Spirits or shades, often restless and seeking revenge for wrongs done during life. Some have substance, appearing as legless corpses that move by dragging their trunks and propelling themselves with their arms.

Immortality and Reincarnation The document also touches upon rare instances of individuals achieving a semblance of immortality. One such case involves a powerful medicine called 'musamo wa Iwende,' which allows a person to 'return' after death, erect a platform, and travel east to a new life. Another concept is 'wusangu,' referring to individuals who are 'immortal' and, if killed, can rise again, sometimes requiring a new head to grow if decapitated.

Parallels with European Vampirism A significant portion of the text draws comparisons between African witchcraft beliefs and European vampirism. Similarities include: * Physical Signs: The search for signs like blood, swelling, and incorruption in corpses. * Grave Practices: The use of holes in the soil for vampires to leave and enter graves, mirrored in accounts of deceased African witches. * Quelling Malevolence: Drastic measures like cremation and decapitation are used in both traditions to prevent the resurrection of malevolent beings. * Blood-Drinking: More frequently encountered in African witchcraft than European vampirism. * Familiar Spirits: The bat plays a larger role in African witchcraft, with witches believed to transform into bats. * Hypnotic Influence: African witches are said to exert a hypnotic influence, a characteristic less common in European vampire lore. * Prophylactic Barriers: The use of water as a barrier against evil is noted as more common in African witchcraft, with condemned witches sometimes drowned.

The author suggests that the beliefs in witchcraft and vampirism might have originated in Africa and diffused northward. The advent of Christianity in Europe transformed these beliefs into diabolism, while they were retained more intact in remote areas.

Origins of Belief and Ignorance The text explores the ultimate source of these beliefs, questioning whether paranormal phenomena played a role. However, it strongly posits that the chief cause of the fear of witchcraft is sheer ignorance regarding the etiology of disease. The prevalence of diseases like intestinal parasites, malaria, and sickle cell anemia in Africa, coupled with the belief that most forms of death are unnatural, are presented as motivating factors for these beliefs.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance The recurring themes revolve around the pervasive nature of witchcraft, the diverse manifestations of evil spirits and the undead, and the psychological underpinnings of these beliefs, particularly ignorance. The editorial stance appears to be one of anthropological inquiry, presenting various cultural beliefs and practices with detailed citations, while also offering interpretations, such as the link between disease and the fear of witchcraft. The article concludes by stating that these practices will be further explored in the next issue, indicating a continuing series on the topic.