Thesis Univ. Perth, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-229).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Giessen, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

O presente estudo consiste numa análise etnográfica e comparativa entre os sistemas de crenças e práticas da bruxaria tradicional e moderna existentes em Porto Alegre, no Rio Grande do Sul, a primeira sendo restrita aos habitantes da Ilha da Pintada e a segunda transitando, sobretudo entre jovens das camadas médias da cidade. Aparentemente, a bruxaria tradicional vinculada às práticas do catolicismo popular tradicional é o oposto da bruxaria moderna ou neopagã. Ao invés de um Deus transcendente, a última cultua uma Deusa imanente, que está presente em todos os seres da natureza. Além disso, as bruxas modernas de Porto Alegre dizem trabalhar somente “para o bem”, enquanto as bruxas tradicionais da Ilha da Pintada estariam ligadas a práticas de malefícios e mesmo ao embruxamento de crianças. Porém, as correspondências começam a existir quando observamos uma outra personagem das narrativas de bruxas e bruxarias na Ilha, ou seja, as benzedeiras. Elas são as praticantes da “boa magia”, agindo no combate às ações de bruxaria, na comunidade. Benzedeiras e bruxas modernas valem-se de um mesmo símbolo de proteção, o pentagrama ou Símbolo de Salomão. A partir desta primeira analogia, outras serão observadas ao contrastarmos esses dois universos simbólicos. / The present study consists of an ethnographic and comparative analysis between the systems of faiths and practices of the traditional and modern witchcraft in Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul); the first one concerning exclusively the inhabitants of the Island of Pintada and the second one, mainly young people of the middle class of the city. Apparently, traditional witchcraft related to the practices of popular traditional Catholicism is the opposite of the modern witchcraft or neo-pagan. Instead of a transcendent God, modern witchcraft worships an immanent Goddess, who is present in all beings of the nature. Besides, modern witches from Porto Alegre state they “work only for the good”, while the traditional witches of the Island of Pintada would be linked to practices of harms and even to children's bewitchment. However, similarities begin to exist when we observe another character of the witches' narratives and witchcrafts in the Island, in other words, the benzedeiras (faith healers). They practice “good magic”, acting against the witchcraft actions in the community. Benzedeiras and modern witches use the same protection symbol, the pentagram or Solomon Seal. Starting from this first analogy, we will observe many others as we contrast these two symbolic universes.

O presente estudo consiste numa análise etnográfica e comparativa entre os sistemas de crenças e práticas da bruxaria tradicional e moderna existentes em Porto Alegre, no Rio Grande do Sul, a primeira sendo restrita aos habitantes da Ilha da Pintada e a segunda transitando, sobretudo entre jovens das camadas médias da cidade. Aparentemente, a bruxaria tradicional vinculada às práticas do catolicismo popular tradicional é o oposto da bruxaria moderna ou neopagã. Ao invés de um Deus transcendente, a última cultua uma Deusa imanente, que está presente em todos os seres da natureza. Além disso, as bruxas modernas de Porto Alegre dizem trabalhar somente “para o bem”, enquanto as bruxas tradicionais da Ilha da Pintada estariam ligadas a práticas de malefícios e mesmo ao embruxamento de crianças. Porém, as correspondências começam a existir quando observamos uma outra personagem das narrativas de bruxas e bruxarias na Ilha, ou seja, as benzedeiras. Elas são as praticantes da “boa magia”, agindo no combate às ações de bruxaria, na comunidade. Benzedeiras e bruxas modernas valem-se de um mesmo símbolo de proteção, o pentagrama ou Símbolo de Salomão. A partir desta primeira analogia, outras serão observadas ao contrastarmos esses dois universos simbólicos. / The present study consists of an ethnographic and comparative analysis between the systems of faiths and practices of the traditional and modern witchcraft in Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul); the first one concerning exclusively the inhabitants of the Island of Pintada and the second one, mainly young people of the middle class of the city. Apparently, traditional witchcraft related to the practices of popular traditional Catholicism is the opposite of the modern witchcraft or neo-pagan. Instead of a transcendent God, modern witchcraft worships an immanent Goddess, who is present in all beings of the nature. Besides, modern witches from Porto Alegre state they “work only for the good”, while the traditional witches of the Island of Pintada would be linked to practices of harms and even to children's bewitchment. However, similarities begin to exist when we observe another character of the witches' narratives and witchcrafts in the Island, in other words, the benzedeiras (faith healers). They practice “good magic”, acting against the witchcraft actions in the community. Benzedeiras and modern witches use the same protection symbol, the pentagram or Solomon Seal. Starting from this first analogy, we will observe many others as we contrast these two symbolic universes.

O presente estudo consiste numa análise etnográfica e comparativa entre os sistemas de crenças e práticas da bruxaria tradicional e moderna existentes em Porto Alegre, no Rio Grande do Sul, a primeira sendo restrita aos habitantes da Ilha da Pintada e a segunda transitando, sobretudo entre jovens das camadas médias da cidade. Aparentemente, a bruxaria tradicional vinculada às práticas do catolicismo popular tradicional é o oposto da bruxaria moderna ou neopagã. Ao invés de um Deus transcendente, a última cultua uma Deusa imanente, que está presente em todos os seres da natureza. Além disso, as bruxas modernas de Porto Alegre dizem trabalhar somente “para o bem”, enquanto as bruxas tradicionais da Ilha da Pintada estariam ligadas a práticas de malefícios e mesmo ao embruxamento de crianças. Porém, as correspondências começam a existir quando observamos uma outra personagem das narrativas de bruxas e bruxarias na Ilha, ou seja, as benzedeiras. Elas são as praticantes da “boa magia”, agindo no combate às ações de bruxaria, na comunidade. Benzedeiras e bruxas modernas valem-se de um mesmo símbolo de proteção, o pentagrama ou Símbolo de Salomão. A partir desta primeira analogia, outras serão observadas ao contrastarmos esses dois universos simbólicos. / The present study consists of an ethnographic and comparative analysis between the systems of faiths and practices of the traditional and modern witchcraft in Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul); the first one concerning exclusively the inhabitants of the Island of Pintada and the second one, mainly young people of the middle class of the city. Apparently, traditional witchcraft related to the practices of popular traditional Catholicism is the opposite of the modern witchcraft or neo-pagan. Instead of a transcendent God, modern witchcraft worships an immanent Goddess, who is present in all beings of the nature. Besides, modern witches from Porto Alegre state they “work only for the good”, while the traditional witches of the Island of Pintada would be linked to practices of harms and even to children's bewitchment. However, similarities begin to exist when we observe another character of the witches' narratives and witchcrafts in the Island, in other words, the benzedeiras (faith healers). They practice “good magic”, acting against the witchcraft actions in the community. Benzedeiras and modern witches use the same protection symbol, the pentagram or Solomon Seal. Starting from this first analogy, we will observe many others as we contrast these two symbolic universes.

This research sought to investigate the phenomenon of witchcraft-related crime in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and its implications for law enforcement policy and practice. The primary motivation for a study such as this emerged from the need to address the lack of academic knowledge about witchcraft-related crime, especially in the Eastern Cape. The study is anthropological in focus, and is thus based on anthropological techniques of data gathering. Specifically, a literature study and fieldwork (semi-structured interviews and case studies) formed the basis of the research methodology employed. The geographical focus of the study was the northeastern part of the former Transkei, an area commonly referred to as Pondoland. Interview data were obtained from two categories of informants, namely community informants and informants of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Various towns and their surrounding villages were visited during fieldwork in order to gather data through interviews. Witchcraft continues to play an integral role in the cultural interpretation of misfortune, illness and untimely or mysterious death, particularly among local Xhosa-speaking communities that are predominantly rural. Beliefs associated with witchcraft were widespread in the study area and this was linked to high frequencies of witchcraft accusations and witchcraft-related violence. Police investigations of witchcraft-related cases were, for the most part, evaluated negatively by the majority of local community informants, while the SAPS informants indicated mixed responses as to the success of their investigations of these cases. The high frequency of unreported cases suggested that witchcraft-related crime is a problem in the Eastern Cape and that the local police were struggling to deal with these cases. The traditional leadership in various communities also struggled with the problem of an ambiguity in their role regarding witchcraft cases. Traditional leaders not only had jurisdictional limitations, but also indirectly seemed to encourage witchcraft-related violence by punishing those who accused others of witchcraft. In general, the relationship between communities, traditional leaders and the police were strained by witchcraft-related cases.

One area of history that historians have ignored is that of children and their relationship to witchcraft and the witch trials. This thesis begins with a survey of historical done on the general theme of childhood, and moves on to review secondary literature about children and the continental witch trials. The thesis also reviews demonological theory relating to children and the roles children played in the minds of continental and English demonologists. Children played various roles: murder victims, victims of dedication to Satan, child-witches, witnesses for the prosecution, victims of bewitchment or possession, and victims of seduction into witchcraft. The final section of the thesis deals with children and English witchcraft. In England children tended to play the same roles as described by the demonologists.

The present study examines r/WitchesVsPatriarchy, a subreddit hosted on the popular social media platform Reddit, which centres around the themes of women and witchcraft. This thesis employs a mixed methods approach to investigate various aspects of the subreddit. A critical discourse analysis is conducted in conjunction with a netnographic study. Content that is being analysed consists of a forum thread where users get to describe what witchcraft means to them, an introductory post written by the moderators of the subreddit, as well as content posted to the site by other members. The content that was posted was sorted into five different categories: uplifting content, crafts and marketplace, memes and humour, political content, and magic and rituals. The analysis concludes that the r/WitchesVsPatriarchy community exhibits a distinct feminist undertone, specifically embracing the principles of fourth wave feminism. Furthermore, it also reveals characteristics associated with subcultures.  The role of witchcraft is analysed and what way the users engage with it. Within this context, witchcraft is predominantly perceived as a tool for self-care and empowerment, rather than being strictly associated with religious or magical beliefs. Notably, the majority of users express scepticism regarding the magical aspects of witchcraft. Instead, witchcraft is seen as a tool used for empowerment and even as a symbol for feminism.  Regarding subculture theory, the community can be seen as a part of a larger subculture where members use witchcraft for non-religious reasons. Various forms of aspects relating to subculture theory, such as shared identities, sacred objects, resistance, and marginalization.  The thesis contends that this witchcraft community inherently encompasses a feminist dimension, whereby users harness feminist and political connections with witchcraft to empower both themselves and the broader community. Keywords: modern witchcraft, witchcraft communities, Reddit, fourth wave feminism

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