witches’ light A light emitted or carried by witches
that enables them to be detected by others, especially at
night.
According to the folklore of the Azande of Africa, a
witch releases a spirit to murder others while they sleep,
much as medieval witches were believed to dispatch demons
in the shape of animal fa milia rs. This spirit, or essence
of witchcraft, may be seen at night, glowing like
sparks kicked off from a fire. In daytime, the light is visible
only to those who are witches or witch doctors.
Effutu witches of southern Ghana use a spiritual
“web” or “wire” by which they travel in search of victims.
As they move across this web at night, they are visible as
bright flashes of light (see Africa n witchcraf t).
The Pueblo of New Mexico, and the Bantu and Gusii
of Africa, maintain that witches travel by night, carrying
lights that alternately flare up and down. The Gusii
say the changes in brightness are due to the witches re-
392 Witches League of Public Awareness
moving and replacing the lids of the fire-pots which they
carry with them.
Among the Dobu Islanders of the western Pacific, the
kainana—the fire emitted by the pubes of flying witches—
may be seen at night. To ward off danger, the villages
gather together around fires which are kept burning all
night. No one returns home until dawn. These beliefs are
comparable to the European lore that witches fly by night
on brooms lit by ca ndles in the besoms.
Further reading:
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among
the Azande. Abridged. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983.
