Benue State University, Makurdi

The Nature and Implications of Magic in African Societies

Maina Ali Danladi

This paper set out to discuss the nature, and implication(s) of magic in African societies. Like other mystical forces in the universe, magic is a global phenomenon. The African mythology is populated by powerful and inexplicable forces like evil eye, sorcery, witchcraft, divination, hordes of spirits, magic amongst others that impacts the lives of the people in their communities beyond their understanding. As a result people in these communities often live in fear of the unknown since the impact of magic could be both negative and positive. To compound this fear, the source(s) of power of the practitioners are not known to all as only people with special and gifted knowledge can fathom the nature and operation of these forces. The paper therefore seeks to know the sources of these powers as well as the benefits societies can derive from their operations. The paper relied on existing literature, books, academic journals, and other online sources as its method of data collection. The paper found out that magic can be both good and bad and hence, the conclusion that is reached in this paper is that such magic as are good and beneficial to the should be encouraged and sustained while those that are bad and of no societal benefit should be strongly condemned and rejected.

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