ABSTRACT
The study of witchcraft and sorcery has held a considerable fascination for social anthropologists. 1 The world of witches and evil magic is an unfamiliar one for westerners today. However, those who are fascinated by the unfamiliar run the risk of making ethnocentric judgments and this is largely what has happened in this case. It has been assumed too readily that societies which believe in witchcraft and sorcery are socially unhealthy, and that there is a greater degree of fear, tension, disorder and immorality among them than among people who do not have these beliefs. It has been suggested that the strength and tenacity of witchcraft beliefs are indications of the degree of tension in society, and that when social tensions increase, witchcraft accusations become more abundant. It is probably true to say that, in the present atmosphere of social change in East Africa, tension is on the increase, particularly in towns and areas of resettlement. Yet, although rituals connected with witchcraft and sorcery flourish in town while other rituals do not, it is difficult to relate them to an observable increase in tension. There is not necessarily more witchcraft accusation in towns than elsewhere.
