ABSTRACT

This essay is concerned with the interpretation of certain aspects of witchcraft and with the theoretical issues which such an investigation raises. 1 Ideas about witches will be discussed from the standpoint of the study of social structure. There are, of course, a number of ways in which such ideas can be interpreted. For instance the notions of a group of people concerning witches can be compared with their ideas concerning the spirits of the dead and various similarities and differences can be noted. Again we can examine the ways in which witches are thought to act in one society in the light of similar ideas held by neighbouring peoples and look for evidence of diffusion or for the existence of a common body of ideas which have been elaborated somewhat differently by each group. Studies of these and other types are cultural studies. They are concerned with ideas in isolation from the social structure of the people holding them. For the student of social structure, the questions which can be asked are more limited in scope. The two basic questions are: first, what, if any, are the implications of a particular system of ideas for the system of social relations and second, what influence, if any, does the social structure seem to have exerted upon the set of ideas.