JORAS - Nigerian Journal of Religion and Society

The confusion caused by the combination of the triad of witchcraft, sorcery and magic makes it difficult to understand which of them operates when for instance they are used in daily conversation. Perturbed by this difficulty therefore, this paper embarked on a literary surgical analysis of the triad with the view to separating the joined triplets as it were. Starting from meticulous definition of the topic to the fathoming of its genders to the figuring out of its genres, the work dissected the whole amalgam to come out with different shades of the triad. Thus, in the final analysis it became clear that it is the only method necessary for the separation of the triad and to deeply understand witchcraft, sorcery and magic as distinct entities. Since witchcraft is the main object of our inquiry, we analyzed it and discovered that it shares in the binary concept of good and bad forces. Through this literary analysis, the research isolated the bad aspect of witchcraft known as sorcery and its notoriety as the harbinger of all evils tormenting people unceasingly and fomenting the seeming insurmountable fear in the psyche of persons within the area of its influence. We also located the other aspect of it which is known as witchdoctor because of its knack for haunting and destroying all the bad witches. The analysis also led us to understand that magic is the craft or knowledge with which the witch performs its duties both pleasant and nefarious. This understanding then assists us to tolerate the ambiguities and discrepancies of witchcraft, sorcery and magic.

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