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Anthropology and Religion

Sorcery

Sorcery

Two fields existed in which the return of the spirits from the other world was not for the public good. Just as in this world there were good and evil per-page 11sons, so in the other world there were good and evil spirits. An evil-minded person conjured back an evil spirit to slay his enemies or the enemies of those who had paid him. The evil spirit became the familiar spirit of the person whose commands it obeyed and that person went into practice as a sorcerer. The familiar spirits were not worshiped as gods by the family or the people, and the sorcerer was both despised and feared. In Western society, of course, witches and sorcerers who were supposed to have a contract with the devil were believed in until recent times.