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Repeal of Witchcraft Suppression Act A Pagan Witches TouchStone Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill The Birth of public Paganism in South Africa |
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Damon Leff The South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) has agreed to conduct a preliminary investigation in order to determine whether or not the Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957 should be repealed.
The SALRC is responding to a request made by the South African Pagan Rights Alliance in February 2007 to have Act 3 repealed on the grounds that it contradicts several sections of Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996). SAPRA has argued that Act 3 must be declared unconstitutional and invalid to the extent to which this legislation identifies one group of persons (Witches), on the grounds of belief (Witchcraft), to be prohibited and criminal. The Witchcraft Suppression Act was created with the intention of suppressing indigenous African practices, practices incorrectly identified as ‘witchcraft’. Traditional Healers have publicly stated that they have never and do not identify their traditional African practices and religions as ‘witchcraft’ and they regard the existence of Act 3 as prejudicial to their constitutionally guaranteed right to belief and religion. The continuing existence of Act 3 criminalises identified practices, some of which are associated with and practised by both Traditional Healers and self-defined Pagan Witches. The Act criminalises South African citizens who do self-identify as Witches and who do practice Witchcraft, by prohibiting anyone from professing to be a Witch or to practicing Witchcraft. Act 3 of 1957 contradicts several sections of Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), including: A. Section 1 (a) B. Section 3 (2) (a) C. Section 7 (1) and (2) D. Section 9 (1) to (4) E. Section 10 F. Section 12 (1) G. Section 15 (1) H. Section 16 (1) (b) I. Section 18 J. Section 22 K. Section 31 (1)
July 2007 Damon Leff Pagan Witches define themselves thank you!In June this year the Office of the Premier of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, leaked a draft Witchcraft Suppression Bill which threatens to undermine the freedoms and rights already guaranteed to an existing religious minority – Witches - by deliberately criminalizing and prohibiting said religious minority’s constitutionally guaranteed right to exist and to practice their religion. The Bill seeks to suppress Witchcraft and will imprison self-defined Witches on the assumption of automatic inference of criminality. In submitted formal objections to the proposed Suppression Bill the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) and the South African Pagan Council (SAPC), supported by Pagans across the country who define themselves as Witches, have criticised the Mpumalanga legislature’s decision to base their Bill on a piece of Apartheid legislation – the Witchcraft Suppression Act (Act 3 of 1957 as amended by Act 50 of 1970). The Suppression Bill contradicts 11 clauses enshrined in the Bill of Rights, Chapter Two of the Constitution of South Africa, by denying self-defined Witches the right to dignity, equality, religious freedom, expression, association and the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession freely. The Act would in effect deny equal citizenship to South Africans who define their religion as Witchcraft. SAPRA has called on the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to support the enactment of legislation to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination, to protect and advance persons or categories of persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination, and to promote the achievement of equality for a specific historically disadvantaged religious minority – Witches. SAPRA and the SAPC have presented an alternative Witchcraft Protection Bill to the Mpumalanga legislature for consideration as a replacement to the current Suppression Bill. Chapter 9 (4) of the Constitution of South Africa makes provision for the drafting of legislation to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination. The Protection Bill will provide for the protection of self-defined Witches, protect Witchcraft as a belief system and religion, and prohibit discrimination against persons claiming to be Witches, or alleged to be Witches or practicing Witchcraft.
The Suppression Bill defines Witchcraft as: …the secret use of muti, zombies, spells, spirits, magic powders, water, mixtures, etc, by any person with the purpose of causing harm, damage, sickness to others or their property. Self-defined Witches have rejected this definition on the grounds that it stereotypes witchcraft as harmful and portrays Witches as a danger to the communities within which they live and work. The proposed definition will merely serve to justify public fear of witchcraft and promote malice and violence against suspected witches. SAPRA has called on Provincial and national government authorities to halt the passage of the Suppression Bill and has provided the authorities with the following preferred definition of Witchcraft:
The national Witchcraft Suppression Act (1957) prohibits not only the knowledge and practice of witchcraft but also the practice of divinations. The Act also makes it illegal to accuse another of either being a Witch or of using witchcraft to cause harm. Since 1980 thousands of innocent men and women have been accused of being witches or of using witchcraft. Many have been murdered by their communities without trial. Many more have been banished from their villages, their homes destroyed and members of their families murdered or forced to flee in fear of their lives. For many South Africans a witch is nothing but a source of mischief, quarrel, illness, barrenness and sudden death. In common usage the word ‘witch’ is virtually synonymous with poisoner, murderer and liar and has become a label of convenience for any archetypal evil that threatens the natural and good societal order. In rural South Africa, the mere suspicion of witchcraft activity may lead to accusation, assault, enforced exile or murder, especially in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Despite numerous inter-governmental investigations into the phenomena of ‘witch-purging’ by individuals and communities within South Africa and in spite of numerous very detailed published reports, including the Thohoyandou Declaration, no attempt has been made to reconcile the two very different world-views at stake when discussing witchcraft from a traditional African and Christian perspective, and Witchcraft from a South African Pagan perspective. The 1995 Report of the Ralushai Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murder in the Northern Province, defined the term ‘witch’ to mean a person who, …through sheer malice, either consciously or subconsciously, employs magical means to inflict all manner of evil on their fellow human beings. They destroy property, bring disease or misfortune and cause death, often entirely without provocation to satisfy their inherent craving for evil doing. Testifying before a Truth and Reconciliation Commission Amnesty Hearing in July 1999 Professor Ralushai confirmed his Commission’s definition of ‘a witch’ when he was asked by attorney Patrick Ndou to define what a Witch was. Ralushai stated, “A witch is supposed to be a person who is endowed with powers of causing illness or ill luck or death to the person that he wants to destroy.” It could be argued that maintaining and reinforcing a definition predisposed to eliciting violence against alleged witches was never in the best interest of tolerance or reconciliation. The characterization of a person or group of persons (witches) as ‘evil’ and so deserving of criminal classification by default makes a mockery of the values of human dignity, equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms on which the Republic of South Africa is founded.
Witchcraft is an ancient magical system that employs the use of divination, sympathetic magic and Pagan ritual practices. Contemporary Witches define their religio-spiritual practices as a craft and modern Witches ply their craft as herbalists, diviners and magic workers. As ‘Wicca’, Witchcraft has evolved into a modern Pagan mystery religion. Wicca is an initiatory, polytheistic (with exceptions), Pagan mystery religion inspired by various pre- and post-Christian western European beliefs and spiritual practices. Wicca was popularised in England in the 1950's by Gerald Gardner. An initiate of 'the Wicca' is one who traces his or her initiatory lineage back to Gerald Gardner or his initiates. Pagans identify their religion as a modern Earth and Nature venerating spirituality, one that embraces ancient and new forms of spiritual and magical practice, including the veneration of ancient Gods and Goddesses worshiped by pagans of the pre-Christian world. Although no definite census exists, it is estimated that there are between 3000 and 5000 self-defined Pagan Witches in South Africa.
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The Birth of public Paganism in South Africa
1995 - 2006
Damon Leff
So much has happened in our national Pagan community since the publication of Penton's first issue in 1995. I don’t think it is possible for there to be a definitive telling of the birth of public Paganism in South Africa without retelling hundreds, if not thousands (1) of individual accounts from the Pagans who themselves were instrumental in achieving this. These stories remain to be told.*
My own piece-meal tale is therefore not in any sense definitive of the momentous ‘awakening’ that took place in South Africa between 1994 and 1996 and which in many respects is still taking place as South African Pagans strive daily to achieve true equality and dignity in a new and free democracy.
My involvement in the birth of the public Pagan movement in South Africa began in 1995 with the publication of Penton Pagan Magazine. The first issue in December 1995 featured articles on the Horned God and Nature, the Gardnerian revival of Wicca and Goddess spirituality. Subsequent issues explored Paganism and Pagan related spiritualities and paths.
I saw through Penton an opportunity to connect self-identified Pagans and an opportunity to break the strangle-hold of Christian apartheid propaganda on the social and religious psyche. It was and still is a platform to educate, inspire and explore ancient and modern Pagan spiritualities and related religious expressions.
In its second year of publication Penton was approached by Donna (Darkwolf) Vos and requested to publish a questionnaire on a proposal to form the first representative Pagan Federation of South Africa. Donna Vos is the author of 'Dancing Under an African Moon' (2002).
The Pagan Federation of South Africa (PFSA) was formed in 1996. Its first Annual National General Conference took place in Cape Town in June 1996 at which Donna Vos was elected its first President. Norman Geldenhuys (Quasimodo) took over as President from Vos in 1999.
The PFSA has never been and is not affiliated with Pagan Federation UK
or Pagan Federation International
Many diverse Pagan groups have been formed since 1996, reflecting the independent spirit of diversity so characteristic of the modern Pagan movement in South Africa. No one person or group may be said to speak for all Pagans in South Africa.
The most visible of these groups include:
The Grove was founded in 1996 in Gauteng by Druid Morgainne Emrhys and Damon Leff. The Grove is an eclectic South African Pagan Mystery School dedicated to the exploration of Pagan gnosis and the practice of neo-Paganism. The order is an initiatory tradition founded on the praxis of ancient and modern Pagan traditions. The Grove is currently administered by High Priestess Shannon McCardle (Tamra).
CORD was founded in Gauteng in 1997 by Mayrek, Rufiki, Era and Spiral. In 2000 CORD began networking nationally with the Pagan community, co-ordinated gatherings with other established Pagan groups and facilitated in the sharing of information and ritual experiences with other groups in Johannesburg and Pretoria. The coven "went public" in 2001 and began publishing the CORD Newsletter. CORD was dissolved in 2003. (see Firefly below)
The Clan of the ShaddowHorse was founded in Gauteng by Carol Nowlan (Epona Moondancer) in 1998. The Clan is no longer in existence but members went on to form the House Ouroborus which has Clans in Cape Town, Durban and the UK.
The Clan of Ysgithyrwyn was founded by Damon Leff (Ariel Damon) in 1998 in the southern Cape. The Hearth of Ysgithyrwyn was formed as a Pagan circle of fellowship and ceremony and is the foundation stone of an eclectic Pagan Coven.
The Lunaguardia Tradition was founded in December 2000 by Aurelius Rex Maximus and Morgause Fontléve in Nelspruit. Lunaguardia is an eclectic coven aimed at personal identification with Divinity and the Solitary path.
The Circle of the African Moon (CAM) was founded in 2001 by Donna Vos, President of the Pagan Federation of South Africa from 1996 to 1999 and author of ‘Dancing under an African Moon ‘ (Struik, 2002). CAM promotes itself as a proactive educational network dedicated to correcting misinformation about Paganism through interaction with the media and engaging in dialogue and interfaith activities.
The Celestine Circle was founded in 2001 by Fey Fand in Kwazulu-Natal.
The House of Ouroborus (THO) was founded by Epona Moondancer and Arias Indlovu in 2001. In 2002 the Temple Of Epona was registered as the first Pagan Church in South Africa. The House of Ouroborus has continued to adapt with time and aims to remain a useful entity to the South African Pagan Community
In 2002 the Correlian Nativist Church (CNC) was launched in South Africa with a visit from Ed Hubbard, founder of the American Correllian Nativist Tradition. A number of Correllian Temples have been formed in Gauteng and the Western Cape since 2002.
The Pagan Freedom Day Movement was founded on 11.11.2003 through the cooperative efforts of the Pagan Federation of South Africa, CORD, The Grove, Lunaguardia, The House of Ouroborus and other non-alligned Pagans. The Pagan Freedom Day initiative was launched to facilitate an annual national and regional Pagan celebration of 10 years of Religious Freedom in South Africa on Freedom Day 27 April 2004. In January 2004, this initiative was formerly chartered as the Pagan Freedom Day Movement (PFDM).
The South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) was founded by Damon Leff in 2004 as a Pagan human rights activist alliance. In 2006 Sapra was reformed as a democratically constituted body with an elected executive. The Alliance was constituted to promote the guaranteed liberties and freedoms enshrined for all South African Pagans in the Bill of Rights, Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), and to assist South African Pagans, whose constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms have been infringed due to unfair discrimination, to obtain appropriate redress.
The Clan of Kheper Temple was formed by the Reverend Raene Packery (PFI SA Western Cape) in Cape Town in 2005. The Clan of Kheper is a Temple of the Correllian Nativist Tradition dedicated to the study of Correllian Philosophy and Training in the Correllian degree's of Clergy. The Correllian Tradition is dedicated to the advancement of the Pagan People and puts a strong emphasis on the philosophical aspects of Wicca, Spirituality and the Inner Mysteries of the Wiccan Religion
The South African Pagan Council (SAPC) was formed in December 2006 by Luke Martin and Morgause Fontleve.
Non-Pagan press and media coverage on Paganism and Witchcraft since 1996 has been fairly positive but largely sensationalist and stereotypical. No serious public debate or discourse has taken place between Pagans and members of other faiths in the public media or press. Public discourse on the subject of contemporary Paganism in South Africa is thus still largely preconceived and inaccurate. Media headlines like “Today the Witches flew into Parliament” relegate important reported news on Paganism and Pagans to the realm of the imaginary and only serve to reinforce public disbelief in the credibility of Pagans and of Paganism as a credible religious minority worthy of more than amusing or mocking attention. There are always exceptions to the rule.
Many new South African Pagan newsletters have also appeared to network a growing and diverse national community of Pagans seeking to identify with and to shape the emerging identity of South African Paganism as a minority religion.
In honour of Pagans everywhere who have dedicated their time and energy towards the birth of the public and insular Pagan movement in South Africa, I offer, in perfect love and perfect trust, a libation of blessing to your continued well-being.
May all Pagans and Paganism in South Africa thrive and prosper in peace.
* If you have played a part in the birth of the public Pagan movement in South Africa
please contact me.
I'd like to help you tell your story.
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