Just yesterday, an article popped up about a worrying situation – the UN leaving Malawi due to a number of threats from the locals concerning a vampire scare, which has already led to the death of one man (who was stoned to death by the mob present) and which threatens to worsen as the mass hysteria grows worse. The scare is based on the idea that there are vampires out and about, collecting blood for the government (a potential superstition latching on to miscomprehension of blood tests?) and seems to have roots in similar situations that have happened before, seemingly crossing over from Mozambique.
This is a dire position indeed, and not one to be underestimated. The danger of superstitions and resulting hysteria is very real, and it has cost lives throughout history, from witch hunting past and present to animal shape shifters throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, to a werewolf scare in India in the late 1990s, which cost several people their lives before it was through, to vampire rumours now in Malawi.
Whether there is a realistic base for the scare or not (such as miscomprehension of blood tests vs a simple outburst of superstitious fear), vampires, werewolves, witches and animal shape-shifters have been a very real problem in Africa for a long time… from beliefs about evil witches who change shape to harm people in their animal form to seemingly odd legends, like centaur sightings (!). These superstitions are not fully endemic, but can be found elsewhere on the globe, from all possible versions of the European vampire to the Greek vrikolakas, which has elements of both vampires and werewolves in some descriptions (ref), to relatively late descriptions of werewolves in France by Barring-Gould, to animal shape-shifters in both European and other histories. Ironically, for all that many anthropologists have sought to see this similarity as either a “proof” of some inexplicable trait of humanity, of inborn need for religion and belief, or even as an equally inexplicable “proof” of at least a grain of truth in the stories, be it a misunderstanding of an illness or about a million other things, the reality is that everyone forgets two very important factors in this mode of thinking.
Firstly, the world is not static. It has always been more connected than we think, and trading, warfare, exploration, missioneering and so on are at least a few hundred years old, which is plenty of time for syncretism of local beliefs to develop a European note and vice versa, in a mix that can be seemingly confusing and explosive. And that is forgetting the long history of trade, warfare, exploration etc. in previous times… going as far back as at least Ancient world. There is also no comprehension, at least not certain, of how long a belief or legend can remain present in a society, handed down generation after generation… it could be centuries, even thousands of years, and if you consider similarities in many stories (all basing on a similar aura of factuality, which is similar because when human psychology does what it does, maladaptively or otherwise, it is still human psychology, and subject to action and reaction, which form specific patterns… in other words, patterns are similar because they work, even if they do so in a negative way), that may well be the case.
Secondly, human beings are appallingly bad witnesses. When a person has grown up with, has immersed into or has been surrounded by a strongly held onto belief, they will likely have a predisposition that will influence perception in a moment of uncertainty. In other words, the best witness would be someone who has never heard of a specific superstition, or even superstitions as a whole – in that case, they would be the least likely to import an image, idea or fear from their subconscious.
In communities where superstitions play a huge role, seeing things, experiencing them, plays a very similar role as it does in cults – which may mean that a “witness” will deliberately or accidentally forge their report and doctor their experience, be it because they are well aware of how much a sighting may mean in their surroundings (where it may mean the difference between being accepted or shunned, or even suspected of witchcraft themselves, which in turn can mean life or death) or because they truly want to see, hear, believe, experience, belong.
It is easy to see, therefore, why even scientists, who are, in the end, also only human, and have their own personal prejudices or issues or beliefs, could be fooled by seemingly certain descriptions. But what those who fail to account for what is technically a witness memory issue do not consider is that, if I “know” what Santa, vampires or Smurfs look like, I will, when called upon as a witness, give the exact same report as all others who have this information, thus faking my report, deliberately or otherwise. Mind, especially when constantly under stress (which is the case in extreme leaning societies, where fear is a large part of belonging), plays tricks easily, and it generally borrows from our subconscious, which is doctored from early age on to fit to the general aura of factuality of our community. Stoller failed to recognise that when he literally started to believe that a witchdoctor he was studying with had superhuman powers and that an old woman was sending snakes into his hut (Paul Stoller & Cheryl Olkes, 1987, In Sorcery’s Shadow). This is the kind of thing lack of rationality can bring an anthropologist to on terrain and otherwise… because if one is not careful, it is all too easy to fall into the same behavioural pattern, and get dragged into things that no scientist should ever be dragged into, even just for the sake of their report, let alone everyone’s wellbeing.
It is not just the more exotic part of the world that have a problem with superstitions posing a very real threat. Even in our Western world, the extreme leaning people often believe things that agree with their superstition and religion, but cannot possibly be supported by science. When this is a belief held by a close-knit group, such as some Christian communities, it can gain a terrifying dimension, and there is no accounting for where it will end. I have had, from people who have lived in such groups, reports about constant psychological pressure, endless fear of demons, cases of exorcisms that were abusive in all possible ways. That we still allow, in the West, for any such action, is ridiculous as much as it is crazy and alarming – there should be no space for exorcisms and demonology in a civilised, sane, rational society.
Missionaries are often at the core of syncretising Western beliefs to other cultures, and it’s usually by promoting fear and paranoia that they themselves generally share. In other words, they make the aura of factuality that there are evil witches, devils and demons out to harm you that much more real by confirming that their beliefs share the notion (insider information). In other words, instead of challenging the beliefs they encourage them, even if they want to give them another name. Which just makes the whole situation worse.
In the West, this behaviour often takes on a form of intolerance to other religions – a good case is presented by Tanya Luhrmann, who studied Paganism, and who had been warned against it by at least one priest as she started the study, citing ridiculous numbers of how many people come for rescue after having been a part of an alternative religion and have been persecuted and haunted in all manner of ways and had to be “saved” by the person in question (leaving the reader with a really good question why, if such a case were ever to exist, the priest in question attempted to handle it himself instead of reporting the matter to the police like an honest citizen).
Popular culture, Western or otherwise, can also influence an already paranoid personality, who may not be fully aware of just how far real stretches and where it stops. When my partner was in Africa years ago, a TV show featuring witchcraft was on in more than one hut (and I use the word hut accurately), with the incumbents making sure to mention that they do not hold such beliefs…by that meaning that they themselves do not do witchcraft, or hold non-Christian beliefs, and not that they are not superstitious.
How much does it take for a half-heard word on the show to embed into someone’s mind, when they already have a paranoid predisposition, and spark another bout of hysteria when they begin to mention what they experienced as if it were real? How much does it take for an attention-seeking (i.e. hierarchical ladder climbing), unbalanced person, or a delusional one, to do the same?
If conviction is what convinces, paranoid people have lots of it, and all it takes is the framework that something exists in the society for a crisis to occur.
Most of superstitions and crises related to them are based on hearsay. But the trouble with hearsay is that it gives a feeling that somewhere up the line of Chinese whispers, someone might have had a real experience. Arguably, an actual experience would be less frightening than the what ifs this causes, and if we are dealing with uncertainty that results in aggression, the situation is bad indeed, because it is very difficult to reason with people in such a state. If anything, trying to explain or understand is likely to worsen the matter, because you will seemingly not be taking people seriously or, worse still, you will be giving off a vibe of trying to sway them to forget the danger…making you, potentially, a danger also. Think of this from the superstitious mind’s perspective – wouldn’t it be logical for a vampire to try to convince people that it doesn’t exist?
This has dire consequences not only because of the senseless loss of life that is generally an accompaniment to such crises, but also because the humanitarian actions that have to be postponed due to the danger cost lives also. So what can be done in this situation?
Firstly and foremostly, while danger persists, at least on local level, it is imperative for those who had to withdraw to remain distant, or at least safe. The next biggest necessity is to test the terrain so that they can return, and the third is to ascertain how and why these rumours have started. It is difficult to change opinions of the superstitious – I’ve had enough experience with that to know just how much – but it is not impossible. Exploring the hows and whys of the superstitions is, when done without bias and rationally, the only way to find the key to at least minimise if not neutralise them and the threat they pose, and this must be done cautiously, so that the person exploring neither triggers another crisis (especially when little time has passed) nor is imperilled themselves. The next step is education, which must begin to include, and on a regular basis, understanding of superstitions…not merely by those who study them but by those who are the most affected by them.