Becoming Witches: Sight, Sin, and Social Change in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

In the Papua New Guinea highlands, kumo witches see inside persons (their victims) but conceal themselves from sight. Evangelical and Pentecostal sermons often focus on these dynamics of in/visibility: they may, for example, linger on ways in which Christian piety is evinced as a shine on the body that deflects the covetous and hungry gaze of witches. Members of these congregations are said to be covered by the blood of Christ, and only those who attend church will enjoy the protection that Christ’s grace affords. If witches exhibit supernatural powers of sight, they themselves are hard to see. The invisibility of witches makes possible a supernatural realm existing in parallel to everyday life, on its other “side,” endangering vitality and growth of people, and putting relationships at risk. Sermons elicit fears of this “curse” of witches, and offer a solution: the Pentecostal Christian congregation alone will redeem the community.

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