Religion Most Azande formerly practiced a
traditional African religion, but this has been supplanted to a large extent by
Christianity. Their traditional religion involves belief in Mbori, an omnipotent god. However, the late-nineteenth century marked the beginning of many Zande converting to Christianity. 85 percent of Azande consider themselves Christian, while 15 percent follow their traditional religion. More than half of Azande identify as
Catholic. Witches can sometimes be unaware of their powers, and can accidentally strike people to whom the witch wishes no evil. In terms of death, the prince determined the vengeance placed on the witch or the killer. This could be done through physical killing of the witch, compensation, or lethal magic. Because witchcraft is believed always to be present, there are several rituals connected to protection from and canceling of witchcraft that are performed almost daily. When something out of the ordinary occurs, usually something unfortunate, to an individual, the Azande may blame witchcraft, just as non-Zande people might blame "bad luck". Although witchcraft is contained within the physical body, its action is psychic. The psychic aspect of
mangu is the soul of witchcraft. It usually, but not always, leaves the physical body of the witch at night, when the victim is asleep, and is directed by the witch into the body of the victim. As it moves, it shines with a bright light that can be seen by anyone during the nighttime. However, during the day it can be seen only by religious specialists.
Relationships between young men There was also a social institution similar to
pederasty in Ancient Greece. As the anthropologist
E. E. Evans-Pritchard recorded in the northern Congo, due to the shortage of women in the region, male Zande warriors between 20 and 30 years of age routinely took on young male lovers between the ages of twelve and twenty, who participated in
intercrural and
anal sex with their older partners while also performing household duties. Once the younger partner was considered old enough to become a warrior himself, he received weapons and the relationship ended, with the older partner taking a female wife instead of the "boy wife". The practice largely died out by the mid-19th century due to increasing European colonial influence in the region, but the elders Evans-Pritchard spoke to were still sufficiently aware of it to give a fairly detailed description.
Relationships between young women During the 1930s Evans-Pritchard recorded information about sexual relationships between women, based on reports from male Azande. According to male Azande, women would take female lovers in order to seek out pleasure and that partners would penetrate each other using bananas or a food item carved into the shape of a phallus. They also reported that the daughter of a ruler may be given a female slave as a sexual partner. Evans-Pritchard also recorded that the male Azande were fearful of women taking on female lovers, as they might view men as unnecessary.
Cannibalism Some Azande groups used to eat human flesh. Evans-Pritchard spoke with a number of elderly Azande, who all agreed (though sometimes with "embarrassment") that
cannibalism had been practiced in former times. According to their testimony, the victims were usually killed or captured enemies and executed criminals, though occasionally members of subjected neighboring peoples were killed for consumption, as they were considered outside "the law" and without rights. Except for criminals, clan members were never eaten except in times of severe hunger, when girls were sometimes sacrificed to ensure the survival of the others – with families exchanging their daughters so that nobody had to eat their own child. Evans-Pritchard found it impossible to determine how common cannibal customs had been in earlier times, but notes that they seem to have been quite rare during the lifetime of his informers – various older men had seen cases, but none described it as a general practice, not even during war campaigns. He also points out that customs differed and not all Azande clans engaged in cannibalism. The ruling Avongara clan clearly rejected the practice, but many other groups who came under their influence initially seem to have been cannibals, and Evans-Pritchard considers it credible that some of them continued this custom under Avongara rule, though the latter's disapproval may have caused it to become rarer. According to Evans-Pritchard, there is no credible evidence that cannibalism was practiced in order to acquire the properties of an admired foe or for any other "ritual" or "magical" reason. As the only reasons he heard from Azande for eating human flesh were "either hunger, or more often, a taste for it", he concludes, in agreement with most other reports of the practice, that it "was eaten simply for meat". The Italian missionary Filiberto Giorgetti, known as Gero, who had spent nearly 40 years among the Azande, published a book about their former cannibalism. He too notes that only some Azande clans had eaten people, especially in war or in order to punish criminals. His informants told him that the flesh of enemies had been eaten not only to celebrate one's victory over them, but also because other provisions were often hard to secure during war campaigns and because letting the human flesh behind to rot was considered needless waste. Captives were either eaten immediately or kept as slaves, but the latter could still be butchered and consumed as punishment, or when provisions got scarce during famines. Among some clans it was also usual to kill and consume lonely individuals from unrelated neighboring groups (including other Azande clans) if an opportunity to do so arose. Most of the victims were women and children, because they were easier to subdue and because their flesh was considered tastier than that of men. According to Gero, though the Avongara did not practise cannibalism and disapproved of the custom among other Azande clans, they punished criminals by selling them to neighboring cannibal peoples who then killed and ate them. ==Notable people==