What Did Witchcraft Mean in Mauritius?

Introduction

Stories about witchcraft in Mauritius have long attracted lurid headlines, but the reality is more complex than the sensational reports suggest. References to longanis (also spelled longaniste in academic writing) are best understood not as evidence of a hidden cult but as part of a broad landscape of healing, ritual practice, spiritual protection and accusations of harmful magic that developed in a multicultural island society. Colonial newspapers often exaggerated these beliefs into tales of barbarity or panic, while modern researchers have shown that they were embedded in everyday concerns about illness, envy, misfortune and social relationships rather than simply fear of the supernatural.[springer.com]link.springer.comWitchcraft, Envy, and Norm Enforcement in Mauritiusby AK Willard · 2024 · Cited by 7 — Participants were coded as claiming witchc…

For anyone exploring Mauritius’s strange history, this makes witchcraft reports especially revealing. They tell us as much about colonial attitudes, journalism and social tensions as they do about beliefs in unseen forces.

What did witchcraft mean in Mauritius?

The word longanis has never referred to a single organised religion or fixed tradition. Instead, it has been used for people believed to possess occult knowledge, whether as healers, ritual specialists, fortune tellers or practitioners accused of causing harm through magic. Depending on the community and the situation, the same individual might be sought out for protection one day and denounced as dangerous the next. Modern anthropological research often uses the French-derived form longaniste when discussing these practitioners.[Springer]link.springer.comWitchcraft, Envy, and Norm Enforcement in Mauritiusby AK Willard · 2024 · Cited by 7 — Participants were coded as claiming witchc…

This ambiguity reflects Mauritius’s history. The island was settled through slavery, indentured labour and migration from Africa, Madagascar, India, Europe and China. Religious ideas crossed cultural boundaries, creating a landscape in which Catholic saints, Hindu rituals, African-derived protective practices, herbal medicine and local spirit beliefs could all coexist. Rather than existing as isolated traditions, they frequently overlapped in everyday life. Archaeological and historical research has shown that religious syncretism became a defining feature of Mauritian culture from the colonial period onwards.[Centaur]centaur.reading.ac.ukCentaur Archaeology and religious syncretism in MauritiusJohn Middleton and E. H. Winter, eds., Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Af- rica (London: Routledge and Kegan…Read more…

Within this setting, accusations of witchcraft often centred on practical concerns:

These concerns resemble patterns documented elsewhere in Africa and the western Indian Ocean, but Mauritius developed its own distinctive blend because of its unusually diverse population.[springer.com]link.springer.comWitchcraft, Envy, and Norm Enforcement in Mauritiusby AK Willard · 2024 · Cited by 7 — Participants were coded as claiming witchc…

Why colonial newspapers loved witchcraft stories

Nineteenth-century colonial newspapers frequently treated Mauritian witchcraft as evidence of exotic superstition. Reports that might have reflected local disputes or healing traditions were rewritten into dramatic tales of sinister “witch doctors”, secret ceremonies and supposedly primitive beliefs.

One widely reprinted example appeared in 1885 under the headline “Murder and Witchcraft in Mauritius”, based on correspondence from Port Louis. The article focused on alleged witch doctors and criminal investigations, presenting them as sensational curiosities for readers across the British Empire rather than examining the social circumstances behind the events. The story travelled well beyond Mauritius through colonial newspaper networks, reinforcing stereotypes of the island as a place of mysterious occult practices.[Papers Past]paperspast.natlib.govt.nzPapers PastPapers Past | MURDER AND WITCHCRAFT IN MAURITIUS.MURDER AND WITCHCRAFT IN MAURITIUS. • A correspondent of the Times at Port Lo…

Such reporting had several recurring features:

Modern historians regard these reports cautiously. They remain valuable historical documents because they preserve contemporary rumours and anxieties, but they also reveal the biases of colonial journalism.

Longanis between healing and accusation

Perhaps the most important point often lost in sensational accounts is that longanis were not automatically regarded as villains.

Across Mauritius, ritual specialists have historically been consulted for problems that conventional medicine was believed unable to solve. They might prepare herbal remedies, recommend protective rituals, identify suspected spiritual causes of illness or perform ceremonies intended to remove harmful influences. Some communities viewed these activities as legitimate forms of healing rather than evidence of evil.

At the same time, exactly the same body of knowledge could become deeply controversial if someone was suspected of using it to harm others. A person blamed for another family’s illness, financial collapse or repeated misfortune could quickly become the subject of rumours about black magic.

This dual reputation—protector and potential threat—helps explain why stories surrounding longanis have proved so durable. The uncertainty surrounding invisible causes of suffering leaves considerable room for competing interpretations.

What modern research says about witchcraft beliefs

Recent research paints a much subtler picture than colonial reporting ever did.

Experimental studies conducted in Mauritius suggest that accusations of witchcraft remain closely connected with perceptions of envy. Participants were significantly more likely to interpret suspicious behaviour as witchcraft when they believed a person’s actions were motivated by jealousy or resentment. Witchcraft accusations also damaged the accused person’s reputation, showing that these beliefs continue to function as a form of social regulation rather than merely surviving as old folklore.[Springer]link.springer.comWitchcraft, Envy, and Norm Enforcement in Mauritiusby AK Willard · 2024 · Cited by 7 — Participants were coded as claiming witchc…

Related research into beliefs about illness found that many Mauritians distinguish between ordinary diseases and ailments believed to have supernatural causes. When people judged an illness to be spiritually caused, they were also more likely to expect a spiritual remedy alongside—or instead of—medical treatment. Importantly, these beliefs exist alongside widespread use of modern healthcare rather than replacing it.[Brunel University Research Archive]bura.brunel.ac.ukFull TextBrunel University Research ArchiveGod, witchcraft, and beliefs about illness in Mauritiusby AK Willard · 2024 · Cited by 8 — The multicul…

These findings challenge the simplistic colonial picture of irrational superstition. Instead, witchcraft beliefs operate as one cultural framework among several for explaining events that otherwise seem difficult to understand.

Why these stories became part of Mauritian Forteana

From a Fortean perspective, the fascination lies less in proving supernatural powers than in understanding how extraordinary claims emerge and spread.

Reports involving longanis often combine several elements common across strange-history traditions:

Unlike famous monster legends or ghost stories, Mauritian witchcraft reports reveal the social mechanics behind the uncanny. They show how fear, uncertainty and cultural diversity can produce narratives that survive for generations even as their meanings change.

Reading colonial sensationalism with care

The surviving newspaper archive is indispensable but incomplete. It records what colonial editors found exciting, not necessarily what ordinary Mauritians believed.

Modern scholarship encourages a more balanced reading. Instead of asking whether witchcraft “really worked”, historians and anthropologists ask different questions:

Viewed this way, longanis occupy an important place in Mauritius’s strange history not because they provide convincing evidence of supernatural events, but because they illuminate the meeting point of folklore, religion, colonial power, journalism and everyday attempts to make sense of misfortune. That combination has ensured that witchcraft reports remain one of the island’s most distinctive and enduring Fortean traditions.

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Endnotes

1. Source: link.springer.com
Link:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-024-09484-4

2. Source: bura.brunel.ac.uk
Title: Full Text
Link:https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/29881/3/FullText.pdf

3. Source: centaur.reading.ac.uk
Title: Centaur Archaeology and religious syncretism in Mauritius
Link:https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/82780/1/Caval_2018_Archaeology%20and%20religious%20syncretism%20in%20Mauritius.pdf

4. Source: tandfonline.com
Link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006286

5. Source: paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Link:https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS18850205.2.35

6. Source: youtube.com
Title: Mauritian folklore with The Loup-Garou of Le Morne
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmxJyyHbles

7. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeu-rFNyGlY

Additional References

8. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329277306_Archaeology_and_Religious_Syncretism_in_Mauritius

9. Source: researchgate.net
Title: 398529712 Witchcraft Envy and Norm Enforcement in Mauritius
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/398529712_Witchcraft_Envy_and_Norm_Enforcement_in_Mauritius

10. Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/CharacterDesignChallenge/posts/2272190916315577/

11. Source: journals.sagepub.com
Link:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1469605315575124

12. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUYNG1dxaag

13. Source: youtube.com
Title: Exploring Grand Bassin Mauritius
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB3gHTPn5Ts

14. Source: youtube.com
Title: Mauritius’ Slavery Heritage: Le Morne Mountain
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEVcvLPaOE4