The occult is a framework of ideas and related practices that is drawn upon as a common resource to provide an understanding of how an apparently random world 'really' works. Based mainly on experiential research in a range of African societies, the essays in this volume examine the relevance of the occult to a variety of social concepts and contexts. These studies stress three features of the occult in modern Africa:

1) as an explanatory and tactical device, it is resilient;
2) it is malleable, with a capacity to absorb and assimilate new elements;
3) it is flexible and...