During a ceremony conducted by a Zionist congregation in Mozambique to restore the fertility of a barren couple by appeasing an angry spirit, I was told that whites were immune from these kinds of problems since they were free of angry spirits and witchcraft and more able to co-operate among themselves. Such criticism of "African culture" is widespread among many Protestant churches, in particular the Zionists and Pentecostals in general. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church, through its notion of enculturation, attempts to become closer to "African Tradition". The article examines the meanings attached to "African Tradition" and its antinomies, "Modernity" and "Civilization", in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread existence of a strong desire to control the evils of witchcraft, sorcery, and the jealousy and ambition that move them. The article ends with a brief reflection on the way in which much classical anthropological analysis of witchcraft and sorcery has failed to take into account the suffering that such beliefs reflect and engender.