Belief and Explanation in Nyinba Women's Witchcraft

The Tibetan Nyinba in nrorthwestern Nepal hold beliefs about witchcraft based on the assumption that it is inherently a female phenomenon. This article focuses on the analysis of these beliefs, their underlying logic, cultural sources and social consequences. Ideas about witchcraft constitute, at one level, explanatory theories which have a bearing upon problematic aspects of interpersonal interaction and are sensitive to what we might term social and psychological dynamics. These folk theories are not rigid and compelling of belief, but rather allow room for reflection, diversity of opinion and change. However, they fail to address one fundamental problem: the source of the association between women and witchcraft, and reasons for this are considered.