African Folklore

The folklores of Africa are incredibly diverse, but will be discussed here.

## Magic

Magic in Africa is primarily of the sympathetic variety, but is influenced by local practices, including fetishism, cults of the dead, *ju-ju*/witchcraft, and witch-doctor cults.

## Bantu Peoples

Witchcraft was practiced among the Bantu peoples in secret, owing to it being considered an evil practice. Witch-doctors were instituted as a group of witch-hunters whose task was to "smell out" witches. Most of these witch-hunters were women. Lady Barker says that this was one of the few ways women could gain social power in Bantu communities.

Amongst the Zulu, these witch-hunters, known as *Isinyanga* and *Abangoma*, were accompanied by a circle of girls and women who would assist the witch-hunter by clapping, chanting, and dancing as necessary to help those affected by magic. Witch-hunters also had special uniforms made to invoke the image of countering the witch's power in the minds of the people. The witch-hunter Nozinyanga wore red face paint, had a helmet bearing the feathers of a sakabula bird, carried a small bunch of assegais (short spears) in her right hand, and an ox-hide shield in her left. She wore a skirt made of colourful handkerchiefs, and around her neck were many long necklaces made of beads, goat-hair, and red tassels. On her chest was a covering of leopard skin with brass fittings, and on her back was the dried skin of a boa constrictor. Witch-hunters in general are stated as deliberately greasing their hair, and tying it in such a way as to make it hang around the face in a thick fringe, which would be dyed red.

When it was determined that witches were in an area, the local leader would have all the people sit in a circle for four or five days, with the witch-hunters in the centre. They would work themselves into a frenzy, pointing with their quagga-tail at people in the circle, who were taken away and killed, along with every living thing in their home, including women, children, and pets. On occasion, a whole kraal (livestock enclosure) would also be killed. Spence implies that this was sometimes used by the more tyrannical leaders as a means to get rid of those they didn't like, and he also describes the frenzy of the witch-hunters as being akin to reported cases of demonic possession in Europe.

### Nozilwane

Nozilwane was an infamous witch-hunter, said to be able to make people uncomfortable with a glance. She wore lynx skins from her waist to knees, many necklaces made of animal teeth, beads, yarn skeins, strips of snake shin, and bits of goat fleece. She also wore a headdress of lynx tails and sakabula feathers, in which were small bladders and ivory pins. Like other witch-hunters, she wore her hair in the customary style.

Nozilwane notably moved like a cat during the build-up to the frenzy, undulating to the clapping and chanting. To scare people, she would pretend to find a witch, and would leap into the air and do pirouettes while brandishing her spear and shield. She had a rival known as Nowamso, who would often copy her actions to avoid looking passive while they worked together. Though Nowamso often looked more impressive, with more vibrant colours on her outfit, a large snake skin on her back, and a leopard skin skirt, Nozilwane was viewed as superior due to her stamina allowing her to continue hunting witches for longer than any of her fellow witch-hunters, all of whom she made look bad in comparison.

## Central Africa

### Cult of the Dead

It was believed that the spirits of the dead (*Obambo*) lived in the wilderness, and when they got bored they would come to those who would be most affected by them. They would ask these people to build them a home as close as possible to their own, and to dance and sing for them, which would be done into the night. The next day those who danced and sang would go to the grave of that spirit, repair any damage it had suffered. They would then make a rude statuette, and place it, along with a bamboo bier and some grave dust, in the house that was built, after draping white cloth on the ground.

Like the Ancient Greeks and Romans, those who follow these Cults of the Dead believed that their spirits had to cross a magical body of water on a boat, and the *obambo* were those who didn't have boats, preventing them from crossing.

### Fetishes

Historically, epilepsy was assumed to be the result of a person being possessed by an evil spirit called Mbwiri, and this possession was believed to only be ended by the intervention of a medicine man or fetish.

A hut would be built in the middle of the street, and the epileptic person would be put inside, along with the medicine man and his disciples. For ten to fourteen days, a great revel would be held in the hut, with all the food and drink provided by the epileptic person's family. Music on the flute and drums would accompany this. The idea behind this fetish is that Mbwiri does not like people enjoying their lives. The epileptic person would dance until they had a seizure. The medicine man would then provide a cure of some description, after which the epileptic person would build a small fetish house, avoid certain foods, and do certain jobs. This was known to occasionally drive the epileptic person insane, after which they would be sent from their community into the wilds.

Read describes these medicine men (also known as fetish men) as being similar to ancient Germanic priest-doctors, having extensive knowledge of herbs, psychology, and politics, which they were said to use to their advantage. Read says that, during his time with the Shekani people, one of these revels took place. The medicine man, wearing white, a belt of leopard skin with sheep bells hung from it, and chalk markings above his eyes, spoke to him. Read provided some of his own hair, which the medicine man considered a fetish of the first degree (Read said that the hair of all white people was considered so), and some raspberry vinegar. Read then asked to see the fetish that the fetish man would make, so he drew on the ground with red chalk some markings, including a cross and the crescent, but would not explain further unless Read provided something that he neither possessed nor was willing to acquire and trade for the knowledge.

Fetish men also served as witch-finders, and this would be something they did mainly when an important person died, which was generally ascribed to witchcraft. Before the person died, the *Ngembi* was called to try to cure them. The fetish man was only called if the *ngembi* failed. They came at night, in their standard outfit as well as a white cock-feather headdress. Holding a little glass, relatives of the unwell would be summoned to a small room. While looking at his glass, he would tell them that the sickness was not caused by Mbwiri, Obambo, or God, but by a witch. The fetish man would then be paid in cloth, and the family members would go to the street, trying to beg the witch to relent and make their relative well again. If this failed, a Bush Doctor would be called in from Shekani country, who would sing in the Bush-Language and go into the street, still singing. The people would come around him, and he would lay a tiger-skin at the feet of the witch. When he finished singing, he would have the witch seized and put in chains,telling them that they would die if they didn't cure the sick man.

## See Also

* Arabic Folklore
* Assyrian Mythology
* Babylonian Mythology
* Canaanite Mythology
* Caribbean Folklore
* Egyptian Mythology
* Israelite Mythology
* Magic
* Vampires in Africa

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Spence, L. (1920). *An Encyclopædia of Occultism*. 2 ed. pg. 4
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Spence, L. (1920). *An Encyclopædia of Occultism*. 2 ed. pg. 5
3. ↑ Spence, L. (1920). *An Encyclopædia of Occultism*. 2 ed. pg. 6