Hi there
Has anyone travelling through Africa had any experiences
which they could classify as magic or spiritual - be they
watching healers, marabouts or other men of knowledge, or
seeing rituals/ceremonies connected with hunting,
circumcision etc.
I am fascinated in this aspect of Africa and would really
appreciate any stories which anyone has - specifically from
Western Africa, although any such stories would be great.
Thanks and happy travelling - I'm homebound with our new
baby and not likely to hit West Africa until Xmas!
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Although i wasn't in west Africa, i had a mad experience
with a witch doctor in Malawi- we had to walk four hours in
to the bush to a little mud hut vllage where we met the
doctor and his many wives and mistresses. He was young
looking, very knowledgeable, kind of raster hair, with a
finger missing and inch long tonenails- i think he was just
as intrigued by us as we were by him. We had about a four
hour ceremony with intense drum music, while he danced
wearing bells around his waste, ankles and wrists- it was
the most intense sound that i don't think i'll ever
forget! The dance was a way of him connecting to your
brain, apparently through the devil. Halfway through the
ceremony a woman who had been lying in the corner started
to come to life, making highly strange almost possesed
noices, infact it was really creepy- apparently she was
a 'trainee' witchdoctor, as to become a witchdoctor you
have to go mad??!! She definately was. It was amazing to
see the effect the doctor had on the locals, they have a
tremendouus amount of respect for him, and as with all the
roumours about witchdoctors is that you don't want to get
cursed... i didn't know what to think of the whole event,
it was truley spooky as the drumming creates such a
dramatic atmosphere, but i have always been warned not to
go near Witchdoctors by a friend who lives in Swaziland,
due to curses, superstitions ect, but nothing too bad has
happened to me so it will remain a personal and amazing
experience!
I spent some time with some Waganga (witch doctors) in
Tanzania (Ukerewe Island) and had some similar experiences
as above (though no one was particularly "crazy" in my
eyes. As for the "Shetanies" (little
satans), "Mchowies"(satans in human form) and other
spiritual thingies....they are ALL OVER THE PLACE -
especially near water..and I am not a religeous person or a
hippie or a freak but I have to say I definetly felt their
prescence and was affected through some very STRANGE events
and I do believe you have to take care because the Waganga
CAN call up spirits and shit can happen to you if you rub
someone the wrong way. Call ME crazy if you like....I
grant them all the respect in the world.
I spent 3 weeks in Nigeria, West AFrica. Let me give you a little bit of warning. I understand that a lot of this supernatural stuff is facinating, but I'm warning you to be careful around it. Stay away from it if at all possible. I won't go into any details, but I will tell you that even being AROUND witchdoctors can have a serious effect on you, physically and spiritually. The effects might not show up for years down the road, but they WILL show up. The reason that most village people fear and respect these witchdoctors is b/c they frequently place physical or spiritual tormenting curses on them, and in exchange for money, they remove the curse.
I accidently pressed the "Add Post" button, so I didn't get to finish what I was saying. Anyway... I went there with a Christian group. The thing that amazed me the most was that we were able to break the surses off of these people by the power of Jesus! (don't freak out.) I was just as amazed as the next person. If I read right, the previous post mentioned something about the witchdoctor using power through the devil. He (or she) is very much correct, and I saw it for myself. I'm just warning you that being an innocent spectator can be harmful if you don't have your own "spiritual weapons."
If your ever in the position.. try Jesus... it works!
I've tried 3 times to get this post up, and it's not working. I'm not even sure if the first half got posted. I accidently pressed the "Add Post" button, so I didn't get to finish what I was saying. Anyway... I went there with a Christian group. The thing that amazed me the most was that we were able to break the surses off of these people by the power of Jesus! (don't freak out.) I was just as amazed as the next person. If I read right, the previous post mentioned something about the witchdoctor using power through the devil. He (or she) is very much correct, and I saw it for myself. I'm just warning you that being an innocent spectator can be harmful if you don't have your own "spiritual weapons."
If your ever in the position.. try Jesus... it works!