Juju Charms & Flying Wizard

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Ju Ju Charms & FlyingWizards

Strange Tales of African SorceryBy

Doktor Snake

Africa has always been shrouded in mystery. And even today, when TVcameras have penetrated the remotest areas of the globe, Africa stillremains rooted in magical belief and practice.

This eBook looks at some of the strange stories that have come out ofAfrica in recent years. Stories which prove it is still a mysterious andmagical place.


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Copyright 2001 Doktor Snake. All rights reserved.

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Ju Ju Charms & Flying Wizards

Table of Contents

DARK ENCHANTMENT............................................................................................ 3FLYING WIZARDS ....................................................................................................5DEMON BAT ............................................................................................................. 7SORCERER KILLED BY ANGRY MOB.................................................................... 9WITCHCRAFT IN SOUTH AFRICA......................................................................... 10PENIS SNATCHERS... ............................................................................................ 11BODY PARTS.......................................................................................................... 12


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Dark EnchantmentThe Runyoka charm is used to stop marital partners foolingaround...

In 1998 Edzai Rushambwa, a 30-year-old woman living in Mount Darwin,Northern Zimbabwe, was bemoaning the fact that she had failed tosuccessfully remarry after her first husband died four years previously.

She believed she was the victim of 'Runyoka', a traditional African ju ju ormagic charm common among certain ethnic groups in Zimbabwe, which isused to prevent a spouse from committing infidelity. The enchantmentwas supposedly placed on Rushambwa by her late husband, who diedwithout removing it.

At her rural village, Rushambwa recounted how powerful the charm usedon her had been. After the death of her first husband, she had marriedthree times and each time the man died soon afterwards. She said shehad consulted several traditional healers, desperately hoping to be rid ofthe enchantment, but had had no luck. Asked what caused the deaths of

the three men, Rushambwa said it was because of some sickness, but shecould not be drawn to specify what sickness. 'I have sought help but havehad no success. I will keep on trying,' she said.

Jealous SpousesIn sub-Saharan Africa, it is said spouses jealous or too protective of theirpartners surreptitiously administer 'Runyoka' on them through variousmeans. Spiking food is the commonest method. Mount Darwin secretaryfor the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers' Association, BensonKaseke, says that although this type of sorcery practice is not approved

by traditional healers, it is widespread in the Mukumbura area of MountDarwin, on the border with Mozambique. He says Rushambwa consultedhim over her problem and that it was consistent with Runyoka. He admitsthere are some traditional healers in Zimbabwe who specialize in suchsorcery.

The "Knife"Runyoka is usually used by those who suspect their spouses of havingsexual relations with other partners. 'No one wants to live with anunfaithful partner, hence the need for Runyoka,' Kaseke explains.


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Of the many known types of Runyoka, there is one known in the local

Shona vernacular as 'Rwebanga', or knife. A husband buys a new knife,sprinkles it with some traditional herbs, puts the open knife at thedoorstep of his bedroom and then summons his wife into the room. Thewife walks in and strides over the open knife and thereafter the husbandasks her to pick it up and snap it shut before handing it back to him.

The husband then hides the knife where it will not be found by anyoneelse. This is supposed to prevent the wife from indulging in extramaritalsexual liaisons. But if she does dare to have an affair, the adulterous pairrisk the humiliation of being caught in the act by the husband, as they

would be unable to uncouple themselves because of the power of themagic charm.

'They can only be freed when the husband opens the knife,' Kaseke says.

Medicine FearMarried women of the Tavara tribe in the Mukumbura area of MountDarwin who have been enchanted in this way do not shake hands withmen they might be introduced to, as they fear the medicine would affectthe them. If a man does shake an enchanted woman's hand, he is said to

feel numb and weak and only regains his strength after the hand iswithdrawn.

Kaseke says in some cases daughters are given Runyoka by their parentsso they cannot engage in premarital sex. To undo the enchantment, thegirl is requested to take her boyfriend to her parents' home where he isgiven the same medicine so he is not affected by it when they engage insexual intimacy.

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Flying WizardsSorcerer falls from the sky and crash-lands on to family house...

Although ostensibly Christianized, Africa remains a land rooted in sorcerypractice and belief. Stories of strange events abound - and not all areeasily dismissed as being purely anecdotal due to the fact that there areoften multiple witnesses to the events.

Take the following story, which was reported in the Zambian press inspring, 1997...

One Angus Ngulabe had died on April 7 of that year. At around 2am onthe night following the funeral, his widow, Joyce Mbewe, and members ofher family, were woken by a howling gale and the dull thud of somethinghitting the thatched roof of their house in Barlastone Park, Lusaka, beforerolling off and landing on the ground. As the wind died, the family heardthe voice of a man asking the 'mother of Banda' to let him in.

The widow's sister investigated and found 'a small humanoid creaturewhose features varied from a cat to an owl.' Its left foot was injured and

dripped with blood. As the family watched, the creature grew and tookthe form of a man. He claimed to have been traveling on an airplane andthat he had come to eat the flesh of his grandfather.

The police were summoned and took him away.

Magic AircraftThe creature was suspected as being a wizard. He said his name wasKalasa Nswiba and that he was 70 years old. He had crash-landedbecause relatives of the man who had died in the area (presumably Angus

Ngulube) had fortified the place with strong Ju Ju. As good Christians, MrNgulube's family denied this, putting it down to the superior power ofGod.

The testimony of Nswiba (if that was his name) varied. He told the 'Timesof Zambia' that he had been 'flying' with six other people in a magicaircraft across Zambia. But he told the police the aerial trip had been inthe Democratic Republic of Congo. He said he got the blood-cakedwounds on his left ear and right foot from falling into a ditch.

The government started an investigation to see if the man really was inhis village, as he said, the day before he allegedly crashed.


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WitchcraftThe Traditional Health Practitioners' Association of Zambia said the man'sstory could be true and called on the government to legalize witch-hunting. Police spokesman Beenwell Chimfwembe said an inquiry hadbeen opened and the suspect would soon appear in court for professingknowledge of witchcraft contrary to the Witchcraft Act.

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Demon BatShapeshifting wizard terrorizes man and then is axed to death...

Stories of shapeshifting are common in Africa. One recent recordedinstance was presented to the South African law courts in 1987. It cameabout when a young man, Naletzane Netshiavha, was roused at night bya strange scratching noise at his front door. He went to the door andcalled out 'who's there?', but when there was no response he becamefrightened.

To protect himself, Naletzane picked up an axe and then bravely openedthe door. To his horror, he saw what looked to be a large bat hangingfrom the rafters of his roof. He struck the beast with the axe, making itfall to the ground, and then he fled in a blind panic.

When he plucked up the courage to return with reinforcements, witnessessaw the creature dragging its tattered body towards a fence in the yard.

Naletzane struck it again and again until it lay still.

A large group of people who had been watching from afar finally feltconfident enough to approach for a better view. Every one of thesewitnesses later described seeing a completely different creature to thecourt. To some it was a small donkey; to others it was a winged animal,but all agreed that as it lay dying the creature's form changed.

The testimonies all concurred that it took on the body of a child with thehead of an adult, before slowly developing a complete adult body.

The body was later identified as that of Jim Nephalama, an elderly man,

who was reputedly a wizard. Rumor had it that Jim often boasted that hehad the power to 'do what he wished' with people.

Convicted of HomicideWhen the matter came before a White judge at the Supreme Court, thearbitrator did not fully grasp the complexity of the events and came to theconclusion that Naletzane should have recognized that the creature was aman. He was found guilty of behaving in an irresponsible and violentmanner and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for culpable homicide.

Perhaps if the testimony of the numerous witnesses had been taken intoaccount, and a judge had been found who had some understanding of


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African magic and religion, Naletzane might well have received a lesser

sentence.

Indeed, when it comes to the strange and often bizarre stories thatperiodically come out of Africa, it is easy for those brought up in theWestern rationalist tradition to dismiss them as fantasies from asuperstitious culture. But what is overlooked is the fact that such storiesoften have multiple witnesses, all claiming to have seen the event.Perhaps the wisest approach is to accept that something inexplicable (tothe Western mind) is occurring and that serious and open-mindedinvestigation into such stories is warranted.

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Sorcerer killed by angry mob...

Villagers from the Ivory Coast area of West Africa hacked off the head ofa 60-year-old man, branding him a sorcerer and accusing him of killing ayoung boy by witchcraft, 'Le Jour' newspaper reported in July 1998.

It is understood that the parents of 11-year-old Christophe Adouconsulted the boy's corpse to find the culprit. The accused, AmeyouaGossou, tried to prove his innocence by defying the dead boy's coffin tobang into him if he was responsible. According to the newspaper - it did.He died after being attacked by a mob.

One bystander said: 'In less than three months this village has seen 13children die, but we have had no revenge.'

Villagers living in and around the Ivory Coast, which is well-known asbeing the world's largest cocoa producer, often blame sorcery for deathsdue to diseases such as malaria and AIDS, which are ravaging thecontinent.

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Witchcraft in South Africa...

In South Africa during the 1980s and 1990s there were many extremelyviolent backlashes against suspected witches. Between 1986 and 1987,for instance, it is believed that more than 400 South Africans fell victim towitch 'necklacing', the horrific practice of wedging a suspected witch incar tires then setting them alight to die in the burning rubber.

Before the curtain was drawn on apartheid in South Africa, thegovernment denied the existence of witchcraft.

Today, there is an uneasy compromise. While witchcraft falls within thescope of the criminal law because of the acts of violence it inspires, thereis still a formal refusal to admit it exists.

The traditional witchcraft courts, which have for centuries decreedpunishments ranging from beatings to executions, have now beenoutlawed.

Current statutes, however, are being reviewed and many of the more

positive aspects of the witchcraft tradition such as healing and divininghave now been afforded constitutional protection, in recognition of theglobal re-evaluation of alternative medicine.

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Penis Snatchers...

In Ghana in January 1997 at least 12 sorcerers were beaten to death formaking penises shrink or vanish. Some women also complained ofshrinking breasts and labia.

According to one news report, the merest touch from one of thesesorcerers would cause male victims to lose their 'marital apparel', afterwhich they were persuaded to hand over cash in return for a cure.

The police dismissed the disturbances as the work of thieves, spreadingrumors to create crowds and pick pockets. Many others attributed thecrisis to the fact that severed genitals were required for many witchcraftrituals.

Most of the deaths were in the capital, Accra, but by the end of Januarythe panic spread.

In the town of Kumasi, a hundred or so miles from Accra, police had toopen fire on a mob to save one alleged sorcerer from a lynching.

Police with automatic rifles patrolled markets and bus stations, whilemedical experts appeared on state television to explain why penisesincrease and decrease in size.

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Body PartsUsed in witchcraft rituals and charms...

In African witchcraft body parts are sometimes forcibly removed frompeople for use in rituals and charms.

Some believe a girl's vagina can bring productivity to their business, theconnection being that women are productive because they bear children.

Testicles are used for enhancing sexual strength and performance, whilehuman skulls are said to ensure commercial success.

According to one traditional healer, a corpse's head is sometimes choppedoff and the top of the skull removed. The brain is extracted, dried andground with herbs to make a potion for 'ukucinda' (eating with yourfingers). The skull is kept to be used as a dish for holding the magicalconcoction when it is eaten.

Witchcraft of this type, hitherto confined to remote rural regions, has inrecent years increasingly occurred in urban areas. In 1999 it was reported

that a mother from Johannesburg, South Africa, removed one of her son'stesticles at the request of a 'sangoma' (witch-doctor).

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Juju Charms & Flying Wizard