Southern African Witchdoctors

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Voodoo still with us

African Witchdoctors

You might be surprised that even in this day and age the influence these people have.

Of course depending where you come from and what ethnic section you belong to, this topic can cause widespread divisions.



I would just like to tell you what I think and some of the experiences that I have had. These may sound a bit far fetched but in many cases I happened to witness this with my own eyes. In other cases these were related to me by people I happened to trust implicitly, some of them exceptionally intelligent too.

Having been brought up by parents who were devout Catholics and in a largely Christian population who had a tendency to scoff at all of this.

I have many personal experiences with these people and one of them happened to work on one of my farms. By and large, in my opinion, it happens to be complete " mumbo- jumbo " but then again here are some things which happened.

Feel free to read on and join in the debate, you are all more than welcome.

Beginnings

Types

These people are actually broken up into different types. They can be soothsayers or medicine men and many different things.
In the beginnings when our ancestors first started running farms and using indigenous labourers they were very against this type of thing as they believed it unsettled the labour and consequently they were banned from the farms.

However it is difficult, if not impossible to change people's long held beliefs and somehow they always found their way onto the farms. Generally over the week-ends and you knew that they were there because the noise of the tribal drums banging was heard for miles around.

Personally I could never see what all the fuss was about as I considered them perfectly harmless and why shouldn't people enjoy themselves during their time off.

The other argument was that they enticed inter-tribal rivalries and mayhem and after any of their visits it took months for the farm to settle down again. Then there was the way they dressed and this was done purposely to evoke awe and fear in the people. So it was best if they stayed as far away as one could keep them.

Didn't anybody realise that that was impossible and all it accomplished was to cause resentment and to drive them underground only made the people wonder, what are they afraid of? And if they are afraid, why do they tell us not to be? Therefore there has to be something in it.

Fearsome mask 

The medicine man

Muti

These are the traditional African witchdoctors and it is their job to dispense medicine, otherwise known as " Muti."

I guess it is easy enough to laugh, but what one needs to remember is that in days of yore before the advent of modern medicine. Who did you go and see if you happened to get sick? Sure enough, it was this chap.

As it has turned out, modern day Science has proved that there actually were benefits in some of their remedies, so who can knock that?

What are your thoughts

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More dangerous types

Throwing of the bones

Then of course you come to the more dangerous type of witchdoctors. These people could play havoc with people's emotional needs.

Some of them were believed to be able to predict the future and were visited in times of emotional stress. At other times they were seen to try and resolve disputes between neighbours, friends and enemies.

This was done by the throwing of the bones and to the people this was a chilling and mystical procedure.

The bones could be anything, chicken, dog, human, you name it.

Scenic Zimbabwe 

Modern times

Still with us

In today's world, by and large the witchdoctor no longer dresses as in the past but more or less in Western fashions. However, for ceremonial purposes they will dress in traditional garb.

In Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, they have full access to modern hospitals and it is up to the patient to decide who they want to treat them, either the modern doctor or the traditional one.

Scary things

Sinister and frightening

This is about the more sinister aspects and what can happen. You will be surprised what a belief can do.

It so happens that if you have an enemy and you need to do him harm, a certain type of witchdoctor will cast a spell and then your problems are solved.

Somehow, completely beyond most people's comprehension it is believed and somehow the person knows that a spell has been put on him.

My father in law used to play bridge with a brilliant African medical doctor. One night he noticed that the man was not himself and he asked about his health. The doctor replied that he was dying as someone had put a spell on him. Horrified my dad said;" but a man of your standing and education cannot possibly believe that nonsense?"

A few months later the doctor had passed.

Pause for thought

Can it be?

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The joys of bridge

Great game and great fun

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Personal experiences

It works

Shortly after I had started my farm in South Africa, the wife went into Nelspruit shopping and left the baby with me on the farm. On her way back home on the dirt road she swerved to avoid a speeding bus and overturned her car and ended at the bottom of a steep ditch. Luckily a passing motorist found her and revived her as she had been knocked out and brought her home.

Later I got one of my tractor drivers to come and help me tow it back. I remember this because coming from Zimbabwe we had old fashioned cars and my wife's uncle often used to tease me that his lawn mower was worth more than my car and I was soon to find this was quite true, on claiming Insurance.

The next morning I went to retrieve the radio and cassette player as thought I could use it in the next car we bought, only to find it had been stolen. Furious, as I was still emotional about my wife's experience and what would have happened if she had the baby with her? I also knew it could only have been one of my own staff.

I warned them all that if it was not back by the next morning, then there was going to be trouble. Of course it wasn't, so I sent my truck driver for the witchdoctor, the one who threw bones and could identify the culprit. She arrived in the evening and all the staff were summoned amidst much consternation. The bones were thrown, but horror of horrors she was not certain of the culprit ( wink-wink.)

The following morning on starting work all the staff were at the workshop and once I came into sight, they all started clapping and then singing. Well it's nice to be such a popular boss isn't it?

Once they had all gone their merry way to work, I took a stroll down to where my beat up car was, and Lo and behold.

Guess what?

That's right, the radio was back.

The only sorry thing was that I had to pay the witchdoctor more than the radio was worth, but it's the principle isn't it?

The lawnmower car 

The Best

Nyoni

On the boundary of my farm there lived the scariest of them all,' Nyoni', it just means bird. He was a witchdoctor of legendary proportions. I never had anything but a good relationship with him, no doubt because I allowed him to graze his twenty head of cattle on my farm. Gratis.

My next door neighbour was a cattle rancher and had no end of trouble with rustling. He had tried everything to no avail. As a last resort he called in Nyoni, who promptly put his 'muti' along all his boundary fences. No sooner had he done this, one night while the rustlers were busy butchering a couple of his cattle a sudden storm brew up. It happens all the time there, they are fast and furious. Anyway, there was a sudden jolt of lightning and this just so happened to be where the rustlers were and ' Presto,' no more cattle rustlers.

On my own farm I was busy irrigating my tobacco crop and I was pushed for time as water was short and we were under restrictions. So we were only allowed to irrigate at set times and not when we wanted as was normal. I was all systems go trying to get around watering my crop within the restricted time. I noticed that one of my sprinklers was not working, so went to check it. The 100 metre drag line had been stolen. Raging mad I did some more checking and noticed that all my special seedbed fencing which we had taken down but failed to lock up had also been stolen. It was time for Nyoni.

Magic at work

Nyoni delivers

Once more I had to get all my staff in one place and then wait for the great man's arrival. Prior to this I had given everyone a good talking to and once again had made no headway.

Nyoni arrived in western dress with his only accoutrement being a small deer skin apron tied with some other animal tail and with his bags of 'Muti' swinging off this. From the moment he arrived there was a deathly hush.

He asked me why I needed him and I told the story. Whereupon he commenced to harangue the staff. When he had finished speaking, he asked me to take him to where the items had been stolen. I could not see the point of this and told him to just throw the bones and tell me who did it?

He gave me an incredulous look and then explained to me that he was not that kind of witchdoctor. I asked him, " what kind of witchdoctor are you?"

I am the type of witchdoctor who spreads the ' Muti ' at the scene of the crime and whoever stole the stuff will die shortly thereafter was what he told me. I was truly horrified by this, but I knew the people well enough to realise that with them this was entirely plausible. No ways could I allow that, so I made a compromise and told my staff that if the items had not been returned to me by ten the next morning, then Nyoni was going to put down the ' Muti.'

When I went out to work at 6 the next morning, my dragline had been returned and all my sprinklers were working again. I took a stroll to the seedbeds and there was all my fencing neatly rolled up. This time I locked it away.

A daily occurance 

Back home in Zimbabwe

More Muti

I returned to the family farm and found things more or less the same with all the same old staff. One of these guys I had never been able to put my finger on. I once foolishly asked him to stand in for one of the Foreman who was sick and thereafter it was nigh on impossible to get him not to realise that he was only temporarily a foreman. No, from that day on he was a foreman and he was still at the same old tricks.

However his wife was without a shadow of doubt the best worker I ever had. Moreover she was a natural leader and whatever she said went. Even the men were in awe of her. Often all I had to do was get her on side and everything else thereafter went without a hitch. Sadly a few years afterwards she came and told me that she was " dinawiri." It sounds like din-a-we-reee, and you must say it fast and it just means tired or perhaps in her case worn out. Not only was she a superlative worker but she had had 15 children. I was so sorry to lose her.

Shortly thereafter I kept on noticing fancy cars going past my barns in the evening and heading towards the labourers quarters. I asked my black manager about this and he told me that they were going to get ' Muti.' It turned out that that was from the guy I could never put my finger on and was no doubt why his wife suddenly retired as business was booming.

I never did find out what exactly the type of 'Muti' he was involved in, but he sure was supplying some wealthy people. Then of course we were all thrown off our farms and I often wonder what happened. No doubt this family was all right.

The reason that I wrote this lens is because I think that it is very important to know different cultures and to understand that people think differently. It is not about being right or wrong, but sometimes you have to draw a line somewhere and I wonder where you would draw it here?

Please have a say

Tell us what you think

African Witchdocters

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They play an important role

Deadicated says:

The mind is a very powerful thing; I think you can will something to happen, if you believe that someone can harm you with a spell then they're halfway there.

Quantum_Catholics says:

The are not going to just disappear. One man can't do it alone, either. Therefore you must deal with the culture as it IS.

naheedahsan says:

i think so........

Vallygems1 says:

They play a very important role within there societies. Western influence has however eroded a lot of the positives that was done with the introduction of materialism

birbal says:

thanks. this was a really interesting article. i loved it. i havent read something so good in a long time. thank you again. :D

Drake Holmes says:

thanks 4 these stories they're great!!! they helped me with my assignment and i think Witch Doctors DEFINITELY play an mportant role in society.

DavidDove says:

As a psychotherapist I wonder whether on a different continent with a different skin colour I wouldn't be termed a witch doctor, belief is central to all healing and there are few discernable boundaries. A positive mental attitude and a negative mental attitude are two sides of the same coin with very different outcomes; the choice is ours to make.

whiteskyline says:

I know the power of belief is enormous, so to me there is no telling the limits of them.

rbc says:

They have power, if they are authentic african witchdoctors.

Tolovaj says:

They certainly have power. This kind of power can not be loosed in one generation.

aesta1 says:

It is hard to stop what is culturally practiced and believed in still by many. One only hopes that they will disappear as the younger onw no longer know much about it. We have friends who worked in Africa and told us stories of how they just had to go and use these witch doctors.

Michelle1959 says:

Although I've chosen, "they play an important role", I'd like to qualify this! Firstly there are false witchdoctors but the genuine ones are capable of both good and evil. I've personally witnessed many evil atrocities carried out which converted my own stubborn belief that they held no power which is not a wise state of mind. In my own life when enduring a particularly traumatic work exercise as well as a load of other problems, the Africans working with me were concerned and called a witchdoctor in. He threw the bones - I didn't believe his prediction - yet it was to become reality to the last word! In my opinion, this is a brilliant lens - thank you!

Michey says:

I have mix feeling but I recognize that an experience of thousands of years must give them some skilled, wisdom and good practice... it is exactly like Chinese herbal medicine...

poddys says:

It's part of the tribal tradition, and in part I think it's the fear of their powers that helps keep tribe members in check.

capriliz says:

They are part of that culture and very important to the way of life.

flowergardener says:

I'm very afraid of delving into this for fear of doing something wrong!

Pukeko says:

I agree with OhMe - I would be afraid to doubt their powers.

HorseAndPony says:

They do play an important role. What an amazing impact they had on life. I loved how you handled every situation.

skiesgreen says:

Its what people believe in and that's why it works. As an anthrologist I have studied sharmanism in many cultures and its rather frightening what they can achieve. Australian aborigines die when the bone is pointed at them - voodoo or good magic or just plain brain washing,.

annetteghallowell says:

I lived in Liberia and in Cote d'Ivoire West Africa. I know the power of witchdoctors and the power of belief in them.

No this shouldn't be allowed

sousababy says:

Our belief system is very strongly tied to our health (mental, physical or emotional) . . we call it placebo effect nowadays. Doctors and nurses have (or should follow) a code of ethics to 'do no harm.' If a witchdoctor, per se was doing no harm, then I say okay (i.e. prayer has helped patients). For casting spells and causing havoc, etc. I say 'not allowed.'

eccles1 says:

They scared the farm animals thats what I think !!

Fran says:

There are just some things you should not meddle with and witchcraft is one of them.

 
view all 29 comments

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Oh my Africa

So sad and so true

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Thank you for visiting

Hope you had fun reading

  • Deadicated May 10, 2012 @ 10:53 pm | delete
    Very onteresting and well written Lens.
  • grega85 Apr 1, 2012 @ 6:42 am | delete
    It was very fun and interesting reading. Thanks for sharing.
  • KimGiancaterino Mar 31, 2012 @ 5:22 pm | delete
    Interesting insights and stories. Thanks for supporting Asante Africa Foundation.
  • KarenCookieJar Mar 25, 2012 @ 6:43 pm | delete
    Intriguing information!
  • Quantum_Catholics Mar 2, 2012 @ 3:20 pm | delete
    Excellent page about African Witchdoctors, and very interesting stories!
  • naheedahsan Feb 18, 2012 @ 10:46 am | delete
    good lens, thanks for the information.
  • Vallygems1 Jan 6, 2012 @ 9:07 am | delete
    Great lens
  • Pennyseeker Nov 15, 2011 @ 10:02 am | delete
    Interesting lens!
  • vallain Oct 26, 2011 @ 8:28 pm | delete
    It's amazing the power of the mind, so if you believe something strongly enough, the mind can make it happen.
  • DavidDove Sep 10, 2011 @ 3:26 pm | delete
    I find your work fascinating Spook and I am taking my time to stroll around and think it through, thank you for some thought provoking work, it tends to touch some long held beliefs which have needed the expression that I find here.
  • sousababy Aug 14, 2011 @ 5:39 am | delete
    Glad to see a purple star on this one. I love that you tackle things that others wouldn't touch. I must admit, I am glad there are regulatory bodies (in Canada, at least) for practicing therapists, nurses and doctors. Even so, there was a highly publicized case here in Toronto, Canada where a doctor (who took some courses in how to do liposuction) applied her 'new skill' and made (I believe) 37 incisions to remove fat from a realtor's body (who was maybe 20 lbs overweight) . . her body went into shock and this woman died, leaving behind 2 children and a husband. Board certified plastic surgeons highly trained to perform liposuction will concede that only about 6 incisions should be done (at any one time, for the body to adjust and heal). Regulation would have to be key, we still have problems with some (very few, I hope) in modern medicine.
  • sousababy Aug 14, 2011 @ 5:30 am | delete
    Always an education visiting your work Spook, I've never been to Zimbabwe and (I wonder) if any voodoo has been practiced on me. I have this horrible pain in my neck - ha.
  • pimbels Jun 13, 2011 @ 4:56 am | delete
    Very interesting lens. Thank you.
  • Tolovaj Jun 11, 2011 @ 2:32 pm | delete
    I do not know anything about Zimbawe. Thanks for some interesting info!
  • celeBritys4africA Jun 10, 2011 @ 11:30 am | delete
    Yes, it is true. I believe.
  • Spook Jun 10, 2011 @ 11:49 am | delete
    Thank you for your visit and your comment, but, more importantly for your honesty.
  • aesta1 Apr 5, 2011 @ 7:34 pm | delete
    I always find your lenses interesting. I can understand the underlying thread behind. Zimbabwe was so beautiful. I hope it is still now. I have met some from Zimbabwe who have moved to New Zealand and its is painful but history tells us that sometimes, pain has to happen to give birth to something new. Wish you the best.
  • Spook Jun 10, 2011 @ 11:48 am | delete
    Thank you.
  • ---Chazz Apr 1, 2011 @ 7:47 am | delete
    Hope it isn't a conflict of interests ;-), but this squid angel has just blessed your lens. Very interesting and well done. Enjoyed your stories. I am familiar with similar phenomena in other cultures so it was enlightening to find both similarities and difference.
  • Spook Jun 10, 2011 @ 11:47 am | delete
    That's wonderful news and thank you. It does give us all pause for thought.
  • Michey Dec 1, 2010 @ 6:08 pm | delete
    Interesting lens with a lot of info.
  • poddys Nov 30, 2010 @ 2:34 pm | delete
    This is a very informative lens on a topic that most white people don't know much about. I do believe there is some "magic" in this world, but exactly what power the witch doctors have I don't know. Maybe it's fear that the tribe has of them that gives them their power.
  • capriliz Nov 30, 2010 @ 10:31 am | delete
    My mother's life was saved by a "witch" doctor when she was very young. She had been scalded and had severe burns over a large part of her body. Craziness? We just know at that time, people died from burns like that.

    I enjoyed the story of your experience with the witch doctors. I will be back to read more of your wonderful lenses.
  • SereneSea Nov 23, 2010 @ 7:21 am | delete
    Great lens that has brought food for thought for ultra-normal things and existence of such voodoism. I have personal experiences and when the science and medicine failed to do their jobs, this witch doctors who we call quack have played a greater role in healing. When everything failed my father once approached them for a cure of my sister's prolonged illness. Strange but true - we started seeing her getting well immediately after that. I cannot agree with you more.
  • Snozzle Sep 14, 2010 @ 2:57 pm | delete
    Great lens, I find the whole subject fascinating. There is a power there but whether it comes from the individual himself or just effects the mind I'm not sure. if we believe something it usually comes about, whether that is good or bad.
  • GrowWear Sep 9, 2010 @ 2:28 pm | delete
    Would not want to live in that culture. But, I do see it as one way that this culture holds itself together -- for better or worse.
  • Yume_Tenshi Sep 7, 2010 @ 3:15 am | delete
    Ooh! A lens about South Africa! I am privileged enough to have been raised in this dynamic and diverse country. It is true what ou wrote- These tribal witchdoctors (Sangomas) have a powerful hold over the traditional african. My personal thoughts are that if you believe in something you give that "thing" power over you (whether it is real or not) People are like that, they would ignore the truth to believe in something, either because they are afraid it is true, or they can't accept the idea that it is not true. And now I am rambling. :) A wonderful lens! Thank you for sharing with us!
  • Pukeko Sep 6, 2010 @ 6:38 pm | delete
    Really interesting information and perspective on African witchdoctors. Thanks for sharing this.
  • ThomasC Sep 1, 2010 @ 3:17 pm | delete
    Blessed by ThomasC Keep up the good work!
  • susannaduffy May 3, 2010 @ 7:40 am | delete
    If an Australian Aboriginal Elder points the bone at you - you will get sick. In some cases, you can get really sick. Some people die. It's real alright
  • KathyMcGraw Apr 25, 2010 @ 11:24 am | delete
    Fascinating...I have heard these stories but you put a personal touch on them. I really enjoyed this read, and it certainly gave me more insight than I had about Witchdoctors.
  • HorseAndPony Apr 22, 2010 @ 4:58 pm | delete
    I'm back for a visit. This is one of my all time favorite lenses. Blessed by The HorseAndPony Angel!
  • Demaw Apr 13, 2010 @ 7:45 am | delete
    This reminds me of a job I had in a large American city. We were given codes to use in a machine to identify which shift. One code was 666. There was relative mutiny with that. People said they would not use that number, they would quit first, they would use the wrong code etc. My boss had to change the codes in order to make peace.
  • Wordwinder Apr 8, 2010 @ 2:53 am | delete
    This was one great lens on a fascinating subject.
  • Momtothezoo Mar 28, 2010 @ 10:22 am | delete
    Kevin, you have really done some research...great lens!! Very interesting!
  • HorseAndPony Jan 29, 2010 @ 9:59 am | delete
    Congratulations on your purple star!
  • prosperity66 Jan 22, 2010 @ 5:08 am | delete
    The subject is interesting. I won't enter the debate for some reasons but this is a must read page for anyone who would like to learn more about those customs. Even if they seem not respectable to our Occidental eyes and/or notions of what is respectable or not.
    Blessed by a SquidAngel.
  • HorseAndPony Jan 21, 2010 @ 1:25 pm | delete
    I loved reading every word of this lens. You have so many amazing stories and I was sad when this lens came to an end. If you ever write a book, I would be first in line to purchase it.
  • skiesgreen Dec 11, 2009 @ 5:44 pm | delete
    Great detail here and interesting questions. Enjoyable lens and powerful 5* and fave

    Norma
  • nikelover Nov 16, 2009 @ 3:38 pm | delete
    This was very interesting, especially your personal experience. I still am skeptical in regards to voodoo and all that jazz, but hey who knows.
  • JaguarJulie Oct 28, 2009 @ 3:09 pm | delete
    Just popped in for a visit today to see what was up with the African Witch Doctors! ;)
  • AndyPo Oct 22, 2009 @ 8:31 am | delete
    Very interesting lens. A fascinating subject.
  • Treasures-By-Brenda Oct 5, 2009 @ 1:17 pm | delete
    I am always the skeptic although never the firm disbeliever.
    Does that make any sense? I hope so.
    Nicely done & blessed.
  • eccles1 Sep 11, 2009 @ 11:59 am | delete
    Witchdoctors go back way back they enticed inter-tribal rivalries..I think thats true ! its like looking at our past we all started this way long ago but this tribe and others have not evolved from within...These few still act like a tribe. sometimes the old ways with traditions and beliefs ( without facts ) blocks our evolution but I don't believe all medicine doctors are bad.
  • Laniann Aug 4, 2009 @ 5:25 pm | delete
    I enjoyed reading your lens - every bit of it. You have a nice style of writing. 5*
  • JaguarJulie Jun 13, 2009 @ 1:07 pm | delete
    Kevin, very insightful -- I like to think that I have an open mind and believe all things possible. Hubby on the other hand is a scientist and needs hard indisputable facts to make up his mind.
  • annetteghallowell May 30, 2009 @ 3:35 pm | delete
    I learned all about Witchdoctors, Ju-Ju Magic and Heart Men while living in Liberia. I would never doubt their abilities!
  • NanLT May 29, 2009 @ 5:38 am | delete
    Very interesting to read. I'm going to lensroll this to my own witchcraft lenses.
  • daria369 Apr 23, 2009 @ 2:01 pm | delete
    Outstanding lens, enjoyed every word! I have a deep respect for other cultures and traditions and always appreciate learning about them.
  • spirituality Apr 19, 2009 @ 12:35 pm | delete
    Great lens - you've been blessed by a squidoo angel :)
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All welcome to read

Some short stories

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Pictures courtesy of Google images

by

Spook

True stories from my experiences with these people whilst living in Africa.

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