The spirits, the witches, African Tokoloshe, superstitions, experiences and the tales

[spike.t]

Albinos are killed for body parts for witchcraft.....happens in quite a few countries......

 

[Pondoro]

Puhh.
Scandinavians and alcohol..............
an endless story

How do you think we survive these cold harsh winters..? Fool..

 

[Sideshow]

Albinos are killed for body parts for witchcraft.....happens in quite a few countries......

If you ever go to Siwa in Egypt there’s loads of Albinos. Hard life for them there bing in the Sahara desert. Something to do with inbreeding I was told.
Used to visit an old witch doctor in Malawi up by Nkhata bay that used to call the sprits up on an old phone if you gave him some tobacco or a coke. Passengers used to get a kick out of that. Not sure what happened to him. Just remember that his hit was totally empty one time when we dropped in. The other over land drivers said he never came back so who knows. Congo had a few witches stayed well clear of them though they seemed to bat shit crazy for even me.
Seems to me that the more jungle to more you get these beliefs.
Tim Butcher wrote a good book called Chasing the Devil he writes about the witch doctors of Sierra Leone.
There’s also a woman explorer who’s traced through there that talks a lot about them. But can’t remember who she was. Or the book I’ll see if I can find it. Interesting reading though.

 

[Sideshow]

Mary Kingsley thanks Google can’t find the book though might have been One Dry Season.

 

[Rimbaud]

When I was a boy in the old South, we always heard about haints. Depending on who was talking, the haints were mean ghosts who lived in the woods, or the souls of dead slaves who had some unsettled business, or just people who couldn't pass over for whatever reason. From time to time, I vaguely remember seeing amulets of some sort that had been hung on houses to keep away the haints. It has been eons since I thought of this, but I remember people painting porches certain colors to keep away haints. A propos of this, I just read a review on the power of placebos which drills down into some of the sentiment shared here that the mind is a very powerful force.

What Do You Expect? | Gavin Francis

The surprising power of placebos demonstrates how the mind influences both the experience of ill health and the evolution of illness.

www.nybooks.com

 

[Flbt]

Honestly not a joking subject.....not surprised he was pissed off......the vast majority of Africans from the guy living in a mud hut in a village in middle of nowhere to the president believe in witchcraft even if they deny it...not a subject to take the piss out of here.....you should have listened to him in the first place.....people if a spell is put on them will literally go and lie down somewhere and die ...not instantly but will deteriorate quite quickly.....you should respect other peoples culture....

Hoodo and roots are still big in places in the southern US. I have been told they go back to the first slaves brought in. And yes some take it very seriously.

 

[Flbt]

When I was a boy in the old South, we always heard about haints. Depending on who was talking, the haints were mean ghosts who lived in the woods, or the souls of dead slaves who had some unsettled business, or just people who couldn't pass over for whatever reason. From time to time, I vaguely remember seeing amulets of some sort that had been hung on houses to keep away the haints. It has been eons since I thought of this, but I remember people painting porches certain colors to keep away haints. A propos of this, I just read a review on the power of placebos which drills down into some of the sentiment shared here that the mind is a very powerful force.

What Do You Expect? | Gavin Francis

The surprising power of placebos demonstrates how the mind influences both the experience of ill health and the evolution of illness.

www.nybooks.com

Goofa dust

 

[cajunchefray]

I grew up with a lot of German folklore .. My Grandma came from the time when spirituality was big. Seances, Table tipping, Autonomic writing, Ouija.

I never did like or have felt times of severe Un comfortability entertaining this in my youth.
This was the last thing I've entertained "Pendulum". Use to use it for water witching, detecting metal. etc. Started asking it questions & it spins for yes & swings side to side for No. Not cool

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Now "The Moon" dictates the tides. Everyone's well aware of full moons & chaos, crime, born babies, psych wards chaos, etc.

I was told in medic school (the body's made up of apx 90% water @ cellular level). Could explain "intercranial pressure" on the noggin.

Greek/Biblical; Moon derives from Luna, Lunar" Where the word Lunatic came from.

Very interesting. My Dad was from French and German immigrants.
His paternal grandmother was what we call a “treatur” in Cajun French.

The phase of the moon was a big deal for these rural Cajuns.
He never had a hair cut on the New Moon, thinking it makes your hair grow faster.
Moon phases were important for planting crops, harvest and when cows would drop their calves.

I haven’t scientifically verified that but I went along with it.

 

[Flbt]

Very interesting. My Dad was from French and German immigrants.
His paternal grandmother was what we call a “treatur” in Cajun French.

The phase of the moon was a big deal for these rural Cajuns.
He never had a hair cut on the New Moon, thinking it makes your hair grow faster.
Moon phases were important for planting crops, harvest and when cows would drop their calves.

I haven’t scientifically verified that but I went along with it.

Moon phase same in fl.
Don’t cut one on the growing of the moon
And like you said haircuts to crops

 

[Graham Hunter]

When I was a kid my Dad always said you never castrate calves on a full or rising moon. I always adhered to that and castrated hundreds of calves with never a problem. Then one summer I had a chance to pen a calf that had got away.Never even thought and went ahead and castrated him. He bled like a stuck pig and swole up. He survived. Checked the calendar and it was 2 days before a full moon. Never did that again and had no more problems?

 

[steve white]

Very interesting. My Dad was from French and German immigrants.
His paternal grandmother was what we call a “treatur” in Cajun French.

The phase of the moon was a big deal for these rural Cajuns.
He never had a hair cut on the New Moon, thinking it makes your hair grow faster.
Moon phases were important for planting crops, harvest and when cows would drop their calves.

I haven’t scientifically verified that but I went along with it.

Not just planting, but harvesting according to the moon phase was "common knowledge" in East Texas. Dig up potatoes at the right moon phase and they would not rot--just sit there and dehydrate over time.

 

[Hunt anything]

The house my dad grew up in is in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia. One of the last battles of the civil war was fought in the back yard. It was Custer against Beauregard, the house was riddled with mini balls and cannon fire. The root cellar was a make shift aid station. Dad would tell stories of waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of a Yank and a Rebel fighting in the cellar. Evidently some of the soldiers were killed and according to him they came back to finish the fight.
I think he was just trying to scare me and my sister. It definitely worked.

 

[Noah_McCoy]

The house my dad grew up in is in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia. One of the last battles of the civil war was fought in the back yard. It was Custer against Beauregard, the house was riddled with mini balls and cannon fire. The root cellar was a make shift aid station. Dad would tell stories of waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of a Yank and a Rebel fighting in the cellar. Evidently some of the soldiers were killed and according to him they came back to finish the fight.
I think he was just trying to scare me and my sister. It definitely worked.

Afew years back I spent a week in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania wandering the battlefield. I stood in places like Devil’s Den and Slaughter Pen, in these areas the atmosphere just feels different in a hard way to explain. I’m not sure what you’d call it, fog of war I guess. Lingering on 161 years later.

 

[Kharn]

I know in Bali, Indonesia, local Witch Doctors are employed by villagers for many reasons.

- Illness
- Injury
- Fortune particularly around Money & Fishing.
- Cursing particularly around People & Politics.

 

[TnKen]

My great grandmother always planted according to the “signs”. She also always had a great crop.

 

[BonUm16]

Very interesting. My Dad was from French and German immigrants.
His paternal grandmother was what we call a “treatur” in Cajun French.

Reading this, I can’t help but recall “Doc” Roe in Band of Brothers talking about his mother or grandmother being a traiteur. First time I ever heard the term.

 

[Badjer]

Afew years back I spent a week in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania wandering the battlefield. I stood in places like Devil’s Den and Slaughter Pen, in these areas the atmosphere just feels different in a hard way to explain. I’m not sure what you’d call it, fog of war I guess. Lingering on 161 years later.

I've felt the same at "Bloody Lane" at Antietam. I found out later, I passed through the same time of day the battle was in that location.

 

[Kharn]

THIS IS DREAD MAN, TRULY DREAD.

 

[Nyati]

If any of you ever go to Leipzig, you should visit the monument to the Battle of Nations, just 4km, from town.

There in 1813, the allied Nations, Prussia, Austria, Russia and Sweden defeated Napoleon, in a battle that left 100.000 dead.

Walk into the crypt, and I guarantee that among those giant statues, you will get shivers.