Very Superstitious?

The topic of this blog is something I’ve been meaning to write about for some time.

A selection of juju bracelets and necklaces

Scratch underneath the surface, and the influence of traditional religions is still present in modern day Gambia. For example, many people wear a variety of bracelets and charms, collectively called jujus.Each juju is supposed to confer upon the wearer different properties, such as extra strength or luck, or even invulnerability to knives and bullets.  I’ve seen babies crawl around with charms attached to their legs, to ward off evil spirits. It’s interesting to see how the “more modern” religion of Islam has been mixed into the juju tradition, with people now wearing bracelets containing parts of the Koran.

Kankorans – another sight that regulars in The Gambia will see are kankorans, spiritual protectors who guard off evil spirits. Kankorans are very easy to spot as they are masked and dressed in menacing costumes, and brandish large machetes (which, despite some Western preconceptions, is not an everyday look in the centre of Banjul!). They often make their appearance at circumcision and child naming rituals; a presence to make sure devils and jinns stay away.

Recently I had my own kankoran experience, and whilst I know it makes me sound silly, I can honestly say I felt something very strange. I was jogging through my neighbourhood and passed a particularly hairy kankoran on the road. He stopped, looked at me and then pointed at my arm. Suddenly, I felt a strange pain in my hand and lower arm. I started to panic a bit, as the pointed hand of the kankoran seemed to be having an effect on me. I politely said goodbye and then rushed along the road, all kinds of thoughts in my head. I then proceeded to ask any bystander I knew “are kankorans good or bad?”.  To my relief, the official explanation is that kankorans are good, and that he was probably trying to ward off evil spirits from me. Anyway, I returned home feeling as if something very strange had just taken place...

Witches – I enjoy exploring the minds of the Gambian friends I have made, and often ask them questions to hear their views about things. A recent topic (due to my own kankoran experience) has been whether magical forces are at work in The Gambia. Many people say they have met witches, and by that they mean evil people who can use magic. A clear sign of a witch, according to the people I have spoken to, is that all the children in their family have died. “The witch obviously stole their life power”. The Western perspective would say that labelling someone a witch during what must be a very traumatic time must be a horrible experience, but nevertheless that’s what goes on in some Gambian villages.

Vampires and Dragons – I was surprised to hear that some Gambians believe in dragons too. I had an in-depth discussion with a driver, who was telling me that dragons come to destroy homes and roads during the heavy rains. If one is unlucky enough to see a dragon, a sort of showdown occurs. Every human and dragon has an Arabic word written on their foreheads (which magically appears during this showdown), and whoever can read their opponent’s word out first survives. Dragons are particularly good at quickly reading out the words, so very few people have actually lived to tell the tale of the dragon’s word challenge.

The driver proceeded to tell me that toubabs (the white people) killed many of the dragons by ingeniously taking mirrors out with them when going to face the creatures. The dragons would see their own face and read out their own Arabic word, thus condemning themselves to death. Clever toubabs!

It’s not only dragons that have been mentioned. I’ve also had a couple of people asking me about whether I’ve seen vampires, as many of the Western films they have seen contain vampires. My serious response causes sadness, as I inform them that I have never seen a vampire. It really is fascinating to explore people's views though, and I love any excuse to share my own interest in folk tales and monsters.

Ok, that's it for this week. Love and best wishes to you all,
Robert