Very tame stuff, considering that...
You see, in sub-Saharan Africa the concept of ghosts is alive and common.
Bad ghosts torment and steal your soul so of course you need protection and
this is a significant cottage industry: the carrying of fetishes or good juju to
protect against bad juju. Juju that people wear can be wierd, very decorative,
always resourceful but some is criminal. I read a story in Lusaka newspaper
about a guy arrested for sporting a vagina on his stick (
) - thats a knobby
tree branch many bushmen carry. Police wanted to know fate of the original
owner. His defense was she had died from persecution by ghosts in childbirth,
so if he carried the organ the original ghosts having spent their juju on her
would give him a pass.
PC disclaimer - I'm not making this up or being derogatory; travel, live for a
bit in southern Africa, you'll see. Read Ryszard Kapuscinki's book "The
Shadow of the Sun" , he talks about the persistence of ghosts very eloquently.
