Laine Reed Troy AP English Literature March 15, 2014

Superstitions and Cultural Beliefs

Superstitious beliefs are something that are prevalent in every culture, whether it is seven years of bad luck if a black cat crosses your path, or stepping on a crack and breaking your mothers back. These American superstitions are nothing compared to those of African culture. Whereas in America we take these kinds of jinxes lightly and few place any real belief in them, most African cultures take their superstitions very seriously, as matters of life and death, karma, and satanic actions. This paper will be a report on the various superstitions and beliefs of African culture, and the effects these superstitions have on families and people. A major superstition that affects many people in Africa has to do with albinism. Albinism is a genetic mutation that occurs when there is a lack of melanin in the body. Melanin is what gives pigmentation to the body. The result without it is often a male or female with white-blond hair, silvery gray eyes, and extremely pale skin (Baker 169). For the Caucasian race, it is not so noticeable and is usually known to be merely a mutation of the genes. However with either lack of information, or blatant refusal to believe anything but cultural superstitions, African people see albinism with extremely negative connotations. Many of these connotations come from the people of Southern Africa. Often albinism is thought as a contagious disease, as though one could catch it from someone else. There is a reported story of a woman in South Africa who was pregnant and rushed to help another woman, who had her baby strapped to her. The pregnant woman took hold of the baby to secure it and was shocked and unsettled by its pale

Reed 2 albino skin. When her daughter was born albino as well, she blamed it on her physical contact with that baby (Baker 172). Contagion is not the only belief that surrounds albinism in Africa. Many beliefs that circulate around it are in different forms of bad karma. More often than not, it is blamed on infidelity of the wife. Many believe that infidelity can curse the mother to bear children with albinism. A very strong belief is that the mother slept with the tokolosh, which is a malevolent spirit in Shona folklore that can be called upon to cause trouble to people (Baker 172). Another is of the snake inside the woman, which is said to help deliver babies. The snake is meant to protect the baby inside the womb, but the snake turns away and leaves the baby unprotected, allowing it to catch albinism ( Baker 172). Giving birth to an albino baby is a common cause of divorce in Africa, resulting in many single mothers. More often than not the father wants no part of the cursed child and either leaves or forces his wife to get rid of the baby. There are suspicions that in areas of Africa, babies with albinism are being killed immediately after birth, either by the mother herself, or the nurses who assisted in the birthing, or they are merely left somewhere to die. Because all beliefs surrounding albinism in Africa are related to evil spirits and/or diseases, being an albino and trying to live as a normal person is a challenge in many different aspects. These people face multiple obstacles in their lives pertaining to identity, schooling, employment, marriage, and reproduction. Believably, the greatest effect caused by a case of albinism in a person is identity crises, the inability to fit in anywhere. With white skin they cannot fit in with family, or people around them, but can also not relate to white people because they are not white. They see themselves as black but do not recognize themselves in the mirror (Baker 173).

Reed 3 With such a feeling of lack of belonging, it can be hard for albinos to create close relationships with others. Victims of albinism also experience much prejudice for being the way they are. Often albino children are segregated from other children due to the parents of the child being ashamed or embarrassed or scared to expose their child to other people. People with albinism are usually visually impaired, which poses an obstacle to children who cannot attend special schools to cater to their specific needs (Baker 175). The prejudice and trouble that children with albinism experience does not stop after childhood, it most always carries into their adult lives and finds ways to burden them every day. When looking for employment, it is hard for someone with albinism to get a job even if they have better qualifications than someone without albinism (Baker 175). Because there are so many myths and superstitions that surround this condition, employers are hesitant or scared to hire albinos. Marriage too, presents a tremendous difficulty as well. Many times, because of the color of an albinos skin, they do not know whether they should marry a black person or a white person, or they face a lot of discrimination from their partners family members. Usually, the family is very against anything having to do with an albino and they especially do not want to carry the so-called curse into their family and have the possibility of having albino grandchildren. Because of all the prejudice and hate that people with albinism receive throughout their lives, they themselves often learn to hate themselves and their condition, they teach their children to make sure to never fall in love with an albino, or to marry someone who has an albino in their family because they do not want the possibility of their children having an albino child, they want albinos to die out; to become extinct (Baker 176). Albinism is not the only condition in African countries that are accompanied by a plethora of myths and superstitious beliefs. Multiple births, such as twins, and hermaphroditism

Reed 4 are also considered to be evil occurrences to many African people. Depending on the area of Africa, and the different tribes and villages, twin births can be considered a gift from the Gods, or it can be considered demonic in all aspects. In some areas, the birth of twins is considered a gift from the God Faro, who is the master of water, and the goddess Nyale, who is the mother of magic and is the personification of air, wind, and fire. Faro was believed to be a male with the body of a female, however he has no genitalia. Faro impregnated himself, giving birth to the first set of twins, and became known as the first and original hermaphrodite (Imperato 42). Parents consider it a great honor to give birth to twins, and many rituals follow after the birth of the twins. Sacrificial items are used at every special occasion for the children, such as circumcision, first haircut, marriage. There are many different traditions that accompany the marriage of twins. If the twins are male, sometimes they marry the same woman, and other times they marry different women at the same time. In the case of the latter, the male twins are allowed to have relations with each others wives. In the case of female twins, they often marry different men, and not always at the same time. When this happens, both female twins go into the husbands house on the night of the wedding and both women have sexual relations with him. If the twins are male and female, the brother and sister would have sexual relations with each other before the female would leave to go to her husbands house (Imperato 44). Because twins are believed to come from the God Faro, they are also believed to possess magical powers. They are often thought to be able to walk on water or are able to morph into scorpions. Because of these powers they are thought to have, they usually are put at the head of armies going into battle and are used to settle disputes (Imperato 44).

Reed 5 There is another side of beliefs about twins, one more satanic of nature rather than Godly. In certain Igbo tribes, there are very strong beliefs on multiple births. Twins were abominations against the earth. To them, it was imperative that humans do not portray any animal like traits (such as having more than one offspring at a time), so as to be sure they are in fact a human being and not a spiritual trickster and any type of evil spirit (Bastian 16). Twins were seen as pollution to the world, and needed to be eradicated from the earth. Normally, at the occurrence of a twin birth, one or both of the twins would be taken away and killed. If the mother could be convinced to keep both babies, often the husband would order her to get rid of them or he would leave her until she did. Because of the common demon superstition of multiple births, twin killing is much more prevalent than it should be (Bastian 14). Quietly accompanying the beliefs of multiple births are the beliefs of hermaphrodites. A much less common condition to that of twins, hermaphrodites were seen to be not a gift from something divine, but instead were seen as something not human; something other. Unlike twins, there is no advantage, socially or other, to being a hermaphrodite. They do not get commemorated for having the form of Faro, and are not thought to have special powers like twins do. They are merely a form of twinning (Imperato 45). Albinism, multiple births, and hermaphrodites all are accompanied by many different beliefs, each varying depending on location. There are many different cultures in the country of Africa, each tribe and region has their own traditions and beliefs. The superstitions related to albinism, twinning, and hermaphroditism addressed in this paper have only barely scratched the surface of the variety of beliefs. There are many other everyday things that some cultures

Reed 6 wouldnt blink their eyes twice at, but Africa, being the spiritual and superstitious country that it is, has other than scientific explanations for.

Works Cited
Baker, Charlotte, Patricia Lund, Richard Nyathi, and Julie Taylor. "The Myths Surrounding People With Albinism In South Africa And Zimbabwe." Journal of African Cultural Studies 22.2 (2010): 169-181. Print. Bastian, Misty. ""The Demon Superstition": Abominable Twins and Mission Culture in Onitsha History." Ethnology n/a (2001): 13-25. Print. Imperato, Pascal James, and Gavin H. Imperato. "Twins, Hermaphrodites, and an Androgynous Albino Deity: Twins and Sculpted Twin Figures among the Bamana and Maninka of Mali." African Arts 41.1 (2008): 40-49. Print.

RIPs Imperato, Pascal James, and Gavin H. Imperato. "Twins, Hermaphrodites, and an Androgynous Albino Deity: Twins and Sculpted Twin Figures among the Bamana and Maninka of Mali." African Arts 41.1 (2008): 40-49. Print. This scholarly journal goes into depth about the views of the Bamana and Maninka of Mali on the subject of twins, hermaphrodites, and albinos. Faro is the original albino, having stolen his white face from Teliko, a lesser deity associated with whirlwinds and dust devils. Faros right hand is male, the left female. He has no apparent external genetalia, but impregnated himself and gave birth to female twins when water first flowed on earth. Thus, he is the author of twinning and also the original hermaphrodite (43). This quote explains the origin of the beliefs about twins and hermaphrodites to this specific culture. It reveals that many tribes in Africa are deeply religious and link many things to deities and myths. Compared to my other sources, this is the first one that link albinism and multiple births to a god, and considers them a type of blessing. Whereas in other sources these conditions were considered to be punishments or curses. From the time of their birth, twins are the recipients of regular gifts of food and clothing (44). This quote is meaningful because it portrays how, in this culture, twins are praised. They are given gifts regularly and looked at as godly creatures. But this is so extremely different from other areas of Africa where there is twin killing because multiple births is also considered nonhuman, just more animalistic instead of godly. I am curious as to how the views on one particular subject can be so extremely black and white with each other, as they hold almost no similarities.

When twins were of mixed sexes, the brother had sexual rlations with his sister before she was taken to her husbands house (44). This was a shocking bit of information about this part of this particular culture of twins. Clearly being brother and sister makes no difference in this area when it comes to marriage. In a way it almost reflects how this area of Africa is generous in sharing, even if it is sharing husbands and wives. This type of thing happens similarly to twins that are same sexes; they share each others husbands and wives. I did not see this in any of my other sources however. I question if it is a tradition and the twins have to do such things, or if they are willing to do it.

Baker, Charlotte, Patricia Lund, Richard Nyathi, and Julie Taylor. "The Myths Surrounding People With Albinism In South Africa And Zimbabwe." Journal of African Cultural Studies 22.2 (2010): 169-181. Print. One mother in a remote valet in Venda reported that she had been ashamed of her baby with albinism at first and had kept him hidden indoors (171). This quote really portrays the ignorance of some areas in Africa. These people have no idea what to do when things like albinism occur because they have not been properly educated on the subjects. Either that or they do not believe science and only believe the myths of their tribes. I am curious to know if they know what the scientific explanation of albinism is and if they still think they are being punished by the gods even when they know that s not the real cause. People, they think albinism is caused because the woman has slept with a tokolosh. This is a very strong belief; other times they think it is because she has slept with a white man, or because the parents have done something very bad and this is a punishment from the

almighty(172). This particular quote really caught my attention because it made me see how important fidelity is to these people. The fear of infidelity leads to other actions in Africa, such as female circumcision. I notice though, through my readings, that the husband is never the sole cause of having a child with albinism. It is always the womans fault, and the husband is the one getting punished with the albino, because of her. This leads me to believe that sexism is also a very big issue in Africa. A young man with albinism in Bulawayo comments that, Nowhere can an albino be his real self socially, at work, at school, at home nowhere; it is a living nightmare (173). This quotation from a man with albinism brought to my attention that albinos not only have to deal with other people telling them they dont belong, but also are having a war within themselves of where they belong. In South Africa, even in very civilized areas, there are albinos that do not know whether to call themselves black or white. In one of my sources it spoke of albinism somewhat highly, and never gave clues that they had any forms of identity crises. But I can only imagine how hard it would be to fit in with blacks when you are white, and with whites when you are black.

Bastian, Misty. ""The Demon Superstition": Abominable Twins and Mission Culture in Onitsha History." Ethnology n/a (2001): 13-25. Print. Certainly Onitsha Igbo elders were emphatically of the opinion that twin births represented nso ani, an abomination against the earth, and should be eradicated before the pollution reached out to touch other members of the offending lineage (14). This quote surprised me a little bit after reading about twins from my other source, where

they were honored and considered gifts from the gods. In this source they are seen as pollution, and this view from this tribe of Africa really shows their fear of the unknown. If they do not know what the cause of something is they associate it with something evil instead of just letting it be. Perhaps it is only the elders of the tribes that hold on to these superstitious views, but nothing can be said against the elders of tribes, which may forever curse the fate of twins in this tribe. In the case of the goats and sheep, the elders refer to a common northern Igbo notion that human beings are manifestly not like animals. Humans, if they are humans indeed, must not demonstrate animal-like traits. In a world where the human form is considered mutable, a mask that can be put on by certain spiritual and animal beings, it is imperative that one be sure he or she is dealing directly with other human being and not spiritual tricksters (16). The idea that the human form is considered a moldable mask seems to be widely spread through countries in Africa. It shows that Africa is almost paranoid about ever being tricked or punished by their spirits or spirits that are not theirs and are just evil roaming around. However, I am confused by one of the only animalistic traits a human can show is giving birth to more than one child at a time. To me that seems one of thousands of animal like traits that human beings can portray. Igbo-speaking women are often portrayed in the early colonial mission and ethnographic literature on twinship as passive recipients of male authority, listlessly giving up their multiple babies or being themselves killed or sent into exile once the children have disappeared (18). This quotes supports my earlier statement about women and men in Africa from my source on albinism. The women are passive, and will be most likely punish if they stand up to their men. The abhorrence at multiple births goes almost hand in hand with sexism and the lack

of authority that women in Africa get. Maybe some women believe that if they give birth to twins she is cursed, but a mother cant ever want to willingly give up her children to be killed. The superstitions and myths that some African tribes hold on to are often deeply destructive to he lives of the people in those tribes. There doesnt seem to be any way around any of them, because if they were brushed off as nothing, most likely it would lead to more curses and superstitions.