Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The following materials come from Wyatt MacGaffey and John M. Janzen, ed.,
An Anthology of Kongo Religion, University of Kansas Publications in
Anthropology No. 5, 1974, pp. 44-55. See Commentary for more details.
8. BEWITCHING PEOPLE
1. There was one astonishing and frightening thing in this country, brought to an end in the same
way [by the colonial government], and that was the sasswood ordeal, "drinking nkasa," which
was undertaken in an effort to put a stop to a danger that troubled all the local clans, namely, the
witch and his kundu. The elders defined these terms as follows:
Kindoki "bewitches" (loka ) people.
Kundu "attacks" (kundubula ) the clan.
The people believed that kundu brought death to their country; so they set themselves to finding
out who in the clan had the kundu. They thought also that whoever had kundu was a man-eater,
that is, one who caused inward harm (kota n'soki ) to others. The kundu was believed to be
hidden in a sort of sac called kizanga, carried in the belly of the witch. There was only one way
to extract the kundu from the kizanga and that was to make the witch drink nkasa; when he did,
the sac would burst, the kundu would come out, and the witch would die.
2. Our people also believed that one who had kundu would kill a man and, when be was dead,
skin (yubula) the corpse and leave the skin on top of the remains.
3. A person suspected of witchcraft would be given a knife with which to strike both sides of his
body while reciting these words three times:
Vo naganda
If I made magic
Bote fiole
Well enough;
Kinaganda
[The day] I made it
I kiina nayenda
Is the day I went.
4. When be has sworn in this way he taps his belly three times with the knife and throws it to
those who have been chosen to go and strip off the nkasa bark. Before proceeding with the
stripping they too must recite an oath as follows (supposing that the suspect's name is Lubaki):
Vo Lubaki wabuuna
If Lubaki stripped [skin]'
Nkasa nung'e!
May the poison win!
Vo [illegible]
If [not]
Nkasa yel'e!
May the poison lose!
5. This they repeat three times. Each time a piece of bark falls down. If it falls three times with
the inner side upwards they expect that Lubaki cannot possibly pass the test. If it falls with the
inner side downwards on all three occasions they know he will have no trouble and will certainly
win. If the results are mixed, they expect him to win, but with difficulty.
6. When those [taking the ordeal] have drunk [the infusion of bark] they are made to dance all
day until the evening, when the cords and wads that have been put on them are removed. If no
dirt is seen, the person is brought out naked like that into the dancing ground to dance again and
be congratulated, because he has one. After the dance he would demand 'the pig of cleansing'
from his accuser. But shame and suffering awaited those who failed the test. If a man died of the
poison and there was no on strong enough to raise up his body and bury it, it would be burned
right there in the street. Such people were not buried in the cemetary. One who excreted nkasa
and had no good man to speak for him and protect him would be struck on the head and burned
alive; in other areas they hanged such people from a tree.
7. The witch is someone who has hidden knowledge by virtue of which he obtains secret
techniques, usually employed secretly. Witchcraft usually appears where there is jealousy, envy
and the like. A person who has this hidden knowledge can do someone else harm without letting
him know whence the hurt comes. He learns the techniques of sorcery (makani ma nsibila); with
them the witch can send a curse (n'loko ) to someone else who is at a distance. Because of this
cursing, the bewitched individual is bound by the techniques. A witch sends curses with two
intents: (1) to distress the victim for a time, (2) to seize his life. These things are done by
someone whose entire soul (kilunzi, kingongo) is gripped by jealousy.
8. Witchcraft also manifests itself very strongly in connection with malice and theft. In this
regard there is a kind of witchcraft everybody knows about, called kinkondi or kimpungu. If a
man has lost something, or had something unexpected happen to him, he may go to an nkondioperator or to one who possesses mpungu to control the source of the difficulty- Then the
magician (nganga ), acting on behalf of the enquirer, sends a curse; everything that is done 'is
counted in the name of the client, not of the diviner (m'fyedisi ) himself. The client may have two
intentions 1) to know the origin of the event that has befallen him 2) to counteract (lebikisa ) the
origin of the event. In the latter case he may intend to cause the offender to suffer, or seek his
life. One thing that may be done in this connection is to set out (tambula ) a charm, in the
manner of a trap (n'tambu ). When the charms have been prepared they will deal with the one
who has been cursed by them.
9. We are saying that the witch and possessor of kundu are the same sort of person, those who
cause harm to the souls and bodies of others. In this sense, of causing harm, there is no doubt
that witchcraft is real. In general, those we call witches are malicious, greedy and jealous people
who are in effect murderers because they all have the same motive: killing others or preventing
them from enjoying human happiness. Such people are witches and man-eaters. As for actual
cannibalism, there was never any of that in this country; possibly among other tribes, but not
among the Bakongo. Foreigners have the idea that there was cannibalism because they did not
understand what was being discussed.
10. If the people had been cannibals, then we would not now see the graves of criminals who
were killed by the clans and in the markets; they would first have been eaten. Since there were
chiefs with the power to execute wrongdoers, what was to prevent such bodies from being eaten,
if cannibalism had been practiced? So there is no ground for believing that there was any; the
only "cannibals" in Kongo culture were sorcerers (n'tambi mia min'kisi ), jealous people, and
covert killers.
From Yakobi Munzele, Bakulu beto ye Diela diau. 1965. Mimeographed.
white"]. The graves are the reason why the village of the dead was given the name "ku mpemba,"
which is derived from the grave-mounds above ground.
6. So the one says to the other, "Give me your mother." But he says, "Oh, my mother, no, I don't
think so ... .. Well, your brother, then." "Oh, my brother, no, I couldn't." And so on, until the
witch agrees to hand over someone. Then be closes off [the victim's voice, or removes his arm or
leg. He doesn't cut if off visibly, in the ordinary way, but just draws off the soul (vola kini ) of the
arm or leg. Later the arm or leg that has been handed over will develop a sore because the witch
has taken its essence (ngudi ).
7. Not everybody is a witch, but anyone who wants to acquire the power (vanda kundu ) may do
so. Once he has it, however, he cannot abandon it but must be what he is. Witchcraft can be
acquired from charms (bakisi ), because sometimes when the bakisi are being activated (vanda )
the process cannot be concluded until the apprentice magician (mwan'a nganga ) has handed
over a human being (vana muntu mu mpandulu ). Some kinds of nkisi require this because the
statue (teki ) has to have a person (muntu ) put in it so that it may have the powers (ngolo )
proper to it...
8. Magicians (nganga ) who have their own witchcraft may be able to return a person before he
has been eaten by his kinsmen, because after they have got him they may keep him to wait for
some witch of outstanding viciousness to come and choke off his breath (zenga vumunu ). So the
magician may be able to steal the man under cover of the witchcraft in his art (kuna nsi a
bundoki mu kinganga kiandi ) . His healing, too, is superior healing because he heals by his
kundu.
9. People think that the body is in two parts. The witches first remove the inner body (ngudi a
nitu); what remains is just a shell (huhudi ). The inner body which is removed has blood in it,
whereas the residual shell is just water. The witches have eaten the blood there was in the dead
man. They mostly eat during the night rather than by day. When they cook it is on the same fire
we cook at by day. The place used by non-witches to cook and eat, and the same dishes they eat
from, are used by the witches to prepare meat, just as any other meat is prepared. If the witches
are man and wife then the man cuts up the food. His wife cooks it. If only one spouse is a witch
the other knows nothing about it when someone is eaten in their house, because the witch does
his cooking under cover of his witchcraft.
10. When they draw off (hola ) someone's body, what remains is just an envelope (kiukula ) such
as a snake or a cockroach sheds.
11. Witches recognize one another when they meet on their nocturnal travels. They are divided
into groups (makabu ) and houses for eating purposes. They divide up meat at night just as we do
by day. If people do not belong to the same clan (kanda dimosi ) then they do not share meat,
whether by day or by night, under witchcraft. Some [witches] operate (handa ) in their own
clans, others come from different clans, but when they meet each clan has its own kundu.4
12. Although witches recognize one another, no witch can ever admit to himself (kukizaikisa )
that he is one. Non-witches just use their eyes. If they see a woman who always seems to have
money, they know she operates a money kundu (kundu diambongo kahanda ). If they see a
hunter who always hits his quarry they know he operates a gluttony kundu (kundu diankunia ):
who eats people eats game in the forest. That's how people figure out witchcraft.
Extracts from Konda Jean, Mavanga ma Kindoki, Cahier No. 120, Laman Collection,
Lindingo, Sweden. ca. 1910.
immediately seized her throat ( bula kingoodingoodi ) and strangled her in a witchcraft fury,
[toma fieta (squeeze, strangle) mu mfumfu (gluttonous eagerness) ya kindoki ] so that she died.
Then there were just the two of us. We went outside and told our assistants that she was dead.
"Let's be on our way, lest the dawn surprise us." When we got home we did not want to go to
work, our bodies were so tired.
From N. Diantezila, Munkukusa, evo KiMaledimba. 1970. Mimeographed.
THE COURT fines you 300 francs and a sheep to be paid to Lutete.
From the official transcript of a case heard in the local court, Mbanza Manteke, 1964, with
additional material from the clerk's manuscript notes.