Call it what you will, does anyone here have any experience with this phenomenon in its varying forms.

Believe in it or not, strange things happen in the Dark Continent and its effects can be profound.

On my first DG hunt in Zim, we came across a pangolin. I knew what it was for I had a book about the strange animals of the world. Held it and shot my buff later the next day. I also won a 16 day buf hunt here on AR. Then I upgraded to a 21 day hunt and they found a pangolin and I told Pierre van Tonder I have to hold it for I won this safari after I held on in Zim.
The pangolin is a sacred animal and good luck if you touch one.


ele hunt link http://forums.accuratereloadin.../1411043/m/107108135

Two days later this guy walked our, dreams do come true and African mojo works.

There was a post a few months back about Witchcraft in Africa, might want to check it out. Anyway, the locals believe it!

Retreever! Great looking Ele!
On witchcraft, I think a few of my clients (psychology) have been hexed...or I have to have them coming to me.

John,

Four years ago our favored tracker and old time safari hand Moses Jatwe was hacked to death along with his family simply because another member of our staff had a dream?

Witchcraft is common here and for most a way of life.

Another occasion which I will not forget is when I was twenty odd I was working in a camp in Lower Zambezi. The owner had serious problems with theft and decided to call in a notorious Nganga from Kariba. I noticed that the entire staff were visibly upset or stressed prior to his arrival. The Nganga arrived as a precocious 12 year old kid dressed in a denim suit. Apparently it was his father who was infamous and the young upstart had inherited his powers. For me it was comedy but not so for the rest of camp.

This kid went into the workshop and made a fire and did his magic and then wrote the name of the thief in the dirt. All stolen items were subsequently recovered.

I was on my second safari. It was 1991. I was hunting Hippo Valley. It had been an incredible safari. We got some lions on bait. No shooters showed up. We radioed for the truck. It was dark.

On the way back, I spotted something. I thought it was a lion. In reality, it was a hyena. Two of them actually. Johnny Johnson, the PH, said shoot them quickly. I stood on the seat of the truck and whacked one with my 375.

We got out to take pictures. The trackers were going crazy. I had not seen this type of reaction by them on anything. Not the massive leopard. Not the buff that scored 128. Not on anything. I asked Johnny what was going on. He said it was big muti. Of course, I knew what the word meant but I had no idea what he was specifically talking about. We took pictures and loaded the hyena in the truck. Off we went.

We got a few hundred yards from the camp and the trackers started chanting. As we drove up, every single black in camp was running to the truck. They started singing and dancing around the truck.

I didn't know if I should be scared or not. I asked Johnny again what was going on. He said it was big muti. I asked Johnny to be more specific. He said to me that these guys are like horses. They have a pecking order. This hyena was the first hyena ever killed at Hippo Valley on safari. This moved these guys up on the pecking order. Plus he said it was big muti.

I was getting a little frustrated. I asked specifically what he meant by big muti. He said that these guys believe that a witch lives inside of every hyena and that the witch comes out at night and rides on the hyena's back. Since there was no witch to be seen, they concluded that the witch was still inside. They believed that I had killed both the witch and the hyena! They were grateful.

I was not sure if he was yanking my chain or not. Any question was soon eliminated. At dinner, guys started to show up to speak to Johnny. The bottom line is that they were coming to barter for certain parts of the hyena. I don't remember exactly how many. However, I do remember vividly two of the offers. One offered me goats for the whiskers. However, the most memorable by far was the guy that offered me his 14 year old daughter for the teeth! When Johnny told me, I was totally floored.

These guys believe that stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores: I do remember vividly two of the offers. One offered me goats for the whiskers. However, the most memorable by far was the guy that offered me his 14 year old daughter for the teeth! When Johnny told me, I was totally floored.

These guys believe that stuff.

On my last safari, we brought a hyena back to camp to take pictures, some of the camp staff wanted their pictures taken with it. I have a picture of the camp cook, holding my rifle, posing with the hyena. I don't think I ever have a picture of me with the hyena.

I recall reading in one of PHC's books about the witches riding on the backs of hyenas at night.

quote:

I recall reading in one of PHC's books about the witches riding on the backs of hyenas at night.

Of course they do...haven't you heard them laughing in the night?

I have thought of another incident that I didn't personally witness. However, it was told to me by the willing participants.

In 93, there was a major drought in Zim. There were problems with poaching and cattle in the Gonarezhou. One day, the safari company caught a guy poaching with his dogs. They roughed him up a bit, turned him loose but kept his dogs.

They took the dogs back to camp and tied them up. Either that night or the next night, they broke open some of those glow sticks and rubbed it all over the dogs. The dogs now glowed. Then then took the dogs close to the village and turned them loose. The dogs promptly ran like hell for home.

It caused quite a commotion when the glowing green dogs ran into the village. Scared the hell out of the locals.

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:

quote:

I recall reading in one of PHC's books about the witches riding on the backs of hyenas at night.

Of course they do...haven't you heard them laughing in the night?

NO! Well, I have heard the hyenas laughing at night, but not the witches!

It caused quite a commotion when the glowing green dogs ran into the village. Scared the hell out of the locals.
I would like to see a video of that one!
I bet they ae still running.

I would have loved to have been in on the glowing green dog caper!

loaves and fishes
water into wine
wine into blood
crackers into flesh
resurrection of the dead

Pick your supernatural beliefs, kind of like the well known placebo effect if you believe it can affect your life.

Pretty near every week I have to go do the chicken feet and blood thing out in the parking lot to get someone's computer running again. For the hard problems I have taken to playing the video of Walter doing his version of that and then I whisper into the case that if you don't come around right now the ritual will be repeated at midnight in person and naked. Seems to work for me. I have not had to escalate to throwing the girl in the volcano since I started that.

back awhile my PH told us the story of when he, his wife and another PH & wife were in joberg in a hotel. his wife had her purse stolen, and of course the cops didn't do anything. the 2nd PH suggested that they go to a witch doctor. Kenny poo poo'd the idea but they went anyway. the witch doctor threw his bones and stones on the floor and started asking questions. anyway to make a long story short, the witch doc told them that the purse was hidden under a tree in the courtyard and that a particular maid stole it. when they went back the purse was just where the witch doc said and the maid confessed. who knows??

Boy experiences snake torture after intimacy with married woman

By Silas Nkala
June 29, 2010



IN a strange incident that has left a family in Paddonhurst and Nkulumane suburbs in Bulawayo shell-shocked, a strange snake entered a 16-year-old boy (name supplied) three days after he had been intimate with a married woman.
The boy is reportedly in a critical condition.
The family spokesperson who is the uncle of the boy, said the family is worried by the boy's health as they have tried several prophets and inyangas for help to no avail.
"It is very terrible. The boy is telling us that he fell in love with a married woman and after two days the woman gave him US$10 so that he could be intimate with her. After three days, a strange snake emerged from nowhere and entered him through his foot. As of now it can be seen as it moves in his leg until it reaches his private parts.
"When it reaches that area, it appears to be eating him and the boy starts crying out for help for about 30 minutes," said the family spokesperson who appeared dejected.
He said since then, the snake has been entering the boy about three times a day and the family is now worried that the boy might die.
On being asked about the issue on Sunday evening, the boy identified the woman in question as a Sharon Manjoro who he said is more than 30 years old and her husband is said to be staying and working in Gweru.
He said he met the woman at Bell Mine in Amaveni, Kwekwe.
"After we were intimate, the woman left Kwekwe and I believe she went to her husband in Gweru. Since then, I have not seen her. Soon after I was intimate with her, I felt some itching on my private parts and three days later, a strange snake would emerge from nowhere and enter my body through my foot. When it reaches my private parts, it starts eating me and the pain I experience during that process is terrible," said the boy who shed tears as he narrated his experience.
Since then the boy experiences the snake invasion three times everyday for about 30 minutes each time.
The family spokesperson, who is the boy's guardian, appealed to the woman's husband to come out in the open so that the family could appease the curse by paying for what the boy did to his wife.
He said they suspect that the woman had a lock (ulunyoka) which some men use to safeguard their wives from sleeping around.
"We are prepared to pay anything to Sharon's husband because the boy's life is in danger and we cannot afford to lose him. I am appealing to anyone who can treat this kind of ailment to come and help us. They may come to Number 19 Dillon Road, Paddonhurst, in Bulawayo or call me on 0712745818 or 0712739879," said the family spokesperson.
The boy is being taken care of by relatives in Nkulumane as the guardian always has daily work commitments. The guardian said efforts to locate Manjoro and her husband have proved fruitless, as they do not know where they are now.
He said that is why they decided to expose the issue through the media so that the boy's life could be saved.
"I am now really confused and desperately asking anyone who can help us in this matter to come forward and help the boy. Whatever I have tried so far has yielded no result," he said.

I've heard a number of stories as well and know of some true believers over there of this stuff.

It is interesting how superstitions are often opposite in different cultures. In rural South India the pangolin is considered bad luck!

A college friend of mine had a scary experience in the 70s. They were out one night in a jeep spot lighting for Sambar deer using shotguns with 00buck. As usual the man with the spot light was spanning the forest on one side when he saw reflections of eyes. My friend fired and the reflections disappeared. They all got out and went to check the result of the shot and a really scary and traumatic sight was before them.

They saw a woman of about 30 lying dead with her upper body & neck riddled by the buck shot. She was dressed in the traditional village dress of saree but they noticed that her attire was quite dressy and she had been made up with local tradition, flowers and jewelry - usually meant for weddings & special occasions. They also noticed some food and other paraphernalia used in a ceremony. Then one of them noticed that there was no blood. This freaked everyone big time. Then one of the forest guards mentioned that it could be a funeral site of a particular "caste" who leave their dead out in the bush in a sitting position with food etc. They then figured that the spot light had reflected off the woman's jewelry such as ear & nose rings, leading them to believe it was some animal.

I still get goose bumps and squirmy guts when I think of this story.