In the rugged jungles of Sudan and Congo, the mysterious Azande people live, whose language, way of life, traditions, rituals and beliefs have remained unchanged for many centuries.
Terrible savages
The British colonialists who appeared on the lands of the Azande tribe in the 19th century were amazed by the primitive way of life of this people, who stubbornly did not want to join the benefits of European civilization. All attempts of the pale-faced newcomers to introduce at least insignificant elements of the European way of life into the life of the "terrible savages" (as the envoys of the British crown called them) met with resistance from the aborigines. They did not accept British gifts and did not want to change anything in their measured life. The leader of the tribe made it clear to the colonialists that they were not expected here and it would be nice for them to get away.
Returning to their native island, the British talked about the customs and rituals of savages. Their stories terrified listeners. Sensitive ladies were especially worried about this. Fanning themselves with fans, they made a lot of efforts not to faint. And there was why.
“Just imagine,” another narrator reported, “the Azande believe in witchcraft matter (they call it manga). It can be carried by both humans and animals. According to the ancient beliefs of the aborigines, the spirits of the earth, as well as the souls of dead sorcerers, create witchcraft. Magical manga often appears in burial places, and it happens that also where massacres were committed.
- And what, in the opinion of the savages, does this manga look like? - the ladies breathed out, dizzy with fear.
“According to their legends,” came the answer, “manga is a small hairy ball, invisible in daylight, with sharp, like needles, teeth, capable of settling into a person or animal, making him a sorcerer. This ball penetrates the human body, attaches to the kidneys or liver, and begins to grow, feeding on the body's juices. He is the source of witchcraft power. In older sorcerers, the ball grows to the size of a watermelon - that is why their witchcraft is strong and capable of subduing any person. In a child, this ball is small, so the enchantments of babies are not terrible for adults, but peers can cause serious harm …
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Deadly manga
- And what do the Zande do with those who are suspected of witchcraft? - British ladies were interested, anticipating something terrible. And they were not mistaken - the conqueror of the overseas colonies reported approximately the following:
“They perform a completely wild ritual - they kill suspected witchcraft with a blow to the head. Then the sorcerer's stomach is ripped open and the exposed insides are examined. If there was a swollen black ball with thorns, it means that punishment overtook the real sorcerer. In this case, the remains are burned, and the ashes are scattered in the wind. If the ball is not there, the savages bring the relatives of the murdered a kind of compensation for moral damage - household utensils or plentiful treats.
After enjoying the reaction of the audience, the traveler returned from the jungle continued the story:
“The Azande believe that manga can penetrate any creature. According to their legends, manga often hits "boars." Such wild pigs turn into real killers - they trap people on forest paths and kill mercilessly. Getting rid of these creatures of hell is incredibly difficult. Sorcerous boars are cunning and seem to foresee all the moves of the hunters. Savages and wild cats are afraid. They call them adandara. These creatures are the main accomplices of sorcerers. Even their meows can bring misfortune to those who hear it. Azande was told that such unfortunate people are struck by a terrible disease - their skin turns red, cracks, pus flows from the formed abscesses, a person dies and moves to the world of shadows.
Lightning and tsunami
The stories of the subjects of the British crown who had visited the Azande were passed from mouth to mouth and acquired new frightening details. According to Zande, people-sorcerers feed their witchcraft energy by killing fellow tribesmen. And they do it with the help of black magic, which they master perfectly. They are able to inflict such damage on a person that he begins to wither and gives up in terrible torment. If the sorcerer loses the ability to kill, he experiences extreme suffering.
If such a sorcerer is tied up, he begins to scream wildly, roll on the ground and quickly die. At the same time, his agony can be accompanied by terrible climatic anomalies - the strongest thunderstorms with lightning that can incinerate an entire village, or a devastating tsunami.
Azande believe that during his lifetime the sorcerer can transfer his power to children. Therefore, they consider it very important to reveal the witchcraft power in the child as early as possible and send him to the forefathers without delay. A special caste in the tribe is made up of people who can recognize a sorcerer in a fellow tribe. They believe that a real sorcerer's eyes glow in the dark. In addition, the sorcerer avoids people, behaves maliciously and aggressively.
Based on these signs, the Zande identify and catch their worst enemies - sorcerers, who are subsequently executed after a special ritual designed to show hatred of people who are not affected by magical black power.
British colonialists also talked about how savages brutally killed Christian missionaries who carried their true faith. When the British organized a punitive expedition, the Azande withdrew and the whole tribe went deep into the jungle. The foreigners did not dare to pursue them. The palefaces were struck by the fact that the corpses of the missionaries had their bellies ripped open and their eyes gouged out.
- Horror! the ladies splashed their hands. - And what - these savages cannot be civilized?
- Almost impossible! - those who visited the lands of the Azande asserted resolutely.
Ancestral laws
And they did not deviate from the truth even a step - the attempts of the British to introduce the aborigines to civilization ran into complete misunderstanding. For example, they refused to understand why it is better to hunt not alone, but in groups.
- You can't violate the laws of your ancestors, here everyone is for himself! - said the Azande.
- They are as stubborn as a hundred devils! - exclaimed the storytellers who encountered the azande in the jungle.
Indeed, disregarding the advice of foreigners, representatives of the Azande tribe continued to hunt, fish and collect gifts of nature not in communities, but in narrow family clans. While the men were gathering food, the women were busy with the household. They made sure that order reigned in the hut with a roof of palm leaves, and a hearty meal was ready when the men arrived.
The life of the Azande tribe, not rich in entertainment, was diversified by the ritual executions of the revealed sorcerers. Moreover, women at such events were in the forefront of the audience and with exclamations of approval celebrated the death of another sorcerer who poisoned the life of the tribe, feeding on the life force of their victims.
European researchers who managed to win the trust of the Azande and live with the tribe for some time noted that in the overwhelming majority of cases, the death of the victim of witchcraft occurred very quickly, as if the life force was rapidly flowing out of the unfortunate.
The Europeans saw a rational explanation for this phenomenon in the enormous suggestibility of the natives. When the aboriginal suspected that the sorcerer had sent death to him, he really began to wither and soon died.
To prove the suggestibility of wild tribes, European doctors cited documented cases of successful treatment (with the help of placebo) of people who imagined themselves to be victims of witchcraft.
For this, undoubtedly, it was necessary that the patient himself wanted to get rid of witchcraft and return to normal life.
Seven Sealed Mystery
In the 20th century, the Azande tribe was almost ruined by the fact that the colonialists discovered large deposits of minerals on their lands and focused their efforts on their extraction and transportation to the metropolis. Rare earth metals and oil, gas and coal, gold, platinum, silver and diamonds attracted adventurers of all stripes to Africa and contributed to their rapid enrichment.
The Zande, pressed by the aliens, went further and further into the reserved jungle, where they felt themselves in relative safety and somehow mysteriously preserved their way of life.
Less fortunate were other Africans, who were massively exported from their homeland by the conquerors and turned into slaves. The flow of unfortunate people increased especially in the 19th century. Moreover, the ethical problem of the slave trade was mixed with arguments about the need to civilize Africans, wean them from cruel barbaric customs, and instill in them the true Christian faith.
Nowadays, the authorities of Sudan and Congo, on whose lands the Azande live, are trying to protect them from foreign visits. Those who nevertheless manage to penetrate the closed world of the tribe observe the mysterious, frightening, often bloody rituals of the azande and admit that their mystical meaning usually remains a secret behind seven seals for them.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №48. Author: Vladimir Barsov