UFITI
PAGE 196
‘Here we see a likeness of a fearsome creature. This creature is an Ufiti, one of the most feared beings in Southern Africa.
Just listen to what the writers of this catalogue say: “Ethnographic sources suggest that collections of unusual figurines found, probably indicate the site of girls’ initiation schools”. Now answer me. Why would a demonic creature like this be placed in likeness inside a girls’ initiation school?
The creature is a tall ape-like creature, with unnaturally large and hairy feet. Its genitals are outsize and this creature sometimes terrorizes people and seduces women. This is the creature which is portrayed in clay on this page – there is no ‘probably’ about this. The Ufiti is a creature which is even more feared than the Tokoloshe.
The Ufiti, or Ogo creature stands about eight feet high. It is shown here in the attitude of seduction. It has got huge legs and short arms and large ears. This creature specializes in terrorizing women and there are women who are said to have been seduced by this creature. Even today any person in Zimbabwe will tell you what an Ogo is.
An Ogo is a Southern African version of a yeti or bigfoot, such as the Sherpas of Tibet and the Native American people know. An Ogo is a gigantic creature, a hairy creature with unusually large feet and this is an Ogo depicted here. It is a real entity which is often seen by people and which breaks trees and can smash huts and is therefore not an imaginary being.
It is obvious that this clay image on this picture is one of many figures used to exorcise fear in the hearts of those people who had personal experience of seeing an Ogo or have been molested by one. These are exorcism figures, because one of our healing laws is that a person who had been frightened by a creature should confront his or her fear by seeing again, either the creature itself, or an image thereof.
I am amazed at the accuracy of these figures. This is how exactly what Ogo creatures look like.’
REVENGE FIGURES
PAGE 244 – 246
‘Amongst all our tribes throughout Africa, there are and there were, retaliation dolls and statues. Some of these dolls were made of soft wood or animal skin or even hard wood. They usually have a bronze or trade mirror fastened onto them.
A man who has raped a woman and run away, a man who has stolen another man’s property, a man who has murdered a relative of another man or woman. That man has got to somehow be punished. If a client feels that the healer, to whom he or she comes, has the power to punish the one who has done wrong to him or her, the client will feel secure with that healer.
NKISI NKONDI, PAGE 245:
The two nkisi nkondi which appear in page 245, do not have mirrors attached to them. This was a later development.
They and the one on page 244, in the form of an animal, are much, much older than the one that appears on page 246.
NKISI NKONDI, PAGE 245:
In this image particularly, the face of the enemy is a portrait, an actual likeness. It may be a cruel chief or an enemy chief. What you see in the figure’s hands, is an actual battle assegai.
This can be anything from 200 to 300 years old. It is in the same artistic style as numbers 410 and 412.
The use of a mirror to fight against an enemy, the use of a mirror to visualize an enemy, was brought to our shores by Arabs.
NKISI NKONDI, PAGE 244
Nkisi nkondi with two heads was for a troubled person who was possessed by a demonic beast.
These retaliation dolls sometimes take the shape of animals, if someone is possessed by a demonic entity, or is tormented night and day by dreams of nightmare creatures.
One must exorcise these creatures by symbolically stabbing them to death when they are made of wood. That is why we have here the likeness of a double-headed demonic animal. The nails and knife points and assegai point which are embedded in this animal, every one of them represents an effort, on the part of the healer and the victim, of getting rid of the entity and stopping it from troubling the victim.
WHITE FACE NKISI NKONDI, PAGE 246
What is interesting about this figure which appears on page 246 is that the face of the figure has been deliberately painted white and this denotes that the figure was used, not only to deal with the black enemies, but also with white enemies as well.
This figure is portrayed by the same style as those on pages 410 – 412.
One of the things that one must know when one is a healer is that a person who has been subjected to terrorization by witchcraft has a deep-rooted feeling of resentment and fear and wants with all his or her heart to retaliate against the enemy who has hurt him or her. If you have an enemy who bewitched you or torments you, the sangoma makes a medicinal drink, which is hallucinogenic. The mirror was intended for the victim to look into and concentrate powerfully, until he or she saw the face of his or her enemy.
Then the healer gave a traditional needle or nail to the victim, to drive with a hammer, anywhere into the anatomy of the statue, to strike your enemy wherever you wish him to be harmed and to transfer your pain. Such figures were used for distant healing, getting rid of spirit possession, getting rid of nightmares, or to hurt. A warrior carrying an assegai… an enemy wearing battle regalia…
There used to be a mirror there. If you want to cripple your enemy, you must drive a ritual nail, which was specially made for you, into the figure. Over the years, such figures accumulate a collection of sharp objects, for example, points of knives which killed a friend of yours, and they accumulate the energy.
These figures were either made of cloth, or animal hide, or wood and even wax. Some were even made of gum, a very hard gum of the type that Zulu kings made the head ring out of. The more numerous the points or nails and whatever, which have been driven into the image, the older it means the figure is and often the most used, it means it was.
PAGE 244 -246 REVENGE FIGURES:
Amongst all our tribes throughout Africa, there are and there were, retaliation dolls and statues. Some of these dolls were made of soft wood or animal skin or even hard wood. They usually have a bronze or trade mirror fastened onto them.’
WISH IMAGE
PAGE 247
‘Here we have the exact opposite of the revenge figure. This is a wish image by a woman to receive a baby. The mother presents the image with red beads and thanks the image with blue beads. Those who could not afford trade beads thanked the image by slaughtering an animal and rubbing the animal fat into the figure, which acquired a polished shine.’
