THEOTHERWORLDENCROACHI NGI NTOTHEWORLDOFREALI TY ByCar renMusada Inonesmal lruralvillagei nChi pinge,t heEast ern par t s of Zi mbabwe, I not iced somet hing interesting.Fordaysonast r etchIsatdowni none oft hesmal lshopst o seewhatpeopl eusual l y bought .Iwaspl anni ngt osetupasmal lshopi n thear ea.Iobser vedt hatmostpeopl ewer ebuyi ng steril izedmi l kandeggsmor ethananyt hingelse.I asked mysel ft he quest ion,ift hese t hings are meantf orbreakf astwhywer et heyl eavingoutt he bread and t he sugarf oral lt hese usual l y go toget her.Toocur i oust ohavesel fr emonst r ance forint erf erri ngintootherpeople' spr ivatel ives,Iext endedt hequest iont osomeof them.Whi l emostt oldmet hatthatwasal ltheycoul daf ford,af ew,i ncludingt he shopkeeperconf idedthattheeggs,milkandcour sesal twer eneededatt het r adit ional healer 'sforthetr eatmentoftheirailment sandt hecl eansingofbadl uck.Iwasnot surpri sedforIal readyknewaboutt heset hings.Itwasonl ythef r equencyt hatgotme toasksomemor equestions. TheanswersIgotwerehingedontradit ionandpoverty.Af airenoughnumbert ol dme thatt heywerepoorbecauseofbadl uckdri venontothem bysomeevi lrelati veorasa resul tofsomedeedcommi tt edbyanancest orsuchasmur der.Myexpl aini ngt othem thatt heeconomywasbadf orever yonecoul dnotconvincet hem toconsiderother wi se. Growingupfeari ngghosts,wit chesandt hedarkmysel f,Icoul dunder st andwher e theywerecomi ngf r om. Tothequest ion:Whywer et heygoingt othet r aditi onalheal erforthei railment sinstead ofthemoder ncl i nicsandhospi tal s,manypeopl eanswer edt hattheycoul dnotaf f ord thehospi talsandt hatsomeai lment scoul dnotbet r eatedatt hehospi talsf orthey werecausedbyevi lspiri ts.Theseanswer sputabi gquest i onmar kont heheal th- seekingbehavi orofmanypeopl einmostl essdevel opedcount r iespar ti cularlyin Afri ca inst ead ofa pl ausible answer .Especiallyso wi th government st hatfeign i gnor anceoft hereasonsf orpover t yandr etardedci vi li zation.Farbei tfrom met o suggestt hatt hisisaphenomenonoft helessdevel opedcount ri esal one.Manypeopl e i nwel ldevelopedcommuni ti esempl oymet hodsi ntheirheal t h-seekingbehavi orthat fl yint hef aceofmedi cal lyandsci enti fi call ypr ovenr eali ti es.Thi siswhyt heChi nese areinfamousf orbutcheri ngendanger edanimalspeci es. Growingupamongr elat ives,fr iendsandnei ghbourswhobel ievedmuchinspir itsand thepoweroft het raditi onalheal er,Iobser vedhow suchabel i efcandebasemi nds, breakdownmar riagesandf amilyuni tandcausear esentmentfert il eforadestr uct i ve i ntoler ance.Thishappenaspeopl efoll owthewhimsi caldi ctatesofthemindholedup i nawor l dthatdistortsreali ty, pr eventi ngthem tori set othesoverei gnofcir cumst ance. Iknow ofmanyr elati ves,f ri endsand nei ghbourswhoseever yot herdream has meaningandenemi es,whoseever ysingleunfortunateout comeorencounterneedsa tr adit ionalheal ert oexpl ai nandaddress.Ihavewi t nessedthem l ivi nginconstantf ear oftheunknownandunseenandgoi ngthroughat ort urousdepr essionasaresult . These mal ign spiri tualf or ces t hatecapsul ate many in a mal evolentwor l d are widespreadi nmanycul turesi ncludingwest ernones.Thepsychol ogicaleff ectsof suchar eal sonotconf inedtol imitedspir i tualexperi ences.Theyarepr evalenti nmost reli gionsandcul tures.Whi l er el igiousexer ci secanhel ptoavoidoreasedepr ession, therei st heot hersi deofr eli gion thatt orturesthemi nd wit hr eligiousguiltand Obsessi veCompul siveDi sorder( OCD) .Delusionsareanotherthi ng.I nast udycarri ed out,itwasf oundoutt hatgener allyther el igiouslyacti vearemorel ikelytoexperi ence visi ons, voicesanddel usionst hanot herswhopar ti cipat edinthestudy. Quit eanumberofmar ri agesIknow br okeupjustbecausethewifewasaccusedof bei ngf ol lowedbysomeevi lspi ri tfrom herf amily.Thisi sast r ongjust ifi cat ionthatis wellsupportedbythef amilyofthehusband.Inonecaset hewifewasaccusedof bei ngawi t chtrai nedbyheraunt .Thehusbandreturnedhert oherf ami ly.Hesaidthat helovedhiswi f ebuttherewasnot hinghecoul ddoabouti tsincehewasnotl i vingin peacewithfamilymember sandneighbours. Lastyearagroupofpeopl efrom anei ghbourhoodinChipi ngest ormedthehomest ead ofacer t ainfami l yaccusi ngthem ofwi tchcraf t.Theybeatupt hewi f eanddest royed proper ty.Alt hought helawpr otectsthefamilyfrom suchinci dents,nothi ngwasdone aboutit .Thei ssuewasr eport edt othepolicewhodi dnothingtoholdtheperpetr ators toaccount.Theper petratorsrushedt oreportthefamilytothet r adi ti onalleaderwho fi nedthefami l yf orpracti cingwi t chcraft . Thisisnottheonl ycasewher esuchhappen.Oursoci eti esaresopoi sonedwi thsuch di strust,hat redandr esentmentthattheatmosphereisferti leforanythingt hattr iggers vi olence.Thisisawor ld-wi dephenomenon.Hi st ori anWol fgangBehringerofSaar land Universit yobser vedt hat,bet ween1960and2000,about40000peopl eallegedof practi cingwitchcraftwer emurderedinTanzaniaalone.Ithasalsobeenf oundoutt hat i natl east36nat ionsar oundthewor ld,peopl econtinuetobeper secut edaswi t ches. ThisiswhyAugust10hasbeendecl aredasWor l dDayagai nstWi t chHunt s. Ther eisawor l dinwhi challlive-t hewor l dofr eali ty.Thereareal sodif ferentwor l ds thatoccupyt hemi ndsofdi f fer entindividuals.Thesewor l dsdet erminewhet herthe i ndi vi dualper soni sgoi ngt ol iveahappyandmeani ngfulli fethathonor ssel fand othersoral i fethati sat orturechamberf orthebear erandadi sgracetoot hers.I tis quiteunf ortunatet hatourpl ast icmi ndsi nit iall ytakei nandf orm uponwhatt heyare exposedt o.Itisrelievi ngt oknowt hatwhathasbeenl earntcanbeunl earntforhuman beingsar ecr eaturesofeducat ion.Andt hegr eatestachievementinoureducat ionisto haveami ndt hatdi scri mi natesandf ostersawayofl if et hatisnotboxedi nmal i gn vener at ions. Thankst oscienceandt hepatientt hought sofothersforexpl odi ngsuper sti ti onsand exposingt hemyst eri esoft heuniverseovert heages.Thushel pingthemi ndt o embracet hewor l dofr eal it yandf ol lowawayofli feconsonantwi tht heinf ini tytrut hs. Yetthereisstil lagr eatdealofthet hickcl oudofignor ancehoveri ngabovet hewhol e oftheearth. Iti snoteasyt ocal lotherpeopl e' swayofl i fei gnorance,butitisdiffi cultsti llt ocal li t anythingelseinthef aceofsomeenl i ghteningt ruths.Itshouldbecl ear lyunder st ood thatthisisnotanat tackonr eli gion.Act ual ly,reli gionisadesi rablethi ng,especi all y wheni thelpst or espectli fe,promot eequal i ty,justi ce,peace,loveandf ostertol erance. "Reli gionisanappar elwithwhi cht henoblehumanendeavor sar eador ned.Wheni t becomesmor et hant hat,takingt heform oft her eali tybodyi tself ,itneedst obe carefull ywatched;Wheni tisshor tofthat , awaywi thit ."(Musada2021) Whent hesewor l dsthatoccupyt hemi ndencroachi nt ot heworldofr eal it yona granderscalet herei sdi sast er.Wehavet heRoman Cat holi cInquisi ti on and the Muslim ShariahLawsasevi dence.Theonlydif ferencebetweentheseandt hewitch huntssti llbedevil li ngourworldtodayi sthatofscal e.Inessence,t herei snodi ff erence. Bothfeedont hesamesour ceofignor ance. Carr enMusadai stheauthorofHigh-mindedLeadershi pForABet t erWorl d.Her unsa mobileli brary pr ojectthatal so seeks to educate chi ldr en aboutwil dli fe and conser vat ion i n Chi pinge, Zi mbabwe. He can be cont acted on musadacurr an@gmai l. com
Enter the password to open this PDF file:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-