THE YORUBA FETISHISM
incantation of the summoning―
ancient yoruba tongue!
impish spell-craft of the dark bush,
fetishism of animals’ dung;
vibrance of souls on weirdest plane―
religious pyrexia in the jungle's heart.
first down the street to the market,
we had some shopping to do.
first down the street to the market,
we need
tooth and claw and beak.
monkey's
head impaled,
paw and
foot ground to dust.
legba,
take our hands―
the darkness is dark without
you.
i live and die in mawu.
i snort the feline bone-powder
and get intoxicated
with the fury of a mighty cat.
* * *
Akodessewa fetish market is a
market in Lomé, Togo, western Africa. It supplies Vodun (“voodoo”)
paraphernalia, items of traditional medicine, and amulets, symbols, artefacts,
etc., of west-African religious fetishism. Here you can find, among a multitude
of other interesting objects, shrunken animal heads, paws and other body parts.
A medicinal compound up for sale could, for example, be pulverized bones of
some specific animal made into a powder mixed with natural herbs and such. Such
religious/folkloristic Vodun-herbalism could act as remedies to a wide range of
things, from banal ailments to severe, life-threatening conditions, or for
general luck and prosperity in life. I really, really want to go there.
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