Advertisement
Published: November 13th 2011
Edit Blog Post
I'm going to start this blog with a warning - if you don't like seeing pictures of dead animal heads, carcasses or skins then please don't read any more. I don't agree with all of the animals that they had at this place, all I'm doing is reporting what I saw.
One of my co-workers had spent a great deal of time in Africa and he asked if we wanted to see the Juju, or Fetish Market. Juju is another term for black magic, and it's practiced in West Africa, particularly in the neighbouring country of Benin. Practitioners believe that certain animal parts can cure a variety of ailments, and also help cast certain curses or spells. The juju market in Lome sells a variety of animal parts that locals purchase to cook up all of their black magic concoctions. It's also a fairly popular spot for tourists to check out and see all of the crazy items for sale. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by a guy who seemed to be the market leader, or manager. He told us that to just look around without a guide was totally free. If we wanted a guide to
take us around and explain everything, and if we wanted to take pictures then that would cost money. I don't remember exactly how much but it was fairly cheap, something like six or seven canadian dollars. We all agreed, paid up, and the tour began.
The market was fairly small and consisted of about 10 or 12 different vendors selling every animal part you could think of. The photos pretty much speak for themselves but if you can imagine an animal, it was represented somewhere in the market. There were monkey heads, snake skins, hippo heads, dog heads, cat heads, the penis of various animals - it was pretty wild. Our guide explained how the various animal parts were used and the types of ailments they supposedly cured. If you had a pain in your foot, you take one monkey head, boil it for two hours, throw in some type of grass and rub in where it hurts. If you have a headache, take some snake skin, rub grass on it, boil it and drink it. I can't remember all of the various combinations but there was a remedy for every type of ailment you could think of. There
were also potions for helping with a job interview, problems with family, or if you want someone to like you - a love potion. Some of the items there would clearly not be legal if imported into North America, and a lot of them were probably not from Ghana or Benin - like the hippo head. I asked our guide what countries some of the animals were from and how they were brought to Togo. He said, "That's a very good question. All of the animals in the market died naturally, none were killed." Suuuuuure they died naturally.
The funniest part was when they invited us to visit the voodoo priest of the market. Our guide took us into a little hut and we were introduced to the voodoo priest, who was from Benin. They explained that the items in the market were for black magic, but they also had other items that were for tourists - souvenirs. They showed us about 5 or 6 different items and explained what they were meant to do, and how to use them. One was a stone that was supposed to make you sleep better. If you're having trouble sleeping you rub
water on it, rub the stone between your hands, make the sign of the cross on your forehead and put it under your pillow. Boom, instant sleep. Another item was a small, carved piece of wood with a small hole in it and a very tiny piece of wood, almost like a needle, that went into the hole. This was meant for safe travel and if you insert the needle into the hole, and put the whole thing into your pocket before your trip, you will arrive safely. Of course, they had the African version of viagra which was the twig of a tree, and when you cut into it there was quite a strong, perfume type smell. What you do is take some of the twig, soak it in water for 2 days, and drink it before sex. Of course you know what happens then - you go all night like a bull. My favourite, which I bought, was a tiny little voodoo doll that's supposed to protect your house. I can't remember the whole ritual but what you do is display it somewhere in your place, and if someone breaks in then they will go blind. On a
side note, two of my friend's hotel rooms had their stuff gone through, but nothing taken. I had my little voodoo doll right beside my tv and all of my things were untouched.
After they showed us everything, they said if we wanted to purchase any of the items, we were to select what we liked and put them into a tiny little bowl. Then they took us one by one into a separate hut where the priest would bless the items - translation - time to pay up. I went in second and the priest had 3 tiny little shells which he rolled like dice on the dirt floor. He looked at them, shook his head and rolled them again. He looked at them, shook his head and rolled them a 3rd time. Our guide said the priest asked the gods what you should pay for the items, and the first time they said 40,000 cfas (about $80), but the priest thought that was too much. The second time the gods said you should pay 30,000 cfas (about $60), but the priest thought that was too much. The third time they said 25,000 cfas (about $50), and the
priest agreed with this. What a production - these guys were good! It was quite expensive but when am I ever going to be back in a voodoo market in Lome, Togo. I had a few items so mine was more expensive than some of the others, so I forked over my money and walked back into the market.
This time all of the market stalls were very aggressive, trying to get us to buy stuff. A little kid walked up with a small bucket and said, "Hey mister look." I looked in and there was a tiny little baby crocodile or alligator, still alive in some water. He said, "Picture, picture." I took a picture and then he started running after me saying, "A small something, a small something." Sorry buddy, I already paid - beat it. Then this other kid walked up with a sack and when I looked inside - yep, huge snake still alive. No picture I just turned and got into the car - not a big snake fan.
So, that's my juju market experience, well worth it and very entertaining. Bye for now.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.097s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 11; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0581s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb