The Great Equalizer for the Democratization of Destiny
A Case for Juju as a Tool of Empowerment
By Tabari Diriki
Reed & Pigment writer Tabari Diriki’s The Juju Hypothesis covers stories about the use of Juju in East African society.
Juju is Fake.
All sensible dialogue should begin here. Denial could save your life.
While skepticism could be a weapon of mass destruction in a fight for your soul, flat out rejection may be the nuclear option. If one disregards the legitimacy of a hex placed on their entire family, has the malevolence of a jealous neighbor been forever thwarted?
It is alleged that the power of Juju lies in the very belief of Juju. This negative ad for the mind-body connection makes a history of pharmacology and intent a deadly placebo that may wander far beyond the psychosomatic. Or is this another mystery of Africa’s ancient arcanum that has been reduced to a caricature like Vodun?
While there is no scientific evidence to support the reality or viability of black magic, individuals are killed, maimed, traumatized, and left penniless daily on the continent. The preponderance of evidence can only point in one direction – Juju.
At what point should a belief system be reconsidered and reclassified based on documented evidence and physical outcomes? Maybe Juju is the next self-help trend waiting to take America by storm, the new Manifestation and Law of Attraction. This not-so “Secret” practice could be the Eastern Medicine that soccer moms have been waiting to shoehorn between spin class and yoga.
Disclaimer: Juju can be employed for a variety of applications, some peaceful and benign, while others are more sinister and malignant. However, in the first quarter of the 21st century during travels on the continent, the connotation is overwhelmingly negative. This context will be the launch pad for future forays into the fantastic.
What is Juju?
From a layman’s POV, Juju is a way of affecting physical reality with the aid of supernatural principles, magical objects, and plant-based pharmacology (aka POISON). This nuanced and diverse system generally comprises a few essential building blocks to help the practitioner achieve intended goals.
Foundational elements include:
- Faith in an ethereal world inhabited by gods, spirits, and ancestors.
- Commanding magical objects to manifest desired outcomes in the physical world.
- The implementation of spells, plant-based concoctions, and ritualized deeds to achieve intended objectives.
This supernatural belief system is often weaponized to level suffering, injury, ruination, and textbook bad luck on a person, place, or thing. The specifics of the hands-on tradition can take various forms, for varied groups, by a variety of individuals. There is no shortage of needs, applications, or people willing to supply the demand.
These psychophysiological assaults may breach material reality in the form of spoken or written incantations, through ritualized acts, or by the enchanting of magical items. These invocations can target a specific individual, group, family, or community. Only the agnostic is safe from the onslaught of vicious intent and ill will.
Or are they?
In spaces and places where hope and economic agency are a dwindling commodity, Juju is The Great Equalizer for the Democratization of Destiny. When essential resources like a formal education or the prerequisites of finance are unachievable to aid in upward mobility through societal ranks, crabs will use their claws to keep their fellow crustaceans deep under the surface.
Juju as a tool for empowerment can level the scales. Not by elevating the aggressor, but by stunting the growth or immobilizing the targeted individual. Misery requires unending company and always has an open door. In rare cases, toppling invisible adversaries may afford firmer footing for the rise to barrel rim.
The results are fleeting moments of glee over exercising a modicum of agency in an unjust existence – a transient peace knowing that one less beautiful girl will live happily ever after. She will never again arouse the dark lethal envy that a flight, birth, or marriage invokes in the vile bosom of “friends” and “family”.
Congratulations to the wicked. The comment section is only RIPs now. Success is now a forlorn specter of posts passed.
A lack of resources can create idle hands where a devilish playground ensues.
Why use Juju?
When Juju becomes the answer, every other alternative offered by perceptible reality has been abandoned or ignored. Laziness is also a prime suspect; one among the cornucopia of personality defects that one should be emphatically hip to. Black magic as the singular antidote to the discomfort of human emotion may point to a larger issue than the lack of empowerment or resources.
Mind-body attacks often result from a surplus of or a compulsion for:
- Jealousy
- Anger
- Resentment
- Revenge
- Control
- Fear
- Spite
- Protection
- Money
- Love
- Power
Ignoring the culmination of catastrophic circumstances and destructive human sensitivities will fester into a chain of unfortunate events for the unwitting. Perceived opulence and a life of ease projected from the ever-present black mirror can set in motion consequences beyond the control of even the most agile. Opposition to a number of life advancements include:
- Marriage
- Wealth
- Fertility
- Children
- Travel
- Inheritance
- Career
- Health
- Politics
While only a few of the potential whys and wherefores, the lore of Juju past and present run the gamut. Psychic attacks may derive in the mind but are designed to play out in the material universe to great effect. Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) to unexplained and unexpected death, the stakes are much higher than a cynic may expect.
The healthcare sector tends to shy away from publicly acknowledging the concreteness of Juju, however, the injuries and maladies that result from the aggressions are no less dire.
Symptoms of a Juju Attack
The National Institutes of Health in published studies states, “Numerous cases of psychogenic death have been cited throughout the world…It is not specific to any culture or mentality. Psychogenic death refers to death triggered by psychic stimuli”.
While psychogenic/psychosomatic death is a nonstarter in certain circles, the powerful sway the mind has over the body is not. Reported symptoms of psychophysiological effects of Juju include:
Physical Symptoms:
- Unexplained Illnesses
- Rashes
- Bruises
- Headaches
- Stomachaches
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Injuries
Mental Symptoms:
- Fear
- Anger
- Paranoia
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Nightmares
- Mood Swings
- Hallucinations
- Irritability
Spiritual Symptoms:
- Disconnection from Self
- Lack of Direction and Purpose
- Feeling Lost or Haunted
- Emptiness
- Negative Thoughts
- Suicidal Ideation
Societal Symptoms:
- Financial Problems
- Relationship Problems
- Job Problems
- Substance Use Disorders
- Self-Destructive Behavior
- Bad Luck
- Misfortune
Such symptoms could easily arise from a myriad of other determinants, so a professional medical or mental health diagnosis is wild necessary before racing towards the Juju hypothesis. Yet, in places with less advanced healthcare systems, an accurate diagnosis may be more elusive and require tests that are unavailable or too costly for those in immediate crisis.
But the Juju man/lady is cheap and always open.
Protection will be explored ad nauseam in future writings. But know, in the struggle of virtue versus vice, there are armaments available for protection as there are munitions for aggression. A spiritual advisor, religious figure, or traditional healer may have the cleansing ritual or text necessary to ward off infernal forces.
Conclusion
Exploratory studies conclude that Juju is about twice as common in rural areas as compared to metropolitan spaces. This jives with the supposition that Juju is The Great Equalizer for the Democratization of Destiny. When all other attempts at agency fail – or go unexplored – Juju has always been the comforting hand for those lacking the means to draft a superior solution.
The deprogramming of the “old ways” and the trappings of urban life have left hearts and minds with less real estate for the cultural mythos of a seemingly bygone era. Book learning and the quest for breakneck advancement toward a more Western sensibility often nullifies the deep-rooted customs passed down from antiquity.
Could this so-called superstition be forgotten science?
Juju is a complicated and multilayered system of practices and beliefs – so negative features are inherent in the blueprint – as in any other religion, tradition, or way of life. Some of the obvious include:
- Exploitation
- Manipulation
- Violence
- Corruption
- Fraud
- Instability
- Division
- Conflict
- Societal Unrest
- Environmental Damage
Despite the data-driven robotic notions of Western society, the impact is real and tangible for millions on the African continent. Accounts of Juju onslaughts permeate the day-to-day of farmers and politicians alike. “Empowerment” is a buzzword that perfectly encapsulates the intention, while “macroaggressions” is a more fitting term for the acts perpetrated against targeted individuals.
A psychosomatic placebo with deadly consequences or the disappearing remnants of ancient supernatural abilities now wielded for woe?
All I know is…Juju is Fake.
REED & PIGMENT 