REASONING, MAGICAL THINKING AND EVIL WIZARDS IN AFRICA From Polish Author Ryszard Kapuściński’s Book ‘The Shadow of the Sun’, about Reasoning and Magical Thinking in Africa: “Suddenly, I heard murmurs, steps, then the rapid patter of bare feet. Then silence once more. I looked around, but at first saw nothing. After a moment, the murmurs and steps again. Then silence again. I began to study the features of the landscape--a clump of thin shrubs, several umbrella-shaped acacias in the distance, some rocks protruding from the ground. At last, I spied a group of eight men, carrying, on a simple stretcher made of branches, another man covered with a piece of cloth. They moved in a peculiar fashion. They did not walk in a straight line, but advanced furtively, creeping in one direction, then in another, maneuvering. They crouched down behind a shrub, looked about cautiously, and then scurried to the next hiding place. They circled, swerved, stopped, and started, as if they were children playing some elaborate game of espionage. I observed their bent, half-naked silhouettes, their nervous gestures, the queer, stealthful behavior, until finally they disappeared for good behind a ridge, and the only thing around me again was the silent, clear, inviolate night. At dawn we drove on. I asked Sebuya if he knew the name of the people in whose village we had spent the night. "They are called Amba," he said. Then, after a moment, added: "Kabila mbaya" (this means, roughly, "bad people"). He did not want to tell me any more--here, one avoids evil even as a subject of conversation, preferring not to step into that territory, careful not to call the wolf out of the forest. As we drove, I reflected upon the event I had inadvertently witnessed. The nocturnal drama, those puzzling zigzags and twists of the bearers, their haste and anxiety, concealed a mystery to which I had no key. Something was going on here. But what? People like the Amba and their kinsmen believe profoundly that the world is ruled by supernatural forces. These forces are particular--spirits that have names, spells that can be defined. It is they that inform the course of events and imbue them with meaning, decide our fate, determine everything. For this reason nothing happens by chance; chance simply does not exist. Let us consider this example: Sebuya is driving his car, has an accident, and dies. Why exactly did Sebuya have an accident? That very same day, all over the world, millions of cars reached their destinations safely--but Sebuya had an accident and died. White people will search for various causes. For instance, his brakes malfunctioned. But this kind of thinking leads nowhere, explains nothing. Because why was it precisely Sebuya's brakes that malfunctioned? That very same day, all over the world, millions of cars were on the road and their brakes were working just fine--but Sebuya's were not. Why? White people, whose way of thinking is the height of naivete, will say that Sebuya's brakes malfunctioned because he failed to have them inspected and repaired in good time. But why was it precisely Sebuya who failed to do this? Why, that very same day, a million . . . etc., etc. We have now established that the white man's way of reasoning is quite unhelpful. But it gets worse! The white man, having determined that the cause of Sebuya's accident and death was bad brakes, prepares a report and closes the case. Closes it!? But it is precisely now that the case should begin! Sebuya died because someone cast a spell on him. This is simple and self-evident. What we do not know, however, is the identity of the perpetrator, and that is what we must now ascertain. Speaking in the most general terms, a wizard did it. A wizard is a bad man, always acting with evil intent. There are two types of wizards (although our Western languages do not differentiate adequately between them). The first is more dangerous, for he is the devil in human form. The English call him witch”

The North African wants to attack an English patriot and discovers that it was better not to. Then he runs away like a rat.

Happens all the time

A yooman rite. A yooman rite to are chicken nuggets.

The finest of only eight known examples, this 196 BC gold Stater depicts the first living person shown on a #Roman #coin, T. Quinctius Flamininus. (Photo credit: Lyle Engleson, Goldberg Coins & Collectibles.) #History