SORCERY: A Profitable Way of Making Money [Archives:1998/28/Culture]
July 13 1998
Sorcery is actually a retardation and a benighted practice. Religions and ethical norms denounce it. And because of their persuasive and efficacious ways, the stream of the sorcerers’practice has not ceased to flow on. In addition, sorcerers used religion as an umbrella to protect them and enable them to veil their loathsome and abashed misdeeds. What helps them more is their close relationship with sheikhs of tribes and too many other important personalities. In other words, their prestige becomes high when some of the influential people start visiting them for therapy.
Of course, when common naive persons come to know that a VIP of his region has visited this or that sorcerer for treatment, they soon pay him a widespread acceptance and confidence. It should be noted that those swindlers don’t directly ask for money and other requirements from their innocent victims but it is the jinni who is going to ask whatever he likes. This jinni whose role is a mediator between the victim and the sorcerer may ask for sheep, cows, goats, cocks, money, a piece of land , qat, aloes, expensive incense and perfumes …etc.
Sorcerers Better than Physicians
I believe that such people have psycho-diseases rather than organic illnesses. Since they have confidence and strong faith in these sorcerers, they immediately feel released of their pain.
Doctors can’t help them because they no longer have confidence in them. Occasionally, sorcerers must be distinguished either in their fearful appearance or in their strange uniforms so that they could deceive gullible people easily convincing them with their miraculous power.
Ways of Getting Patients’ Trust
Equally, every sorcerer must have a reception room with a window covered with a black curtain. His assistant may hide himself behind it spying on the patients or he may get a seat close to the patient’s to recognize all their complaints and details. After that, he goes and reveals everything to his shiekh. When the sick person enters, the sorcerer hastens to expose all his causes. Consequently, the patient doubtlessly trusts in him and therefore
surrenders to his endless demands. By the way, sorcerers claim that they have too many strategies and techniques for treating their patients. For instance, they may involve their patients in a clamorous dancing party named ‘Alzar’ lasting for some hours.Now let Mrs. Salha narrates her story. “When I read the holy Quran, I was trembling awfully. Furthermore, I felt as if someone was beating me. Sometimes I lost my ability to speak.
Above all, I changed my house for five times because of the terrifying ghosts I used to see.
For this reasons I visited a famous skiekh who had confirmed that I had two jinnis. Thus, I was asked to bring two black and white sheep,YR20,000, qat of good quality and other things.On the following day, he gave me ‘maho’ ( written verses from the holy Quran to be dissolved in water and drunk), ‘seder’ and ‘alb’, herbs the patient uses while bathing, and herz (some verses from the holy Quran to be hung on the arm or somewhere else to protect the patient from jinnis). In about two days, he took me to a very dark room. While he was reading some verses from the holy Quran, I was shaking and yelling and I heard the voice of the jinni asking me to give him one of my daughters as a wife for him otherwise he would not let me alone threatening that he would send two more jinnis to disturb me. After that, the shiekh picked a stick and started lashing me till I fell fainted. Two weeks later, I was invited to a dancing party. I spent all day and night just eating, dancing and laughing. After that, I really felt comfortable and relaxed. Now I am awaiting for the next step to get the final treatment.
Psychology & Sorcery
From the point of view of psychology this is explained as a sort of psycho-suppression and psycho-suffering. That is to say, such women have psycho-repression and this long period of dancing and laughing can help them explore the subdued power dormant in these patients, particularly women who may find in it a release of their repressed and suppressed feelings and emotions beyond bearing. This is because we know that dancing is an exercise for draining off energy .
100,000 for 2 jinnis
Miss W.S. is another victim of this practice. She had never believed in sorcery at all, rather she was strongly against it. But at last, owing to her bad living conditions, she came to believe blindly in it. She says that she is a university student and before joining college, she was so clever and active that she spent all her time in studying, ranking at top place. But, as she says, when her wicked cousins bought two jinnis for YR100,000 and sent them to disturb her, she became lazy and stupid. As a result of this, she repeated level two twice.
When she starts reading, she feels like crying and disturbed and might destroy anything before her. She dislikes everything around her. She also says that she went to see many doctors but in vain. Ultimately, on her neighbor’s advice her mother took her to a reliable shiekh who promised to cure her and take revenge on her cousins. He would send to each one of them, five jinnis on the condition that she should get married to him. My mother convinced me to accept his condition. I am really very frustrated and afraid of tomorrow. I am about to go mad. Now I don’t know whether this is sorcery or reality.
These are only some victims of sorcerers and the list can go on. It has become a profitable way of making money and fulfilling some people’ desires at the cost of the future of others.This practice has to be battled and sorcerers should be harshly punished. The evil figures should be removed from the screen of the society. You agree with me, don’t you ?
By: Haifa Yahia Qanbar,
Taiz
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