| | If a Manya wants to access spirit world for power or protection, they often do so through shamans known as the molimen or kalanmo (lit. teachers). Sometimes in Liberia these men are referred to as “Sandcutters” because their preferred method of divination is spreading sand on the ground, drawing lines in it and then interpreting them. This in some ways similar how Ouiji boards are said to work. Most of these men also serve in an official capacity as imams, leading the regular prayers in the mosque.
The molimen have a number of techniques they use to harness spiritual powers. For protection, Koranic verses are written on scraps of paper and folded into little leather pouches called “lisimo”. These are commonly tied on the waists of children, or worn as a necklace. 
A Muslim background believer here one told an interesting story about his experience with lisimo. As a teenager he was sent to Kuwait on an Islamic scholarship. While there he joined a local soccer league and played regularly. One day on the field he was injured and was rushed to the emergency room. When he arrived the doctors (most likely orthodox Muslims with no respect for such superstitious practices) immediately cut off his clothes with scissors. Along with the clothes they casually cut the rope for his lisimo and tossed the talisman in the trash. He said he was never so embarrassed in his life!
The molimen also write Arabic verses on wooden writing boards then wash them off with water. The water and ink are then ingested by their clients to provide blessing or protection. I was told that most Mandingo parents who send their boys to the madrassa (Koranic school) do not do so because they expect their children to master the content of the Koran intellectually. Rather they send them to the madrassa so they will one day become molimen, able to protect them against the curses of others, and provide temporal blessings for the family. The incomprehensible Arabic words of the Koran are believed to have great mystical power in themselves. They can even be used to protect one’s farm against malevolent spirits, as seen in the picture below.
I had an interesting conversation recently with a Manya man named Amarah who is one of our CHEs this year. He is a very influential man in this particular community. To the surprise of myself and the other trainers, he informed us that he had been a Christian for 18 years in the Episcopal Church. He attended the Bolahun Holy Cross Mission school, which was one of the best high schools in the region. He informed us that sometime before the war, he returned to his village and was living there. During this time he believes was cursed by someone in the village. For over a month he was very sick with dysentery, and could not even leave his house. Impressed by the power of the Islamic curses, Amarah returned to Islam saying, “It was God who made me change my religion again”. Obviously he had never had a personal relationship with Christ, but when I told me this story I was at a loss for words. I knew that my usual intellectual arguments for Christianity would mean nothing to him. I have been trained in “high religion” and have done a lot of study about the history and doctrines of Islam and know how to combat many of the common Muslim arguments against Christianity. Yet despite his good education this intellectual approach obviously means very little to Amarah. He did not convert to Islam for intellectual reasons, but rather because he was impressed by the mystical powers which can be accessed through Koranic incantations and charms.
The Manya seek power and protection from charms, talismans, and curses, (collectively called “medicine” in Liberia) but rarely do they question the source of this power. Another Manya friend of mine, whom I believed to have a more intellectual approach to the Muslim religion, informed me that his grandfather was a powerful moliman. During his time in Guinea, he was given a charm that protected him from bullets. He swears that this charm was tested by having a gun fired on him. He was unharmed, with the bullets simply bouncing off of him and dropping to the ground at his feet. A similar charm he says can protect your bare skin against a machete chop.
When I asked my friend where the power for this “bullet-proof” medicine comes from, he replied, “From God, I guess”. He actually considered the occult power available through the use of Koranic incantations to be proof of its divine origins! I questioned him further, reminding him that the zoes (traditional priests) of the animistic Poro society can access the same occultic power and protection with very similar “medicine”. He was not sure how to answer this. Nevertheless, even the molimen when they are giving consolations and preparing charms, will tell their clients “If God agrees, it will happen”. With their fatalistic worldview, ultimately God is responsible for any action good or bad, even if the act is accomplished through intermediary spirit beings.
While in the past I might have been very skeptical about such stories, the more time I spend in Africa and study the scriptures, the less reason I have to doubt them. Certainly the devil, as the “prince of this world” and his demons have been allowed a certain level of power in this time. It would be foolish to totally discount these accounts, or underestimate their significance in the lives of the people who have experienced such things.
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| | Posted 9/4/2008 11:37 AM - 67 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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