Traditional Beliefs, Practices and Taboos

Despite the strong Islamic and Christian influence in The Gambia today, people still retain certain practices originating from past animist beliefs. “Animism” can be defined as a system of beliefs that natural objects and phenomena, such as idols or fetishes contain spiritual power. Beliefs in witchcraft belong to the “animist” tradition.

Many Gambians still believe in the existence of supernatural forces and individuals with powers to protect against or utilize these forces. These individuals include witch doctors, herbalists, diviners, and marabouts.
Many Gambians will be seen wearing amulets, commonly called “jujus” on their body around the waist, neck, arms, or legs. These are leather objects enclosing writings from the Koran, which have been prescribed by a marabout.

Gambians consult marabouts for a variety of reasons, but the following are the most common:

- To protect against evil spirits.
- To improve one’s status (i.e., getting a job, seeking love or marriage, getting a promotion, receiving a bank loan).
- To remedy a situation (e.g., curing a mentally or physically ill person, curing headaches or chronic pains, curing impotence or sterility, resolving disputes between people).
- To cast a curse (e.g., to rid oneself of a rival like a co-worker or co-wife through illness, disappearance or even death).

The following list of taboos and superstitions is not exhaustive and may vary from ethnic group and village to village

- Jars should always be filled with water to enable the dead to drink whenever they visit their families.
- Pouring hot water on the ground is believed to burn our ancestors who are under the ground.
- Fanbondis (this is a special type of kankurang) identify witches.
- Pour cold water at the door of your house first thing in the morning before talking to anyone – in anticipation of a good day.
- Seeing raw fish or a snake in a dream is a child or sign of pregnancy.
- Seeing a gun or an unused bullet in a dream means betrayal or disappointment.
- Seeing a horse, car, or a man in a dream means a new wife is on the way.
- Seeing a white cloth in a dream means you will see a dead person.
- Seeing a kankurang in a dream means a witch is after you.
- Seeing a monkey in a dream means a downfall faces you.
- Laughing in a dream means you will surely cry.
- Seeing a pregnant woman in a dream means trouble.
- If you put on your shirt inside out, and you discover it yourself you will have good luck.
- If a monkey or pig crosses your way and you don’t mention it, you will have good luck.
- If a black cat crosses your way you will have bad luck.
- If you sweep the house at night and throw the trash out it is bad luck.
- Anything done on a Saturday would be repeated in future. So people avoid visiting the sick and making condolences on this day.
- If you buy shoes or perfume for a girlfriend, the relationship will not last long, so money is given instead.
- When cutting someone’s hair you should not throw the hair away because if a bird finds it and makes a nest with it, the person would have a constant headache.
- If a pregnant woman looks at a baboon, her child would resemble it.
- A shooting star represents the death of a prominent person.
- If your left eye itches you will see someone you have missed.
- Pregnant women should not eat eggs, otherwise the baby would be deaf and dumb.
- People avoid doing things on Wednesdays because it is a day of bad luck.
- Children should not eat fish because they would develop worms.
- You don’t cut the fingernails of babies and young children because it is believed that they would become thieves.
- Never sit in the doorway because evil spirits might hit you and you would die.
- You don’t answer to a call at night because you might be answering a devil.
- You should not bathe with much water, if your quota of water finishes you would die.

Taboos
- Do not buy or sell items like soap, needles, or charcoal at night.
- A widow should not go out of her home during her mourning period.
- Houses should not be swept at night.
- People should not put their hands on their heads (this is a sign of mourning).
- Do not visit sick people at night.
- Do not whistle at night.
- Members of the Sanyang family should not touch iguanas or eat turtle meat.
- Members of the Jammeh family should not eat goat meat (illiasa).
- Members of the Jobarteh and Trawalley families should not touch iguanas.
- Members of the Ceesay family should not touch or eat sole fish and monitor lizards.

Time
It is safe to stay at home or the workplace during late mornings, mid-afternoon and dusk. These are times when evil spirits are most active.
Everything has an appointed time - death, success, misfortune, and other life changes.
Couples with merging luck become very lucky, but if they have conflicting luck they will be very unlucky.

Physical World

Plants
Spirits dwell in trees, e.g., silk, cotton, and baobab trees. Some plants have magical or healing properties - e.g., ‘kankanano’ sodom apple, pig-nut, bitter tomato.

Hills
Do not sit on ant hills because it is believed that spirits dwell in them.

Winds
Whirlwinds are caused by spirits as they move from one place to another and so people avoid them.

Animals
Witches transform into dogs, cats, owls, hyenas, and monkeys. Animals like rams and cocks are kept as scapegoats.
Some clans don’t kill or eat certain animals because they have an ancestral (totemic) connection with them.

Water
Whirlpools are believed to be caused by a dragon or devil. Some ponds are sacred because spirits dwell in them.

Street, Roads & Paths
At night some streets are avoided because strange things happen there. The police never go to certain towns and regions because it will result in their down fall.

Reincarnations
People believe that some people die and come back in another generation.
In cases when a mother has an infant mortality problem, the belief is that the same child dies and comes back again and again.

Possession
When people get sick, insane or disappear, sometimes it is believed that they are possessed by devils.
Marabouts (mystic men) have magical powers. They see and deal with spirits. With the help of spirits they can cause good luck, bad luck, tell the future, curse, help to win friends, eliminate opponents, and even heal illness. Some derive power from Satan and some are men of God and so power is derived from the Almighty. The latter never agree to carry out unhealthy or anti-social deeds.

Circumcision
During circumcision ceremonies witches become more active, consequently people make a lot of preparations before circumcising children to counter the witches. It is believed that any witch that succeeds in killing a circumcised child gets a promotion.

Impact
Despite the fact that most Gambians are either Muslim or Christian, superstitious beliefs still remain and govern our lives.
The American who wishes to live and work with Gambians must bear the above- mentioned in mind at all times. Otherwise problems can arise during site selection for projects, project launching days and calling meetings.