The world of superstition and black magic

Every man is his greatest enemy, and, as it were, his own executioner

- Sir Thomas Brown

Of late, I have stepped into a weird parallel universe of superstition and black magic. Here, Science and rational thinking are dead.

(Image source: ILoveFunnyCats)

Black magic is surprisingly common, from voodoo magic in Africa or Gu in China, to what's practiced here. Although the people of these cultures have never met each other or are related in any way, they have developed similar theories and belief systems. It's sort of like convergent evolution, where organisms not closely related evolve independently to have similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments. So maybe it all stems from a certain common trait in the human mind. 

I'm not a believer, but I think the success in black magic lies in its ability to plant tiny seeds of suspicion, fear and hate in the minds of people and have them slowly grow into a garden of mental paranoia.

For example, the nun, I am told, is responsible for the fine white sand we see at our workstations each morning. I'm made to believe that she chants and curses fistfuls of sea sand and leaves these cursed grains in places where the person of interest (i.e. the target of the curse) tramples it. In this case, a colleague of mine. In the early days when this phenomenon started, we were able to laugh it off as a ridiculous act. However, over the course of two weeks, I have been observing my colleague's attitudes slowly changing from one of apathy to mild irritation to hatred. So, black magic works?

I have little faith in curses and prayers. If they worked, we would be having world peace right now and no child would ever have experienced rape.

The business of black magic runs on the assumption that many bad people out there want to make your life miserable through certain black magic techniques and that it is possible to shield yourself through other black magic techniques. So the cause of harm and the antidote are from the same source, like snake venom? Hmm... interesting. Most horror stories about the power of black magic are spread by believers, who indirectly help the practitioners stay rich. Hardly any of these stories appear factual, verifiable or proven by empirical means.

Like holy water for vampires, the shielding effects of black magic are supposedly rendered completely useless by simply sprinkling oil made of pigs. Yes, who knew pigs were the kryptonite to evil spirits!

Another time, when I was living in a rented apartment alone, the house owner who is also a staunch believer of black magic, hired a man to perform some rituals. Some time before that, he got into a fight with his half sibling over property issues. In the scuffle involving knives, he was stabbed on his hand. Since the incident, his dependency on black magic has only intensified. The rituals included sacrificing a live chicken and requesting to enter the apartment at 2:00 am, with another man, to cut lime fruit to ward of evil spirits and bury small bottles of blessed oil in the corners of the house for extra protection. Of course, I didn't stay the night in that apartment and since he informed me a few hours earlier, I bolted home (152 kilometers away) almost immediately. A few weeks after the incident, we handed our notice of termination. Now if he paid the man a large sum of money to make us end the contract sooner, so he can have the house back, then I'd say it was money well spent on black magic.

This house owner spends his days under the delusion that people around him (like his half sibling) are out to kill him and take away his property. So he too, chants at night, spends on people who claim that they can help him and regularly performs superstitious rituals. Recently when we came home from a break, we found oil sprinkled on the floor, for which we couldn't find a better explanation. However, it appears even he has a bit of doubt in his mind about black magic, because he still relies on CCTV cameras. 

Humans dislike the feeling of not being in control. Believers of black magic are common in less educated societies and countries with harsher living conditions. Even better educated people become believers due to their upbringing or inexplicable or helpless circumstances in life. They turn to supernatural explanations to try to make sense of negative occurrences. They are gullible to being convinced by people who promote black magic. They may be compelled to go to any lengths to try to get ahead and get what they want. An instruction like "sprinkle this (unidentified) powder in the food of your enemy" would be religiously executed. For all we know, this powder could be a concoction of heavy metals or diluted poison that can make someone sick over time. Or maybe free lance evil spirits who like to negotiate really exist and they take up small jobs in return for chicken blood, for example? 

Salt is an item of superstition in some households. Emptying the bottle of salt in a home is akin to a curse, according to my mother, her mother and many others I know. Salt that is accidentally spilled must be thrown over one's right shoulder. Funny incident though, one time, I emptied the salt container in the house (to refill later in the evening) and went on about my usual business. That evening, unlike most other days, I had an incident where I was left quite shaken. Coincidence, or not? Should I repeat this experiment to see if I get a similar result? * laughs nervously *

People in Sri Lanka are commonly seen feeding bread to crows (or children made to feed crows by their parents) during bad times predicted by astrologers. Some give specially prepared milk rice to crows in an almost religious-like ceremony. When I was younger, I was also once made a participant of this ritual. This particular superstition takes me to my next story.

Recently, I moved houses temporarily. On the day I checked out, I packed all my belongings to a tuk tuk and left to office. On my way, about 2 kilometers from my office, I noticed a crow fluttering about on the concrete road divider. There was heavy vehicle flow on both rides of the road. My conscience starting torturing me for the next two kilometers. How could you have left an injured animal to die on the road? Would you have liked to be left behind helplessly on the road to die like that? Can you imagine the fear that animal is feeling right now?

About 500 metres from the office, I asked the tuk tuk driver to turn back. It is probably too late already and the bird would have been run over by now. We had to hover the area twice to locate the bird. The driver stopped the tuk tuk next to the road divider, and amidst many honking vehicles and impatient drivers, we tried to grab the bird with my wet towel, that moments ago I had used to dry my hair. The bird wasn't ready to cooperate. It fluttered around, unable to fly. It went under the tuk tuk and we feared it was only a matter of time before it was run over by incoming traffic. Then to our horror, it fluttered helplessly to the middle of the road! We stopped the traffic and shooed it to the opposite edge of the road, where the tuk tuk driver grabbed it by a wing. I then threw the towel over it and grabbed the bird. Another driver stopped his lorry to hurl profanities at the tuk tuk driver. He left when I apologised and told him there was an injured animal.

After a dramatic rescue, the crow came with me to the office. I forgot to ask for the tuk tuk driver's name or thank him for being a great asset on our morning mission. The crow looked like it had a broken spine. My superstitious animal-loving colleague and I managed to feed it a bit of water. She said it was an act of great merit (i.e. good karma) to rescue an animal. On the contrary, I thought it is a responsibility any decent human should undertake if they are in a position to take action. 

Breathing hard in pain, yet, it never pecked us. They say crows are some of the most intelligent birds around.

With a badly broken back. The two tail feathers were perpendicular to the bird's body. 

After getting in touch with someone who works closely with the wildlife rescue center in Colombo, my colleague and I dropped off the bird at his place. A few days later he told me the crow was eating well, but it may never fly again. Unfortunately, that was the best outcome of the rescue mission. Part of me wondered if being run over swiftly by a vehicle would have been better for the bird than a lifetime of handicap in captivity and human care. 

Anyhow, with this act of saving a crow's life, my mother is convinced that I am now insured for life against evil influences.