Of Ritual Money and Superstition

By Pius Okaneme

We are brought up in a culture in most African countries that believes in superstition. Most things we do are situated in the premises of the supernatural force. Our folklores, our masquerades, our custom and tradition all emphasize the existence of a magical influence. This leads directly to the psychology of viewing everything in life from a superstitious mindset. We never had the unbiased disposition to be purely analytical about the unfolding of life around us.

Granted that life is undeniably mysterious and many things never manifest their true meaning. Till probed, people are bound to have their conjecture as a result of the above phenomenon. The dilemma for the African mindset is that it never had the undiluted clarity to analyze a given issue from a plain slate. Hence, people look at situations from the standpoint of stories they heard from society, what their religion says, the dictates of tradition and many other superficial factors.

It becomes apparent why a rational African mindset can believe in the notion of money ritual. A person will passionately narrate a story of people he or she knows that perform money rituals. The person will convincingly state how the money comes out from a pot that the people placed in a dark room in their house. The blind spot in the story is that the narrator never allows himself or herself the reflection to ask where the money that comes out from the pot comes from. Obviously, the pot is not connected to a bank through a conduit that sucks money to it. The more surprising aspect is that when you ask the person if he or she has seen money coming out of the pot, he or she will flash a bizarre look at you. The fact is that his or her conviction about the ritual act is based on superstition and not a verifiable experience.

One can from this evidence say that most Africans have not evolved from the primordial stage in their spiritual belief system. This primitive outlook cast a spell that is so strong. They are afraid to investigate ordinary matters due to preconceived repercussions of trespassing into the boundaries of the evil forces.

There is no denying the fact that rituals of all sorts have power. Though, that goes as far as the person performing them believes in the superstition. When a person goes and kills another human being, a cow, a ram, a fowl or whatever prescribed organism and spills its blood for a sacrifice, there is potency in the act because he or she is operating from a background of conviction. The act does not necessarily manifest to the reality of his or her intention. However, it emboldens him or her to blindly pursue his or her agenda. On the other hand, he or she may be disappointed that he or she has been fooled by his or her gullibility. As such, a young person that has overnight acquired material success like what is happening in Nigeria today and he or she is not an entrepreneur must have robbed a bank or involved in other disreputable activities.