Indigenous Beliefs in Togo

Video Transcript

“Questions without answer, like a bad dream, some kind of worry that you have, getting ready to embrace a new career, or take a new job; you will definitely go see a Voodoo ‘sofo’, which is a Voodoo priest, and explain [to] him the situation. ‘What lays ahead for me? What does the future hold for me?’ And then he will do his things, for the most part... I used to know one who has white mice, they were called albino mice. He carries them anywhere he goes in a bag. He will pull the three of them, puts sand on the ground, level it, puts the mice on the sand, they will run for 30 seconds or 45 seconds and then he will grab them, put them back in his bag and then he will read it for you. After he has listened to your story, he pulls out his albino mice, put them on the ground one at a time, but there were three. My question was, [were] all three coming out? Or he might have been pulling the same [mouse] out over and over again. Bottom line is, after he’s done it three times, then he will start reading. ‘Oh you said you were embracing a new career. I see an ocean with no end. This is a promising future for you and your family. You should have no reservations. Go ahead, take it. The only thing I would recommend is go back to your family’s rock, slaughter a black rooster or two black roosters, give the meat to the kids, don’t touch it, and go your way. It’s a blessing.’ Or he can say, ‘Ooh, it’s just a circle. I see [a] road that leads to nowhere; it’s the bridge to nowhere. I don’t think you want to take this job. If you do it, you’ll regret it. Because I see the path, but it goes nowhere.’ And for the most part, if you went to see him you would listen to what he has to say. You will turn it down. You will turn the job down.”

In this video, a Togolese expert discusses indigenous beliefs in Togo.