Uganda: Country of superstition
NEW Year celebrations evoke superstition. Even the most educated try to begin the year on a good note because many believe it determines how you will fare throughout the year. <br>
By Titus Serunjogi
NEW Year celebrations evoke superstition. Even the most educated try to begin the year on a good note because many believe it determines how you will fare throughout the year.
A few people would dare to borrow or lend money on January 1. To some people, crying on New Year’s is a curse, while to others, doing laundry or mowing lawns means toiling the rest of the year.
Many societies worldwide including the developed countries, believe in the old wives’ tales, commonly referred to as superstition.
Every October 31, many people, including Ugandans, dress up like witches to celebrate Halloween night. It is perceived as the night during which the division between the world of the living and the other world is blurred, so spirits of the dead and inhabitants from the underworld do not return to walk free on the earth.
Most pubs use scary sound effects and fog machines to create a tense atmosphere, while some even dictate the dress code — skeleton prints or vampire masks.
Till this day, some Baganda believe alzheimer’s and parkinson’s diseases (both traditionally referred to as obuko) are the consequences of intimacy with a mother-in-law. Yet, scientists say ahlzeimer’s might come with old age and high blood pressure.
But the fear has lived on so much so that thousands of men cannot dare look their mothers-in-law straight in the eye.
Many people have taken a step further and have blacklisted the number 13.
Putting aside Friday 13, which is widely considered a day of bad omen, Mulago Hospital has no Ward 13. Even with wards 11, 12, 14 and 15, one wonders why ward 23 was skipped?
Even in many hotels, some guests refuse to sleep in a room if it has the number 13.
An employee in one of the hotels in Kampala says they do not have Room 13 for fear of losing out on their customers.
“For a Ugandan, fear of the number 13 is misplaced. Europeans fear 13 because to them, it signifies the devil, death or the end.
The oldest English calendars had 13 months and the last was, especially unfavourable because it fell at the very worst of winter, when all crops had died and people could not get out of the houses due to the bad weather.
They thought that this was a time when only witches could go out to wreak havoc, thus the association of 13 with evil,†explains Roger Mugisha, a born-again Christian.
Screaming and popping fireworks at the stroke of midnight was originally a Chinese custom. The Chinese believed that fire and noise chased away the devil, thus ensuring a prosperous New Year.
But while many people dread 13, the Chinese want nothing to do with the number four because it sounds like their vernacular term for death.
At many casinos, regular gamblers do not take four chips, yet they cost only sh10,000. Many, instead, pay for eight chips which cost sh40,000 because eight is believed to bring good luck. The idea emanated from the Chinese who are famous for playing cards.
“People turn to superstition when they are faced with situations that are beyond their control,†says Meddie Kajuma Mayanja, a clinical psychologist.
Several superstitious gamblers stake their money, hoping they will hit the jackpot. But how can one be certain of his chances?
According to Mugisha, several gamblers blow on their cards as they shuffle them. They believe their breath passes on their desires to the cards, increasing their chances of winning.
A regular gambler will instantly back off the table if the casino employee spreads out the cards with the left hand. To them, this spoils one’s luck.
An employee of a hospital in Kampala, says: “It is compulsory for a person to share chicken with his family upon buying a new car.
This is believed to keep the car in good mechanical condition and save the driver from fatal road accidents.â€
Death generates so much superstition that some drivers put toys like doves in their new cars for good luck.
“People may not believe that toys have the power to keep away accidents. But a toy is a small price to pay, considering the threat of road accidents. So people buy them just in case they might be helpful,†says Mayanja.
Meanwhile, in some communities, people returning home after being discharged from hospital are often made to squash eggs under their feet in the name of banishing the illness.
The egg-squashing ritual is also obligatory for some ex-convicts returning home from jail.
Superstition is so wide-spread that some tourist sites do not allow women inside. Sylvia Kalembe, the senior information officer of Tourism Uganda, says she and several other female colleagues were barred from hanging out at the famous Mussambwa Island, a sanctuary in Rakai district. According to the residents, the island ‘hates’ women.
And since the grasslands are swarming with snakes, no one dares question the old wives’ tale.
COMMON SUPERSTITIONs
Prof. Livingstone Walusimbi of Makerere University gives superstitions that have existed for 70 years.
If your palm itches, it is a sign that you are about to get money.
If you leave the house and immediately return to pick up something you forgot, you will have bad luck the entire day.
Writing a letter in red ink spells bad luck.
A screeching owl echoes death.
Cutting nails at night is a taboo.
NEW Year celebrations evoke superstition. Even the most educated try to begin the year on a good note because many believe it determines how you will fare throughout the year.
A few people would dare to borrow or lend money on January 1. To some people, crying on New Year’s is a curse, while to others, doing laundry or mowing lawns means toiling the rest of the year.
Many societies worldwide including the developed countries, believe in the old wives’ tales, commonly referred to as superstition.
Every October 31, many people, including Ugandans, dress up like witches to celebrate Halloween night. It is perceived as the night during which the division between the world of the living and the other world is blurred, so spirits of the dead and inhabitants from the underworld do not return to walk free on the earth.
Most pubs use scary sound effects and fog machines to create a tense atmosphere, while some even dictate the dress code — skeleton prints or vampire masks.
Till this day, some Baganda believe alzheimer’s and parkinson’s diseases (both traditionally referred to as obuko) are the consequences of intimacy with a mother-in-law. Yet, scientists say ahlzeimer’s might come with old age and high blood pressure.
But the fear has lived on so much so that thousands of men cannot dare look their mothers-in-law straight in the eye.
Many people have taken a step further and have blacklisted the number 13.
Putting aside Friday 13, which is widely considered a day of bad omen, Mulago Hospital has no Ward 13. Even with wards 11, 12, 14 and 15, one wonders why ward 23 was skipped?
Even in many hotels, some guests refuse to sleep in a room if it has the number 13.
An employee in one of the hotels in Kampala says they do not have Room 13 for fear of losing out on their customers.
“For a Ugandan, fear of the number 13 is misplaced. Europeans fear 13 because to them, it signifies the devil, death or the end.
The oldest English calendars had 13 months and the last was, especially unfavourable because it fell at the very worst of winter, when all crops had died and people could not get out of the houses due to the bad weather.
They thought that this was a time when only witches could go out to wreak havoc, thus the association of 13 with evil,†explains Roger Mugisha, a born-again Christian.
Screaming and popping fireworks at the stroke of midnight was originally a Chinese custom. The Chinese believed that fire and noise chased away the devil, thus ensuring a prosperous New Year.
But while many people dread 13, the Chinese want nothing to do with the number four because it sounds like their vernacular term for death.
At many casinos, regular gamblers do not take four chips, yet they cost only sh10,000. Many, instead, pay for eight chips which cost sh40,000 because eight is believed to bring good luck. The idea emanated from the Chinese who are famous for playing cards.
“People turn to superstition when they are faced with situations that are beyond their control,†says Meddie Kajuma Mayanja, a clinical psychologist.
Several superstitious gamblers stake their money, hoping they will hit the jackpot. But how can one be certain of his chances?
According to Mugisha, several gamblers blow on their cards as they shuffle them. They believe their breath passes on their desires to the cards, increasing their chances of winning.
A regular gambler will instantly back off the table if the casino employee spreads out the cards with the left hand. To them, this spoils one’s luck.
An employee of a hospital in Kampala, says: “It is compulsory for a person to share chicken with his family upon buying a new car.
This is believed to keep the car in good mechanical condition and save the driver from fatal road accidents.â€
Death generates so much superstition that some drivers put toys like doves in their new cars for good luck.
“People may not believe that toys have the power to keep away accidents. But a toy is a small price to pay, considering the threat of road accidents. So people buy them just in case they might be helpful,†says Mayanja.
Meanwhile, in some communities, people returning home after being discharged from hospital are often made to squash eggs under their feet in the name of banishing the illness.
The egg-squashing ritual is also obligatory for some ex-convicts returning home from jail.
Superstition is so wide-spread that some tourist sites do not allow women inside. Sylvia Kalembe, the senior information officer of Tourism Uganda, says she and several other female colleagues were barred from hanging out at the famous Mussambwa Island, a sanctuary in Rakai district. According to the residents, the island ‘hates’ women.
And since the grasslands are swarming with snakes, no one dares question the old wives’ tale.
COMMON SUPERSTITIONs
Prof. Livingstone Walusimbi of Makerere University gives superstitions that have existed for 70 years.
If your palm itches, it is a sign that you are about to get money.
If you leave the house and immediately return to pick up something you forgot, you will have bad luck the entire day.
Writing a letter in red ink spells bad luck.
A screeching owl echoes death.
Cutting nails at night is a taboo.