Boli

The Boli is built on a base of wood, bamboo or a piece of horn, covered with a mixture of active materials and plant substances such as leaves and bark, minerals such as earth and clay, or organic substances such as blood, nails, horn, hair, teeth and even human blood. The three realms of nature are present in it: animal, vegetable and mineral. The fetish practitioner activates the Boli with sacrificial blood. The blood of sacrifices and libations gives it its crusted patina. Feared for its extraordinary powers, this fetish is central to Kono rites. Duly consecrated and charged with power, the Boli captures the forces of nyama, the spiritual principle animating all things. This human-made object is indefinable, halfway between being, thing and deity. The Boli gains strength with the passing years and new libations. Immediate, precise results are expected of it. It is used for protection against evil spirits and the evil eye, to heal illness, assist childbirth, predict the future, obtain a favour or a job, bring rain, and also for aggressive purposes, such as wounding an enemy or causing death. It is the Bambara’s most important sacred object and may not be seen by the uninitiated. Charged with extraordinary energy, it can fight all visible and invisible forces. It can serve as a protective object or a weapon and must be handled with extreme caution by a specialist, as it could cause irreparable harm. It is kept in a sanctuary away from the village.

In fact, all Bambara fetishes are Boli, although this fetish of indeterminate animal form, used in the Kono, seems to have appropriated the term. The principal Boli of the Kono cult, which is large in size, is the Watiriwa.