Fetishes

The first magical figures brought from Africa by the Portuguese were called “fetishes”, a word derived from “feitço” meaning “fiction, false, artificial”. This term has ended up being imposed and applied to all those pieces that are the object of worship or to which they are attributed a magical power, granted, apparently, by plant, animal or mineral substances introduced into oquities of the figure and mainly in the womb, source and seat of the life force and by the enchantments performed by the soothsayer, priest or sorcerer. The fetish is originally an object of fictitious powers. Its use, both of the term and of the object, has conferred upon it a wide range of powers ranging from simple amulet or talisman to exclusively divine powers. The fetish has no strength by itself, it is only the material support that man has fixed in it by rites and substances. The fetish embodies a mixture of magic, superstition and religiosity. Many populations native to West Africa call it juju. The variety of fetishes in Africa is great, as many ethnic groups are. Normally represented by anthropomorphic figures and, although less numerous, zoomorphs. Some of these figures, of a terrifying appearance, are crossed by nails, knives or pieces of iron and others, adorned with horns, shells, skins, amulets release a halo of mystery. These figures are used to obtain personal protection from the family and peoples, to remove evil spirits from the village, to attract rain, to remove diseases, to achieve healing or as a therapeutic remedy, among many other purposes. It is not necessary to confuse fetishes with statues representing ancestors, geniuses of nature or who are objects of worship or employed in healings and divinatory practices. Only those figures destined for black magic, sorcery or evil are true fetishes. And even less to confuse fetishism with animism.