Fetish Market - Dakar Senegal
Me and My Gris Gris
Time for another adventure in Dakar with Dorothy and Wendy - ladies I met through the Dakar Woman's Group. Be warned - some photos may be not so appealing to view but now that I've said that you can be ready for something different but a reality of what is part of the peoples lives her
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| Dorothy making a purchase - (photo by Wendy ) Wendy inspecting the goods |
Dorothy - a fellow Californian (southern half) - is another kindred traveler here for a year on her own self imposed sabbatical and with no car too! Sold her house years ago and before coming here vacated her last apartment and put everything in storage. What led her here (besides some Senegalese friends she does have here) she went trekking on her own in Spain (her kids are grown and she's on her own!) along the El Camino de Santiago when she came across a restaurant called "Dakar" while on her path. That was the only message she needed.
Now, when I think of Wendy (our Rick Steves of Dakar) I think of "Windy" the song which came to mind and the following chorus
Who's tripping down the streets of the city
Smiling at everybody she sees
Who's reaching out to capture a moment
Everyone knows it's Windy
Windy/Wendy - so it's not exact but what does it matter. What matters is we're going to the "Gris Gris" market and Wendy's our guide. This market I come to find out is on a stretch of Avenue Blaise Diagne that I pass every Friday when I'm on the bus to head to La Pouponnière. While I thought nothing of it from the bus - not knowing what was being sold - trust me now - I am well aware of it's existence without question!!
What is "gris-gris" - it's an amulet or charm that is worn around a persons waist, neck, arms or legs.
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| Gris Gris Maker |
Many of the vendors in their stalls will make them and they can be a combination of leather or perhaps snake skin and in the pouch may contain powders from various sources or a verse from the Koran and you use them for protection, to ward off evil or even put a curse on someone.
When you look down the street you see little stall after stall. Each seller - that I recall as only being men - demarcated by an umbrella and a dropcloth of sorts with all his goods - amulets, sacs of powders, leaves, roots, shells and what I would describe as other "good and plenty" which I will get to in a minute.
Each vendor displays sacs of various powders and unfortunately I was not able to communicate in this instance to understand what each powder was or what it might offer in terms of healing, but we could identify a few on our own - the mica chips (blue sac in the foreground)
dung of some sort in the middle yellow sac cowerie shells (on the left) and other helpful accessories (in the middle) and yes those packets are just next to a small bowl of birds heads (on the upper right)...so this is now getting you ready for everything else dead and identifiable that we observed - from small either alligator or crocodile heads, bird beaks, various horns, tails, claws, porcupine quills, the skins of many animals, feathers, and a variety of hooves.
Now I know it may be hard to take - but that bag has a head in it of a monkey.
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Me and My Gri Gri (in my hand)
Photo by Wendy |
Despite my feelings and they are mixed about what I saw - since I have no way of knowing how any of these items are obtained and in what capacity the animal was in prior to arriving at the market - I really can't judge - nor do I want to - I'm in a country of a different culture - and with exuberance to observe and learn and be open - so who's to say what is 'right' or 'wrong' - the fact is - it just *is* and the truth is I could not (and did not want to) leave the market myself without a little protection.
Guest Blogger H.G. "A Year in Dakar" Along with her Husband and twin sons moved to Dakar Senegal for a year. She gives a lot of practical advise about moving and living in Senegal from a Americans point of view. They didn't just stay in the expat bubble. While H.G. and her husband did voluntary work...the boys went to a local school. Best of all the family explored Senegal. The blog documents their travels to Saint Louis, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary, Guembeul Nature Reserve and the Accro-Baobab Park are just a few of the places visited.
