{{Short description|West African spiritual belief system}} {{Other uses|Juju (disambiguation)}} {{Traditional African religion}} '''Juju''' (also styled or romanized as '''''ju-ju''''') is a spiritual belief system and group of associated practices incorporating the use of ritual objects, such as amulets and spells, affiliated with religious observances in central West Africa, namely by the people of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Cameroon and Ghana.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |last1=Cbango |first1=Ibo |title=Juju |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/juju-magic |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thenationonlineng.net/nigeria-under-the-spell-of-juju/|location=Lagos, Nigeria|title=Nigeria under the spell of juju|date=2020-01-13|newspaper=The Nation|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-05}}</ref> The term has been applied to traditional Western African religions,<ref>{{cite book |last=Mockler-Ferryman |first=Augustus |author-link=Augustus Mockler-Ferryman |chapter=Religion and Missionaries |title=Imperial Africa: The Rise, Progress and Future of the British Possessions in Africa |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMohAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA392 |year=1898 |publisher=Imperial Press |page=392}}</ref> which incorporated the use of objects such as amulets, and spells into spiritual practices.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=de Cardi |first=C. N. |date=1899 |title=Ju-Ju Laws and Customs in the Niger Delta |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=29 |issue=1/2 |pages=51–64 |doi=10.2307/2842576 |jstor=2842576 |issn=0959-5295|doi-access=free }}</ref> In a general sense, the term "juju" can be used to refer to magical properties dealing with luck, whether good or bad.<ref name="afcarib">{{cite book |title=Afro-Caribbean Religions: An Introduction to Their Historical, Cultural, and Sacred Traditions |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9h5KDRfZ-JgC&q=convince+jamaica&pg=PA374 |isbn=9781439901755 }}</ref> The name is also associated with the music genre, '''Jùjú''' as well as a slang term for the energy of something or someone.
== Etymology == The term ''juju'' is has origins in the Hausa language where it means "evil spirit."<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kraft |first=Scott |date=1987-09-22 |title=Resurgence of Juju : Modern-Day Africa Turns to Old Magic |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-22-mn-9515-story.html |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Some believe it is derived from the French word ''joujou'', which means "plaything."<ref name=":2" />
==History== [[File:Jujuh-house, or place of worship ILN-1850-0622-0004.jpg|thumb|An 1850 illustration of a "Jujuh house" on the Bight of Benin showing fetishised skulls and bones]] thumb|275px|An 1873 Victorian illustration of a "Ju-ju house" in the same location
The belief system is recorded by Sir James George Frazer in ''Folk-Lore'' (Vol. XXVI), under the title, "A Priest-King in Nigeria",<ref>https://ia600708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/28/items/crossref-pre-1923-scholarly-works/10.1080%252F0015587x.1914.9718830.zip&file=10.1080%252F0015587x.1915.9719703.pdf{{Dead link | date=January 2026 | fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> from a communication received from Mr. P. A. Talbot, District Commissioner in S. Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Folk-Lore/Volume 26/A Priest King in Nigeria - Wikisource, the free online library |url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Folk-Lore/Volume_26/A_Priest_King_in_Nigeria |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=en.wikisource.org |language=en}}</ref> Talbot states that the dominant Ju-Ju of Elele, a town in the northwest of the Degema district, is a Priest-King, elected for a term of seven years. "The whole prosperity of the town, especially the fruitfulness of farm, byre, and marriage-bed, was linked with his life. Should he fall sick, therefore, it entailed famine and grave disaster upon the inhabitants ..."<ref>{{Cite web | title=From Ritual to Romance | author=Jessie L. Weston | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4090/pg4090-images.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=TALBOT|first=P. AMAURY|title=Some Foreign Influences on Nigeria|date=April 1925|journal=African Affairs|volume=XXIV|issue=XCV|pages=178–201|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a100130|issn=1468-2621}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Talbot |first=P. A. |date=1915-03-31 |title=A Priest King in Nigeria. |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.1915.9719703 |journal=Folklore |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=79–81 |doi=10.1080/0015587X.1915.9719703 |issn=0015-587X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Le Comte C. N. de Cardi documented its practice amongst the Igbos, Ibibios, and Yoruba peoples of the Niger Delta in an 1899 article,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Cardi |first=C. N. |date=1899 |title=Ju-Ju Laws and Customs in the Niger Delta |url=https://ia600708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/22/items/crossref-pre-1909-scholarly-works/10.2307%252F2841975.zip&file=10.2307%252F2842576.pdf |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=29 |pages=51–64 |via=Archive.org / JSTOR}}</ref> and Alan Maxwell Boisragon in a book of 1897.<ref name=":1" />
==Practices== Juju is a folk magic in West Africa; within juju, a variety of concepts exist. Juju charms and spells can be used to inflict either bad or good juju. A "juju man" is any man vetted by local traditions and well versed in traditional spiritual medicines.<ref name="jujuman">{{cite journal |title=The West African Juju Man and the Tools of his Trade |journal=The International Journal of Crude Drug Research |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=97–120 |doi=10.3109/13880208309070623 |year=1983 |last1=Bever |first1=Bep Oliver }}</ref> The word ''Juju'' is used in the West African Diaspora to describe all forms of charms made in African Diaspora Religions and African Traditional Religions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hazzard-Donald |title=Mojo Workin' The Old African American Hoodoo System |date=30 December 2012 |page=207 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252094460 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FL05AUXiW18C&q=Juju}}</ref>
According to some authors, "It is neither good nor bad, but it may be used for constructive purposes as well as for nefarious deeds."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cbanga |first1=Ibo |title=Juju |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/juju-magic |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref> It is most commonly used for treating both physical and spiritual ailments. For example, when used with positive intentions, it can be used for healing insect and animal bites as well as counteracting and neutralizing curses. Juju is sometimes used to enforce a contract or ensure compliance. In a typical scenario, the witch doctor casting the spell requires payment for this service.<ref name=alj>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/08/201189141348631784.html|title=People & Power - The Nigerian Connection|work=Al Jazeera|date=11 June 2012}}</ref>
When used negatively, Juju can be used to enact revenge, out of jealousy and cause misfortune in general. It can be done as simply as sending a vessel of any kind infused with negative energy to the intended person. Crimes have been committed (human trafficking being the most extreme and prominent example) while utilizing the practice. 19th century venturers, and merchants of the Niger Delta and Benin documented and published accounts of:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Boisragon |first=Alan Maxwell |url=http://archive.org/details/beninmassacre00bois |title=The Benin massacre |date=1897 |publisher=London : Methuen |others=Smithsonian Libraries}}</ref> * Animal sacrifice * Cannibalism * Curses * Female genital mutilation * Human Sacrifice, including: ** Albino sacrifice ** Judicial Sacrifice ** Slave Sacrifice ** Twin Sacrifice ** Widow Sacrifice
These practices persist to the present.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peachey |first=Paul |date=2021-10-09 |title=How the riddle of 'Adam' turned the tide against African 'juju' trafficking gangs |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2021/10/09/how-the-riddle-of-adam-turned-the-tide-against-african-juju-trafficking-gangs/ |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-28 |title=Ending albino persecution in Africa |url=https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2017-march-2018/ending-albino-persecution-africa |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=Africa Renewal |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * Abwoi religion * Mana * Ogboni
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Traditional African religions Category:Amulets Category:Incantation Category:African witchcraft Category:Magic (supernatural)