The Catastrophe of Khuoth Amagak among Greater Upper Nile communities (Part 4)
By David Matiop Gai, Juba, South Sudan
February 7, 2017 (SSB) — As you followed the other parts of this article, this part four is all about the ways people get curses from the evil spirits forces. Man believes in things made by handcrafts, and the thought was either in village or in town, one may become the most powerful, foreseeing, and proclaims the unseen events to happen. The causes of curse among South Sudanese in generals, and the consequences of elimination of lives were far rooted in witchcrafts. It was believed that bad wishes do occurred in several ways. The curses came as a result of shams, and worshipping of idols.
You may heard South Sudanese named themselves after Christian naming, but believers of those days were church goers, even until today, issues of salvation, born again, sanctification, justification, forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross are all seen less- to be believe among South Sudanese Churches because the Church had made itself as a traditional church routine whereby people share witchcrafts and church spiritualties together outside and inside the church, and there is no problem.
Sorceries practices deceived people on the bases of their own consumptions, and also people seek witchcrafts for bad practices, and self-interest. Others bring human curse homes in unintended manner, but the result may kill later on while the entire family members are in trouble. Satan, devil and evil things are not for free, it always needs blood for sacrifices.
Since Anya-nya one, people built up themselves with evil forces for self-protection. Others believed they had been cooked alive with boiled water mixed with witchcrafts, and magic and the goal were to fight in a war while standing and not to die. For a while, they did so, and they were not hurt at the very beginning, but at last they died with a natural death, but it came abruptly as a severe death because there is nothing free for the devil.
Therefore, during the first Sudanese civil war, second Sudanese civil war, and the third Sudanese civil wars, many people brought evil practices or witchcrafts for protection when people go for assaults and believes of self-confident in the war, but to make it clear and storable, James Wuahu, South Sudanese former witchdoctor made a serious campaigning over many FM’s radios for special discoveries he said he had issued to army generals, soldiers, and individuals after he repented his sins, and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, freed himself for whatever he had done. He warned his former customers that anybody who receives witchcrafts from him should burn it immediately because he is no longer witchdoctor practitioner again.
Please don’t be confuse with the topic above, am still explaining ways people get cults and curses. Before and after South Sudan got independence in 2011, Juba city was full of cult’s practices, and occults, and curses were not far away to be causes of our crisis. Believing me or not, all sorceries in Africa were in Juba practicing their bad wishes against people of South Sudan in form of what they want or money.
In every morning by that time, when you go to Konyo-Konyo, or Custom, Jebel market, Gudele, or Juba town, you can see witchcrafts papers designed and being circulated in buses and along the way, and if you ask the ushers of these evil practices, they may telling you, “you will become rich, your private parts will be larger, your wife or husband will not leave you, or love you, evil forces for love, evil activities for divorce, and confusion was too high among polygamy families where hatred is manipulated.
One day I was given this witchcraft paper, I asked him, is it for what? And he told me, “you will be a rich man”, and I told him, man, I am a psychologist and a theologian, I said look, all men are self-centred, and if you and your boss makes people rich, why don’t you make yourself rich first so that we see your riches and then run after you to become rich too? And the man disappeared from me. Ok, where are they now these days when the South Sudan economic crisis is in comma?
For sure they have confuses us and ran away. So our nation was made home of free worship, and freedom square of worshipping idols. Others took cults and curses when they received demonic powers to get good jobs, and to remain in offices for a long time. Some men and women received curses through witchcrafts which they receive for accumulation of wealth or become rich.
How can we receive a curse? Tongue possessed curse, bring death and destroy life in human history. A curse is an evil force spoken word against people or person or groups of people for a specific purpose. It is also verbal pronouncements that call upon punishment on person, place, or thing. A curse sometimes is a spiritual energy where human beings who have special power exercise it over others.
In the Bible, the first animal cursed in Genesis was a serpent. (Gen 3:14), you are cursed more than all cattle” When eve and Adam disobeyed God; grounded was cursed: cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life,” (Gen 3:17). Cain was cursed: “So you are now cursed from the earth”, (Gen 4:11).
- We can receive curse through spoken words which are also spoken to us. Rom 3:13-14, “Their throats are open graves, their tongue produce deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips; their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
- We can receive curse through self-brought curse. Deut 27: 16, “Curse is the man who carves an image or casts an idol, a thing detestable to the Lord , the work of the craftsman’s hand and sets it up in secret”
- We can receive curse when we mistreat the weak and homeless. Deuteronomy 27:18-19.
- We can receive curse if we shedding innocent blood for a reward. Deuteronomy27:25.
The effects and impacts of curse can be on people, land, and animals.
- Sickness, severe diseases outbreak strikes on people, land, and animals. Peace expelled out from the land and people’ hearts. Deuteronomy 28:21-26.
- Effects, punishments, troubles in family relationship, and problem of social contacts diminish in the land Deuteronomy 28:17-20.
- Whatever we do, and everything we do, goes wrong because there is no blessing in it, or from it. Deuteronomy 28:25.
At this juncture, historically, culturally, or spiritually, Khuoth de Amagak was popular spoken word uttered by Anya-nya one veteran in 1980s, and was known to everyone. The action of this spoken word is seen all over masses in Upper Nile communities, and South Sudan in general. It is now a days when spiritual problems are not identifying and handle properly.
Curses in lives of humanity are proclaims, pronounce, impose, and energized upon people at different levels. Drinking from the well of curse, the curse flow like flood into blessed areas and turns sweetest water into bitterness water. Therefore, the sweetest water in Greater Upper Nile communities is completely bitterness water; but its need spiritual solutions. The next last part will be solution, and way forward for such curse.
The author is a co-founder of South Sudan Mental Health care Organization, (SSMHCO). He holds Bachelor degree in Social Work and Social Administration from SSCUST, Bachelor of Theology from CLT, Bungoma, Kenya/Kalispell, USA, and a fellow researcher. He can be reach at david.matiopgai@gmail.com
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