Sasabonsam

[KeyserXSoze]

“In Ghana, beliefs about forests include the belief that they are the home of dwarfs, and the domain of the mythical Sasabonsam – a legendary figure responsible for all the woes of mankind and to which mishaps and everything evil are attributable” (Source: Abbiw 1990).

According to the Ashanti people, "...the hairy Sasabonsam has large blood-shot eyes, long legs, and feet pointing both ways. Its favourite trick is to sit on the high branches of a tree and dangle its legs so as to entangle the unwary hunter."(Source: A Dictionary of World Mythology.)

The main mention I found on the net is at this site -www.fortunecity.com/roswell/siren/552/af_sasabonsam.html.(Boy, it would be great if the pictures ever showed up!)

I’ve been looking into the subject and I have found there are a few different stories. Some make it sound like a real creature and others make it sound like a mythical demon. It’s interesting that the tales about it travelled over to Jamaica. Real or imaginary, it seems Sasabonsam evokes very real fear, as this site shows http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/ppj/ppj007.htm.

Has anyone heard anything else about this? Is the devil going to get you? What do you guys think?

 

[Anonymous]

There's a thread on a similarly dangerous African supernatural being here . There seem to be a lot of stories of suprnatural beings in Africa and countries with large African emigrant populations being reported just now, from vampires to that weird dwarf/bat thing. I suspect the fit into a theological/animist worldview;

BTW, that Sacred Texts site you quoted from has the 'Book of the Damned' and 'New Lands' online. I'm going to have a look through them both.

 

[KeyserXSoze]

Thanx

Perhaps the oral/story telling traditions have lasted longer in some parts of Africa (I know this is something the author Chinua Achebe has talked about), so the stories have too - and travelled with the population & its now seen as okay to talk about these things openly where in the past they would have kept more quiet.

It is easy to disappear into the sacred text site for hours and hours!