Bori—The Spirits and their Powers

We have seen that each person has a familiar bori of the same sex, and generally one also of the opposite sex, in constant attendance, and here and there mention has been made of other spirits, quite independent of human beings, and often working harm to them. They are ready for their human victim before his birth, and will be certain to get him in the end; their ban cannot be avoided, for, to the Hausa mind, the world is full of these spirits also called bori, which word is really the singular, but the plural form, boruruka, is hardly ever used. Whereas the personal bori have but the one name, however, these independent spirits are sometimes called aljannu (sing, aljan, from the Arabic for jinn), iblisai (sing, iblis, devil), or iskoki (sing, iska, also a wind), ¹ and the words are important, as to some extent they indicate the origin of the belief. These beings have some substance, for a charm for childbirth can be made from an aljan’s head—though only a madman would think of trying to procure such a thing, as it would mean certain death. They are everywhere, and a man must be exceedingly careful in everything which he does, lest he offend or injure some bori or other. Many of them are not evil unless offended, however, and by worshipping certain powerful members of the spirit community, the Hausa can keep himself fairly secure, though even then any careless act, such as throwing away hot water or the embers of a fire, may bring him into trouble, for the hot substance may fall upon a bori, and he or she will naturally be annoyed at being burnt. Everyone has his or her own familiar and sexual bori, as has been mentioned in Chapter X., but we must now proceed to inquire into these spirits which have no direct connexion with human beings.