Welcome to a journey into the heart of South African folklore, where we encounter the Tokoloshe, also spelt as Tokolshi, a dangerous and mischievous spirit. The stories of the Tokoloshe are told across South Africa and are incredibly varied and diverse, originating primarily among Zulu and Xhosa communities.
Distribution of ethnic groups in South Africa.
Origins and Appearance
A simple explanation is that the Tokoloshe are violent spirits created through magic. Normally, they are described as being short, goblin-like beings covered in hair, and in some stories have been described as having large ears and/or a tail. The Tokoloshe is a dwarf-like, shriveled and hairy figure.
The Dual Nature of the Tokoloshe
The Tokoloshe are normally seen as some form of malevolent force with stories of them ranging from playing pranks and petty theft, to sexual assault and murder. This range of depictions is also represented in popular culture - they are jokes in the music of South African musicians like Die Antwoord but are also the evil spirits tormenting a child in the 2018 film The Tokoloshe. There is this discrepancy for two main reasons.
The first, tales evolve over time. Part of the reason why there are so many variations is that different stories emerge in relation to what time they exist. The second, each community has their own version of the Tokoloshe. This is not unique to the Tokoloshe and South African belief - this is a trend which we see across the world in virtually every belief system. In some communities they are pranksters, others they are murderers, some refuse to harm children, others go out of their way to hurt children.
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An artistic representation of a Tokoloshe.
The Creation of a Tokoloshe
Doctor Emily Zarka interviewed Sangoma Mzuvukile Ncedani to understand the origins of a Tokoloshe. As expected, someone can only create a Tokoloshe by magic, and this means either a sangoma or witch. Sangomas are healers so they are generally not the ones creating a Tokoloshe, so witches are normally to blame - in this case, a witch is someone who uses magic to harm others. Sangoma Mzuvukile even told Zarka that he has no idea how one is made because he is not a witch.
This doesn’t entirely rule out sangomas from creating Tokoloshe - they could potentially use one to attack a rival or protect their community. However, quite a few communities have stories which has a bad consequence for creating a Tokoloshe. For example, some stories says that someone whose magic was more powerful than the Tokoloshe’s master can take control of the spirit and use it against them. Other stories require a soul for a soul. For the Tokoloshe to be brought to life the witch has to promise the soul of a loved one.
One day, possibly years later, the Tokoloshe would take the soul of the summoner’s loved one. There are so many stories on how a Tokoloshe is made. Magic being done on a corpse, magic transforming a domestic animal, a witch’s familiar being transformed, a doll specifically made to become a Tokoloshe, body-parts sewn together to form a host, and even someone attacked by a Tokoloshe are all origins of the spirit.
One thing they have in common is a hot poker being used to burn out the eyes of the being, and through the skull to destroy the brain. The Tokoloshe can then be used to wreck havoc, revenge, and murder. The power which the Tokoloshe then uses to torment its victims is obtained from a hot poker thrust into its head by the shaman during its creation.
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The Actions of the Tokoloshe
As mentioned earlier, the actions of the Tokoloshe range from playing pranks to outright murder. In the 1930s a man killed his 9-year old nephew on the belief that he was a Tokoloshe, which inspired the 1999 movie A Reasonable Man, and in 1953 serial killer Elifasi Msomi would kill the first of his 15 victims. Msomi claimed that the reason why he killed, and sometimes raped and dismembered, his victims was due to his possession by a Tokoloshe.
They survive by feeding off of the negative energy and despair of their victims - the more despair produced the more powerful they can become. Tokoloshes are said to be created by South African shamans to be set upon someone as punishment/revenge for a slight perceived by the shaman.
Tokoloshe exhibit a range of distinctive physical traits that set them apart from other mythical beings. These traits include the ability to achieve invisibility by either drinking water or swallowing a stone. With sharp teeth and claws, Tokoloshe employ these appendages as formidable tools for attacking their victims. Additionally, their long hair serves to obscure their eyes and ears, adding to their mysterious and unsettling appearance. Further, Tokoloshe possess a tail, which serves the dual purpose of providing balance and being employed as a means to whip others.
Protection Against the Tokoloshe
There are simple ways in which the Tokoloshe’s impact can be limited. For one, they are bad climbers so placing your bed on bricks can be a simple way from them from directly attacking you. Journalist Phumlani Langa said that one of his earliest memories dealing with Tokoloshe when a relative placed bricks under their bed. Tokoloshes are believed to bite off sleeping peoples' toes; one can protect themselves against the Tokoloshe at night by placing a brick underneath each leg of the victim's bed.
This will protect them and the bed, but the Tokoloshe may still cause trouble to those around the victim. However, that doesn’t stop the Tokoloshe from terrorising the rest of the house, and it’s not out of the question that they can throw at a sleeping person. Different communities have a variety of ways in order to permanently stop a Tokoloshe. What they have in common was a blessing and purification from a priest, sangoma, or both.
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The Daily Sun paper has their own personal sangoma, Dudlamanzi Joseph Msimbini, due to the paper’s regular printing of Tokoloshe articles. Sangoma Msimbini does also offer a rather wholesome way how to fight a Tokoloshe without the aid of a sangoma or priest - surround yourself with positive people who support and care for you.
Traditional magic and superstition have always constituted an important part of Southern African folklore and culture, in which the Tokoloshe appears frequently. Belief in the Tokoloshe is widespread and whenever something goes wrong, it is not uncommon to blame this creature.
One way to keep the Tokoloshe at bay is to put bricks beneath the legs of one’s bed. This will you put you out of reach, and hopefully out of harm’s way, of the Tokoloshe. The client - usually a jealous person - will approach an evil witch doctor to take vengeance on someone. The client has to promise the soul of a loved one, but cannot choose who, as the tokoloshe will choose the soul it decides to take.
The witch doctor locates a dead body to be possessed, piercing the eye sockets and brain with a hot iron rod so that it cannot think for itself, and sprinkling it with a special powder, shrinking the body.
A sangoma performing a ritual.
The Tokoloshe in Modern Culture
Not all stories of the Tokoloshe are serious, and the tabloid Daily Sun has contributed a fair share of scaremongering stories about them - such as the ‘Twerking Tokoloshe’. The most serious stories revolve around murder and sexual assault - many of them describe the Tokoloshe as having large penises. It is no coincidence that these stories are especially prevalent in cities.
Cultures across the world have always expressed fear of urban areas and its possible corrupting nature. Fear of sexuality and sexual freedom of the anonymous city has regularly led to supernatural sexual attackers - ranging from Spring Heeled Jack of London to the wazimamoto of Nairobi. Even the ‘Twerking Tokoloshe’ came about when twerking became popular globally - women expressing their own identity suddenly had a Tokoloshe imitating it.
Emily Zarka has also discussed how the Tokoloshe became a scapegoat for people. Several children in the early-1990s showed signs of abuse which their guardians claimed were thanks to a Tokoloshe. However, it became widely believed that they used this as a way to hide their own abuse of the children - they could send the children to hospital without instantly being convicted for abuse.
Stories of Tokoloshe even express white anxiety over African agency. Stories emerged in the 1950s saying church congregations were disrupted by Tokoloshe. At this time there were movements against Apartheid, so an ‘African’ spirit disrupting ‘white’ Christianity reflected wider fears of the movement against Apartheid. Similarly, Cuthbert Tagwirei has written an interesting article on the novel The Cry of the Go-away Bird which features a white child seeing spirits, including Tokoloshe, during the farm seizures in Zimbabwe.
Tagwirei shows that spirits like the Tokoloshe are used to portray an unforgiving, vengeful and violent Africa against the loving Christianity. A spirit born through magic which torments and persecutes those it is summoned against.
The Tokoloshe continues to exert its influence on modern-day culture and society, maintaining a significant presence in African folklore. It serves as a cautionary figure, woven into tales that admonish children to exhibit proper behavior and steer clear of perilous situations. This enduring relevance underscores the cultural importance of the Tokoloshe, emphasizing the lasting impact it has had on African communities.
The creature stands as a testament to the richness of folklore and mythology across the continent, playing a vital role in shaping cultural identity and fostering a deeper understanding of ancestral narratives. Beyond the realms of visual storytelling, Tokoloshes find themselves in various artistic expressions, becoming subjects in art, music, and literature. John Kongos, for instance, contributed to the creature’s cultural presence by releasing a hit song titled “Tokoloshe Man” in 1972, a piece later covered by Happy Mondays.
The Tokoloshe’s influence extends into the realm of superstition and folklore, where belief systems persist in using rituals or charms associated with these entities for protection or the attraction of good luck. A notable example is the practice of placing bricks under beds at night, believed to prevent Tokoloshes from nefarious activities such as stealing souls.
We may regard the Tokoloshe as an imaginary creature from the rich and vivid African folklore, or as a creature which may have been invented to scare children; but here in Africa crimes are sometimes reported to have been committed by Tokoloshe. Many people in Africa are still reluctant to discuss the Tokoloshe as they believe that even using its name will call him to you and cause trouble.
The advent of the phantom tokoloshe came about through Bantu folklore to explain why people inexplicably died while sleeping in their rondavels at night. Traditionally, these people slept on the floor on grass mats encircling a wood fire that kept them warm during sub-freezing cold winter nights on the highveld in the rarefied air. They never realized the fire was depleting the oxygen levels, leaving noxious carbon monoxide, which is heavier than pure air and sinks to the bottom.
Eventually it was realized that anyone who happened to be sleeping in an elevated position escaped the deadly curse of the tokoloshe, which was described as a short man about hip high who randomly stole one's life in the night unless they were lifted to the height of their bed.
Tokoloshes are creatures called upon by those with magical abilities (like witches) to wreak havoc and pain in a community. One of the ways the witches are able to keep them docile is to cut the hair out of their eyes so they can see and feed it curdled milk.
If a Tokoloshe continues to terrorize a household or a community a sangoma (Zulu witch doctor) is summoned to exorcize the area and/or the home with the use muti, a kind of traditional magic practiced by the sangoma.
But why was the Tokoloshe such a promintent and terrifying creature? And why did it only attack the sleeping? Well, there might actually be a very real, terrifying reason for the creation of this creature.
Let’s back up to the sleeping arrangements quickly. As mentioned above, raised beds are an important way to combat the Tokoloshe. Traditionally, many South Africans in areas rife with Tokoloshe myths slept on grass mats encircling a warm, wood fire that would keep them warm during the bitter winter nights. However, sometimes healthy people would inexplicably be found dead come morning.
Why? Well, the Tokoloshe of course. But, there is a theory that sleeping close to the fire in their homes may have depleted the oxygen levels and filled the home with carbon dioxide. As it is heavier than pure air, it would sink to the bottom of the home where people slept. Thus, seemingly healthy people and sometimes entire families would be found dead.
A parallel was found between elevated sleepers and a lack of death so the Tokoloshe was told as a story forewarning those who slept close to the ground (and the fire). While it might not be an actual malevolent creature, what kept away a Tokoloshe would also keep away death from carbon monoxide.
Names of the Tokoloshe
Known by a myriad of names across different languages and cultures, the Tokoloshe reflects the cultural diversity and regional nuances of its mythological presence. In Southern Africa, it goes by Tikolosh and Thokolosi among Bantu-speaking communities, while the Zulu-speaking people of South Africa refer to it as Hili. In Zimbabwe, the Shona-speaking population recognizes it as Mwari or Mwari Mwari for both malevolent and benevolent water spirits.
South Africa predominantly uses the name Tikoloshe, with Tokolosh being another popular variation. Additionally, the Shona people also call it Chihura, and the Xhosa people use the name Hilihili.
Here's a table summarizing the different names of the Tokoloshe across various cultures:
| Region/Culture | Name |
|---|---|
| Southern Africa (Bantu-speaking) | Tikolosh, Thokolosi |
| Zulu (South Africa) | Hili |
| Shona (Zimbabwe) | Mwari, Mwari Mwari, Chihura |
| South Africa (General) | Tikoloshe, Tokolosh |
| Xhosa | Hilihili |
Powers and Abilities
Tokoloshe possesses an array of powers and abilities that render it a formidable entity with the potential to be either a menacing adversary or a valuable ally. Among these capabilities are the capacity to attain invisibility by either consuming water or swallowing a stone. This elusive trait makes them adept at navigating unseen, complicating efforts to detect or evade their presence.
The creature’s repertoire extends to the realm of illusions and dreams, as it can create deceptive images and manipulate the dreamscapes of unsuspecting individuals. In a more sinister aspect, Tokoloshe can inflict diseases and infections through its bites or scratches, underscoring its malevolent potential. Delving deeper into Tokoloshe’s mystical attributes, it is believed to wield a spectrum of powers, including shapeshifting. This allows the creature to alter its appearance, assuming disguises or taking on the form of animals. Despite its diminutive size, Tokoloshe boasts superhuman strength, effortlessly overpowering humans. The creature is adept at illusion casting, using its abilities to deceive and manipulate unsuspecting victims. In some accounts, Tokoloshe is believed to possess the ability to steal vital essence, extracting the life force from its victims.
Tokoloshe Explained: The Terrifying Spirit of South African Folklore
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