Submitted by Eshu - Olutọju on
An Obambou aka Obambo, Oconcou, Okamboo, is a supernatural being belonging to tribes of Central Africa. It s a demon and is depicted as as evil, possessing the power to do evil and to do good if it chooses. It has the ability to possess and cause sickness, or to want a home built for them. In some African tribes, an Obambou is referred to as a devil or as the spirit of someone who was not buried correctly. By gender, it is considered both male and female.
In West Africa it is known as the ghost of Insanity. If a dead person isn’t buried properly with all the right rites, their spirit will be unable to rest and will seek solace inside the body of a new-born child. Possession by a spirit is obviously a very bad thing and can cause a lifetime of trouble.
The Commi tribe believed that when someone is severely ill, an Obambou is a likely culprit which can be determined by a doctor or "Ogounga". The Obambou will reside in the bowels of humans until family, friends and neighbors surround the possessed person and make noise however they can.The people will sing, dance, yell, and bang things together. They do whatever makes noise to drive out the Obambou. It can also be exorcised by noise like bees in flight. The M'pongwe tribe believed that a person can be born with the spirit known as an Obambou and be born insane
Someone afflicted with an Obambou will suffer multitudes of distressing symptoms. Insanity. Weird behavior. Anti-social tendencies. Dribbling and jerking.
There are no idols or special symbols for the "devil" or powerful spirit version of the Obambou. One version states that the Obambou resides in the bush (sometimes sitting on the edge of a large pit taunting people) and in some cases was not buried properly, but eventually it gets tired of wandering and appears to a close relative, requesting that they build a house for them near their own. That night the village women are gathered to dance and sing, and next day the people visit the grave of the deceased and make an idol for them. They then erect a little hut near the house of the person the Obambou visited; then place the bier on which the deceased was carried to his grave inside the hut, as well as some of the dust from the grave. A white cloth is then draped over the door.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obambo
https://www.godchecker.com/african-mythology/OBAMBOU/
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