EXTRAORDINARY images show inside Sierra Leone’s secret societies, whose members slice their mouths and spear themselves in mysterious rituals performed in tribute to their gods.
The societies play a central role in a number of West African countries, wielding significant influence in politics, culture, and religion.
AFP or licensors Soko Bana elder Amos Nicol demonstrating a purported ability to cut himself without being harmed[/caption]
AFP or licensors Chief Baykuh, a traditional healer from the village of Magbumoh, in his shrine mixing herbs to create potions[/caption]
AFP or licensors Members of one society being led by a so-called Black Devil before a ritual[/caption]
AFP or licensors Nicol calling for help from the gods before starting a performance[/caption]
The societies typically serve as governing bodies for local populations, making laws and deciding on matters of war and peace.
They meet at different points of the year to perform ceremonies at which masks representing benign and malevolent spirits from the spirit world are worn.
The Poro, the largest and most influential society, is thought to have been established by migrants to the region as early as 1000 AD.
It has associated branches in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast, as does its female counterpart, the Sande society.
Society elders perform ceremonies intended to allow them to communicate with the spirit world, rid members of curses, and pay tribute to their gods.
They also perform purported feats of physical endurace – including stabbing themselves in the stomach and slicing their mouths – believing that they will be protected and healed by their gods.
AFP or licensors A member with a knife protruding from his stomach after a ritual. The broom in his hands is used to channel ‘healing power’ from the spiritual gods[/caption]
AFP or licensors Members Hassan Kamara and Pa Yamba Soko ‘communicate with the spirit realm’ before performing a ceremony[/caption]
AFP or licensors Healer Sampa Koromba performs a healing ceremony on a sick child in the village of Matru[/caption]
AFP or licensors Alie Koroma, the chief security head of the Matru Poro society, guards the forest where the soceity’s initiation ceremonies take place[/caption]
Initiation can see young boys sliced on the back to leave marks representing the teeth of a spirit and young girls undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).
The practices are the subject of a growing controversy in Sierra Leone, where the wife of the president was recently forced to qualify remarks made in support of FGM.
The involvement of societies in a string of kidnappings and deaths also forced the government at one point to ban them, and minors are no longer allowed to undergo rituals without their consent.
The government has been forced to perform a balancing act when addressing concerns surrounding the influential groups.
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Joe Alie, a professor of African studies at the University of Sierra Leone, told MailOnline that more than 90 per cent of people in the country were involved in ancestral and secret rites.
He said that the the Poro, along with the similar Bondo society, “still play a leading role in the social, religious, and political life” of communities.
AFP or licensors Amos Nicol holds a knife and an animal bone during a ritual[/caption]
AFP or licensors Healer chief Baykuh performing a ceremony on a young member who has been ‘cursed’ in the village of Magbumoh[/caption]
AFP or licensors Members remove their caps during an initiation ceremony to symbolise their appreciation to their gods[/caption]
AFP or licensors Society member Pa Foday Bangur holds a bottle containing spiritual oils as he leads a procession[/caption]
AFP or licensors Yealie Kabba, a member of the Sampa Soko Bondo society, wears a red hat with a mirror called a kashak and holds a red bottle filled with spiritual wine[/caption]
AFP or licensors Traditional healer Yamba Fojusule stands in front of a masked devil known as Machar, fanning him with protective herbal plants[/caption]
AFP or licensors Society members begin a processional through the village of Songo[/caption]
Poro society members in prayer near the city of WaterlooAFP or licensors
AFP or licensors The Kofi Jalloy secret society portraying four devils during a dance performance in Freetown. The devils portrayed, left to right, are Baykey, Faerie, Gargoda, and Labalaba[/caption]
Bondo women’s secret society dance during a performance in FreetownAFP or licensors
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