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The aggression perpetrated in Pontassieve against the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, by the 30-year-old Congolese Auriane Fatuma Bindela aroused consternation, not only because of the fact itself, which is of unprecedented severity (it is not clear in fact how he could the woman approaching the politician without security stopping him in time), but also because of the brutality of the gesture: tearing the rosary that Salvini wore around his neck with the cry “I curse you.” An unprecedented act of violence not only against the leader of the League, but also against a religious symbol that should instead be respected. Along with the most plausible hypothesis, that of the action of an unbalanced woman full of anger, one cannot fail to combine that of an act of black magic, in particular rethinking the famous voodoo rite against another member of the League, Roberto Calderoli , celebrated in the Congo in 2013 by Cecile Kyenge’s father. In fact, in the African country there is an ancient tradition of cults that also make use of black magic, often defined generically as “voodoo”. We talked about it with Andrea Bocchi Modrone, an anthropologist and expert on Afro-American syncretic religions and author of Le Livre du Vaudou – Mysteries and secrets of a religion.
Doctor Bocchi Modrone, the attack on Salvini provoked in the minds of many the possibility that it was a rite of African black magic; the breaking of the rosary, the cry “I curse you”; Does such a hypothesis make sense?
So, since he seems crazy to me, but in fact I thought so too and I still see some elements that can also make us think of a tribal black magic gesture. In the first place there is the breaking of the rosary that at a “magical” level can be seen as a protective talisman, therefore a gesture that, observed with the lens of black magic, can be interpreted as “I break your protection and attack you with my God. which is superior “. Then there is a second aspect related to cultural aggression and that is Salvini’s contempt for the (Christian) faith: to put it simply “contempt for your God and your creed.” Let us bear in mind that in the Congo the idea of tribal religion is still very strong and it is not a syncretic cult as in the case of Palo Mayombe in Cuba, for example, then there is the attempt to tear a piece from Salvini’s garment. , a garment that can be used as a “witness” (object that belonged to the person who acts as an intermediary) to perform a witchcraft rite, an invoice. So assuming this person knows the ritual practices or knows someone who knows how to perform them. There is everything to see. In any case, it can be an attempt to seize an object to use it as a “fetish” to harm the victim.
And the cry “I curse you”, beyond the physical aggression itself?
The physical aggression shows a deep hatred towards an opposition political exponent who is not respected even on a human level, after all it puts its hands on him as if it were a most sinister tribal fight. As already mentioned, the tearing of the rosary, beyond the breaking of the protection, can be an attack on the crucifix seen as an enemy, as the “God of the whites”, as opposed to a confused God of his country, of his lineage. As for the cry “I curse you”, it is a curse, a torrent of hatred, I throw evil at you to make you pay. He not only insulted him, he cursed him.
A gesture that can upset those who receive it, right?
Without a doubt, it is a gesture that can be disturbing, beyond personal belief; it can bother from the religious point of view, from the human point of view, it can bother because in any case the person feels threatened and is afraid. It is strong verbal violence because it is not a simple insult. The curse involves calling on a higher force to harm you. Do you curse it in whose name? Certainly not in the name of the Christian, otherwise he would not break the rosary. Then a whole series of elements come into play, including the person’s faith and fears. Even in Voodoo they sometimes find the doll with the needles stuck in, then the person suggests himself and reconnects everything that can happen to him.
Are these cults still widely present and practiced in the Congo today?
Absolutely. The landscape is a bit confusing as it is also linked to tribal discourse. I know better the syncretic cults of Latin America, which nevertheless originate in Africa. However, as for the cults of the Congo, there is a figure of the one God, “Zambi” who, however, is not identified with the Christian God, as occurs for example in South America. Also, if you break the crucifix, you are already creating a break between the two divinities. Among other things, I would like to clarify that I do not want to point out these African cults as “animism”, in anthropology this term can no longer be used; Instead, I would point to them as reminiscent of non-latent tribal spiritualities and furthermore, we often find this also in African Islam when syncretism with pre-Islamic beliefs is formed.
In your opinion, can there be similarity in the case of Calderoli with the Kyenge?
The ritual done in Calderoli was very clear, there was the ceremony, the pot, the photo of the poor man. They showed the ceremony taking place in the Congo. The Kyenge’s father has proven to be a sorcerer. Calderoli himself declared that after the rite everything had happened to him (referring to the fall that damaged a vertebra and fractured two fingers) and he had also found a large snake in the house. The psyche comes into play and the discussion becomes very complex. In Salvini’s case, it was a true physical attack, which was personal, intimate with the breaking of the rosary and symbolically of his Creed. An action that goes far beyond political dissent and results in a curse. I see anger, frustration, deep hatred combined with a psychologically unstable state of mind. We cannot know what is going through his mind. I do not want to completely abandon the hypothesis of the rite of black magic, but I think more of the gesture of an exalted woman in an altered state. Attention then to the emulations, because this case is the precedent.
