An encounter with badimo :: Mmegi Online

An exploration of Tswapong Hills can bring one face-to-face with badimo. After meeting a self-proclaimed clairvoyant, Mmegi Staff Writer ONALENNA MODIKWA - who herself hails from the Tswapong village of Ratholo - almost thinks she could be a spirit-medium herself because the gods are human

LERALA: Though BaTswapong are basically known to have a close relationship with their ancestors - or badimo - as their intermediary with the Uppermost God, nobody - at least in my linmited experience - has ever come out to describe these deities.

Though in many Tswapong villages, there are people designated to communicate and interpret the language of ancestral deities, nobody can say for certain what form these beings take.So many stories have been told of how badimo can protect and rescue one in need. The stories go on to narrate how the deities can also punish mortals of wayward behaviour, especially if the blasphemy is perpetrated in their territory. It is held that they live on the hills around the villages of Tswapong.

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