Muti – what is it?
The Zulu word “umuthi” has a 3 meaning. these are tree, bark and medicine. It is frequently wrongly spelt and said as “Muti” by westerners. Muti has a very bad reputation in Africa – and is blamed for many of the ritual murders that take place – children are often the victims of so called “Muti Murders‘ – which is the killing of humans for their body parts to be used in muti. Sangomas do not use such practises and a witch that does is called “umthakathi“. This is a very powerful witch – and practices black magic.
Many people get blamed for being umthakathi – and this usually results in the killing by the affected parties. Spells are used against the umthakathi and by umthakathi. Sangomas, or isangomas will help to protect people from these witches and from the tokoloshe (sometimes used by powerful witches).