"Tokolosh" redirects here. For the British band, see Tokolosh (band)

Newspaper headline, 7 December 1955

In Zulu mythology, Tikoloshe, Tokoloshe or Hili is a dwarf-like water sprite. It is considered a mischievous and evil spirit that can become invisible by drinking water. Tokoloshes are called upon by malevolent people to cause trouble for others. At its least harmful a tokoloshe can be used to scare children, but its power extends to causing illness or even the death of the victim. The creature might be banished by a n'anga (spiritual healer), who has the power to expel it from the area.

Legend [ edit ]

The advent of the phantom Tokoloshe came about through indigenous South African folklore to explain why people inexplicably died while sleeping in the their rondavels at night. Traditional Africans slept on the floor on grass mats encircling a wood fire that kept them warm during sub-freezing cold winter nights on the highveld in the rarified air. They never realized the fire was depleting the oxygen levels leaving noxious carbon dioxide which is heavier than pure air and sank to the bottom. Eventually somebody realized anyone who happened to be sleeping in an elevated position escaped the deadly curse and the word spread through folklore and the term used to describe this phenomenon was a Tokoloshe that was described as a short man about hip high who randomly stole your life in the night, unless you lifted the height of your bed. Naturally peoples imagination ran wild to explain what this phantom creature may look like and of cause there is no record of a sighting because traditional Africans could not read or write, and stories abounded.[citation needed] With all due respect to references like Mythological Monsters [1] these represent garbled folklore to entertain.

"Some Zulu people (and other southern African tribes) are still superstitious when it comes to things like the supposedly fictional tokoloshe—a hairy creature created by a wizard to harm his enemies (also … known to rape women and bite off sleeping people's toes)."[2]

According to legend, the only way to keep the Tokoloshe away at night is to put a brick beneath each leg of one's bed. However, this will not protect anything but the person whose bed it is along with the bed itself, as it may instead cause havoc not involving said people. They get their power from a hot poker thrust into the crown of the body during creation.

Influence [ edit ]

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References [ edit ]