The Fear Of Witches : A Psychological Shackle you must break.

The definition of Fear according to an English dictionary is "A strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat. or Extreme veneration or awe, as toward a supreme being or deity.Fear: Is a very important aspect of our natural self, it is rooted in survival and is a fueling value for our Survival Instincts. But when this Factor is misused and imaginative, it becomes dangerous , it becomes detrimental to survival and a psychological prison that can mar our psychological well being.

I live in a community in the land of Osun and like all South western states is always bustling with religious activities, there also exist the gripping fear of the superstitious belief in witchcraft.

"A grandmother is being accused of witchcraft by her children just because they fail to be successful in their lives"

"Mrs Adetayo was also accused of being a witch by her daughter in law just because she has been experiencing miscarriage since she got married to her son. She claimed that she is very sure her mother in law is a witch because her pastor told her that."

" Mr Kola was being branded a wizard by his children, this man suffered and labored to see his children through school, now they are older and independent but because the second son had some issues in his business and his pastor wrong hand pointed at his father as the source of his problems. Now he kept on saying his father is behind his problems because his pastor confirmed it"

The most disturbing part is that little children are not left out this heart piercing issue. Any kid who has a unique but different character is being branded a witch or a reincarnated body if am ancestral spirit. We have several cases where kids are flogged by pastors and community in order to force them to confess. Scares of the canes will form zebra lines on their body. What a pitiable sight! They rob us of sleep in the midnight with the shouts of "Holy ghost fire" while casting out witchcraft spirit from the children's body with lashes of canes.

An average Nigerian society is living in fear of witches and wizards. This is just a ordinary fear of an abstract notion that's conceive by a fearful mind. It's nothing more than that but it's a dangerous belief that is a menace and an hindrance to our psychological growth.

• Wandering ears and cockroaches crawling round the house to get something to eat are monitoring spirits sent from the village to monitor your life.

• Every whiff of the wind, thunder or lightening are all witchcraft manifestation.

• A owl's cry is a sign of a witch assignment completion.

• A child who sleep talk of sleepwalk is possessed by evil spirits.

• Any haggard looking old family member is the source of the family problems.

• All fearful dreams is a revelation of an evil attack.

Everyone is getting caught in the web of scary accusations.

The mind can be our greatest friend and our greatest foe, if you think to yourself that you are being pursued surely you'll live the rest of your life running from nothing other than your own mind. You'll live your live combating with imaginary enemies at night in am unending war. Take the shade away from your eyes and see clearly. Shed away those fears and have a fresh breath. Stop victimizing yourselves. It reduces your potentials. Stop blaming every human or animals for your misfortune, you're making yourself the victim. You will just keep fighting enemies that are not there.

The rate at which we believe in all these in Africa is the main reason why we are preys to extortion from con men who disguise as pastors. Be your own master by getting rid of all the diminishing belief, don't subject yourself to the rule of fears anymore. Stop accusing innocent people of being the source of your misfortune, you're the architect of your own fortune and misfortune. Bad thing can happen to you irrespective of your character. But roping it around witches and wizards is just a way of compounding your problems and you keep chasing and fighting nothing

Africa, tell your youth to stop mobbing and killing innocent old men and women all in the attempt of killing the witches. We're in a modern world. We're no longer in the dark age. Free yourselves from the shackles and stop being gullible.

[image source]
(https://www.google.com/searchq=witch&client=ucwebb&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCxMibpIDbAhUOZVAKHd_WDAEQ_AUIBigB&biw=360&bih=518)