Ndoki is a belief system that is widely held throughout West Central Africa. It is not a religion. Nearly all Africans, including Catholics, Protestants, Animists, and Satanists, share a belief in Ndoki. Westerners have had little or no understanding about the phenomena of Ndoki and have generally dismissed it as a system of superstitious beliefs with no basis in reality. Consequently, missionaries who minister the Word of God have had almost no impact on villagers with respect to Ndoki. The consequences of not truthfully addressing the issues surrounding Ndoki are devastating. 

Ritual Abuse survivors with Dissociative Identity Disorder and those who work with them may likely be the only population in the Western world who would readily recognize what Ndoki is (another population would be those who utilize this knowledge for demonic purposes). There are remarkable similarities between Ndoki and some of the phenomena encountered by survivors and those who work with survivors.

What Ndoki Is

Ndoki is the belief that some people have a separate self or selves that are beyond a person's conscious awareness. These separate selves can act independently of the person and behave in ways that may violate the person's conscious will or moral values. Some Africans call them "the dark selves" of a person. Others have described them as "hidden selves" and "unknown selves". Villagers usually fear them; therefore "dark selves" are also called "evil selves". Most simply refer to the separate selves as Ndoki.

Africans believe that the dark-self of a person can use magic, witchcraft, and sorcery to acquire possessions, influence decisions in the village, send curses, destroy others' property, and bring harm or death to others. They also believe that anyone can have a dark-self.

The term Ndoki is used interchangeably to describe several different things.
Ndoki refers to:

DID and Ndoki

How similar is Ndoki to DID? Villager accounts include careful distinctions between demonic forces and a person's dark-self. They perceive that demonic forces are not the same as the dark-self. They believe that the dark-self resides within the individual, beyond his or her awareness. They believe that the dark-self may engage in witchcraft or call upon demonic forces for greedy or malicious purposes. Some forms of what is called DID in America may very well be the same phenomenon that Congolese Africans call Ndoki.

There is extensive lore among Congolese about trance-states, " dark-selves," demonic manifestations, and the differences between each. Marta, a neighbor of mine in the village of Gbado, described how a friend of hers suddenly changed while they were visiting with each other, and no longer responded to her name. She behaved as a "different person" and later "had no memory" of the change or what she had said. Marta did not feel that her friend was in a trance. She was concerned that her friend "had a Ndoki" (had a hidden self), and that her Ndoki might use demonic powers to harm others. Usually, interventions by missionaries were with the understanding that these manifestations were demons. Villagers have not been satisfied with this limited assessment. I remember how they pressed me for more complete answers. Part of the issue was that the so-called demons were manifesting within Christians who led good lives among the villagers.

Survivors in the United States and other Western countries, who have faced the terrible realities of being forced against their wills to engage in atrocious acts, know something about "hidden parts" who continue to go to coven meetings or use witchcraft. Survivors and those who work with them, who have placed their trust in Jesus the True Messiah, are perhaps the only people on earth who are specially equipped with the capacity to understand and be compassionate toward those who have "dark-selves". They are able to intercede for them with confident trust in God.

Is there evidence of severe trauma in West Central Africa?

Yes. The list of traumatic events that have occurred throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past 100 years is staggering. Tribal wars, massacres, and physical torture at the hands of Belgian colonists continued into the 1950's. Currently, undisciplined and starving soldiers of seven competing armies frequently raid villagers for food, medicine, and sex, sometimes setting villages on fire as they leave. Apart from the oppression of war and colonialism, the villagers themselves have perpetrated traumas. The practice of Satanism is rampant in the Congo, with a history that goes back hundreds of years. In the 1920's, cannibalism was outlawed in the Bodangabo Region where I later resided as a missionary. It is chilling to know that this practice had to be outlawed! Congolese have cautiously reported to me that the practice has continued since then under a cloak of secrecy. The church has not been the first house of worship erected in most villages within the Congo. A house of Satan worship has usually been there long before the arrival of the message of the Good News.

Dangers of Ndoki

Imagine that you are a villager in Congo. There are no stores or supplies, and you have no income. Like all the people of your village, you depend on the success of your crops, which is a small plot of land that will produce enough for your family's needs and a little bit more for trading at the market. In your village, the average female will give birth to about ten children, and half will die before their second year. Medicine is precious and scarce, and the nearest dispensary is two days away, on foot. Your home will be built and maintained with saplings, mud and vines. You will have another hut to store the grains from your crops-corn, rice, and peanuts. What if you discover that worms have eaten most of your stored rice? There will be great concern. The dry season will be far more difficult to bear because your whole family may suffer hunger and illness.

When a person of Congo suffers a loss or tragedy or death, the belief is normally prevalent that someone else caused the loss by means of a curse. The whole village becomes fearful that an unknown and uncontrollable agent has harmed one of their own, and may likely harm again. From the perspective of the villagers, it is a matter of life and death to stop the curses from being sent again. An investigation ensues to discover who in the village may have a dark-self who cursed the victim and caused them loss or harm. The village becomes tense as each person wonders who it might be, and if it might be themselves. There is speculation, and suspicions rise. Was it the medicine man's wife? She has been laughing more loudly than usual. Was it the man who likes to take long walks by himself in the evening? What is he doing when he is on those walks, anyway? Was it the neighbor who forgot to shut the windows of his house tight enough to prevent demonic forces from entering? Surely, the neighbor knows that he put the whole village at risk! What about the woman whose face expressed displeasure toward the ones who suffered the loss? Perhaps she is harboring ill will. Was it the new pastor or his wife? No one in the village really knows them. Does the pastor secretly intend harm? (The above examples come from direct witness of comments made by villagers.) Villagers whisper among themselves. Names are mentioned. Circumstances seem to build a case for a particular suspect's guilt. The medicine man or a sorcerer is consulted. Believers in God frequently ask His assistance in locating the one with Ndoki. In the Congo, being found "guilty of Ndoki" is a serious matter, punishable by death or imprisonment, which is usually a form of death sentence. Although civil authorities are seldom brought into Ndoki cases, it is a capital offense to curse an individual or his property in a manner that causes blight, disease, injury, accidents, or death. However, whether the source of the curse is actually found or not, the damage to the village has already been done. 

In my years at a seminary in Congo for preparing husbands and wives for pastoral ministry, a case of suspected Ndoki occurred among the students. A woman reported that all of her family's corn had "rotted overnight". I saw the fear in her eyes as she panicked about surviving the long dry season. She wondered aloud if there was a possibility that Mambula, another woman at the school, had cursed her corn. I asked her why she thought Mambula did it. "Because she is not baptized," she replied. Mambula was the youngest student at the school and had a newfound faith in the Lord. She was ecstatic to have the opportunity to learn to read and learn to walk with God. It was painful to watch the effects of gossip and slander. While no one accused her directly of having Ndoki and cursing the corn, the fear of her among the students began to grow. There were perceived risks of possibly being cursed by her. Mambula was pregnant during these events. Isolated and deeply grieved by the shunning behaviors, she delivered her first child several weeks prematurely. It is customary for villagers to assist a new mother with garden work and meals; however, Mambula was on her own. She became weak and ill, and her newborn soon died of pneumonia. I was heartbroken.

In another entirely different set of circumstances, a number of villagers where I lived suspected a local witch of cursing them. Tragically, more than a dozen infants had recently sickened and died in the course of a few weeks. The villagers were certain that curses of a significant level of power were being used against them-something they believed only a witch could use. The local witch was found guilty, although there was no evidence. I was sickened when one of the workers at my home-a member of the church- bragged that he had a hand in stoning her to death. Missionaries have been ill equipped to deal with these issues. Villagers feel Westerners do not understand the threat of Ndoki, and are insulted when missionaries dismiss the source of their superstitions as a false belief system. The fact is, Ndoki is deadly serious. Whether a person with a dark-side actually cursed another or not, very real demonic forces have an open door to breeding fear, suspicion, division, and causing long lasting wounds to an entire village.

One day Ndoki came to my doorstep, literally. Witnesses (people in the village where I lived) saw a sorcerer place a "death-curse" on the porch of my home. The death-curse consisted of a bundle of woven weeds and grass. I was unimpressed with its appearance and hardly noticed it except to be aware that my porch needed sweeping! The elder of the local church, the head professor at the high school, and a highly respected village leader soon showed up at my door to beg me to leave my home immediately. They feared for my life, being convinced that the spoken words of the sorcerer would kill me or one of my young sons. They pleaded with me and recounted numerous stories of the power of this form of Ndoki, and how effective it is. In a desperate effort to save my life, they tried to physically pull me away from the house. I said to them through the door I had locked behind them, "If I die, I die. My life is in God's hands. Only He has the power to take it." My two little boys, ages three and five, joined me in prayer as we asked God to halt the demonic forces. Although I succumbed that week to a lengthy bout of viral encephalitis, no one died.

Fear of Ndoki has caused great destruction, and the churches of West Central Africa have not been immune. I have witnessed several Congolese pastors and their families being driven out of the villages where they were serving churches. They had been accused of having Ndoki (having hidden selves) and using Ndoki (using witchcraft to curse others) in the villages. I was present for the burial of the adolescent daughter of a friend of mine, who had died from the bite of a poisonous snake. Because my friend was the president of a national church organization for women, thousands mourned the tragic death. A greater tragedy followed within a week of the funeral. The family of the husband was convinced that the wife used Ndoki to cause her daughter's death. Soon, these two families began feuding-families who were highly respected by Congolese throughout the country for their principled faith in God. Eventually, the husband succumbed to fear and forced his wife out of his home. The husband's family felt that the churches needed to know how potentially dangerous the president was. Letters that damaged her reputation were sent to the churches throughout every region. 

There is a veil of fear over the hearts of believers in Congo. Few can confidently assert that the power of God is greater than the powers of the demonic. The cry of God's heart for them can be heard in the words of the prophet Hosea. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6

Ndoki and the Torah

"Torah" is the Hebrew term for the first five books of the Bible, which constitutes the Law of Moses. Because the whole body of Scripture rests upon these five books, nothing in Scripture contradicts them. I believe these holy ancient writings contain specific instructions to guide humankind in the most difficult and complex of issues. Are survivors aware of teachings and insight from the Word of God that could help the villages I have described? You bet they are! Can villagers with years of experience in "community life" and the phenomena of Ndoki teach anything of value to survivors of SRA and DID in America? Yes, they can!

Churches and healing communities that support survivors are facing issues that are unfamiliar to most churches in today's America. How does the church handle situations where Christian survivors have hidden selves, beyond their conscious awareness, that may be using witchcraft to harm other members of the congregation? There is a strong temptation to attempt, even unwittingly, to take matters into our own hands instead of seeking God. What can the church and the healing community learn from the villagers? The greatest damage done in villages was often not the curses (or the alleged curse) sent by those with Ndoki. The most destruction occurred to the fabric of these communities in the wake of gossip and slander. It is easy to empathize with the villagers who had suffered heartache and serious losses, and their desire to prevent further suffering. The effort to ascertain the identity of someone who may possibly be cursing them is understandable. Let's explore guidelines provided by the scriptures.

What are gossip and slander? Gossip is the act of telling embarrassing facts about another person (such as previous sins the person has confessed). Slander is the act of telling embarrassing things about another person that are untrue or partially true. The expression of speculation, innuendo, and suspicion are forms of slander.

A Jewish rabbi, who devoted his life to the study of scriptures, wrote a book that provides much insight into the Word of God as it pertains to evil talk and guarding the tongue. He writes, "Loshon Hora [Heb: evil talk] diminishes its victim in the eyes of others. That could mean a lost job or business opportunity, a wounded or ruined marriage, a feud among friends or neighbors, a devalued reputation. Once spoken, the words carve their own path, destroying in ways the speaker can never predict. As damaging as loshon hora can be to the external factors of another person's life, it has the even more disastrous potential for demolishing a person's interior landscape. . . . People pick up on clues as to their own worth through the way others treat them. If they receive honor, they feel honorable. If they are ignored, they feel invisible." (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan in Chofetz Chaim).

The Torah requires two or three reliable eyewitnesses in determining the guilt of another member of the community (see Deuteronomy 19:15-19). In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus teaches us to go to our brother directly first, and then to engage progressively more members of the church when dealing with sin. In both the Old and New Testaments, eyewitnesses were necessary. This is an important commandment to keep in mind when congregations become concerned about hidden and unwitnessed activities of another person.

Another danger of trying to discover who may be sending curses against others, or harming them with witchcraft, is the temptation to search for knowledge apart from God. As humans, we are already very prone to rely on human intuition, our own ideas and others' knowledge, which all seems quite logical. Prideful reliance on these things puts one at risk to engage demonic sources in the search for knowledge. It is sobering to consider that some forms of witchcraft are motivated by the same search for hidden knowledge.

Ndoki and the Community

From time to time, churches, therapists, and members of healing communities may all wonder if a survivor might be using witchcraft, etc., against them apart from conscious awareness. Survivors sometimes have concerns about trusting someone whom the survivor feels may be harming them with curses while unaware of it. This may be a leader of the community, a pastor, an elder, a therapist, a friend, etc. Can these concerns be discussed? If so, in what format? And with whom?

The Scriptures counsel confession of sins, forgiveness, and intercession. Imagine healing communities, churches, and villages armed with these!

"The words that pass between people work powerful changes on them and within them. What a person says, what he hears and what others say about him can surely change the course of his life. . ." Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan