ILOMBA

ILOMBA

“In an interview, Boniface Liwanga noted that during their divining sessions, diviners searched for evidence of witchcraft and sorcery, the devices which gave witches and sorcerers immense energy, or supernatural powers that enabled them to perform their practices. Such devices include charms, herbs, and objects such as human bones, and night guns such as Kaliloze. Some used familiars such as owls, and nightjars, and animals such as jackals and hyenas, while others used creatures such as Ilomba as mediums through which they performed their witchcraft activities. According to White, the Ilomba was a spirit in the form of a snake with human head in the likeness of the owner and was found in various versions. During  its early stages, it was harmless and fed on eggs, However, as it grew, it became more demanding, killing peopled that its owner targeted, feeding on their blood. As it grew fatter and sleeker, its owner also flourished and this continued for as long as the snake existed. Thus, some people became witches or sorcery for the purpose of prosperity or in order to become rich.”

Friday Mufuzi, The Practice Of Witchcraft And The Changing Patterns Of Its Paraphernalia

“It is the custom of a snake which is made by a person. It is the custom of the Malunda to make a Lilomba when they wish to kill a person. They take a small piece of skin and place in it “medicine” which they obtain from a certain tree. Afterwards they made an incision in the chest and back, and taking the blood thus obtained they mix it with the medicine. They then sew the mixture up in the skin so as to make a packet of it, get a certain other medicine from the bush and drop it into the packet thus made. They then place the skin on the ground, saying, “Take our breath and take life from our breath.” in the morning when they go there they find the skin changed into a baby Lilomba.”

“This continues every month, the snake killing a person named to it by its owner, and getting bigger, until it stretches from here to the other side of the river (about 300 yards).”

G.A. M’Gregor, The Story Of The Lilomba Snake As Told By The Malunda

Much like the porridge hyena, tilberi or the coco macaque the ilomba is a witch's familiar that is constructed rather than called upon. 

When I came across this description it immediately brought to mind the oibonok from Charles R. Saunders' first Imaro novel. Saunders was a scholar of African monsters and wrote a great compendium for Dragon Magazine called Out Of Africa. The snake with a human head also reminded me of the weird Freddy snake in A Nightmare On Elm Street 3!

Or the Beetlejuice snake bannister!

This is the last of my magical monsters (for now) and next week will start a two week stint of monster from a fiction series that I am extremely excited about! Stay tuned for hints!