The God of Darkness

 

     "Don't you even think about going out tonight young lady!  Don't you know; the very thing that protects this house is a danger to this household."  Her mother took a moment to calm herself before giving additional counsel.  "Please, I'm begging you.  Don't even consider it."  The mother still did not trust her daughter.  She knew that it would be safest if she stayed up all night to guard the door from any stealthy exit.  It was a long night.  She feared that she would fall asleep and lose her cherished daughter.  She went so far as to perch herself in the chair shoved tight up against the only exit.  Somewhat satisfied, she allowed herself to fall into a deep slumber.  Unfortunately, so many teenage girls are thin, way too thin.  Who would believe that her daughter could really squeeze through the tiny slot at the rear of the house that could not really be called a window?  But she did.  The mother continued to dream until the nightmare scream awoke her.

     In a few cultures around the world, there is a belief that a certain spirit guards the night, a certain spirit that could be both good and bad.  Such a spirit could destroy any shady characters with malicious intent, prowling the night, but it could just as easily be a threat to any soul that should chose to leave the safety of their own home.  Safety is abundant, but only for those who do not crave any kind of night life.

     In Guinea and Senegambia, in Western Africa, many of the residents warn their own children and warn any potential intruder that Sakarabru rules the night.  Something of an ambiguous deity, Sakarabru will consume any demon or criminal that might haunt the village, or he might do the same to even the apparently innocent that might be out too late at night.  Not quite the classic "boogyman" that some of us grew up with that would "get you" if you were out after 10 PM.  According to the folklore, anyone out too late would most likely not be so innocent.  It was assumed that if Sakarabru took anyone, it was fully justified, a proper reward for sin.

     The Sakarabru lives in a "Fetish House" located near the entrance of the village, where offerings can be made to win his favor.  Many villages still to this day have such a fetish house, which has its clay exterior renewed each year with images of people and animals and maybe gods.