Ghanaians are very aware of what’s going on in the world. The Graphic probably has better international coverage than most American newspapers. The sense of communal responsibility here puts any suburb to shame. The crime rate is so low that the resulting trust in strangers is uncanny. And everyone wants to help Ghana advance, and bring prosperity to their whole town.

This development has barely affected the power of magic in Ghana. Most people over five have tribal marks (scarification) on their face indicating their ethnicity. Usually this is just a certain number of cuts on the cheek. But other cuts can be made in the face to ward off diseases like epilepsy. Diseases can be caused by witches, ‘smaller ghosts’ (spirits), ‘dwarves’ (little people of the forest, funny how they turn up in mythology all over the world), or by juju. Part of the protection comes from the substance inserted into the cut, and part from the spiritual disguise the cuts provide- much in the same way that they dye chicks bright punk-rock colors to fool the hawks.

The scarification is beautiful to me, and has made me feel less regretful about my circumcision- it is simply one of a variety of body mutilations done at birth to signify an ethic identity.

If a woman has two or more stillborn babies or babies that die in the first year, they will cut the face of the next newborn, placing three marks at each eye, by the nose like cat's whiskers, and on the chin. This way they will recognize the child if it dies and is reincarnated in the next baby. They give it a name like ‘cat’ or ‘rat’ or ‘shito’ or ‘trash’ to devalute the unlucky child. These people are all the more fetching for the beaten odds that their faces show.

Witches can turn into animals, and there’s a certain ungulate that they believe is always a witch for its tendency to kill those who hunt it with its horns and fast hooves. Witches use their powers to aid the interest of their families.

While it would be an insult to insinuate that someone is a witch, most juju men/witch doctor/healer types are respected members of the community. There are herbalists, who are general healers as well as knowing what to put into the cuts for long-term protection. There are bonesetters, who prevent amputation by breaking a bone in a fowl, setting both the fowl and the victim’s bone, and caring for the fowl as the two bones heal in parallel. There are midwives for home birth. Most of these people got their powers by being lost in the bush, getting kidnapped by little people, and emerging months or years later with supernatural gifts.

The smaller ghosts usually inhabit shrines or totems. They can kill, harm, or protect in exchange for blood. Ancestors protect their descendants from harm if they are well fed on holidays.

Most people rely on Jesus to protect them from evil magic. But another way to be immune is to be free of evil thought. From there, you can enhance your defenses with cuts, rings and totems, and by doing good deeds.