Remembered the story I wrote two days ago about a terrible dream I had? I have had recurring dreams since then and prior to then. I soon realised it wasn't something that could be treated medically after knowing that I was been haunted by djinns. It happens you know, most especially in the northern part of Nigeria. You can call them evil spirit if you want, but whatever they may be, they didn't allow me any respite for the past week. This affected my productivity in my day to day activities a lot and I almost questioned my own sanity.

I have a very strong presence of mind. Despite the belief that women get easily freaked out, I don't. I don't get easily scared by things like that and my family know that. When they saw that I screamed in my dreams and murmured some inaudible things in trances, they knew something was amiss.

In Islam, when a person is afflicted with the Evil Eye(a belief that when a person who's envious of you can send djinns to haunt you), they are some medicines that's been prepared. Among those are the ruqyah(a series of recitations from the verses of the Quran and prophetic traditions), rubutu( blacked ink washed off from slates), incense and olive oil. All these come with prescriptions just like normal medications. In dealing with such problems, the first thing that's solved is knowing why the djinn chose to possess you. Some give really ridiculous reasons and then they are cast out. The exorcism sometimes isn't easy as it may go on for years. In the state of exorcism, the possessed one is hypnotised and remains in a trance until they are cast our or imprisoned within the victim's body. Luckily for me, mine was cast out for good yesterday as it hadn't taken complete control over me and because maybe I have been very prayerful about it. They didn't tell me anything about what happened when I was hypnotised as that's the normal tradition. Do not tell them! Sometimes the two parties go as far as engaging in a fight where the exorcists always win.

The evil eye can take different forms that might, at first look like a medical ailment. You see a person complaining of severe chest pains that could suggest a heart or lung problem but when a Catscan or X-ray is taken, you see they are just fine. Even when extensive tests are taken, you see that everything is within the normal range of a healthy individual. What then do doctors do? They can't do anything. Sometimes when the evil eye expresses itself in a physical form, like a terrible swelling in the leg or arm, medications that could have worked had it been a normal medical situation lose their efficacy.

I know, a lot of people do not believe in these kinda stuff and label them superstitions, especially the western people, but then if you look closely you'd see that these problems are more common in Africa. I have heard about it from the west. The way the occurrences happen here leaves you no option than to believe that these forces are real. There was a friend of mine that was possessed, in the process she lifted to bunk beds, one in each hand, collided them together leaving then completely disoriented. This is a girl who normally has difficultly in even carrying a small bucket of water from the tap area to the hostel. So... One just has to believe. There are many more instances I can site.

How did I draw the Evil Eye upon myself?

I really do not know. From what I was taught, one can prevent them by praying constantly. I have always done that. Although there are tons of people who don't pray but they haven't been attacked by djinns. I think it's not just about praying, true, prayer can ward them off but despite these prayers, it might serve as a test for you.

I don't wanna sound too religious or spiritual, but seriously my belief in the existence of supernatural beings has being reinforced. I sometimes have wavering doubts about those entities, sometimes even about God, despite having seen some really scary stuff. Now.... well I don't really know what to say. I need time to process my thoughts and feelings. I guess I just need to rest.

Thanks for reading guys.

Yours Layly,

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