AN AFRICAN “country doctor” is no ordinary doctor. I know because I was one of them.

Persons would come to me because they sought revenge on real or imagined enemies. I would determine the punishment and administer it by magical means. I specialized in divination and made “medicines” to protect one from “departed spirits” or those seeking to bring evil upon a person.

After three years, I was compelled to accompany my ailing guardian to the chief “medicine” town in my country. There I took a course in “country medicine.” This included the art of preparing and administering poisons made from the bark of trees, leaves or the gall of alligators. This knowledge was essential to the work of a “country doctor” whose patrons sought revenge on enemies.

Having heard a complaint, a “country doctor” determines if punishment is merited and to what degree. Learning how to become such a “doctor” did not bother my conscience, despite years of church attendance. I believed that God not only allowed the “country doctor” to do his work of administering revenge but also empowered him to do so.

Divining was another requirement in mastering my craft. Methods of divining included looking at the water in a pot or at a mirror. For protection against departed spirits or evil persons, I learned to concoct various “medicines.” Often such would be put in a bottle and buried in the threshold of a house, with just the top of the bottle showing.