YOU cross paths with someone while leaving your home. You stub your toe on a rock. A certain type of bird cries in the night. You have a recurring dream. Simple, innocuous events for many. But for certain peoples in West Africa, these could be viewed as signs, omens, or messages from the spirit world. Either good fortune or calamity is deemed in store, depending on the sign and its interpretation.

Much of African culture is based on superstition. Movies, radio shows, and literature produced in Africa often highlight superstition and mystical subjects, such as magic, ancestor worship, and fetishes.

In some regions of West Africa, many view it as the birth of deities, and the twins are worshiped. If one or both of the twins should die, small statues of the twins are made, and the family must offer food to these idols. Elsewhere, people view the birth of twins as a curse, to the point that some parents will kill at least one of them. Why? They believe that if both twins survive, they will one day murder their parents.