bakwerirama

Efasa Moto, the God of Mount Fako

By Wose Yangange Martin

To young Bakweris, Efasa-Moto is either a fairy tale or a frightful phenomenon beyond their comprehension. Otherwise, it is a myth handed down from generation to generation and usually told elderly village folks.

Efasa-Moto is the folkloric god of the Fako Mountain. It is believed that he controls the entire "hill" from the West Coast to the border with Balondo land to the north east coast, and towards Meme Division.

Bakwerirama Seeks Artistic Representation of Efasamoto

Bakwerirama seeks artists to make an inspired conception of Efasamoto (Ephasa Mote), the spirit or God of Mt Fako and the ethical guide of the Bakweri people. Artists do not need to be native to Fako, but any skilled person who is awed and inspired by the idea of a powerful being, half human and half rock; generous and bountiful but severe to transgressors who are greedy and inconsiderate of the environment. There are a few references in this website to this God.

Witchcraft in Contemporary Bakweri Society by Rosemary Ekosso

The belief in witchcraft or liemba is very common among the Bakweri. It considered to be the art of influencing the lives of other people by occult means. Such influence is usually malevolent and affects a person’s spirit, and through that, his mind and body. Alternatively, it is benevolent, but requires the harnessing of such powerful and potentially ungovernable forces that its practice is shunned by many people. In the Western world, people who practise witchcraft can be referred to either as Wicca (male witches) and Wicce (female witches), or wizards and witches, also respectively male and female practitioners of witchcraft. For our purposes we shall use the latter terminology. Witchcraft shall be considered here to be good or bad witchcraft, depending on whether ‘black magic’ or ‘white magic’ is used. Among the Bakweri, bad magic is what is known as liemba. Good magic is often just called.