Bush spirits
Only a small fraction of the secrets of Africa are known. Many myths and legends will always stay a riddle. A good example of this is the legendary Ngi gorilla-society of the Fang-Bulu in Gabon and Cameroon. The members of the society were like shadows in the night. The society members were the keepers of the faith who punished wrongdoers over many centuries when this society was active.They probably had more power than many a chief or king. One can easily imagine that this secret society, whose spirit was the gorilla (god of fire), was a sorepoint for the new colonial powers. It can be presumed that this is the reason that the society disappeared in the beginning of the colonial times in 1890.
The last and only mention of this society was made by the German ethnologist Guenter Tessmann in his book "Pangwe Expeditions 1904 - 1909 " for the ethnographic museum in Luebeck, Germany. After this publication we lose all trace of this society. One can only speculate what the gorilla skull masks were used for. One thing is for sure - these masks in the Soul of Africa Museum have lost nothing of their magic aura.
Other masks in this collection belonging to once powerful secret societies carry similar secrets. The museum has an extraordinary collection of these magic masks and objects belonging various ethnic groups.
