Dark Origins – The Sotho-Tswana and the malevolent Tokoloshe #southernAfrica #myths&legends
Posted: October 26, 2022 Filed under: Dark Origins, Ghost Stories, Mythology and Legend | Tags: African Legend, Dark Origins, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Writing to be Read 47 Comments
The Sotho-Tswana people of southern Africa comprise of the South Sotho (Basuto and Sotho), the West Sotho (Tswana) and the North Sotho (Pedi) people.
Most Sotho people were historically herders of cattle, goats and sheep and growers of grains and tobacco. The Sotho people were also recognised for their metal and leather work as well as their wood and ivory carving.
The Sotho people live largely in Lesotho and South Africa and as a combined group are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa.
Religious beliefs
The Sotho traditionally believe in Modimo who created the world and then withdrew to Heaven. He no longer concerns himself with life on earth. Modimo is not worshipped directly but though the ancestors.
The belief in ancestors is central to Sotho traditional religion. The ancestors are believed to have an influence over the daily lives of their direct descendants. Each family is under the direct guidance of its own descendants while the tribe, as a whole, is under the guidance of the ancestors of the chief.
Cultural differences
The Sotho-Tswana people have several linguistic and cultural characteristics that distinguish them from other Bantu speaking peoples of southern Africa.
- In Sotho-Tswana society each member has a totem which is usually an animal. Totems are inherited from the father and are passed down like surnames;
- A pre-emptive right for men to marry their maternal cousins;
- an architectural style characterized by a round hut with a conical thatch roof supported by wooden pillars on the outside;
- Cloaks made of skin;
- A preference for dense and close settlements; and
- A tradition for large-scale building in stone.
Tokoloshe myth
The Tokoloshe is an evil spirit that shaman create to to torment others as a form of punishment or revenge for a perceived slight. The Tokoloshe is dwarf-like, shriveled and hairy and, in some descriptions, has gouged-out eyes. When called, the Tokoloshe can be used for something as simple as scaring children, or can cause illness or even death to those it is tasked with tormenting.
The Tokoloshe is able to become invisible by drinking water or swallowing a stone.
The myth of the Tokoloshe is believed to have come about to explain why people mysteriously died while sleeping in their rondavels at night. Traditionally, people slept on grass mats on the floor encircling a wood fire during the winter. The fire depleted the oxygen levels in the huts and left behind noxious carbon monoxide with sank to the floor. A connection was eventually made that people who slept in elevated positions escaped the curse of the Tokoloshe. Some people still elevate their beds by placing bricks beneath the legs.
This is short reading from Myths and Legends of Southern Africa by Penny Miller called Catching the Tokoloshe:
About Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
Roberta has short stories and poems in several anthologies and has 2 published novels, Through the Nethergate, a historical supernatural fantasy, and A Ghost and His Gold, a historical paranormal novel set in South Africa.
Roberta has 11 children’s books published under the name Robbie Cheadle.
Roberta was educated at the University of South Africa where she achieved a Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1996 and a Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1997. She was admitted as a member of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2000.
Roberta has worked in corporate finance from 2001 until the present date and has written 7 publications relating to investing in Africa. She has won several awards over her 20-year career in the category of Transactional Support Services.
Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Want to be sure not to miss any of Robbie’s “Dark Origins” segments? Subscribe to Writing to be Read for e-mail notifications whenever new content is posted or follow WtbR on WordPress. If you found it interesting or entertaining, please share.
Writing to be Read 
Thanks Robbie for this interesting blog on the Sotho people.
LikeLiked by 2 people
HI Stevie, I am glad you enjoyed.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I know nothing about the Sotho culture, so this was fascinating. Thanks for sharing, Robbie.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My pleasure, Staci. The traditions and myths of the various tribes are very interesting.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The Sotho culture is new to me so I found this one very informative, Robbie!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m pleased to hear that, Christy.
LikeLiked by 2 people
A new culture to learn about. Nice one Robbie. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Marje, thanks, I am glad you enjoyed this post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Robbie, certainly did. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Reblogged this on and commented:
I am over at Writing to be Read with this month’s Dark Origins post featuring the Sotho Tswana and the malevolent Tokoloshe. I have also shared a short story about the Tokoloshe … Thanks for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.
LikeLiked by 2 people
☺️
I always learn so much from your posts Robbie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A very interesting piece, Robbie. At last I understand what John Kongos was singing about all those years ago!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Clive, I am really pleased you enjoyed this piece and learned something new.
LikeLiked by 2 people
What an interesting myth and story about catching the Tokoloshe. I enjoyed listening to Robbie read it. I felt sorry for the Tokoloshe and its fate though. It’s funny how some of the myths, of many cultures, are created to explain phenomena that later science has a more rational explanation for. But creatures designed to scare children? I wonder why that was thought by so many to be necessary.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Norah, I’m glad you enjoyed this post. I suppose the idea was to scare the children into behaving. Western cultures do that too with our scary creatures. I firmly believed a witch lived under my bed for years and used to jump onto it from the doorway. One day the bed collapsed. It is interesting that many South Africans are Christians but they believe firmly in the Tokoloshe and raise their beds on bricks.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Robbie, the witch under your bed is very similar to U.S. children’s belief in a monster under the bed, or often, in the closet. These things are way too easy to believe in as a young child, maybe just waking up in the middle of the night. Even the Grimm fairy tales were used to make children behave here in the states. I grew up with Hanzel and Gretel to teach me to mind my elders, and Little Red Riding Hood to make me wary of strangers. I guess it worked.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is how our parents kept us in line. My son, Greg, was reading newspaper headlines from age 9 and that was enough to terrify him. Hansel and Gretel is very grizzly. My parents gave me struwwelpieter as a girl so they could never judge what I gave my sons to read. Mom was disapproving when Greg read the fourth Harry Potter at age 9. It’s funny how the older generation view scary fairytales as completely acceptable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’re right about that being the reason for the scary stories. I’m just not sure that it was necessary, but it does seem to be universal. It’s hard to defeat those ancient myths. You must have been good at jumping. 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Norah, the ‘Victorian’ upbringing! I did long jump at school so I was pretty good at jumping.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lots of practice jumping into bed. 😂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Reblogged this on Ed;s Site..
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for sharing, Ed
LikeLiked by 2 people
Fascinating, Robbie. I love learning about how different populations understand creation. Thank you for sharing! 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Gwen, I am so pleased you enjoyed learning about the Sotho-Tswana.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A fascinating legend! I look forward to the next one.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hi Liz, belief in the Tokoloshe and the guidance from ancestors and their abilities to bring good or bad down upon individuals is a very common theme in Southern Africa.
LikeLiked by 2 people
How far back do these beliefs go?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I find these tales fascinating, Robbie. It’s interesting about the carbon monoxide poisoning and how that influenced the legend. And great to hear you read too. Thanks for sharing, and thanks to Kaye Lynne for hosting!
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Diana, I learned about the carbon monoxide a few years ago when I visited a cultural village. It did explain the events from a more scientific point of view than the Tokoloshe. Of course, I’ve known all about the Tokoloshe my entire life.
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂 Fascinating.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The Tokoloshe certainly has a frightening appearance. Gouged-out eyes? Yikes!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Not all tribes believe he has gouged out eyes. He is quite a common demon across Southern AFrica though.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Myths are really attempts at explaining the unknown. It’s hard to release them, even when science offers a more complete picture. And scaring children into good behavior has never worked well I think, although we still try. Thanks, as always, for sharing these stories. (K)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Kerfe, my pleasure, I am glad you enjoyed this post. That information about the reason for the deaths attributed to the Tokoloshe interested me greatly when I learned about it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Robbie. There is a lot to digest here, but it’s all fascinating to me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Kymber, I am very pleased to know that. I find African myths and legends fascinating.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, me, too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
An interesting culture. The belief in a distant god who doesn’t seem to affect them–I’ve never heard of that before.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The belief that the ancestors guide people in their daily lives and protect them from negative events and illness is very common in Southern Africa. The Zulu’s take great care to ‘catch’ the souls of their dead and take them home to the ancestors hut. Every Zulu home has an ancestors hut. The ancestors spiritual theme runs across most of the tribes.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Didn’t know that either. Intriguing, Robbie.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Kind of a blood-thirsty way to rid yourself of a Tokoloshe! Thanks for sharing this short story, Robbie. I think I’ll avoid the herbalist’s hut though 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Jacquie, I’m glad you enjoyed that story.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I remember this from my teenage years…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmgqP0BDhxs
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are the second person who has mentioned this song that I don’t know. My husband knows the singer at least.
LikeLiked by 2 people
He was quite good, although I don’t think he had a long career.
LikeLiked by 2 people
[…] Writes https://writingtoberead.com/2022/10/26/dark-origins-the-sotho-tswana-and-the-malevolent-tokoloshe-so… The Sotho-Tswana people of southern Africa comprise of the South Sotho (Basuto and Sotho), the West […]
LikeLiked by 1 person