What Is Juju? Meaning, Origin and Use in Africa

The short answer

Dictionaries define juju as an object, such as a charm or amulet, believed in West African spiritual practice to have magical or supernatural power, and also as the power itself. In everyday English it has a third, casual meaning: luck or “vibes”, as in “bad juju”.

Where the word comes from

The origin is uncertain, and honest sources say so:

• Dictionary.com dates the word in English to 1890–95 and says it comes “allegedly” from Hausa jūjū (“fetish”), from French joujou (“toy, plaything”).
• Wiktionary says it comes from a West African language, probably originally from French joujou.
• Wikipedia notes another view, that the word has roots in Hausa, where it is linked to the idea of a spirit.

If the French origin is right, the word may first have been a dismissive European label, “toys”, for sacred objects. That is one reason some Africans use it with care.

Juju in West Africa

The word is most closely linked with West Africa, especially Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Cameroon. There, juju is part of wider African traditional religions, which include a creator, lesser spirits, ancestors, and specialists who heal, divine and protect. Objects such as amulets are used within these traditions.

Sources describe juju as morally neutral in itself. It can be used to heal, to protect, or to undo a curse, and people fear it can also be misused to harm. What matters is the intention and the act.

Charms and protection

Across Africa, many people use charms for protection: of a child, a home, cattle, a journey or a business. In Buganda, healers describe amulets called nsiriba and yirizi, small combinations of materials believed to carry spiritual power, and protective practices called kuganga. A missionary writing in 1911 already described Ganda fetishes and amulets in detail.

Protection is different from attack. Making charms to protect yourself is part of many traditions. Trying to harm another person by supernatural means is condemned in those same traditions and is a crime in Uganda. See the Witchcraft Act.

How the word is used in Uganda

Juju is not originally a Ugandan word. Ugandan languages have their own vocabulary. In Luganda, for example, traditional doctors are basawo b’ekinnansi, medicine is eddagala, spirits include lubaale, mizimu and misambwa, and witches are abalogo. In English conversation, social media and the press, Ugandans often use “juju” loosely, covering anything from a herbal charm to suspected witchcraft. Because the word mixes up healing and harm, it can be unfair to genuine healers.

On Juju.ug we use the word in its broad, everyday sense: the world of traditional healing, herbs and spiritual services. That world includes respected herbalists and spiritual healers. It does not include curses, threats or anything meant to hurt people.

“Juju man” and everyday English

In West African usage, a “juju man” is someone trained in traditional spiritual medicine and accepted by local custom, roughly what Ugandans would call a traditional or spiritual healer. Outside Africa, the word has drifted further. In casual English, “good juju” or “bad juju” simply means good or bad luck, with no religious meaning at all. When you read the word online, check which meaning the writer intends.

Respect without sensationalism

Films and tabloids often show juju as dark magic. For millions of Africans it is part of religion, family history and health care. A respectful view:

• accepts that people hold these beliefs sincerely;
• separates healing and protection from harm and fraud;
• does not promise results nobody can guarantee;
• keeps people safe: real medicine for serious illness, and no rituals that hurt anyone.

Read next

• Types of traditional healers in Uganda
• Lubaale: the spirits of Buganda
• Witchcraft in Uganda: history and modern issues
• Traditional healer scams