If you have never heard of an ancient story of mermaids then you might not have had an interesting childhood.

Written By Hazel Jojo

When we were young, our grandmothers would tell us how people were not supposed to cry when someone is taken by a mermaid. Usually, a big traditional event known as “Bira” would happen to bring back the person.

In most cases, the person would come back as a doctor or a traditional healer. Well to me that sounded like just a myth or maybe just an ancient story ... but that might not be the case in Zimbabwe, the Manjuzu story has proven to be more than just a story and has skyrocketed to another level of reality.

Is It A Justified Religious Cult or is Its The Psychology of Poverty?

Men, women, boys, and girls … We all want to live a great and satisfying life. A life that is comfortable and a life that we all can take pride in. But such a life comes with a great cost and normally it is hard-working and we call it a hard-earned life.

The Manjuzu Culture - A Dark Tale of Partial Socialization!

Manjuzu aka the Spirit of Permaids is believed to be endowing its worshippers with wealth and good life and has grown popular mostly among young women desperate for good fortunes from rich men. It is also believed to be a ritual performed by ladies to appease the mermaid spirits to get the charms of luring rich men. So they get identified by “Machembere” who usually tells them about this spirit.

Some Are Born with this Spirit But Most of Them Are Going Out to Seek them.

So unlike that traditional bira, they do fancy dinners (might be an all-white or black party, they dress in fancy garments, and they either bathe or drink milk or wine. The leftovers are usually used for the awakening ceremony and appeasement of the spirits. In this case, the young women will then have the power to lure rich men who are mostly married men. These young women are often referred to as “slay queens” on social media because they drive Porsche cars and live a lavish lifestyle on Instagram.

Partial Socialization:

When l was reading more about this, l was asking myself about the etiology of this obsession of “rich men”. Why specifically rich men?

This so-called concept is feeding into the reality of what young women have been socialized to believe. We raise boys to be thinkers, innovators, and problem solvers but we raise women to be beautiful, aspire for marriage, and live a lavish life that will be provided by men. The psychology of poverty has paved way for such opportunistic spirits and ideas to corrupt the mind of young women.

The extreme need for rich men to cater to a life that is beyond normalcy has led young women to sell their souls to the devil.

What makes it more interesting is the use of fancy stuff during the initiation and the awakening process… the use of rice, milk, wine, dinners, gold, and white garments … it sounds cool right if l didn't know better l would say it is harmless unless the usual scary horns, eggs, and mirrors but effects are devastating and can lead to death.

Not the Trash of the Society: It Can be a Killer:

The conversation around this concept goes beyond the psychology of poverty, a multisectoral approach can be skillfully employed when addressing this. The need for social inclusion has led so many souls astray. Social exclusion is a killer, everyone needs to belong to a certain level of acceptance, and the over-emphasis on the gospel of money and desperation has tainted our innocence.

The “Mbinga” syndrome has led to peer pressure that has corrupted even the last sense of needed critical thinking. Young women have been used as pawns in chess games as a ticket to castles in the air. In my society when you have the money you are the beast “Mbinga”, you then have a say in decision-making.

As l look deep into this supposedly “power to lure men” it responds to how we have socialized our girls. Why not the power to be intelligent in school, the power to hold executive positions, the power to have power with female presidents or CEO but out of everything in this world, the emphasis on power to lure men is obscure.

It is a Reflection of how Dsyfunctional our Socialization is.

Then the bigger question is on HIV/AIDS, negotiation of safer sex, and prevention of STIs. Since most of these rich men are usually “married men” is the circle of transmission of infections controlled by having the self-agency to say No to unprotected sex? But l doubt it since these men are lured into transitional relationships.

it is clear that there is more to this concept than what the eye can meet. Is the Manjuzu notion a fairytale, a religious cult, a result of peer pressure and the Psychology of Poverty, or a reflection of a dysfunctional society that has socialized girls to think that they deserve a certain life that will be provided by someone else?