2025-Drawing-BAFA-RukayaSalumAli-Springle-realm fragment How the Women of Pemba Tamed a Spirit with a Dance

A community of women conducts a sacred ritual of care and ancestral connection around a massive baobab tree with a toothy portal. One woman paints protective sigils on the bark, an elder throws spices into a fire, two women anchor each other through a spiritual trance, a mother braids her daughter's hair, and a grandmother cradles a child. Adjacent to them, lying in the desert sand, is the monumental, three-headed form of the guardian shetani Kitimiri. Its emaciated, hermaphroditic body has one head panting in exhaustion, another alert and watchful, and a third doing both, all with eyes glowing blue. This spirit, inspired by a historical Swahili women's cult, oversees the ritual as a potent symbol of enduring, multifaceted resistance and protection.

2025-Drawing-BAFA-RukayaSalumAli-Springle-realm fragment How the Women of Pemba Tamed a Spirit with a Dance