Help from the dead

From: the Democratic Republic of Congo
Date: late 19th century AD

This wooden carving is called a nkisi. It was used by the Kongo peoples as a way of getting help from relatives who had died. They would try to use this power to get more money, to cure illnesses, or just to have better luck.

The power of the carving came from magical things which were put inside or on top of it, such as soil from a graveyard and medicines made from plants. Metal blades were then driven into the nkisi to release the ancestor's power. This figure has hundreds of blades sticking through it.