We’ve already discussed Morocco and its relationship with the supernatural. Aicha Kondisha, the unofficial head of Morocco’s Ministry of Magic, has flooded the country’s folklore with hundreds of tales and stories that would make anyone want to hide in the shadows.
In the region, roaming spirits that can take human and animal form are commonly discussed. Their mere existence, acknowledged by Islam, can often be pretty scary to some. But if you’re anything like us, we still love hearing all about them.
With spooky season taking over, we thought it’d be the perfect moment to ask some of our readers about their supernatural stories. Get ready.
Nawfel, 19
As a child, I used to go back to the Kerkennah Islands in Tunisia almost every summer. One year though, for the first time, my family and I went back during the winter because of a family member that had passed away. We all gathered at our coastal house by the beach. On the third night, a huge storm broke out and my little self caught myself watching it from my bedroom’s window. I remember that storm being particularly heavy and bad. So bad in fact that any activity by the port had to be shut off although I could see some lights far into the sea with a vague shape of a man standing steadily by it until a wave washed that view away. Scared as I was, I told my parents the next day and went looking for any shipwrecks. Unable to find anything we gave up about it as my family thought that I had a post-funeral nightmare.
The next couple of days, we heard about one of our neighbours complaining to the police about his boat missing. And that’s when he learnt that someone had stolen it but randomly disappeared without any traces. To this day, no one knows what happened and it still bothers me each time I go back to Tunisia.
Mounira, 27
So, I have four brothers but one of them has always freaked me out. Once when I was seven, I walked into his room to find him drawing on his wall. He knew he wasn’t allowed to use his markers on the wall so I told him to stop. He just turned around and looked at me, then started colouring again. When I looked at what he was drawing, it was a picture of my family with a black figure next to him. When I asked him what the figure was, he said it was his friend from outside. He told me he plays hide and seek with him while I go to school. We didn’t have any neighbours, only a graveyard not far from the family house.
He then started talking about his real family. I said, “what real family?” and he went on to tell me all about another life where he has mom, dad, and a younger sister. He said they used to play together at the park but his mom and dad died a long time ago. When I asked where they are now and he said they’re outside with his friend, but his real sister isn’t there so he has to go find her. Then he told me he has to do everything his friend from outside says or else he can never find her. We moved two years later, he never spoke about his “real” family or his friend from outside again. You might call me crazy but I really think he was possessed or something.
Marwan, 24
My friend Mariam once told me she was late for our appointment because, on her way to see me, she met a woman who asked for directions. The woman was wearing a wedding dress and she seemed lost. Mariam told me her aura was quite freaky… how can someone get lost on the day of their wedding? And why was she walking alone late at night? She asked Mariam where the nearest beach was, and that sounded very weird too. At that moment, we didn’t think about it too much and we just went on about our day.
A couple of days later our friend Ilias told us that the creepiest thing happened to him the night before: he was driving back home and he suddenly panicked when he saw a bride sitting on the side of the road crying. A second later he realised what he had just seen, he quickly stopped the car to go back and check if the woman needed help. That’s the weirdest bit of the story… When he went back, literally a few seconds later, no one was there anymore. It was like she disappeared. He told us that he had probably hallucinated, but as soon as he told us the story we connected the dots and realised that was the same woman Mariam talked to some days before.
Mariam saw her four days before Ilias did. It sounded very impossible that a bride would walk late at night in our village for four days straight (no randomer would ever come to Bni’ Mellal), not to mention the fact that when Ilias saw her, she literally disappeared two seconds later. We never saw that woman again after that week and it’s been playing on all of our minds ever since.
Malik, 22
This isn’t necessarily the most supernatural story ever but I thought I’d share my experience with Roqqya. My aunt, may she rest in peace, was known in the family for being a bit troubled. Suffered from insomnia, depression and could not settle with anyone although she had more than one opportunity to, but for some reason she seemed as if she couldn’t.
After a while and many of her friends referring her to imams to perform a roqqya, she finally went and I remember her coming back completely changed, lighter and happier. I had overheard my dad’s conversation with his brother on the phone talking about how she had been shaking and sweating through the whole process and that according to him someone had cursed her. But no one knew why or by who. The whole idea that these things actually happen scares me to this day and have been keeping away from people and staying to myself since.
