218 african appropriations
money. These are shown to the victims but cannot be touched by them
(a nd l i ke sack s of second ha nd clot h i ng t hat f u nc t ion a s ba it i n The Master,
only the surface layer contains the material claimed by the fraudsters).
It would appear, however, that the alhaji did not fall for false medi-
ums. Instead he fell victim to the secular “wash-wash” scam. He prob-
ably turned to my friends for their assistance because the production of
money by magic is actually an element staged in the genuine rituals of
the bori cult. In his desperation, he hoped that his worthless black money
could be transformed into real money, in the same way that dirt is liter-
ally magicked into money in actual bori rituals. During these theatrical
performances, the mediums embody their spirits and demonstrate the
spirits’ power to the audience by performing numerous tricks for them.
One of these tricks consists of transforming dirt into money with the help
of a palm-sized leather purse, which has identical openings on the top
and bottom. With a theatrical gesture, the medium pours sand gathered
from the ground into one of these openings and begins to dance and swirl
around. Coins fall to the ground as soon as the purse is reopened.
Tricks like this make up part of the repertoire of magicians and sha-
mans throughout the world. They feed the ritual rhetoric that aims to
convince the participants of the ritual’s efficacy. In northern Nigeria, the
purpose of the tricks is to present both evidence of the spirits’ authenticity
and to demonstrate the ability of the mediums to act genuinely. If Michael
Taussig (2003) is to be believed, even local observers do not take such
t r ick s at face va lue, a nd it is a n open secret t hat such per for ma nces a re, i n-
deed, tricks. In the case of the shamanic healing performances discussed
by Taussig, the shaman provides a model that he hopes is copied by effec-
tive spirits who are capable of healing. Hence, the trick serves to inspire
the spirits to imitate the shaman’s action and not to dazzle the participants
in the ritual. Magic tricks are of interest in the genealogical analysis of
419 fraud because the sacred roots of all forms of confidence tricks can be
identified here. Magicians are not fraudsters—the exceptions prove the
rule here, as skepticism and magic also go hand in hand, says Taussig—but
act in the context of a complex belief system they themselves subscribe to.
Unlike confidence tricksters, who aim to fleece their victims without pro-
viding the promised goods or services, magicians and shamans act in good
faith. Some may use their tricks for advertising purposes, that is, to assert