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Spell of the Sorceress
Nopuko teaching daughter, Sherri, some of the secret herbs of the potions on the island of Pohnpei, 2003.



Nopuko's Islands
by Patrick McMakin
Sunday, May 23, 1976

In Ordot, a 31-year-old lives in half of a concrete duplex and takes care of her five children while her American husband works.

In the afternoon she chats with friends at the local grocery store. Friday nights she plays bingo at the nearby church.


In addition, she is a Trukese sorceress or sow roog residing and practicing a traditional Micronesian cultural activity on the most Westernized island in the Pacific.

Nopuko is flexible; moving to Guam caused no interruption of  her practice. She serves local Micronesians, Chamorro-Guamanians. Statesiders and even Koreans in her clientele.

A sorceress, like the Chamorro suruhano curer, uses plant medicines, massage and a supernatural power to cure illness.. But she also is believed to have the power to cause illness - both physical and mental - initiate small business failures and prepare magical love potions, depending upon the wishes of the client, but more importantly as a result of a moral judgment made by the sorceress.

Sorcery is a sensitive activity, especially in this predominantly Catholic community. Nopuko takes clients only on referral from close friends, relatives and previous clients. After learning the details of a case, she judges the client's belief, sincerity and motives. She then decides whether to use her knowledge and powers to intervene and cause a change for the better or the worse depending upon one's point of view.

A judgment by the sorceress is important because misuse of her power will anger the ghost of her father who passed on the practice to her. Also, the failure of a client to follow her instructions will cause the appearance of her father and cause Nopuko to become ill or crazy.

As a countermeasure against a client's mistakes she casually mentions that if she detects a client's improper behavior in her visions she will turn her malevolent abilities against him and cause him to fail to achieve his goals, become crazy and possibly even die.

An intense seriousness shows that Nopuko firmly believes this, and she easily gains dominance over the strongest personalities.  However, at the same time the impression is given that she sincerely will attempt to help a person if he becomes a client.

Nopuko was 11 years old in 1957 when her father, a Trukese sorcerer, became seriously ill.

She went to visit him and he handed a piece of paper. There were tears in his eyes as he told her that he had written down the formulas for Trukese sorcery and that it was time to give them to her and another sister and brother. Not wanting to see her father cry., she left the room. A few minutes later the wailing of her mother was heard.  

Her father was dead.

Since that time, Nopuko, her sister and brother have been recognized as having the powers of Trukese sorcery.

After reaching a marriageable age, Nopuko used the formula for love magic to lure her husband to her side.

Now living on Guam, Nopuko makes visits to Truk but has few problems in adapting to her present home.

Her most interesting and frequent activity involves the preparation of love magic. Her standard mixture contains secret ingredients - one of which is a colorful flying insect found early in the morning.

She also has counter magic for love potions of Yapese and Palauan sorcerers she knows and with whom she is in competition. She is confident that her magic is the most powerful, with the magic of the Yapese posing the greatest threat.

The love counter magic is a black, granulated mixture with the appearance of burnt soil and vegetation. One of the plant ingredients is a common fern, known as chichi. (This fern also is used by many suruhano in their medical teas and is known to the Chamorros as kahlao.)  The entire list of ingredients of the counter magic is known only to Nopuko and her siblings and never can be divulged without risking the wrath of her father's ghost.

The recipient of the love magic or counter magic must follow strict instructions from Nopuko.


© 2006 nopukob.com