my friend the witch doctor

 

For thousands of years, mankind has endured numerous challenges from Mother Nature. In addition to violent storms and raging floodwaters, there are two challenges that have been distressingly common and difficult to control.

Both locusts and droughts have vexed people – and they continue to the present day.

Locusts proved problematic for the ancient Egyptians, and they’re still active in that part of the world today.

Locusts also invaded my home state of Minnesota in the 1870’s, and the plague lasted for 5 long years. Finally, the governor decided that a less conventional method of fighting them needed to be used, so he declared a day of prayer in April of 1877. Initially, the cure did not work, but shortly after that, the residents of Cold Spring erected a chapel honoring the Blessed Virgin, Officially, it was known as the Assumption Chapel, but it is also known as the Grasshopper Chapel. Not long after the first mass was held in the chapel, the grasshoppers disappeared – never to return.

  https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.2uqKAKXJo5GKEVrGSboaKAHaEN?w=321&h=183&c=7&o=5&pid=1.7

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2017/10/mary-and-grasshoppers.html

 To combat droughts, Native Americans in the United States (especially in the Southwest) have engaged in rain dances to encourage nature to provide a little moisture for their crops.

Rainmaking dances are not limited to North America, since they are also used in Africa, China, and Europe.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainmaking_(ritual)

 Cloud seeding was first used in the late 1800’s.

Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud. Its effectiveness is debated; some studies have suggested that it is "difficult to show clearly that cloud seeding has a very large effect".^[The usual objective is to increase precipitation (rain or snow), either for its own sake or to prevent precipitation from occurring in days afterward

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding

 Since the hottest 10 years on record have occurred since 2005, drought is very prevalent in the Southwest – and Arizona is not the worst state.

Tucson, Arizona gets 12 inches of rain, on average, per year. The US average is 38 inches of rain per year.

Tucson averages 0 inches of snow per year. The US average is 28 inches of snow per year.

On average, there are 286 sunny days per year in Tucson. The US average is 205 sunny days.

Tucson gets some kind of precipitation, on average, 52 days per year. Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground. In order for precipitation to be counted you have to get at least .01 inches on the ground to measure.

At present, Utah is the most drought-stricken state in the nation. Upward of 62 percent of the state is engulfed in “exceptional drought,” the most severe category. The federal government’s U.S. Drought Monitor reports that irrigation water allotments are being cut and that fire restrictions are being tightened. Last year, Utah and Colorado experienced significant wildfire activity.

 

Last year was Utah’s driest on record, with the statewide average of 7.23 inches of precipitation being nearly an inch below the 1956 record.

Amid a devastating drought, Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (R) declared this Saturday and Sunday a “weekend of prayer,” inviting residents of the Beehive State to join in “collective and collaborative” prayer for rainfall. In a video posted to social media on Thursday, the governor pleaded for “divine intervention,” noting that current rainfall “is not enough.”

The response on social media was largely negative. One user suggested the governor “propose real solutions to real problems,” while others pointed to connections to climate change.

“Thoughts and prayers” have not done a lot in reducing gun violence, so it’s unlikely that asking for divine intervention will do much to solve Utah’s water shortage.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/04/utah-governor-rain-prayer-drought/

The 7 states in the Colorado River watershed area have been trying to equitably divide the water from the Colorado River since 1922, and have used a variety of techniques to make that happen. The city of Tucson was one of the first cities in the nation to used reclaimed water for irrigation, starting in 1984. A few people have advocated for building a pipeline to transport water from the Mississippi River to Arizona, but it will likely take decades for that plan comes to fruition.

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2021/05/water-water-everywhere-but-not-drop-to.html

In 1958, a young man named David Seville released a song title, “My Friend the Witch Doctor” which you can listen to at the link below.

 WITCH DOCTOR (David Seville) 1958 original version - YouTube

 The song was released on April 1, 1958, and quickly became a number one hit, and it rescued Liberty Records from near bankruptcy. The song tells the story of a man in love with a woman who initially does not return his affections. Longing for her companionship, the man goes to see a witch doctor for advice. The wise Witch Doctor replies, "oo ee oo aa aa, ting, tang, walla walla bing bang" (a phrase which is repeated three times as the chorus of the song). In the middle of the song, the man tells the woman he loves about his asking the Witch Doctor for advice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_Doctor_(song)

A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing rather than contemporary medicine.

Surprisingly, with doctors are more common than you might think. In some parts of the world, they are called shaman.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_doctor

 BBC News reported, on March 12, 2015, that, "More than 200 witchdoctors and traditional healers have been arrested in Tanzania in a crackdown on the murder of albino people. The killings have been driven by the belief – advanced by some witchdoctors – that the body parts have properties that confer wealth and good luck. According to the Red Cross, witchdoctors are prepared to pay $75,000 (£57,000) for a complete set of albino body parts. Nearly 80 albino Tanzanians have been killed since 2000, the UN says. The latest victims include a one-year-old albino boy, killed in north-western Tanzania. The government banned witchdoctors in January as part of its efforts to prevent further attacks and kidnappings targeting people with albinis

You aren’t going to find witch doctors in the phone book, but you DID, the witch doctor MIGHT me able to bring a little rain your way.

 

 

However, if you’d discovered that truth is sometimes stranger that fiction, consider the two pictures shows below:

The first picture is one of a typical witch doctor.

 The second picture is of Jake Agneli (also known as Jacob Chansley) who was at the capital on January 6. He is a self-described QAnon shaman. He is currently being held in jail in Washington, D.C., and is likely facing a lengthy prison sentence – which means he is NOT guy you’d want to go to squeeze some rain from the clouds.

 

You’ll just have to find ANOTHER witch doctor to make that happen.