French market vocabulary· French
Matière fétiche
In English use: Magical loadings / fetish substance
Fetish-matter — the magical loadings (bones, earth, shells, plant matter) sealed into a power figure's cavities.
The active ingredient of a power figure. African sculptures (like the Kongo minkisi) were often loaded with magical materials — skull bones, cemetery earth, crushed shells, seeds, fabric scraps, palm-nut residue — set into cavities in the wood (in the navel, the back, or the top of the head) and sealed with resin. The matière is literally the bearer of metaphysical force; without it, the carving alone has no power.