TIKOLOSHES are creatures that inhabit South Africa and seriously mess with a person's ability to have a restful night’s sleep. They will attack you in your sleep and are said to be a part of the reason that many people in the Zulu culture used to sleep with their beds raised off the floor. The Tikoloshe spirit, an apparition of hope, terrorizes the powers that be and reminds South Africans, young and old, that freedom and justice remain elusive unless one is willing to fight for them.  They are dwarf-like creatures of Xhosa and Zulu mythology that are said to be conjured up by sangomas (traditional healers), usually out of jealousy or anger.  They are said to wander around causing mischief and scaring children.  As with their Western counterparts called “the bogeyman”, parents will often warn naughty children that if they don’t listen to them, the Tikoloshe will get them. Among the truly superstitious, the only way to protect oneself at night is to raise your bed on bricks.  A shaman may send a Tikoloshe to vex his enemies, causing anything from harmless fright to illness or even death. Some myths describe them as short, hairy, humanoid figures that can render themselves invisible by drinking water or swallowing a stone--all the better for sneaking up on their victims.