N'gangas

The BBC has a post about traditional African herbalism...

Now, there are various people lumped together as native healers...you have the N'ganga who uses herbs and performs healing ceremonies (think family doctor/psychiatrist)...you have the n'ganga who diagnoses witchcraft and mainly performs ceremonies (think priest) ...

And then you have witches, who are shamans who cast spells for revenge or to get power...the reason n'gangs are called "witchdoctors" are not because they practice witchcraft, but because they diagnose the spells cast by these witches...


Many of thetraditional herbs work, but as the article mentions, the knowledge is often "secret" and not passed to other n'gangas, and of course, there is a problem with dosages and cross contamination....

Many of the hers work, and are used by locals often as a first line medicine...
The native healers often serve a purpose and treat routine problems. Our TB officer worked with them, instructing them if the person did not get better with treatment, and was coughing, to send them for an x ray.


One example was "muti cuts", where superficial scratches were made and medicine rubbed into the scratch. This is similar to counterirritation and will relieve pain...we could always tell where the pain was because of the muti cuts.

There are various types of n'gangas. Some are mainly herbalists. But since much illness would be attributed to either a spell or the revenge of a spirit, much of their work would be diagnosing the problem and performing a ceremony...

For example, if your child was sick, it might be because you mistreated your elderly mother before she died, and her spirit was getting revenge. Obstructed prolonged labour was blamed on the woman's infidelity. (before you think: primitive thinking, remember many people in the US and Europe think the same way).

Then there are people who actually will place a spell for you... what we would call witchcraft or voodoo, i.e. putting spells on people who have harmed you. Don't laugh. One medical problem we ran into was people being poisoned, or who found snakes in their hut. One duty of a N'ganga is to diagnose if this was done to you...and why. Often they pointed out YOU needed to repent, and held a ceremony. Think: Court system arbitration.

Then there is actual witchcraft, where people murder people for power. Usually, if you are starting a store or business or want success, you hold a ceremony and kill animals to the spirits...think Santera...but the dark extreme of this belief is murder...There were recent British reports of young African boys reported missing, and several killed and mutilated. This is the dark end of such things, and indeed, why traditional Africans would kill such people as witches...

Before you think: Primitive people...who would murder for power? Answer: the USA has a million abortions a year, mostly for social reasons, so the mother --or more commonly the father who pressures the woman's "choice"---isn't burdened with an inconvenient child...

But this article, of course, ignores the non scientific part of the traditional medical practice....

With the HIV epidemic, many people are turning to native medicine...most of them to the herbs that treated and cured their ancestors.

Alas, some of them are also turning to the practice of witchcraft to cure their disease...