- a reflection period involving initiation and
meditation on service; - apprenticeship and training in diagnoses of
disease and in the uses of healing tools, foods,
animals, rituals of sacrifice, libation, spiritual
literature, and proscriptive behaviors; - a thorough knowledge of the corpus comprising
medicinal plants and botanicals that
constituted an herbal pharmacy; and - leadership in the social discourses surrounding
dance, drumming, and trance.
Training rituals and ceremonies are conducted,
and sometimes the initiate takes a new name, but
all possess a title indicating their status as healers.
After completing a usually arduous initiation rit-
ual, the candidates emerge as people transformed
to serve as spiritual arbiters of the community’s
religious beliefs. In certain cultures—especially
those with secret healing societies—those accepted
to the profession will bear a body mark (tattoo
cicatrization) of acceptance.
In addition, the traditional African healer, more
often than not, possesses sacred attire and a col-
lection of divine tools and implements. In addition
to hosting curative rituals and ceremonies, in some
cases, traditional African healers may preside over
guilt or innocence hearings. Traditional African
healers have customarily accepted fees or in-kind
payments for their services, indicating a form of
divine reciprocity within the community.
Some ExamplesThe traditional African healing system is filled
with a diverse array of practitioners given titles
that indicate their specific function in society. A
medicine man or woman may be a midwife, spiri-
tual healer, or medical herbalist, for example.
Among the Ibo people in West Africa, the Dibia
serves as the herbal medicine man. In the lower
Congo, among the many meanings of the term
Nganga, it also refers to the individual who is the
“healer of diseases.” Swazi traditional healers are
known as Tinyanga, who are primarily responsi-
ble for herbal medicine, while the Tangoma are
those who serve as spiritual intermediaries.
Females have always possessed important roles
as traditional healers in many societies. In South-
west Africa, the Ondudu is the female healer of
the Kuanyama Amba. The Ndebele Igosos are
elder priestesses who are mediums on behalf of
the ancestral spirits and humans. The ancestors
then translate the messages from the Igosos to
God, Nkulunkulu. Of note are some of the high
priests of traditional African healing, including
the Ifa priests of the Yoruba in Nigeria and the
Sangoma in South Africa. In addition, the Kikuyu
have a wide variety of healers known as Muraguri
or Mundumugo.
There are also considerable discussions about
the mystery (called secret) societies of African
healers in Africa. They model the closed network
associations of lineages devoted to the occupation
of healing. An example of this kind of group is
the Ndako Gboya society of the Nupe in Nigeria.
Also in Nigeria, among the Yoruba, the
Babalawo—whose paradigm survived the holo-
caust middle passage—is the traditional healer
through orisha divination, while the Onisegun
focus on curing physical and emotional dysfunc-
tion. They both combat arun (disease) and ese
(generalized human affliction). Furthermore,
among the Lango people of Uganda, the Omara
serve as authorized medicine men.
Traditional African healers were interested in
all aspects of optimal health. In addition to treat-
ing disease, they used plants to increase good
fortune, balance energy, reconcile emotional
problems in personal relationships, and prevent
generalized events of misfortune. They also used
ancient symbols, amulets, and talismans to assist
the transformation of the individual from sickness
to good health. The traditional African healer
represents one of the oldest and strongest exam-
ples of continuity with the past for the African
diaspora. They orally transmitted medical knowl-
edge and prescriptions.
As powerful as the traditional medicine men
appeared in the process of curing disease, they
became exceedingly potent after death. Medicine
men and women are an essential component within
the larger traditional African medical system,
which seeks to address the challenges of disease.Katherine Olukemi Bankole420 Medicine Men and Women