South African Healing

Question 1

Traditional healers of South Africa

Answer 1

are practitioners oftraditional African medicine inSouthern Africa. They fulfill different social and political roles in the community, includingdivination,healingphysical, emotional andspiritual illnesses, directing birth or deathrituals, finding lost cattle, counteractingwitches, and narrating the history, cosmology, and myths of their tradition.

Question 2

two main types of traditional healers

Answer 2

thediviner, and theherbalist. These healers are highly revered and respected in a society where illness is thought to be caused bywitchcraft, pollution (contact with impure objects or occurrences) or through neglect of their ancestors

Question 3

For harmony between the living and the dead, which is vital for a trouble-free life:

Answer 3

traditional healers believe that the ancestors must be shown respect through ritual and animal sacrifice. They perform summoning rituals by burning plants, dancing, chanting, or playingdrums.

Question 4

Traditional beliefs about health and healing:

Answer 4

Illness is believed to result from psychological issues or relationship issues with people who are living or dead.
Healing also involves removing impurities of body or mind to relieve anxiety and promote balance.
Purification can result from draining harmful substances from the body:
Purgatives (induce bowel function)
Emetics (induce vomiting)

Question 5

Diagnosis:

Answer 5

Conducting a thorough interview about all aspects of the patient’s life.