Understanding traditional African healing

Maboe Mokgobi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleOther

    Abstract

    Traditional African healing has been in existence for many centuries yet many people still seem not to understand how it relates to God and religion/spirituality. Some people seem to believe that traditional healers worship the ancestors and not God. It is therefore the aim of this paper to clarify this relationship by discussing a chain of communication between the worshipers and the Almighty God. Other aspects of traditional healing namely types of traditional healers, training of traditional healers as well as the role of traditional healers in their communities are discussed. In conclusion, the services of traditional healers go far beyond the uses of herbs for physical illnesses. Traditional healers serve many roles which include but not limited to custodians of the traditional African religion and customs, educators about culture, counselors, social workers and psychologists.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)24-34
    Number of pages11
    JournalAfrican Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance
    Volume20
    Issue numberSuppl 2
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

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