.
Negative forces of disorder are often referred to as witchcraft. Hence, the nganga employs divination and spirit possession to determine the cause of the disorder and plays the role of an "anti-sorcerer" (the one who neutralizes the power of witches).
NGANGA
In Africa, religion is not merely about the world to come.
Religion is not about self-denial for the glorification of deities.
Religion is viewed as a system of the ultimate meaning of human existence [knowledge of self].
Religion provides a comprehensive healing of mind and body and enhances spiritual and physical well-being. At the core of this religious worldview stands the nganga, or healer.
The word nganga refers to the healing function of religion. The notion of nganga emerges from the fundamental African understanding of interconnectedness, the nature of humans, social structures, illnesses and well-being.
In this worldview, physical health largely depends on spiritual well-being and harmonious social relations.
Although the nganga is referred to by some scholars with less offensive lexicons as “medicine-man” or “shaman,” the nganga has been widely disparaged in Western scholarship, in which he is often referred to as a witchdoctor.
In Africa, the nganga is a savior of lives who plays an honorable role in the religious and social order.
The nganga acts as a powerful mediator between the visible world and the realm of spirits and ancestors. The nganga is an indispensable agent in the African tradition of healing and peacemaking. As a healer of body and spirit, the nganga works in close relation with the spirits and is often a priest who bridges the world of the living and that of the ancestors.
The nganga is at once an herbalist and a priest, a diviner and a prophet. He may be regarded, according to other classification systems, as a clairvoyant, a shaman, a psychic, or a medium. His medicine is closely intertwined with prayers, incantations, songs, dance, offerings, and sacrifices to the deities. While performing his divination, the nganga often enters a trance to better communicate with the spirits.
The healing process restores the psychic, social, and cosmic balance of the individual, as well as that of his community, and involves the observance of fundamental ethical rules to avoid sinking in chaos that brings about sickness.
Africans believe the world of the ancestors abounds in peace, joy, harmony, wealth, health, and happiness, whereas the current world of the living is beset by evildoers, danger, illness, and death. Therefore, genuine healing cannot be achieved without the intervention of the world of the ancestors.
Moreover, physical and mental illness is viewed primarily as a form of disorder or imbalance resulting from disunity between mind and body, the individual and society, or humans and spirits. A proper diagnosis of the root causes of disease requires an investigation of social relations and spiritual transgressions. Again, these negative forces of disorder are often referred to as witchcraft. (1)
(1) Asante, Molefi Kete and Mazama, Ama Editors, "Encyclopedia Of African Religion," (2009) pp. 448-449.
