protective/harmful use of spiritual energy, which if one believes another is trying to
harm them, they can use it to protect themselves, and possibly harm the offender; and
one who casts bones, which are usually pieces of wood used to tell someone about
the unknown (Napata, 1970). “Because the tensions and uncertainties of modern
life readily provoke suspicions of invisible forces, especially of witchcraft, and few
Shona can resist going to a diviner when things are going badly” (Bucher, 1980,
p. 113). There are also those who use spiritual energy for negative purposes in the
culture, which they refer to as muroyi. Muroyi are seen more as evil spirit workers,
usually using their knowledge for evil and not good and the n’anga is called in to fix
the mess left by the muroyi. The muroyi’s craft is only effective if she knows the
person’s dzinza, family, and mutupo, their clan name. One can only become a muroyi
through inheritance through the mother’s side of the family. There is also a type
of diviner who uses spiritual energy for negative purposes called, uroyi hweshavi.
Uroyi hweshavi is the spirit of a person who died without any children or relatives
and needs a body/medium (svikiro) for her spirit to manifest and turn the svikiro into
a muroyi (Zvarevashe, 1970).
Western Medicine & Traditional Healing
Many Shona people acknowledge the effectiveness of western medicine
and its proficiency in treating certain types of illnesses, but many also believe that
western medicine falls short because of its inability to cure the ultimate causes
of those illnesses (Bucher, 1980, p. 120). An nganga uses his powers to seek the
cause of a person’s illness and appease the spirits causing the person harm. When
missionaries and Europeans began filtering into Shonaland (Zimbabwe), they were
welcomed by the Shona in part because of the medicines they brought with them. As
Butcher (1980) states, “Knowing that the missionaries were ministers of religion, the
Africans believed that they were endowed with healing properties in the same way
they believed their own nganga were” (p. 121).
Westernization & Ceremonies
Despite the influence of westernization on the Shona people, they continue
26 Imhotep Journal
many traditions and ceremonies specifically for spirits and healing. They have
accepted western medicine as a cure for certain illnesses, however they still go to their
nganga to find the source of their illnesses. They may have switched their traditional
homes for houses, their handmade garbs for mass produced, manufactured clothes,
but despite all these materialistic changes they still keep sacred ceremonies alive. To
this day they still perform the kutamba guva and the kubata maoko ceremony, which
is a vital part of the bereavement and burial process of a beloved deceased family
member (Mandaza, 1970). There are other ceremonies such as the kugadza nhaka
ceremony, in which the wife/wives of the deceased have the option to marry one of
the deceased’s brothers. These and many other ceremonies have been kept, despite
westernization, because they are still vital in the Shona culture.
Conclusion
For the Shona people the sprits are a vital source of health and balance. They
do not make use of a material oriented approach, but a spiritual approach because
for the Shona, spirit is what makes up everyone and everything. Their tradition does
acknowledge that everyone is made of organs and have blood, but spirits animate
everyone and spirits are central to all aspects of life, whether it be health, illness,
wealth, good crops, drought, etc. Spirits are integral to Shona society, as in many
African ethnic groups, and they rely on ngangas to help them with medicinal needs or
spiritual needs so that they can restore balance and harmony within the community.
Works Cited
Akoto, K.A & Akoto, A.N. (2005). African cosmology. In : & Mazama, A. The
Encyclopedia of Black Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Bucher, H. (1980). Spirits and powers: An analysis of Shona cosmology. Cape
Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press.
The Shona People 27
Gelfand, M. (1959). Shona ritual. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta & Co., Limited.
Mandaza, D.M. (1970). Shona customs: Essays by African writers. Rhodesia:
Mambo Press.
Napata, E.A.T. (1970). Shona customs: Essays by African writers. Rhodesia:
Mambo Press.
Zvarevashe, I.M. (1970). Shona customs: Essays by African writers. Rhodesia:
Mambo Press.
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Imhotep Journal, Volume 7, May 2010
Traditional Healing in the BaKongo Culture
By Erika Rivas
The Bakongo people are primarily concentrated in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. The Bakongo consider traditional healing to be central in reaching
harmony and balance among the people and the universe. It is also essential for
healing diseases or problems that have a supernatural cause. The Bakongo people
have found unique ways of combining traditional healing with western medicine.
This paper will concentrate on the individual Bakongo who seek both traditional and
western medicine. The first topic that will be explored consists of explaining the role
of the banganga (native doctors), ngunzu (prophets), and the kinsmen in traditional,
as well as western healing. Secondly, this paper will address how banganga and
kinsmen become the advisors amongst their people. Next, this paper will address
how traditional healers carry out their practices depending on the type of healing
required. The way Bakongo set standards for health and well being will also be
discussed. Last, the relationship between western and traditional medicine will be
explained as well as how traditional healing impacts the community and personality
of the Bakongo people.
The Healing Specialist’s
Amongst the Bakongo there are three types of traditional healers: kinsmen,
ngunzu, and baganga. The kinsmen are family members who have a say on what an
ill person is going through and what type of healing they can get. Kinsmen consist
of all close maternal and paternal family members, although close friends of the ill
may also be included. As Janzen (1978) explains, everything starts with a consolation
of the kinsmen, who are largely responsible for the selection of therapy (Janzen,
1978). Kinsmen are like a medium between spiritual healers and western medical
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